A door device has a plurality of doors that open or close a single opening in a vehicle. The doors have mutually opposing opening ends. A door interlock mechanism interlocks the opening ends of the doors when the doors receive an impact from the exterior of the vehicle while both the doors are in closed states.

1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a door device and particularly relates to a door device that has two doors to close a single opening in a vehicle body.
2) Description of the Related Art
Some of the vehicles are provided with a door device that has a hinged front door and a slidable rear door and there is no center pillar between the two doors. In other words, these door devices have a so-called center-pillarless-structure. The center pillar becomes an obstruction when entering the vehicle; however, it gives sturdiness to the vehicle and protects the people inside the vehicle in case of a side collision. Since these vehicles do not have the center pillar they need some protective measures in case of a side collision.
As a safety measure against side collisions, such door devices have an interlock mechanism. This interlock mechanism locks the doors to each other when both the doors in closed states. This interlock mechanism includes a striker in one of doors, and a latch unit, which engages with the striker, in the other door. The latch unit includes a close actuator, which interlocks the doors when they are in the closed states. The latch unit further includes a release actuator, which releases the lock of the doors when the doors are opened. Such a door device has been disclosed in Japanese Published Unexamined Patent Application No. 2004-27726.
However, according to the conventional door device, the doors are locked when they are in the closed states; in other words, it need to be first detected whether the doors are in the closed states before actuating the close actuator. Erroneous operation prevention control, premised on the erroneous detection of the closed states despite the doors being in opened states, is thus required. Also, when the rear door is made to open and close automatically, the actuation of the respective actuators of the interlock mechanism must be controlled in accordance with the automatic opening and closing of the rear door. Complex operations, which are in accordance with the opening and closing of the doors, are thus required with the conventional door device.
Moreover, since the interlock mechanism is actuated by means of actuators, when a malfunction of the electrical system, such as an actuator malfunction or malfunction of a detection unit for detecting the closed state of the respective doors, occurs, the action of the interlock mechanism becomes disabled or the doors become unable to be opened in a normal door opening operation. In addition, since the two actuators of the close actuator and the release actuator are used, the cost is high.


A portable electronic device includes a housing defining an opening, a string of a pendant, and a pendant attachment device. The pendant attachment device includes a fixing block, an attachment element rotatably and movably fixed in the compartment, a fixing plate fixed to the housing and an elastic element. The fixing block defines a compartment. The attachment element includes a main body defining a fixing hole, the string is threaded through the fixing hole. In a first state, the elastic element exerts an elastic force on the attachment element, causing the attachment element being latched with the latching block with the fixing hole is located in the opening. In a second state, the elastic element drives the attachment element to move away from the fixing plate, thereby making the fixing hole stick out of the opening.

1. Technical Field
The exemplary disclosure generally relates to portable electronic devices, particularly to portable electronic devices with a pendant attachment device.
2. Description of Related Art
Mobile phone users often attach decorative pendants to their phones. The pendants generally hang from an attachment element, such as a string or chain looped through a dedicated hole or ligament of the mobile phone. However, because the hole is usually small it can be difficult to thread the attachment element through the hole to attach the pendants.
Therefore, there is room for improvement within the art.

Portable electronic device with pendant attachment device

Shenzhen Futaihong Precision Industry Co., Ltd.


A subject-matter of the invention is a process for the preparation of 2,3,3,3-tetrafluoro-1-propene comprising the following stages: (i) hydrogenation of hexafluoropropylene to give 1,1,1,2,3,3-hexafluoropropane; (ii) dehydrofluorination of the 1,1,1,2,3,3-hexafluoropropane obtained in the preceding stage to give 1,2,3,3,3-pentafluoro-1-propene; (iii) hydrogenation of the 1,2,3,3,3-pentafluoro-1-propene obtained in the preceding stage to give 1,1,1,2,3-pentafluoropropane; (iv) purification of the 1,1,1,2,3-pentafluoropropane obtained in the preceding stage; and (v) dehydrofluorination of the 1,1,1,2,3-pentafluoropropane obtained in the preceding stage to give 2,3,3,3-tetrafluoro-1-propene; and (vi) purification of the 2,3,3,3-tetrafluoro-1-propene of the preceding stage.

A subject-matter of the invention is a process for the preparation of fluorinated compounds, namely the fluorinated compound 2,3,3,3-tetrafluoro-1-propene.
Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) and in particular hydrofluoroolefins, such as 2,3,3,3-tetrafluoro-1-propene (HFO-1234yf), are compounds known for their properties of refrigerants and heat-transfer fluids, extinguishers, propellants, foaming agents, blowing agents, gaseous dielectrics, monomer or polymerization medium, support fluids, agents for abrasives, drying agents and fluids for energy production units. Unlike CFCs and HCFCs, which are potentially dangerous to the ozone layer, HFOs do not comprise chlorine and thus do not present a problem for the ozone layer.
Several processes for the manufacture of 1234yf are known.
WO2008/002499 describes a process for the production of a mixture of 2,3,3,3-tetrafluoro-1-propene (HFO-1234yf) and 1,3,3,3-tetrafluoro-1-propene (HFO-1234ze) by pyrolysis of 1,1,1,2,3-pentafluoropropane (HFC-245eb).
WO2008/002500 describes a process for production of a mixture of 2,3,3,3-tetrafluoro-1-propene (HFO-1234yf) and 1,3,3,3-tetrafluoro-1-propene (HFO-1234ze) by catalytic conversion of 1,1,1,2,3-pentafluoropropane (HFC-245eb) over a dehydrofluorination catalyst.
These two abovementioned patent applications are thus targeted at the production of a mixture comprising a substantial portion of product HFO-1234ze.
WO2007/056194 describes the preparation of HFO-1234yf by dehydrofluorination of HFC-245eb either with potassium hydroxide, typically an aqueous solution of at most 50% by weight of KOH, or in the gas phase in the presence of a catalyst, in particular a catalyst based on nickel, carbon or a combination of these.
The document Knunyants et al., Journal of the USSR Academy of Sciences, Chemistry Department, "Reactions of fluoro-olefins", Report 13, "Catalytic hydrogenation of perfluoro-olefins", 1960, clearly describes various chemical reactions on fluorinated compounds. This document describes the substantially quantitative hydrogenation of HFP over a catalyst based on palladium supported on alumina, the temperature changing from 20° C. to 50° C. and then being maintained at this value. This document describes the dehydrofluorination of 1,1,1,2,3,3-hexafluoropropane (HFC-236ea) by passing through a suspension of KOH in dibutyl ether, in order to produce 1,2,3,3,3-pentafluoro-1-propene (HFO-1225ye) with a yield of only 60%. This document describes the hydrogenation of 1,2,3,3,3-pentafluoro-1-propene (HFO-1225ye) to give 1,1,1,2,3-pentafluoropropane (HFC-245eb) over a catalyst formed of palladium supported on alumina. During this hydrogenation, a hydrogenolysis reaction also takes place, a significant amount of 1,1,1,2-tetrafluoropropane being produced. This document describes the dehydrofluorination of 1,1,1,2,3-pentafluoropropane (HFC-245eb) to give 2,3,3,3-tetrafluoro-1-propene (HFO-1234yf) by passing into a suspension of KOH powder in dibutyl ether, with a yield of only 70%. These reactions are described independently of one another, although it is indicated that it is possible to combine them in order to synthesize a range of ethylene, propylene and isobutylene derivatives comprising variable amounts of fluorine.
The document U.S. Pat. No. 5,396,000 describes the preparation of 1,1,1,2,3-pentafluoropropane by catalytic dehydrofluorination of 1,1,1,2,3,3-hexafluoropropane (HFC-236ea) to give 1,2,3,3,3-pentafluoro-1-propene (HFO-1225ye), followed by a hydrogenation in order to produce the desired compound. The dehydrohalogenation of HFC-236ea to give HFO-1225ye is carried out in the gas phase, the reaction product being, in one example, conveyed directly to the following reactor in which the hydrogenation of the compound HFO-1225ye to give the compound HFC-245eb takes place. It is also indicated in this document that the compound HFC-236ea can be obtained by hydrogenation of hexafluoropropylene (HFP).
The document U.S. Pat. No. 5,679,875 describes the preparation of 1,1,1,2,3-pentafluoropropane by catalytic dehydrofluorination of 1,1,1,2,3,3-hexafluoropropane (HFC-236ea) to give 1,2,3,3,3-pentafluoro-1-propene (HFO-1225ye), followed by hydrogenation to produce the desired compound. The reactions are carried out in the gas phase. It is also indicated in this document that the compound HFC-236ea can be obtained by hydrogenation of hexafluoropropylene (HFP).
The document WO 2008/030440 describes the preparation of HFO-1234yf from HFO-1225ye by reacting HFO-1225ye with hydrogen in the presence of a catalyst, in order to give HFC-245eb, and by then reacting the HFC-245eb with a basic aqueous solution in the presence of a phase transfer catalyst and a non-aqueous and non-alcoholic solvent.
The document WO 2008/075017 illustrates the dehydrofluorination reaction of 1,1,1,2,3,3-hexafluoropropane (HFC-236ea) to give 1,1,1,2,3-pentafluoropropene (HFO-1225ye) at 150° C. in the presence of a 50% by weight aqueous KOH solution. In the absence of a phase transfer catalyst, the conversion after 3 and a half hours is 57.8% and the selectivity for HFO-1225ye is 52.4% (Test 1). In the presence of a phase transfer catalyst, this conversion is achieved after only 2.5 hours and the selectivity is virtually unchanged (Test 4). As indicated in Table 2 of this document, it is necessary to use an organic solvent in order to increase the selectivity for HFO-1225ye.
There exists a need for a process for the preparation of high-purity HFO-1234yf from a starting material which is easily accessible and which results in the desired product with a high selectivity, preferably a high yield and advantageously a high productive output.
The Applicant Company has noticed that some by-products generated in the various stages of process for the manufacture of HFO-1234yf, in particular those having a boiling point in the vicinity of that of HFO-1234yf, separate with difficulty from HFO-1234yf and require very strict conditions which are generally expensive.
Likewise, some unreacted reactants in the various stages or intermediate products in the process are difficult to separate from HFO-1234yf. Mention may be made, by way of example, of HFP.

Process for the preparation of fluorinated compounds


A system includes a computing device that includes a memory for storing instructions. The computing device also includes a processor configured to execute the instructions to perform a method that includes combining, in a nonlinear manner, a first set of vertex displacements that represent the difference between a first animated expression and a neutral animated expression with a second set of vertex displacements that represent the difference between a second animated expression and the neutral animated expression. The number of vertices associated with the first set of vertex displacements of the first animated expression is equivalent to the number of vertices associated with the second set of vertex displacements of the second animated expression.

Parametric models may be generated by a computer for producing animated characters with deformable facial expressions. To simulate the complexity of muscle movement in a character's face, one or more modeling techniques may be implemented. For example, physically-based modeling techniques may be implemented that attempt to simulate various skin layers, muscles, tissues, bone and other components to approximate the mechanics of a face. In another technique, the character's face may be reduced to a collection of vertices whose positions may be adjusted to different facial expressions. Dependent upon the desired level of resolution, an extremely large number of vertices (e.g., tens of thousands, millions, etc.) may be included in such models. For some facial expressions, the positions of relatively few vertices may be adjusted, while significant position adjustments may be needed for representing other expressions.


Devices, systems and methods for magnetically separating paramagnetic beads for biomolecule isolation and processing are disclosed.

The isolation of biomolecules is a critical part of any sample processing system. For all biochemistry processes the isolation and purification of the sample target is critical to its success. The limitations in biochemistry analysis process—pyro-sequencing, nucleic acid ligation, polymerase chain reaction, digital PCR, qPCR, nucleic acid sequencing, protein detection/protein enrichment, genetic bead coating, rare cell detection and cell enrichment—and not limited to these, are due to the starting concentrations of the target and the level of biochemical inhibitors present within the reaction sample used in the analysis.
For most biochemistry analysis a series of pre-analysis steps are performed on the sample to isolate the target from the initial sample and remove biochemistry inhibitors. These steps are typically labour intensive and ultimately reduce the starting concentrations of the target.
One method of sample purification makes use of spin columns. However spin columns require a number of centrifugation steps and hence cannot be integrated with an automated DNA library preparation platform. Similarly, a purification technique for nucleic acid fragment purification from agarose gels also requires centrifugation steps to achieve the nucleic acid isolation.
One technique used for sample purification is paramagnetic bead-based purification. This method offers an approach that can provide improved DNA recovery rates and tunable buffer conditions that can be used to selectively bind specific DNA fragment sizes.
The paramagnetic bead based purification is a static well batch process. The current method involves the pipetting of the bead-mixture—paramagnetic beads and a buffer—into a well of a microtitre plate along with the initial sample. The solution is pipetted, mixed, and incubated at room temperature to allow the DNA to bind to the beads. The microtitre plate is then placed onto a magnetic plate. The beads holding the bound DNA move to the edge of the plate and are held by the magnet. Next the supernatant (containing waste) is removed using a pipette and discarded. Following this a number of wash steps are then performed to remove residual waste present on/at the bead pellet. Ethanol is pipetted to the plate containing the bead pellet, incubated and then removed using a pipette. This wash step is repeated twice. An elution buffer is then added. The plate is removed from the magnetic plate and the elution buffer is mixed via pipette mixing. The microtitre plate is placed back onto the magnetic plate. The eluent containing the purified DNA is then withdrawn using a pipette.
The paramagnetic bead based protocol is a labour intensive process and is complicated to automate. The high numbers of pipetting steps also result in large initial and final sample volumes, resulting in high reagent costs per data point.
One application and not limited to this application is for improved sample purification for next generation sequencing platforms. Many next generation sequencing platforms require DNA libraries made up of DNA fragments within a specific range of base pair lengths. In addition, these DNA fragments need to be tagged with specific nucleotide sequences (adapters) to allow the sequences to be amplified using PCR and to allow the library fragments to anneal to the sequencer flow cell. Sequence specific indices can also be added to the DNA fragments to identify individual samples when multiplexing sample within a single flow cell. The tagmentation of DNA (DNA is fragmented and tagged with adapters) and the addition of common adapters and indices are achieved in two separate biological reactions. Following these reactions, the DNA library is cleaned to remove excess nucleotides, enzymes, primers, salts and other contaminants. Consequently, the workflow required to tagment DNA, purify tagmented DNA, add common adapters and indices and purify the final library product is complex and labour intensive.
The systems and methods outlined herein can help achieve sample handling that reduces and in some embodiments removes contamination and may achieve low-volume, high-throughput, low-cost, and/or high in-sample concentration.


A purpose of a high-speed signal transmission system of the present invention is to pass a high-speed digital signal through an outside-chip line exchanging a signal with a high speed LSI chip with a band higher than GHz. The high-speed signal transmission system of the present invention has a configuration of: insertion of a circuit for feeding back received information and adjusting a waveform at a sending side based on genetic algorithm; a device structure for automatically performing pump up and pump down of a transistor carrier; a transmission line of a wiring out of a transistor; and elimination of a common power source of a circuit.

Recently, a clock frequency of an LSI chip reaches a GHz zone. However, a frequency of an outside-chip line for exchanging a signal has been up to only 533 MHZ (Rambus protocol), and a bandwidth for receiving a signal into an LSI has not been sufficient for the requirement of the LSI. In order to make the signal processing of the LSI smooth, a logic chip and memory chip are provided with a cache memory to compensate a narrow bandwidth. However, it is necessary not only to provide a large cache memory area, but also to perform an additional address calculation, thereby making architecture complex.
If it is possible to ensure an I/O bandwidth matched with the LSI clock, it is not necessary to provide the cache memory, thereby making architecture simple. In a basic digital system, a chip I/O is essentially the same as the number of processing bits in the chip. In order to match the bandwidth, the chip clock needs to be the same as a transmission clock of the I/O bus. As the chip clock enters a GHZ band, it is necessary to improve the bus clock. Even though a transmission line, i.e. a basic configuration of the bus, has the specific characteristic, it is still difficult to pass a GHZ band clock. In other words, in order to make the GHZ transmission possible, it is necessary to make all of a driver, a receiver, and a packaging structure including the driver and receiver ready for passing a high-speed signal.
On the other hand, in a forecast of the future chip, Intel Corporation has released a MOS structure with a 20 nm gate length at the 2001 Symposium on VLSI Technology (2001. 6 Kyoto), claiming that it will be possible to process a 20 GHZ digital signal (forecasted by 2007). However, in order to pass through a digital signal between 20 to 50 GHZ through a wiring in a chip with a 10 mm square, it is necessary to design a new configuration quite different from a concept of an RC charge and discharge circuit. In other words, in order to provide a unified environment over an entire system, it is necessary to design a totally new system.

National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology


The power supply, useful with an electromagnetic force apparatus such as a riveter or a bolt inserter, includes two capacitor banks which are charged through charging doubler modules. Each charging doubler module includes an AC capacitor which is responsive to a power source. The AC capacitor is connected to a node point between two diode elements, which are connected in series across the capacitor bank. An analog-to-digital converter converts the voltage on the capacitor bank to a digital voltage for comparison with a selected digital charge voltage in a controller. The selected digital charge voltage may vary over time by means of a compensating algorithm. A ground fault indicator using a biasing voltage is connected between a selected electrical circuit portion of the force apparatus and earth ground. A gas discharge tube in combination with a current sensing element is connected to the capacitor banks to determine a possible overvoltage condition. A Hall-effect sensor is mounted between bus connections which carry the current between the capacitor bank and a coil portion of the electromagnetic force apparatus to determine the current flowing into the coil by measurement of the magnetic field between the bus bars.

In an electromagnetic riveting (EMR) system, such as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,862,043 to Peter Zieve, a plurality of high-energy DC capacitors, connected into a parallel arrangement of capacitors, referred to herein as a "bank" of capacitors, are repeatedly charged to a selected voltage, i.e. 500 volts, and then discharged through a flat coil to create a significant repulsion force between the coil and a driver element, which is propelled forwardly to produce a desired work effect, such as forming a rivet or insertion of a bolt, by means of a tool at a nose end of the driver. In one particular embodiment of an electromagnetic riveting system, two separate banks of capacitors are used to power opposing riveters, with the two banks of capacitors being separately charged and discharged.
Such a system must be quite rugged and capable of continuous automatic operation. In many applications, such as the manufacture of aircraft, the output force pulse produced by the riveting apparatus must be carefully controlled and in particular must be matched to the characteristics of the fastener being worked upon. Different fasteners, i.e. different sizes/configurations of rivets and/or bolts, will require somewhat different force pulses. The output force pulse of the riveting apparatus must hence be controllable and produce repeatable results within a relatively close tolerance. Accordingly, the control circuits for the EMR system, in particular the power supply, are a very important part of the system.
Many important operating features of an electromagnetic riveting system are associated in some respect with the operation of and characteristics of the power supply. For instance, the amount of force produced by the system is established by adjusting the voltage present on the capacitor banks before they are discharged. Repeatability of the riveting process requires compensation in the value of the charge voltage taking into account the varying temperature of the riveting coil and the capacitor bank, among other variables. Typically, this variation in charge voltage is accomplished through rather complex control algorithms. The power supply and the system controller must be relatively sophisticated in order to implement such a compensation approach. The accuracy of the charge voltage on the DC capacitor bank must be relatively high, at least in some applications, in order to achieve the desired results. In some cases, the accuracy must be within .+-. one volt. Such accuracy has not heretofore been possible with existing apparatus and techniques.
Further, in the operation of a conventional EMR in a rugged environment, from time to time a chip or other particle from the riveting operation (such as drilling) will actually enter the EMR riveter and penetrate the face of the EMR coil, resulting in arcing and possible destruction of the coil when the driver comes into physical contact with the coil, which occurs once per cycle. Also, the EMR electrical cables are subject to wear, such as in bushings, etc., and electrical shorting or arcing to ground can occur, again leading to system damage. While ground fault indicator (GFI) devices have been used on some electromagnetic riveting systems, these devices are typically powered from the charge voltage on the capacitor banks, such that the GFI device is reliable only when the capacitors are charged. If a chip intrusion does occur with such a system, the capacitor bank voltage (500 VDC) will shift, producing sufficient ringing noise in the wiring to sometimes discharge the capacitor bank (firing the device) at the wrong time, resulting in damage to the workpiece, which is highly undesirable.
Still further, it has been found desirable to efficiently monitor the charge voltage on the DC capacitors to ensure that the capacitors are not being overcharged. In this regard, it is important that the sensing of the charge voltage on the capacitors be independent of the actual operation of the riveting system itself but not require an external source of power.
Lastly, previous electromagnetic riveting apparatus have monitored overall operation of the EMR power system by using current transformers to measure the flow of current from the capacitor bank to the coil. A proper current value is a reliable indicator of proper operation of the EMR power system; however, current transformers are undesirable, since they require a substantial amount of space and a reset winding.

Power supply system for an electromagnetic riveting apparatus


A job management server for managing a plurality of jobs to be executed by a virtual computer generated on a computer, a job management part to manage information on a job net which configures a plurality of jobs and allocate a plurality of jobs included in a job net to the virtual computer, and a recovery part to monitor an execution status of each of the plurality of jobs included in the job net and perform recovery processing, wherein the job management server is configured to: specify a target job for changing allocation, in a case where a failure has occurred in a first virtual computer to execute a first job included in the first job net; determine a performance of a virtual computer required to execute the target job.

This invention relates to a method of managing a schedule of a job and more specifically, to a method of managing a schedule of a job in response to occurrence of a failure. A virtualization technology that makes multiple virtual computers run on a physical computer has been employed widely. Multiple jobs are executed on the virtual computers to accomplish a certain task. Various ways have been devised to recover a job in response to a failure in a virtual computer.
According to a known method, in response to occurrence of a failure in a virtual computer, an active job is moved to a different virtual computer, for example.
Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2005-31771 describes that a computer to which an unprocessed job is to be allocated is searched and this job is moved to this computer, in a case where a failure or performance degradation has occurred in a virtual computer. Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2008-9622 describes that a first server and a second server configured in the same server environment as the first server are made to execute jobs in a job net.

Job management server and job management method


An audio-contents demo system includes a WWW server, a system server, and a mobile telephone device. The WWW server stores information representing audio contents. The system server can be connected with the WWW server via the Internet. The mobile telephone device can be connected with the system server via either a telephone-Internet connection service or a public telephone network. The mobile telephone device sends a signal of a demo-request toward the system server via the telephone-Internet connection service. In response to the demo-request signal sent from the mobile telephone device, the system server accesses the WWW server and takes out a piece of the audio-contents information from the WWW server via the Internet. The audio-contents information piece corresponds to the demo-request signal sent from the mobile telephone device. The system server sends the audio-contents information piece toward the mobile telephone device via the public telephone network.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a system in which information representing audio contents such as tunes is downloaded into a mobile telephone set, or is offered thereto on a streaming basis for a demo (a trial hearing) of the audio contents. In addition, this invention relates to a system server for an audio-contents demo system. Furthermore, this invention relates to a mobile telephone device usable in an audio-contents demo system.
2. Description of the Related Art
Japanese patent application publication number 11-164058 discloses a portable music selection/viewing system designed to offer a music software selected by a user while utilizing a mobile phone. In the system of Japanese application 11-164058, a distribution center having a server function receives provision of a music software from a record production company. A portable music selection/viewing equipment is connected through a public circuit (a public line network) to the distribution center. The equipment has a main body with a button input portion, a display provided on a main body, and a receiver for music. The equipment requests the music software, which is selected by the user, of the distribution center. The equipment receives the music software from the distribution center. In the equipment, a signal of the sounds of the received music software is outputted to the receiver, and a signal of the words or the like is outputted to the display.
There is a telecommunications service (for example, xe2x80x9cixe2x80x9d mode service provided by NTT DoCoMo) for connecting mobile telephone devices to the Internet. In a known system using the telephone Internet connection service, a music distribution center has a first server and a second server. The first server is designed for communications via the Internet while the second server is for communications via a public telephone network. The first server stores data representing telephone numbers which correspond to the respective tunes. The second server is assigned the telephone numbers corresponding to the respective tunes. The second server stores information pieces representing the tunes respectively. The second server stores data representing the correspondence between the telephone numbers and the tunes.
A sequence of steps of operation of the above-mentioned known system is as follows. A mobile telephone device sends a signal of a desired tune to the first server in the music distribution center via the Internet, and requests a telephone number corresponding to the desired tune. The first server returns a signal of the desired-tune-corresponding telephone number to the mobile telephone device via the Internet. The mobile telephone device indicates the signal of the desired-tune-corresponding telephone number on its display. Thus, a user knows the telephone number corresponding to the desired tune. Then, the mobile telephone device is disconnected from the Internet, and is connected with the public telephone network to call the communication opposite party (the second server) having the desired-tune-corresponding telephone number. The second server responds to the call related to the desired-tune-corresponding telephone number, and returns the information piece of the desired tune to the mobile telephone device via the public telephone network. The information piece of the desired tune is downloaded into the mobile telephone device, or is offered thereto on a streaming basis.
The information pieces of the respective tunes which are stored in the second server are of a non-compressed digital-data file format such as a WAV format (a waveform format). When receiving a call from a mobile telephone device via the public telephone network, the second server converts an information piece of a desired tune into an analog signal. The second server returns the analog signal of the desired tune to the mobile telephone device via the public telephone network.
The above-mentioned known system has the following problem. To get an information piece representing a desired tune, the user is required to operate the mobile telephone device through a troublesome sequence of steps. Specifically, the mobile telephone device is operated to access the first server via the Internet to find out the telephone number corresponding to the desired tune. Thereafter, the mobile telephone device is operated to access the second server in response to the telephone number via the public telephone network to get the information piece of the desired tune.
It is a first object of this invention to provide an improved audio-contents demo system.
It is a second object of this invention to provide an improved system server for an audio-contents demo system.
It is a third object of this invention to provide an improved mobile telephone device usable in an audio-contents demo system.
A first aspect of this invention provides an audio-contents demo system comprising a WWW server storing information representing audio contents; a system server connectable with the WWW server via the Internet; a mobile telephone device connectable with the system server via either a telephone-Internet connection service or a public telephone network; means provided in the mobile telephone device for sending a signal of a demo-request toward the system server via the telephone-Internet connection service; means provided in the system server and responsive to the demo-request signal sent from the mobile telephone device for accessing the WWW server and taking out a piece of the audio-contents information from the WWW server via the Internet, the audio-contents information piece corresponding to the demo-request signal sent from the mobile telephone device; and means provided in the system server for sending the audio-contents information piece toward the mobile telephone device via the public telephone network.
A second aspect of this invention provides a system server comprising first means for providing connection with a WWW server via the Internet, the WWW server storing information representing audio contents; second means for providing connection with a mobile telephone device via either a telephone-Internet connection service or a public telephone network; third means for receiving a signal of a demo-request from the mobile telephone device via the telephone-Internet connection service; fourth means responsive to the demo-request signal received by the third means for accessing the WWW server and taking out a piece of the audio-contents information from the WWW server via the Internet, the audio-contents information piece corresponding to the demo-request signal received by the third means; and fifth means for sending the audio-contents information piece toward the mobile telephone device via the public telephone network.
A third aspect of this invention is based on the second aspect thereof, and provides a system server wherein the fifth means comprises 1) means for expanding the audio-contents information piece into an expanding-resultant signal, and 2) means for sending the expanding-resultant signal toward the mobile telephone device via the public telephone network.
A fourth aspect of this invention provides a system server comprising first means for providing connection with a WWW server via the Internet, the WWW server storing compressed information representing audio contents; second means for providing connection with a mobile telephone device via either a telephone-Internet connection service or a public telephone network; third means for receiving a signal of a demo-request from the mobile telephone device via the telephone-Internet connection service; fourth means responsive to the demo-request signal received by the third means for accessing the WWW server and taking out a piece of the audio-contents compressed information from the WWW server via the Internet, the audio-contents compressed information piece corresponding to the demo-request signal received by the third means; fifth means for deciding whether or not the mobile telephone device has an information expanding function on the basis of the demo-request signal received by the third means; sixth means for, in cases where the fifth means decides that the mobile telephone device has not the information expanding function, expanding the audio-contents compressed information piece into an expanding-resultant signal; seventh means for sending the expanding-resultant signal toward the mobile telephone device via the public telephone network; and eighth means for, in cases where the fifth means decides that the mobile telephone device has the information expanding function, sending the audio-contents compressed information piece toward the mobile telephone device via the telephone-Internet connection service.
A fifth aspect of this invention provides a mobile telephone device in an audio-contents demo system comprising a WWW server storing information representing audio contents and a system server connectable with the WWW server via the Internet. The mobile telephone device comprises first means for providing connection with the system server via either a telephone-Internet connection service or a public telephone network; second means for sending a signal of a demo-request toward the system server via the telephone-Internet connection service; third means for receiving a signal of audio contents from the system server via the public telephone network, the audio-contents signal being responsive to the demo-request signal; and fourth means for playing back the audio contents represented by the signal received by the third means.
A sixth aspect of this invention provides an audio-contents demo system comprising a WWW server storing information representing audio contents; a system server connectable with the WWW server via the Internet; a mobile telephone device connectable with the system server via either a telephone-Internet connection service or a public telephone network; means provided in the mobile telephone device for sending a signal of a demo-request and an ID signal toward the system server via the telephone-Internet connection service, the ID signal being assigned to the mobile telephone device; means provided in the system server for storing registered ID signals; means provided in the system server for deciding whether or not the ID signal sent from the mobile telephone device is equal to one of the registered ID signals; means provided in the system server and responsive to the demo-request signal sent from the mobile telephone device for, only in cases where the ID signal sent from the mobile telephone device is equal to one of the registered ID signals, accessing the WWW server and taking out a piece of the audio-contents information from the WWW server via the Internet, the audio-contents information piece corresponding to the demo-request signal sent from the mobile telephone device; means provided in the system server for filtering the audio-contents information piece into a filtering-resultant signal according to a filtering characteristic determined by the ID signal sent from the mobile telephone device; and means provided in the system server for sending the filtering-resultant signal toward the mobile telephone device via the public telephone network.
A seventh aspect of this invention is based on the sixth aspect thereof, and provides an audio-contents demo system further comprising means provided in the system server for performing authentication with respect to the mobile telephone device in response to the ID signal sent therefrom.
An eighth aspect of this invention provides a system server comprising first means for providing connection with a WWW server via the Internet, the WWW server storing information representing audio contents; second means for providing connection with a mobile telephone device via either a telephone-Internet connection service or a public telephone network; third means for receiving a signal of a demo-request and an ID signal from the mobile telephone device via the telephone-Internet connection service, the ID signal being assigned to the mobile telephone device; fourth means for storing registered ID signals; fifth means for deciding whether or not the ID signal received by the third means is equal to one of the registered ID signals stored by the fourth means; sixth means responsive to the demo-request signal received by the third means for, only in cases where the fifth means decides that the ID signal received by the third means is equal to one of the registered ID signals stored by the fourth means, accessing the WWW server and taking out a piece of the audio-contents information from the WWW server via the Internet, the audio-contents information piece corresponding to the demo-request signal received by the third means; and seventh means for sending the audio-contents information piece toward the mobile telephone device via the public telephone network.
A ninth aspect of this invention is based on the eighth aspect thereof, and provides a system server wherein the seventh means comprises 1) means for expanding the audio-contents information piece into an expanding-resultant signal, 2) means for filtering the expanding-resultant signal into a filtering-resultant signal according to a filtering characteristic determined by the ID signal received by the third means, and 3) means for sending the filtering-resultant signal toward the mobile telephone device via the public telephone network.
A tenth aspect of this invention provides a system server comprising first means for providing connection with a WWW server via the Internet, the WWW server storing compressed information representing audio contents; second means for providing connection with a mobile telephone device via either a telephone-Internet connection service or a public telephone network; third means for receiving a signal of a demo-request and an ID signal from the mobile telephone device via the telephone-Internet connection service, the ID signal being assigned to the mobile telephone device; fourth means for storing registered ID signals; fifth means for deciding whether or not the ID signal received by the third means is equal to one of the registered ID signals stored by the fourth means; sixth means responsive to the demo-request signal received by the third means for, only in cases where the fifth means decides that the ID signal received by the third means is equal to one of the registered ID signals stored by the fourth means, accessing the WWW server and taking out a piece of the audio-contents compressed information from the WWW server via the Internet, the audio-contents compressed information piece corresponding to the demo-request signal received by the third means; seventh means for deciding whether or not the mobile telephone device has an information expanding function on the basis of the ID signal received by the third means; eighth means for, in cases where the seventh means decides that the mobile telephone device has not the information expanding function, expanding the audio-contents compressed information piece into an expanding-resultant signal; ninth means for sending the expanding-resultant signal toward the mobile telephone device via the public telephone network; and tenth means for, in cases where the seventh means decides that the mobile telephone device has the information expanding function, sending the audio-contents compressed information piece toward the mobile telephone device via the telephone-Internet connection service.
An eleventh aspect of this invention provides an audio-contents demo system comprising a WWW server storing information representing audio contents; a system server connectable with the WWW server via the Internet; a mobile telephone device connectable with the system server via either a telephone-Internet connection service or a public telephone network; means provided in the mobile telephone device for sending a signal of a demo-request and an ID signal toward the system server via the telephone-Internet connection service, the ID signal being assigned to the mobile telephone device; means provided in the system server for storing registered ID signals; means provided in the system server for deciding whether or not the ID signal sent from the mobile telephone device is equal to one of the registered ID signals; means provided in the system server and responsive to the demo-request signal sent from the mobile telephone device for, only in cases where the ID signal sent from the mobile telephone device is equal to one of the registered ID signals, accessing the WWW server and taking out a piece of the audio-contents information from the WWW server via the Internet, the audio-contents information piece corresponding to the demo-request signal sent from the mobile telephone device; and means provided in the system server for sending a signal of a telephone number toward the mobile telephone device via the public telephone network, the telephone number corresponding to the audio-contents information piece.
A twelfth aspect of this invention provides a system server comprising first means for providing connection with a WWW server via the Internet, the WWW server storing compressed information representing audio contents; second means for providing connection with a mobile telephone device via either a telephone-Internet connection service or a public telephone network; third means for receiving a signal of a demo-request and an ID signal from the mobile telephone device via the telephone-Internet connection service, the ID signal being assigned to the mobile telephone device; fourth means for storing registered ID signals; fifth means for deciding whether or not the ID signal received by the third means is equal to one of the registered ID signals stored by the fourth means; sixth means responsive to the demo-request signal received by the third means for, only in cases where the fifth means decides that the ID signal received by the third means is equal to one of the registered ID signals stored by the fourth means, accessing the WWW server and taking out a piece of the audio-contents compressed information from the WWW server via the Internet, the audio-contents compressed information piece corresponding to the demo-request signal received by the third means; seventh means for deciding whether or not the mobile telephone device has an information expanding function on the basis of the ID signal received by the third means; eighth means for, in cases where the seventh means decides that the mobile telephone device has not the information expanding function, sending a signal of a telephone number toward the mobile telephone device via the public telephone network, the telephone number corresponding to the audio-contents compressed information piece; and ninth means for, in cases where the seventh means decides that the mobile telephone device has the information expanding function, sending the audio-contents compressed information piece toward the mobile telephone device via the telephone-Internet connection service.

Audio-contents demo system connectable to a mobile telephone device


A map display device includes a display for displaying map data, a position detector for detecting a position of a subject vehicle, a map data storage for storing the map data and a controller for processing the map data. The controller determines whether the subject vehicle is traveling outside of a road on a map displayed on the display based on the current position of the subject vehicle. The controller updates the map data upon receiving an affirmative response for confirmation of an update of a portion of the map data including a path of the current position of the subject vehicle on the map.

In recent years, an automotive navigation device is used to display a current position of a subject vehicle at a corresponding position on a map. The navigation device also determines whether the subject vehicle is traveling on a road based on a comparison between the current position of the subject vehicle and the corresponding position on the map (refer to a Japanese Patent Document JP-A-2003-130651).
The navigation device uses map data that is derived from data collection procedure such as an aerial photo, a survey of a site or the like. Therefore, the map data does not always reflect a current condition of a road. That is, for example, a road constructed after the map data collection does not appear on the map. Thus, the current position of the subject vehicle goes out of a road on the map shown in the navigation device when the subject vehicle travels on a newly constructed road that is not drawn on the map.
A user of the navigation device recognizes that the subject vehicle travels on the newly constructed road when the current position of the vehicle goes out of the road on the map. In this case, the user can obtain an updated map data at a cost and trouble on the user's side. That is, usability of the map decreases when the subject vehicle travels on the newly constructed road without having the updated map data, because the current position of the subject vehicle displayed on the map travels outside of the road.


A printing device and a control method for a printing device enable eliminating paper feed error due to slipping between a paper feed roller and recording paper when printing. The control unit of a thermal printer has a slippage calculator that runs a process to calculate slippage between the recording paper and platen roller when conveying the recording paper during printing, and a conveyance distance correction unit that runs a process to correct the paper feed distance of the recording paper when printing to each printing area based on the slippage that was just calculated. The conveyance distance correction unit runs a process that inserts a non-printing area d of a length corresponding to the slippage to one or plural specific positions in the original print image.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a printing device and a control method therefor, and relates more particularly to a printing device having a recording paper conveyance mechanism that conveys recording paper, and to a control method for the printing device.
2. Related Art
Printers having a friction-feed recording paper conveyance mechanism that causes a paper feed roller pressed against the recording paper to rotate, and conveys the recording paper only the distance corresponding to how far the feed roller turns, are known from the literature. This type of printer can form lines of printed characters and lines of printed images at a specific printing pitch in the conveyance direction of the recording paper by executing a printing operation by a printhead synchronized to the recording paper conveyance operation of the recording paper conveyance mechanism.
Such printers detect rotation of the paper feed roller or rotation of the motor used as the rotational drive source of the paper feed roller by an encoder, and control how much the recording paper is conveyed based on the detected rotation. However, while rotation of the paper feed roller can track the feed distance of the recording paper with good precision when there is no slipping between the surface of the paper feed roller and the recording paper, when the paper feed roller wears and slipping between the paper and paper feed roller occurs, the paper feed distance is reduced by the amount of slippage.
More particularly, when conveying label paper having labels affixed to the surface of a liner, the shoulders of the labels on the label side of the paper tend to increase the friction load with the printhead while the friction load tends to drop on the back side of the liner that contacts the paper feed roller because the liner is treated to prevent the label adhesive from sticking thereto, and slipping between the label paper and paper feed roller occurs easily. Therefore, when recording paper conveyance is controlled based only on the rotation of the paper feed roller or the motor, the actual feed distance is shorter than the set paper feed distance by the amount of slippage, and paper feed cannot be controlled with good precision. As a result, lines of printed text and lines of printed pixels are formed at a pitch that is narrower than intended in the conveyance direction. Because printing at the correct position is not possible when the printing pitch shifts, print quality drops and the printed information may not be readable, for example.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Appl. Pub. JP-A-H08-230266 describes a printer that prints to the surface of a continuous web having adhesive tape affixed to a release paper liner while conveying the web by a feed roller. This printer measures the printout and calculates slippage (the paper feed deficiency caused by slipping), and based on this calculated slippage sets a pitch correction value for the web being printed on. More specifically, the set print length is compared with the measured length of the printout, and the difference therebetween is stored as correction data. The printer then compensates for this slippage in the next printing operation by adding the number of steps corresponding to the correction data (that is, the slippage) to the drive step count of the drive motor that conveys the tape only the print length.
With the compensation method described in JP-A-H08-230266, the user manually sets and configures the correction data. The calculated correction data is stored in memory disposed to a cassette that holds the tape. As a result, once the correction data is stored in memory, compensation based on this correction data is enabled by simply installing the tape cassette.
However, this method of manually calculating and storing correction data in memory in each tape cassette means that the correction data must be set individually for each tape cassette. In addition, in order to always compensate accurately for slippage, even when slippage changes as a result of conveyance mechanism wear, this correction operation must be performed and the correction data updated frequently. The burden on the user is therefore great.
The correction method taught in JP-A-H08-230266 also adjusts the conveyance distance in the drive step units of the drive motor. This means that the paper feed distance correction unit may be greater than the actual amount of slippage when slippage is slight, and the paper feed distance cannot be accurately corrected. The problem in this case is a drop in print quality. More specifically, barcodes and other objects requiring high precision printing cannot be printed with the required precision, and read errors can result from the printed barcodes.

Method for a printing device that prints while compensating for slippage and device for implementing that method


A luminaire component for use in a luminaire, said component comprising:—                (i) an LED module on a first printed circuit board (PCB), the first PCB having a front face on which the LED module is located;        (ii) a second PCB mounted forward of the front face of the first PCB;        (iii) connection means adapted to connect the second PCB to the first PCB.

The present invention is related to smart luminaires, and more specifically, approaches for incorporating sensors into various luminaire components and complete luminaires, and for communicating data from those sensors with local and distributed networks.
Luminaires or light fixtures which include or are connected to a motion sensor are known, and these are particularly useful for causing a lamp in the luminaire to illuminate when a person is present. This is a convenient way of saving energy when an area is unoccupied, for eliminating light switches inside buildings, and for lighting pathways etc outside at night.
A similar approach has also been developed for thermostats which include or are connected to a motion sensor or light sensor. These collect data on the day length, habitation status and energy usage.
Intruder alarm systems which utilise sensors of various types are also known. The sensors include PIR detectors, pressure switches, and switches that detect opening of doors and windows. Each of these sensors has a specific function and they are connected to an alarm controller.
In addition, a number of devices for the smart home are available which can be controlled and these include thermostats, hazard-detection units, entryway-interface devices, smart switches, including smart wall switches, smart utilities interfaces and other services interfaces, such as smart wall-plug interfaces, and a wide variety of intelligent, multi-sensing, network-connected appliances, including refrigerators, televisions, washers, dryers, lights, audio systems, intercom systems, mechanical actuators, wall air conditioners, pool-heating units, irrigation systems, and many other types of intelligent appliances and systems. These can be controlled remotely from a smart phone, but require a dedicated sensor for each function, or an adapted device such as a thermostat fitted with a PIR or light sensor. However, a house will generally have only one thermostat, and a larger office building may have one thermostat for each floor or office area. This means that data gathered by the thermostat is limited to the immediate environment of its location.
Currently a sensor, such as a motion detection sensor, needs to be on a room-facing surface of a luminaire in order to be able to detect activity in the neighbourhood or environment of the luminaire. This poses a problem for providing power to the sensor and obtaining data from the sensor, particularly where the light fitting needs to be IP (Ingress Protection) rated or fire rated. It also means that the sensor or sensors are highly visible on an outer surface of the luminaire, leading to a poor aesthetic appearance and presents difficulties for decoration and cleaning.

Abstract: The invention also extends to a luminaire bezel containing one or more sensors, where the bezel is removably attachable to the luminaire. The sensor(s) can measure one or more environmental characteristics and electrical and signal contacts between the bezel and the luminaire are provided. Preferably the electrical and signal contact means is cableless.


A universal system and method for handling a container is disclosed. The system can include: a support structure (10) defining a bay (32), the support structure (10) including support shoes configured to support a container; a sensor (58) for determining a length of a container in the bay; and a controller (60) configured to operate the support structure (10) including a storage mode and a retrieval mode.

In the intermodal transportation industry shipping containers are loaded and off loaded onto and off of trains at intermodal facilities. Often the containers are transferred directly to or from container chassis. Therefore a large container facility will have a large number of container chassis available. In addition, a shipper or end consignee may enter the facility with his own tractor and chassis. The nature of the operation requires the transfer of containers from one chassis to another. This transfer operation is called a flip in the industry. Currently flips are accomplished using the general facility mobile lifting equipment, such as cranes or side loaders. It would be considered an improvement in the industry, if new systems can accomplish a flip operation without the use of mobile lifting equipment, and can universally handle 20, 40, 45, 48 and 53 ft. shipping containers. There is a need to be able to efficiently handle, accommodate, temporarily store and retrieve containers of various dimensions.
There is a need for enhanced methods of handling containers at terminals, hubs, warehouses and the like.
Thus, there is a need for the development of new technologies to improve the efficiency of container and chassis transfer operations.

Universal system and method of handling a container


A method for recording or reproducing information on or from a recording medium, the method capable of reproducing serial data on the basis of signals derived on each of front edges or each of rear edges of a plurality of pieces of recorded information on the recording medium, includes the steps of reproducing bit-synchronization signals corresponding to each ones of the front and rear edges from signals derived on the front and rear edges alternately provided in the recorded information, the bit-synchronization signals having individual phases but the same frequency as each other, switching the bit-synchronization signal for each of the front edges into the other bit-synchronization signal for each of the rear edges or vice versa after a predetermined time each time the bit-synchronization signal is detected, synthesizing the bit-synchronization signals so that a phase of the synthesized bit-synchronization signal constantly matches to phases of the front and rear edges to be detected, and sequentially reproducing the serial data from signals derived on a lot of the front and rear edges by using the synthesized bit-synchronization signal.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for recording or reproducing information on or from a recording medium, and more particularly to the method and apparatus which are used for general reproduction of information, communication or reproducing an information signal on a recording medium such as an optical disk or a magneto-optical disk.
2. Description of the Related Art
A typical system for recording or reproducing information known by the inventors of the present application is arranged to take the steps of individually reproducing timing signals in synchronism with a front edge and a rear edge of an information mark recorded on a recording medium such as an optical disk, reproducing the data corresponding to the front edge and the tail edge of the information mark in parallel, and synthesizing the reproduced data for the purpose of reproducing an original serial data. This system is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laying Open (KOKAI) No. 61-214278. As another system known by the inventors, it is possible to refer to "a system for detecting separate edges" used as a reproducing method, which is described in "Speeding up and increasing the capacity of an optical disk based on a pit-edge recording and MCAV recording system", Nationwide Learning Society of Electronic Information Communication, Autumn, 1990, SC-3-2.
Now, the deacription will be directed to the recording or reproducing system with a mark length on an optical disk. At first, an original information signal is modified into serial data consisting of 0 and 1 ranged in sequence. The original information signal may be directly used without modification. The modification is executed for the purpose of easily reproducing a bit-synchronization signal from a reproduction signal or suppressing waveform distortion of the reproduced signal, thereby enhancing reliability of information recording or reproduction. To achieve the purposes, it is possible to arrange the continuous bits "0" not to be too long or the bits "1" not to come too close to each other. Then, the following signals are utilized for this system in synchronism to the serial data. A recording signal is produced according to a light output of a recording laser beam. It indicates that the two states of the light output, that is, high and low, are alternately transited in synchronous to the serial data. At the bit "1" of the serial data, the state of the light output is changed. A plurality of marks are formed on the optical disk for indicating holy data is recorded when the recording laser beam is applied on the recording tracks at a constant speed for scanning. These marks are formed at predetermined intervals on the optical disk. Next, a reproduced signal is produced by taking the steps of scanning the optical disk as keeping the light output of the recording laser beam low for the purpose of avoiding breakage of information patterns on the optical medium, receiving the reflected light (or transparent light) from the medium, and converting the quantity of the received light into an electric signal. The tailing edge and the leading edge of the reproduced pulse signal correspond to the front edge and the rear edge of each mark. As another signal, a binary signal is produced by converting the waveform of the reproduced signal into a binary signal and inverting the binary signal. A bit-synchronization signal can be reproduced at the front edge and the rear edge of each mark.
It is preferable to make the binary signal equal to the recording signal. In actual, however, the length of the mark is made variable according to the change of a recording laser power, a recording laser beam diameter, or a sensitivity of a recording medium. In particular, as to the optical disk, a practically important issue is a variation of the mark length. If the mark length is variable, the binary signal is slipped on time against the bit-synchronization signal reproduced at the front edge and the rear edge of the mark. As a disadvantage, it is likely that the reproduced data becomes erroneous. To overcome the disadvantage, the foregoing systems have been proposed. However, these systems have another disadvantage as follows. Each of these systems is arranged to separate the serial data into the data for tile front edge of each mark and the data for the rear edge of the mark for the purpose of reproducing the data and to synthesize two kinds of parallel data into one serial data before reproducing meaningful data. Hence, these systems have difficulty in checking for the reproduced data by taking the steps of reproducing meaningful data in real time and recognizing it or in reproducing data accurately by feeding back the reproduced data into a data reproducing system. In addition, these systems are very costly.
Moreover, these systems are devised to allow a particular signal, re-synchronous signal, to be individually recognized from the data for the front edge or the data for the rear edge of each mark. This results in breaking the compatibility of an optical disk used in this system with an optical disk used in the systems proposed before the known systems, because the sector format of these systems is different from that of the hereto-proposed systems. In addition, a special reproducing circuit is required to be added. The foregoing systems have no availability in the field of an optical disk, for example and are very costly.

Method and apparatus for recording or reproducing information on or from recording medium


Systems, methods, and other embodiments associated with a low power audio codec are described. According to one embodiment, an apparatus includes an audio codec having an audio buffer configured to store decoded audio data received from a processor. The audio codec is configured to provide the stored decoded audio data to an audio device while decoded audio data is not being received from the processor. According to another embodiment, a method includes receiving a request for decoded audio data from an audio codec with an audio buffer, entering a RUN mode and providing decoded audio data stored in processor memory to the audio codec for storage in the audio buffer. After receiving a buffer full signal from the audio codec the method includes entering a low power mode while the audio codec provides an audio signal to an audio device.

Consumer demand for longer playback time on battery operated audio devices like cellular phones and PDAs is ever increasing. A typical playback time requirement for these types of devices is currently around 50 hours on a single battery charge. It is expected that minimum playback time requirements will soon increase to 100 hours.


There is provided a coin diverter that allows increase in the number of coin diversion directions and reduction in the size of a coin handling apparatus. The coin diverter includes a diverter member that diverts a coin from a transport path and a driver that changes the state of the diverter member to any of a first state in which the diverter member leads the coin toward the downstream side of the transport path, a second state in which the diverter member leads the coin in a first direction in which the coin drops from the transport path, and a third state in which the diverter member leads the coin in a second direction different from the direction toward the downstream side of the transport path and the first direction.

Conventionally, there is a coin handling apparatus that transports deposited coins in an inclining attitude, classifies the coins on a denomination basis, and stores the classified coins. The coin handling apparatus includes a coin diverter that diverts coins on a transport path in two directions, a coin transport direction and a direction toward the rear surface of each coin (surface supported by inclining transport path surface), and stores the coins classified on a denomination basis (see PTL 1, for example).


A tool for a surface treating appliance includes a main body connected to a conduit. To enable the main body to be widely maneuverable over, for example, a floor surface, the conduit includes a front section and a rear section. The front section is pivotably connected to the main body for movement relative thereto about a first axis to allow the conduit to be raised and lowered relative to the main body. The rear section is pivotably connected to the front section for movement relative thereto about a second axis to allow the rear section to be angled relative to the front section. The front section includes at least one port though which fluid is conveyed into the conduit from the main body, and through which the first axis passes. This can enable a relatively simple seal to be provided between the main body and the conduit to inhibit fluid loss to the external environment from the port as the main body is maneuvered over the floor surface, and can allow the tool to have a low profile along the length thereof.

Vacuum cleaners are generally supplied with a range of tools for dealing with specific types of cleaning. The tools include a floor tool for general on-the-floor cleaning. The floor tool comprises a main body which engages with a floor surface. The main body has a lower surface comprising a suction opening through which, in use, dirt and dust is drawn into the floor tool from the floor surface.
It is useful for the main body to be pivotably connected to the remainder of the floor tool so that the suction opening can remain in close proximity to the floor surface as the floor tool is maneuvered over the floor surface.
For example, KR 10-0895129 describes a floor tool having a main body and a conduit connected to the main body for conveying an air flow away from the main body. The conduit is connectable to a wand of a vacuum cleaner, which usually has a handle which is manipulated by the user to maneuver the floor tool over the floor surface. The conduit comprises a front section which is pivotably connected to the main body of the floor tool to allow the front section of the conduit to be moved between raised and lowered positions relative to the main body. The front section comprises a pair of fluid inlets located on opposite sides thereof through which an air flow enters the front section of the conduit. This allows seals to be maintained between the main body and the conduit during relative movement therebetween, and also allows a combination of the main body and the front section of the conduit to have a relatively low profile when the front section is in its lowered position to enable the floor tool to be pushed partially beneath an item of furniture or the like.
The conduit also includes an elbow-shaped, or angled, rear section which is connected to the front section of the conduit. The rear section has a front part having a front tubular connector which is received within a tubular connector of the front section of the conduit so that the rear section can rotate relative to the front section about an axis which is co-axial with these tubular connectors, and a rear part having a rear tubular connector which is connectable to the wand of the vacuum cleaner. The rear part is inclined to the front part by an angle of around 150°. Consequently, when the front section of the conduit is in its lowered position and the rear section aligned so that the wand and main body are generally orthogonal, the rear part of the rear section of the conduit extends upwardly relative to the main body, and so the floor tool cannot be pushed fully beneath an item of furniture unless the rear section of the conduit is rotated relative to the front section so that the wand is flat against the floor. In this position of the wand, the longitudinal axis of the main body of the floor tool is inclined by an angle of around 30° relative to the wand of the vacuum cleaner. This makes pushing the floor tool fully beneath an item of furniture awkward for a user.
Furthermore, the elbow-shape of the rear section of the conduit restricts the insertion of the floor tool into narrow gaps between adjacent items of furniture, or between a wall and an item of furniture to clean the local floor surface. This means that the user may have to change the tool connected to the wand of the vacuum cleaner to enable this part of the floor surface to be cleaned, which can be inconvenient for the user.


A sense amplifier system and sensing method thereof are provided. The proposed sense amplifier system includes plural sense amplifiers, each of which includes a first switch having a first terminal, a second terminal, and a bulk terminal electrically connected to the first terminal, a second switch having a first terminal electrically connected to the second terminal of the first switch, a second terminal, and a bulk terminal, a third switch having a first terminal electrically connected to the first terminal of the second switch, a second terminal, and a bulk terminal electrically connected to the bulk terminal of the second switch, and a fourth switch having a first terminal electrically connected to the bulk terminal of the first switch and a second terminal electrically connected to the bulk terminal of the third switch.

Memory with more than 1K sense amplifiers and only 1 reference voltage to compare the sensing data would result in relatively higher noise. Noise coupled to the input signal and the reference signal is much different when memory has more sense amplifiers.
There are more than 1K noise coupling path to the reference node and only 1 noise coupling path to the data sensing node so that the parasitic capacitances formed between the control terminal and the bulk terminal of the left-hand side input switch and the a first parasitic capacitance formed between the control terminal and that formed between the control terminal and the bulk terminal of the right-hand side input switch are unbalanced so as to cause a much higher noise level.
The aforementioned noise also damages the read stability and decreases the sensing window of a sense amplifier system.
Keeping the drawbacks of the prior arts in mind, and employing experiments and research full-heartily and persistently, the applicant finally conceived a sense amplifier system and a sensing method thereof.

Sense amplifier system and sensing method thereof


A wafer bonding method includes: holding a first substrate with an upper holding mechanism 7 by applying a voltage to the upper holding mechanism 7; generating a bonded substrate by bonding the first substrate and a second substrate held with a lower holding mechanism 8; and dechucking the bonded substrate from the upper holding mechanism 7 after a voltage which attenuates while alternating is applied to the upper holding mechanism 7. By applying the voltage which attenuates while alternating to the upper holding mechanism 7, residual attracting force between the bonded substrate and the upper holding mechanism 7 is reduced, thereby enabling the bonded substrate to be dechucked from the holding mechanism more surely in a shorter time period. As a result, the first substrate and the second substrate can be bonded in a shorter time period.

MEMS (Micro Electro Mechanical Systems), in which minute electric parts and machine parts are integrated, are known. The MEMS are exemplified by a micromachine, a pressure sensor, and a microminiature motor. In the MEMS, a vibrating structure like a cantilever is encapsulated. The MEMS are manufactured by bonding substrates onto which patterns are formed.
Japanese patent JP3970304B discloses a room-temperature bonding device for manufacturing products in large quantities by using room-temperature bonding. The room-temperature bonding device includes: a bonding chamber which generates a vacuum environment for bonding an upper substrate and a lower substrate through room-temperature bonding; an upper stage which is provided inside the bonding chamber and supports the upper substrate in the vacuum environment; a carriage which is provided in the bonding chamber and supports the lower substrate in the vacuum environment; an elastic guide bonded together to the carriage; a positioning stage which is provided inside the bonding chamber and supports the elastic guide so as to be movable in a horizontal direction; a first mechanism which drives the elastic guide to move the carriage in the horizontal direction; a second mechanism which moves the upper stage in upper and lower directions perpendicular to the horizontal direction; and a carriage support which is provided inside the bonding chamber, and supports the carriage in a direction into which the upper stage moves when the lower substrate and the upper substrate are pressure-welded. The elastic guide supports the carriage so that the carriage does not come in contact with the carriage support when the lower substrate and the upper substrate do not come in contact with each other, and is elastically deformed so that the carriage comes in contact with the carriage support when the lower substrate and the upper substrate are pressure-bonded.
In the case of such a room-temperature bonding device, two substrates to be bonded are held by an electrostatic chuck mainly with electrostatic attractive force, and bonded. When products are manufactured in large quantities by using such bonding, it is desired that substrates are bonded as sure as possible in a time period as short as possible.
Japanese patent publication JP-A-Heisei 01-112745 discloses a method in which a processed wafer can be detached surely from an electrostatic chuck easily without damaging the wafer. The method of detaching the wafer in a semiconductor manufacturing device is characterized in that when an applied voltage to the electrostatic chuck of the semiconductor manufacturing device is stopped, the applied voltage is turned off while polarities of the applied voltage are alternated.
Japanese patent publication JP-A-Heisei 10-270539 discloses an electrostatic chuck usage method in which a wafer can easily be detached from an electrostatic chuck and a foreign substance does not adhere to the wafer. The electrostatic chuck usage method, which is a method of using the electrostatic chuck with two electrodes for attracting and detaching the wafer by applying voltage to the electrodes, is characterized in that voltage is applied to the two electrodes so that a potential difference is caused between the two electrodes and so that potential of the wafer has the polarity opposite to the polarity of charges of the wafer, when the wafer is detached from the electrostatic chuck.
Japanese patent publication JP-A-Heisei 10-284583 discloses an electrostatic-chuck static eliminating method which can surely detach a semiconductor wafer. The electrostatic-chuck static eliminating method having an electrostatic chuck which includes a dielectric capable of attracting and detaching the semiconductor wafer by performing charge or discharge of the semiconductor wafer in accordance with an applied voltage of one electrode of a pair of electrodes positioned opposite to each other in a chamber, is characterized in that the applied voltage forms a unipolar attenuated rectangular wave which includes positive or negative voltage, when the semiconductor wafer is detached from the electrostatic chuck.
Japanese patent JP1645440B discloses a detaching device for an object to be processed, for surely detaching an object to be processed fixed by an electrostatic chuck. The detaching device for an object to be processed is characterized in that: a hole, which penetrates an electrode of an electrostatic chuck for electrostatically fixing an object to be processed and a dielectric layer attached to an object fixing side face of the electrode, is provided at a fixing position of the object; a gas supply tube and a gas exhaust tube are connected to the hole; and gas sent from the gas supply tube is sprayed from the hole to a fixing face of the object fixed to the electrostatic chuck, in order to discharge charges accumulated to the dielectric layer thereby detaching the object.
Japanese patent publication JP-A-Showa 62-18727 discloses a semiconductor processing device having an electrostatic chuck mechanism capable of more surely fixing an object to be processed to an electrostatic chuck and surely detaching the object to be processed. The semiconductor processing device having: a conductive chamber of which upper portion is open; an electrostatic chuck electrode provided to the upper portion of the chamber through insulating material; a dielectric film provided to a face of the electrostatic chuck on the side attaching to the insulating material; a hole which is made by penetrating the dielectric film and the electrostatic chuck electrode and through which supply and evacuation of gas are performed; and a support which moves upward an object to be processed placed in the chamber, is characterized in that a cylindrical insulating member is embedded at least in a hole portion extending over the electrostatic chuck electrode and the dielectric film.
Japanese patent publication JP-A-Showa 62-277234 discloses an electrostatic chuck device which can make forcible detachment force opposed to residual attracting force act on an object to be attracted so that detachment of the object from an attracting face is immediately possible when the object to be attracted such as a wafer needs to be detached, and which can easily exchange electrodes in a case of damage of an attracting face. The electrostatic chuck device is characterized in that the electrostatic chuck device has an electrostatic attraction substrate having a gas ejecting means which ejects pressurized gas between a portion to be attracted and an attracting face in order to detach an object to be attracted.
Japanese patent JP 2590571B discloses a reliable wafer holding mechanism of a semiconductor wafer processing device, capable of forcibly detaching a wafer from an electrostatic chuck while keeping a stable position and while keeping a blow gas pressure low. The wafer holding mechanism of the semiconductor wafer processing device, for fitting an electrostatic chuck at the tip of a chuck holder provided in a process treatment chamber and attracting and holding a semiconductor wafer carried into the chamber with the electrostatic chuck in order to perform given process treatment, is characterized in that the wafer holding mechanism includes: an electrostatic chuck which has a ring-shaped gas ejecting groove formed on a chuck face of the chuck body and a gas introducing hole provided to the chuck body in communication with the gas ejecting groove; and a blow gas supplying means which is connected through pipe connection to a guide introducing hole of the electrostatic chuck through the inside of the chuck holder, and characterized in that blow gas supplied from the blow gas supplying means is introduced to the whole circumference of the gas ejecting groove after voltage application to the electrostatic chuck is stopped while the wafer is attracted and held, in order to forcibly detach the wafer from the chuck face of the electrostatic chuck with the blow gas pressure.
Japanese Patent JP2974303B discloses a productive, reliable, and low-cost detachment method for an object to be processed. The detachment method for an object to be processed is characterized in that at least one of water, alcohol and mixed gas including water or alcohol is introduced to space between an electrostatic chuck and an object to be processed after the object is held by the electrostatic chuck and the object is processed, in order to detach the object from the electrostatic chuck.
Japanese patent publication JP-P2002-231800A discloses a substrate processing method which prevents a plasma-treated substrate from being attracted to an upper electrode and improves an yield and an operation rate. The substrate processing method, when plasma is generated between an upper electrode and a lower electrode positioned opposite to each other to perform plasma processing to a substrate placed on the lower electrode and take out the processed substrate, prevents adhesion of the substrate to the upper electrode due to residual charges by spraying gas flowing from the side of the upper electrode toward the side of the lower electrode to the processed substrate.
Japanese patent JP3758979B discloses an electrostatic chuck with high detachment responsiveness and with less gas leakage while keeping substrate heat uniformity and high attracting force. The electrostatic chuck, which includes a ceramic dielectric layer, a placing face which is provided on the surface of the ceramic dielectric layer and holds an object to be held, and a hold electrode provided to face the face opposite to the placing face, is characterized in that the placing face is separated into a placing face outer-circumferential region and a placing face central region by a gas ejecting groove, and surface roughness Ra is 0.6 μm to 1.5 μm in the placing face central region and 0.7 μm or below in the placing face outer-circumferential region, and characterized in that the surface roughness of the placing face outer-circumferential region is smaller than the surface roughness of the placing face central region, and the height of the placing face outer-circumferential region is higher than the height of the placing face central region by 0.6 μm to 10 μm.
Japanese patent JP3810300B discloses an electrostatic chuck, which firmly attracts even a wafer with a warpage and a deformation to make a uniform temperature distribution of a wafer surface, which has less leakage of cooling gas, and which shows excellent wafer detachment responsiveness. The electrostatic chuck includes: a concave portion with a depth of 3 μm to 10 μm, where a bottom face of a central region excluding a peripheral portion is a first holding face serving as a wafer attracting region in one principal face of a plate-shaped ceramic body while excluding an outer circumferential region with a top face serving as a second wafer holding face; a gas groove in the peripheral portion of the bottom face of the concave portion; and an electrode for electrostatic attraction provided in the plate-shaped ceramic body located inward than the second holding face or on the other principal face of the plate-shaped ceramic body, on the lower side of the first holding face. The electrostatic chuck is characterized in that undulation of the second holding face is 1 μm to 3 μm.
Japanese patent publication JP-P2003-504871T discloses an electrostatic chuck which prevents a warpage of a ceramic layer and leakage of cooling gas, and which increases electrostatic attractive force while requiring less time for detachment. The electrostatic chuck is characterized in that the electrostatic chuck includes: a metallic substrate; a disk-shaped ceramic layer which has a given thickness and adheres to the metallic substrate through an adhesive layer; a plane electrode embedded in the ceramic layer at the center of a thickness direction of the ceramic layer; and a cooling gas groove formed on the surface of the ceramic layer at an upper portion of the electrode inwardly than the outer end.
Japanese patent publication JP-P2005-191338A discloses a substrate holding device which can fix such a substrate as a wafer with high precision and which can reduce damage to a substrate at the time of detachment of the substrate. The substrate holding device including: a first fixing member which depressurizes a hollow portion and can attract and hold at least an outer circumferential region of a substrate to a first holding face; a second fixing member which is provided in the hollow portion and which can attract and hold a substrate to a second holding face by depressurizing an attracting aperture; a member lifting and lowering device for lifting and lowering at least either the first fixing member or the second fixing member and changing upper and lower positions of the first holding face and the second holding face; and an attracting unit which is connected to the hollow portion of the first fixing member and the attracting aperture of the second fixing member and which can attract and release a substrate to and from at least either the first holding face or the second holding face, is characterized in that attraction to and release from the first fixing member and the second fixing member are independently controlled by the attraction unit, and in that a substrate is abutted against and detached from the first holding face and the second holding face by the member lifting and lowering device.
Japanese patent publication JP-P2006-49356A discloses an electrostatic chuck which can maintain a smooth face even after exposure to plasma, to make it possible to prevent particle contamination on such an object to be attracted as a silicon wafer while having excellent attraction and detachment characteristics for an object to be attracted. The electrostatic chuck is characterized in that the electrostatic chuck has a dielectric for an electrostatic chuck characterized in that alumina is 99.4 wt % or above, titanium oxide is greater than 0.2 wt % and equal to or smaller than 0.6 wt %, an average particle diameter is 2 μm or less and a volume resistivity is 108 to 1011 Ωcm at room temperature, and the electrostatic chuck is used at low temperature of 100 degrees Celsius or less.
Japanese patent publication JP-P2007-214287A discloses an electrostatic chuck which can easily be made by low-temperature firing and which can maintain a smooth face even after exposure to plasma, to make it possible to prevent particle contamination on such an object to be attracted as a silicon wafer while having excellent attraction and detachment characteristics for an object to be attracted. The electrostatic chuck is characterized in that the electrostatic chuck has a dielectric for an electrostatic chuck where alumina is 99.4 wt % or above, titanium oxide is greater than 0.2 wt % and equal to or less than 0.6 wt %, a volume resistivity is 108 to 1011 Ωcm at room temperature, and titanium oxide is segregated in a grain boundary of alumina particles.
Japanese patent publication JP-P2007-311462A discloses an electrostatic chuck table mechanism having a function of removing static electricity on a protection tape attached to an object to be processed. The electrostatic chuck table mechanism, which includes: a chuck table with a holding face for holding an object to be processed; an electrode which is provided in the chuck table and generates charges as a result of voltage application; and a voltage applying means for applying a voltage to the electrode, is characterized in that the electrostatic chuck table mechanism includes an air supplying passage which is formed to the chuck table and opens at the holding face, and an ionized air supplying means for supplying ionized air to the air supplying passage.
Japanese patent publication JP-P2008-47564A discloses a vacuum processing device which can examine an insulation state of a dielectric layer before the start of use of an electrostatic chuck in performing vacuum processing for a substrate and the like. The vacuum processing device, which places a substrate on an electrostatic chuck provided to a placing board in a vacuum container and electrostatically attracts the substrate to the electrostatic chuck by applying a chuck voltage to a chuck electrode, to perform processing of the substrate, is characterized in that the vacuum processing device includes: a power source for applying an examining voltage lower than a chuck voltage at the time of vacuum processing to the chuck electrode; a measurement section for measuring electrical characteristics of the electrostatic chuck when the examining voltage is applied to the chuck electrode and acquiring measured data; and an examination section for examining whether the electrostatic chuck can be used or not based on the measured data acquired from the measurement section and the preliminarily-set setting data.
The technique disclosed in the above-mentioned related art documents for detaching a substrate from an electrostatic chuck more surely, is not applied to technique for bonding substrates.

Wafer bonding device and wafer bonding method


An eccentric screw pump comprising an outer part (2) and an inner part (3) therein, one of the parts (2, 3) being driven rotatably and the other part (2, 3) being able to move eccentrically relative to the other part (3, 2). The screwthreads (5a, 5b) of the outer part (2) extend angularly over less than an entire helix along the axial length (L) of the part, so that during operation pumping chambers that are open to both ends are created, through which sudden pressure relief takes place.

Such a pump is known as an eccentric screw pump and is based on the idea by Rene Moineau described in the German patent DE 602,017. This patent describes a device comprising an outer part and an inner part each provided with screwthreads, the outer part having exactly one screwthread more than the inner part. The ratio of the pitch on the outer part to the pitch on the inner part in every cross-section corresponds to the ratio of the number of screwthreads on the respective parts. The inner and outer parts thus form closed pumping chambers that move axially from the intake end to the output end during relative rotation of the inner part in the outer part. If this device is to be used as a pump, according to the comments in DE 602,017 the device must always have at least one closed pumping chamber between the intake end and output end. This means that the screwthreads of the outer part must have an entire turn.
Various designs of eccentric screw pumps are known. For example, the inner part may be driven and act as the rotor, while the outer part remains stationary and is the stator. However, designs comprising an outer rotor and an inner stator are also possible. In both variants, designs are possible in which either the inner part moves radially eccentrically relative to the outer part, for example as in DE 602,017, or the outer part moves radially eccentrically relative to the inner part. The latter variant, which also comprises a rotatably driven inner part, is described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,612,845 and 2,691,347. In the eccentric screw pumps disclosed there, the stationary outer part (the pump stator) is made of an elastic material and is deformed so as to move on a circular path around the central pump rotor axis and thereby compensate for the eccentricity between the inner rotating part (pump rotor) and the outer part. The outer part is therefore also referred to as a vibrating stator or wobble stator. In this way, the joint in the drive train necessary in the otherwise standard eccentric screw pumps comprising pipe stators may be dispensed with, so that eccentric screw pumps comprising wobble stators can be produced considerably shorter and less expensively.
Eccentric screw pumps belong to the group of rotary positive displacement equipment. During operation, they continuously pump medium with the pumping chambers, which is to say by means of the enclosed pumping chambers between the inner part and the outer part, to the output end. If an enclosed volume is present on the output end, for example due to a closed valve, in particular a flow restriction, pressure builds continuously in the enclosed volume. Without suitable measures, the pump will continue to deliver medium to be displaced through the moving, closed pumping chambers from the intake end to the output end, and the pressure rises drastically at the output. In the waste water technology field, in which the described pumps are preferably used, output-end throttling can be caused by a closed gate valve, for example, or else by the accumulation of fragments of the waste water in the pipe. The pressure buildup at the output-end can result in destruction of the pump or of the system connected to the pump.
So as to protect the pressurized system, monitoring devices such as pressure sensors must be provided on the one hand, and protective measures such as deactivation of the pump or pressure relief devices must be provided on the other hand. The latter may be safety valves, bursting diaphragms or bypass lines that can be opened, for example.
Safety valves are associated with the risk of becoming clogged with fragmented components of the waste water, which can accumulate in the flow-conducting components of the valve. Bursting diaphragms relieve a pressurized system by being destroyed when the bursting pressure is applied and by exposing an opening so that the pressurized medium to be displaced can be discharged. Replacement of the destroyed bursting diaphragm is required to put the system back in operation. In addition, the service life is dependent on the ratio of the actual operating pressure to the bursting pressure, so that the bursting diaphragm may become pre-damaged, for example as a result of brief pressure surges, and then bursts at a lower pressure. Another disadvantage of bursting diaphragms is the relatively high price. A closed valve or a clogged location downstream of the pump can be circumvented by using a bypass line. However, this necessitates increased piping complexity, requires installation volume, and thus results in increased installation costs.

Eccentric screw pump with overpressure protection