Datasets:

dheerajpai

/

uspatents

like 0

<SOH> BACKGROUND <EOH>1. Field of the Invention The invention relates generally to heat exchanger for a motor vehicle. More specifically, the invention relates to a heat exchanger, such as an evaporator, having a distributor plate for improving the flow of refrigerant through the heat exchanger flow tubes. 2. Related Technology Air conditioning systems for motor vehicles typically have a refrigeration cycle that circulates a refrigerant in order to control the temperature within the passenger compartment of the motor vehicle. During the refrigeration cycle, the refrigerant flows into a compressor, causing an increase in both pressure and temperature of the fluid. Exiting the compressor in a gaseous phase, the refrigerant is then condensed into a low-temperature liquid phase by a condenser. Next, the refrigerant flows through an expansion valve, which causes the refrigerant to expand into a low-pressure, low-temperature mixture of gas and liquid. The mixture of gas and liquid then flows into the evaporator and cools the passenger compartment to a desired temperature. More specifically, after the refrigerant enters the evaporator it flows through a bank of thin, heat-transfer tubes that extend across the evaporator. The tubes are exposed to an influx of warm, ambient air that flows across the bank of tubes and absorbs heat therefrom; thereby causing all or most of the liquid portion of the refrigerant to evaporate into a gaseous state. The influx of air, having been sufficiently cooled, then enters the passenger compartment at the desired temperature. Due to natural properties of fluids, evaporating liquids are able to absorb a certain amount of heat before increasing the temperature of the resulting gas. Therefore, to maximize the cooling effect of the air conditioner, and thus maximize the efficiency of the air conditioning system, it is advantageous for the liquid portion of the refrigerant entering the evaporator to be completely transformed into a gaseous state by the ambient air. One known technique for promoting phase-changes of the refrigerant is by increasing the amount of time that the refrigerant is exposed to the influx of air, such as by increasing the number of times that the refrigerant flows across the bank of heat-transfer tubes. However, this design increases the space required to house the evaporator within the motor vehicle. As an alternative or an additional solution to the above-described design, the evaporator may have heat-exchange tubes with relatively small cross-sectional areas. However, smaller tubes typically cause uneven distribution of the gaseous-liquid mixture within the different tubes. More specifically, some of the tubes will tend to have an unproportionally high percentage of gas contained therein while other tubes will tend to have an unproportionally high percentage of liquid flowing therethrough. The uneven distribution of two-phase refrigerant may cause some or most of the liquid refrigerant to exit the tubes without evaporating, thereby decreasing the efficiency of the system. It is therefore desirous to provide an air conditioning system that maintains a desired efficiency by equally distributing the liquid-phase refrigerant among the respective heat exchange tubes in the evaporator.

<SOH> SUMMARY <EOH>In overcoming the limitations and drawbacks of the prior art, the present invention provides a heat exchanger having top and bottom headers and a core extending between the headers. The core includes a set of flow tubes that each permit a liquid to travel therethrough. Additionally, the top header includes a distributor plate extending along a longitudinal axis of the top header to define first and second chambers. The distributor plate includes at least one opening to permit a desired distribution of the liquid between the respective chambers. One type of a desired distribution, for example, causes the liquid to be generally equally distributed among each of the plurality of flow tubes. In one aspect, the distributor plate defines a collection area for collecting the liquid. The openings define a boundary of the collection area such that the liquid is substantially prevented from flowing through the opening until the liquid reaches the boundary. The distributor plate is therefore configured to distribute the liquid substantially evenly along the length of the distributor plate. The liquid is preferably evenly distributed when the liquid is flowing at a relatively low flow rate, such as 1.5 pounds per minute or less. In another aspect of the present invention, the distributor plate is obliquely oriented with respect to the vertical. Described another way, the distributor plate extends along a plane that defines an angle with respect to an axis of the flow tubes that is greater than or equal to 0 degrees and less than 90 degrees. For example, the angle is between 35 and 85 degrees or is more preferably between 60 and 70 degrees. The distributor plate and the top header may be formed as a single, unitary component. The component may also include a divider plate dividing the top header into a pair of passages. In a further embodiment, the distributor plate includes a plurality of openings, each of which fluidly connects the first and second chambers with each other. The openings are positioned along the distributor plate such as to cooperate with each other to define the boundary of the collection area. Further objects, features and advantages of this invention will become readily apparent to persons skilled in the art after a review of the following description, with reference to the drawings and claims that are appended to and form a part of this specification.

Universal insect repellant enclosure

A universal enclosure insect repellant enclosure is disclosed. An enclosure wherein at least one portion of the enclosure is comprised of a material incorporated with an insect repellant is provided. The enclosure may also comprise at least one opening. The at least one opening may include a door or a lid.

1. A system for repelling insects comprising: an enclosure configured to encompass at least one item to be protected from insects, wherein at least one portion of the enclosure is comprised of a material incorporated with an insect repellant. 2. The system recited in claim 1, wherein the enclosure comprises an electrical circuit enclosure. 3. The system recited in claim 1, wherein the enclosure comprises a control box. 4. The system recited in claim 1, wherein the material is capable of sustaining release of the insect repellant over a period of time. 5. The system recited in claim 1, wherein the material incorporates at least one of a sulfa derivative, a sulfonic ester derivative, a carboxylic amide derivative, and a carboxylate ester derivative. 6. The system recited in claim 1, wherein the material with the insect repellant comprises at least one of a polyacetal resin, a polyamide resin, a acrylonitrile butadiene styrene copolymer (ABS resin), a polystyrene (PS), a polyethylene (PE), a polypropylene (PP), a polycarbonate (PC), a vinyl chloride resin (PVC), a polybutylene terephthalate (PBT), a polyethylene terephthalate (PET), a polyphenylene oxide (PPO), and a thermoplastic elastomer 7. The system recited in claim 1, wherein the enclosure comprises at least one opening. 8. The system recited in claim 7, wherein the material incorporated with the insect repellant is located along a perimeter of the at least one opening. 9. The system recited in claim 7, further comprising one or more lids for the at least one opening. 10. The system recited in claim 1, wherein the enclosure comprises at least one door. 11. The system recited in claim 10, wherein the material incorporated with the insect repellant is located along a perimeter of the at least one door. 12. The system recited in claim 1, wherein the at least one portion comprises one or more perimeters associated with the enclosure. 13. A universal enclosure for repelling insects comprising: an enclosure; one or more sides having perimeters associated with the enclosure; and a material incorporated with an insect repellant coupled to the perimeters of the one or more sides. 14. The system recited in claim 13, further comprising at least one door associated with the enclosure. 15. The system recited in claim 13, further comprising at least one opening associated with the enclosure. 16. A universal enclosure for repelling insects comprising: an enclosure having at least one opening; a material incorporating an insect repellant comprising areas of the enclosure adjacent to the at least one opening. 17. The universal enclosure recited in claim 18, wherein the material is capable of sustaining release of the insect repellant over a period of time. 18. A method for creating a universal enclosure for repelling insects, comprising: incorporating an insect repellant into one or more portions of material capable of sustaining release of the insect repellant over a period of time; and utilizing the one or more portions of the material in creating an enclosure. 19. The method recited in claim 18, further comprising forming the enclosure utilizing a molding technique.

<SOH> BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION <EOH>1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates generally to insect repellants, and more particularly to an insect repellant universal enclosure. 2. Description of Related Art Conventionally, many insect repelling resin products are designed for agricultural use. Some products may utilize a flared skirt-shaped resin product containing an arthropod repellant. When these products are mounted on stems of plants bearing fruits, nuts, flowers, etc., the additive effect of the skirt shape and the repellent prohibits or deters harmful insect, in particular fire ants or red imported fire ants (“RIFA”), that climb from the ground up the stem from surpassing the product and reaching the fruit, nuts, flowers on the stem. Thus, damage to agricultural products can be prevented. However, damage caused by insects is not limited to agricultural products, but extends to houses, vehicles, and other apparatuses that require hermetical sealability. For example, insects, such as ants, may penetrate apparatuses that are installed outdoors (e.g., traffic signal controllers) or apparatuses used outdoors (e.g., automobiles, motorcycles, tractors). Further, there have been numerous reports of such insects building nests in apparatuses installed outdoors in southern parts of the United States. One would not normally expect insects to gather in outdoor apparatuses such as traffic signal controllers since there is no food inside. However, wind and rain does not affect an inside of these outdoor apparatuses, and a somewhat constant temperature is maintained within these apparatuses even during winter seasons. Further, the insects may use the apparatus to shelter themselves from foreign enemies. Thus, the outdoor apparatus likely provides a comfortable and safe environment for the insects. Disadvantageously, penetration of the insects into the outdoor apparatuses may cause malfunctions in the outdoor apparatuses. Typically, insects such as ants or similar insects with small body sizes are able to penetrate into the outdoor apparatus even from a small gap. Once inside the outdoor apparatus, the insects may penetrate a control circuit via wiring. Often time, most of the insects die within the outdoor apparatus since the insects are not able to exit the outdoor apparatus. Consequently, a hormone-lie substance is discharged from the dead insect, and this substance becomes a factor in attracting further insects. The attracted insects similarly penetrate into the control circuit via the small gap and wiring of the outdoor apparatus. Insects that are not able to exit from the outdoor apparatus will continue to die within the outdoor apparatus. As this process repeats, the control circuit may eventually short circuit or become insulated and results in the malfunction of the outdoor apparatus. A conventional method of repelling insects comprises spraying a liquid insect repellent or placing a solid insect repellant in or around the apparatus. However, these methods typically only have an effect of several days to several weeks. Further, these methods are not suitable for an apparatus, such as a traffic signal controller, used for an extended period of time (e.g., five to tens years) since a long-term insect repellant effect is required. It would be time consuming and non-economical to perform these conventional methods every few weeks. Additionally, spraying liquid insect repellent may cause damage to sensitive outdoor apparatuses. Alternatively, the penetration of insects may be prevented by employing a device to heat the insect repellent, such as with a heater. The heating process will gradually discharge the insect repellant over time. However, since space is required for installing the heating device inside the apparatus, there are limitations for using such a method in existing apparatuses (i.e., the apparatuses are not designed with enough space for the heating device). Additionally, this method sometimes results in relatively expensive installation costs. Therefore, there is a need for a universal insect repellant enclosure.

<SOH> SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION <EOH>A universal insect repellant enclosure is provided. In one embodiment, a method for creating the universal insect repellant enclosure is provided. An insect repellant is incorporated into one or more portions of a material capable of sustaining release of the insect repellant over a period of time. The one or more portions of the material are then utilized to create an enclosure. In a universal enclosure according to one embodiment, an enclosure wherein at least one portion of the enclosure is comprised of a material incorporated with an insect repellant is provided.

Feather pointer

An apparatus for pointing to a computer screen of a computer includes an extension member having a spine to support a flexible member, a handle for a user to point the extension member at the computer screen and a hanger to hold the handle on the computer.

1. An apparatus for pointing to a computer screen of a computer, comprising: an extension member having a spine to support a flexible member; a handle for a user to point said extension member at said computer screen; a hanger to hold said handle on said computer. 2. An apparatus for pointing to a computer screen of a computer as in claim 1, wherein said flexible member includes pliable material. 3. An apparatus for pointing to a computer screen of a computer as in claim 2, wherein said pliable material is a feather like material. 4. An apparatus for pointing to a computer screen of a computer as in claim 2, wherein said pliable material is feather material. 5. An apparatus for pointing to a computer screen of a computer as in claim 1, wherein said hanger includes arms to hold said pointer. 6. An apparatus for pointing to a computer screen of a computer as in claim 5, wherein said handle includes a recessed cylinder to engage said arms. 7. An apparatus for pointing to a computer screen of a computer as in claim 1, wherein said hanger includes adhesive to mount said pointer on said computer screen.

<SOH> BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION <EOH>Cleaning aids and devices such as brushes, squeegees, ice and snow scrapers are known to those who use these devices for cleaning. These devices may be used widely to clean windows and other areas in all types of buildings and can be used to clean and scrape windshields or other windows in vehicles. However, these types of devices are not suitable for cleaning and removing dust, grime and finger prints from computer screens. Different types of screens such as CRT screens are used with for example computer monitors, television sets and other video display devices. Flat panel displays are becoming increasingly commonplace in today's commercial electronic devices. These flat-panel displays are finding widespread use in many new products such as cellular phones, personal digital assistants, camcorders and laptop personal computers. The generation of these hand-held electronic devices places stringent demands on their displays. The flat-panel displays in these devices are expected to be lightweight, portable, rugged, low-power and have high resolution. Displays having all these attributes will enable a wide variety of commercial applications in the future. Active-liquid-crystal displays are the leading flat-panel display technology. These displays are ubiquitous in laptops. The display is composed of a grid or matrix of picture elements known as pixels. Thousands or millions of these pixels together create the image on the display. Thin-film transistors turn each pixel on for light or off for dark. With the CRT monitor, glass is used as the starting material in the display fabrication process. Glass has excellent optical clarity and is compatible with chemicals used in standard semiconductor processing. As a result, the displays must be handled carefully to avoid breakage. However, if plastic is employed as the starting material for display fabrication, the display can be lightweight, rugged and also flexible. However, using plastic as a display has problems. A user and his/her friends will eventually touch the screen. It is a natural tendency in the course of a meeting for someone to express his/hers opinion by pointing and poking at the screen. This is something that happens every day and will continue to happen every day. Cleaning glass is straightforward in that if a smudge or fingerprint is left on the glass display, cleaning can be perform by many chemicals without harming the glass display. Flat panel displays are sensitive and can be damaged very easily by pushing and poking the screen. A plastic screen should not be cleaned with anything other then a dry soft cloth. It is important to keep user's hands off the computer screen.

<SOH> SUMMARY <EOH>The present invention allows people to point, poke, and push at the screen without damaging or leaving marks on the screen. Because a soft pliable material is used to touch the screen, touching the screen does not affect the operation of the screen and does not leave marks on the screen. The apparatus of the present invention does not create static electricity and can be used as a tool for cleaning and dusting the flat-panel display without affecting the operation of the screen. Additionally, the apparatus of the present invention can be used for cleaning the keyboard without creating static electricity. The present invention includes a space saving side mounting hanger for the apparatus of the present invention. The apparatus of the present invention has a handle and hanger which could be made out of wood, molded plastic, aluminum or metal.

Method and system for transferring information

A method and system for application-to-application data exchange which provides data conversion from the format of a source application to the format of a target application upon receipt of data by the target application. To achieve compatibility among applications exchanging data, the preferred system uses a standard set of terms and process names for building metadata packets that inform both applications as to their respective data representation. A metadata packet includes a standard name and application specific data format, as well as an optional associated process name. Source metadata provided in connection with source application-specific data enables the conversion of the source format to the format compatible with the target. This method eliminates data conversion at the source application.

1-5. (canceled) 6. A method of building a metadata packet for transmitting source data having a representation consistent with a source application having an application-specific unconverted file data format to a target system, said representation defined by said metadata packet comprising the steps of: storing application definition for said source data comprising application-specific names and application-specific data formats; matching the application-specific names in the definition to standard names; creating said metadata packet from the matched standard names; and, storing the created metadata packet entries each of which comprises a name selected from the standard names and one of the application-specific data formats. 7. The method of claim 6 further comprising storing at least one standard process name as part of the metadata packet entries. 8. The method of claim 6 wherein the step of matching comprises using a graphical user interface. 9. The method of claim 6 further comprising displaying suggested names that may correspond to one of the standard names. 10-13. (canceled) 14-17. (canceled) 18-30. (canceled) 31. A system of building a metadata packet for transmitting source data having a representation consistent with a source application having an application-specific unconverted file data format to a target system, said representation defined by said metadata packet comprising: means for storing application definition of said source data comprising application-specific names and application-specific data formats; means for matching the application-specific names in the definition to standard names; and means for creating said metadata packet from the matched standard names; memory for storing the created metadata packet which comprises a name selected from the standard names and one of the application-specific data formats. 32. The system of claim 31 further comprising memory for storing at least one standard process name as part of the metadata packet entries. 33. The system of claim 31 wherein the means for matching includes using a graphical user interface. 34. The system of claim 31 further comprising means for displaying suggested names that may correspond to one of the standard names. 35-43. (canceled) 44. The system of claim 33 wherein the graphical user interface includes: means for selecting a standard term correlated to a corresponding term in the stored application definition. 45. The system of claim 44 further comprising a repository having stored therein at least one standard process name adapted to be invoked by a application; wherein the graphical user interface further includes: means for selecting a process name from said repository for entry in said metadata packet. 46. The method of claim 6 wherein the step of matching comprises the step of: selecting a standard term correlated to a corresponding term in the stored application definition. 47. The method of claim 46 wherein the step of matching comprises the step of: selecting a process name from a repository for entry in said metadata packet. 48. A method of communicating source data from a source system to a target system wherein the source system and target system have incompatible application-specific data formats, comprising the steps of: establishing a repository of standard names and processes correlated to application-specific names, processes and application-specific data format of said source data; retrieving said source data having a representation consistent with a source application having an application-specific unconverted file data format, said representation defined by a source metadata packet; creating said source metadata packet corresponding to the source data from information in said repository, wherein the source metadata packet includes at least one entry comprising a standard name corresponding to at least one name used by the source application and a definition of a related data representation used by the source application; and, transmitting said source data having said application-specific unconverted file data format and said source metadata packet to the target system. 49. The method of claim 48 wherein the creating step comprises the step of: storing at least one standard process name as part of the metadata packet. 50. The method of claim 48 wherein the creating step includes the step of: selecting a standard term correlated to a corresponding term in the repository for entry in said metadata packet. 51. The method of claim 50 wherein the creating step further includes the step of: selecting a process name from said repository for entry in said metadata packet.

<SOH> BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION <EOH>Electronic exchange of information is rapidly growing in significance for both businesses and individuals. Although communications infrastructure is available for transporting electronic messages, due to incompatible data formats of many applications, there are significant obstacles to exchanging electronic data dynamically, flexibly and easily. Paper-based transactions still persist even though they are slow and cumbersome, because paper documents are easily understood and available to most people engaged in commerce of any sort. This is not the case with computer data, because computer applications employing different data formats cannot interpret incompatible data. To unify data formats employed by computer applications, the electronic data interchange (EDI) standard has been developed. This standard, however, has not been widely accepted because it does not effectively facilitate electronic transactions. The EDI standard enforces a specific data format and requires each participant to an electronic transaction to output its data in the format consistent with the standard. To conform to the standard, user's-typically need to modify their applications and databases, which are inordinate tasks. To complicate the matter further, when the standard changes it is frequently necessary to alter user applications and convert their databases again to accommodate new features. Thus, the currently available standard is so cumbersome and expensive to implement and use that it does not meet the needs of a broad community of users that require electronic exchange of information. Also, due to the great expense associated with modifying the existing standard, it is unduly rigid and does not dynamically adapt to the constantly changing commercial environment. Because the standard dictates the types of transactions that can be implemented through electronic data transfers, it severely limits business practices. Accordingly, there is a need for a system and method of exchanging information among diverse applications that is based on a standard which is readily adaptable to changing commercial environments. Also, there is a need for a system that does not require complex, time consuming and error-prone modifications of the existing applications and databases in order to facilitate information exchange. Furthermore, there is a need for a standard and associated methods and system that can be readily adapted by a broad community of users who desire to exchange information.

<SOH> SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION <EOH>The preferred embodiment of this invention provides a novel method and apparatus for readily and effectively exchanging electronic information between heterogenous applications. The preferred embodiment employs a new standard providing consistent names for data elements (e.g., data structure entries, fields of records, etc.) and associated processes. The standard enables users to define data relationships and specify data manipulation protocols so as to facilitate information exchange without changing existing computer applications, even if they use different data formats. In addition, the preferred embodiment minimizes the need for extensive “setup” time and arrangements before initiating electronic data exchanges among heterogeneous applications. Furthermore, the process-oriented standard of the preferred embodiment is well-suited for implementation using object technology and metadata management of open system architectures. More specifically, the system and method of the preferred embodiment employ repositories of standard terms and standard process names. The standard terms (also referred to as “standard names”) define data elements that are commonly transmitted by applications and the process names define processes commonly used in connection with such data elements, e.g., functions that validate data. For each data element that can be transmitted by an application, the preferred system builds a metadata packet entry that defines the data element such that it is readily “understood” and interpreted by other applications employing a different data format. A collection of such metadata packet entries forms a metadata packet that defines a data structure, a record, or another collection of related data. In the discussion below, all such collections of application's related data may be referred to as data structure. Metadata packet entries include standard names coupled with application-specific data format definitions. If a given data element defined by a metadata entry is associated with a function (e.g., with a validation procedure), a metadata packet entry may also include such standard function names. The names (also referred to as “terms”) in a metadata packet are readily understood by another application having access to the same standard repositories, and because application-specific data formats are defined as part of each metadata packet, incoming data can be readily converted to the format consistent with a recipient (target) application. The process of building metadata packets is incomparably easier than modifying applications, as customarily done in the prior art, because the existing data structures of the application do not need to change. After metadata packets have been defined and stored for each communicating application, the applications can transfer data without regard for specific data formats used by the recipients. To transmit information, the source application (i.e., the application that transmits data) sends both actual data elements formatted in accordance with the source—application format and the corresponding one or more metadata packets. (As noted, a metadata packet represents, for example, a data structure or a record). At the target end (e.g., at the system supporting the target application that receives data), the received source data can be readily converted for input to the target application because the source and target metadata packets use the same standard terms and their respective data formats are defined by metadata. In the preferred embodiment, the conversion of the data transmitted by the source application to the format compatible with the target application is target-data-structure driven. That is, target metadata is retrieved and matched with the corresponding source data structure defined by the source metadata. In the event that certain data elements required by the target application are not included in the source data structure defined by the source metadata packet, a default value is supplied during the data conversion. Thus, the resultant converted data is compatible with the target application. Accordingly, to communicate information, a source application does not perform any data conversion and does not even need to “know” what data format is compatible with the target application. Advantageously, the data structures in the source and target systems remain unchanged, while the metadata provides effective communication among applications. It is apparent that the method and system of the preferred embodiment provides a dramatic improvement over current practices. The preferred standard uses only standard names and does not impose specific data formats. Due to its simplicity, the standard can dynamically change so as to stay current and consistent with business practices. Users can readily adapt to the changes in the standard by building new metadata packets and without changing their applications software. Another one of many advantages of the preferred method and system is that different applications that use incompatible data representations can communicate without converting data to another representation regardless of specific representations compatible with intended recipients. This mode of communication is possible-because the transmitted data is converted at the target end of the data transfer based on the transmitted one or more metadata packets. It should also be noted that the method and system of the preferred embodiment is not limited to supporting information exchange by remotely located source and target applications, wherein the corresponding source and target systems communicate over a network. It can, for example, be employed within the same system and within the same application. Also, as understood by a person skilled in the art, the preferred method and system are not limited to commercial transactions and can be employed in a vast variety of applications without any limitation to a specific area.

Roller mounting assembly for textile drafting system

A textile drafting system which is composed of a pair of coaxially mounted and rotatably driven lower rollers mounted to the frame of a textile processing unit, and a pair of upper rollers mounted adjacent the free end of a pivotally mounted weighting arm so that the upper rollers press downwardly against the lower rollers. A pair of clearer rollers are also mounted to the weighting arm so as to engage the upper rollers. The upper rollers and the clearer rollers are mounted to a common bracket which is adjustable along the length of the arm to accommodate different staple fiber lengths in the yarn which is being processed, and the upper rollers and the clearer rollers can be jointly moved with the bracket along the weighting arm without additional adjustment of the upper rollers and clearer rollers with respect to each other.

1. A roller mounting assembly for use in a drafting system in a textile processing machine, comprising an upper roller support and weighting arm which defines a longitudinal direction and is configured to be pivotally mounted to the textile processing machine for pivotal movement about an axis which is transverse to the longitudinal direction, a mounting bracket releasably mounted to the arm so as to permit the mounting bracket to be released and moved in the longitudinal direction along the arm between selected mounting positions, at least one upper roller and an associated clearer roller supported by the mounting bracket so that after releasing the mounting bracket it is possible to displace the upper roller and the clearer roller jointly along the arm without additional adjustment of the upper roller and clearer roller relative to each other. 2. The roller mounting assembly of claim 1, wherein the mounting bracket comprises a pair of lateral side walls which engage respective opposite sides of the upper roller support and weighting arm from the underside thereof. 3. The roller mounting assembly of claim 1, wherein the mounting bracket comprises an upwardly open slotted guideway which receives a coaxial mounting axle for the clearer roller, and wherein one end of the mounting axle of the clearer roller includes a retaining device comprising at least one collar which engages behind the slotted guideway. 4. The roller mounting assembly of claim 1, wherein the upper roller support and weighting arm and the mounting bracket are constructed such that they form an electrically conductive connection between the upper roller and a frame of the textile processing machine. 5. The roller mounting assembly of claim 1, wherein the mounting bracket comprises a base body and a steering member for receiving a coaxial mounting axle for the upper roller, with the base body comprising sheet metal and the steering member comprising an elastic material. 6. The roller mounting assembly of claim 1, wherein the upper roller support and weighting arm comprises on its underside guide flanges and that the mounting bracket includes guide slots, with the guide flanges engaging the guide slots. 7. The roller mounting assembly of claim 2, wherein the lateral side walls of the mounting bracket each comprise a slot formed as a guideway for guiding a mounting axle for the upper roller. 8. A roller mounting assembly for use in a drafting system in a textile processing machine, comprising an upper roller support and weighting arm which defines a longitudinal direction and is configured to be pivotally mounted to the textile processing machine for pivotal movement about an axis which is transverse to the longitudinal direction, a mounting bracket releasably mounted to the arm so as to permit the mounting bracket to be released and moved in the longitudinal direction along the arm between selected mounting positions, a pair of upper rollers coaxially mounted to a common axle which extends between the upper rollers, a pair of clearer rollers each coaxially mounted to a separate mounting axle, said mounting bracket including a generally U-shaped base body which includes a pair of laterally spaced apart and parallel side walls, with said side walls including downwardly open and laterally aligned slots for receiving the axle of the upper rollers therein, and with said side walls further including generally upwardly open and laterally aligned slotted guideways for respectively receiving the mounting axles of the clearer rollers therein, with the clearer rollers positioned to engage respective ones of the upper rollers, whereby after releasing the mounting bracket it is possible to displace the upper rollers and the clearer rollers jointly along the arm without additional adjustment of the upper rollers and clearer rollers relative to each other. 9. The roller mounting assembly of claim 8, wherein the generally upwardly open slotted guideways each include a bottom ledge for limiting the movement of the axles of the clearer rollers toward the axle of the upper rollers. 10. The roller mounting assembly of claim 8 wherein the axles of the clearer rollers each include a pair of axially spaced apart flanges for engaging the respective side walls of the base body and so as to limit the axial movement of the axles of the clearer rollers in the upwardly open slots.

<SOH> BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION <EOH>The present invention relates to a drafting system for textile spinning units, and particularly to a roller mounting assembly for such a system. The fiber material being spun is normally fed to the spinning units in the form of rovings or feed yarns, which advance through a drafting system upstream of the spinning unit. During the spinning operation, waste fibers may wrap in an undesired manner about the rollers or cylinders of the drafting systems. If fiber material adhering to a drafting roller separates and enters the path of the advancing roving, which is also referred to as a yarn track herein, undesired knots or thick places may result in the roving and subsequently lead to intolerable imperfections in the yarn. It is therefore common to remove waste fibers from the drafting rollers by means of clearer rollers. The clearer rollers are rotated by frictional engagement with the operating rollers of the drafting system, and provided with a covering. DE 44 29 671 C1 discloses an upper roller support arm with an alternative design of a mounting support for the upper rollers. The upper rollers are supported in so-called steering members, which are mounted for longitudinal displacement and locking engagement in the upper roller support arm. The weighting of the upper rollers occurs by means of a tubular pressure element, which receives compressed air from a source of compressed air. All steering members can be biased via pressure plates with a weighting pressure. The disclosed mounting support is used exclusively for supporting the upper rollers. EP 0 344 944 A1 discloses a drafting system, in which the upper roller support and weighting arm comprises a plurality of upper rollers with associated clearer rollers. In the operating position, the upper rollers are moved toward the lower rollers and weighted down. In this connection, they form with the lower rollers nip lines. The upper roller support and weighting arm mounts on each side clearer rollers, which each extend over only one yarn track. Upper rollers and clearer rollers are each provided with separate mounting supports. The upper rollers are mounted on holding arms, which are supported in the interior of the U-shaped, downwardly open upper roller support and weighting arm for pivoting about horizontal axles. A pivotal support of this type requires a large space in the upper roller support and weighting arm. The installation of pneumatic pressure elements in the upper roller support and weighting arm, which permit weighting and relieving the upper rollers both in a uniform and simple manner, is not possible or possible only to a limited extent. The axles of the clearer rollers are inserted into a mounting support, which is secured to the top of the upper roller support and weighting arm for displacement in the longitudinal direction thereof. The described mounting support of the upper rollers and clearer rollers requires a relatively large space. For textile technological reasons, it may be necessary to make an adaptation to the staple length of the fiber material, and to change to this end the distance between the nip lines formed by the paired rollers of the drafting system. This distance is also referred to as the nip spacing. Such a position change requires not only a manual adjustment or readjustment of the upper and lower rollers of the drafting system but also of all clearer rollers that interact with these readjusted rollers. The total labor requirements can be extensive in the case of the plurality of the spinning positions of a spinning machine that is equipped with conventional drafting systems, and lead to noticeable shutdown times of the spinning units. Based on the above-described state of the art, it is an object of the invention to improve the mounting support for upper rollers and clearer rollers in drafting systems of spinning machines.

<SOH> SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION <EOH>The above and other objects and advantages of the invention are achieved by the provision of a novel roller mounting assembly which is configured to mount the upper rolls of the drafting system in a mounting bracket so as to be above the lower driven rolls of the drafting system, and with the clearer rolls being mounted in the same mounting bracket so as to be above the upper rollers. The configuration of the mounting bracket in accordance with the invention provides a common mounting support for upper rollers and clearer rollers, which is stable and excellently suited for a cost-favorable series manufacture. The number of the components to be manufactured and assembled for the mounting support is reduced. In the case of a common mount of respectively interacting upper rollers and clearer rollers of the drafting system, only one adjustment step will be needed for changing the nip spacing. The clearer roller associated to the upper roller will move along, when it becomes necessary to change the distances between nips for a new spinning process by displacing the upper rollers. An additional adjustment of the position of the clearer rollers is not needed for adapting them to the new position of the upper rollers. It is thus possible to reduce the manual labor that is required for changing the distances between nips and the therewith connected shutdown time. When the mounting bracket comprises lateral side walls, which engage the upper roller support and weighting arm from the bottom on both sides, the upper side of the upper roller support and weighting arm remains free from components for mounting the clearer rollers. It is easily possible to provide there functional elements such as, for example, an operating lever. The clearer rollers are easy to insert into the lateral side walls. The mounting bracket requires little space. There remains adequate space in the interior of the upper roller support and weighting arm, for example, for tubular pressure elements, which are used to weight down the upper rollers. In an advantageous form of realization, one end of the clearer roller axle is constructed as a retaining device that comprises a collar. The retaining device engages behind a slotted guideway of the mounting element. Such a configuration permits arranging on each side of the upper roller support and weighting arm a clearer roller, whose axle is unilaterally supported. With that, it becomes possible to change a nip spacing on each individual upper roller support and weighting arm independently of adjacent upper roller support and weighting arms. In the case of such a configuration, it is not necessary to adapt the adjustment of facing bearings on respectively facing sides of adjacent upper roller support and weighting arms. An electrically conductive connection between the upper roller and the machine frame prevents the upper roller from being electrostatically charged. Such an electrostatic charge may lead to operational malfunctions and yarn imperfections. The mounting bracket of the invention offers the possibility of selecting its manufacture from sheet steel. A mounting bracket of sheet steel can be rapidly manufactured and in a cost-favorable manner by manufacturing steps such as cutting and bending, and it excellently withstands the stresses that are to be applied as a functional requirement. The mounting bracket when made from sheet steel has a relatively low weight and occupies little space. Guide flanges and guide slots make it possible to slide the mounting bracket with ease and continuously in the longitudinal direction of the upper roller support and weighting arm for the purposes of adjusting the rollers. When the axle of the upper rollers is held only by the elastic receptacle of a steering member, the upper roller may assume an undesired tilt. The tilt may reach an extent that adversely affects operation. If the lateral side walls of the mounting bracket comprise a slotted guideway, which forms in addition to the mount by the steering member element, a guidance for the axle of the upper rollers will be possible to prevent such a tilt from occurring. The mounting bracket permits constructing a steering member that mounts the axle of the upper rollers such that it has only a relatively small width and consists in a cost-favorable manner of an elastic plastic, without having to accept the above-described disadvantages.

Cardiac sensing and detection using subcutaneous ECG signals and heart sounds

A method and device for detecting cardiac signals that includes a first plurality of electrodes that senses cardiac signals and delivers therapy, and a second plurality of electrodes that senses the cardiac signals. A microprocessor detects a cardiac event in response to the sensing by the first plurality of electrodes, and verifies the cardiac event in response to the sensing by the second plurality of electrodes.

1. A medical device, comprising; a first plurality of electrodes sensing cardiac signals and delivering therapy; a second plurality of electrodes sensing the cardiac signals; and a microprocessor detecting a cardiac event in response to the sensing by the first plurality of electrodes, wherein the microprocessor verifies the cardiac event in response to the sensing by the second plurality of electrodes. 2. The device of claim 1, further comprising a device housing capable of being subcutaneously positioned within a patient, the microprocessor being positioned within the device housing, wherein the first plurality of electrodes and the second plurality of electrodes are positioned along the device housing. 3. The device of claim 1, further comprising: a device housing capable of being subcutaneously positioned within a patient, the microprocessor being positioned within the device housing; and a lead body extending from the device housing, wherein the first plurality of electrodes are positioned along the lead body and the second plurality of electrodes are positioned along the device housing. 4. The device of claim 3, wherein the lead body is capable of being subcutaneously positioned within the patient. 5. The device of claim 1, wherein the second plurality of electrodes include an acoustic sensor. 6. The device of claim 1, further comprising: a device housing capable of being subcutaneously positioned within a patient, the microprocessor being positioned within the device housing; a header block positioned on the device housing; and a lead body extending from the header block and capable of being subcutaneously positioned within the patient, wherein the first plurality of electrodes are positioned along one of the device housing and the lead body and the second plurality of electrodes are positioned along the header block. 7. The device of claim 1, further comprising: a device housing capable of being subcutaneously positioned within a patient, the microprocessor being positioned within the device housing; a header block positioned on the device housing; a first lead body extending from the header block; and a second lead body extending from the header block, wherein the first plurality of electrodes are positioned along one of the device housing and the first lead body and the second plurality of electrodes are positioned along one of the header block and the second lead body. 8. The device of claim 1, further comprising: control circuitry controlling output from the first plurality of electrodes and the second plurality of electrodes, wherein the control circuitry initiates sensing of the cardiac signals by the second plurality of electrodes in response to the microprocessor detecting the cardiac event. 9. The device of claim 1, wherein the microprocessor generates a first sensed signal from cardiac signals sensed by the second plurality of electrodes concomitant to the sensing by the first plurality of electrodes and determines whether the first sensed signal has one of a frequency less than signals associated with the sensing by the first plurality of electrodes and a regular beat pattern relative to the sensing by the first plurality of electrodes. 10. The device of claim 1, wherein the microprocessor generates a first sensed signal from cardiac signals sensed by the second plurality of electrodes concomitant to the sensing by the first plurality of electrodes, determines whether a timing of the first sensed signal is approximately equal to signals associated with the sensing by the first plurality of electrodes and determines whether the first sensed signal indicates a change in patient status. 11. The device of claim 10, wherein the change in patient status corresponds to one of decreased patient activity, decreased hemodynamic output, and decreased local tissue perfusion. 12. A method of detecting cardiac signals, comprising: sensing cardiac signals via a first plurality of electrodes to generate a sensed signal; determining whether the first sensed signal corresponds to a cardiac event; sensing the cardiac signals via a second plurality of electrodes; and verifying the cardiac event in response to the sensing via the second plurality of electrodes. 13. The method of claim 12, wherein the first plurality of electrodes and the second plurality of electrodes are positioned along a device housing capable of being subcutaneously implanted within a patient. 14. The method of claim 12, wherein the second plurality of electrodes are positioned along a device housing capable of being subcutaneously positioned within a patient and the first plurality of electrodes are positioned along a lead body extending from the device housing. 15. The method of claim 14, wherein the lead body is capable of being subcutaneously positioned within the patient. 16. The method of claim 12, wherein the second plurality of electrodes include an acoustic sensor. 17. The method of claim 12, wherein the first plurality of electrodes are positioned along one of a device housing capable of being subcutaneously positioned within a patient and a lead body extending from a header block positioned on the device housing, and the second plurality of electrodes are positioned along the header block. 18. The method of claim 12, wherein the first plurality of electrodes are positioned along one of a device housing capable of being subcutaneously positioned within a patient and a first lead body extending from a header block positioned on the device housing, and the second plurality of electrodes are positioned along one of the header block and a second lead body extending from the header block. 19. The method of claim 12, further comprising generating a first sensed signal from cardiac signals sensed by the second plurality of electrodes concomitant to the sensing by the first plurality of electrodes and determining whether the first sensed signal has one of a frequency less than signals associated with the sensing by the first plurality of electrodes and a regular beat pattern relative to the sensing by the first plurality of electrodes. 20. The method of claim 12, further comprising: generating a first sensed signal from cardiac signals sensed by the second plurality of electrodes concomitant to the sensing by the first plurality of electrodes; determining whether a timing of the first sensed signal is approximately equal to signals associated with the sensing by the first plurality of electrodes; and determining whether the first sensed signal indicates a change in patient status. 21. The method of claim 20, wherein the change in patient status corresponds to one of decreased patient activity, decreased hemodynamic output, and decreased local tissue perfusion.

<SOH> BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION <EOH>Implantable medical devices (IMDs) have many functions including the delivery of therapies to cardiac patients, neuro-stimulators, muscular stimulators, and so forth. For purposes of this application reference will be made only to implantable cardiac devices, it being understood that the principles herein may have applicability to other implantable medical devices as well. An implantable cardiac device (ICD) may be a device commonly referred to as a pacemaker, which is used to stimulate the heart into a contraction if the sinus node of the heart is not properly timing, or pacing, the contractions of the heart. Modern cardiac devices also perform many other functions beyond that of pacing. For example, some cardiac devices may also perform therapies such as defibrillation and cardioversion as well as providing several different pacing therapies, depending upon the needs of the user and the physiologic condition of the user's heart. For convenience, all types of implantable cardiac devices will be referred to herein as ICDs, it being understood that the term, unless otherwise indicated, is inclusive of an implantable device capable of administering any of a number of therapies to the heart of the user. In typical use, an ICD is implanted in a convenient location usually under the skin of the user and in the vicinity of the one or more major arteries or veins. One or more electrical leads connected to the pacemaker are inserted into or on the heart of the user, usually through a convenient vein or artery. The ends of the leads are placed in contact with the walls or surface of one or more chambers of the heart, depending upon the particular therapies deemed appropriate for the user. One or more of the leads is adapted to carry a current from the pacemaker to the heart tissue to stimulate the heart in one of several ways, again depending upon the particular therapy being delivered. The leads are simultaneously used for sensing the physiologic signals provided by the heart to determine when to deliver a therapeutic pulse to the heart, and the nature of the pulse, e.g., a pacing pulse or a defibrillation shock. There has been recent interest in development of implantable defibrillators that may be inserted entirely subcutaneously or sub-muscularly, having no leads or electrodes positioned within the thoracic cavity. The elimination of transvenous or epicardial leads is believed likely to allow for implant of the devices by a wider range of physicians, in some cases at a lower cost than traditional ICDs. Absence of transvene or epicardial leads may reduce acute and long term complications. Such devices, are therefore believed to offer the opportunity for increased levels of use, particularly for prophylactic implant. US Application Publication Nos. 2002/0042634, 200200068958 and 2002/0035377 to Bardy et al., are exemplary of current thinking with regard to such subcutaneous ICDs. Additional subcutaneous ICDs are disclosed in US Application Publication No. 20020082658 by Heinrich et al. and PCT publication WO/04043919A2 by Olson. All of the above cited applications and publications are incorporated herein by reference in their entireties. One potential problem associated with the sensing of the physiologic signal from the heart in both the transvenous systems and the subcutaneous systems relates to what is often referred to as “false positive” and “false negative” detections. The most widely accepted detection algorithm is based on the rate of depolarizations of the ventricles, or simply on “heart rate”. Such algorithms rely on detecting events based upon signals obtained between two electrodes positioned within or on the heart. If the number of detected events per a given time is greater than a preset value, then the device charges an energy storage capacitor and then shocks the heart; otherwise no shock is delivered. However, cutaneous and subcutaneous ECG signals can sometimes be corrupted by muscle noise and/or other artifacts, such as baseline wander, for example, making reliable R-wave sensing problematic. Accordingly, what is needed is a method and apparatus for improving detection of arrhythmias in a medical device.

<SOH> BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS <EOH>Aspects and features of the present invention will be readily appreciated as they become better understood by reference to the following detailed description when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein: FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a an exemplary medical device of a type in which the present invention may usefully be practiced; FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of an exemplary medical device of a type in which the present invention may usefully be practiced; FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of an exemplary medical device of a type in which the present invention may usefully be practiced; FIG. 4 is a functional schematic diagram of the medical device of FIG. 1 , in which the present invention may usefully be practiced; FIG. 5 is a functional schematic diagram of the medical device of FIG. 2 according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 6 is a functional schematic diagram of the medical device of FIG. 3 according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of an exemplary medical device according to an embodiment of the present invention; and FIG. 8 is a flowchart of a method for detecting cardiac signals in a medical device according to an embodiment of the present invention. detailed-description description="Detailed Description" end="lead"?

Method for acquiring dynamic magnetic resonance signals for tomography

In a method for acquiring dynamically varying magnetic resonance signals, a respiration cycle of a patient is monitored in a learning phase. Acquisition of varying signals ensues with the highest possible temporal resolution in an initial phase with a breath-hold by the patient. Slowly varying signals are subsequently acquired with lower temporal resolution in a movement phase and with free respiration of the patient. The signal acquisitions are initiated by a pre-established trigger condition.

1. A method for acquiring dynamic magnetic resonance signals for magnetic resonance tomography, comprising the steps of: in an Initial phase of a signal acquisition procedure, acquiring a varying magnetic resonance signal from a subject with a highest available temporal resolution; in a subsequent movement phase of said signal acquisition procedure, automatically acquiring a signal representing a physiological event of the subject; in said movement phase, also acquiring said varying magnetic resonance signal from the subject; and relating the varying magnetic resonance signal acquired during said movement phase to said physiological event. 2. A method as claimed in claim 1 comprising making a plurality of signal acquisitions of said dynamic magnetic resonance signal in said initial phase, and automatically transitioning, in said signal acquisition procedure, from said initial phase to said movement phase after a predetermined number of said signal acquisitions. 3. A method as claimed in claim 1 comprising acquiring said varying magnetic resonance signal in said movement phase dependent on a pre-established trigger condition. 4. A method as claimed in claim 1 comprising acquiring said varying magnetic signal in said movement phase dependent on a trigger condition, and allowing changing of said trigger condition during said movement phase. 5. A method as claimed in claim 1 comprising, in a learning phase of said signal acquisition procedure preceding said initial phase, also acquiring said signal representing said physiological event, and analyzing said signal representing said physiological event to establish a trigger condition and, in said movement phase, acquiring said varying magnetic resonance signal dependent on said trigger condition. 6. A method as claimed in claim 5 comprising, in a start phase of said signal acquisition procedure between said learning phase and said initial phase, injecting a contrast agent into the subject. 7. A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein the step of automatically acquiring a signal representing a physiological event of the subject comprises automatically acquiring a signal representing respiration of the subject. 8. A method as claimed in claim 7 comprising, in said initial phase, acquiring said varying magnetic resonance signals from the subject during a breath-hold by the subject. 9. A method as claimed in claim 8 comprising, in a start phase of said signal acquisition procedure preceding said initial phase, injecting a contrast agent into the subject and, after a predetermined number of respiration cycles by the subject, instructing the subject to begin said breath-hold. 10. A method as claimed in claim 1 comprising generating magnetic resonance data from the acquired varying magnetic resonance signals and generating an image of the subject from said measurement data, and subjecting said measurement data to a motion correction procedure to remove movement artifacts from said image.

<SOH> BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION <EOH>1. Field of the Invention The present invention concerns a method for acquiring dynamic magnetic resonance signals in magnetic resonance tomography. 2. Description of the Prior Art Adaptation of the temporal resolution of the measurement of speeds of signal variations is necessary in the acquisition of dynamically varying magnetic resonance signals that are used to generate a tomographic image. Faster signal variations thus must be acquired with higher temporal resolution than slower varying signals. A fast signal change occurs, in particular shortly after the injection of a contrast agent into the subject, while the signals vary substantially slower after what is known as the first-pass effect, i.e., as soon as the contrast agent has, for example, passed the liver of a patient. It is desirable to adapt the temporal resolution to the speed of the signal variation during the signal acquisition. Moreover, as is always the case, unwanted signal variations (as are created, for example, by a movement or respiration of the patient) generate measurement artifacts and therefore must be compensated or prevented. One possibility for reducing measurement artifacts due to movements or breathing by the patient is to implement the entire acquisition (scan) with the highest possible temporal resolution. Movements of an organ that are created due to breathing or movement of the patient then are not of importance during the acquisition of signals (data) for a single image since they ensue distinctly slower than the image acquisition, The influence of movement on a series of images is visible, however, such that in that case correction measures are necessary. In particular, in the case of movements perpendicular to the slice plane these correction measures are possible only with three-dimensional, with the temporal resolution being substantially clearly less for purely two-dimensional measurements. Additionally a large data quantity results due to the high temporal resolution, particularly for longer examinations. Another possibility for preventing measurement artifacts due to breathing of the patient is to implement the measurement during a breath-hold by the patient. The signal is acquired with the highest possible temporal resolution during the breath-hold. However, after a relatively short scan duration a pause is necessary so that the patient can breath again. It is nearly impossible to repeat the scan with the patient in the identical respiratory position as before, during a subsequent breath-hold by the patient. Elaborate correction methods are in turn necessary for compensation of the different respiratory positions respectively in successive scans. Furthermore, it is possible to acquire the breathing motion (for example using a navigator echo) in a discrete measurement and to use it for correction of the actual measurement data. This method requires a high time expenditure because the breathing motion must be acquired in a separate measurement. Moreover, it is difficult to correct the complex three-dimensional movement of the organs during a breathing cycle. Furthermore, it is possible to combine various methods. Thus the quickly varying signals can be acquired first with the highest possible temporal resolution during a breath-hold by the patient, and after this the slowly varying signals are acquired during free respiration of the patient. In principle the same difficulties explained above still occur particularly during the signal acquisition during free respiration.

<SOH> SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION <EOH>An object of the present invention to provide a method for acquiring dynamically varying (changing) magnetic resonance signals in which both rapidly varying and slowly varying signals are acquired and the measurement artifacts are minimized. This object is achieved in accordance with the invention by a method wherein, in an initial phase, the varying signal is acquired with the highest available temporal resolution and in a subsequent movement phase of the scan, a physiological event of the patient is automatically acquired and the varying signal is acquired further. The acquisition during the movement phase is related to the physiological event, for example respiration of the patient. As already described, in known methods problems occur due to measurement artifacts in the acquisition of signals with varying dynamics that, for example, initially vary rapidly and subsequently vary slowly. In the inventive method, the specified combination of the two measurement phases for the different signal variations produces a decisive reduction of the measurement artifacts compared to known measurement methods. For example, during the initial phase the rapidly varying signal is measured with the highest possible temporal resolution and the slowly varying signal is measured in the subsequently movement phase. A further advantage of the inventive method in which signal acquisition occurs continuously only with the maximal temporal resolution is a significantly reduced data quantity, because an unnecessarily large number of images, which may not be necessary for the diagnosis are not acquired in the acquisition of the slowly-varying signals. In an embodiment of the method, after a pre-established number of signal acquisitions during the initial phase the physiological event is automatically analyzed in the movement phase. Acquisition of measurement data thereby ensues only during a specific part of the physiological event, for example the respiration of the patient. The acquisition is initiated by a pre-established trigger condition, for example a breathing position advantageous for the acquisition of the measurement data. Due to the established trigger condition, the organs to be examined are located in nearly the same position for each acquisition of measurement data, such that measurement artifacts are prevented as much as possible. The ability to change the trigger condition during the movement phase can be integrated into the method. This allows adjustment to variations of the physiological event that occur during the measurement procedure. In a further embodiment, a learning phase is provided before the initial phase of the measurement procedure, during which learning phase the physiological event is acquired and analyzed and the trigger condition is adapted. The trigger condition Is thereby adjusted to the respective patient and his or her physiological event in each measurement procedure. A further embodiment of the method includes the injection of a contrast agent at the end of a start phase that temporally lies between the learning phase and the initial phase. The measurement of the fast signal variations resulting from the injection begins immediately after this injection, in the initial phase. An optimal imaging of the signal variations caused by migration or perfusion of the contrast agent is thus possible. A physiological event that is particularly suitable for monitoring is breathing of the patient. In an embodiment, breathing is monitored and a selected respiratory position, preferably end expiration, is defined as the trigger condition. The monitoring of the respiration can ensue, for example, using a navigator echo or a respiration belt. The method, however, is not limited to breathing as the physiological event. For example, a cardiac rhythm also can be used as a physiological event. Acquisition of the fast signal variations during the initial phase advantageous ensues during a breath-hold by the patient. Movement artifacts are thus prevented during this phase of the measurement procedure. The known methods for correction of measurement artifacts can advantageously be combined with the inventive method in order to correct small measurement artifacts that may possibly remain.

Electric power transmission device and electric power transmission method

In an electric power transmission device in which a primary side power transmission coil (L1) and a secondary side power receiving coil (L2) are magnetically coupled, and electric power is transmitted from the primary side power transmission coil (L1) to the secondary side power receiving coil (L2) via a non-contact and out of touch, a capacitor (C1) is connected to the primary side power transmission coil (L1) in series, a voltage to be supplied to the primary side power transmission coil (L1) is converted into AC voltage and stepped up, and a series resonance circuit (7) including a mutual inductance (M) by the secondary side power receiving coil (L2) is formed; wherein a resonance point of the series resonance circuit (7) including the mutual inductance (M) by the secondary side power receiving coil (L2) is set to a frequency higher than a resonance point of a primary side series resonance circuit (6) which is composed of the primary side power transmission coil (L1) and the capacitor (C1), whereby a high electric power transmission efficiency of practical level can be obtained and thus reduction in size and weight and electric power saving can be easily realized with the high electric power transmission efficiency.

1. An electric power transmission device for magnetically coupling a primary side power transmission coil to a secondary side power receiving coil and for transmitting electric power from said primary side power transmission coil to said secondary side power receiving coil via a non-contact and out of touch, said electric power transmission device comprising: a capacitor connected in series to said primary side power transmission coil, for converting a voltage which is to be supplied to said primary side power transmission coil into an AC voltage and being stepped up, and for configuring a series resonance circuit which includes a mutual inductance by said secondary side power receiving coil, wherein a resonance point of said series resonance circuit which includes said mutual inductance by said secondary side power receiving coil is set to a frequency higher than a resonance point of a primary side series resonance circuit which is composed of said primary side power transmission coil and said capacitor. 2. The electric power transmission device according to claim 1, wherein said capacitor is arranged on said primary side power transmission coil in series, the number of said capacitor being one. 3. The electric power transmission device according to claim 2, wherein said capacitor is arranged on said primary side power transmission coil in series, the number of said capacitor being two that sandwiches said primary side power transmission coil therebetween. 4. The electric power transmission device according to claim 1, wherein said primary side power transmission coil and said secondary side power receiving coil are formed by a planate air-core coil. 5. The electric power transmission device according to claim 1, wherein said primary side power transmission coil and said secondary side power receiving coil are formed by a planate air-core coil which is configured by a spirally wound litz wire with the number of winds of 10 or more and 50 or less on a plane surface. 6. The electric power transmission device according to claim 1, further comprising: phase detection means for detecting a phase of a voltage of said primary side power transmission coil; and control means for outputting a control signal to control the amount of electric power that is supplied to said primary side power transmission coil based on an output of said phase detection means, wherein said control means determines as no load when delaying in phase of a voltage of said primary side power transmission coil compared to a voltage to be supplied to said primary side power transmission coil, and determines as a foreign material load when advancing, at this time a first control signal for intermittently supplying electric power to said primary side power transmission coil at predetermined intervals during predetermined time only is outputted; and determines as a normal load when being in the same phase, and a second control signal for continuously supplying electric power to said primary side power transmission coil is outputted. 7. The electric power transmission device according to claim 6, further comprising: amplitude detection means for detecting amplitude as well as said phase detection means for detecting a phase of a voltage of said primary side power transmission coil, wherein said control means determines as a foreign material load when a phase of a voltage of said primary side power transmission coil advances compared to a voltage to be supplied to said primary side power transmission coil and said amplitude is more than a predetermined reference value. 8. The electric power transmission device according to claim 7, wherein said phase detection means and said amplitude detection means input a voltage of said primary side power transmission coil from said primary side power transmission coil side of said capacitor. 9. The electric power transmission device according to claim 7, wherein said phase detection means and said amplitude detection means input a voltage of said primary side power transmission coil from an opposite side to said primary side power transmission coil of said capacitor via another capacitor. 10. The electric power transmission device according to claim 7, further comprising: secondary side ID output means for being connected to said secondary side power receiving coil and for varying a load with respect to electric power based on a predetermined specific secondary side ID signal, wherein information transmission is performed to a primary side power receiving coil from said secondary side power receiving coil by load modulation, and said control means confirms a normal load based on information transmitted to said primary side power receiving coil. 11. The electric power transmission device according to claim 1, further comprising: rectification means for rectifying an output voltage of said secondary side power receiving coil; and smoothing means for smoothing a rectification output from said rectification means. 12. An electric power transmission method for magnetically coupling a primary side power transmission coil to a secondary side power receiving coil and for transmitting electric power from said primary side power transmission coil to said secondary side power receiving coil via a non-contact and out of touch, wherein a capacitor is connected to said primary side power transmission coil in series, the number of said capacitor being one or two that sandwiches said primary side power transmission coil therebetween, a voltage which is to be supplied to said primary side power transmission coil is converted into a AC voltage and stepped up, and a series resonance circuit which includes a mutual inductance by said secondary side power receiving coil is formed, said series resonance circuit which includes said mutual inductance by said secondary side power receiving coil is resonated by said primary side power transmission coil, said secondary side power receiving coil, and said capacitor at a frequency higher than a resonance frequency of a primary side series resonance circuit which is composed of said primary side power transmission coil and said capacitor, and electric power is transmitted from said primary side power transmission coil to said secondary side power receiving coil.

<SOH> BACKGROUND ART <EOH>In such sort of an electric power transmission device, a primary side power transmission coil and a secondary side power receiving coil are magnetically coupled and electric power is transmitted from the primary side power transmission coil to the secondary side power receiving coil via non-contact and out of touch. As described above, there is a large problem in that the electric power transmission device utilizing electromagnetic induction must improve electric power transmission efficiency and transmission electric power and reduce electric power consumption. Techniques to solve such problems have been proposed. For example, International Publication No. 98/34319 discloses a technique in which a primary coil and a secondary coil use a cored coil and a capacitor is connected to the secondary coil in parallel to form a parallel resonance circuit; and since a frequency higher than a frequency of oscillation signal of the primary coil side is chosen as a resonant frequency of the secondary coil side, a capacitance can be reduced and a coupling coefficient between the primary coil and the secondary coil can be apparently increased, and therefore electric power transmission efficiency can be improved. In addition, there is disclosed another technique in which the presence or absence of a load is indirectly detected by a parameter variation in current or voltage generated in the primary coil; and electric power is continuously supplied to the primary coil in a complete operation mode when loading, and electric power is intermittently supplied to the primary coil in an intermittent operation mode for each predetermined timing during predetermined time when no-loading, thereby reducing electric power consumption.

<SOH> BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS <EOH>FIG. 1 is a circuit diagram showing an electric power transmission device according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing resonance characteristics of a series resonance circuit. FIG. 3 is a circuit diagram showing the construction of a primary coil and a secondary coil, FIG. 3 ( a ) is a plan view, and FIG. 3 ( b ) is a cross-sectional view. FIG. 4 is a circuit diagram showing another electric power transmission device according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing no load, the upper of which is a voltage waveform of the point A of FIG. 1 , and the lower of which is a current waveform of the point A of FIG. 1 . FIG. 6 is a diagram showing no load, the upper of which is a voltage waveform of the point A of FIG. 1 , and the lower of which is a voltage waveform of the point B of FIG. 1 . FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a normal load, the upper of which is a voltage waveform of the point A of FIG. 1 , and the lower of which is a current waveform of the point A of FIG. 1 . FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a normal load, the upper of which is a voltage waveform of the point A of FIG. 1 , and the lower of which is a voltage waveform of the point B of FIG. 1 . FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a foreign material load, the upper of which is a voltage waveform of the point A of FIG. 1 , and the lower of which is a current waveform of the point A of FIG. 1 . FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a foreign material load, the upper of which is a voltage waveform of the point A of FIG. 1 , and the lower of which is a voltage waveform of the point B of FIG. 1 . FIG. 11 is a circuit diagram showing further another electric power transmission device according to an embodiment of the present invention. detailed-description description="Detailed Description" end="lead"?

Retainer for securing a table in a folded position

A table may include a table top with a first portion that is movable relative to a second portion between a folded position and an unfolded position. The table may also include a retainer that is sized and configured to retain the table in a folded position so that the table does not unintentionally unfold when the folded table is being carried, transported and/or stored. To help retain the table in a folded position, the retainer may include a first end that is connected to the first portion of the table top and a second end that is connected to the second portion of the table top. In particular, the retainer may be connected to portions of the table such as the lower portion of the table top, the frame, one or more connecting rods or support members, and the like.

1. A table comprising: a table top including a first portion that is movable relative to a second portion between a folded position and an unfolded position; a first leg movable between an extended position and a collapsed position relative to the table top; a second leg movable between the extended position and the collapsed position relative to the table top; a first support member connected to the first portion of the table top; a second support member connected to the second portion of the table top; and a retainer including a first portion connected to the first support member and a second portion connected to the second support member when the table top is in the folded position, the retainer being sized and configured to selectively secure the table top in the folded position. 2. The table as in claim 1, wherein the first leg is connected to the first support member and the second leg is connected to the second support member. 3. The table as in claim 1, wherein the first support member forms at least a portion of a frame and wherein the second support member forms at least a portion of the frame. 4. The table as in claim 1, further comprising a body of the retainer, the body including an opening that is sized and configured to allow the first support member to be disposed through the opening. 5. The table as in claim 1, further comprising a flange outwardly projecting from a body of the retainer, the flange being sized and configured to abut the first portion of the table top. 6. The table as in claim 1, wherein the retainer includes a clip that is sized and configured to selectively receiving the second support member when the table top is in the folded position. 7. A table comprising: a table top including a first portion that is movable relative to a second portion between a folded position and an unfolded position; a first leg movable between an extended position and a collapsed position relative to the table top; a second leg movable between the extended position and the collapsed position relative to the table top; and a retainer that is sized and configured to selectively secure the table top in the folded position, the retainer comprising: a body; a first clip that is connected to the first portion of the table top; and a second clip that is connected to the second portion of the table top when the table top is in the folded position. 8. The table as in claim 7, further comprising a first support member connected to the first portion of the table top and a second support member connected to the second portion of the table top, the first clip being connected to the first support member and the second clip being connected to the second support member when the table top is in the folded position. 9. The table as in claim 7, wherein the first clip includes resiliently deformable arms to facilitate the connection of the first clip to the first portion of the table top and the second clip includes resiliently deformable arms to facilitate the connection of the second clip to the second portion of the table top. 10. The table as in claim 7, wherein the table includes a first cross member disposed proximate a first end of the table top and a second cross member disposed proximate a second end of the table top; and wherein the first clip is connected to the first cross member and the second clip is connected to the second cross member when the table top is in a folded position. 11. The table as in claim 7, further comprising an outwardly extending flange of the retainer that is sized and configured to resist movement of the retainer by engaging at least a portion of the table top. 12. A table comprising: a table top including a first portion that is movable relative to a second portion between a folded position and an unfolded position; a first leg movable between an extended position and a collapsed position relative to the table top; a second leg movable between the extended position and the collapsed position relative to the table top; a retainer that is sized and configured to selectively secure the table top in the folded position, the retainer comprising: a body including a first end that is connected to the first portion of the table top; and a clip that is sized and configured to selectively receive and retain a piece of the second portion of the table top when the table top is in the folded position. 13. The table as in claim 12, further comprising a table frame including a first portion connected to the first portion of the table top and a second portion connected to the second portion of the table top, the first end of the body connected to the first portion of the frame and the clip connected to the second portion of the frame when the table top is in the folded position. 14. The table as in claim 12, wherein the clip includes resiliently deformable arms. 15. The table as in claim 12, wherein the table top includes one or more receiving portions and the retainer includes one or more projections that are sized and configured to be disposed in the receiving portions. 16. The table as in claim 12, wherein the table top includes one or more projections and the retainer includes one or more receiving portions that are sized and configured to receive the projections.

<SOH> BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION <EOH>1. Field of the Invention The present invention generally relates to furniture and, in particular, to tables. 2. Description of Related Art Many different types of tables are well known and used for a variety of different purposes. For example, conventional tables may include legs that are pivotally attached to a table top and the legs may be movable between a use position in which the legs extend outwardly from the table top and a storage position in which the legs are folded against the table top. Conventional tables with relatively large table tops and folding legs are often referred to as “banquet tables” and these tables are frequently used in assembly halls, banquet halls, convention centers, hotels, schools, churches and other locations where large groups of people meet. Because these conventional tables are generally easy to move and relatively portable, these types of tables can often be positioned in an assortment of different configurations and used in a variety of settings. When the tables are no longer needed, the table legs can be moved into the storage position and the tables may be moved or stored. Conventional banquet tables with collapsible legs may allow the table to be more conveniently stored. The table top for many conventional banquet tables with collapsible legs, however, retains its size and shape. For example, many known banquet tables have a length between six to ten feet and a width between three to four feet. As a result, the storage of many conventional banquet tables, even with the legs in the collapsed position, may require a large storage area. This large storage area for each table may be problematic for large facilities such as hotels, schools and churches because a considerable number of these table may have to be stored. Thus, a big area may be required to store the tables. In addition, smaller facilities such as restaurants, offices and homes may use one or more conventional banquet tables. These smaller facilities may use the tables less frequently, such as during special occasions. Conventional banquet tables, even when the legs are folded, are often too bulky and obstructive to be conveniently used and stored at such smaller facilities. As a result, it is often necessary for both larger and smaller facilities to rent and/or borrow one or more banquet tables when needed. Disadvantageously, this process of renting and/or borrowing banquet tables can be inconvenient, time consuming and costly. In addition, conventional banquet tables are often very difficult to move or transport from one location to another. For example, because of the length of many conventional banquet tables, the tables are often difficult to move by a single person. In addition, the extended length of the banquet tables may preclude the tables from being transported in the trunk or back seat of a typical passenger car. Accordingly, the banquet tables may have to be transported by a truck or trailer, which may be difficult to obtain, expensive and require a significant amount of time. It is also known to construct tables that are capable of being folded-in-half. In particular, conventional fold-in-half tables typically include a table top with two sections that are pivotally connected by a hinge. The two sections of the table top may be moved between an unfolded position or use position in which the sections of the table top are generally aligned in the same plane and a folded position in which the two sections are positioned generally adjacent to each other for storage. Disadvantageously, many known tables with foldable table tops are unstable and unable to support a significant amount of weight. For example, the connection of the two table top sections of many known fold-in-half tables may be relatively weak, which may allow, for example, a portion of the table top to sag. In order to construct a stronger table top, it is known to make foldable table tops out of stronger and thicker materials. Undesirably, this may increase the weight of the table top, which may make the table more difficult to carry and move. Many conventional tables with foldable table tops also include hinges that connect the two portions of the table top and the hinges are often connected to the table top by a plurality of screws that are bored into the table top. Disadvantageously, the structural integrity of the table top may be decreased by the holes created by the plurality of screws, and this may allow the table to collapse and fail. In addition, because the screws are typically individually attached to the table top, this may significantly increase the amount of the time required to construct the table. Further, this may increase the manufacturing time and costs to make the table. Additionally, known tables with foldable table tops are often difficult to transport and store because it may be hard to maintain the table top in the closed position, especially for a single person. In particular, the table tops of many known foldable tables can unintentionally swing between the folded and unfolded position while the tables are being moved, positioned and/or stacked. That is, while the table is being moved, the table top may inadvertently move from the folded to the unfolded position. If this occurs, the table may be undesirably dropped, and this may damage the table and/or injure the person carrying the table. Further, when conventional fold-in-half tables are in the folded or storage position, it may be difficult to lift and move the table because it may be hard to grasp the table. In particular, the tables may be difficult to carry because there no convenient handholds or portions of the table to grab. In addition to many conventional fold-in-half tables being difficult to grasp and move in the folded position, this problem may be exasperated by the table top unintentionally unfolding while the table is being moved.

<SOH> BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION <EOH>A need therefore exists for a table that reduces or eliminates the above-described and other disadvantages and problems. One aspect is a table that may include a table top and one or more legs or support pedestals that may be used to support the table top in a use or support position. The legs or support pedestals are preferably movable between an extended or use position and a collapsed or storage position relative to the table top. Advantageously, when the legs or support pedestals are in the use position, the table may be used to support a wide variety of objects and the table may be used for a variety of different purposes. Another aspect is a table that may include a table top that is capable of being moved between a folded position and an unfolded position. Preferably, the table top includes two sections and the two sections are generally aligned in the same plane when the table top is in the unfolded position and the two sections are generally positioned adjacent to each other when the table top is in the folded position. The table may also include legs that are movable between a use position and a collapsed position. Advantageously, if the table includes both a foldable table top and foldable table legs that can be selectively moved between use and collapsed positions, then the table may be stored in a relatively compact area. This may allow, for example, a single person to easily move and transport the table. In addition, this may allow the table to be positioned in a relatively small area, such as the backseat or trunk of an automobile. Further, this may allow one or more tables to be shipped and/or stored in relatively small areas. Yet another aspect is a table that may include a table top constructed from plastic and the plastic table top is preferably constructed using a blow-molding process. Advantageously, this may allow a lightweight table top to be easily constructed and it may allow the table top to be formed into various desired configurations, shapes, sizes and designs. This may also allow a table top to be constructed that is generally weather resistant and temperature insensitive, which may allow the table to be used in a wide variety of locations and environments. In addition, this may allow a table top that is durable, long-lasting and corrosion resistant to be constructed. Further, because a table top constructed from blow-molded plastic may be relatively strong, the table may be used to support a relatively large amount of weight. Significantly, a table top constructed from blow-molded plastic may also form a structural member of the table, but the table top may be supported by other structures, such as a frame. Advantageously, a table top constructed from blow-molded plastic may be relatively strong because it includes opposing walls or surfaces that are separated by a distance. The opposing walls may help create a high-strength, rigid table top. In addition, because the interior portion of the table top may be generally hollow, that may create a lightweight table top. Thus, the blow-molded table top may be both lightweight and strong. Still another aspect is a table that may include a table top that includes two sections. For example, the table top may include a first table top section and a second table top section, and each section may include an inner edge or portion. Desirably, the inner edges or portions of the first and second table top sections engage or contact when the table top is in the extended or use position, and the inner edges or portions are spaced apart from each other in the folded position. Advantageously, the inner edges or portions may be sized and configured to engage and/or overlap to allow, for example, a secure connection of the first and second sections when the table top is in the extended or use position. For instance, the inner edges or portions of the table top sections may include one or more projections and/or recesses that are sized and configured to contact or engage when the table top is in the extended or use position. In particular, the inner edges or portions may include tongue and groove portions which matingly engage when the table top is in the extended or use position. That is, the inner edge or portion of the first table top section may have one or more tongue and/or groove portions that are aligned with corresponding tongue and/or groove portions in the inner edge or portion of the second table top section. The table top sections are preferably configured so that the tongue and groove portions interlock when the table top is in the extended or use position. Advantageously, this may increase the strength and rigidity of the table top, which may allow the table top to be constructed of a lighter and/or thinner material without sacrificing strength or integrity. A further aspect is a table that may include two sections that are movable between a folded and unfolded position, and the table may include a handle. Advantageously, this handle may allow the table to be more easily transported or moved. For example, the handle can be mounted to a portion of the table top such that the handle may project between the edges of the table top sections when the table top is in the folded position. In this configuration, a single individual may easily gasp the projecting handle to carry the table. The table may also include a handle retention assembly that may be used to secure the handle in a desired position. In particular, the handle retention assembly may advantageously secure the handle in a generally fixed position. For instance, the handle retention assembly may secure the handle in a generally fixed position that is out of the way and not obstructive when the table top is in the unfolded position. Another aspect is that the table may be easily assembled and/or disassembled. For example, the table may not include any heavy or complex mechanisms to attach the table legs to the table top and/or to connect the first and second sections of the table top. In particular, the table may include a frame that quickly and easily attaches the legs to the table top. For instance, the frame may include two elongated side rails and the side rails may be connected to one or more frame mounting portions. Advantageously, the frame mounting portions may be integrally formed in the table top and the frame can be attached to the table top by a snap, friction or interference fit. Significantly, this may allow the frame to be attached to the table top without mechanical fasteners such as screws or bolts, but mechanical fasteners may be used if desired. Because mechanical fasteners are not required to attach the frame to the table top, fewer parts may be required to assemble the table and holes do not have to be formed in the table top. This may also allow the table to be quickly and easily manufactured and assembled. Further, fewer workers may be required to assemble the table and the relatively straight forward design and attachment of the frame to the table top may allow the table to be shipped either assembled or unassembled, which may allow retailers or consumers to assemble the table if desired. Still another aspect is a table that may include a table top with sections that are interconnected. For example, a frame may be attached to the sections of the table top and the frame may be sized and configured to allow the table top to be moved between the folded and unfolded positions. In particular, the frame may include side rails that are connected to the sections of the table top and one or more hinge assemblies may be connected to the side rails. The hinge assemblies may enable the table top to move between the folded and unfolded positions. Preferably, the hinge assemblies are mounted directly to the frame and the hinge assemblies are not connected to the table top. Because mechanical fasteners are not required to attach the hinge assemblies to the table top, fewer parts may be required to assemble the table and holes do not have to be formed in the table top, which may allow the table to be quickly and easily manufactured and assembled. Because the hinge assemblies do not have to be separately mounted directly to the table top by screws or other fasteners, this may allow retailers or consumers to assemble the table if desired. Still yet another aspect is a table that may include a table top with sections that are interconnected by one or more hinge assemblies to allow the table top to be moved between folded and unfolded positions. The table preferably includes a mechanism, such as a bolt, that is slidable or movable relative to the table top between a first position and a second position. For example, when the table top is in the unfolded position, the bolt may be sized and configured to lock a hinge assembly and/or a portion of the frame in a generally fixed position to secure the table top in the unfolded position. The bolt may also be moved to unlock the hinge assembly and/or the frame to allow the table top to be moved into the folded position. Advantageously, the bolt may secure the table top in the unfolded position and prevent the table from unintentionally folding. A further aspect is a table that may include one or more legs that are movable between an extended position and a collapsed position relative to the table top. The legs may be connected to a cross member and the cross member may be connected to the frame. A still further aspect is a table that may include a retainer which may be connected to a first portion of the table top. Advantageously, the retainer may be sized and configured to secure the table top in a closed or folded position. For example, the retainer may include a first end that is connected to a first portion of the table top, such as a cross member or a portion of the frame. The second end of the retainer may be sized and configured to be attached to a second portion of the table top when the table top is in the closed or folded position. In particular, the second end of the retainer may be connected to a cross member or a portion of the frame. Preferably, the second end of the retainer is selectively connected to the second portion of the table top to allow the table top to be folded and unfolded. Significantly, the retainer may help retain the table top in the folded position so that the table top does not unintentionally unfold when the folded table is being carried, transported and/or stored. The retainer may also be sized and configured to automatically engage the second portion of the table top, which may simplify the engagement process. In addition, the retainer may be selectively connected to the first portion of the table top, which may simply the manufacturing process and allow the retainer to be quickly and easily attached. Yet still another aspect is a table that may include a brace that is connected to one or more of the legs. In particular, the brace may include a first end that is connected to the table top and a second end that is connected to the leg. The brace is preferably sized and configured to support the leg in an extended position relative to the table top. The brace, which may be any suitable type of brace such as a slotted brace, may be biased to secure the leg in the extended position. For example, the brace may include a pin that is disposed within a slot and the brace may include a biasing member, such as a spacer or washer. The biasing member may be constructed from a deformable and resilient material, such as rubber, which may be used to bias the brace into a desired position. For example, the brace may be biased to lock the brace in a generally fixed position, which may secure the leg in the extended position. These and other aspects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more fully apparent from the following detailed description of preferred embodiments and appended claims.

Virtual cameras and 3-D gaming environments in a gaming machine

A disclosed gaming machine provides method and apparatus for presenting a plurality of game outcome presentations derived from one or more virtual 3-D gaming environments stored on the gaming machine. While a game of chance is being played on the gaming machine, two-dimensional images derived from a three-dimensional object in the 3-D gaming environment may be rendered to a display screen on the gaming machine in real-time as part of the game outcome presentation. To add excitement to the game, a 3-D position of the 3-D object and other features of the 3-D gaming environment may be controlled by a game player. Nearly an unlimited variety of virtual objects, such as slot reels, gaming machines and casinos, may be modeled in the 3-D gaming environment.

1. A gaming machine comprising: a master gaming controller designed or configured to control one or more games of chance played on the gaming machine; one or more virtual three-dimensional 3-D gaming environments available for rendering a game outcome presentation for the one or more games of chance; game logic for rendering one or more two-dimensional images derived from a 3-D object in at least one of the 3-D gaming environments; one or more display devices for displaying said game outcome presentations with said rendered one or more two-dimensional images. 2. The gaming machine of game 1, further comprising: game logic designed or configured to draw a plurality of the game outcome presentations in the one or more 3-D gaming environments and to capture two or more of the game outcome presentations on at least one of the two-dimensional images. 3. The gaming machine of game 1, further comprising: game logic designed or configured to draw a gaming machine maintenance operation in the one or more 3-D gaming environments and to capture the gaming machine maintenance operation on the one or more two-dimensional images. 4. The gaming machine of claim 1, further comprising: game logic designed or configured to draw a gaming machine operational feature in the one or more 3-D gaming environments and to capture the gaming machine operation feature on the one or more two-dimensional images. 5. The gaming machine of claim 4, wherein the gaming machine operational feature is selected from the group consisting of inserting a player tracking card in a card reader on the gaming machine, entering an identification code on the gaming machine, pressing an input button on the gaming machine, inserting a printed ticket in a bill validator on the gaming machine, displaying an electronic fund transfer transaction, displaying an alternate video presentation, using an electronic key with a gaming device connected to the gaming machine. 6. The gaming machine of claim 1, further comprising: game logic designed of configured to draw attract mode features in the one or more 3-D gaming environment and to capture the attract mode features on the one or more two-dimensional images. 7. The gaming machine of claim 1, further comprising: game logic designed or configured to draw a promotional feature in the one or more 3-D gaming environments and to capture the promotional feature on the one or more two-dimensional images. 8. The gaming machine of claim 1, further comprising: game logic designed or configured to draw casino information in the one or more 3-D gaming environments and to capture the casino information on the one or more two-dimensional images. 9. The gaming machine of claim 1, further comprising: game logic designed or configured to draw a bonus game presentation in the one or more 3-D gaming environments and to capture the bonus game presentation on the one or more two-dimensional images. 10. The gaming machine of claim 1, wherein a three-dimensional position of the 3-D object is time varying. 11. The gaming machine of claim 10, wherein a rate of movement of the three-dimensional position of the 3-D object is time varying. 12. The gaming machine of claim 10, wherein the three-dimensional position of the 3-D object changes at least one of continuously, non-continuously and combinations thereof. 13. The gaming machine of claim 1, further comprising: an input mechanism designed or configured to receive an input signal used to change a three-dimensional position of 3-D object. 14. The gaming machine of claim 13, wherein the input mechanism is selected from the group consisting of a key pad, a touch screen, a mouse, a joy stick, a microphone and a track ball. 15. The gaming machine of claim 13, wherein the three-dimensional position of the 3-D object is changed to enlarge a feature in the 3-D gaming environment displayed on said one or more display devices. 16. The gaming machine of claim 1, further comprising: an input mechanism designed or configured to receive one or more input signals containing information used to select a 3-D gaming environment for the game outcome presentation of a game of chance. 17. The gaming machine of claim 1, further comprising: a graphical processing unit, separate from said master gaming controller, designed or configured to execute the graphical operations used to render one or more two-dimensional images derived from the 3-D object in the 3-D gaming environment. 18. The gaming machine of claim 1, further comprising: a first display device designed or configured to display a rendered two-dimensional image from a first gaming environment and a second display device designed or configured to display simultaneously a rendered two-dimensional image from a second gaming environment. 19. The gaming machine of claim 1, further comprising: a network interface board designed or configured to allow the master gaming controller to communicate with a remote display device. 20. The gaming machine of claim 19, wherein said rendered one or more two-dimensional images are displayed on the remote display device. 21. The gaming machine of claim 19, wherein the master gaming controller communicates with the remote display device via at least one of a local area network, a wide area network and the Internet. 22. The gaming machine of claim 1, wherein the game of chance is selected from the group consisting of a slot game, a keno game, a poker game, a pachinko game, a video black jack game, a bingo game, a baccarat game, a roulette game, a dice game and a card game. 23. The gaming machine of claim 1, wherein the game of chance is multiple hands of a card game presented simultaneously. 24. The gaming machine of claim 1, wherein the multiple hands of the card game are between 1 hand of poker to 1000 hands of poker. 25. The gaming machine of claim 1, further comprising: an input mechanism designed or configured to receive an input signal used to change a three-dimensional position of the 3-D object in the three-dimensional gaming environment. 26. The gaming machine of claim 1, further comprising: game logic for rendering a two-dimensional image derived from a 3-D object in a 3-D game interface model stored in a memory device on the gaming machine wherein the 3-D game interface model comprises a plurality of 3-D game windows modeled on one or more 3-D surfaces in the 3-D game interface model. 27. The gaming machine of claim 26, wherein game window content is rendered in each of the plurality of 3-D game windows and the game window content is selected from the group consisting of a game of chance, a bonus game, an advertisement, news, stock quotes, electronic mail, a web page, a message service, a locator service or a hotel/casino service, a movie, a musical selection, a casino promotion, a broadcast event, a maintenance operation, a player tracking service, a drink menu and a snack menu. 28. The gaming machine of claim 1, further comprising: game logic for determining the selection of input buttons modeled in a 3-D gaming environment. 29. The gaming machine of claim 1, further comprising: a plurality of display devices wherein each display device is designed to display simultaneously a portion of a rendered two-dimensional image. 30. The gaming machine of claim 29, wherein video feeds for each of the plurality of display devices is provided from a single video card. 31. The gaming machine of claim 1, further comprising: gaming logic for commanding a remote gaming device to render one or more two-dimensional images derived from a 3-D object in at least one of the 3-D gaming environments stored on the remote gaming device and to display said rendered one or more two-dimensional images on a display located on the remote gaming device. 32. The gaming machine of claim 1, further comprising: a multi-headed video card. 33. The gaming machine of claim 32, wherein a first head on the multi-headed video is used to render one or more two-dimensional images derived from a 3-D object in at least one of the 3-D gaming environments and a second head on the multi-head video card is used to render one or more two-dimensional images derived from a 3-D object in at least one of the 3-D gaming environments. 34. The gaming machine of claim 33, wherein rendered two-dimensional images from the first head and rendered two-dimensional images from the second head are displayed simultaneously on the same display. 35. The gaming machine of claim 33, wherein rendered two-dimensional images from the first head are displayed on a first display and rendered two-dimensional images from the second head are displayed simultaneously on a second display.

<SOH> BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION <EOH>This invention relates to game presentation methods for gaming machines such as slot machines and video poker machines. More particularly, the present invention relates to apparatus and methods of for displaying game presentations derived from a 3-D gaming environment. As technology in the gaming industry progresses, the traditional mechanically driven reel slot machines are being replaced with electronic counterparts having CRT, LCD video displays or the like. These video/electronic gaming advancements enable the operation of more complex games, which would not otherwise be possible on mechanical-driven gaming machines. Gaming machines such as video slot machines and video poker machines are becoming increasingly popular. Part of the reason for their increased popularity is the nearly endless variety of games that can be implemented on gaming machines utilizing advanced electronic technology. There are a wide variety of associated devices that can be connected to video gaming machines such as video slot machines and video poker machines. Some examples of these devices are lights, ticket printers, card readers, speakers, bill validators, ticket readers, coin acceptors, display panels, key pads, coin hoppers and button pads. Many of these devices are built into the gaming machine or components associated with the gaming machine such as a top box which usually sits on top of the gaming machine. Typically, utilizing a master gaming controller, the gaming machine controls various combinations of devices that allow a player to play a game on the gaming machine and also encourage game play on the gaming machine. For example, a game played on a gaming machine usually requires a player to input money or indicia of credit into the gaming machine, indicate a wager amount, and initiate a game play. These steps require the gaming machine to control input devices, including bill validators and coin acceptors, to accept money into the gaming machine and recognize user inputs from devices, including key pads and button pads, to determine the wager amount and initiate game play. After game play has been initiated, the gaming machine determines a game outcome, presents the game outcome to the player and may dispense an award of some type depending on the outcome of the game. A game outcome presentation may utilize many different visual and audio components such as flashing lights, music, sounds and graphics. The visual and audio components of the game outcome presentation may be used to draw a player's attention to various game features and to heighten the players interest in additional game play. Maintaining a game player's interest in game play, such as on a gaming machine or during other gaming activities, is an important consideration for an operator of a gaming establishment. One method for maintaining a player's interest is to present multiple games at the same time during a game presentation. For instance, triple play poker in which a player plays three hands of poker during each game presentation has become very popular game implemented on a video gaming machine. Variants of triple play poker include game presentations where a hundred or more poker hands are played during each game presentation. The presentation of multiple games during a single game presentation may be extended to other types of games, such as video slot games. One difficulty associated with presenting multiple games in a video game presentation is the screen resolution of the display on a gaming machine. A typical display resolution on a gaming machine is about 640 pixels by 480 pixels. As the number of games presented in a game presentation increases, the amount of detail may be limited by the screen resolution. For instance, for a hundred hand poker game where a hundred poker hands are displayed during each game presentation, each card must be drawn fairly small without much detail to accommodate all of the cards on a single display screen. The lack of detail and small card size may discourage some game players from playing such games. Another method for maintaining a player's interest in playing a game on a gaming machine is to present an exciting game presentation that is shown on a display screen on the gaming machine. Many newer game systems use graphical generation schemes employing mass storage devices that utilize varied load times and streamable media formats to generate an exciting game presentation. With these game systems, many game scenes are generated during the game play using complex renderings and video playback capabilities. Typically, however, for efficiency reasons, a player has little control over the game outcome presentation other than through game decisions they make during the play of the game. In view of the above, it would be desirable to provide method and apparatus that allow detailed game presentations accommodating the simultaneous play of multiple games to be presented on a video gaming machine where the game presentation may also be controlled by a game player.

<SOH> SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION <EOH>This invention addresses the needs indicated above by providing method and apparatus on a gaming machine for presenting a plurality of game outcome presentations derived from one or more virtual 3-D gaming environments stored on the gaming machine. While a game of chance is being played on the gaming machine, two-dimensional images derived from a 3-D object in the 3-D gaming environment may be rendered to a display screen on the gaming machine in real-time as part of a game outcome presentation. To add excitement to the game, the 3-D position of the 3-D object and other features of the 3-D gaming environment may be controlled by a game player. Nearly an unlimited variety of virtual objects, such as slot reels, gaming machines and casinos, may be modeled in the 3-D gaming environment. One aspect of the present invention provides a method of playing a game of chance in a gaming machine including a master gaming controller, a display device and a memory device. The method may be generally characterized as including: 1) receiving a wager for one or more games of chance controlled by the master gaming controller on the gaming machine; 2) determining game outcomes for each of the one or more games of chance; 3) rendering one or more two-dimensional images derived from a 3-D object in a three-dimensional gaming environment stored in the memory device on the gaming machine; and 4) displaying the one or more rendered two-dimensional images to the display device on the gaming machine. The game of chance may be selected from the group consisting of a slot game, a keno game, a poker game, a pachinko game, a video black jack game, a bingo game and a card game. The 3-D gaming environment may comprise one or more 3-D object models where each 3-D object model is defined by a plurality of surface elements. A 3-D object model of a slot reel, a 3-D object model of a gaming machine and a 3-D object model of a casino are examples of 3-D object models which may be defined in a gaming environment. The position of the 3-D object models in the gaming environment may vary with time. In particular embodiments, the method may include rendering in the 3-D gaming environment of one or more of the following items: i) a game outcome presentation for at least one of the games of chance, ii) a gaming machine maintenance operation, iii) a gaming machine operational feature, iv) an attract mode feature, v) a promotional feature, vi) casino information and vii) a bonus game presentation and capturing one or more of these items on the one or more two-dimensional images. The gaming machine operational feature may be selected from the group consisting of inserting a player tracking card in a card reader on the gaming machine, entering an identification code on the gaming machine, pressing an input button on the gaming machine, inserting a printed ticket in a bill validator on the gaming machine. In other embodiments, a three-dimensional position of the 3-D object and a rate of movement of the 3-D object may be time varying. In addition, the three-dimensional position of the 3-D object may change at least one of continuously, non-continuously and combinations thereof. Also, the method may include receiving an input signal to change the three-dimensional position of the 3-D object where the three-dimensional position of the 3-D object is changed to enlarge a feature in the 3-D gaming environment displayed on the display device. In yet other embodiments, the method may include one or more of a) displaying simultaneously a portion of a rendered two-dimensional image on a first display device on the gaming machine and the portion of the rendered two-dimensional image on a second display device on the gaming machine, b) displaying simultaneously a first portion of a rendered two-dimensional image on a first display device on the gaming machine and a second portion of the rendered two-dimensional image on a second display device on the gaming machine and c) displaying simultaneously a rendered two-dimensional image on a display device on a first gaming machine and the rendered two-dimensional image on a display device on a second gaming machine. The method may also include one or more of 1) receiving an input signal to initiate one or more games of chance, 2) receiving a wager for a first game and receiving a wager for a second game; and rendering a game outcome presentation for the first game and the second game in the gaming environment, 3) receiving one or more input signals containing information used to play the game of chance and 4) receiving one or more input signals containing information used to select a 3-D gaming environment for the game of chance. Another aspect of the present invention provides a method of generating a game of chance played on a gaming machine. The method may be generally characterized as including: 1) selecting one or more game events in a game of chance that are represented visually on the gaming machine; 2) generating a visual storyboard for each game event; 3) generating one or more 3-D gaming environments designed or configured to present the visual storyboard for each game event; 4) filming each visual storyboard in the one or more 3-D gaming environments using a virtual camera; and 5) rendering a sequence of 2-D images derived from 3-D objects in the one or more 3-D gaming environments where a 3-D position of each 3-D object in the sequence of 2-D images is defined by a position of virtual camera in the one or more 3-D gaming environment. A sequence of positions of the virtual camera in the one or more 3-D gaming environments used to film the visual storyboard may be pre-selected or the sequence of positions of the virtual camera may be controlled by a player operating the gaming machine. The sequence of 2-D images filmed in the one or more gaming environments may be displayed on a display device on the gaming machine. Another aspect of the present invention provides a gaming machine. The gaming machine may be characterized as including: 1) a master gaming controller designed or configured to control one or more games of chance played on the gaming machine; 2) one or more virtual three-dimensional (3-D) gaming environments available for rendering a game outcome presentation for the one or more games of chance; 3) game logic designed for rendering one or more two-dimensional images derived from a 3-D object in at least one of the 3-D gaming environments and, 4) one or more display devices for displaying the game outcome presentations using the one or more two-dimensional images. The game of chance may be selected from the group consisting of a slot game, a keno game, a poker game, a pachinko game, a video blackjack game, a bingo game and a card game. In particular embodiments, the game logic may be designed or configured to draw in the gaming environment one or more of the following items i) a plurality of the game outcome presentations, ii) a gaming machine maintenance operation, a gaming machine operational feature, iii) an attract mode feature, iv) a promotional feature, v) casino information and vi) a bonus game presentation. These items may be captured on the one or more rendered two-dimensional images. The gaming machine may include an input mechanism, such as a key pad, a touch screen, a mouse, a joy stick, a microphone and a track ball, designed or configured to receive an input signal used to change a three-dimensional position of the3-D object. The three-dimensional position of the 3-D object may be changed to enlarge a feature in the 3-D gaming environment displayed on the one or more display devices. The gaming machine may also include 1) an input mechanism designed or configured to receive one or more input signals containing information used to select a 3-D gaming environment for the game outcome presentation of a game of chance, 2) a geometry processing unit, separate from the master gaming controller, designed or configured to execute the game logic for rendering one or more two-dimensional images derived from the 3-D object and 3) a network interface board designed or configured to allow the master gaming controller to communicate with a remote display device where the rendered one or more two-dimensional images are displayed on the remote display device. The master gaming controller may communicate with the remote display device using at least one of a local area network, a wide area network or the Internet. Another aspect of the present invention provides a method of playing a plurality games of chance in a gaming machine with a master gaming controller, a display device and a memory device. The method may be generally characterized as including: 1) receiving a single wager for a plurality of games of chance controlled by the master gaming controller on the gaming machine; 2) determining a game outcome for each game of chance in the plurality games of chance; 3) rendering the plurality of games of chance in a three dimensional gaming environment stored in the memory device on the gaming machine; 4) rendering a first two-dimensional image derived from a first 3-D object in the three-dimensional gaming environment wherein the first two-dimensional image comprises a first portion of the plurality of rendered games of chance; 5) displaying the first rendered two-dimensional image to the display device on the gaming machine; 6) rendering a second two-dimensional image derived from a second 3-D object in the three-dimensional gaming environment wherein the second two-dimensional image comprises a second portion of the rendered plurality of games of chance; and 7) displaying the second rendered two-dimensional image to the display device on the gaming machine. The method may also include one or more of the following: a) receiving a wager for each of the plurality of games of chance, b) rendering a sequence of two-dimensional images derived from 3-D objects in the three-dimensional gaming environment wherein three-dimensional positions of the 3-D objects in the sequence appear to vary continuously between a first three-dimensional position of a first 3-D object and a second three-dimensional position of a second 3-D object, c) selecting a first game of chance in the first portion of the plurality of rendered games of chance; making a wager on the first game of chance; initiating the first game of chance; selecting a second game of chance in the second portion of the plurality of rendered games of chance; making a wager on the second game of chance; and initiating the second game of chance, d) receiving an input signal to initiate at least one game of chance in the first portion of the plurality of rendered games of chance; and rendering a game outcome presentation for the at least one game of chance, e) rendering a bonus game for the at least one game of chance, f) receiving an input signal to initiate at least one game of chance in the second portion of the plurality of rendered games of chance; and rendering a game outcome presentation for the at least one game of chance, g) rendering a bonus game for the at least one game of chance. In particular embodiments, the plurality of games of chance are multiple hands of a card game presented simultaneously where the multiple hands of the card game are between 1 hand of poker to 1000 hands of poker. Further, the game of chance may be selected from the group consisting of a slot game, a keno game, a poker game, a pachinko game, a video black jack game, a bingo game and a card game. In a gaming machine comprising a master gaming controller, a display device and a memory device, a method of displaying a plurality game windows on the display device wherein at least one of the game windows is used to present a game of chance. The method may be described as including: 1) generating a plurality of 3-D game windows arranged in a 3-D game interface model wherein the 3-D game interface model comprises a 3-D geometric surface description for each of the plurality of game windows; 2) mapping game window content to each of the 3-D game windows, 3) rendering game window content to each of the 3-D game windows; 4) rendering a two-dimensional image derived from a three-dimensional object in the three-dimensional game interface model stored in the memory device on the gaming machine; and 5) displaying the rendered two-dimensional image to the display device on the gaming machine. The method may also include one or more of the following: a) activating the one or more 3-D game windows, b) receiving an input signal to initiate a game of chance in one or more of the active 3-D game windows, c) rotating the 3-D game interface model, d) presenting a game of chance in one or more of the game windows, e) rendering first game window content in a first 3-D game window; rendering second game window content in a second 3-D game window; rendering the first game window content in the second 3-D game window; and rendering the second game window content in the first 3-D game window and f) rendering a two-dimensional image derived from a 3-D object in a three-dimensional gaming environment stored in the memory device on the gaming machine to a 3-D game window in the 3-D game interface model. In the particular embodiments, the game window content may be selected from the group consisting of a game of chance, a bonus game, an advertisement, news, stock quotes, electronic mail, a web page, a message service, a locator service or a hotel/casino service, a movie, a musical selection, a casino promotion, a broadcast event, a maintenance operation, a player tracking service, a drink menu and a snack menu. The game of chance may be selected from the group consisting of a slot game, a keno game, a poker game, a pachinko game, a video blackjack game, a bingo game and a card game. At least one game window may be used to play a game against another game player. Further, at least one game window may be used to share a bonus game with a group of game players. Another aspect of the present invention provides a method a method of displaying game information in a game window in a gaming machine with a master gaming controller, a display device and a memory device. The method may be generally characterized as including: 1) generating a game window with a first size; 2) rendering a first two-dimensional image derived from a three-dimensional object in a three-dimensional gaming environment stored in the memory device on the gaming machine to fit within the first size of the game window; 3) displaying on the display device the rendered first two-dimensional image within the game window; 4) changing the game window to a second size; 5) rendering a second two-dimensional image derived from the 3-D object in the three-dimensional gaming environment stored in the memory device on the gaming machine to fit within the second size of the game window; and 6) displaying on the display device the rendered second two-dimensional image within the game window wherein the game information is used to play a game of chance on the gaming machine. In particular embodiments, the method may also include on or more of the following: a) wherein the second size of the game window is smaller than the first size of the game window; generating one or more new game windows in a game window area around the game wherein the game window area is a difference in area between an area of the first size of the game window and an area of the second size of the game window; and displaying game information in the one or more new game windows, b) removing the new one or more new game windows; and returning the game window to the first size and c) rendering a sequence second two-dimensional images derived 3-D objects in the three-dimensional gaming environment stored in the memory device on the gaming machine where each two-dimensional image in the sequence is sized to fit within a sequence of game windows between the first size and the second size. Another aspect of the present invention provides a method of activating an input button modeled in a 3-D gaming environment in a gaming machine with a master gaming controller, a display device and a memory device. The method may be generally characterized as including: 1) generating one or more 3-D models of input buttons in a 3-D gaming environment used to play a game of chance on the gaming machine; 2) rendering a two-dimensional image derived from a three-dimensional object in a three-dimensional gaming environment stored in the memory device on the gaming machine wherein the three-dimensional object comprises at least a portion of one or more the input buttons modeled in the 3-D gaming environment; 3) displaying the rendered two-dimensional image to the display device on the gaming machine; 4) receiving an input signal including at least an input location corresponding to a location on the display device displaying the rendered two-dimensional image; 5) generating an input line in the 3-D gaming environment using the input location; and 6) detecting a collision between the input line and at least one of an input button modeled in the 3-D gaming environment. The method may also include one or more of the following: a) comparing 3-D coordinates of the input line in the gaming environment to 3-D coordinates of input buttons modeled in the 3-D gaming environment, b) performing an action specified by an input button corresponding to the received input location, c) activating one or more input buttons modeled in the 3-D gaming environment, d) ignoring a detected collision between the input line and an input button, when the input button is not activated. In particular embodiments, the input signal may be generated from a touch screen and the input location on the display device corresponds to a cursor location on the display device. Another aspect of the invention pertains to computer program products including a machine-readable medium on which is stored program instructions for implementing any of the methods described above. Any of the methods of this invention may be represented as program instructions and/or data structures, databases, etc. that can be provided on such computer readable media. These and other features of the present invention will be presented in more detail in the following detailed description of the invention and the associated figures.

Catheter systems having flow restrictors

Catheter systems including one or more flow restrictors are disclosed. The catheter systems may include two or more delivery branches. The delivery branches may be connected to a supply catheter section using a branching catheter connector that may include one or more flow restrictors. The flow restrictors may include a restrictor body located within a lumen with a channel located between the restrictor body and interior surface of the lumen, the channel restricting flow through the lumen past the flow restrictor. The channel may be defined by a groove formed in the restrictor body and/or the interior surface of the lumen. Methods of providing pressure relief by flowing fluid past a flow restrictor are also disclosed.

1. A medical catheter comprising: a lumen comprising an interior lumen surface; a flow restrictor located within the lumen, the flow restrictor comprising a restrictor body located within the lumen; a channel located between an outer surface of the restrictor body and the interior lumen surface of the lumen, wherein the channel extends from an upstream end of the restrictor body to a downstream end of the restrictor body, such that fluid passing through the lumen flows through the channel when the fluid is delivered to the flow restrictor below a selected pressure. 2. A medical catheter according to claim 1, wherein the channel is defined by a groove formed in the outer surface of the restrictor body, wherein the groove extends from the upstream end to the downstream end of the restrictor body. 3. A medical catheter according to claim 1, wherein the channel is defined by a groove formed in the interior lumen surface of the lumen, wherein the groove extends from the upstream end to the downstream end of the restrictor body. 4. A medical catheter according to claim 1, wherein the channel comprises a helical channel. 5. A medical catheter according to claim 1, wherein the flow restrictor comprises a first notch in the first end of the outer surface of the restrictor body, the first notch in fluid communication with the channel at the upstream end of the restrictor body. 6. A medical catheter according to claim 1, wherein the flow restrictor comprises a second notch in the second end of the outer surface of the restrictor body, the second notch in fluid communication with the channel at the downstream end of the restrictor body. 7. A medical catheter according to claim 1, further comprising a fitting body attached to the restrictor body proximate the second end of the restrictor body, wherein the fitting body comprises: a fitting lumen, at least a portion of which is located within the lumen, the fitting lumen comprising a proximal end proximate the restrictor body and a distal end distal from the restrictor body; a transverse passageway in fluid communication with the proximal end of the axial passageway, wherein the transverse passageway comprises an opening proximate the second end of the restrictor body such that fluid exiting the groove at the second end of the restrictor body enters the transverse passageway through the opening and is passed through the axial lumen to the distal end of the fitting body. 8. A medical catheter according to claim 7, wherein the fitting body and the restrictor body are a one-piece, completely integral unit. 9. A medical catheter according to claim 7, wherein the fitting body comprises a suture groove formed in an exterior surface of the fitting body. 10. A medical catheter according to claim 1, wherein the flow restrictor body has an interference fit within the lumen. 11. A medical catheter according to claim 1, wherein the flow restrictor comprises a pressure relief valve such that when the fluid is delivered to the flow restrictor above the selected pressure, fluid flows between the outer surface of the flow restrictor and the interior lumen surface of the lumen outside of the channel. 12. A medical catheter according to claim 1, further comprising a pump mechanism and reservoir in fluid communication with the lumen. 13. A branching catheter connector for use in a branched medical catheter, the connector comprising: an inlet port; two or more outlet ports in fluid communication with the inlet port; wherein each of the outlet ports comprises: an outlet port lumen comprising an interior surface; a flow restrictor located within the outlet port lumen, the flow restrictor comprising a restrictor body located within the outlet port lumen; a channel located between an outer surface of the restrictor body and the interior surface of the outlet port lumen, wherein the channel extends from an upstream end of the restrictor body to a downstream end of the restrictor body, such that fluid passing through the outlet port lumen flows through the channel when the fluid is delivered to the flow restrictor below a selected pressure. 14. A branching catheter connector according to claim 13, wherein the channel is defined by a groove formed in the outer surface of the restrictor body, wherein the groove extends from the upstream end to the downstream end of the restrictor body. 15. A branching catheter connector according to claim 13, wherein the channel is defined by a groove formed in the interior surface of the outlet port lumen, wherein the groove extends from the upstream end to the downstream end of the restrictor body. 16. A branching catheter connector according to claim 13, wherein the channel comprises a helical channel. 17. A branching catheter connector according to claim 13, wherein the flow restrictor comprises a first notch in the upstream end of the outer surface of the restrictor body, the first notch in fluid communication with the groove at the upstream end of the restrictor body. 18. A branching catheter connector according to claim 13, wherein the flow restrictor comprises a second notch in the downstream end of the outer surface of the restrictor body, the second notch in fluid communication with the groove at the downstream end of the restrictor body. 19. A branching catheter connector according to claim 13, further comprising a fitting body attached to the restrictor body proximate the downstream end of the restrictor body, wherein the fitting body comprises: a fitting lumen, at least a portion of which is located within the outlet port lumen, the fitting lumen comprising a proximal end proximate the restrictor body and a distal end extending out of the outlet port; a transverse passageway in fluid communication with the proximal end of the fitting lumen, wherein the transverse passageway comprises an opening proximate the downstream end of the restrictor body such that fluid exiting the groove at the downstream end of the restrictor body enters the transverse passageway through the opening and is passed through the fitting lumen to the distal end of the fitting body. 20. A branching catheter connector according to claim 19, wherein the fitting body and the restrictor body are a one-piece, completely integral unit. 21. A branching catheter connector according to claim 13 that further comprises a connector body, wherein the inlet port and the two or more outlet ports are located within the connector body, and wherein the connector body comprises one or more suture grooves formed in an exterior surface of the connector body. 22. A branching catheter connector according to claim 13, wherein the inlet port comprises a filter element located therein, wherein fluid passing from the inlet port to any of the two or more outlet ports passes through the filter element. 23. A branching catheter connector according to claim 13, wherein the restrictor body has an interference fit within the outlet port lumen. 24. A branching catheter connector according to claim 13, wherein the flow restrictor within at least one of the outlet ports comprises a pressure relief valve such that when the fluid is delivered to the flow restrictor above the selected pressure, fluid flows between the outer surface of the flow restrictor and the interior surface of the outlet port lumen outside of the channel. 25. A branching catheter connector according to claim 13, further comprising a pump mechanism and reservoir in fluid communication with the inlet port. 26. A medical catheter system comprising: a lumen; a flow restrictor located within the lumen, the flow restrictor comprising one or more capillaries within the lumen, wherein each capillary of the one or more capillaries comprises a first opening at an upstream end of the flow restrictor and a second opening at a downstream end of the flow restrictor, wherein each capillary of the one or more capillaries comprises one or more coils within the lumen, and wherein fluid passing through the lumen from the upstream end to the downstream end of the flow restrictor flows through the one or more capillaries when the fluid is delivered to the upstream end of the flow restrictor below a selected pressure. 27. A medical catheter system according to claim 26, wherein each capillary of the one or more capillaries comprises a substantially uniform diameter along a length of the capillary from the first opening to the second opening. 28. A medical catheter system according to claim 26, wherein the flow restrictor comprises a plug in which the one or more capillaries are contained, wherein the plug occludes the lumen such that fluid passing through the lumen from the upstream end of the flow restrictor to the downstream end of the flow restrictor passes through the one or more capillaries.

<SOH> BACKGROUND <EOH>Implantable infusion systems are used to provide programmable long-term delivery of a therapeutic agent, e.g., infusate drug, to a target site such as the brain or the spinal canal or epidural space. These systems typically include a pump implanted at a remote location, e.g., within the abdominal or chest cavity, and a catheter tunneled from the pump to the target site. A drug may be delivered from a reservoir in the pump to the target site via the catheter. Some therapies, e.g., treatment of many neurological diseases, may benefit from infusion of a therapeutic agent to multiple locations within the body. For instance, for the treatment of Parkinson's Disease, it may be beneficial to deliver a substance, e.g., Glial Derived Neurotrophic Factor (GDNF), to both hemispheres of the brain (bilaterally). Infusing a drug to such multiple target sites is typically accomplished by separate infusion systems, e.g., a separate pump and catheter system for each target site. However, duplicate systems result in not only increased costs and patient invasiveness (as compared to single target site systems), but also increased complexity that is inherent in such dual systems.

<SOH> SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION <EOH>The present invention is directed to catheter systems including one or more flow restrictors for use with the same. The catheter systems may include two or more delivery branches. The delivery branches may be connected a supply catheter using a branching connector. Methods of delivering a drug via catheter systems of the invention, e.g., a branching catheter system, to multiple target locations within a body are also provided. In one embodiment, a flow restrictor for use with an implantable catheter system is provided. The flow restrictor may include a restrictor body having one or more helical grooves formed in an outer surface thereof. The flow restrictor body is located within a lumen of the catheter such that the one or more grooves form channels with the interior surface of the lumen. Fluid flow through the channel or channels is preferably restricted because of the limited cross-sectional size of the channel or channels. Although it may be preferred that the groove or grooves in the flow restrictor body form the flow-restricted channel or channels in combination with the interior surface of the lumen, in some embodiments, the flow restrictor may be provided using a body located within a separate sheath. The interior surface of the sheath is then used in combination with the groove or grooves in the restrictor body to form the flow restricted channel or channels. The combined flow restrictor body and sheath may then be inserted within the catheter lumen. In another alternative, one or more grooves may be formed in the interior surface of the lumen in which a flow restrictor body is located while the outer surface of the restrictor body is substantially smooth. In such an embodiment, the groove or grooves in the interior surface of the lumen, together with the smooth outer surface of the restrictor body, define one or more channels extending from an upstream end of the flow restrictor body to the downstream end of the flow restrictor body. In still another alternative, both the interior surface of the lumen and the outer surface of the flow restrictor body may each include one or more grooves formed therein. In such an embodiment, the grooves in the surfaces facing each other may preferably cooperate to form one or more channels that allow for fluid flow from the upstream end of the restrictor body to the downstream end of the restrictor body. In another embodiment, a branching catheter connector for use in bifurcating flow in an infusion system is provided. The connector may include in inlet port and at least two outlet ports. Each outlet port may include a flow restrictor associated therewith. In some embodiments, the connector may further include a filter element. The flow restrictors may generate backpressure and maintain substantially equivalent flow through a distal catheter coupled to each outlet port. In yet another embodiment, a method for delivering a substance to two locations in a body is provided. The method includes delivering the substance to a branching catheter connector through a primary or proximal catheter. The branching catheter connector may, e.g., bifurcate flow of the substance to a first and a second leg. Each of the first and second legs may include a flow restrictor to assist in maintaining substantially equal flow through both the first and second legs. First and second distal catheters may couple, respectively, to the first and second legs. In some embodiments, the substance may be filtered prior, or subsequent, to flow bifurcation. Although bifurcated catheter connectors are described herein, catheter connectors of the present invention may be used to separate flow into three or more legs of a branching catheter. Furthermore, although the flow restrictors are described as providing equal flow rates through the different legs of a branched catheter, the flow restrictors of the present invention may provide different flow rates through the different legs by varying the flow restriction provided by the different flow restrictors. The term “flow restrictor” as used herein, is intended to represent a resistance that is added to a system to bring the total resistance above a specified value; it does not necessarily refer to a singular component. For example, two “flow restrictors” (i.e. two components) of equal resistance placed in series at the tip of a given catheter could be functionally equivalent to a single flow restrictor whose resistance is twice that of either of the series restrictors taken by itself. The fluids delivered using the present invention preferably contain one or more drugs. A drug of the present invention may include a therapeutic substance. Other substances may or may not be intended to have a therapeutic effect and are not easily classified, such as, e.g., saline solution, fluoroscopy agents, disease diagnostic agents, etc. Unless otherwise noted in the following paragraphs, the term “drug” as used herein may include any therapeutic, diagnostic, or other substance that is delivered using the implantable medical devices of the present invention. Therapeutic substances delivered using the present invention may preferably be intended to have a therapeutic effect such as pharmaceutical compositions, genetic materials, biologics, and other substances. Pharmaceutical compositions are typically chemical formulations intended to have a therapeutic effect such as intrathecal antispasmodics, pain medications, chemotherapeutic agents, and the like. Pharmaceutical compositions may be configured to function in an implanted environment with characteristics such as stability at body temperature to retain therapeutic qualities, concentration to reduce the frequency of replenishment, and the like. Genetic materials include substances intended to have a direct or indirect genetic therapeutic effect such as genetic vectors, genetic regulator elements, genetic structural elements, DNA, and the like. Biologics include substances that are living matter or derived from living matter intended to have a therapeutic effect such as stem cells, platelets, hormones, biologically produced chemicals, and the like. In one aspect, the present invention provides a medical catheter that includes a lumen with an interior lumen surface; a flow restrictor located within the lumen, the flow restrictor comprising a restrictor body located within the lumen; and a channel located between an outer surface of the restrictor body and the interior lumen surface of the lumen, wherein the channel extends from an upstream end of the restrictor body to a downstream end of the restrictor body, such that fluid passing through the lumen flows through the channel when the fluid is delivered to the flow restrictor below a selected pressure. In some embodiments, the channel may be defined by a groove formed in the outer surface of the restrictor body, wherein the groove extends from the upstream end to the downstream end of the restrictor body. In other embodiments, the channel may be defined by a groove formed in the interior lumen surface of the lumen, wherein the groove extends from the upstream end to the downstream end of the restrictor body. In another aspect, the present invention provides a branching catheter connector for use in a branched medical catheter. The connector includes an inlet port and two or more outlet ports in fluid communication with the inlet port. Each of the outlet ports includes an outlet port lumen with an interior surface; a flow restrictor located within the outlet port lumen, the flow restrictor having a restrictor body located within the outlet port lumen; and a channel located between an outer surface of the restrictor body and the interior surface of the outlet port lumen, wherein the channel extends from an upstream end of the restrictor body to a downstream end of the restrictor body, such that fluid passing through the outlet port lumen flows through the channel when the fluid is delivered to the flow restrictor below a selected pressure. In some embodiments, the channel may be defined by a groove formed in the outer surface of the restrictor body, wherein the groove extends from the upstream end to the downstream end of the restrictor body. In other embodiments, the channel may be defined by a groove formed in the interior surface of the outlet port lumen, wherein the groove extends from the upstream end to the downstream end of the restrictor body. In another aspect, the present invention provides a medical catheter system that includes a lumen and a flow restrictor located within the lumen. The flow restrictor includes one or more capillaries within the lumen, wherein each capillary of the one or more capillaries has a first opening at an upstream end of the flow restrictor and a second opening at a downstream end of the flow restrictor. Each capillary of the one or more capillaries includes one or more coils within the lumen. Fluid passing through the lumen from the upstream end to the downstream end of the flow restrictor flows through the one or more capillaries when the fluid is delivered to the upstream end of the flow restrictor below a selected pressure. In another aspect, the present invention provides a method of providing pressure relief within a medical catheter system. The method includes providing a medical catheter system that includes a lumen with an interior lumen surface; a flow restrictor located within the lumen, the flow restrictor having a restrictor body located within the lumen; and a channel located between an outer surface of the restrictor body and the interior lumen surface of the lumen, wherein the channel extends from an upstream end of the restrictor body to a downstream end of the restrictor body. The method further includes passing fluid through only the channel from the upstream end of the restrictor body to the downstream end of the restrictor body when fluid pressure within the lumen is below a selected pressure. Pressure relief is provided by passing fluid between the outer surface of the restrictor body and the interior lumen surface of the lumen outside of the channel when fluid pressure is above the selected pressure. The above summary is not intended to describe each embodiment or every implementation of the present invention. Rather, a more complete understanding of the invention will become apparent and appreciated by reference to the following Detailed Description of Exemplary Embodiments in view of the accompanying figures of the drawing.

Diagnostic methods for branching catheter systems

Branching catheter systems with diagnostic components for detecting and isolating fluid flow problems (e.g., leaks, occlusions, etc.) and methods for detecting and isolating fluid flow problems are disclosed. Among the fluid flow problems that may potentially be detected are leaks in the branching catheter systems (e.g., cuts, disconnected components, etc.). Another fluid flow problem that may be detected using the diagnostic systems of the present invention is the presence of occlusions or other blockages that prevent fluid flow within the catheter systems. In addition to identifying that a problem exists, the diagnostic components may preferably also be used to identify the location of the fluid flow problem as discussed herein. Connectors for use in the branching catheter systems are also disclosed. Among the diagnostic components that may be used in branching catheter systems of the present are valves to control fluid flow through the various sections of the branching catheter system, fluid flow detectors to detect flow through the one or more sections of the branching catheter system and a control system for operating the diagnostic components.

1. A method of diagnosing flow conditions in a branched catheter system, the method comprising: providing an implantable branched catheter system comprising: a supply catheter section comprising a proximal end and a distal end, wherein moving from the proximal end towards the distal end defines a downstream direction within the system and wherein moving from the distal end towards the proximal end defines an upstream direction within the system; a flow detector located proximate the proximal end of the supply catheter section, wherein the flow detector detects flow through the supply catheter section; and two or more delivery branches in fluid communication with the distal end of the supply catheter, wherein each delivery branch of the two or more delivery branches comprises a delivery catheter section comprising a proximal end and a distal end, and wherein each delivery branch of the two or more delivery branches comprises a flow restrictor located within the delivery branch, wherein the flow restrictor restricts flow through the delivery catheter section; delivering fluid into the proximal end of the supply catheter section; and monitoring the flow detector while delivering the fluid and while selectively occluding flow through one or more of the supply catheter section and the delivery catheter sections. 2. A method according to claim 1, wherein the flow restrictor located within each delivery branch of the two or more delivery branches is located proximate the distal end of the delivery catheter section. 3. A method according to claim 1, further comprising selectively shunting the fluid delivered into the supply catheter section outside of the system before the fluid enters the two or more delivery branches while monitoring the flow detector. 4. A method according to claim 3, wherein the shunting is performed using a bleeder valve in fluid communication with supply catheter. 5. A method according to claim 3, wherein the shunting is performed by disconnecting the supply catheter section from the two or more delivery branches. 6. A method according to claim 1, further comprising identifying an occlusion located within a specific delivery branch of the two or more delivery branches based on monitoring the flow detector. 7. A method according to claim 6, wherein identifying an occlusion located within a specific delivery branch comprises selectively occluding all delivery branches other than the specific delivery branch. 8. A method according to claim 7, wherein the occluding comprises closing a branch valve in all delivery branches other than the specific delivery branch. 9. A method according to claim 7, wherein the occluding comprises manually pinching a lumen in all delivery branches other than the specific delivery branch. 10. A method according to claim 1, further comprising identifying an occlusion located upstream of the two or more delivery branches based on monitoring the flow detector. 11. A method according to claim 10, wherein identifying an occlusion comprises selectively shunting the fluid delivered into the supply catheter outside of the system before the fluid enters the two or more delivery branches. 12. A method according to claim 11, wherein the shunting is performed using a bleeder valve in fluid communication with supply catheter. 13. A method according to claim 11, wherein the shunting is performed by disconnecting the supply catheter from the two or more delivery branches. 14. A method according to claim 1, further comprising identifying a leak located within a specific delivery branch of the two or more delivery branches based on monitoring the flow detector. 15. A method according to claim 14, wherein identifying a leak located within a specific delivery branch comprises selectively occluding all delivery branches other than the specific delivery branch. 16. A method according to claim 15, wherein the occluding comprises closing a branch valve in all delivery branches other than the specific delivery branch. 17. A method according to claim 15, wherein the occluding comprises manually pinching a lumen in all delivery branches other than the specific delivery branch. 18. A method according to claim 1, further comprising identifying a leak located upstream of the two or more delivery branches based on monitoring the flow detector. 19. A method according to claim 18, wherein identifying a leak located upstream of the two or more delivery branches comprises selectively occluding flow through all of the two or more delivery branches. 20. A method according to claim 19, wherein the occluding comprises closing a branch valve in all delivery branches of the two or more delivery branches. 21. A method according to claim 19, wherein the occluding comprises manually pinching a lumen in all delivery branches of the two or more delivery branches. 22. A method according to claim 19, wherein selectively occluding flow through all of the two or more delivery branches comprises occluding fluid flow proximate the distal end of the supply catheter section. 23. A method according to claim 22, wherein occluding fluid flow proximate the distal end of the supply catheter section comprises closing a supply valve. 24. A method according to claim 22, wherein occluding fluid flow proximate the distal end of the supply catheter comprises manually pinching a lumen in the supply catheter. 25. A method of diagnosing flow conditions in a branched catheter system, the method comprising: providing an implantable branched catheter system comprising: a supply catheter section comprising a proximal end and a distal end, wherein moving from the proximal end towards the distal end defines a downstream direction within the system and wherein moving from the distal end towards the proximal end defines an upstream direction within the system; a flow detector located proximate the proximal end of the supply catheter section, wherein the flow detector detects flow through the supply catheter section; and two or more delivery branches in fluid communication with the distal end of the supply catheter, wherein each delivery branch of the two or more delivery branches comprises a delivery catheter section comprising a proximal end and a distal end, and wherein each delivery branch of the two or more delivery branches comprises a flow restrictor located proximate a distal end of the delivery branch, wherein the flow restrictor restricts flow through the delivery catheter section; delivering fluid into the proximal end of the supply catheter section; monitoring the flow detector while delivering the fluid and while selectively occluding flow through one or more of the supply catheter section and the delivery catheter sections; and selectively shunting the fluid delivered into the supply catheter section outside of the system before the fluid enters the two or more delivery branches while monitoring the flow detector.

<SOH> BACKGROUND <EOH>Implantable drug infusion systems are used to provide programmable long-term delivery of a therapeutic agent, e.g., infusate drug, to a target site such as the brain or the spinal canal or epidural space. These systems typically include a pump implanted at a remote location, e.g., within the abdominal or chest cavity, and a catheter tunneled from the pump to the target site. A drug may be delivered from a reservoir in the pump to the target site via the catheter. Some therapies, e.g., treatment of many neurological diseases, may benefit from infusion of a therapeutic agent to multiple locations within the body. For instance, for the treatment of Parkinson's Disease, it may be beneficial to deliver a substance, e.g., Glial Derived Neurotrophic Factor (GDNF), to both hemispheres of the brain (bilaterally). Infusing a drug to such multiple target sites is typically accomplished by separate infusion systems, e.g., a separate pump and catheter system for each target site. However, duplicate systems result in not only increased costs and patient invasiveness (as compared to single target site systems), but also increased complexity that is inherent in such dual systems. Branching catheter systems such as those described in, e.g., U.S. Patent Application Publication No. US 2004/0199128 A1 (Morris et al.) and titled CATHETER FOR TARGET SPECIFIC DRUG DELIVERY, have been developed to address some of the issues associated with using multiple systems for delivering drugs to multiple locations within a patient.

<SOH> SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION <EOH>The present invention is directed at branching catheter systems with diagnostic components for detecting and isolating fluid flow problems (e.g., leaks, occlusions, etc.) and methods for detecting and isolating fluid flow problems. Among the fluid flow problems that may potentially be detected are leaks in the branching catheter systems (e.g., cuts, disconnected components, etc.). Another fluid flow problem that may be detected using the diagnostic systems of the present invention is the presence of occlusions or other blockages that prevent fluid flow within the catheter systems. In addition to identifying that a problem exists, the diagnostic components may preferably also be used to identify the location of the fluid flow problem as discussed herein. Among the diagnostic components that may be used in branching catheter systems of the present are valves to control fluid flow through the various sections of the branching catheter system, fluid flow detectors to detect flow through the one or more sections of the branching catheter system and a control system for operating the diagnostic components. In some embodiments, the diagnostic components may preferably include a supply valve to control flow to all of the branches of the branching catheter and branch valves in each of the branches to control the flow of fluid into the selected branch. The valves may preferably operate as shut-off valves to occlude flow at the their location within the branching catheter system. The flow detector may preferably be positioned and operable to detect fluid flow delivered by a pump mechanism. The flow detector may take a variety of different forms, e.g., a pressure sensor operable to sense pressure at a location within the catheter system (where pressure is indicative of flow), a flow sensor operable to detect fluid moving through a lumen (e.g. a mass flow sensor), etc. Branching catheter systems that incorporate diagnostic components of the present invention may preferably include a branching catheter connector that includes an inlet port and two or more outlet ports in fluid communication with the inlet port. Each of the outlet ports may preferably feed fluid into a branch of the branching catheter system, while the inlet port may preferably be adapted to receive fluid from a pump mechanism operably connected to a reservoir containing a supply of a drug to be delivered to a patient. Although it may be preferred that the branching catheter systems include diagnostic components such as valves to control fluid flow past a selected point, methods of the present invention may alternatively involve manual occlusion of lumens at selected locations within the branching catheter systems. For example, occlusion may involve manual compression of a catheter at a selected location such that the catheter is pinched at that location. In another embodiment, a method for detecting and isolating leaks and occlusions in a branching catheter system is provided. The method may include detecting a change in a characteristic, e.g., pressure, of a fluid within the system. Valves associated with one or more of an inlet port, a first outlet port, and a second outlet port of a branching connector of the system may be activated independently to disrupt flow through one or more sections of the system. The method may also include monitoring fluid flow (e.g., pressure) after valve activation; and determining a location of a catheter leak and/or occlusion based upon the pressure detected. To assist in diagnosis of fluid flow problems in branching catheters, it may be preferred to include flow restrictors at selected locations within the branching catheters. In addition to assisting with diagnosis of fluid flow problems, the flow restrictors may also be useful for balancing flow between different branches in a branching catheter system. Branching catheter systems including diagnostic components in accordance with the present invention or methods of the present invention may provide intuitive and systematic techniques, in conjunction with appropriate hardware, for troubleshooting infusion systems including implantable branching catheter systems. For example, the systems and/or methods as described herein may be used to detect catheter failures as well as identify failure locations in branching catheter systems. In other words, these systems and/or methods may enable not only detection of a catheter failure, e.g., the presence of a leak or clog, but may also isolate that failure to a particular section (i.e., supply catheter or specific branch catheter) of the branching catheter system. The systems and/or methods of the present invention may also allow confirmation of successful implantation while the patient is still on the operating table. Moreover, revision surgeries to correct problems can be focused to the appropriate component(s) of the system, thus making surgery potentially less invasive and time consuming. In addition to potentially increased robustness of the implant procedure and potentially improved ability to focus repairs/revisions, the systems and/or methods as described herein may also reduce the risk of patient over/under dosing. Moreover, these systems and/or methods may decrease the number of instances of therapies that might be inappropriately discontinued as “inefficacious” or classified as “marginally efficacious.” By using the feedback provided by systems and/or methods of the present invention, physicians may further be able to develop improvements in implant technique and hardware design. In one embodiment, a flow restrictor for use with an implantable catheter of the present invention may include an elongate male member having a helical groove formed in an outer surface thereof. The flow restrictor may fit with interference within a lumen of a catheter or other device or, alternatively, may fit with interference inside a separate sheath, wherein the combined restrictor/sheath may then be inserted within the catheter lumen. The fluids delivered using the present invention may preferably contain one or more drugs. A drug of the present invention may include a therapeutic substance. Other substances may or may not be intended to have a therapeutic effect and are not easily classified, such as, e.g., saline solution, fluoroscopy agents, disease diagnostic agents, etc. Unless otherwise noted in the following paragraphs, the term “drug” as used herein may include any therapeutic, diagnostic, or other substance that is delivered using the implantable medical devices of the present invention. The drugs will typically be fluids (e.g., liquids) or contained in fluid carriers (e.g., liquid carriers) as either solutions or mixtures. Therapeutic substances delivered using the present invention may preferably be intended to have a therapeutic effect such as pharmaceutical compositions, genetic materials, biologics, and other substances. Pharmaceutical compositions are typically chemical formulations intended to have a therapeutic effect such as intrathecal antispasmodics, pain medications, chemotherapeutic agents, and the like. Pharmaceutical compositions may be configured to function in an implanted environment with characteristics such as stability at body temperature to retain therapeutic qualities, concentration to reduce the frequency of replenishment, and the like. Genetic materials include substances intended to have a direct or indirect genetic therapeutic effect such as genetic vectors, genetic regulator elements, genetic structural elements, DNA, and the like. Biologics include substances that are living matter or derived from living matter intended to have a therapeutic effect such as stem cells, platelets, hormones, biologically produced chemicals, and the like. In one aspect, the present invention provides an implantable branched catheter system that includes a supply catheter section having a proximal end and a distal end and two or more delivery branches in fluid communication with the distal end of the supply catheter section. Each delivery branch of the two or more delivery branches includes a delivery catheter section having a proximal end and a distal end along with a flow restrictor located along the delivery catheter section, wherein the flow restrictor restricts flow through the delivery catheter section. Each delivery branch further includes a branch valve located between the distal end of the supply catheter section and the proximal end of the delivery catheter section. The system also includes a supply valve located proximate the distal end of the supply catheter section, wherein the supply valve controls flow through the distal end of the supply catheter section; and a flow detector located proximate the proximal end of the supply catheter section, wherein the flow detector detects flow through the supply catheter section. In another aspect, the present invention provides an implantable branched catheter system that includes a supply catheter section having a proximal end and a distal end and two or more delivery branches in fluid communication with the distal end of the supply catheter section. Each delivery branch of the two or more delivery branches includes a delivery catheter section having a proximal end and a distal end; a flow restrictor located proximate a distal end of the delivery catheter section, wherein the flow restrictor restricts flow through the delivery catheter section; and a branch valve located between the distal end of the supply catheter section and the proximal end of the delivery catheter section. The system further includes a supply valve located proximate the distal end of the supply catheter section, wherein the supply valve controls flow through the distal end of the supply catheter section and a bleeder valve located proximate the distal end of the supply catheter section, wherein the bleeder valve is located distal of the supply valve, and wherein the bleeder valve shunts flow out of the branched catheter system. The system also includes a flow detector located proximate the proximal end of the supply catheter section, wherein the flow detector is a pressure sensor. In another aspect, the present invention provides a branching catheter connector for use in an implantable branching catheter system, the connector including an implantable connector body defining a fluid path having a branch point at which the fluid path separates into two or more branches; an inlet port located within the connector body, the inlet port in fluid communication with the fluid path; two or more outlet ports in fluid communication with the inlet port through the branching fluid path, wherein the branch point is located between the inlet port and the two or more outlet ports; a supply valve located proximate the inlet port, wherein the supply valve is located in the branching fluid path between the inlet port and the branch point; and a branch valve located proximate each outlet port of the two or more outlet ports, wherein the branch valve of each outlet port is located in the fluid path between the branch point and the outlet port. In another aspect, the present invention provides a method of diagnosing flow conditions in a branched catheter system. The method includes providing an implantable branched catheter system that includes a supply catheter section having a proximal end and a distal end, wherein moving from the proximal end towards the distal end defines a downstream direction within the system and wherein moving from the distal end towards the proximal end defines an upstream direction within the system. The system further includes a flow detector located proximate the proximal end of the supply catheter section, wherein the flow detector detects flow through the supply catheter section; and two or more delivery branches in fluid communication with the distal end of the supply catheter. Each delivery branch of the two or more delivery branches includes a delivery catheter section having a proximal end and a distal end, and wherein each delivery branch of the two or more delivery branches includes a flow restrictor located within the delivery branch, wherein the flow restrictor restricts flow through the delivery catheter section. The method further includes delivering fluid into the proximal end of the supply catheter section; and monitoring the flow detector while delivering the fluid and while selectively occluding flow through one or more of the supply catheter section and the delivery catheter sections. In another aspect, the present invention provides a method of diagnosing flow conditions in a branched catheter system. The method includes providing an implantable branched catheter system that includes a supply catheter section having a proximal end and a distal end, wherein moving from the proximal end towards the distal end defines a downstream direction within the system and wherein moving from the distal end towards the proximal end defines an upstream direction within the system. The system further includes a flow detector located proximate the proximal end of the supply catheter section, wherein the flow detector detects flow through the supply catheter section; and two or more delivery branches in fluid communication with the distal end of the supply catheter. Each delivery branch of the two or more delivery branches includes a delivery catheter section having a proximal end and a distal end, and wherein each delivery branch of the two or more delivery branches includes a flow restrictor located proximate a distal end of the delivery branch, wherein the flow restrictor restricts flow through the delivery catheter section. The method further includes delivering fluid into the proximal end of the supply catheter section; and monitoring the flow detector while delivering the fluid and while selectively occluding flow through one or more of the supply catheter section and the delivery catheter sections. The method further comprises selectively shunting the fluid delivered into the supply catheter section outside of the system before the fluid enters the two or more delivery branches while monitoring the flow detector The above summary is not intended to describe each embodiment or every implementation of the present invention. Rather, a more complete understanding of the invention will become apparent and appreciated by reference to the following Detailed Description of Exemplary Embodiments in view of the accompanying figures of the drawing.

Pressure relief methods in a medical catheter system

Catheter systems including one or more flow restrictors are disclosed. The catheter systems may include two or more delivery branches. The delivery branches may be connected to a supply catheter section using a branching catheter connector that may include one or more flow restrictors. The flow restrictors may include a restrictor body located within a lumen with a channel located between the restrictor body and interior surface of the lumen, the channel restricting flow through the lumen past the flow restrictor. The channel may be defined by a groove formed in the restrictor body and/or the interior surface of the lumen. Methods of providing pressure relief by flowing fluid past a flow restrictor are also disclosed.

1. A method of providing pressure relief within a medical catheter system, the method comprising: providing a medical catheter system that comprises: a lumen comprising an interior lumen surface; a flow restrictor located within the lumen, the flow restrictor comprising a restrictor body located within the lumen; a channel located between an outer surface of the restrictor body and the interior lumen surface of the lumen, wherein the channel extends from an upstream end of the restrictor body to a downstream end of the restrictor body; passing fluid through only the channel from the upstream end of the restrictor body to the downstream end of the restrictor body when fluid pressure within the lumen is below a selected pressure; and passing fluid between the outer surface of the restrictor body and the interior lumen surface of the lumen outside of the channel when fluid pressure is above the selected pressure. 2. A method according to claim 1, wherein passing fluid between the outer surface of the restrictor body and the interior lumen surface of the lumen above the selected pressure comprises enlarging the lumen around the restrictor body. 3. A method according to claim 1, wherein passing fluid between the outer surface of the restrictor body and the interior lumen surface of the lumen above the selected pressure comprises compressing the restrictor body within the lumen. 4. A method according to claim 1, wherein the fluid resumes flow through only the channel when the fluid pressure falls below the selected pressure after exceeding the selected pressure. 5. A method according to claim 1, wherein the channel is defined by a groove formed in the outer surface of the restrictor body, wherein the groove extends from the upstream end to the downstream end of the restrictor body. 6. A method according to claim 1, wherein the channel is defined by a groove formed in the interior lumen surface of the lumen, wherein the groove extends from the upstream end to the downstream end of the restrictor body. 7. A method according to claim 1, wherein the channel comprises a helical channel. 8. A method according to claim 1, wherein the flow restrictor comprises a first notch in the first end of the outer surface of the restrictor body, the first notch in fluid communication with the channel at the upstream end of the restrictor body. 9. A method according to claim 1, wherein the flow restrictor comprises a second notch in the second end of the outer surface of the restrictor body, the second notch in fluid communication with the channel at the downstream end of the restrictor body. 10. A method according to claim 1, wherein the restrictor body has an interference fit within the lumen. 11. A method according to claim 1, wherein the lumen is located within a branching catheter connector that comprises an inlet port and two or more outlet ports in fluid communication with the inlet port.

<SOH> BACKGROUND <EOH>Implantable infusion systems are used to provide programmable long-term delivery of a therapeutic agent, e.g., infusate drug, to a target site such as the brain or the spinal canal or epidural space. These systems typically include a pump implanted at a remote location, e.g., within the abdominal or chest cavity, and a catheter tunneled from the pump to the target site. A drug may be delivered from a reservoir in the pump to the target site via the catheter. Some therapies, e.g., treatment of many neurological diseases, may benefit from infusion of a therapeutic agent to multiple locations within the body. For instance, for the treatment of Parkinson's Disease, it may be beneficial to deliver a substance, e.g., Glial Derived Neurotrophic Factor (GDNF), to both hemispheres of the brain (bilaterally). Infusing a drug to such multiple target sites is typically accomplished by separate infusion systems, e.g., a separate pump and catheter system for each target site. However, duplicate systems result in not only increased costs and patient invasiveness (as compared to single target site systems), but also increased complexity that is inherent in such dual systems.

<SOH> SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION <EOH>The present invention is directed to catheter systems including one or more flow restrictors for use with the same. The catheter systems may include two or more delivery branches. The delivery branches may be connected a supply catheter using a branching connector. Methods of delivering a drug via catheter systems of the invention, e.g., a branching catheter system, to multiple target locations within a body are also provided. In one embodiment, a flow restrictor for use with an implantable catheter system is provided. The flow restrictor may include a restrictor body having one or more helical grooves formed in an outer surface thereof. The flow restrictor body is located within a lumen of the catheter such that the one or more grooves form channels with the interior surface of the lumen. Fluid flow through the channel or channels is preferably restricted because of the limited cross-sectional size of the channel or channels. Although it may be preferred that the groove or grooves in the flow restrictor body form the flow-restricted channel or channels in combination with the interior surface of the lumen, in some embodiments, the flow restrictor may be provided using a body located within a separate sheath. The interior surface of the sheath is then used in combination with the groove or grooves in the restrictor body to form the flow restricted channel or channels. The combined flow restrictor body and sheath may then be inserted within the catheter lumen. In another alternative, one or more grooves may be formed in the interior surface of the lumen in which a flow restrictor body is located while the outer surface of the restrictor body is substantially smooth. In such an embodiment, the groove or grooves in the interior surface of the lumen, together with the smooth outer surface of the restrictor body, define one or more channels extending from an upstream end of the flow restrictor body to the downstream end of the flow restrictor body. In still another alternative, both the interior surface of the lumen and the outer surface of the flow restrictor body may each include one or more grooves formed therein. In such an embodiment, the grooves in the surfaces facing each other may preferably cooperate to form one or more channels that allow for fluid flow from the upstream end of the restrictor body to the downstream end of the restrictor body. In another embodiment, a branching catheter connector for use in bifurcating flow in an infusion system is provided. The connector may include in inlet port and at least two outlet ports. Each outlet port may include a flow restrictor associated therewith. In some embodiments, the connector may further include a filter element. The flow restrictors may generate backpressure and maintain substantially equivalent flow through a distal catheter coupled to each outlet port. In yet another embodiment, a method for delivering a substance to two locations in a body is provided. The method includes delivering the substance to a branching catheter connector through a primary or proximal catheter. The branching catheter connector may, e.g., bifurcate flow of the substance to a first and a second leg. Each of the first and second legs may include a flow restrictor to assist in maintaining substantially equal flow through both the first and second legs. First and second distal catheters may couple, respectively, to the first and second legs. In some embodiments, the substance may be filtered prior, or subsequent, to flow bifurcation. Although bifurcated catheter connectors are described herein, catheter connectors of the present invention may be used to separate flow into three or more legs of a branching catheter. Furthermore, although the flow restrictors are described as providing equal flow rates through the different legs of a branched catheter, the flow restrictors of the present invention may provide different flow rates through the different legs by varying the flow restriction provided by the different flow restrictors. The term “flow restrictor” as used herein, is intended to represent a resistance that is added to a system to bring the total resistance above a specified value; it does not necessarily refer to a singular component. For example, two “flow restrictors” (i.e. two components) of equal resistance placed in series at the tip of a given catheter could be functionally equivalent to a single flow restrictor whose resistance is twice that of either of the series restrictors taken by itself. The fluids delivered using the present invention preferably contain one or more drugs. A drug of the present invention may include a therapeutic substance. Other substances may or may not be intended to have a therapeutic effect and are not easily classified, such as, e.g., saline solution, fluoroscopy agents, disease diagnostic agents, etc. Unless otherwise noted in the following paragraphs, the term “drug” as used herein may include any therapeutic, diagnostic, or other substance that is delivered using the implantable medical devices of the present invention. Therapeutic substances delivered using the present invention may preferably be intended to have a therapeutic effect such as pharmaceutical compositions, genetic materials, biologics, and other substances. Pharmaceutical compositions are typically chemical formulations intended to have a therapeutic effect such as intrathecal antispasmodics, pain medications, chemotherapeutic agents, and the like. Pharmaceutical compositions may be configured to function in an implanted environment with characteristics such as stability at body temperature to retain therapeutic qualities, concentration to reduce the frequency of replenishment, and the like. Genetic materials include substances intended to have a direct or indirect genetic therapeutic effect such as genetic vectors, genetic regulator elements, genetic structural elements, DNA, and the like. Biologics include substances that are living matter or derived from living matter intended to have a therapeutic effect such as stem cells, platelets, hormones, biologically produced chemicals, and the like. In one aspect, the present invention provides a medical catheter that includes a lumen with an interior lumen surface; a flow restrictor located within the lumen, the flow restrictor comprising a restrictor body located within the lumen; and a channel located between an outer surface of the restrictor body and the interior lumen surface of the lumen, wherein the channel extends from an upstream end of the restrictor body to a downstream end of the restrictor body, such that fluid passing through the lumen flows through the channel when the fluid is delivered to the flow restrictor below a selected pressure. In some embodiments, the channel may be defined by a groove formed in the outer surface of the restrictor body, wherein the groove extends from the upstream end to the downstream end of the restrictor body. In other embodiments, the channel may be defined by a groove formed in the interior lumen surface of the lumen, wherein the groove extends from the upstream end to the downstream end of the restrictor body. In another aspect, the present invention provides a branching catheter connector for use in a branched medical catheter. The connector includes an inlet port and two or more outlet ports in fluid communication with the inlet port. Each of the outlet ports includes an outlet port lumen with an interior surface; a flow restrictor located within the outlet port lumen, the flow restrictor having a restrictor body located within the outlet port lumen; and a channel located between an outer surface of the restrictor body and the interior surface of the outlet port lumen, wherein the channel extends from an upstream end of the restrictor body to a downstream end of the restrictor body, such that fluid passing through the outlet port lumen flows through the channel when the fluid is delivered to the flow restrictor below a selected pressure. In some embodiments, the channel may be defined by a groove formed in the outer surface of the restrictor body, wherein the groove extends from the upstream end to the downstream end of the restrictor body. In other embodiments, the channel may be defined by a groove formed in the interior surface of the outlet port lumen, wherein the groove extends from the upstream end to the downstream end of the restrictor body. In another aspect, the present invention provides a medical catheter system that includes a lumen and a flow restrictor located within the lumen. The flow restrictor includes one or more capillaries within the lumen, wherein each capillary of the one or more capillaries has a first opening at an upstream end of the flow restrictor and a second opening at a downstream end of the flow restrictor. Each capillary of the one or more capillaries includes one or more coils within the lumen. Fluid passing through the lumen from the upstream end to the downstream end of the flow restrictor flows through the one or more capillaries when the fluid is delivered to the upstream end of the flow restrictor below a selected pressure. In another aspect, the present invention provides a method of providing pressure relief within a medical catheter system. The method includes providing a medical catheter system that includes a lumen with an interior lumen surface; a flow restrictor located within the lumen, the flow restrictor having a restrictor body located within the lumen; and a channel located between an outer surface of the restrictor body and the interior lumen surface of the lumen, wherein the channel extends from an upstream end of the restrictor body to a downstream end of the restrictor body. The method further includes passing fluid through only the channel from the upstream end of the restrictor body to the downstream end of the restrictor body when fluid pressure within the lumen is below a selected pressure. Pressure relief is provided by passing fluid between the outer surface of the restrictor body and the interior lumen surface of the lumen outside of the channel when fluid pressure is above the selected pressure. The above summary is not intended to describe each embodiment or every implementation of the present invention. Rather, a more complete understanding of the invention will become apparent and appreciated by reference to the following Detailed Description of Exemplary Embodiments in view of the accompanying figures of the drawing.

Method and system for enhancing an image

A method for enhancing an image includes generating a luminance histogram for the image; generating a derivative histogram by taking a first derivative of the luminance histogram; searching for a plurality of black peaks and searching for a plurality of white peaks using the derivative histogram; and performing luminance scaling of the image between one black peak of the plurality of black peaks and one white peak of the plurality of white peaks.

1. A method for enhancing an image, comprising: generating a luminance histogram for said image; generating a derivative histogram by taking a first derivative of said luminance histogram; searching for a plurality of black peaks and searching for a plurality of white peaks using said derivative histogram; and performing luminance scaling of said image between one black peak of said plurality of black peaks and one white peak of said plurality of white peaks. 2. The method of claim 1, wherein said searching for said plurality of black peaks and said searching for said plurality of white peaks includes searching to determine a plurality of local maxima based on a zero first derivative value using said derivative histogram. 3. The method of claim 2, further comprising a setting a maximum search parameter for limiting said searching for said local maxima to a predefined luminance range corresponding to said maximum search parameter. 4. The method of claim 3, wherein a different of said maximum search parameter is used for said searching for said plurality of black peaks than is used for said searching for said plurality of white peaks, such that a different of said predefined luminance range is used for said searching for said plurality of black peaks than is used for searching for said plurality of white peaks. 5. The method of claim 2, further comprising inverting at least a portion of said derivative histogram when searching for said plurality of white peaks. 6. The method of claim 2, further comprising incrementing a negative derivative count when searching said derivative histogram, wherein each of said plurality of local maxima is determined based on comparing said negative derivative count to a negative increment control value, and wherein said negative derivative count is a consecutive number of negative derivative values along said derivative histogram from said local maxima. 7. The method of claim 6, wherein a different of said negative increment control value is used when searching for said plurality of black peaks than is used when searching for said plurality of white peaks. 8. The method of claim 6, further comprising: obtaining a maximum black value and a maximum white value from said luminance histogram; obtaining a black luminance associated with said maximum black value and a white luminance associated with said maximum white value, wherein when searching for said plurality of black peaks, said negative derivative count is incremented if a current luminance position is greater than said black luminance and a current luminance histogram value is less than a predefined percentage of said maximum black value, without regard to the current derivative histogram value associated with said current luminance position, and wherein when searching for said plurality of white peaks, said negative derivative count is incremented if said current luminance position is less than said white luminance and said current luminance histogram value is less than a predefined percentage of said maximum white value, without regard to the current derivative histogram value associated with said current luminance position. 9. The method of claim 1, further comprising: designating a primary black peak from said plurality of black peaks; and designating a primary white peak from said plurality of white peaks, wherein said luminance scaling of said image is performed between said primary black peak and said primary white peak. 10. The method of claim 9, wherein said plurality of black peaks and said plurality of white peaks are distributed along a luminance scale, said plurality of black peaks including at least a proximal black peak and a distal black peak having a higher luminance on said luminance scale than said proximal black peak, said plurality of white peaks including at least a proximal white peak and a distal white peak having a lower luminance on said luminance scale than said proximal white peak, further comprising: defining said primary black peak as being said distal black peak unless said proximal black peak is greater than a predefined percentage of said distal black peak, otherwise defining said primary black peak as being said proximal black peak; and defining said primary white peak as being said distal white peak unless said proximal white peak is greater than a predefined percentage of said distal white peak, otherwise defining said primary white peak as being said proximal white peak. 11. The method of claim 9, wherein said plurality of black peaks and said plurality of white peaks are distributed along a luminance scale, said plurality of black peaks including at least a proximal black peak and a distal black peak having a higher luminance on said luminance scale than said proximal black peak, said plurality of white peaks including at least a proximal white peak and a distal white peak having a lower luminance on said luminance scale than said proximal white peak, further comprising: designating as an initial primary black peak one of said proximal black peak and said distal black peak; designating as an initial primary white peak one of said proximal white peak and said distal white peak; determining a percentage of said image that is located between said initial primary black peak and said initial primary white peak; determining a middle tone histogram value; determining a total image count based on based on said luminance histogram; defining said primary black peak as being said initial primary black peak if said initial primary black peak is less than a first predefined percentage of said middle tone histogram value and said percentage of said image that is located between said initial primary black peak and said initial primary white peak is greater than a first predefined percentage of said total image count, otherwise defining said primary black peak as being said proximal black peak; and defining said primary white peak as being said initial primary white peak if said initial primary white peak is less than a second predefined percentage of said middle tone histogram value and said percentage of said image that is located between said initial primary black peak and said initial primary white peak is greater than a second predefined percentage of said total image count, otherwise defining said primary white peak as being said proximal white peak. 12. The method of claim 1, wherein said searching for said plurality of black peaks is performed in a direction of increasing luminance, and wherein said searching for said plurality of white peaks is performed in a direction of decreasing luminance. 13. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining at least one of a brightness adjustment and a contrast adjustment for said image based on comparing a total black count from said luminance histogram with a total white count of said luminance histogram. 14. An imaging apparatus configured for enhancing an image for printing, comprising: a print engine configured to mount a cartridge; and a controller communicatively coupled to said print engine, said controller being configured to execute instructions for: generating a luminance histogram for said image; generating a derivative histogram by taking a first derivative of said luminance histogram; searching for a plurality of black peaks and searching for a plurality of white peaks using said derivative histogram; and performing luminance scaling of said image between one black peak of said plurality of black peaks and one white peak of said plurality of white peaks. 15. The imaging apparatus of claim 14, wherein said searching for said plurality of black peaks and said searching for said plurality of white peaks includes searching to determine a plurality of local maxima based on a zero first derivative value using said derivative histogram. 16. The imaging apparatus of claim 15, further comprising said controller being configured to execute instructions for setting a maximum search parameter for limiting said searching for said local maxima to a predefined luminance range corresponding to said maximum search parameter. 17. The imaging apparatus of claim 16, wherein a different of said maximum search parameter is used for said searching for said plurality of black peaks than is used for said searching for said plurality of white peaks, such that a different of said predefined luminance range is used for said searching for said plurality of black peaks than is used for searching for said plurality of white peaks. 18. The imaging apparatus of claim 15, further comprising said controller being configured to execute instructions for inverting at least a portion of said derivative histogram when searching for said plurality of white peaks. 19. The imaging apparatus of claim 15, further comprising said controller being configured to execute instructions for incrementing a negative derivative count when searching said derivative histogram, wherein each of said plurality of local maxima is determined based on comparing said negative derivative count to a negative increment control value, and wherein said negative derivative count is a consecutive number of negative derivative values along said derivative histogram from said local maxima. 20. The imaging apparatus of claim 19, wherein a different of said negative increment control value is different when searching for said plurality of black peaks than is used when searching for said plurality of white peaks. 21. The imaging apparatus of claim 19, further comprising said controller being configured to execute instructions for: obtaining a maximum black value and a maximum white value from said luminance histogram; obtaining a black luminance associated with said maximum black value and a white luminance associated with said maximum white value, wherein when searching for said plurality of black peaks, said negative derivative count is incremented if a current luminance position is greater than said black luminance and a current luminance histogram value is less than a predefined percentage of said maximum black value, without regard to the current derivative histogram value associated with said current luminance position, and wherein when searching for said plurality of white peaks, said negative derivative count is incremented if said current luminance position is less than said white luminance and said current luminance histogram value is less than a predefined percentage of said maximum white value, without regard to the current derivative histogram value associated with said current luminance position. 22. The imaging apparatus of claim 14, further comprising said controller being configured to execute instructions for: designating a primary black peak from said plurality of black peaks; and designating a primary white peak from said plurality of white peaks, wherein said luminance scaling of said image is performed between said primary black peak and said primary white peak. 23. The imaging apparatus of claim 22, wherein said plurality of black peaks and said plurality of white peaks are distributed along a luminance scale, said plurality of black peaks including at least a proximal black peak and a distal black peak having a higher luminance on said luminance scale than said proximal black peak, said plurality of white peaks including at least a proximal white peak and a distal white peak having a lower luminance on said luminance scale than said proximal white peak, further comprising said controller being configured to execute instructions for: defining said primary black peak as being said distal black peak unless said proximal black peak is greater than a predefined percentage of said distal black peak, otherwise defining said primary black peak as being said proximal black peak; and defining said primary white peak as being said distal white peak unless said proximal white peak is greater than a predefined percentage of said distal white peak, otherwise defining said primary white peak as being said proximal white peak. 24. The imaging apparatus of claim 22, wherein said plurality of black peaks and said plurality of white peaks are distributed along a luminance scale, said plurality of black peaks including at least a proximal black peak and a distal black peak having a higher luminance on said luminance scale than said proximal black peak, said plurality of white peaks including at least a proximal white peak and a distal white peak having a lower luminance on said luminance scale than said proximal white peak, further comprising further comprising said controller being configured to execute instructions for: designating as an initial primary black peak one of said proximal black peak and said distal black peak; designating as an initial primary white peak one of said proximal white peak and said distal white peak; determining a percentage of said image that is located between said initial primary black peak and said initial primary white peak; determining a middle tone histogram value; determining a total image count based on based on said luminance histogram; defining said primary black peak as being said initial primary black peak if said initial primary black peak is less than a first predefined percentage of said middle tone histogram value and said percentage of said image that is located between said initial primary black peak and said initial primary white peak is greater than a first predefined percentage of said total image count, otherwise defining said primary black peak as being said proximal black peak; and defining said primary white peak as being said initial primary white peak if said initial primary white peak is less than a second predefined percentage of said middle tone histogram value and said percentage of said image that is located between said initial primary black peak and said initial primary white peak is greater than a second predefined percentage of said total image count, otherwise defining said primary white peak as being said proximal white peak. 25. The imaging apparatus of claim 14, wherein said searching for said plurality of black peaks is performed in a direction of increasing luminance, and wherein said searching for said plurality of white peaks is performed in a direction of decreasing luminance. 26. The imaging apparatus of claim 14, further comprising said controller being configured to execute instructions for determining at least one of a brightness adjustment and a contrast adjustment for said image based on comparing a total black count from said luminance histogram with a total white count of said luminance histogram.

<SOH> BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION <EOH>1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to imaging, and, more particularly, to a method and system for enhancing an image. 2. Description of the Related Art Many standard image-processing techniques have been developed to enhance image data. The original images may be, for example, digital photographs, scanned data, or documents created on a computer. The primary techniques used are contrast stretching, Tone Response Curves (TRC) and spatial filters. Other techniques, such as unsharp masking, erosion and dilation, can also be used. Each of these techniques has parameters that control how image data is affected. Different types of images require different parameter values in order to achieve optimal improvement. Contrast stretching is a technique which generally uses a piecewise linear transformation to convert the input data to adjusted output values. The adjustments are typically separated into regions, for example, three regions, such as a dark region, a mid-tone region, and light region. Parameters for each region include the range of input values for the particular region, as well as parameters specific to the transfer function used for the particular region. The input values are transformed according to the definitions for each region. Another way to parameterize the function would be to specify the transition points. Tone response curves (TRC) refer to implementing a more complicated transform of the image data. A look up table is generally used to implement TRCs. A curve that has the desired shape is digitized and stored in a Look Up Table (LUT). The input data is transformed by looking up the appropriate value in the LUT. The LUT may have an entry for each input value, or it may be a sparse LUT that stores a subset of the values, and uses interpolation to approximate the intermediate values. A LUT can be used to implement a power curve, a polynomial expression, an arbitrary curve or even contrast stretching. Spatial filters use information about neighboring pixels to modify pixel values. Median filters, sharpening filters and linear spatial filters (convolution kernel) are examples of spatial filters. The median filter is an order-statistic filter which sorts the values of the pixel and its neighbors and uses the median value as output. A convolution kernel uses a mask, which applies weights to the pixel and its neighbors and adds them together. The resultant value is used as the output. A parameter for a median filter includes the size of the neighborhood to use. Parameters for a convolution kernel include the size of the mask and the values contained in the mask (weights).

<SOH> SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION <EOH>The invention, in one exemplary embodiment, relates to a method for enhancing an image. The method includes generating a luminance histogram for the image; generating a derivative histogram by taking a first derivative of the luminance histogram; searching for a plurality of black peaks and searching for a plurality of white peaks using the derivative histogram; and performing luminance scaling of the image between one black peak of the plurality of black peaks and one white peak of the plurality of white peaks. The invention, in another exemplary embodiment, relates to an imaging apparatus configured for enhancing an image for printing. The imaging apparatus includes a print engine configured to mount a cartridge, and a controller communicatively coupled to the print engine. The controller is configured to execute instructions for generating a luminance histogram for the image; generating a derivative histogram by taking a first derivative of the luminance histogram; searching for a plurality of black peaks and searching for a plurality of white peaks using the derivative histogram; and performing luminance scaling of the image between one black peak of the plurality of black peaks and one white peak of the plurality of white peaks.

Interior panel having airbag deployment door

An interior panel for a motor vehicle provides a deployment door for an airbag assembly supported behind the panel. The deployment door has a peripheral end surface connected to the surrounding panel substrate, the connection being formed by a knit line. In this manner, a seamless deployment door for an airbag assembly is provided with a clean and consistent appearance, while at the same time quickly and easily breaking free from the surrounding panel.

1. An interior panel for a motor vehicle having an airbag assembly supported behind the interior panel, the interior panel comprising: a panel substrate having opposing first and second surfaces, the first surface exposed to the interior of the motor vehicle; a deployment door formed in the panel substrate, the deployment door having a peripheral end surface connected to the surrounding panel substrate; and the connection between the deployment door and the surrounding panel substrate formed by a knit line [define in spec]. 2. The interior panel of claim 1, wherein the outer periphery of the deployment door defines a reduced thickness portion having a thickness less than the thickness of the remainder of the deployment door. 3. The interior panel of claim 1, wherein the airbag assembly engages the reduced thickness portion of the deployment door. 4. The interior panel of claim 2, wherein the reduced thickness portion and the surrounding panel substrate define a groove. 5. The interior panel of claim 4, wherein the groove is square or rectangular in shape. 6. The interior panel of claim 4, wherein the groove is exposed to the interior of the vehicle. 7. The interior panel of claim 4, wherein the groove is exposed to the airbag assembly. 8. The interior panel of claim 4, wherein a portion of the airbag assembly engages the groove. 9. The interior panel of claim 4, wherein a width of the groove is greater than the thickness of the knit line. 10. The interior panel of claim 4, wherein interior panel is formed by injection molding, and wherein the groove is formed by a projection of the cavity or core to provide consistency to the size, shape and position of the groove. 11. The interior panel of claim 1, wherein the peripheral end surface is stepped to define a first end surface portion spaced inwardly from a second end surface portion, the second end surface portion being connected to the surrounding panel substrate. 12. The interior panel of claim 11, wherein the first end surface portion is exposed to the interior of the vehicle. 13. The interior panel of claim 1, wherein an end of the knit line is exposed to the interior of the vehicle. 14. A combination of an interior panel for a motor vehicle and an airbag module supported behind the interior panel, the combination comprising: a panel substrate having opposing first and second surfaces, the first surface exposed to the interior of the motor vehicle; a deployment door formed in the panel substrate, the deployment door having a peripheral end surface that is stepped to define a first end surface portion spaced inwardly from a second end surface portion, a groove formed by the space between the first end surface portion and the panel substrate; the second end surface portion being connected to the surrounding panel substrate by a knit line; and an airbag assembly engaging the deployment door. 15. The combination of claim 14, wherein the airbag assembly engages the deployment door in an area proximate the groove. 16. The combination of claim 14, wherein the groove is exposed to the interior of the vehicle. 17. The combination of claim 14, wherein the groove is exposed to the airbag assembly. 18. The combination of claim 14, wherein the first end surface portion is exposed to the interior of the vehicle. 19. The combination of claim 14, wherein interior panel is formed by injection molding, and wherein the groove is formed by a projection of the cavity or core to provide consistency to the size, shape and position of the groove.

<SOH> BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION <EOH>Most modern vehicles include inflatable restraint apparatus having deployable airbags positioned in many locations throughout an automotive vehicle. Generally, an interior panel includes a deployment door formed into the panel which is designed to break free upon deployment of the airbag. A primary aim of the airbag assembly is to control the opening of the deployment door to avoid break explosion and the possibility of flying parts. Clean deployment is achieved in some airbag assemblies by providing a deployment door with a seam, meaning the door is not physically interconnected with the surrounding interior panel. Unfortunately, the seam in the interior panel around the deployment door may not be visually appealing. Thus, in other airbag assemblies clean deployment is provided, in part, by a “seamless” deployment door having aggressive pre-weakening of the outline of the door (typically by laser scoring, mechanical scoring, etc.) by cutting the material or creating perforations. While this weakening of seamless deployment doors is typically done on the underside of the panel, there still exists a potential for creating blemishes or other disturbances on the exposed class “A” surface. Furthermore, there is a potential to have an uneven break or tear in the deployment door since the plastic is not completely cut through. Accordingly, there exists a need to provide a seamless deployment door which quickly and reliably breaks free from the surrounding panel while eliminating the potential for surface blemishes due to pre-weakening of the door outline.

<SOH> BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION <EOH>The present invention provides an interior panel for a motor vehicle having an airbag assembly supported behind the panel. The panel generally includes a panel substrate having opposing first and second surfaces. The first surface is exposed to the interior of the motor vehicle. A deployment door is formed in the panel substrate and has a peripheral end surface connected to the surrounding panel substrate. The connection between the deployment door and the surrounding panel substrate is formed by a knit line. In this manner, a seamless deployment door for an airbag assembly is provided with a clean and consistent appearance, while at the same time quickly and reliably breaking free from the surrounding panel. According to more detailed aspects, the outer periphery of the deployment door defines a reduced thickness portion having a thickness less than the thickness of the remainder of the deployment door. The airbag assembly engages the reduced thickness portion of the deployment door. The reduced thickness portion and the surrounding panel substrate define a groove, which is preferably square or rectangular in shape. The groove may be exposed to the interior of the vehicle, or alternatively may be exposed to the airbag assembly. In the latter case, a portion of the airbag assembly may engage the groove. Preferably, the interior panel is formed by injection molding, and the groove is formed by a projection of the cavity or core to provide consistency to the size, shape and position of the groove. According to still more detailed aspects, the peripheral end surface is stepped to define a first end surface portion spaced inwardly from a second end surface portion, wherein the second end surface portion is connected to the surrounding panel substrate. The first end surface portion is exposed to the interior of the vehicle, and an end of the knit line may also be exposed to the interior of the vehicle.

Methods and apparatus to self-configure a flexible residential gateway

Methods and apparatus are disclosed to self-configure a flexible residential gateway providing access to an external communications network, and providing communications with an in home network. An example flexible residential gateway may include an xDSL (“x” variety of Digital Subscriber Line) processor that processes xDSL signals communicated with the external network via a first telephone line, a Home PhoneLine Networking Alliance (HomePNA) processor that processes HomePNA signals communicated with the in home network using at least one of the first or additional telephone lines, and a switch controller capable of disconnecting the HomePNA processor from at least one telephone line if Very high speed Digital Subscriber Line (VDSL) signals that interfere with the HomePNA signals are present on at least one telephone line.

1. A flexible residential gateway apparatus providing access to an external communications network, and providing communications with an in home network, the flexible residential gateway comprising: an xDSL (“x” variety of Digital Subscriber Line) processor for providing access to the external communications network through a first telephone line, and processing xDSL signals communicated with the connected external communications network; a Home PhoneLine Networking Alliance (HomePNA) processor for providing HomePNA communications with the in home network through at least one of the first or additional telephone lines, and processing HomePNA signals communicated with the connected in home network; and a switch controller capable of disconnecting the HomePNA processor from at least one of the telephone lines if Very high speed Digital Subscriber Line (VDSL) signals that interfere with the HomePNA signals are present on at least one of the telephone lines. 2. A flexible residential gateway apparatus as defined in claim 1 further comprising: at least one configurable switch capable to disconnect the HomePNA processor from at least one telephone line; and at least one VDSL sensor configured to detect the presence of VDSL signals on at least one telephone line; wherein the switch controller uses at least one VDSL sensor output to determine whether to disconnect the HomePNA processor from at least one telephone line, and disconnects the HomePNA processor from at least one telephone line by configuring at least one configurable switch. 3. A flexible residential gateway apparatus as defined in claim 2 implementing only one VDSL sensor that is associated with the first telephone line. 4. A flexible residential gateway apparatus as defined in claim 3 wherein one configurable switch disconnects the HomePNA processor from all the telephone lines. 5. A flexible residential gateway apparatus as defined in claim 3 implementing a configurable switch associated with each telephone line. 6. A flexible residential gateway apparatus as defined in claim 3 wherein the one VDSL sensor is implemented by the xDSL processor. 7. A flexible residential gateway apparatus as defined in claim 2 implementing a configurable switch associated with each telephone line and implementing a VDSL sensor associated with each telephone line. 8. A flexible residential gateway apparatus as defined in claim 7 wherein the switch controller controls the configurable switch associated with a telephone line to disconnect the HomePNA processor from the telephone line if VDSL signals that interfere with the HomePNA signals are present on the telephone line. 9. A flexible residential gateway apparatus as defined in claim 7 wherein the switch controller controls the configurable switches to disconnect the HomePNA processor from all telephone line if VDSL signals that interfere with the HomePNA signals are present on at least one telephone line. 10. A flexible residential gateway apparatus as defined in claim 1 wherein the switch controller disconnects the HomePNA processor from all telephone line if VDSL signals are present on at least one telephone line regardless of whether or not the VDSL signals interfere with the HomePNA signals. 11. For a flexible residential gateway providing access to an external communications network through a first telephone line, and providing Home PhoneLine Networking Alliance (HomePNA) communications between a HomePNA processor and an in home network through at least one of the first or additional telephone lines, a self-configuration method comprising: detecting the presence of Very high speed Digital Subscriber Line (VDSL) signals on at least one telephone line, and disconnecting the HomePNA processor from at least one telephone line if VDSL signals that interfere with HPNA communications are detected on at least one telephone line. 12. A self-configuration method as defined in claim 11 wherein detecting the presence of VDSL signals uses at least one VDSL sensor configured to detect the presence of VDSL signals on at least one telephone line, and wherein disconnecting the HomePNA processor uses at least one configurable switch capable to disconnect the HomePNA processor from at least one telephone line. 13. A self-configuration method as defined in claim 12 wherein detecting the presence of VDSL signals uses only one VDSL sensor that is associated with the first telephone line, and wherein disconnecting the HomePNA processor disconnects the HomePNA processor from all telephone line if VDSL signals that interfere with HomePNA communications are detected by the VDSL sensor. 14. A self-configuration method as defined in claim 13 wherein the xDSL processor implements the VDSL sensor. 15. A self-configuration method as defined in claim 12 wherein detecting the presence of VDSL signals uses one VDSL sensor associated with each telephone line, and wherein the disconnecting the HomePNA processor disconnects the HomePNA processor from a telephone line if VDSL signals that interfere with HomePNA communications are detected by the VDSL sensor associated with the telephone line. 16. A self-configuration method as defined in claim 11 wherein disconnecting the HomePNA processor from at least one telephone line if VDSL signals are present on at least one telephone line is performed regardless of whether or not the VDSL signals interfere with the HomePNA communications. 17. An article of manufacture storing machine readable instructions which, when executed, cause a machine to: detect the presence Very high speed Digital Subscriber Line (VDSL) signals on at least one telephone line, and disconnect a Home PhoneLine Networking Alliance (HomePNA) processor from at least one telephone line if VDSL signals that interfere with HPNA communications are detected on at least one telephone line. 18. An article of manufacture as defined in claim 17 wherein the machine readable instructions cause the machine to detect the presence of VDSL signals on only one telephone line, and disconnect the HomePNA processor from all telephone line if VDSL signals that interfere with HomePNA communications are detected on the one telephone line. 19. An article of manufacture as defined in claim 18 wherein the machine readable instructions cause the machine to implement the VDSL sensor using an xDSL processor. 20. An article of manufacture as defined in claim 17 wherein the machine readable instructions cause the machine to detect the presence of VDSL signals on each telephone line, and disconnect the HomePNA processor from a telephone line if VDSL signals that interfere with HomePNA communications are detected on the telephone line.

<SOH> BACKGROUND <EOH>Not long ago, the only communication service in a residence was plain old telephone service (POTS). A residence typically had a single telephone connected within the residence via a single piece of twisted pair telephone line to a network interface demarcation (NID) point outside the residence. With such a configuration there were essentially no opportunities for interfering signals and/or incorrect cross connection of telephone lines. As time progressed, more phones were added to residences using a variety of wiring topologies, e.g., star, home run, daisy chain, etc. The combinations present in residences today are nearly endless, and many homeowners are not fully aware of how the telephone wiring in their home is connected. As time further progressed, advanced homeowners began installing and configuring computer networks to allow multiple computers inside their residence to share files, printers, etc. These home networks were typically installed by knowledgeable, advanced users or paid installers, and utilized a set of wiring parallel to the telephone wiring so that the chances of improper cross connection with existing telephone lines remained minimal. In recent years, there has been a proliferation of interconnected devices and communication networks within residences—many installed by homeowners with minimal knowledge of the workings of such devices and the communications networks and protocols they utilize. Many homeowners now have access to the public Internet via full-time dedicated broadband connections. For example, FIG. 1 shows a prior art in home network (IHN) 100 including a residential gateway (RG) 105 for receiving and transmitting xDSL (“x” variety of Digital Subscriber Line (DSL)) signals carried across a telephone line 110 that simultaneously carries their POTS. The various xDSL standards define a family of broadband communication technologies carried across a standard telephone line between a telephone operator's central office and a residence or business. Some forms of xDSL, e.g., Asymmetric DSL (ADSL), support simultaneous POTS on the same telephone line. To process the xDSL signals, the RG 105 includes an xDSL processor 115 capable of receiving and transmitting xDSL signals from and to an external network 120 over the telephone line 110 . The external network 120 provides access to the public Internet via xDSL, and access to the public switched telephone network (PSTN) via POTS or Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) carried in Internet protocol (IP) packets over the xDSL connection. The xDSL processor 115 is typically connected to the telephone line 110 via the inner pair of wires of a first RJ11 connector 125 . As illustrated in FIG. 1 , the first RJ11 connector (like all RJ11 connectors) supports the connection of two pairs of wires (i.e., two telephone lines)—an inner pair and an outer pair, shown next to each other in the figure. In subsequent figures, if only one pair of wires is connected to an RJ11 connector only half of the corresponding RJ11 symbol is shown, for example a second RJ11 connector 126 . The telephone line 110 simultaneously carries POTS and is further connected via additional telephone lines 110 a - b to a plurality of telephones 130 , 131 , 132 using any number of wiring topologies, e.g., star, home-run, daisy chain, etc. To keep transients associated with POTS (e.g., ring voltages, ring trip transients, etc.) and xDSL from interfering, the IHN 100 further includes a plurality of in-line filters (ILF) 135 , 136 , 137 . The ILF 135 , 136 , 137 provide a low-pass filter (LPF) response between the telephone lines 110 a - b and the telephones 130 , 131 , 132 to keep POTS transients from causing interference with higher frequency xDSL signals, and vice versa. The xDSL processor 115 typically includes a high-pass filter (not shown) to further limit interference between POTS transients and xDSL signals. Example implementations of the xDSL processor 115 and the ILF 135 , 136 , 137 are well known to persons of ordinary skill in the art and, in the interest of brevity, will not be discussed further. The RG 105 includes a router/switch/bridge 140 to connect user data transported using IP packets by the xDSL signals with a VoIP processor 145 or an Ethernet transceiver 150 . The VoIP processor 145 is capable of communicating voice band data (VBD) signals with a second plurality of telephones 133 , 134 via an additional telephone line 111 . The VoIP processor 145 comprises an analog terminal adapter (ATA) and a pulse coded modulation (PCM) coder-decoder (codec). The ATA transforms digital VBD samples received in IP packets from the external network 120 into PCM encoded digital samples. The PCM encoded samples are converted to analog signals by the PCM codec. Likewise, the PCM codec converts analog signals into PCM encoded digital samples, and the ATA transforms the digital samples into IP packets for transport across the telephone line using xDSL signals to the external network 120 . The analog signals to and from the PCM codec are connected to a subscriber line interface circuit (SLIC) 147 . The SLIC 147 implements, among other things, a 4-wire to 2-wire hybrid function between the two analog signals (transmit and receive) associated with the PCM codec (i.e., a 4-wire signal) and a 2-wire signal (bi-directional) required for the telephone line 111 . The SLIC 147 is connected to the second telephone line 111 via either the inner or outer pair of the second RJ11 connector 126 . Alternatively, the SLIC 147 may be connected to the outer pair of the RJ11 connector 125 . To provide battery feed voltage and to allow the VoIP processor 145 to ring one or more of the telephones 133 , 134 , the RG 105 includes a battery/ring generator 155 . The battery/ring generator 155 supplies a −48 volts (V) direct current (DC) battery feed voltage for use by the telephones 133 , 134 and also supplies alternating current (AC) ring voltages that may be superimposed on top of the battery feed voltage to ring the telephones 133 , 134 . The Ethernet transceiver 150 is capable of communicating Ethernet signals (e.g., IEEE 802.3, IEEE 802.3u, IEEE 802.3z, IEEE 802.3ae, etc.) with one or more computers 160 via a computer cable 112 (e.g., unshielded twisted pair (UTP) Category 5 (Cat5) cabling). The Ethernet transceiver 150 is connected to the computer cable 112 via an RJ45 connector 127 . The example IHN 100 further includes another telephone line 113 providing POTS to a third plurality of telephones 165 , 166 . Example implementations of the router/switch/bridge 140 , the VoIP processor 145 (including ATA and PCM codec), the SLIC 147 , the Ethernet transceiver 150 , the computer line 112 , the battery/ring generator 155 , and the computer 160 are well known to persons of ordinary skill in the art and, thus, will not be discussed further. FIG. 2 shows the example IHN 100 of FIG. 1 in which the user has incorrectly or inadvertently connected the telephone line 111 to the telephone line 110 a via a telephone line 214 . The telephone line 214 creates a condition in which both the RG 105 and the external network 120 (i.e., the PSTN 120 ) are providing battery feed voltage to the telephone lines 110 , 110 a - b , 111 , 214 . Depending upon relative polarities of batteries of the RG 105 and the PSTN 120 , the telephone lines 110 , 110 a - b , 111 , 214 may experience a net battery feed voltage of −96V or 0V. The former represents a dangerous condition due to excess voltage present on the telephone lines 110 , 10 a - b , 111 , 214 . The latter represents a condition in which no battery feed voltage is present and, thus, one or more of the telephones 130 - 134 may not operate correctly. The incorrect/inadvertent connection 214 may further create interference between a sealing current provided by the PSTN 120 and the battery feed voltage provided by the RG 105 . FIG. 3 shows the example IHN 100 of FIG. 1 further supporting Home PhoneLine Networking Alliance (HomePNA) communications within the IHN 100 . HomePNA is a high-speed, reliable local area network (LAN) technology that uses the existing telephone wires in a residence, and allows several computers to share a single Internet connection. To support HomePNA communications, the RG 105 further includes a HomePNA processor 305 to communicate HomePNA signals with, for example, a computer 310 and a HomePNA enabled phone 315 . The HomePNA signals are carried across a telephone line 320 , that the HomePNA processor 305 is connected to via either an inner or an outer pair of wires of an RJ11 connector 322 . Example implementations of the HomePNA processor 305 are well known to persons of ordinary skill in the art, and will not be discussed further. In the example of FIG. 3 , the telephone line 320 is connected to the telephone line 110 a via a telephone line 325 . The telephone line 325 may have been connected purposefully by a user so that HomePNA devices attached to the telephone line 110 a - b can communicate with the HomePNA processor 305 , or so that ordinary telephones attached to the telephone line 320 can communicate with the PSTN 120 . The connection 325 may also have been made unintentionally by the user. However, because HomePNA signals and VDSL signals may spectrally overlap (depending upon the version of the HomePNA standard being implemented by the HomePNA processor 305 ), the connection 325 may cause HomePNA signals to interfere with any VDSL signals present on the first telephone line 110 . Such interference may cause one or both of the xDSL processor 115 or the HomePNA processor 305 to be unable to communicate properly with attached devices. FIG. 4 shows an example prior art IHN 400 including a residential gateway (RG) 402 for receiving and transmitting signals carried across a cable 410 from an external network (not shown). To communicate with the external network, the RG 105 includes a transceiver 405 to transmit and receive signals received over the cable 410 (e.g., coaxial cable or UTP Cat5 cable). The signals may be Ethernet signals (e.g., IEEE 802.3, IEEE 802.3u, IEEE 802.3z, IEEE 802.3ae, etc.), xDSL signals over coaxial cable, or multimedia over cable association (MOCA) signals. In the example of FIG. 4 , because there are no xDSL signals present on the telephone line 110 , there is no need for in line filters, and there is no potential interference between HomePNA signals and VDSL signals. Example implementations of the transceiver 405 for Ethernet, xDSL over coaxial cable, and/or MOCA are well known to persons of ordinary skill in the art, and, thus, will not be discussed further. FIG. 5 shows a table illustrating the combinations of signals in the example in home networks of FIGS. 1-4 may cause interference when the signals are on the same wire/cable/telephone line. Each entry in the table contains a value of NA, OK, or BAD. An entry of NA (i.e., not applicable) is used if there is no possibility of interference because the two signals are carried on two types of wire/cable/telephone line that can not be physically connected to each other (using the standard and appropriate connectors designed for each wire/cable/telephone line). For example, WAN Ethernet is carried over UTP Cat5 cable with an RJ45 connector and xDSL over coaxial cable is carried over coaxial cable with an F-connector. In FIG. 5 , an entry of NA is also used when the two signals types could not possibly be present at the same time, for example, a residence would not simultaneously be subscribing to ADSL and VDSL service over the same telephone line. An entry of OK is used if the signals are carried over the same type of wire/cable/telephone line, but the two signals would not interfere (e.g., they do not spectrally overlap), for example, ADSL uses frequencies above 35 kiloHertz (kHz) and POTS uses frequencies below 4 kHz, and, therefore, these two signals can coexist on the same telephone line without fear of interference. Finally, an entry of BAD in FIG. 5 indicates signals that would interfere. For example, VDSL uses frequencies between 100 kHz and 12 MegaHertz (MHz) and HomePNA version 2 uses frequencies between 4 MHz and 10 MHz. A new HomePNA standard (i.e., version 3) was developed with spectral masks to limit interference between VDSL and HomePNA version 3 signals. As will be readily appreciated by those having ordinary skill in the art, it is desirable to provide as much functionality as possible while minimizing or eliminating the possibility of interference.

<SOH> BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS <EOH>FIG. 1 is a diagram of an example prior art in home network including a residential gateway communicating with an external network using xDSL signals. FIG. 2 shows the in home network of FIG. 1 in which a misconnection of wiring has occurred. FIG. 3 is the in home network of FIG. 1 further including HomePNA. FIG. 4 is a diagram of an example prior art in home network including a residential gateway communicating with an external network using signals carried across coaxial cable or using Ethernet signals. FIG. 5 is a table illustrating which communication signals can coexist without interference on the same cable. FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustration of a disclosed example flexible residential gateway. FIG. 7 is an example illustration of one side of the example flexible residential gateway of FIG. 6 . FIG. 8 is a table illustrating combinations of switch positions to enable each of the WAN services associated with the WAN interface connectors. FIG. 9 is a block diagram illustration of a disclosed example manner of implementing the VoIP coupler of FIG. 6 . FIG. 10 is a flow chart illustrating a disclosed example process for implementing the switch control logic of FIG. 6 . FIG. 11 is a block diagram illustration of an example processor platform that may execute the example process of FIG. 10 to implement the switch controller of FIG. 6 . detailed-description description="Detailed Description" end="lead"?

Enterprise test data management system utilizing hierarchical test data models and related methods

Test data model and test data structure creation improvements are disclosed for enterprise test data management systems in the test, measurement and automation environment. A hierarchical test data model for a plurality of test systems includes hierarchical data objects configured to store test data related information. In addition, one or more data objects within the test data model are linked such that data entered into one object can be used by another object or can be automatically propagated to linked objects. And default data object properties are defined such that each new data object includes the default properties. Still further, a graphical user interface (GUI) can be provided through which information can be input to the database where the GUI includes a first frame showing a structure for the hierarchical test data model and a second frame automatically showing one or more data input fields related to an object selected within the first frame. Related systems and methods are also disclosed.

1. An enterprise test data management system having a hierarchical test data model, comprising: a plurality of test systems configured to operate test software to conduct at least one test on a device and to operate a data management software component, at least two of the test systems being directed to different test operations; and one or more server systems coupled to the database and configured to communicate with the plurality of test systems to receive the test data through operation of the data management software components on the plurality of test systems and to manage and store data according to a test data model; wherein the test data model includes hierarchical data objects configured to store test data related information, the test data model comprising product test objects (PTOs) hierarchically positioned above result table objects (RTOs), which are configured to store information about test results. 2. The enterprise test data management system of claim 1, wherein the test data model further comprises test station objects (TSOs) configured to store information about test stations. 3. The enterprise test data management system of claim 1, wherein the test data model further comprises custom objects (COs) configured to store information about test station configurations. 4. The enterprise test data management system of claim 1, wherein the test data model comprises test procedure objects (TPOs), which are configured to store information about test procedures, configured hierarchically below product test objects (PTOs). 5. The enterprise test data management system of claim 4, wherein one or more TPOs are hierarchically positioned above one or more RTOs. 6. The enterprise test data management system of claim 1, wherein each PTO holds data corresponding to a distinct product test execution for a test system. 7. The enterprise test data management system of claim 1, wherein one or more data objects within the test data model are linked such that data entered into one object is automatically propagated to linked objects. 8. The enterprise test data management system of claim 7, wherein a data field within a PTO is linked to a data field in one or more data objects hierarchically organized under the PTO. 9. The enterprise test data management system of claim 1, wherein one or more data objects within the test data model are linked such that data entered into one object is automatically usable by linked objects. 10. The enterprise test data management system of claim 9, wherein the test data model further comprises custom objects (COs) configured to store information about test operations, and wherein a CO is linked to one or more data objects within the test data model so that data stored in the CO can be used by the linked data object. 11. The enterprise test data management system of claim 1, wherein default PTO properties are defined such that each newly created PTO includes the default properties. 12. The enterprise test data management system of claim 4, wherein default TPO properties are defined such that each newly created TPO includes the default properties. 13. The enterprise test data management system of claim 1, further comprising a graphical user interface (GUI) through which information can be input to the database, the GUI including a first frame showing a structure for the hierarchical test data model and a second frame automatically showing one or more data input fields related to an object selected within the first frame. 14. The enterprise test data management system of claim 1, wherein one or more RTOs is hierarchically positioned below another RTO. 15. The enterprise test data management system of claim 4, wherein one or more TPOs is hierarchically positioned below another TPO. 16. A method for managing enterprise test data using a hierarchical test data model, comprising: operating a data management software component on a plurality of enterprise test systems, each test system being configured to operate test software to conduct at least one test on a device and to produce test data, and at least two of the test systems being directed to different test operations; utilizing one or more server systems to communicate with the plurality of test systems to receive the test data from the test systems through operation of the data management software components on the plurality of test systems; storing the test data from the test systems in a database utilizing a test data model, the test data model including hierarchical data objects configured to store test data related information, the test data model comprising product test objects (PTOs) hierarchically positioned above result table objects (RTOs), which are configured to store information about test results. 17. The method of claim 16, wherein the test data model further comprises station objects (TSOs), which are configured to store information about test stations, and custom objects (COs), which are configured to store information about test station operations. 18. The method of claim 16, wherein the test data model further comprises test procedure objects (TPOs), which are configured to store information about test procedures, configured hierarchically below product test objects (PTOs). 19. The method of claim 18, wherein one or more TPOs are hierarchically positioned above one or more RTOs. 20. The method of claim 16, further comprising linking one or more data objects within the test data model such that data entered into one object is automatically propagated to linked objects. 21. The method of claim 20, wherein a data field within a PTO is linked to a data field in one or more data objects hierarchically organized under the PTO. 22. The method of claim 16, further comprising linking one or more data objects within the test data model such that data entered into one object is automatically usable by linked objects. 23. The method of claim 22, wherein the test data model further comprises custom objects (COs) configured to store information about test operations, and wherein a CO is linked to one or more PTOs. 24. The method of claim 16, further comprising defining default PTO properties and including the default properties in each newly created PTO. 25. The method of claim 18, further comprising defining default TPO properties and including the default properties in each newly created TPO. 26. The method of claim 16, further displaying a graphical user interface (GUI) through which information can be input to the database, the GUI including a first frame showing a structure for the hierarchical test data model and a second frame automatically showing one or more data input fields related to an object selected within the first frame. 27. The method of claim 16, further comprising positioning one or more RTOs hierarchically positioned below another RTO. 28. The method of claim 18, further comprising positioning one or more TPOs hierarchically positioned below another TPO.

<SOH> BACKGROUND <EOH>Many companies, and specifically electronic and semiconductor device companies, produce products that must be tested to meet various specifications before the products can be shipped to customers. These test operations often include a variety of different test activities in a variety of different environments. The need exists, therefore, for efficient test configuration and data management among these disparate test operations, particularly on an enterprise-wide scale. With respect to connectivity, test stations or automated test equipment devices (ATEs) have often been located on test floors that do not have network connections or that are configured in such a way as to make network connections to the ATEs rather difficult or impossible. In addition, many ATEs are designed to conduct specific tests that may be unrelated and unlinked to other device tests or manufacturing activities. Thus, test monitoring has previously focused on the individual test systems and has not adequately addressed enterprise level test monitoring and management. In addition, disparate tests and test stations typically do not have common data formats, but instead are often custom designed software packages that are interested in nothing but the operations of the particular test being run. Thus, if data is stored, it is often stored simply as a text file or in a proprietary format specific to the designer of the system. Although such raw test data has been stored centrally so that it can be retrieved at a later time for historical analysis, this raw test data is typically not formatted in any standard manner or managed such that it can be used as testing is in progress. Tools have been previously developed to help connect test applications to other computers through a network, such as the LABVIEW enterprise connectivity toolset available from National Instruments. These tools allow connectivity to a database. However, these tools require the user to define the databases, communicate with them (usually through SQL commands) and program all the details about communication, database design and anything related to the database operations. As such, these tools do not provide an efficient and easily managed solution for configuring and managing enterprise test operations. This need for systems to provide efficient test configuration and data management for test operations is distinct from a need for systems to monitor and manage manufacturing operations. Manufacturing execution systems (MES) have been developed that focus on controlling the execution of a manufacturing process including actions such as keeping track of materials, products, work in progress, etc. However, these MES systems are not directed to test operations. Example MES products are those that are sold under the trade names QFS available from Automation Programming, Inc. (API) and Xfactory available from USDATA. Such systems allow for the management of information about the manufacturing of the products. They are directed to a manufacturing point of view and are not directed to a testing point of view. Thus, such systems fall short on managing the test data and test results thereby making difficult the task of finding specific data about a test, and do not provide mechanisms to maintain configuration information about each test station or any tests run on each test station. In addition, such existing systems do not provide capabilities to monitor the test stations (or ATEs) and the data related to the ATEs. Without a direct connection between the ATEs and a server system, it is extremely difficult and complex to attempt to create software code that allows such capabilities.

<SOH> SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION <EOH>The present invention provides test data model and test data structure creation improvements for enterprise test data management systems in the test, measurement and automation environment. In one embodiment, the present invention is an enterprise test data management system having a hierarchical test data model including a plurality of test systems configured to operate test software to conduct at least one test on a device and to operate a data management software component where at least two of the test systems are directed to different test operations, and including one or more server systems coupled to the database and configured to communicate with the plurality of test systems to receive the test data through operation of the data management software components on the plurality of test systems and to manage and store data according to a test data model, such that the test data model includes hierarchical data objects configured to store test data related information. In further embodiments, one or more data objects within the test data model are linked such that data entered into one object can be used by other data objects and/or automatically propagated to linked objects, and default data object properties are defined such that each new data object includes the default properties. Still further, a graphical user interface (GUI) can be provided through which information can be input to the database where the GUI includes a first frame showing a structure for the hierarchical test data model and a second frame automatically showing one or more data input fields related to an object selected within the first frame. As described below, other features and variations can be implemented, if desired, and related methods can be utilized, as well. In another embodiment, the present invention is a method for managing enterprise test data using a hierarchical test data model including operating a data management software component on a plurality of enterprise test systems where each test system is configured to operate test software to conduct at least one test on a device and to produce test data and where at least two of the test systems being directed to different test operations, utilizing one or more server systems to communicate with the plurality of test systems to receive the test data from the test systems through operation of the data management software components on the plurality of test systems, storing the test data from the test systems in a database utilizing a test data model that includes hierarchical data objects configured to store test data related information. In further embodiments, the method includes linking one or more data objects within the test data model such that data entered into one object can be used by other data objects and/or automatically propagated to linked objects, and defining default data object properties and including the default properties in each new data object. Still further, the method can include displaying a graphical user interface (GUI) through which information can be input to the database where the GUI includes a first frame showing a structure for the hierarchical test data model and a second frame automatically showing one or more data input fields related to an object selected within the first frame. As described below, other features and variations can be implemented, if desired, and related systems can be utilized, as well.

Multiplexer interface to a nanoscale-crossbar