e-Patent SA

A sorting device (1) comprising a picking station (4) and an identification and localization system, adapted to allow selective picking up of an biological entity from a source vessel (2) containing a sample including a plurality of biological entities, to selectively dispense the selected biological entity into a destination vessel (6), the picking station (4) including a vessel support (30) for bearing a source vessel (2), mounted in a movable manner, as well as a control unit and a driving organ adapted to control the movements of the vessel support (30), so as to drive the latter along looped trajectories with predefined shapes and speed parameters which are adapted to stir the sample and provide relative movements of the plurality of biological entities between each other and with respect to the source vessel (2).

A biological entities sorting apparatus (1) is disclosed, which comprises a picking head (14) carrying a picking tip (16) defining a picking axis, and an illumination device (30) arranged to cooperate with a camera (26) via a given optical path (32). The illumination device (30) and the camera (26) can be driven to move to an appropriate position for carrying out the acquisition of images of a biological entity to pick up from a picking position in a sample, while the picking head (14) can be driven to move and place the picking tip (16) it carries in a picking configuration, in which it may pick up the biological entity of interest while being kept out of the corresponding optical path (32) so that images can be acquired during the picking procedure.

Anode (1) for a rechargeable cell, comprising: - a lithium layer (5); - a composite coating (7; 7a, 7b) provided on said lithium layer (5), said composite coating (7; 7a, 7b) comprising a first metal other than lithium and at least one inorganic metallic compound, said first metal and said at least one inorganic metallic compound being intermingled in at least part of said composite coating.

Photonic Integrated Circuit comprising a stacking of layers comprising:a substrate defining a plane and a stacking direction perpendicular to said plane,a buried oxide layer provided on top of said substrate,a patterned layer of electro-optic material comprising at least one optical waveguide of said electro-optic material, provided on top of said buried oxide layer,a first patterned metal layer comprising a first group of metallic structures, provided on top of said electro-optic material and/or said buried oxide layer,a dielectric cladding volume, provided on top of said buried oxide layer, said patterned layer of electro-optic material and said first patterned metal layer,a second patterned metal layer comprising a second group of metallic structures embedded in said dielectric cladding volume, wherein there is at least one electrical connection between at least two metallic structures from said first and second groups through at least one via,characterized in that said second patterned metal layer is provided at a distance along the stacking direction between 1 and 2.5 micrometres from said at least one optical waveguide.

Method of determining the state of health of a battery (1), comprising steps of:- carrying out a full charging or discharging cycle on said battery (1), while taking voltage and current measurements, and generating an initial differential capacitance curve based on said voltage and current measurements;- extracting n values of differential capacitance at a plurality of voltages spaced at predetermined voltage intervals across a predetermined voltage range;- fitting a model curve to said n values of differential capacitance;- integrating said model curve to obtain an initial capacity measurement;- periodically, measuring differential capacitance at one of said predetermined voltages;- updating said model curve based on said measured differential capacitance;- integrating said updated model curve to obtain an updated capacity measurement;- comparing said updated capacity measurement to said initial capacity measurement in order to determine said state of health.

Rectilinear stage (1) with substantially a single degree of freedom in translation along a first axis (X), comprising: - a movable element (3) arranged to translate in a plane (XY) along said first axis with respect to a frame (18); - a first arm (5) pivotally attached at its first extremity to said movable element and at its second extremity to a first rigid link (11) arranged to pivot about a first frame hinge (17) provided on said frame; - a second arm (7) pivotally attached at its first extremity to said movable element and at its second extremity to a second rigid link (13) arranged to pivot about a second frame hinge (19) provided on said frame; - a third arm (9) pivotally attached at its first extremity to said movable element and at its second extremity to a third rigid link (15) arranged to pivot about a third frame hinge (21) provided on said frame; wherein - two of said arms are attached on a first side of said movable element, a further one of said arms being attached on a second side of said movable element opposite to said first side, considered in said plane; - at least two of said arms have substantially the same effective length; - with said movable element in a neutral position, said arms functionally extend in mutually-parallel directions; - said first and second rigid links are rotationally coupled by a first coupler (23) pivotally connected to each of said first and second rigid links, - said third rigid link is rotationally coupled to another rigid link by a second coupler (25) pivotally connected to each of said third rigid link and said other rigid link, - said first arm, said second arm, said third arm, said first rigid link, said second rigid link, said third rigid link, said first coupler and said second coupler being configured such that an angle of rotation of each of said rigid links about its respective frame hinge is of substantially equal magnitude in response to a displacement of said movable element along said first axis.

L'invention concerne un dispositif d'affichage (1) d'un calendrier, comprenant un mécanisme d'affichage de l'année calendaire, agencé pour assurer un affichage simultané de tous les mois et de tous les jours de la semaine d'une année calendaire donnée, susceptible de présenter au moins deux configurations différentes pour une année donnée, selon qu'elle soit bissextile ou non-bissextile, le dispositif d'affichage (1) comportant: - un mécanisme d'affichage des années, - un organe de commande (32) agencé pour pouvoir agir sur le mécanisme d'affichage des années et changer l'année affichée, - un mécanisme de bissextile agencé pour déterminer le caractère bissextile ou non-bissextile de l'année affichée et pour agir sur ledit mécanisme d'affichage de l'année calendaire pour le faire passer de l'une desdites au moins deux configurations à l'autre, si nécessaire, lors d'un changement de l'année affichée.

Method of manufacturing a photonic integrated circuit with at least one lithium niobate waveguide comprising the following steps : i) providing a lithium niobate-on-insulator (LNOI) stacking, said stacking comprising a silicon (Si) substrate, a first silicon dioxide (SiOz) layer, a lithium niobate (LiNbO<3>) layer, and a cladding dielectric layer, wherein said lithium niobate layer comprises said lithium niobate waveguide, ii) applying a first photoresist mask on said cladding dielectric layer and creating at least one opening in said first photoresist mask by a photolithography process, iii) implementing a first etching step by Reactive-ion etching (RIE) through said at least one opening, thereby creating at least one cavity across all the thickness of said cladding dielectric layer, said lithium niobate layer and said first silicon dioxide layer, iv) implementing a second etching step by Deep Reactive-ion etching (DRIE) through at least part of said at least one opening, whereby at least part of said at least one cavity is extended further through the silicon substrate along a predetermined depth of at least 100 micrometres.

A first aspect of the invention relates to a force sensor assembly (1) comprising:- a support (3) adapted to be attached to a frame (5);- a force sensor (9) attached at a proximal end to said support (3) and adapted to deform in response to a force along a measurement axis (2);- an end effector (11) attached at a distal end of said force sensor (9) and adapted to come into contact with a test piece, said end effector (11) having a mass (m);- a compensating system (13) comprising a counterweight (15) having a counterweight mass (m_c) supported by said support (3) and linked to said end effector (11) by at least one lever (17) pivotally mounted on said support (3) at a pivot point (19) intermediate between said counterweight (15) and a point at which said lever (17) is connected to said end effector (11), said compensating system (13) being arranged such that, when said end effector (11) and said counterweight (15) are subjected to an acceleration (g, a) parallel to said measurement axis (2), the effect of said acceleration (g, a) on said counterweight (15) applies a compensating force to said end effector (11) that is substantially of equal magnitude and opposite direction to the force applied by said acceleration (g, a) directly to said end effector (11).A second aspect of the invention relates to a torque sensor assembly (31) that functions analogosly.

A dipstick electrochemical sensing device (1) is disclosed, for assessing an analyte in a fluid sample (44), comprising a main body (2) provided with a reference electrode (4) and a working electrode (6, 8, 10),wherein the reference electrode (4) is located in a reference chamber (18) provided with a first port (20), while the working electrode (6, 8, 10) is located in a measurement chamber (22) provided with a second port (24),wherein the sensing device (1) is further provided with a bridge (32), connecting the reference and measurement chambers (18, 22) through corresponding interfaces (28, 30), and through which a fluid may flow, at least one interface (30) having fluid flow restricting characteristics which are pressure dependent, andwherein the measurement chamber (22) is partially delimited by a removable wall (34) so that it can be removed to open a main opening through which the fluid sample can enter inside the measurement chamber (22) and contact the working electrode (6, 8, 10) for the purpose of conducting an assessment.