A stabilized vertical GMR head is provided and includes a GMR stack having a pair of free magnetic layers having a first edge and a second edge. A pair of soft magnetic layers is also included and positioned so that one of the soft magnetic layers is adjacent to the first edge and another of the soft magnetic layers is adjacent to the second edge. A pair of AFM layers is included and positioned so that one of the AFM layers is adjacent to one of said soft magnetic layers and another of said AFM layers being adjacent to other of said soft magnetic layers.

The following invention relates to increasing the stability of vertical GMR (VGMR) heads and, in particular, to a method for stabilizing the free layers in VGMR heads using antiferromagnetic materials.
Referring to FIG. 1, there is shown a prior art giant magneto-resistive (GMR) sensor 2, also called a spin valve (SV) sensor, used for reading magnetically encoded data from the surface of magnetic media. SV sensor 2 includes a layered stack that is sensitive to the changing magnetic fields originating from a storage medium. The layered stack includes a free magnetic layer 4, a non-magnetic Cu layer 6, a pinned magnetic layer 8 and a pinning layer 10 that fixes the magnetic orientation of pinned magnetic layer 8. In operation, the changing magnetic fields originating from the magnetic storage medium produce a change in the magnetization direction of free magnetic layer 4 with respect to pinned magnetic layer 8 and thereby changes the resistance of SV sensor 2. This change in resistance is sensed to indicate the information stored on the magnetic medium.
A known problem associated with SV sensors is that they often xe2x80x9cfracturexe2x80x9d into multiple magnetic domains when exposed to an external magnetic field creating what is called xe2x80x9cBarkhausen-noisexe2x80x9d that adversely affects the stability and sensitivity of the SV sensor. To maximize the SV sensor""s performance, it is desirable to maintain the GMR stack in a single domain state using a process known as boundary control stabilization.
A number of methods exist for stabilizing a SV sensor in a single domain state. For example, in FIG. 1, SV sensor 2 is stabilized using antiferromagnetic (AFM) exchange coupling in which the wing areas of free magnetic layer 4 is pinned by AFM layers 12,12xe2x80x2 and the center portion of free magnetic layer 4 is the xe2x80x9cactivexe2x80x9d sensing area. Thus, AFM exchange coupling creates a single state in the GMR stack thereby eliminating the noise associated with domain activity.
Another prior art method used to stabilize SV sensors is hard biasing in which a permanent magnet is positioned adjacent to the active area of the GMR stack in order to boundary control stabilize the active area of the GMR stack.
Yet other methods exists for stabilizing SV sensors including permanent magnet (PM) ferromagnetic coupling and configuring the GMR stack according to advantageous geometries.
Referring now to FIG. 2, there is shown a VGMR head 14 capable of supporting much greater track densities than GMR heads. Unlike SV heads, VGMR heads have a GMR stack 16 in which both magnetic layers are free and respond to the external magnetic fields emanating from the magnetic media. In VGMR head designs both free layers have to be kept in a single domain configuration in order to achieve electrical stability. Due to geometric restraints, however, the prior art stabilization techniques used for SV sensors are unsuitable for VGMR sensors (see A. V. Pohm, et. Al., IEEE Tran. Magn. 33, 2392 (1997)).
A prior art method for stabilizing VGMR heads, as shown in FIG. 2, is to use hard edge stabilization (see A. V. Pohm, et. Al., IEEE Tran. Magn. 34, 1486 (1998)). In hard edge stabilization, the edges of the free magnetic layers are placed adjacent the air bearing surface (ABS) and are used to sense the changing magnetic fields of the magnetic media. Because the coercitivity of the edges of the free layers is higher than their center areas, hard edge stabilized VGMR heads demonstrate improved stability.
Using hard edge stabilization to stabilize VGMR heads, however, has several drawbacks. First, for reasons not well understood, hard edge stabilization is difficult to realize. Also, while hard edge stabilization improves the stabilization of the VGMR head, it does completely stabilize the head. Furthermore, hard edge stabilized VGMR heads are difficult to produce in volume. It has been found that, in volume production, hard edge stabilized VGMR heads have only a 50% stability yield, which is an unacceptably low rate.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide a method for stabilizing the free magnetic layers in VGMR heads that is suitable for volume production.
The present invention is directed to overcoming the drawbacks of the prior art. Under the present invention a stabilized vertical GMR head is provided and includes a GMR stack having a pair of free magnetic layers and having a first edge and a second edge. A pair of soft magnetic layers is also included and positioned so that one of the soft magnetic layers is adjacent to the first edge of the GMR stack and another of the soft magnetic layers is adjacent to the second edge of the GMR stack. A pair of AFM layers are included and positioned so that one of the AFM layers is adjacent to one of said soft magnetic layers and another of said AFM layers is adjacent to the other of said soft magnetic layers. Thus, by positioning the AFM layers in such a manner, a vertical GMR head is provided in which the free magnetic layers are stabilized and that is suitable for volume production.
The invention accordingly comprises the features of construction, combination of elements and arrangement of parts that will be exemplified in the following detailed disclosure, and the scope of the invention will be indicated in the claims. Other features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the description, the drawings and the claims.

Structures and materials to stabilize active layers in VGMR head using AFM transverse bias


A media content broadcast blackout control method, comprising receiving a retune message requesting a blackout of a primary media content broadcast in specific regions, generating a playlist for each region comprising a content key wrapped in a region-specific media key, wherein the content key in the playlists for regions that are not subject to the blackout is configured to access the primary media content broadcast, and the content key in the playlists for regions that are subject to the blackout is configured to access an alternate media content broadcast, providing the playlists to client devices within each region, providing the primary media content broadcast to client devices whose region-specific media key unwraps the content key for the primary media content broadcast, and providing the alternate media content broadcast to client devices whose region-specific media key unwraps the content key for the alternate primary media content broadcast.

Content providers and/or service providers routinely provide media content broadcasts to client devices such as set-top boxes, mobile phones, personal computers, tablet computers, gaming consoles, and other devices. In some situations, a media content broadcast can be blacked out in one or more regions, such that the media content broadcast is not accessible by client devices within the blacked-out regions. By way of a non-limiting example, as an attempt to increase in-person attendance of a football game, a football league can request that a provider take steps to black out video broadcasts of the football game to client devices located within the geographic region in which the football game is being played, while not blacking out the broadcast in other regions in which viewers are not as likely to physically attend the game. In some situations, the primary media content broadcast can be blacked out and replaced with an alternate media content broadcast, such that viewers in the blacked-out region who attempt to access the blacked-out media content broadcast are instead presented with the alternate media content broadcast.
In traditional cable and broadcast television systems, blackouts can be controlled by service providers and/or content providers. When a provider chooses to blackout a particular media content broadcast in one or more blackout regions, the provider can send a retune message in-band to an integrated receiver-decoder (IRD) or blackout manager physically located in each blackout region, such that any client devices in the blackout region that attempt to access the media content broadcast instead receive an alternate media content broadcast. This system requires the physical presence of an IRD in each blackout region, and requires regional processing of each blacked-out media content broadcast, including reception, decryption, transcoding and packaging, encryption, multiplexing, and transmission.
Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) networks are increasingly common. In contrast to the regional processing of blacked-out media content broadcasts in traditional television systems, IPTV networks are often centralized such that most processing functions are performed at a central data center that feeds all regions directly. For example, IPTV networks can be centralized with edge-based distribution in which content intended for an end-user client device can be encrypted at the central data center, and be transmitted to the end-user client device directly over IP networks. The direct transmission of media content broadcasts from the central data center eliminates the need for an IRD to be physically present within each region. Some methods of blacking out media content broadcasts in IPTV systems have been developed, however they do not adequately prevent client devices in a blacked-out region from gaining access to the blacked-out media content broadcast.

Method for controlling and implementing blackout in IPTV networks


A method is provided for avoiding data loss in a data packet switch which utilizes a circular data buffer. If the data is received at a faster rate than it is read out of the buffer the data read-out pointer is adjusted by incrementing it to skip, or drop, the next sample. If the data is received at a slower rate than it is read out of the buffer, then the read-out pointer is adjusted by decrementing it to repeat the previous sample. The method of controlling the buffer read-out pointer according to the present invention, is implemented in hardware thereby reducing system complexity and improving speed relative to prior art software solutions.

This invention relates in general to data transfer systems and more specifically to a method for controlling data transfer into and out of a circular buffer so as to prevent buffer overflow and underflow.
With the advent of Voice-Over-IP (VoIP) communication systems, specialized hardware has been developed to convert synchronous TDM streams of voice data to voice packets for transmission via IP (Internet Protocol) over a LAN (Local Area Network), and vice versa. In order to accommodate variations in transmission rates into and out of such E2T devices (Ethernet-to-TDM), software algorithms have been developed to prevent data loss where the receive and transmit data streams are not synchronized. Software solutions such as are known in the prior art contribute to system complexity and loss of speed for real time applications (such as the transmission of voice traffic).
According to the present invention, a method is provided for avoiding data loss in a data packet switch which utilizes a circular data buffer. If the data is received at a faster rate than it is read out of the buffer, then the transmitter is running at a higher frequency than the receiver and the buffer will soon overflow. Therefore, according to one aspect of the invention the data read-out pointer is adjusted by incrementing it to skip, or drop, the next sample. If the data is received at a slower rate than it is read out of the buffer, then the transmitter is running at a lower frequency than the receiver and the buffer will soon underflow. Therefore, according to another aspect of the invention, the read-out pointer is adjusted by decrementing it to repeat the previous sample. The method of controlling the buffer read-out pointer according to the present invention, is implemented in hardware thereby reducing system complexity and improving speed relative to prior art software solutions.
The method according to the present invention accommodates dynamically varying packet sizes and permits a reduction in the receive buffer size, thereby resulting in savings in buffer memory and delay and latency over prior art software implementations. Also, the method of the present invention is dynamically adjustable according to network jitter, as defined by the Real Time Protocol operations specified by the IETF""s RFC1889. The algorithm of the present invention does not add significant distortion or inject appreciable noise into the voice data stream, and allows for packets containing silence to be suppressed (i.e., the packets are not transmitted, thereby allowing the TDM data to be continually read out of the buffer at the local sample rate).

Method to control data reception buffers for packetized voice channels


The present invention provides a hydraulic steering assembly for a marine propulsion unit in which the axis of the cylinder travels parallel to the axis of the propulsion unit tilt axis during pivotal steering of the propulsion unit. The steering assembly provides two, two-bar link arms interconnecting the tilt tube and cylinder rod.

(1) Field of the Invention
The subject invention relates to a steering system to be attached to the tiller arm of a marine propulsion unit.
(2) Description of Prior Art
Prior art steering assemblies were connected to a steering link extending to one side of the outboard motor. Examples of these prior art systems are: U.S. Pat. No. 3,654,889 to Bergstedt issued Apr. 11, 1972, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,041,889 to Blanchard issued Aug. 16, 1977. Both patents disclose a hydraulic steering system which is not adaptable to most outboard propulsion units in production. An improvement was achieved by Canadian Patent 1,180,606 to Rump issued Jan. 8, 1985 similar to U.S. Pat. No. 4,773,882 to Rump issued Sept. 27, 1988 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,373,920 to Hall issued Feb. 15, 1983.
The steering mechanism described hereafter is believed to overcome various disadvantages of the prior systems.

Steering mechanism for marine propulsion devices


The water heating control system and method tracks, monitors and controls energy consumed by systems and/or equipment including, but not limited to, hot water, HVAC, pools, and spas. The system and method controls a given device by utilizing historical and real-time information collected from a system of similar devices at the same and similar locations, as inputs to control processes which, utilizing the blended real-time and historical data, improve device management, including energy savings and maintenance of the entire system of devices over time.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to automatic or computerized control systems, and particularly to a water heating and control system that tracks, monitors and controls energy consumed by water heating systems.
2. Description of the Related Art
Pools, spas, hot water heater, and the like often have a local control system. Microprocessors and sensors are frequently used in the maintenance and control of temperature, pump operation, filter cycles, etc. These control systems can run twenty-four hours a day, seven days per week, year-round, providing local control over the operational parameters of the pool or spa. Typically, these are self-contained, closed-loop systems that function autonomously without intervention and/or control beyond the local vicinity of the physical device; i.e., no networked communication exists beyond the local surroundings. Since there is no networked communication beyond the local, autonomous system, errors can creep into the system without being quickly detected, since there is no reference system to check the local autonomous system against.
Thus, a water heating control system and method solving the aforementioned problems is desired.


A printing system for printing images onto a medium supplied as feed-stock, said system comprising a printer, a control computer and data inputting means, a printer head, a cutter, at least one rewinder and a taper; the print head for printing individual work-pieces onto the medium; the cutter for cutting the medium into individual work-pieces, and the at least one rewinder for rewinding the work-pieces into coreless-rolls, and the taper comprising a tape dispenser and printer for printing identifying data onto a piece of tape applied to fasten each coreless roll closed wherein the cutter and the printing of the tape is controlled by the control computer, wherein the cutter is configured to section the work-piece from the feedstock after it has started to be fed into the rewinder.

Wide format digital printers are increasingly used to print wallpaper, reproduction paintings, posters, signs and the like.
The media to be printed may be supplied as roll stock or flat sheets.
After printing flexible media and cutting to size, the media may be rolled up into a spindle-less roll that may be wrapped with film, inserted into a postal tube, secured with tape or a rubber band and rolling machines are known.
Typically, one machine prints the media and the printed media is rolled up onto a take up spool which is then unrolled, sectioned and rolled in a separate machine or by hand.
Alternatively, the media may be printed and sectioned and then stacked for subsequent feeding into a second rolling machine.
However, machines that print and roll media are also known. These take up less room than two separate machines and use less labor.
An example of this is the Fotoba™ XLD170+REW160 solution, consisting of a digital printer (XLD170) that feeds straight into a rolling machine (REW160) located downstream of the printer. After the printed medium is fed into the rolling machine, it is sectioned from the feed roll, and then rolling up continues and the coreless roll of printed medium, such as a poster, is then released from the rolling machine, and may, for example, be inserted into a cardboard tube for dispatch to the customer. See https://www.fotoba.com/special-applications/cutting-and-rolling-posters-in-one-step/ where such a printer and rewinder combination is shown.
There is, however, a disadvantage in printing, sectioning and rolling up the printed media, in that misprinted media is rolled up and cannot be examined without unrolling. Also, where a digital printer is configured to print a number of different images, such as posters, for example, if the posters are rolled up, it is difficult to identify the specific poster once it has been rolled up.
There is a need for a single machine that can print posters, sections (tiles) of a bigger sign and the like, possibly due to automatic inspection in the system to ensure that the right files were printed and the print result is acceptable, to roll up the work-pieces and to mark them with identifying details, such as a batch number, serial number or description, so that that contents can be identified without unrolling, and the present invention is directed to such a machine.

Integrated printing and packaging solution


A surface light source device includes a first substrate, a second substrate and a hollow electrode. The second substrate is combined with the first substrate to form a plurality of discharge spaces. The second substrate includes a plurality of recesses. The hollow electrode is disposed in each of the discharge spaces under the recesses of the second substrate, respectively. The surface light source device further includes an external electrode disposed on a lower surface of the first substrate corresponding to the hollow electrode. The external electrodes are on an outer surface of the lamp body, and are partially overlapped with the discharge spaces. The hollow electrode may have a rectangular tube or other suitable shape. As a result of the foregoing construction, the life span of the surface light source device may increase, and the light emitting efficiency may similarly increase.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a surface light source device and a liquid crystal display (LCD) device having the surface light source device. More particularly, the present invention relates to a surface light source device capable of supplying a surface light to a liquid crystal display panel to display images, and an LCD device having the surface light source device.
2. Description of the Related Art
There are a variety of flat panel devices and a liquid crystal display (LCD) device represents one such type of flat panel display device. The LCD device displays images using liquid crystal. The LCD device has various merits, such as, for example, thin thickness, light weight, low driving voltage, low power consumption, etc. Therefore, the LCD device has been used in various fields.
The LCD device is a non-emissive type display device so that the LCD device includes a backlight assembly to provide light.
In general, the backlight assembly employs a cold cathode fluorescent lamp (CCFL) as a light source. As the LCD device becomes large in size, the number of CCFLs required for the LCD device increases. As LCD devices increase in size, manufacturing costs are also increased and optical properties such as luminance uniformity will decrease, that is, become deteriorated.
A surface light source device has been developed to solve the above-mentioned problems. The surface light source device includes a lamp body having a plurality of discharge spaces and external electrodes for applying a discharge voltage to the lamp body.
When an inverter applies the discharge voltage to the external electrodes of the surface light source device, the surface light source device generates ultraviolet light through a discharge gas in each of the discharge spaces. The ultraviolet light is converted into visible light through a fluorescent layer formed on an inner surface of the lamp body.
When the surface light source device is operated only through the external electrodes, the associated light emitting efficiency is lowered. Therefore, a surface light source device that further includes hollow electrodes disposed in the lamp body has been developed in order to enhance the light emitting efficiency.
The surface light source device having the hollow electrodes has a relatively higher light emitting efficiency than the conventional surface light source device, but ions that are accelerated by the discharge voltage collide with the hollow electrodes. Therefore, the life span of the hollow electrodes is decreased and a portion of an electrode is blackened.

Surface light source with hollow electrode component for use in liquid crystal display devices


A capacitor having a low voltage coefficient, even though one electrode is a semiconductor and one is a metal, is described. Two parallel plate capacitors are formed side by side and then cross-connected. The bottom plate of one of the capacitors is connected to the top plate of the other capacitor, and vice versa. This arrangement causes the two capacitors to be polarized in opposite directions at all times so that the individual voltage coefficients cancel each other and give the combined structure a value that is about 2 ppm V. A process for manufacturing this capacitor is also described.

(1) Field of the Invention
The invention relates to the general field of electrical capacitors, more particularly to low voltage-coefficient capacitors in integrated circuits.
(2) Description of the Prior Art
As is well known, the capacitance of a parallel plate capacitor is normally a function only of the area of the electrodes, the dielectric constant of the dielectric and the thickness of the dielectric. This assumes that both electrodes are metallic conductors. If one of the electrodes is a semiconductor, a depletion region, extending into the semiconductor, is formed at the semiconductor-dielectric interface, even in the absence of any externally applied voltage bias, thereby rendering the capacitance of such a structure somewhat lower than if both electrodes had been metallic.
An important consequence of this phenomenon is that when voltage is applied across the above described device's plates, the depletion layer in the semiconductor grows or shrinks, depending on the polarity, thereby reducing or increasing the measured capacitance. In other words, such a device has a high voltage coefficient, in some cases as high as 120 ppm/volt. In many integrated circuits this is not a problem but in many analog circuits (such as analog to digital converters, for example) this cannot be tolerated.
During the manufacture of integrated circuits where capacitors must be included it is obviously an advantage if such capacitors do not take up real estate needed for other devices, notably transistors. Fortunately, the areas of field oxide that are used to electrically isolate active devices from one another, are available for this. It is also particularly advantageous if the capacitors can be formed without introducing any additional steps into an existing process, other than the modification of the etch masks. With this in mind, it has been common practice to form capacitors in integrated circuits by sandwiching a layer of the silicon oxide known as IPO (or inter-poly oxide) between two layers of polysilicon.
In earlier processes such as the standard 0.5 micron mixed-mode process, the two polysilicon layers used for the capacitors were sufficiently heavily doped so that they were electrically degenerate (that is, they exhibited metallic conductivity) and any depletion layer formed at the silicon-dielectric interface would be negligibly thin. More recently, with the development of the 0.35 micron process, changes in processing parameters make the polysilicon layers less heavily doped. This is unimportant for the first layer of polysilicon (polyl) because a layer of tungsten silicide, which is a metallic conductor, is formed on polyl so it has a depletion free interface with the IPO.
There is no corresponding layer of tungsten silicide between poly2 and the IPO, so a depletion layer forms within the poly2 and the resulting capacitor has a high voltage coefficient. Referring now to FIG. 1, we show a schematic cross-section of such a capacitor. Bottom electrode 3, comprising poly1, has been formed on an area 2 of field oxide on silicon substrate 1. Dielectric layer 4, comprising IPO, lies on top of 3 and layer 5, comprising poly2, forms the top electrode.
FIG. 2 shows a schematic plot of the normalized capacitance value of the device of FIG. 1 as a function of applied voltage V. Typically, V covers the range of from -5 to +5 volts, with V applied to the poly2 layer and the poly1 layer being grounded. The voltage coefficient of capacitance, as defined by the slope of curve 21 is generally about -120 ppm/volt.
A number of prior art references describe capacitors for incorporation within integrated circuits but most do not address the voltage coefficient issue. Boerstler et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 5,389,832 February 1995) describe capacitors formed from forward biassed diodes. Sundaresan (U.S. Pat. No. 5,016,070 May 1991) describes a stacked CMOS SRAM with cross-coupled capacitors. Sato (U.S. Pat. No. 5,521,111 May 1996) teaches use of a trench-stacked capacitor.
Himes et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 4,731,696 March 1988) address the voltage coefficient issue and disclose a three plate capacitor structure wherein two layers of dielectric are sandwiched between three conductive plates, the center plate being the semiconductor. Voltage is applied between the center plate and the two outer plates (which are connected to each other). Since the upper and lower capacitors always see opposed electric vectors the voltage coefficients in the upper and lower dielectric layers will always carry opposite signs and will thus tend to cancel one another.
While this structure should exhibit low voltage coefficient, it requires three separate deposition steps for the electrodes and two separately deposited dielectric layers. The latter limitation can lead to serious problems in the absence of precise thickness and process control during deposition of the two dielectric layers. It also means that the standard manufacturing process will have to be modified if this structure is to be made part of an integrated circuit.

Cross-coupled capacitors for improved voltage coefficient

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company


A circuit arrangement for providing an output voltage and/or an output current from an input voltage Vin, comprising: a first switching converter (10) having a storage element (120) and a first switching element (110), adapted to charge the storage element (120) from the input voltage Vin up to a threshold voltage and a second switching converter (20) having a second switching element (210) adapted to start with the threshold voltage at the storage element (120) and to provide the output voltage Vout and/or the output current Iout from the input voltage Vin, wherein the first switching element (110) has a minimum driving voltage, at and above which the first switching element (110) can perform switching operations, the second switching element (210) has a minimum driving voltage, at and above which the second switching element (210) can perform switching operations, and wherein the minimum driving voltage of the first switching element is smaller than the minimum driving voltage of the second switching element.

The invention pertains to a circuit arrangement for providing a stable output voltage and/or output current from an input voltage which is variable over a wide range and might also assume exceptionally low values from case to case, and as a possible application of such circuit, a redundancy module having active decoupling components.
In systems and automation engineering, as well as in other fields of electronics, one usually employs internal supply voltages of about 3V to about 60V. Internal supply voltages are those voltages which are required by the electrical consumers which are connected to the internal supply network of the respective apparatus or the respective system, for their proper functioning and which are provided by one or more current supply unit(s), which is (are) also connected to the internal supply network.
The energy supply capabilities of such current supply units are limited in any case. In the case of an overload or a short circuit on the supply lines, the supply voltages, which are provided by the connected current supply unit(s), will drop in accordance with their overload characteristics; in the case of a short circuit, oftentimes to values below 1V. At drops of the supply voltage below certain values, which differ depending on the consumer, some consumers will turn off in a controlled manner, other consumers will stop functioning properly at first and will cease functioning completely only at a further decrease of the voltage supply. In case of a short circuit, at voltages below 1V, none of the usual/known (designed for nominal voltages of 3V or above) consumers continue functioning.
For increasing the reliability for critical applications, multiple current supply units are often connected in parallel/redundantly, in order to be able to ensure the supply of the connected consumers and, in this manner, of the entire apparatus resp. the entire system, even in case of a failure of one (or single) current supply unit(s). In doing so, depending on the reliability requirements of the apparatuses resp. systems, at least two, but often also more current supply units are connected together by means of so called redundancy modules.
The redundancy modules include an output stage, which, in case of an unbalance (i.e. unequally high output voltages of the feeding current supply units) or in case of a failure of one (or single) connected current supply unit(s), prevents a current return flow from the normally functioning current supply unit(s) into the current supply unit, which is defective or has an undervoltage, and which also can completely disconnect defective current supply units from the consumers in case of a disturbance or a short circuit. In the simplest case such output stage is realized by a diode. For reasons of energy efficiency, but often also for thermal reasons, it is sensible or necessary to realize such output stages with active semiconductor components instead of simple diodes. Circuits with active semiconductor components require a sufficiently high supply voltage, which, for proper functioning, often also needs to be sufficiently stable within limits.
Such supply voltage is neither available in case of an overload or a short circuit on the supply line(s) nor in case of disturbances of the feeding current supply unit(s).
If the proper functioning of the redundancy modules or other critical consumers, (e.g. monitoring and signalling units), which are connected to the internal supply network, is required also in case of such fault, the supply voltage, which is required by them, can be provided by independent current supplies, such as a) additional current supply units having separate supply lines for the case of a fault, b) batteries/accumulators, c) electrolytic capacitor buffer circuits (usually having so-called "gold-caps"), d) solar cells or also e) recent methods of energy harvesting. The aforementioned solutions have the disadvantage that they either require a) comparably elaborate additional electronics and, in addition to this, additional cabling or b) regular maintenance. In case of c), the functionality is limited to a short period of time and in the case of d), to certain environmental conditions. Furthermore, the solutions c), d) and especially e) are limited in their energy supply capabilities and thus cannot be employed in many cases.
For the mentioned failure case, in which the supply voltage, due to an overload or a short circuit, drops below its nominal value, two variants of failure cases are to be distinguished: case a) overload or short circuit already at the time of turning on; in this case the supply voltage never attains its nominal value or at least a voltage value which can be used by the connected consumers—and case b) overload or short circuit from within the normal operation; in this case the supply voltage drops more or less rapidly to values which are invalidly low for the connected consumers.
If one tries, on the basis of known circuits for supplying consumers from very small voltages, to find a solution, which is suitable for both preceding cases at the same time, the same problems arise again and again. Circuits, which are suitable to, from very small input voltages such as 1V and smaller, generate output voltages for common consumers in the amount of about 3V to about 60V, cannot handle, at the same inputs, at which, as laid out, the very small source voltages are applied, as an alternative operating case, also high voltages of 20V . . . 40V . . . 60V. These circuits are furthermore generally only laid out for smaller currents than about 1 A and smaller voltages than about 20V—in any case not suitable to fulfil all requirements with regard to the input voltage stability, output voltage stability and the current supply capability at the same time, without adding a considerable amount of additional electronics.

Provision of an output voltage from a wide range variable and low input voltage


A supersonic fan nozzle for abrasive blast removal of coatings particularly for use with plastic abrasive media, provides much greater media particle velocity, a more uniform velocity profile, and a more uniform media particle distribution than prior art nozzles. The new nozzle has a constant height throat area about 1 inch long, about 1.57 inches wide, and about 0.125 inche high. The throat opens into a constant height diverging slot which diverges at about a 6.5 degree half-angle for about 9.5 inches to a final exit width of about 3.75 inches. A nozzle-to-hose coupling connects at one end to a conventionally sized blasting hose and at the other by a rectangular opening to the throat. Used with light plastic media entrained in an airflow stream at operating pressures of 15 to 80 psig, the nozzle has successfully removed coatings from a variety of delicate underlying substrates with little or no observable damage to the substrates. In tests, it has produced minimal residual stress effects on substrates while increasing production stripping rates by 50-200% . Tests have shown that the optimum range of dimensions for the new nozzle are a slot exit area to throat area ratio about 2.2 to about 2.5 and a constant divergence half-angle of about 5 to about 8 degrees.

The present invention relates generally to abrasive blast coating removal methods, and more particularly to nozzles for abrasive blast removal of coatings from delicate substrates without damaging the substrate.
Paint coatings, photoresist coatings and other protective and decorative coatings frequently must be removed from their underlying substrates. A common method for removing these coatings is abrasive blasting. Abrasive blasting shoots a stream of abrasive particles, or media, through a nozzle at the coating to be removed. The abrasive particles may be carried by a stream of a compressible vapor or gas, generally air, or a stream of an incompressible liquid, generally water. The most commonly used blasting media in the past was sand. Unfortunately, sand blasting, while very effective at removing paints and other coatings, often imparts unacceptable levels of damage to thin or delicate substrate materials. Printed circuit boards are an example of such a substrate material. So too are newer aircraft outer skin materials such as fiber reinforced plastic composites and very thin aluminum.
To deal with these problems, the prior art has tried softer media, such as plastic beads, sodium bicarbonate, ice crystals, wheat starch, walnut shells, glass beads and the like. Even with such softer media, however, there has been a concern in the aerospace industry about the residual effects of abrasive blasting on aerospace structures. For example, thin aluminum structures of 0.080 inch and less are susceptible to fatigue life reduction from the abrasive blasting process. To reduce this problem, acceptable blasting parameters for plastic media blasting in the aerospace industry using conventional compressible gas type round-conical blasting nozzles have been limited to air pressures of 40 psig, and less, at a 12 to 24 inch standoff distance. These same lowered abrasive blasting parameters have also been used to remove paint, called depainting, from composite substrates without imparting significant, or at least unacceptable, substrate damage.
As mentioned, round-conical blast nozzles are conventionally used with plastic media entrained in a compressible gas stream to remove coatings from delicate substrates. A primary problem with such round blast nozzles is their nonuniform velocity distribution. The center of the blast stream constitutes a "hotspot" of higher velocity particles, surrounded by a greater area of slower, and less effective, media. Further, the outside area of slower media is ineffective, overblasts the substrate, and can add an undesirable peening effect to delicate substrates which results in unnecessary residual stresses.
Another problem with conventional round-conical blast nozzles is the small size of the blast footprint projected onto the coated substrate. Not only is it slow to remove surface coatings by sweeping a 0.5 to 1.5 inch round spot, it results in a mottled surface appearance, especially on composites. Also, much of the residual primer left over after outer paint removal is nonuniform and unsightly, requiring further treatment to level the finish or resulting in local gouging or fiber damage to composite matrix material.
A further problem with conventional round-conical blast nozzles is that the maximum stripping rate that can be maintained by an operator is very limited. The physical traverse rate that can be finely controlled and is repeatable is only a few inches per second. Also, the uneven distribution of blast media makes overlapping necessary, further reducing efficiency, and does not provide a sharp edge for careful work. Only a large stripping path, with more even distribution of both blast energy and media, will increase production rates.
The prior art has also tried fan nozzles to achieve at least a wider swath, and hopefully a more even distribution of media particles and a flatter velocity profile at the nozzle exit. These prior art fan nozzles, while an improvement, unfortunately have not been uniformly successful. They generally still suffer from a nonuniform distribution of abrasive media particles and an insufficient particle velocity to preferentially blast the coating desired to be removed instead of the underlying substrate.
The prior art has also tried supersonic fan nozzles where the throat of the nozzle opens to a largely unwalled open divergence volume, apparently because of concerns with wear. These nozzles have also met with limited success and are not currently used in production. The unconstrained divergence area may contribute to a lack of uniform particle distribution and velocities at the somewhat undefined nozzle exit.
The prior art has also used supersonic fan nozzles with cryogenic particles, such as frozen carbon dioxide. The dimensions of these fan nozzles, sized for use with very high pressure ratios and with pressurized air supplies capable of delivering 350 CFM, unfortunately also suffer from a nonuniform distribution of abrasive media particles. Moreover, such nozzles using CO.sub.2 pellets as the abrasive media have, in paint removal from aircraft tests, too severely damaged underlying aircraft skins made of composite material or thin aluminum to be usable for such tasks.
Thus it is seen that there is a need for a nozzle for abrasive blast removal of coatings, particularly for use with softer media, that will better remove coatings from delicate metal and composite substrates faster, with less substrate damage, and with more precise edge control.
It is, therefore, a principal object of the present invention to provide an improved nozzle for abrasive blast removal of coatings that provides very high abrasive media particle velocities with a very flat particle velocity profile.
It is another principal object of the present invention to provide an improved nozzle for abrasive blast removal of coatings that provides a very uniform distribution of abrasive media particles.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved nozzle for abrasive blast removal of coatings that accomplishes the principal objects of the invention with conventional shop pressurized air supplies such as are used with prior art 1/2 inch nozzles.
It is a feature of the present invention that it can also work with much higher gas pressures than prior art nozzles designed for conventional shop pressurized air supplies, thus producing even higher, and more efficient, blast energies while preserving the objects of uniform particle distribution and velocity profiles.
It is another feature of the present invention that it can remove tough urethane topcoats from fiberglass aircraft components without removing all of the underlying gel coat primer.
It is an advantage of the present invention that it causes less residual stress damage to substrates than do prior art nozzles.
It is another advantage of the present invention that its efficiency and removal rate is far greater than prior art nozzles.
These and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent as the description of certain representative embodiments proceeds.

Supersonic fan nozzle for abrasive blasting media

The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Air Force


An enclosure and method for an electrical component having a base portion and a cover portion. The base portion has a first channel which extends about at least a portion of a periphery of the base portion. The cover portion has a second channel which extends about at least a portion of a periphery of the cover portion. The second channel is aligned with the first channel to form a sealant receiving channel. A sealant is provided in the sealant receiving channel. The cover portion has at least one inlet opening configured to receive the sealant as the sealant is injected into the sealant receiving channel. The cover portion has at least one outlet opening configured to allow excess sealant of the sealant to escape from the sealant receiving channel as the sealant is injected into the sealant receiving channel.

Sealed connectors or covers are used in many applications to protect the electrical terminals and electrical connections from undesirable or harsh environmental or occupational conditions. Many such connectors or covers use known silicone seals, of for example, 40-60 durometers, which are sensitive to positional and part tolerance variations. Consequently, manufacturing tolerances of the connector or covers must be precisely maintained, adding to the cost of production. In addition, if each connector or cover has multiple configurations, for example different points of exit for the wires or cable, different seals may need to be manufactured to accommodate a proper seal being made.
It would, therefore, be beneficial to provide an enclosure which has a channel design in which a highly compliant seal is injected to accommodate various different conductor configurations and positional irregularities.

Electrical component enclosure with injected seal and method


A liquid ejection apparatus includes a driving signal generating section which generates plural driving signals each having at least one or more driving pulses; a driving pulse selecting section which selectively combines the driving pulses of the driving signals with each other; and driving elements which are disposed to respectively correspond to plural nozzles, and which conduct a driving operation to eject liquid droplets from the nozzles on the basis of the combined driving pulses.

The present invention relates to a liquid ejection apparatus which can eject liquid droplets of different sizes from the same nozzle, and more particularly to a liquid ejection apparatus which can eject plural liquid droplets in one ejection period.
A liquid ejection apparatus is used in various apparatuses such as: a recording device which is useful in an image recording apparatus; a color material spraying apparatus which is useful in the production of a color filter for a liquid crystal display device; an electrode material (electrically conductive paste) spraying apparatus which is useful in the formation of electrodes in an organic EL display device, an FED (surface light emitting display device), or the like; a bio-organic substance spraying apparatus which is useful in the production of biochips, and a sample spraying apparatus serving as a precision pipette. An ink jet recording apparatus will be described as an example of a liquid ejection apparatus.
As an output apparatus for a computer, recently, a color ink jet printer in which inks of several colors are ejected from a print head is widely used for printing an image processed by a computer in multi-color and multi-gray scale levels.
An ink jet printer has a print head in which many nozzles are arranged in a sub-scanning direction (sheet feeding direction). The print head is moved in a main scanning direction by a carriage mechanism, and a sheet is fed by a predetermined degree in the sub-scanning direction, thereby obtaining a desired print result. Based on a dot pattern data which is obtained by expanding a print data supplied from a host computer, ink droplets are ejected at respective predetermined timings from the nozzles of the print head, and the ink droplets impact a print recording medium such as a recording sheet to adhere therewith, whereby a printing process is conducted. As described above, in an ink jet printer, it is controlled whether ink droplets are ejected or not, i.e., a dot on/off control is conducted. When no countermeasure is taken, therefore, an intermediate gray scale such as gray cannot be printed out.
Recently, an ink jet printer is therefore used in which plural liquid droplets of different weights are ejected from the same nozzle to variably control the diameter of a recording dot. In a first related ink jet printer, for example, a common waveform generating device generates plural driving voltage waveforms corresponding to ink ejection amounts, one of the driving voltage waveforms is selected in accordance with a gray-scale data signal, and the selected driving voltage waveform is applied to a piezoelectric element (see JP-A-9-11457).
In a second related ink jet printer, by contrast, a driving signal which is output in each print period is configured by plural driving pulses, one or more of the driving pulses are time-divisionally selected by a print data having pulse selecting signals respectively corresponding to the driving pulses, and the selected driving pulses are applied to a piezoelectric element (see JP-A-10-81013).
In the first related example, analog switches of a transmission gate (hereinafter, referred to simply as TG) in a print head are required in a number which is equal to the product of the number of the driving voltage waveforms x that of nozzles. Therefore, an integrated circuit (hereinafter, referred to simply as IC) in which the TG is formed is inevitably increased in size. As a result, also the size of a print head is enlarged, and the production cost is raised.
In the second related example, the driving signal which is output in each print period is configured by plural driving pulses, one or more of the driving pulses are time-divisionally selected, and the selected driving pulses are applied to the piezoelectric element. Therefore, a head is hardly driven in accordance with a high frequency.

Liquid ejection apparatus, liquid ejection head thereof, and liquid ejection method


A mixing faucet (1) includes a casing (2) having a hot water inlet opening (24), a cold water inlet opening (23), and an outlet opening (28); a control valve element (3) slidably mounted in the casing (2); a temperature adjusting screw (7) rotatably disposed in the casing (2); a slider (6) sliding in the casing (2) through rotation of the temperature adjusting screw (7); a bias spring (5) disposed in the casing (2), between the control valve element (3) and the slider (6), and biasing the control valve element (3) toward the cold water inlet opening (23); a temperature sensing spring (4) which biases the control valve element (3) toward the hot water inlet opening (24); and a pull-up spring (10) for biasing the control valve element (3) toward the hot water inlet opening (24).

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a mixing faucet that is mounted to a bathroom spigot or the like and can discharge freely hot and cold water by mixing hot water and cold water, and more specifically relates to a mixing faucet that maintains the temperature of mixed water at a predetermined temperature by modifying the proportion between opening areas of hot water inlet openings and cold water inlet openings by displacing a valve body using a temperature sensing spring the elastic force of which changes in accordance with changes in the temperature of mixed water flowing inside.
2. Description of the Related Art
Known conventional mixing faucets include (for instance, JP 2006-307971 A) a mixing faucet wherein a hot water inlet opening and a cold water inlet opening are opened in succession, spaced apart in the axial direction, in the peripheral wall of a bottomed tubular casing, from the bottom toward an opening side that constitutes an outlet opening; a control valve element slidably disposed inside the casing is brought to a balanced state by being wedged between a bias spring and a temperature sensing spring in the form of an SMA (shape memory alloy) spring; and the properties of the SMA spring are exploited in such a manner that when there rises the temperature of mixed water, being a mixture of hot water and cold water, the biasing force of the SMA spring on the control valve element is increased, whereby the balance with the bias spring is upset and the opening area of the hot water inlet opening is reduced, and the control valve element slides so as to increase the opening area of the cold water inlet opening; and conversely, when the temperature of mixed water drops, the biasing force of the SMA spring on the control valve element is reduced, whereby the balance with the bias spring is upset and the opening area of the hot water inlet opening is increased, and the control valve element slides so as to reduce the opening area of the cold water inlet opening; so that, as a result of the foregoing, the mixed water was kept at a predetermined temperature.
The mixing faucet using an SMA spring as a temperature sensing spring is problematic in that in a cold water discharge state, arrived at through closing of the hot water inlet opening and opening of the cold water inlet opening alone by means of the control valve element, the temperature of cold water flowing through the interior drops, as a result of which the elastic force of the SMA spring decreases, and thus the hot water inlet opening is harder to close. In the mixing faucet of JP 2006-307971 A, a pull-up spring is provided in the bottom side within the casing, so that the decrease in elastic force of the SMA spring that accompanies a drop in the water temperature is compensated through the action of the biasing force of the pull-up spring on the control valve element during a cold water discharge state.
The mixing faucet using an SMA spring as a temperature sensing spring was advantageous in that it afforded a compact mixing faucet since the SMA spring by itself functions as an actuator, but was problematic in terms of cost, since the material of the SMA spring is expensive. Costs can be significantly cut by reducing the wire diameter and the number of turns of the SMA spring as much as possible, but SMA springs have a weaker biasing force than ordinary coil springs, and there are also limitations to the extent to which wire diameter and number of turns can be reduced.


A frequency divider circuit is responsive to first and second digital input signals and an input clock signal for providing an output clock signal operating at a frequency equal to that of the input clock signal divided by the ratio of the first and second digital input signals. A register is initialized to a predetermined digital value for providing a first digital output signal. The first digital input signal is subtracted from the first digital output signal to form a second digital output signal for the first logic state of a digital control signal; otherwise the second digital output signal is set equal to a least significant portion of the first digital input signal for the second logic state of the digital control signal. The second digital output signal and the second digital input signal are added together for providing the next value of the first digital output signal which is stored back in the register to repeat the cycle. A most significant portion of the first digital output signal provides the digital control signal. The first logic state of the most significant bit of the first digital output signal also enables the output clock signal in sync with the input clock signal.

This invention relates in general to frequency dividing circuits, and more particularly, to a fractional frequency divider for providing an output clock signal operating at a frequency equal to that of the input clock signal divided by the ratio of two integer values.
The need to generate a lower frequency clock signal from a higher frequency timing base signal is common in many of the electronic arts. In the field of data communications, for example, common operating frequencies for transmitting data over a modem link are 1200, 2400 and 9600 baud which may be realized by dividing a 1.152 MHz input clock signal by 960, 480 and 120, respectively. The conventional technique for generating the lower frequency output clock signal typically involves decrementing a counter preset to an integer value N once for each period of the input clock signal, hereinafter referred to as linear frequency division. The output clock signal remains logic zero until the counter reaches zero at which time the linear frequency divider generates one pulse and reloads the counter with the integer N. Thus, the linear frequency divider produces one output period every N input periods, i.e., the input clock is divided by N. The 1.152 MHz input clock signal is typically developed via a dedicated crystal oscillator designed specifically for such data communication purposes. It would be desirable to eliminate the 1.152 MHz crystal oscillator thereby simplifying the system design and reducing the manufacturing costs. This could be accomplished by using another high frequency clock signal, say a 10 MHz microprocessor clock already available in the system; however, in order to develop the appropriate operating frequencies, i.e., 1200, 2400 and 9600 Hz, the 10 MHz clock signal must be divided by the non-integer values 8333.33, 4166.67 and 1041.67, respectively. In practice, the high frequency timing base clock signal is typically divided in multiple steps of smaller increments per step to achieve the aforementioned operational frequencies.
Consequently, fractional frequency dividers have been developed to divide the frequency of the input clock signal by a non-integer value such as the ratio N/D where N and D are integers and N is greater than D. One such fractional frequency divider is the well known phase lock loop which can produce a virtually jitter free output clock signal having a predetermined frequency and duty cycle. However, many applications in data communications require synchronization between the edges of the input clock signal and the lower frequency output clock signal; a feature not available with phase locked loops. Furthermore, the phase lock loop is relatively complex and expensive to implement requiring substantial logic circuitry and a reference clock signal operating at a much higher frequency than even the input clock signal being divided. Hence, the phase lock loop is not a viable solution for many data communication applications because of the synchronization problems and excessive complexity.
Another fractional frequency divider may be achieved with the linear frequency divider wherein, for the example of a 7/2 (N=7, D=2) divider ratio, the frequency divider must generate two output pulses for every seven pulses of the input clock signal. For such an implementation, the output clock signal may remain logic zero for five decrements of the counter followed by alternating logic one and logic zero at the rate of the input clock signal during the next two consecutive cycles of the input clock signal thereby producing one longer period (six cycles of the input clock signal) and one shorter period (one cycle of the input clock signal) over the seven cycles of the input clock signal. The repeating output clock signal comprising alternating long and short periods is noticeably non-symmetrical and can be even more so with other divider ratios N/D, such as N=13 and D=5. Since the output clock signal is often applied as the input clock signal to another frequency divider circuit further downstream for providing the multiple division steps to reach the desired low frequency operational clock signal, the non-symmetry of the output clock signal can be a major problem in form of undesirable jitter in the operational clock signal.
Hence, what is needed is a frequency divider circuit for providing an output clock signal operating at a fractional frequency of the input clock signal while maintaining a substantially symmetrical output waveform thereby reducing the jitter for lower frequency operational clock signals generated therefrom.

Fractional frequency divider for providing a symmetrical output signal


A method and system for managing insertion operations in a recursive scalable template instance (RSTI) of an electronic data table having dimensions D1 and D2. The RSTI includes contiguous recursive element instances (REIs) ordered and aligned along D1. The REIs include scalable template instances (STIs). Contiguous elements are inserted, upon satisfying consistency condition(s), after or before an element in a first STI. The RSTI is structured according to an associated recursive scalable template (RST) that includes a recursive element (RE) including at least one scalable template (ST). Each STI is structured according to an associated ST. The contiguous elements are structured according to a first ST associated with the first STI. A size of the first REI along dimension D1 is adjusted according to a size of a largest STI in the first REI. All REIs of the RSTI remain contiguous without overlapping after the inserting and adjusting.

One essential value of electronic spreadsheets is to organize data into columns and rows, while automating tedious calculations. A typical, common, and valuable example of such a set of data organized into columns and rows is a range of cells. Even if a range of cells receives a formal and strict definition within electronic spreadsheet environments, it is flexible enough so that information can be included in either a single range of cells or in a set of several ranges of cells. Ranges of cells therefore are quite useful objects. A range of cell can be defined and processed as a whole entity. For example it can be copied from one place to another place within the spreadsheet or from one spreadsheet file to another spreadsheet file. Ranges of cells are widely used in applications developed in the field of electronic spreadsheets. Most often, the ranges of cells are arranged according to some kind of structure, thus becoming structured ranges of cells. The contents of each cell is defined within an element, where an element is defined as a row of a structured range of cells, and then the same kind of element is repeated a certain number of times, to store/process a variable number of information pieces. Most of the time, several instances of similar structured ranges of cells are used. In the current context where no other tool is really available, instances of such similar structured ranges of cells are frequently created through cut/copy and paste operations. In order to keep a high level of intellectual control over growing quantities of information, human being needs to organize or structure this information. The hierarchical model is often used, because allowing nested structures. A typical and well known example of such a hierarchical structure is the directory tree of computer Operating Systems, such as DOS or Microsoft Windows. The root directory may contain files and/or a number of directories, which may themselves contain files and/or a number of directories, which may themselves contain files and/or a number of directories, etc. Recursivity help structure the information and maintain intellectual control over it. This need for recursivity applies as well, in spreadsheet environment to structured ranges of cells. When several instances of structured ranges of cells are defined and used in an electronic spreadsheet file, they are often themselves structured according to a specific superstructure arrangement or "array of structured ranges of cells" which can be duplicated between different electronic spreadsheet files or even within a single electronic spreadsheet file. Within such an array of structured ranges of cells, it is common to find several structured ranges of cells which follow the same intermediate superstructure, and also some other structured ranges of cells following other intermediate superstructures. The array of structured ranges of cells may then be viewed as a set of aggregated intermediate superstructures of structured ranges of cells. In the current context of conventional electronic spreadsheets, instances of such arrays of structured ranges of cells are frequently created through cut/copy and paste operations.
Creating a new instance of a structured range of cells is complex and lengthy, particularly because a conventional range of cells shows strong limitations:                (i) structure information (such as number of columns, number of rows), format information (such as font style, color or border), and contents information (such as formulas or raw—or informative—data) are mixed,        (ii) the size of the range of cell is fixed at a given instant.
Therefore, when a spreadsheet user wants to create another range of cells with an identical structure, he/she needs to perform successively several operations. He/she needs to:    1. copy-paste an existing structured range of cells,    2. distinguish between areas containing raw—or informative—data and areas containing generic content such as formulas,    3. empty the copied structured range of cells of the copied raw data while trying to keep the structure, format and generic contents,    4. adjust the size of the structured copied range of cells to his new needs.    5. eventually, fill the raw data area with default values, in order to ease subsequent data entry.
Furthermore, before copying and pasting a structured range of cells, the user must prepare the place for the copied structured range of cells, with the risk of overwriting, and therefore loosing the preexisting information at the destination location. This chain of operations rapidly becomes tedious, lengthy and prone to error, especially when manipulated structured ranges of cells increase in size and complexity.
Updating a structured range of cells is also very often complex, lengthy and prone to error. Such updates include additions of new elements and modifications of existing elements. Several types of modifications can be performed without any specific problem in an electronic spreadsheet environment. However, this is not the case for some modifications, for instance for insertions. For example, if a row is added by means of a conventional function such as the spreadsheet row insertion method, the created row will be empty. This means that the value for every cell of every element needs to be entered. Entering data or executing copy/paste operations represents an important workload for the user, while the content of each element is known to a certain extent, and should follow the general structure of the structured range of cells. Moreover, normal spreadsheet functions such as the row insertion function may jeopardize the contents of some neighbour elements. A good example of an insertion jeopardising neighbour elements is the insertion of a row in a range of cells in which, on every row, a cell such as C17 or more generally (Cn), is pointing to a cell in the previous row, through a formula such as C16+B17, or more generally (Cn−1)+(Bn). After row insertion between rows 16 and 17, the formula in cell C18 becomes C16+B18 instead of the generic formula C17+B18, or more generally after row insertion between rows (n−1) and (n), the formula in cell (Cn+1) becomes (Cn−1)+(Bn+1) instead of the generic formula (Cn)+(Bn+1). As a second example, there are cases where modifications must be done consistently throughout the structured range of cells. Today, this can only be done using specific copy-paste operations applied to the exact area to be modified. This may prove to be very difficult, especially when manipulated structured ranges of cells increase in size and complexity.
When recusivity is involved, creating a new instance of an array of structured ranges of cells is even more complex and lengthy, particularly because an array of structured range of cells involves a twofold level of structure:                At the lower level a set of multiple, and even different, instances of structured ranges of cells must be created. As previously mentioned, this operation is itself complex, lengthy and prone to error due to the limitations of conventional ranges of cells.        At the higher level, the creation of an instance of an array of structured range of cells would require that the spreadsheet user carry on several operations:                    1. Identify an existing instance of an array of structured ranges of cells, used as a reference for creating the new instance.            2. Prepare the place, at the destination location, to hold the new instance, at the risk of possibly overwriting, and then loosing, any preexisting information.            3. Copy-Paste the reference instance of the array of structured range of cells onto the destination location.            4. Adjust the structure of the newly created instance of an array of structured ranges of cells to his/her new needs, by either deleting or introducing within the array one or several intermediate superstructures of instances of structured ranges of cells.            5. Clean the content of each instance of structured ranges of cells comprised within the array.            6. Eventually fill each instance of structured ranges of cells with the relevant default values.
Updating an array of structured ranges of cells is also very often complex, lengthy and prone to error. Indeed such update may involve either the introduction of new objects within the array of structured ranges of cells, or the modification of existing objects within the array of structured ranges of cells. The first difficulty is to determine whether the user wants to modify an existing structured range of cells comprised within the array of structured ranges of cells (for example by adding a row within an existing structured range of cells), or modify the array of structured ranges of cells (for example by adding an intermediate superstructure). In the first case, such a modification, as already seen, is by itself a risky operation. In the second case, the complexity of the operation is further increased by the amount of information and the hierarchy of structures to be manipulated. The conventional tools available in electronic spreadsheet environment do not assist the user handling such alternatives, so that any user error during the chain of operation may be difficult and lengthily to recover.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,033,009 entitled "System for generating worksheet files for electronic spreadsheets" Steven J. Dubnoff, Mar. 3rd, 1989, is an interesting document of prior art. This invention develops the concepts of pattern data and variable data that may be integrated to generate a worksheet file through a worksheet file generator. However, this invention shows many limitations preventing it from solving the set of issues presented here above and, in particular:                It aims at producing a new output spreadsheet from a set of two input files, while there is a need, within a user application environment, to create and manipulate new entities within an existing electronic spreadsheet file, that the user is familiar with.        It contains no mechanism allowing the direct update of the output spreadsheet, other than the regular spreadsheet tool.        It contains no capability to manipulate within the same spreadsheet file, a variable number of different structures and a variable number of instances of each of those structure. The granularity is limited to the spreadsheet file, while the required granularity is that of a structured range of cells.        The so called "file format specification" really mixes structure information (such as number and relative position of columns and rows), presentation information (such as font, color, background, etc.), contents information (such as formulas, etc.).

System and method in a data table for managing insertion operations in recursive scalable template instances

International Business Machines Corporation


A balcony railing anchor arrangement for a balcony that has a wooden support and a wooden deck on the wooden support. A first metal plate on the wooden deck has threaded holes, and a moisture barrier covers the wooden deck. A lag bolt extends downward from the metal plate through the wooden deck and secured in the wooden support to secure the metal plate onto the wooden deck and the wooden support. Threaded studs extend upward from the holes in the first metal plate. Concrete can be poured on the moisture barrier and the first metal plate and a second metal plate with a post for a railing on the balcony can be mounted atop the concrete by aligning holes in the second metal plate with the studs.

The present invention relates to an improvement in mounts for railings, especially on balconies and more especially on balconies made with wood substrates and having lightweight concrete tread surfaces.
Multifamily buildings often have balconies and, where code permits, are often framed with wood. The supports for the balconies extend outward from outer building walls and are often made of wood such as 2×10's. The supports have a wooden deck (particularly plywood or chipboard) topped with a lightweight concrete.
The balconies also need to have railings to protect occupants of the finished dwelling. Aluminum is a preferred railing material for durability and light weight. The railings need to be strong enough to prevent impacts from dislodging the railings from the balcony and, in the balconies discussed above have conventionally been anchored to the wooden support and deck in order to have a strong base.
This form of construction has been found to be cost-effective. An important precaution, though, is that the wooden support and deck must be shielded from water ingress. Penetrating water causes early failure and needs to be avoided.
Usually, a shield to prevent water from getting to the wood is installed, and conventional railing anchors with affixed posts are mounted to the deck so they extend upward as what the trade calls a "missile." Then the concrete is poured. However the missile acts as a large protuberance that can cause its own problems. Workers building the dwelling often use the doorway to the balcony to move construction materials into the building and to remove debris. During those movements, the materials or the worker may collide with the missile, dislodging it and damaging the water-tight seal. Repairing such damage is quite expensive. Thus, there is a need in the art for an improved railing support for a wooden balcony having a lightweight concrete tread surface.


A folding camera of the self-developing type having a housing containing a film cassette, the housing being movable into and out of an erected picture taking position in which an end of the film cassette is exposed to ambient light. A shade having a laterally extending opening therein dimensioned to permit the passage therethrough of a film unit is mounted on the housing for movement between a first position, wherein the opening is in alignment with a film exit slot in the film cassette when the housing is in a collapsed position, and a second position wherein the shade prevents entry of ambient light into the film cassette via its slot when the housing is moving into and out of an erected position.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a folding camera having a shade for preventing the entry of ambient light into a film cassette located within one of the camera's main housings while an end of such housing is exposed to the ambient light during a portion of a photographic exposure cycle.
2. Description of the Prior Art
One of the more desirable features of a camera is its compactness, and thus a large number of today's cameras are of the folding or collapsible type. However, once such a camera is erected in preparation for the taking of a series of photographic exposures, the issue of compactness is again raised. What does one do with the relatively large erected camera between exposures? Should the photographer momentarily put it aside until he has had time to reposition the subject for the next exposure? Should the photographer continue to hold the erected camera during such repositioning of the subject, thus subjecting the lens to possible inadvertent contact by the photographer's finger(s)? It might be argued that this problem could be obviated by collapsing the camera after every exposure but then that solution would hardly be embraced by the casual photographer. Further, what of the tourist who wants to take one more exposure as the last of a group of such tourists is scurrying to board their tour bus? Will such a tourist have time to erect the camera, take the exposure, and then collapse the camera before the bus starts to pull away; or will he forgo collapsing the camera in order to board such bus thereby subjecting components of the erected camera, e.g., the lens and/or bellows, to damage during any jostling while boarding the bus? One practical solution is to provide such a camera which assumes the erected position only during a photographic exposure, and at the completion of such exposure automatically returns to its compact collapsed condition.
When the folding camera is of the type specifically designed for use with a film cassette containing a stack of instant film units, which film units are adapted to be sequentially removed from the film cassette via a laterally extending slot in a leading end wall thereof, other problems are presented. As is well known in the art, cameras of this type are generally referred to as instant or self-developing cameras and include pressure-applying means, e.g., a pair of superposed spread rollers, between which an exposed film unit is to be advanced for processing of its latent image. Thus, it is imperative that the path the film unit takes between the film cassette and the spread rollers be clear of any interfering structure. This does not create much of a problem where the film chamber containing the cassette and the spread rollers are part of the same structure. However, in the case of a folding camera where one of the movable housings contains the film chamber and another housing supports the spread rollers, a problem arises on how to protect the film in the film cassette from ambient light which would normally enter the cassette via its laterally extending slot when the movable housing is moving into or out of its erected position. Stated another way, since there cannot be any interfering structure between the end of this film cassette containing the slot and the spread rollers, then this would dictate that the housing containing the film chamber be open ended, and that this open end of the film chamber would be exposed to the ambient light as the housing moves into and out of its erected position.

Camera having film cassette hold back/film exit shade


A method for circuit modification of an microelectronic chip having at least one conductor in an organic dielectric, includes applying a protective inorganic surface layer on top of the organic dielectric, forming at least one window in the protective inorganic surface layer to selectively expose the underlying organic dielectric, etching the organic dielectric in the window area to selectively remove the organic dielectric adjacent to the conductor, and performing at least one process that modifies the conductor.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to repair or circuit modification of microelectronic chips particularly during manufacture. More specifically, chips having conductors, typically copper or aluminum, embedded in organic dielectric layers can be modified after the conductors have been formed. This organic dielectric layer is also variously described in the art by terminology such as low-k dielectric, spin-on glass, or spin-on dielectric.
2. Description of the Related Art
The Focused Ion Beam (FIB) tool is well known in the art for ion milling and has been used for chip analysis, modification, and repair. A typical conventional system utilizes bromine gas and a focused ion beam to selectively mill aluminum lines in a silicon oxide dielectric, a procedure that slices through the conductor to create an electrical open circuit. The complementary procedure of adding conductive material to create shorts or to connect two conductors is done by ion-assisted deposition of a metal such as tungsten from a gaseous metal precursor onto the area to be connected. This conventional method of creating electrical disconnections is not applicable to organic dielectric/metallization schemes because no gas is commercially available that ensures the complete removal of residual metal, such as copper, in the milled area. More important, ion milling utilizes charged ions that impregnate the organic dielectric to defeat electrical isolation.
Conventional methods using FIB milling concern aluminum lines in silicon oxide and does not work for tight pitch copper lines in low-k dielectric materials. Thus, until now no effective method exists to allow circuit modification of chips with organic dielectric layers. The disclosed technique overcomes the above mentioned problems of charged ions and residual metal by using a combination of selective dielectric removal and FIB milling.

FIB/RIE method for in-line circuit modification of microelectronic chips containing organic dielectric


A new and useful cabinet wall bed which contains a cabinet, a bed frame which is secured to the cabinet by a pivot bracket, a counterbalance piston and a unique leg-locking and supporting system. The bed frame is locked in its closed position by the leg-locking and supporting system wherein the leg-locking and supporting system is comprised of a combined handle and leg, a leg hinge, a locking bar, a compression spring support and an angle bar to engage the locking bar.

1. Field of Invention
This invention relates to wall beds. More particularly, this invention relates to a cabinet wall bed with a unique locking system for securing the bed within the cabinet.
2. Prior Art
Wall beds and wall-enclosed pieces of furniture are widely used where available space within a room is limited. For example, wall beds are frequently used in hotels, motels, or other such limited space facilities to provide sleeping accommodations without sacrificing floor space. This type of bed is generally provided with a rotation system that allows the bed to pivot upwards from its generally horizontal position to a generally vertical storage position adjacent to or contained within a wall. Because the weight involved in even a medium size bed can be considerable, counterbalancing mechanism is required to make it easier for a person to raise such a wall bed from its horizontal position to its storage position.
Numerous mechanisms have been designed to satisfy this counterbalance requirement. One such prior art arrangement uses torsion bar springs as the main element of the counterbalance mechanism. U.S. Pat. No. 3,877,086 discloses a parallel frame structure having one or a pair of vertically spaced beds mounted for pivotal movement between horizontal and vertical. Torsion bars extend within shafts of the bed and are connected at the outer end to the frame structure. These torsion bars are connected to the bed by mounting members that are movable to vary the lengths of the bars U.S. Pat. No. 3,116,494 discloses another wall bed arrangement with a box spring and mattress which is supported on a wall panel wherein a torsion bar assembly is used to enable the bed to be rotated between its storage and horizontal positions.
Other hidden or wall bed systems use other forms of spring or counterweight mechanisms which operate to support the bed as it is rotated from its horizontal to its vertical position. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,736,476 discloses a wall bed mechanism containing a series of springs extending from the lifting assembly to the support frame such that the spring mechanism is placed under tension as the bed rotates into the reclining position and relaxes as the bed rotates into the storage position, thereby assisting a user in storing the bed. Other forms of springs, coil springs and counterweights in wall beds are disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 416,010, 483,724, 598,841, 640,965, 2,672,624, 3,046,572, 3,097,369 and 3,464,070.
In addition, a counterbalance hinge for pivoting loads which might be useful with wall type beds is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,999,245.
Another method for supporting a wall bed and for assisting in moving that wall bed from the horizontal to the vertical position is by use of a piston. For example, the use of a gas filled piston for supporting and assisting in the movement of the wall bed is disclosed in a catalogue titled The Complete Hafele, published by Hafele America Company, dated July, 1985, page 2.59 through 2.61.
Many devices have been designed to counterbalance wall beds. However, no effective devices have been designed which secure them in their closed position consistently. Generally speaking, there has been little concern about the method of securing wall beds within their cabinets because the tension bar, counterweight or spring mechanism which holds the bed vertical has generally provided sufficient support for the bed. However, in modern hotels or motels more security and safety is required to protect the patrons of the facility from an undesired opening of the wall bed.
Another feature of the wall beds that has remained generally unchanged for many years are the legs which support the wall beds. Conventional hinged or pivot-type legs have been used, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 640,965, 483,724, 3,097,369 and 3,046,572. The Hafele bed, previously disclosed, uses legs which are retracted from the bed, rotated 90.degree. and hidden within the surface of the bed frame. No attempt has been made to use these supports as anything other than legs for the bed. In addition, these legs as currently designed have no decorative value.
An additional feature not present in prior art wall beds is a simple, inexpensive system to lock the wall beds in a closed position.
Accordingly, it is an object of the invention to disclose a useful, inexpensive, easy to produce cabinet wall bed.
It is an additional object of the invention to disclose a cabinet wall bed whose rotational movement is limited by a counterbalance piston.
It is an additional object of this invention to disclose a unique leg-locking and supporting system which will both support the end of the cabinet wall bed and, in addition, lock the wall bed securely in place in its vertical position.
These and other objects of the invention will be apparent to those knowledgeable in the field from a consideration of the following detailed description, drawings and claims. The description, along with the accompanying drawings, provide a selected example of construction of the device to illustrate the invention.


An input method editor (IME) provides a distributed platform architecture that enables associating multiple applications with the IME to provide extended functionalities. The presentations of the applications, such as skins, may be different from each other and that of the IME. The applications may be represented in a manifest file that is human-readable and editable. The IME collects multiple parameters relating to a user input into a host application including a query input by the user and a scenario of the host application, and selects one or more applications to provide candidates based on a score or ranking of the applications under the collected multiple parameters. Machine-learning may be used to improve the score or ranking. The candidates may include text candidates, rich candidates, and informative candidates.

A conventional input method editor (IME) is a computer application that assists a user to input text at a computing device. An IME may provide several input candidates based on a received input from the user. The input and the provided text candidates may be the same language or different languages.
For example, the user may input one or more initial English characters of a word or phrase and an IME, based on the initial characters, provides one or more complete words or phrases for the user to select a proper one. For another example, an IME may also assist the user to input non-Latin characters such as Chinese. The user may input Latin characters through a keyboard. The Latin characters may be a spelling of the Chinese characters. The IME returns one or more Chinese characters based on the spelling to the user to select a proper one. As the current keyboard usually only supports inputting Latin characters, the IME is useful for the user to input non-Latin characters.
The input candidate selected by the user can be inserted into various other computer applications, such as a chatting application, a document editing application, a gaming application, etc.
Typically, the conventional IME only provides input candidates in the form of text, and a single source is typically used to identify the input candidates, regardless of the type of application with which the IME is being used.

Input method editor application platform


An alarm or detector is provided and includes an alarm board assembly configured to perform one or more of alarm and detection operations and a communication module including an antenna configured to communicate with one or more other alarms and detectors. At least one of the alarm board and an alarm ground are isolated from a communication ground and the communication module and the communication module is isolated from a power source.

The following description relates to alarms and, more specifically, to an alarm with enhanced radio performance by isolation of a radio from alarm components.
Alarms and detectors (hereinafter referred to as "alarms" for clarity and brevity) usually have various electrical components like sensors, batteries, power supply circuitry, sounders, speakers, etc. In some cases, alarms also have communication devices, such as radio communicators or modules with antennae that operate in sub-GHz frequencies. These communications devices allow groups of alarms to communicate with one another in a wireless manner. For such a grouping of alarms to conduct such wireless communications, each alarm has to be within range of at least one other alarm. It has been found, however, that the various electrical components can impede the performance of the communications devices and thus reduce the effective range of some alarms.
In particular cases in which an alarm is equipped with a radio module with an antenna, the radio antenna helps in achieving an effective range of wireless communication for the alarm. Nevertheless, the range is still affected at certain orientations of the alarm (this is depicted on polar plots referenced below). These dips in range can result in the alarm being unable to meet communications range requirements that are set by local standards.

Alarm with enhanced radio performance by isolation of radio from alarm components


There is provided a position calculating method including: calculating a pseudorange by receiving a satellite signal from a positioning satellite; and calculating a position using a normal mixture distribution model which expresses distribution of an error included in the pseudorange with normal mixture distribution.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a position calculating method and a position calculating device.
2. Related Art
A GPS (Global Positioning System) is widely known as a positioning system using a positioning signal, and is used for a position calculating device built into a mobile phone, a car navigation apparatus, or the like. The GPS performs a position calculation operation for calculating a timepiece error and the position coordinates of a position calculating device on the basis of information, such as the positions of a plurality of GPS satellites or a pseudorange from each GPS satellite to the position calculating device.
As the position calculation operation using a satellite positioning system, a position calculation operation using a so-called least square method of minimizing the sum of the squares of the errors (hereinafter, referred to as "an error of the pseudorange"), which may be included in the pseudorange, using the pseudoranges calculated for a plurality of satellites is known (for example, refer to JP-A-2009-97897).
In general, the position calculation operation using the least square method is an effective technique when approximately calculating a timepiece error and the position coordinates of a position calculating device when the number of positioning satellites, which have been successfully captured, is larger than the number of unknowns (in an overdetermined state). However, the position calculated using the least square method is not necessarily reliable.
If an error of the pseudorange can definitely be regarded as white noise at all times, the position calculated using the least square method may be reliable. Mathematically speaking, this is a case where the distribution of error of the pseudorange follows normal distribution (Gaussian distribution). However, this is just an ideal case.
In a satellite positioning system, various errors may be included in the measured pseudorange due to various error factors. A typical example thereof is a multi-path. In a so-called multi-path environment, a satellite signal reaches a position calculating device through two or more paths. A signal that the position calculating device receives is a signal (multi-path signal) in which indirect wave signals, such as a reflected wave reflected from buildings or the ground, a transmitted wave transmitted through an obstacle, and a diffracted wave diffracted by an obstacle, are superimposed on a direct wave signal which is a satellite signal transmitted from a positioning satellite. The indirect wave signal reaches the position calculating device with a path length which is larger than that of the direct wave signal. Due to the influence of the indirect wave signal, an undetermined error which does not follow the normal distribution may be included in the pseudorange measured by the position calculating device.

Position calculating method and position calculating device


A lithographic apparatus comprises a system. The system comprises a first part, a second part and an energy absorbing element. The second part is configured to move relatively to the first part. The system has a gap located between the first part and the second part during an operation mode of the system. The energy absorbing element is for absorbing energy between the first part and the second part when the first part and the second part crash onto each other in a failure mode of the system. The energy absorbing element is outside the gap.

A lithographic apparatus is a machine that applies a desired pattern onto a substrate, usually onto a target portion of the substrate. A lithographic apparatus can be used, for example, in the manufacture of integrated circuits (ICs). In such a case, a patterning device, which is alternatively referred to as a mask or a reticle, may be used to generate a circuit pattern to be formed on an individual layer of the IC. This pattern can be transferred onto a target portion (e.g. including part of, one, or several dies) on a substrate (e.g. a silicon wafer). Transfer of the pattern is typically via imaging onto a layer of radiation-sensitive material (resist) provided on the substrate. In general, a single substrate will contain a network of adjacent target portions that are successively patterned. Conventional lithographic apparatus include so-called steppers, in which each target portion is irradiated by exposing an entire pattern onto the target portion at once, and so-called scanners, in which each target portion is irradiated by scanning the pattern through a radiation beam in a given direction (the "scanning"-direction) while synchronously scanning the substrate parallel or anti-parallel to this direction. It is also possible to transfer the pattern from the patterning device to the substrate by imprinting the pattern onto the substrate.
Lithographic apparatus may have actuators which exert a force between a first part provided with a stator, and a second part provided with a mover. There may be a gap between the stator and the mover. During a failure of the apparatus, there is a risk that the mover may crash on the stator.

Lithographic apparatus comprising an actuator, and method for protecting such actuator