A multi-chip device is provided. The multi-chip device includes a first chip, a second chip mounted on the first chip, and a hardened printed or sprayed electrically conductive material forming a sintered electrically conductive interface between the first chip and the second chip.

Recently, the ever growing interest for 3D integration of integrated circuits (IC) with low RC delay, high speed, improved bandwidth and high temperature performance, made metal (e.g. Cu) interconnects a preferred choice. The emerging 3D IC stacking technology as one of the main platforms for 3D integration, which means that two or more silicon dies/wafers are integrated vertically, can be a potent use-case for metal to metal bonding.
The IC stacking is currently achieved in back-end (BE) by chip-on-chip stacking. One of the major challenges during a die attach process of the top chip is to achieve an even spreading of die attach material (e.g., glue, solder paste, solder) underneath the chip to be attached. Even spreading in this context means a flat spreading of the die attach material covering an area with a uniform, reproducible thickness. This may be achieved by fine tuning a volume and a pattern of dispensed material.
However, placing the top chip on the bottom chip in this way is a complex process that usually requires doubling a pick-and-place and a curing process, which causes high costs. Furthermore, this process poses an increased risk of contaminating surfaces of the chip—at a point during the production when a post-processing of the chip surface or an early (e.g., immediate) optical and/or electrical evaluation of the interconnect are not foreseen.
Controlling the arranging of the die attach material to form a layer that is as thin and even as possible is paramount when joining two vertically stacked power chips.
All-Copper interconnects are one type of die attach material that is regularly used for 3D stacking. They solve problems of solder joining and Solid-Liquid Interdiffusion (SLID) bonding, offer high conductivity and high reliability interconnects, and high-temperature stability (above 200° C.), which is vital for high power and RF devices, as well as for emerging SiC and GaN interconnect technologies.
At present, 3D IC stacking is dominated by tin or gold-based solder materials. Silver sinter-bonding, as well as adhesive bonding, are also found in the industry. Local thermal compression on each die for 3D application is a common practice in industry that offers reliable interconnects with demonstrated bond stability at high temperature, but the process requires high bonding temperature (up to 400° C.), high pressure (up to 50 MPa), and a long time (up to some minutes). A tacking and gang bonding process (chip to wafer) is a preferred choice, because it offers higher throughput than a local thermal compression process (chip to chip), thereby reducing at least the processing time per IC.
Cu-based interconnect formation is in principle the preferable choice for semiconductor industries, since it not only has excellent electrical and mechanical properties, but also has an excellent electromigration resistance.
Research in all-Cu die-attachments is limited mainly to thermo-compression bonding. However, the native oxide layer of Cu acts as diffusion barrier and thus necessitates higher temperature and pressure for bond formation. Diffusion of atoms across Cu—Cu layers is the key factor for thermocompression bonding. Due to the high pressure and temperature involved in the process, it might be of interest essentially only for the bulk, since such processing parameters can be detrimental for brittle semiconductor die-attachment.
To date, no cost-effective, manufacturable all-Cu interconnection technology, combining low bonding temperatures and pressures, and short assembly cycle times has been provided.
This means that an efficient approach for Cu to Cu bonding is still an unsolved problem for many electronic packaging factories.

Multi-chip device, method of manufacturing a multi-chip device, and method of forming a metal interconnect


The rasterize processing for obtaining printing picture element information from a source file described in a page-description language is distributed-processed by a plurality of information processing units (6a, 6b, 6c) loose connected via a network (7). In the information processing unit (6a) which generates a printing request, a client process (210) converts a source file (19) into an intermediate code file (10) and further divides the intermediate code file into a plurality of partial files executable in the rasterize processing, independently. A part of these plural partial files is given to a rasterizer (212) of the information processing unit (6a) which generates a printing request, so as to be rasterized into picture element information. The remaining part of the plural partial files are distributed to the other information processing units (6b, 6c) via the network. In each of these other information processing units (6b, 6c), the distributed partial file is received by a server process (211), transmitted to the rasterizer (212) to form partial picture element information. These partial picture element information formed by these other information processing units (6b, 6c) are returned to the information processing unit (6a) which generates the printing request. In this information processing unit (6a) which generates the printing request, the client process (210) combines the picture element information returned from the other information processing units (6b, 6c) with the picture element information formed by the rasterizer (212) of its own unit, to form the entire picture element information. The entire picture element information is transmitted to a printing unit (21).

With the advance of the development of printing units suitable for high speed digital printing such as electrophotographic technique, ink jet technique, etc., there has been widely used the single page unit printing procedure control method such that images, graphic forms and characters can be handled in the same way and further characters and graphic forms can be freely enlarged, rotated or transformed, being different from the prior-art method of printing mainly characters. Since the control method as described above has been realized, it is general to develop program languages for describing control procedure, to mount a language translating processing system (so-called interpreter) on a printing unit or a computer, and to convert the language into printing picture elements through the interpreter.
In a single computer, a printing request generated by an application program calls the function of an operating system to actuate a printing unit. Under these conditions, "the page description language" is used to execute the printing procedure, without depending upon hardware such as the resolution, printing method, and the number of printing head dots of the printing unit.
An example of prior-art systems will be described hereinbelow with reference to FIGS. 1A and 1B. Source codes 19 of the page-description language generated by an application program within a computer 6d are translated by a page-description language interpreter 8 to convert the source codes into picture elements used for actual printing. This operation as to whether the page-description language interpreter 8 is executed within the computer 6d as shown in FIG. 1A or within a printing unit 21 as shown in FIG. 1B is different according to the system. In any cases, however, the page-description language interpreter is realized by a single processor in the prior-art system.
Further, there exists a system referred to as print server as one of prior-art systems related to the present invention. In this system, another computer (not shown) is connected to the computer 6d as shown in FIG. 1A, for instance in a network fashion, and the page-description language is rasterized by another computer, instead of the computer 6d which generates a printing processing request. In this prior-art system, the interpreter is realized by a single processor of another computer.
A large capacity of memory is required for conversion of the page-description language into printing picture elements, when executed by the interpreter. Further, where the interpreter is realized by only software, there exists a serious problem in that the processing time is long. In addition, it is apparent that color page printers are expected to be used widely in the near future and high density printing will be required more and more in the case of black-and-white printing. In both the cases, a huge memory space is inevitably necessary. In the case of the color printing, since the printing control procedure is further complicated and therefore the procedure items required for the translation processing program system increase, a long processing time may be required for the execution of the color printing.
To solve the above-mentioned problems, the object of the present invention is to realize a high-speed and high-density processing, which can reduce the contents to be processed by a single processor in accordance with distributed processing such that the respective procedures of the interpreter can be executed by a plurality of processors, to provide such an effect that a huge memory space can be secured as a whole by allowing the plural processors to utilize the respective memory spaces of the respective processors.

Page-description language interpreter for a parallel-processing system


A spark ignition type internal combustion engine of the present invention comprises a variable closing timing mechanism able to change a closing timing of an intake valve after intake bottom dead center and an EGR mechanism making a part of the exhaust gas flow again into a combustion chamber as EGR gas. The EGR mechanism is controlled so that the amount of EGR gas is reduced when the closing timing of the intake valve is at a retarded side, compared with when it is at an advanced side. Due to this, occurrence of variation among cylinders in the air-fuel ratio and intake resistance along with blowback of intake gas can be suppressed.

The applicant proposed in Japanese Patent Publication (A) No. 2007-303423 a spark ignition type internal combustion engine which is provided with a variable compression ratio mechanism able to change a mechanical compression ratio and a variable closing timing mechanism able to change a closing timing of the intake valve, wherein at the time of engine low load operation, the mechanical compression ratio is raised compared with engine high load operation, to make an expansion ratio 20 or more.
In such a spark ignition type internal combustion engine, at the time of engine low load operation, the mechanical compression ratio (expansion ratio) is made 20 or more and the closing timing of the intake valve is made a timing away from intake bottom dead center so as to maintain the actual compression ratio relatively low compared with mechanical compression ratio, suppress the occurrence of knocking due to the actual compression ratio becoming higher, and while doing so realize an extremely high heat efficiency.
In this regard, if reducing the amount of intake air flowing into a combustion chamber by retarding the closing timing of the intake valve so as to move away from intake bottom dead center, part of the intake gas which is once sucked into the combustion chamber is pushed by the rising piston and blown back into an engine intake passage. The amount of blowback of the intake gas to the inside of the engine intake passage becomes greater the more the closing timing of the intake valve is retarded. Further, the strength of blowback of the intake gas to the inside of the engine intake passage becomes stronger the more the closing timing of the intake valve is retarded. In the spark ignition type internal combustion engine described in Japanese Patent Publication (A) No. 2007-303423, sometimes the closing timing of the intake valve is made extremely retarded. In such a case, the amount of blowback of the intake gas becomes extremely great, and the strength of blowback of the intake gas becomes extremely strong.
Under the conditions that the blowback of intake gas is large and strong in this way, if an exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) operation is carried out to make a part of the exhaust gas flow again into a combustion chamber, for example, the distribution of EGR gas among the cylinders will deteriorate, and the extent by which deposits stick will vary among cylinders.
That is, if the blowback of intake gas to the inside of the engine intake passage is large and strong, part of the intake gas will be blown back into the surge tank (that is, the collective part of the intake branch tubes). In this case, the part of the intake gas which was blown back into the surge tank will be sucked into not the original cylinder, but for example a cylinder which adjoins the original cylinder or a cylinder which is in the middle of a intake stroke when the intake gas is blown back into the inside of the surge tank.
If performing EGR at this time, EGR gas will be contained in the intake gas which is blown back into the engine intake passage. Therefore, if the blowback of intake gas to the inside of the engine intake passage is large and strong, part of the EGR gas will be sucked into not the original cylinder, but a cylinder which adjoins the original cylinder or a cylinder which is in the middle of a intake stroke when the intake gas is blown back into the inside of the surge tank. The amount of the EGR gas which is sucked into a cylinder different from the original cylinder changes depending on the flow of intake gas in the surge tank, the sequence by which the intake stroke is performed, etc. Therefore, there will be cylinders where the amount of EGR gas in the intake gas becomes larger and cylinders where the amount of EGR gas in the intake gas becomes smaller.
As a result, the amount of EGR gas will vary among the cylinders. Along with this, the air-fuel ratio will vary among the cylinders. Furthermore, the larger the amount of flow of EGR gas, the easier it is for deposits to stick to the wall surfaces of the intake ports. Therefore, in cylinders where the amount of EGR gas becomes large, the amount of deposits which stick to the wall surfaces of the intake ports will become greater, while in cylinders where the amount of EGR gas becomes small, the amount of deposits which stick to the wall surfaces of the intake ports will become smaller, and as a result, among the cylinders, the intake resistance to intake gas will differ. If variation occurs among the cylinders in the air-fuel ratio and intake resistance in this way, deterioration of the combustion and deterioration of the fuel efficiency will be invited.

Spark ignition type internal combustion engine


An image processing method generates a halftone image by forming a halftone dot represented by a set of one or plural output dots corresponding to an intensity of an input image signal while making a part of the dots constituting the halftone dot to be an actual non-output dot so as to reduce an amount of a coloring material of a halftone-dot portion. The image processing method includes holding in a predetermined storage medium halftone-dot profile data for forming the halftone dot corresponding to the intensity of the image signal and gap-size profile data representing a size of a set of the non-output dot; and generating the halftone dot comprising a gap having a size based on the gap-size profile data, a size of the halftone dot being based on the halftone-dot profile data.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image processing method, an image processing apparatus, and an image forming apparatus. More specifically, the invention relates to a binarization processing technique for generating a halftone image by forming a halftone dot having a predetermined size corresponding to an intensity of an input image signal, the halftone dot which is used to record a gradation image on an image recording medium in a printing technique such as an electrophotographic method and an inkjet method.
2. Description of the Related Art
As one of the techniques for generating a gradation image using binary data, there has been known a method for generating a gradation image by using the pulse-surface-area modulation, that is, so called binarization processing method (particularly referred to as a halftone processing method)) in which colored dots called halftone dots (set of individual halftone output dots), each having a predetermined size corresponding to an intensity of an input image signal, are formed to thereby reproduce the density of a halftone image by the size of each colored dot.
For example, a color printed matter is obtained by printing respective inks, each having one of four colors composed of yellow (Y), magenta (M), cyan (C), and black (K) colors, on a recording medium (printing paper) with the inks superposed on one another subsequently, using four printing plates for the inks. On the printing plates are recorded halftone plate images in which gradation of continuous-tone images of a color manuscript is reproduced with a set of microscopic halftone dots.
For example, when generating a halftone plate image in a printing technique using an electrophotographic method, a comparator compares multilevel-image signals (multilevel data) representing the gradation of an image of a color document with predetermined screen pattern data (threshold data at a predetermined coordinate in a threshold-value matrix; hereinafter may be referred to as a threshold value), to generate binarized recording signals.
Further, the halftone plate images are exposed on an image formation member (for example, a photoconductor drum) by controlling on/off of a light beam for exposure according to halftone dot signals, using the binarized recording signals as on/off signals (halftone dot signals) for each record pixel. Then, toner (powder) is sprayed onto the image formation member to visualize an image on the image formation member (a latent image) as a toner image. Thereafter, the toner image is transferred and fused onto the image recording medium to form an image having halftone dots having a size corresponding to the density of the image.
Here, when the halftone dots are used in the electrophotographic method, in general, one or two grains (1.5 grains in average) of toner are piled up, reaching a height in a range of ten and several μm before a toner image is fused. Since the height of the piled-up toner is in many cases determined by an amount of toner required for the maximum density of the image, it may be an excessive amount of toner for halftone reproduction. In particular, since the size of a halftone dot is small in highlight tone area (low density region), there are high possibilities that this problem occurs.
For color reproduction, a thin halftone-dot toner image is needed in the transfer process of toner because deterioration of image quality during the transfer process increases as the thickness of a halftone-dot toner image is larger. In addition, for a multi-transfer for the color reproduction, more attention should be paid to the deterioration of image quality. However, it is difficult that the amount of toner needed for the maximum density is compatible with the amount of toner appropriate for the halftone dot reproduction.
Further, an unfused toner image having a thickness in the range of ten and several μm is crushed into a fused toner image having a thickness of several μm after it is fused. When the toner fused on paper absorbs light, density reproduction by the toner occurs. In order to enhance the light absorption efficiency, it is required to efficiently expose a coloring material containing a thin toner layer to light. However, as described above, in the halftone-dot structure for the halftone reproduction, the toner layer may become excessively thick in many cases, and therefore, the toner which makes a low contribution to light absorption exists on the paper.
On the other hand, in a field of a printing technique, such as an inkjet method, using ink as a coloring material, patent documents 1 to 5 disclose a technique of controlling the amount of ink adhesion for forming halftone dots for the purpose of adjusting the thickness of the halftone dots called a dot gain or transferability of ink (coloring material).    [Patent Document 1] WO 00/72580    [Patent Document 2] U.S. Pat. No. 6,532,082    [Patent Document 3] JP Sho. 62-216748 A    [Patent Document 4] JP Hei. 3-053951 A    [Patent Document 5] JP Hei. 10-13685 A
For example, for the purpose of reducing the dot gain of a stochastic screen (stochastic printing), mechanism disclosed in the patent document 1 is a technique for appropriately reducing the density of a binarized image by further stochastically thinning out an image binarized with the stochastic screen.
In addition, mechanism disclosed in the patent document 2 is a technique for appropriately reducing the density of a binarized image by stochastically thinning out the image binarized by a normal halftone process, premised on halftone dots of clustered dots.
More specifically, in the mechanism disclosed in the patent document 1, with respect to the stochastic screen called an FM screen; and in the mechanism disclosed in the patent document 2, with respect to a regular halftone screen called an AM screen, the dot gain and the amount of ink are adjusted by non-periodically thinning out some of the halftone dots. That is, halftone dots and gap dots area synchronously generated.
In particular, in the mechanism disclosed in the patent document 2, a normal halftone-dot image and an image representing a gap dot for asynchronously thinning out halftone dots are prepared, and the two images are combined to thereby generate a halftone-dot image having gap dots.
However, in the techniques disclosed in the patent documents 1 to 5, it is necessary to redesign parameters for the binarization process whenever the gap size or the frequency of gap generation changes, and it is difficult to cope with the change.
Further, when some of the halftone dots are thinned out, the density of an output image becomes lower than the density to be originally output, that is, an error occurs in the density of the output image.
Furthermore, in the mechanisms disclosed in the patent documents 1 to 5, there is a possibility that an isolated dot is generated, that tone jump occurs or that graininess deteriorates. For example, in the FM screen such as the mechanisms disclosed in the patent document 1, since the density of the image is reproduced with a minute density of dots, which are invisible (30 μm or less), some of the integrated (clustered) minute halftone dots may be thinned out and areas of colored pixels may be too small to reproduce dots stably.
On the other hand, in the AM screen such as the mechanism disclosed in the patent document 2, when some of the halftone dots are non-periodically thinned out, there may occur a case where some of the halftone dots are thinned out inside the halftone dots and a case where some of the halftone dots are thinned out outside the halftone dots. Accordingly, there may occur a phenomenon that the crush of some of the halftone dots is different from the crush of other halftone dots, which may result in image noises. In addition, a coloring material in a halftone dot portion may be made thin when many pixels are thinned out inside the halftone dots. However, when many pixels are thinned out outside the halftone dots, since the size reduction of the halftone dots is significant but an operation of thinning out the coloring material in the halftone dot portion is weakened, an effect of making the halftone dots uniformly thin can not be expected. In particular, since the size of the halftone dots becomes small in highlight tone area (low density area), there are high possibilities that the above-mentioned problems occur.
In addition, even in the mechanism disclosed in the patent documents 3 to 5, there is no countermeasure against the generation of an isolated dot, tone jump, or graininess, so that it may cause serious problems.

Halftone dot formation method and apparatus, and image forming apparatus


Loads, such as pallets or freight containers, are guided and restrained on the loading floor of an aircraft by a device which provides guide rollers oriented in the direction of the longitudinal axis of the aircraft to hold pieces of freight in the horizontal direction. Additionally, cantilevered latching members hold a piece of freight against vertical and/or tilting movements. Both, the guide elements and the latching members are mounted to be tilted into the floor structure. The latching members perform simultaneously a rotating movement and a tilting movement when the device is moved or tilted into its recessed position below a top surface of the loading floor.

For efficiently using the available space in the cargo hold of an aircraft, it is necessary that each piece of freight is brought into a defined position during the loading operation. For this purpose, it is necessary that the loads are properly aligned by corresponding guide elements so that when a piece of load is displaced, the required orientation is maintained, and a canting or rotation of the piece of freight is positively prevented.
It is possible to use guide rails arranged on the loading floor of the aircraft. These guide rails extend substantially in parallel to the movement direction of a piece of freight. Arranging such guide rails in a stationary position on the loading floor had its difficulties heretofore because such rails constitute a hindrance to the intended displacement of the loads in the direction of the longitudinal aircraft axis. Such a displacement or shifting of the freight pieces, however, is useful in order to make an optimal, efficient use of the available loading space. Conventional guide rails are also deficient with regard to providing an adequate guiding of pallets, because these conventional devices do not limit the movement of a pallet in a direction of the yawing axis of the aircraft, namely upwardly e.g. by tilting.

Apparatus for guiding a load, especially on the loading floor of an aircraft


A method of configuring a touch sensor includes transmitting an ultra-sonic test signal induced by a first excitation signal towards a touch structure that has a first interface with an enclosed interior volume of the touch sensor and a second interface with an external environment; receiving a plurality of ultra-sonic reflected signals produced from the ultra-sonic test signal and the touch structure, including a first ultra-sonic reflected signal internally reflected by the first interface and a last ultra-sonic reflected signal internally reflected by the second interface; determining a last time of flight corresponding to the last ultra-sonic reflected signal; and selectively configuring a second excitation signal based on the last time of flight. The second excitation signal is used for inducing further ultra-sonic signals.

Touch sensing through metal surfaces using ultra-sonic waves is currently being investigated as an alternative to capacitive touch sensing principles. Ultra-sonic sensing relies on the transmission of an ultra-sonic signal and the reception and processing of the reflected waveform from the touch surface of a touch substrate. The waveform will depend on the existence or non-existence of a touch event. However, there are many types of touch substrate used across manufactures, the materials of which have different acoustic properties. The acoustic property of the touch substrate can affect the reliability of the sensing, including the detection of a touch or no-touch event (with or without surface contamination) and the location and applied force of a touch event, should one occur. Thus, an ultra-sonic touch sensor should be calibrated for the type of touch surface used in order for successful, accurate, and robust sensing and measurement acquisition. Accordingly, an ultra-sonic touch sensor that can provide robust and reliable touch detection regardless of the type of touch surface used may be desirable.


An automatically actuated line connection and delivery system is disclosed for the delivery of a cryogenic fluid coolant to tools mounted on manufacturing machines such as vertical and horizontal machining centers, punching presses, thermal spray systems, welding systems, laser cutters, etc. The system includes a linearly-actuated, cryogenic fluid socket/plunger connection “(20)” with a differential, thermal contraction-controlled sealing mechanism, “(22,24)” as well as provisions for installing this connection on automated manufacturing machines “(60,84)” and integrating operation of the connection “(20)” with the manufacturing cycle controlled from a remote control panel “(70)”.

The present invention relates to machine tool cooling and to systems for supplying coolants to tools for cutting and other operations of manufacturing machines, and more particularly to systems and methods for connecting or disconnecting a supply of a cryogenic fluid to or from a cryogenic cooling means mounted on a machine component, such as a turret.
As used herein, the term "manufacturing machine" includes but is not limited to: machine tools—vertical and horizontal turret lathes with vertical and horizontal turret plates, vertical and horizontal milling machines with automatic tool change-over systems, and derivatives thereof; single or multi-wheel grinding machines, single or multi-spindle drilling machines, and similar vertical machining centers; and other machines with automatic tool changers—punching presses, thermal spray systems, welding systems, laser cutting, welding, and surfacing systems, etc.
Prompted by environmental, productivity, and cost-reduction pressures, the manufacturing industry continues to look for improved tool cooling methods and systems. Research and development work during the last decade has shown that the use of inert, compressed cryogenic fluids as coolants may result in certain benefits if a delivery system for such coolants and a fluid-flow line connection system are fully integrated with existing machine tools and the associated moving components that hold tools. Therefore, there is a need in the manufacturing industry for such a connection system.
Conventional coolant connection systems have been used for many years, and there are various types of cryogenic connectors or couplings. However, there does not exist a fully functional cryo-fluid coolant connection system for modem manufacturing machines, especially machines that are controlled by a computerized numerical controller (CNC).
Examples of coolant delivery systems for tools mounted on turret lathes are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,179,692 (Hara), U.S. Pat. No 5,265,505 (Frechette), and U.S. Pat. No 5,862,833 (Perez). However, the way that the conventional coolant passages are routed through turret plates and turret carriages in these patents, as well as the way that disconnectable passages are sealed, would be unacceptable in the case of cryogenic fluid coolants for the following reasons: (1) turret plates would thermally shrink, thereby affecting the dimensional accuracy of parts produced, (2) turrets and supporting machine components would frost during operation, leading to corrosion, (3) connections would either leak or seize, resulting in system malfunction or failure, and (4) the period of time required to cooldown the passages from ambient temperature (e.g., room temperature) to the temperature of the cryogenic fluid would be unacceptably long in view of the time allocated to particular machining operations.
Examples of different types of quick-releasing cryogenic couplings are disclosed in WO9708486 (Jepp) and U.S. Pat. No. 6,145,322 (Odashima) and U.S. Pat. No 5,762,381 (Vogel). However, as discussed below, these cryogenic couplings cannot be used in machine tool applications without having significant problems, difficulties, and disadvantages, both technical and economic.
The design of coaxial and vacuum insulated connecting pipes and the way of sealing the pipes with a screw motion, as disclosed by Jepp, excludes the use of this system for machine tools due to connection time that would be unacceptably long, space and cost limitations, as well as the complexity of an automatic actuator that would be required.
The design of Odashima provides for an automatic plugging of line exits in the disconnected condition by two self-opposing check valves and an opening of the coupling passage by squeezing these components against each other. The face seal assembly and the check valves require that certain axial forces are applied to engage the coupling. The design comprises a number of intricate and wearing (or consumable) parts wetted by cryogenic fluid, and the overall surface area and weight of these parts would result in the cooldown time from room temperature to the temperature of the cryogenic fluid being unacceptably long in view of the time allocated to particular machining operations. In effect, this type of coupling cannot be used for an actuated connection required in the case of machine tools.
The design of Vogel also cannot be used for such an automated connection since its sealing action requires (1) axial sealing of the two ends of the line, and (2) radial quick-connect clamping, necessitating an actuating device much more complex and expensive than a simple linear actuator which would be cost-justified in machine-tool retrofit systems.
It is desired to have an apparatus and a method for connecting or disconnecting a supply of a cryogenic fluid to or from a cryogenic cooling means mounted on a moveable machine component (e.g., a turret) and spaced apart from the supply of the cryogenic fluid which overcome the difficulties and disadvantages of the prior art to provide better and more advantageous results.

Linearly-actuated cryo-fluid connection (LACC) for manufacturing machines


The present application provides an array substrate, a display panel and a display device. The array substrate includes: a substrate; gate lines and data lines located on the substrate, intersecting and insulated from each other, which define a plurality of sub-pixel areas; the sub-pixel areas each comprises: a thin-film transistor; a pixel electrode, a barrier metal electrode. An orthographic projection of the drain electrode on the substrate is located between orthographic projections of two adjacent data lines on the substrate, an orthographic projection of the barrier metal electrode on the substrate is located between the orthographic projection of the drain electrode on the substrate and the orthographic projection of at least one of the two adjacent data lines on the substrate.

An array substrate is an importance component in a display device. At present, the array substrate includes: a plurality of sub-pixel areas defined by intersecting of a plurality of gate lines and a plurality of data lines; a thin-film transistor and a pixel electrode which are arranged corresponding to each of the sub-pixel areas. A source electrode of the thin-film transistor is connected with the data lines and a drain electrode of the thin-film transistor is connected with the pixel electrode.
There are at least the following problems of the array substrate in prior art:
The resolution of the display device is becoming higher, and the size of the sub-pixel area as well as the distance between the data line and the drain electrode are becoming smaller accordingly. As a result, parasitic capacitance are easily formed between the data lines and the drain electrodes, which may cause crosstalk to the voltage on the pixel electrodes when the voltages on the data lines change, and thus may cause adverse influence on display effect.

Array substrate, display panel and display device

XIAMEN TIANMA MICRO-ELECTRONICS CO., LTD.


An attachment for a shaker conveyor for sorting material having various sizes. The attachment includes a passageway bordered on opposite sides by a pair of walls. A first grate is disposed in the passageway. The first grate defines a first gap for sorting the material. The first grate borders a first compartment having a first outlet. A second grate is disposed in the passageway. The second grate defines a second gap having a dimension different than the first gap. The second grate borders a second compartment separate from the first compartment and leading to a second outlet.

Linear shaker conveyors are used to convey materials in a straight path without the need for conveyor belts. The advantages include less maintenance and less power requirements over belt type conveyors. There is a need for an attachment for a linear conveyor for separating different sized buds harvested from hemp or marijuana plants.

Attachment for use with linear shaker type conveyor


A processing device displays a physical network topology associated with a storage area network on a display screen. The physical network topology generated by the processing device includes identification of at least one switch resource that supports connectivity among resources in a corresponding storage area network. The processing device typically receives input from a user to display at least one virtual network associated with the storage area network. In response to receiving the input, the processing device displays a virtual network topology associated with the selected at least one virtual network in relation to the physical network topology on the display screen. Displaying the virtual network topology in relation to the physically network topology provides a unique view for the network manager to identify network resources in physical fabric associated with a selected virtual storage area network.

The rapid expansion of information service and data processing industries has resulted in a need for computer systems to manage and store large amounts of data. As an example, financial service companies such as banks, mutual fund companies or the like often operate complex data processing systems that require access to many hundreds of gigabytes or even terabytes of data and files stored within high capacity data storage systems. Data storage system developers have responded to these types of data storage requirements by integrating large capacity data storage systems, data communications devices and computer systems into networks called "storage networks" or "storage area networks" (SANs). A storage area network is a collection of data storage systems that are networked with a number of host computer systems that operate as servers to access data stored in the data storage systems on behalf of client computers that request data from the servers.
Conventional storage area network management applications provide conventional graphical user interfaces (GUIs) that enable network managers to graphically manage, control and configure various types of hardware and software resources associated with a corresponding managed storage area network. For example, one conventional network management storage application generates a graphical user interface utilized by a network manager to graphically select, interact with, and manage local of remote devices and associated software processes associated with the storage area network. More specifically, based on use of the graphical user interface in combination with an input device such as a hand operated mouse and corresponding pointer displayed on a viewing screen, a network manager is able to manage hardware and software entities such as file systems, databases, storage devices, peripherals, network data communications devices, etc., associated with the storage area network. Typically, in such network management applications, the network manager selects a displayed icon representing a corresponding managed resource in the network and applies management commands to carry out intended management functions.
As noted above, a storage area network may include a number of hardware devices such as host computers, servers, data communications devices (e.g., switches, routers, etc.), network attached storage devices, proxy devices, firewall devices, and so forth that are coupled amongst each other via physical cables. Certain conventional network management applications are designed to provide a network manager with information concerning how these network resources are interrelated. For example, certain network management applications enable a network manager to configure resources in the network to form virtual storage area networks (VSANs).
VSAN technology enables a network manager to define independent logical fabrics in a storage area network based on sets of one or more physical switches. For example, physical storage area network switches in the storage area network, such as those manufactured by Cisco Systems, Inc. of San Jose, Calif., USA and other vendors, provide a coupling between host computer systems and corresponding storage systems. The hosts and storage systems couple to switch ports of the physical switches. Based on routing or switching of data in the physical switches, hosts are able to communicate through switch ports of the physical switches to corresponding storage systems and vice versa.
A storage area network administrator (i.e., a person) can operate conventional switch management and configuration software to create a VSAN within the switch that inter-relates or associates a selected set of switch ports coupling certain hosts or certain storage systems in order to isolate those inter-related switch ports (and hence their respectively connected hosts and storage systems) from other components (i.e., other host and storage systems) operating in the storage area network. In other words, a VSAN is a grouping of switch ports that represents a logical storage area network. From the perspective of a physical switch device, each given switch port (in a physical switch) is assigned to only one VSAN. Each VSAN may include two or more switch ports to couple host resources to corresponding storage resources of the storage area network. Thus, each VSAN is completely isolated from the other VSANs and functions as a separate and independent storage area network fabric with its own set of fabric services such as name services, zoning, routing, and so on.

Methods and apparatus for managing network resources


Included is an emulsion aggregation toner formulation having at least one latex and a combination of at least two waxes, wherein one wax is a synthetic wax, and another wax is a natural wax, and further including a developer containing a carrier and the just-described toner.

The present disclosure relates generally to toner and developer compositions, useful in electrostatographic, electrophotographic, xerographic, and the like machines, including printers, copiers, scanners, facsimiles, and the like, and including digital and image-on-image machines. More specifically, the disclosure relates to toner compositions comprising-dual wax combination. In embodiments, the dual wax combination comprises a polyethylene wax in combination with a Carnauba wax.
Methods of preparing emulsion aggregation (EA) type toner are known. Toners may be formed by aggregating a colorant with a latex polymer formed by batch or semi-continuous emulsion polymerization. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,853,943, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety, discloses a semi-continuous emulsion polymerization process for preparing a latex by first forming a seed polymer. In particular, the '943 patent describes a process comprising: (a) conducting a pre-reaction monomer emulsification comprising emulsification of the polymerization reagents of monomers, chain transfer agent, a disulfonate surfactant or surfactants, and optionally, an initiator, wherein the emulsification is accomplished at a low temperature of, for example, from about 5° C. to about 40° C.; (b) preparing a seed particle latex by aqueous emulsion polymerization of a mixture comprising (i) part of the monomer emulsion, for example, from about 0.5 to about 50 percent by weight, or from about 3 to about 25 percent by weight, of the monomer emulsion prepared in (a), and (ii) a free radical initiator, from about 0.5 to about 100 percent by weight, or from about 3 to about 100 percent by weight, of the total initiator used to prepare the latex polymer at a temperature of from about 35° C. to about 125° C., wherein the reaction of the free radical initiator and monomer produces the seed latex comprising latex resin wherein the particles are stabilized by surfactants; (c) heating and feed adding to the formed seed particles the remaining monomer emulsion, from about 50 to about 99.5 percent by weight, or from about 75 to about 97 percent by weight, of the monomer emulsion prepared in (b), and optionally a free radical initiator, from about 0 to about 99.5 percent by weight, or from about 0 to about 97 percent by weight, of the total initiator used to prepare the latex polymer at a temperature from about 35° C. to about 125° C.; and (d) retaining the above contents in the reactor at a temperature of from about 35° C. to about 125° C. for an effective time period to form the latex polymer, for example from about 0.5 to about 8 hours, or from about 1.5 to about 6 hours, followed by cooling. Other examples of emulsion/aggregation/coalescing processes for the preparation of toners are illustrated in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,290,654, 5,278,020, 5,308,734, 5,370,963, 5,344,738, 5,403,693, 5,418,108, 5,364,729, and 5,346,797, the disclosures of each of which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety. Other processes are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,348,832, 5,405,728, 5,366,841, 5,496,676, 5,527,658, 5,585,215, 5,650,255, 5,650,256 and 5,501,935, the disclosures of each of which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety.
Currently, some known EA toner formulations use a single wax (for example, polyolefin, such as polyethylene or polypropylene). The present disclosure describes the replacement of the use of a single polyolefin with a combination of synthetic and a second, different wax. The use of the combination of different waxes is believed to increase the release function of the EA toner. The result is ease of cleaning of the photoreceptor. In addition, polyolefin waxes are expensive. Therefore, by cutting back on the amount of wax by using a combination of two different waxes, an EA toner can be produced at a lower cost.
Toner builds up on the thermister, striper fingers and the cleaning web. This toner deposits itself on the back of copies. The dual wax formulation allows greater release properties and a more uniform distribution of surface additives and consequently a more uniform charge distribution on the surface of the toner. This eliminates or minimizes toner deposits on the stripper fingers, thermister, and cleaning web.
Therefore, it is desirable to provide a toner which solves or reduces fusing defects. It is further desired to provide an EA toner that can be prepared with less wax, in order to decrease the cost of production of the EA toner. The lower amount of total wax yields less wax on the toner surface. This allows lower amounts of external toner additives to be used and lowers the cost. Less wax on the surface also facilitates increased toner flow and a more uniformed surface charge. The lower melting wax would allow faster copier speeds and/or lower fusing temperatures.


A system for aggregating spaced related systems includes accessing service provider information for multiple service providers to determine relevant services/systems available, automatically determining that no single service provider provides services sufficient to perform a particular space activity, automatically identifying multiple services from different service providers that in aggregate include performing the space activity, and automatically determining a parameter to configure space equipment to perform each of the multiple services from the different service providers in order to perform the space activity. In some embodiments, this system can be scaled across multiple regions (e.g., multiple planetary regions). For example, each region can have its own set of servers and ledgers that provide real-time services within the region and opportunistically synchronize between regions (e.g., when communication is available).

The number of space activities and the number of entities performing space activities has been increasing. For purposes of this document, space activities are functions performed in space. The term "space" refers to being beyond the Earth's atmosphere, in orbit around the Earth, or at a distance from the Earth's surface that is equivalent to (or greater than) a distance of an object in orbit around the Earth. Examples of space activities include communication, transport, solar system exploration and scientific research. For example, the International Space Station is an orbiting research facility that functions to perform world-class science and research that only a microgravity environment can provide. Other activities performed in space can also be considered space activities.
Often, a single entity performing a space activity will develop and implement the entire system needed to perform the space activity. For example, one entity may build a constellation of satellites and a plurality of ground terminals to implement a communication system. As space activities become more complex, it is becoming too expensive, risky and complicated for one entity to develop an entire system.


Methods and systems are described for coordinating multiple calls across multiple devices. The system includes a communication interface configured to be paired with multiple mobile devices while maintaining concurrent communication with the multiple mobile devices. A controller is configured to connect a microphone and a speaker to the first mobile device via the communication interface to transmit and receive audio in a hands-free mode in response to detecting the first call at the first mobile device. The controller is configured to output a first prompt for selection of whether to continue the first call through the communication interface in the hands-free mode in response to detecting the second call at the second mobile device. The controller is configured to disconnect the microphone and the speaker from the first mobile device in response to receiving a first input indicating a selection of exiting the hands-free mode for the first call.

Cellular devices support pairing with components to wirelessly transfer data. While multiple cellular devices are configured to support pairing, components supporting wireless communication may only pair with one cellular device at a time. For example, a vehicle hands-free unit may pair with a cellular device to enable a hands-free mode. But the vehicle hands-free unit typically pairs with only one cellular device at a time. Since multiple passengers frequently ride together in a vehicle, the multiple passengers may desire to connect their cellular devices to the hands-free unit. But the other passengers may only setup hands-free calling once the vehicle hands-free unit is manually paired to the cellular device and configured to transmit and receive audio with the cellular device. More worrisome, handling multiple calls from multiple cellular devices creates a conflict over which device may use the vehicle hands-free unit.

Hands-free mode optimization with multiple devices


A method and a system for projecting a pattern onto a real surface, comprising: an image acquisition module; a video projector; a processor; and a memory comprising instructions that can be executed by the processor in order to: acquire an image on which a real surface is at least partially visible by means of said image acquisition module; determine a geometric transformation to be applied to said pattern such that once the pattern is projected by a video projector, it appears in a predefined location on the real surface, the determination of the geometric transformation taking into account the position of the video projector and the position of said real surface obtained by means of said acquired image; apply the geometric transformation to said pattern; and project the pattern by means of the video projector.

The present disclosure relates to the general field of mixed reality, sometimes also referred to as hybrid reality, and relates more particularly to a method of projecting a pattern on a real surface.
Mixed reality is a technology that makes it possible to fuse a virtual world with the real world, in order to produce a new environment and visualizations in which physical objects of the real world, and digital objects of the virtual world, coexist and can possibly interact, for example in real time. This technology is used more and more, in particular in the field of entertainment, e.g. video games or in the world of business, e.g. immersive learning content.
In order to obtain this fusion, it is possible to use any information display means, in particular a display screen, augmented reality or mixed reality glasses, such as the "Microsoft Hololens" glasses (registered trademark), or even a video projector.
An example of use of mixed reality is that of visualizing a virtual item of furniture arranged such that it can be seen by a user at a location in a room.
The current mixed reality techniques only allow for visualization of objects, and do not make it possible to implement a preview which would make the performance of an action on a real object sufficiently easier for a user.
There is therefore a need for new applications in mixed reality.
The disclosure aims in particular to overcome these disadvantages.

Method and system for projecting a pattern in mixed reality


A valve for regulating the flow of materials which are made up substantially of magnetic particles. The valve includes an outer housing and a core assembly secured within the housing to define an annular flow passage therebetween. The core assembly supports an improved magnet/coil assembly. The magnet/coil assembly includes a permanent magnet positioned between a pair of pole pieces and has an electromagnetic coil surrounding the permanent magnet. When energized, the coil establishes a counteracting magnetic field to cancel the magnetic field of the permanent magnet, which allows an open flow condition in the valve. An annular cavity is defined between the permanent magnet and the coil, which provides for a flux leakage path for the permanent magnet. During an open condition, the flux from the permanent magnet is shunted across the cavity to reduce the flux to be counteracted by the coil's magnetic field and therefore reduce the power consumed by the valve.

U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,406,704 and 3,626,964 both disclose a magnetic valve for regulating the flow of magnetic particles. As generally shown, these valves include an outer housing and a core assembly disposed within the outer housing to define an annular flow passage. The core assembly houses a magnet/coil assembly. The magnet/coil assembly includes a permanent magnet positioned between two pole pieces and an electromagnetic coil wound about the permanent magnet. The permanent magnet provides a constant magnetic field which is transmitted through the pole pieces to block the flow of magnetic particles through the flow passage. When a current is induced in the electromagnetic coils, a counter-acting magnetic field is created to cancel the influence of the permanent magnet. This allows free particle movement through the flow passage. Varying the current induced in the coil controls the generated field and the corresponding rate of particle flow through the passage. Consequently, the valve can regulate the flow rate between an open free flow condition whereby the magnetic field of the coil completely cancels the magnetic field of the permanent magnet and a closed fully retarded flow condition with no counter-acting magnetic field influencing the strong magnetic flux of the permanent magnet.

Flow regulating valve for magnetic particles


The present invention provides methods for the diagnosis and treatment of psychiatric disorders. In particular, the present invention provides convergent functional genomics methods for the identification of candidate genes associated with psychiatric disorders such as mania and psychosis, as well as other multi-faceted diseases and syndromes.

In the U.S., major depression ranks first among all causes of disability and second after heart disease as a cause of healthy years lost to premature mortality and disability (See, Hyman and Rudorfer, "Depressive and Bipolar Mood Disorders," in Dale and Federman (eds.), Scientific American Medicine, Healtheon/WebMD, New York, N.Y. [2000]). Indeed, approximately 10 percent of the population experiences at least one depressive episode that would benefit from treatment, while 5 percent would be classified as having severe and disabling symptoms of depression (See, Hyman and Rudorfer, supra).
While the prevalence of unipolar depression (major depression) in the U.S. is 5-10 percent, with women having approximately a two-fold greater risk than men, the prevalence of bipolar disorder (manic-depressive illness) is approximately 1 percent, is less variable, and affects men and women equally (See, Hyman and Rudorfer, Supra). There is a strong familial association for unipolar, as well as bipolar disorder. For example, the familial nature of bipolar disorder is associated with a 5 to 10-fold increased risk in first-degree relatives above the 1 percent risk in the general population (See, Hyman and Rudorfer, supra). Bipolar disorder often begins in young adulthood (e.g., second or third decade of life), although childhood onset is increasingly being recognized. Late onset is less common, but can even occur in the elderly. In rare cases, patients may have only a single manic episode. However, the vast majority of patients have recurrent episodes of illness, with the rate of cycling between mania and depression varying widely among individuals, and the episodes becoming more frequent with age. Between episodes of depression and mania, the majority of patients are symptom-free, although as many as one-third of patients exhibit residual symptoms.
Patients affected by bipolar disorder have had at least one manic or hypomanic (mild mania) episode. However, at the time of diagnosis, they may never have had a depressive episode, according to the DSM-IV criteria. The diagnosis is supported by family history data and observational studies. According to the DSM-IV, patients with full manias and depression are indicated as having "bipolar I disorder," while patients with hypomanias and depressions are described as having "bipolar II disorder." Onset of episodes tends to be acute, with symptoms developing over days to weeks. The depressive episodes of bipolar patients are indistinguishable from those of patients with unipolar disorder. Thus, misdiagnosis of bipolar disorder is common. Indeed, as many as 40 percent of bipolar patients are initially misdiagnosed (See, Hyman and Rudorfer, supra). It is also not uncommon for clinicians to misclassify bipolar patients as depressed or schizophrenic on the basis of their mental status. However, it is important to make a proper diagnosis, as administration of some drugs can seriously worsen the patient's clinical picture.
In addition to the problems associated with diagnosis, treatment of bipolar disorder can be problematic. Indeed, it has been estimated that 5 percent of patients experience chronic unremitting symptoms despite treatment (See, Hyman and Rudorfer, supra). Mania requires prompt treatment because it can rapidly worsen, resulting in poor judgment that endangers interpersonal relationships, jobs, and finances. Management is founded upon medication, provision of a low-stimulation environment, and protecting the patient from undertaking potentially harmful activities. Initial management of acute mania is often best accomplished through hospitalization. Thus, the management of bipolar disorder can be expensive, intrusive, and difficult. In addition, despite the now routine use of maintenance treatment for bipolar disorder, up to 90 percent of patients experience at least one relapse within 5 years of their original diagnosis (See, Hyman and Rudorfer, supra). Thus, it is clear that improved methods and compositions for the diagnosis and treatment of psychiatric diseases such as bipolar disorder are needed.

Methods for diagnosis and treatment of psychiatric disorders

The Regents of the University of California


Methods of forming and processing semiconductor devices are described. Certain embodiments related to electronic devices which comprise a dipole region having an interlayer dielectric, a high-κ dielectric material, and a dipole layer. The dipole layer comprises one or more of titanium lanthanum nitride (TiLaN), titanium yttrium nitride (TiYN), titanium strontium nitride (TiSrN), titanium magnesium nitride (TiMgN, titanium aluminum nitride (TiAlN), titanium tantalum nitride (TiTaN), hafnium carbide (HfC), hafnium nitride (HfN), hafnium oxynitride (HfON), hafnium oxycarbide (HfOC), hafnium carbide aluminum (HfCAl), hafnium aluminum nitride (HfAlN), or hafnium carbonitride (HfCN).

Integrated circuits have evolved into complex devices that can include millions of transistors, capacitors, and resistors on a single chip. In the course of integrated circuit evolution, functional density (i.e., the number of interconnected devices per chip area) has generally increased while geometry size (i.e., the smallest component (or line) that can be created using a fabrication process) has decreased.
Transistors are circuit components or elements that are often formed on semiconductor devices. Many transistors may be formed on a semiconductor device in addition to capacitors, inductors, resistors, diodes, conductive lines, or other elements, depending on the circuit design. Integrated circuits incorporate planar field-effect transistors (FETs) in which current flows through a semiconducting channel between a source and a drain, in response to a voltage applied to a control gate.
As device dimensions have shrunk, device geometries and materials have experienced difficulty maintaining switching speeds without incurring failures. Several new technologies emerged that allowed chip designers to continue shrinking gate lengths. Control of the dimensions of device structure is a key challenge for present and future technology generations. Since 1970, the number of components per chip has doubled every two years. As a consequence of this trend, the miniaturization of circuits by scaling down the transistor has been the principal driver for the semiconductor technology roadmap. Shrinking of the materials currently used as N- and P-MOS have become a challenge due to change in basic properties, such as threshold voltage. Additionally, the migration of transistor technology from planar to FinFET, requires conformal work function layers with the solution for multiple threshold voltages. The voltage tuning range is limited by the thickness variation, with further scaling down of device sizes. Therefore, there is a need to develop alternative materials to achieve better performance while scaling down.


A signaling gateway (SG) and a method for the SG to process signaling. The method comprises: after a SG which is configured with SCCP protocol, one or more SCCP service related subsystems, and GT translation function receives a connectionless-oriented SCCP service message in MTP3 protocol, the SG determining whether the message is a local office message according to a destination signaling point code carried in the message or a signaling point code generated by translating a GT carried in the message; and if the message is a local office message, the SG forwarding the message to a corresponding SCCP service related subsystem configured in the SG according to a subsystem number carried in the message, or forwarding the message to a corresponding SCCP service related subsystem configured in a MGC; the MGC and SG having the same signaling point code and being connected in the M3UA protocol. By configuring the SG with SCCP, management subsystem as well as service related subsystems, the present invention reduces the message interaction between the SG and the MGC without increasing the signaling point codes, thus improving the message forwarding efficiency.

Signaling Connection Control Part (SCCP) provides the Message Transfer Part (MTP) with additional function so that it could transfer circuit-related or non-circuit-related signaling information and other information between exchange offices or between an exchange office and a special center (such as the management and maintenance center) in the telecommunication network via the No. 7 signaling network, and establish connection-oriented and connectionless-oriented services.
In No. 7 signaling network, each signaling point (SP) has a different signaling point code (point code for short). FIG. 1 is an illustration of the No. 7 signaling protocol composition. Wherein, MTP3 denotes the Message Transfer Part layer 3, and SCCP-UP is the SCCP User Part (that is, upper layer protocol).
SIGTRAN (Signaling Transport) protocol is a set of transport control protocols for transporting the PSTN (Public Switched Telephone Network) signaling on IP (Internet Protocol) network. SIGTRAN protocol stack divides into the signaling transport (mainly including IP and SCTP (Stream Control Transmission Protocol)), signaling transport adaptation and signaling application etc. M3UA (MTP3-User Adaptation layer) provides a function for conversion between the signaling point encoding and IP address to transport the No. 7 signaling protocol between the soft switch and the signaling gateway and to support transporting the MTP3 user messages, including ISUP (ISDN User Protocol), TUP (Telephone User Part) and SCCP messages, on the IP network. The M3UA has two work modes: agent and switch.
FIG. 2 is an illustration of the protocol composition of the signaling gateway of the M3UA agent. Wherein, the NIF (Nodal Interworking Function) implements the interworking between the MTP3 and M3UA.
Due to the restriction of the point code resource, the SG (Signaling Gateway) and MGC (Media Gateway Controller) usually have the same signaling point code. For example, in the networking shown in FIG. 3, the SG and MGC are configured with the M3UA protocol and share a signaling point code, and MTP3 link connection is configured between the SG and a plurality of HLRs (Home Location Register) as well as the MSCs (Mobile Services Switching Center). In this networking, the SG has to implement the agent and switch functions.
In the mode of M3UA agent, the SCCP exists in the MGC, and the SG is responsible for transferring the service messages to the SCCP in the MGC. Therefore, the SG is not configured with SCCP user (protocol); otherwise the service messages will terminate at the SCCP in the SG and will not be transferred to the MGC. Which case will certainly result in waste of bandwidth between the SG and the MGC, as well as waste of processing resource of the SG and the MGC. For example, when a message (destination is MSC1) which comes from the HLR and uses GT (Global Title) for routing is transferred through the SG, this message will be sent to the MGC through the M3UA for translation, and the translated message is sent to the SG which will in turn send it to the MSC1 for processing since the SG has no SCCP user. As indicated with 310, 320, 330 and 340 shown in FIG. 3, this message will be transferred back and forth between the SG and the MGC, and the network elements which the message passes are HLR→SG→MGC→SG→MSC1, wasting a lot of bandwidth between the SG and the MGC.
To solve this problem, the SG is assigned with a different signaling point code from the MGC in the prior art so that the SG could be configured with the SCCP protocol to implement the SG switch function. However, this solution needs to add another signaling point code, which is usually not allowed by the operators in the scenarios that the point code resource is short and the 2G devices need to be updated.

Signaling gateway and its signaling processing method


A molding die has a shell having a penetration hole, a lower pattern installed in the lower opening of the shell, and an upper pattern slidably disposed from the upper opening of the shell. The shell includes an outer shell and an inner shell disposed inside of the outer shell. The inner shell is includes plural split shells. The inner shell can be separated from the outer shell. The inner shell, lower pattern, and upper pattern form a cavity. As a result, if the molded product sticks to the inner circumference of the shell, the molded product can be easily taken out of the molding die by disassembling the shell. Further, a molded product having an excellent dimensional precision can be manufactured.

The present invention relates to a molding die and a manufacturing method of a molded product, and more particularly to a molding die for pressure molding and a manufacturing method of a molded product.
Generally, as a molding die for heating, pressurizing and molding a glass vitreous material, a molding die as shown in FIG. 6 is used. A conventional molding die comprises a tubular shell 21, a lower pattern 22, and an upper pattern 23. The lower pattern 22 is inserted and fixed at the lower end side of the shell 21. The upper pattern 23 is inserted from the upper end side of the shell 21, and is slidably inserted. A glass vitreous material 25 is disposed in this molding die 24, and is heated, pressurized and molded.
Hitherto, in such molding die 24, the tubular shell 21 was a columnar element made of a cemented carbide having a penetration hole. That is, the conventional shell 1 was an integrated one-body structure.
However, by using such conventional molding die 24, when a glass vitreous material 25 is heated, pressurized and molded, the glass vitreous material 25 spreads widely in the molding space in the molding die 24 in the molding process, or the glass vitreous material 25 sticks to the inner side of the shell 21. As a result, it was difficult to take out the glass molded product from the shell 21.
It is hence an object of the invention to present a molding die capable of taking out the molded product easily. Further, by using the molding die of the invention, a molded product having an excellent dimensional precision can be manufactured.
A molding die of the invention comprises:
(a) a shell having a penetration hole, the penetration hole having a lower opening and an upper opening,
(b) a lower pattern disposed to the lower opening of the shell, and
(c) an upper pattern slidably disposed from the upper opening of the shell,
in which the shell includes an outer shell and an inner shell disposed inside of the outer shell, the inner shell is composed of plural split shells, the inner shell can be separated from the outer shell, and the inner shell, lower pattern, and upper pattern form a cavity.
A manufacturing method of molded product of the invention comprises the steps of:
(a) combining an inner shell in an outer shell having a second penetration hole, and obtaining a shell having a penetration hole,
wherein the inner shell has plural split shells, and
the penetration hole is surrounded by the plural split shells,
(b) disposing the lower opening of the penetration hole of the shell to a lower pattern,
(c) placing a molding material in a cavity surrounded by the penetration hole and lower pattern,
(d) forming a molded product by inserting an upper pattern into the cavity from an upper opening of the penetration hole of the shell, and pressurizing the molding material while heating the molding material,
(e) separating the upper pattern and outer shell from the inner shell and lower pattern after the molded product formed by pressurizing is solidified, and
(f) taking out the molded product by separating the plural split shells, after step (e).
In this constitution, if the molded product sticks to the inner circumference of the shell, the molded product can be easily taken out of the molding die by separating the shell. Further, a molded product having a complicated convex and concave shape can be manufactured easily.

Molding die and manufacturing method of molded product

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.


A computing system includes a storage device and a host. The storage device includes a volatile memory and a non-volatile memory, and is configured to receive data for storage in the non-volatile memory, to buffer at least some of the received data temporarily in the volatile memory, and to guarantee that any data, which is not part of a predefined amount of data that was most recently received, has been committed to the non-volatile memory. The host is configured to send the data for storage in the storage device, and, in response to a need to commit given data to the non-volatile memory, to send the given data to the storage device followed by at least the predefined amount of additional data.

Some storage devices support flush commands, which instruct the storage device to transfer the data immediately from volatile memory to non-volatile storage. Various types of flush operations are known in the art. For example, U.S. Patent Application publication 2011/0252201, whose disclosure is incorporated herein by reference, describes smart flushing of data to backup storage.
U.S. Patent Application publication 2015/0106410, whose disclosure is incorporated herein by reference, describes a Solid State Drive (SSD) comprising Flash devices and a volatile memory. In an embodiment, a host sends to the SSD a command to flush a certain file or part of a file, or data relating to a particular storage command (e.g., thread or tag) from the volatile memory to the Flash devices.
U.S. Patent Application publication 2015/0220439, whose disclosure is incorporated herein by reference, describes block storage schemes that decouple ordering from durability. One example scheme buffers write commands and causes the write commands to be committed to storage in flush epoch order. Another example scheme maintains a persistent log of write commands that are arranged in the persistent log in flush epoch order. Both examples provide a prefix consistent state in the event of a crash.


The invention concerns an apparatus and a method for inspection of a wafer.

In semiconductor production, wafers are sequentially processed in a plurality of process steps during the production process. With increasing integration density, demands in terms of the quality of the features configured on the wafers are rising. It is advantageous, for this purpose, if the quality of even individual process steps, for example lithography steps, can be reliably assessed during the manufacturing process and before any subsequent process step. Thus, if a determination is made, just after a process step is performed and even before a production process has been completed, that a wafer or features configured on the wafer are defective, the wafer can be immediately discarded with no need to perform additional subsequent process steps. Or wafers found to be defective can be reprocessed separately until satisfactory quality is achieved. Efficiency and yield in semiconductor production can thereby be enhanced.
Optical apparatuses are particularly suitable for inspecting the surface of wafers. Optical apparatuses are known that, by image recognition, can recognize a wide variety of features on the surface of a wafer. The wafer is usually illuminated in bright-field fashion in this context, and scanned with a camera (matrix or linear camera). In one often-used type of wafer inspection apparatus according to the existing art, the surface of the wafer is illuminated stroboscopically. A region on the surface of the wafer is illuminated by a light flash, an image of the illuminated region is acquired, and the wafer and illuminating light beam are displaced relative to one another for a subsequent image acquisition operation.
Intensity fluctuations of the light flashes used for illumination can have a disruptive effect on image evaluation accuracy in this context. For example, threshold values can be defined for image evaluation, a defect on the surface of the wafer being indicated only if those values are exceeded. Intensity fluctuations in the vicinity of the threshold value thus degrade the image evaluation accuracy. Intensity fluctuations of the light flashes used for illumination are troublesome also because they suggest imprecise operation of the wafer inspection apparatus, for example when sequentially acquired images are compared with one another.
The inventors have observed that in ordinary flash light sources, for example xenon flash lamps, flash-to-flash intensity fluctuations of approximately 5% or more can occur.

Apparatus and method for inspection of a wafer

Abstract: The apparatus encompasses at least one stroboscopic incident-light illumination device for emitting a pulsed illuminating light beam onto a surface of the wafer and for illuminating a region on the surface of the wafer; and having [sic] at least one image acquisition device for acquiring an image of the respectively illuminated region on the surface of the wafer. The apparatus is characterized, according to the present invention, in that by at least one photodetection device for sensing light of the respective illuminating light beam, and a control device for controlling an image acquisition operation on the basis of the light sensed by the photodetection device, are provided.

Abstract: Intensity fluctuations of the light flashes of the incident-light illumination device are compensated for either by normalizing image data of the illuminated region or by controlling the duration of the light flashes.


A pre-built fireplace has a housing with an outlet for combustion gases and an open front for viewing the inside of the fireplace. A hinged damper and a hinged lintel extension are suspended from the inside of the fireplace. The damper and lintel extension are pivotally secured to each other so that when the damper is open, the lintel extension is in place to deflect combustion gases, and when the damper is closed, the lintel extension is pivoted substantially out of view.

It is common practice to install "zero clearance" or "factory-built" fireplaces in building structures due to their relatively low cost and simple installation procedures. Conventional factory-built fireplaces have a firebox with an exhaust outlet, and a front opening for viewing the inside of the firebox. A built-in damper is included to cover the outlet when the fireplace is not in use. Typical factory-built fireplaces also include a panel called a lintel extension across the front, and along the top portion of the firebox opening. The lintel extension inhibits smoke from spilling out of the top of the firebox opening while the firebox is in use. However, the lintel extension conventionally remains in place even when the firebox is not in use, thus significantly impairing the view of the firebox.

Adjustable lintel extension for a fireplace


In a electric corrosion preventing structure of a marine vessel propelling machine, a cylinder is integrally formed in a cylinder block, an electric connection portion is provided in a portion in which a rod guide is fixed to the cylinder, an electric connection portion is provided in a portion in which a piston is fixed to a rod in an inner portion of the cylinder, and the piston fixed to the rod strikes against the rod guide in an electrically connected state, at a maximum extension when the rod protrudes out of the cylinder.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electric corrosion preventing structure of a marine vessel propelling machine such as an outboard motor or the like.
2. Description of the Related Art
The marine vessel propelling machine of the outboard machine or the like is structured such that a propelling unit is tiltably coupled to a stern bracket fixed to a marine vessel via a swivel bracket, a tilting cylinder apparatus is interposed between the stern bracket and the swivel bracket, the tilting cylinder apparatus integrally forms a cylinder in a cylinder block, a rod slidably coupled to a rod guide fixed to the cylinder is inserted to an oil chamber in an inner portion of the cylinder, and a piston is fixed to an insertion end of the rod to the cylinder.
The tilting cylinder apparatus is provided with a tilt cylinder and a trim cylinder in the cylinder block, and actuates the propelling unit so as to tilt or trim. The tilt actuation by the tilt cylinder tilts the propelling unit within a tilt region against its own weight when a marine vessel is stopped, for raising the propelling unit above the water surface. The trim actuation by the trim cylinder tilts the propelling unit against a propelling force of a propeller within a trim region which has a smaller tilt angle than the tilt region, to adjust a cruising attitude of the marine vessel when the marine vessel is cruising.
In the marine vessel propelling machine mentioned above, since each of members of the marine vessel propelling machine is constructed of several different types of metal materials, an electrical potential difference is generated due to the metal material of each of the members coming into contact with sea water. The metal which has the higher ionization tendency is dissolved into the sea water, an effect known as electric corrosion.
Accordingly, in a conventional marine vessel propelling machine, as described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2005-329828 (patent document 1), in order to prevent the electric corrosion mentioned above, a metal such as a zinc or the like having a greater ionization tendency than a main material such as iron, aluminum alloy or the like of each of the members is provided as a sacrificial electrode (or a sacrificial anode, hereinafter, referred to as anode), and the anode is provided in a sea water contact portion of the propelling unit or the like, thereby preventing a corrosion of each of the other members.
However, in the conventional marine vessel propelling machine, the tilt cylinder and the trim cylinder which construct the tilting cylinder apparatus, particularly the trim rod of the trim cylinder is difficult to electrically connect to the anode provided in the propelling unit or the like, and electric corrosion is often generated. If the trim rod is not electrically connected to the anode, the anode can not be the sacrificial electrode for the trim rod.
For example, when the trim rod is constructed of an iron based material, a surface of the iron based material may appear uniform at first glance. However, the surface exhibits a different chemical component, structure, crystal orientation, oxide film, attachment or the like when observed by a microscope. A difference of electric potential is generated locally by this unevenness. In the case that the sea water comes into contact with the surface of the iron based material, an electric current flows from a higher electric potential to a lower electric potential in the iron based material, and flows from the lower electric potential to the higher electric potential in the sea water, and an ionization of the iron is generated in the portion having the lower electric potential. As a result, the portion having the lower electric potential corrodes in the surface of the trim rod.

Electric corrosion preventing structure of marine vessel propelling machine


A sensor in a car window permits a reduction in size thereof. The sensor includes a lens that is provided on the inner side of a sloping windshield to condense light coming from an object to be detected that is located outside the windshield, a sensor main body that detects the object to be detected by means of the light that has passed through the lens, and a transparent glass pane that is provided between the windshield and the lens to refract the light from the object to be detected that has passed through the windshield.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a sensor in a car window that is installed in a car window to detect an object to be detected that is located outside a car.
2. Description of the Related Art
FIG. 6 is a sectional view of a camera in a car window that represents a conventional sensor in a car window.
The camera in the car window includes a lens 1 provided on the inner surface of a windshield 3 (a windowpane), and a camera main body 2 serving as a sensor main body that detects, through the lens 1, an object to be detected (not shown) that is located outside the windshield 3.
In the camera in a car window, an upper incident ray 5, a middle incident ray 6, and a lower incident ray 7 from the object to be detected enter the lens 1 through the windshield 3, and the camera main body 2 photographs the object to be detected.
The camera in the car window, however, has been posing a problem in that a maximum optical path length L1 of the rays that directly enter the lens 1 through the windshield 3 is long. Reference character L1 in this case denotes the horizontal distance between the point at which the lower incident ray 7 exits from the inner surface of the windshield 3 and the center line of the lens 1.
Furthermore, when the rays enter the lens 1 through the windshield 3, ghost rays 11 reflected off of a dashboard or the like reflect on the windshield 3 and reach the lens 1 along the same optical path taken by the upper incident ray 5, the middle incident ray 6, and the lower incident ray 7, thus forming an image on the dashboard or the like. This has been presenting a problem in that the image formed on the dashboard is undesirably superimposed on the image of the object to be detected, leading to deteriorated quality of the photographed image.
To solve the problem, there has been adopted a means for covering the area between the camera main body 2 and the windshield 3 by a hood 9 shown in FIG. 7 thereby to block the ghost rays 11 reflected off of a dashboard or the like, as disclosed in, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 4-194827.
In recent years, however, there has been a trend toward increasing the angle of inclination of the windshield 3 to reduce air resistance. The trend has inevitably resulted in an increase in the optical path distance L1 with a consequent increase in the size of the hood 9. This has given a rise to a problem in that the visual field of occupants is interfered with, and a camera in a car window cannot be installed at a proper position free of the interference by a rearview mirror 12.
The present invention has been made with a view toward solving the problem described above, and it is an object of the invention to provide a sensor in a car window, the sensor primarily featuring a reduced maximum optical path distance from a windowpane to a lens so as to permit a reduction in the size thereof.
To this end, according to the present invention, there is provided a sensor in a car window, the sensor having a lens that is provided on the inner side of a sloping windowpane to condense light coming from an object to be detected that is located outside the windowpane, a sensor main body that detects the object to be detected by means of the light that has passed through the lens, and a transparent member that is provided between the windowpane and the lens to refract the light from the object to be detected that has passed through the windowpane.


Systems and methods for tracking user movement during physical fitness activities are presented. A camera tracks movements of objects of interest in a field of view thereof during an exercise routine to log, instruct and provide feedback data to assist the user in reaching fitness goals. The user can also share his data with friends or teammates, for example through social media or in a client-server environment.

As the population is becoming more health conscious, the fitness tracking industry has grown. Gym-goers are looking to technology to give them greater insight into their body and how they can achieve their goals faster. However, most of this fitness tracking technology take the form of wearables, which are usually worn on the wrist. These wearables are capable of tracking steps, heart rate, and calories burned. However, these are not metrics that a person who lifts weights (a significant portion of the population) gains the most value from. There is no affordable, reliable, and easy-to-use use fitness tracking technology on the market that can provide weightlifters with the level of insight they desire.
Conventional weight racks are large, stationary items that hold weights when the weight lifter isn't exercising. When weightlifters are lifting free weights on one of these racks, it is recommended that they receive assistance and supervision from a person referred to as a "spotter." Spotters reduce risk of injury and promote enhanced performance gains by allowing weight lifters to push themselves to failure without risk of injury. However, properly trained spotters are often difficult to find, and spotters are often not capable of preventing certain, more serious weightlifting accidents from happening (e.g., a weightlifter dropping a weight on him/herself).
The present disclosure overcomes some or all the prior deficiencies, and provides an innovative useful system and method for assisting those exercising or training others using mechanical moving structures.

Multi-functional weight rack and exercise monitoring system for tracking exercise movements


A method and devices for dynamically embedding watermark and/or end-user access information into multimedia content. The method includes providing multimedia content transformed into blocks that each include an array of pixel blocks, and dynamically embedding portions of watermark and/or end-user access information into selected pixel blocks based on the values of the coefficients within the pixel blocks. For multimedia content encoded using discrete cosine transform (DCT) or other block-based encoding, the transform coefficients to include embedded information are chosen based on analysis of the coefficient values, rather than in a fixed or predetermined manner. Also, embedding watermark and/or end-user access information can occur across different pixel blocks within a given image to reduce the number of embedded coefficients per block, within the peripheral pixel blocks within a given image, and/or in different areas across images to reduce the duration of embedded information in any one area.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to digital watermarking and watermark information and end-user access information. More particularly, the invention relates to embedding watermarking information or end-user access information into multimedia content.
2. Description of the Related Art
Watermarks are used generally to identify the origin and/or ownership of an image or other underlying content. For example, conventional watermarks can include information that identifies the owner or author of the content and/or unique product information related to the content purchase. When used with multimedia content and other digital media, such as digital video or image content, watermarks include watermark information that can be embedded into the multimedia content in a manner that makes the watermark effectively invisible or nondiscernable to the end user of the digital media, e.g., as the underlying multimedia content into which the watermark was embedded is played on, displayed on or otherwise processed or consumed by the end user device. Also, when used with multimedia content and other digital media, watermarks typically are embedded into the multimedia content in such a way that the removal or attempted removal of the watermark may destroy or visibly alter the underlying multimedia content. Alternatively, the watermark can be visible to end users and removable by authorized end users or end user devices having access to an appropriate decoder, while not being removable by unauthorized end users or end user devices. Watermarking in multimedia content and other digital media also can identify tampering, since manipulation of watermark data often can result in an invalid watermark.
End-user access information generally is any suitable information that allows (or denies) end users and/or end user devices to access and/or control associated multimedia content. For example, end-user access information can include, but is not limited to, digital rights management (DRM) information, such as security and/or control keys and/or messages, encryption and/or decryption keys, digital signature and certificate information, end user authentication information, and/or any other DRM information that allows (or denies) end user access to multimedia content, including access information in accordance with one or more DRM standards, such as the Open Mobile Alliance (OMA) standard and one or more of the Digital Video Broadcasting (DVB) standards, including DVB-H for handheld or mobile end user devices. End users access information also can include, but is not limited to, conditional access (CA) information (CAI), such as one or more scrambler, descrambler and/or control keys and/or messages, encryption and decryption control keys and/or words, entitlement control and/or entitlement management information, and/or any other access information used within a conditional access system to protect content and/or allow access to and/or control of protected content by one or more end users, including access information in accordance with one or more conditional access system standards, such as Digital Video Broadcasting-Conditional Access (DVB-CA).
Multimedia content often is coded and transmitted using a block-based video compression encoder, such as an MPEG (Moving Pictures Experts Group) encoder, which formats the stream of multimedia content according to a suitable standard, such as the MPEG-2 or MPEG-4 standard, or other suitable standard. Using block-based encoding, each frame of the multimedia content typically is encoded as a plurality of coded blocks using a discrete cosine transform (DCT) or other suitable transform, which, in general, transforms each block of content from the spatial domain to the frequency domain. In general, each coded block is represented by a plurality or matrix of coefficients, such as DCT coefficients.
Conventional watermarking methods, such as for use in watermarking digital images, include dividing watermark images into blocks and encoding the blocks using an appropriate transform. That is, the watermark image can be treated as an image and coded using a suitable image coding technique. The encoded watermark image then is added to or combined with an encoded version of content images to form a combined, encoded image. For example, coefficients representing the coded watermark image can be added to, inserted in or replace coefficients representing the coded content. Such conventional methods insert or replace watermark information in a fixed or predetermined manner, such as according to a given algorithm.
Although conventional watermarking methods of this kind attempt to reduce the amount of distortion introduced to the content as a result of the embedded watermark, there typically is at least some amount of distortion to the underlying content. Depending on the degree of the distortion to the content, the viewing experience of such content can be diminished. Alternatively, to reduce the existing amount of distortion to the content, some conventional watermarking methods eliminate or distort the watermark itself, e.g., by reducing the number of coefficients that represent the watermark image.

Method, device and system for dynamically embedding watermark information into multimedia content


To restrict and further promote differential rotation between first and second output shafts, the power transmission apparatus for differentially transmitting a rotative power supplied to an input shaft to two output shafts comprises a differential gear mechanism coupled between the two output shafts; a multiplying mechanism associated with the differential gear mechanism, for detecting and multiplying a differential rotation; a motor coupled to the multiplying gear mechanism, for restricting or promoting the differential rotation by driving the multiplying gear mechanism in either direction; and a controller for controlling rotative direction and torque of the motor by adjusting supply voltage polarity and motor current magnitude. The multiplying mechanism is a strange gear mechanism or a planetary gear mechanism.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to power transmission apparatus provided with differential limiting function, and more specifically to a power transmission apparatus which can limit and also promote differential operation between two transmission shafts.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Conventionally, the power transmission apparatus provided with differential limiting function is disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Published (Kokai) Patent Application No. 62-214021, for instance, in which power is transmitted by multiplying differential rotation produced between two input and output shafts through a planetary gear device, in order to restrict the differential rotation by a centrifugal brake.
In addition, Japanese Unexamined Published (Kokai) patent Application Nos. 56-43031 and 55-72420 disclose power transmission apparatus of wet multidisc clutch type, in which differential distribution and differential operation are restricted by a hydraulic clutch; Japanese Examined Published (Kokoku) Patent Application No. 50-53 discloses an apparatus in which a cam mechanism and a multidisc clutch are used as resistance against differential rotation; Japanese Unexamined Published (Kokai) Patent Application No. 62-165032 discloses an apparatus of viscous coupling type; further, Japanese Unexamined Published (Kokai) Patent Application No. 60-104426 and Japanese Examined Published (Kokoku) Utility Model Application No. 46-35772 disclose an apparatus using a pump, respectively. In these power transmission apparatus, however, differential function is controlled so that difference in rotation speed between the two shafts can only be reduced.
As described in more detail later, vehicles are often required to promote differential rotation between vehicle wheels, according to vehicle travelling, steering or road surface conditions, in addition to differential rotation restriction. In the prior-art power transmission apparatus of differential control type, however, since differential rotation is restricted only in the decreasing direction, there inevitably exists a limit when vehicle travelling performance is required to improve.