A touch display apparatus and a touch position mapping method thereof are provided, by mapping a touch position detected by a touch module to a display area of a display module according to one fitting function, so that a touch position on the display area of the display module may be determined according to a mapping result.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a touch display apparatus and a touch position mapping method thereof. More particularly, the invention relates to a touch display apparatus employing one fitting function and a touch position mapping method of said touch display apparatus.
2. Description of Related Art
With an advancement of semiconductor technologies, human beings by degrees tend to rely on electronic products. The electronic products such as mobile phones, handheld personal computers (PCs), personal digital assistants (PDAs) and smart phones have pervaded everywhere in our daily life. Some of the electronic products may integrate touch panels into display panels, so as to enable users to have relatively large display frames in a simple operation mode in consideration of restricted volumes of the miniature electronic products. The integration of the touch panels and the display panels results in a formation of a touch display panel. The touch display panel combines displaying function of a display panel and operating convenience of a touch panel. Therefore, the touch display panel has gradually become a standard equipment of many electronic devices.
Generally, a touch display panel includes a display panel and a touch panel. By disposing the display panel to overlap with the touch panel, based on the touch position detected by the touch panel, the display panel may display a corresponding screen or an electronic device using the touch display panel may execute a corresponding operation. FIG. 1 is an overlapping schematic view of a display panel and a touch panel. As shown in FIG. 1, a size of a display panel 102 is generally smaller than a size of the touch panel 104. However, a border area of the touch panel 104 does not include a touch-sensing functionality. Therefore, a touch area of the touch panel 104 is practically smaller than the area of the touch panel 102, namely, a touch area of the touch panel may not cover the entire area of the display panel 102.
Generally, the touch area on the touch display panel may be divided into a center touch area where most of touch operations from users are performed, and a border touch area where relatively fewer operations are performed. While having more error tolerance to the border touch area, the system manufacturer demands a higher accuracy in manufacturing the center touch area.
Since a relative relation of a touch-sensing unit of the touch panel 104 and a pixel unit of the display panel 102 is not a one-to-one correspondence, and the touch area of the touch panel 104 is smaller than the display area of the display area 102, such that computations may be required in order to match the touch position on the touch panel 104 to a corresponding position on the display panel 102. In conventional art, the mapping of the touch positions of the touch panel and the display panel is usually performed by using two independent functions, in which the two functions respectively define a portion of position range for position-mapping. Although said method may acquire a correct relative relation from most of the touch area, when the touch position falls on a boundary of the position ranges defined by the two function, the touch position of the touch panel 104 may not be accurately mapped to a corresponding position on the display panel 102, thereby affecting operative quality of the touch display panel.

Touch display apparatus and touch position mapping method thereof


A system and method for removing carbon dioxide from a gas stream. One aspect of the method includes introducing a carbon dioxide containing gas stream to an absorber; contacting the gas stream with an amine-containing solvent; absorbing, with the amine-containing solvent, the carbon dioxide from the gas stream, thereby removing the carbon dioxide from the gas stream; and forming a precipitate with the amine-containing solvent and the carbon dioxide.

Combustion of fossil fuels typically produces an exhaust gas stream (commonly referred to as a "flue gas stream") that contains contaminants, such as carbon dioxide (CO2), sulfur oxides (SOx), nitrogen oxides (NOx), mercury, and carbon containing species, as well as particulate matter such as dust or fly ash. To meet requirements established under certain laws and protocols, plants that burn fossil fuels subject the resultant flue gas stream to various processes and systems to reduce or eliminate the amount of contaminants present in the flue gas stream prior to releasing the flue gas stream to the atmosphere.
In one example, carbon dioxide is removed from a gas stream by introducing the gas stream to an absorber column ("absorber") in a counter current flow with a solvent. Contact between the solvent and the gas stream allows the solvent to absorb and thus remove the carbon dioxide from the gas stream. The gas stream that is free of the carbon dioxide may be further processed while the carbon dioxide rich solvent is regenerated for further use in the absorber tower.
When using reactive solvents, such as amines, ammonia, ionic liquids, alkali carbonates, etc., for carbon dioxide removal, the solution reactions between the solvents and the carbon dioxide are usually exothermic. Exothermic heat of reaction cannot be eliminated from the carbon dioxide removal process and efficient carbon dioxide removal is inherently accompanied by an exothermic reaction. Even though the amount of heat generated in the removal of the carbon dioxide is equal to the heat which must be added to the regenerator for breaking the bonds and freeing the carbon dioxide from the solvent, much of the heat generated by the exothermic reaction is lost, for example, by being carried out of the absorber by the gas stream. Additionally, the increase in the temperature within the solvent acts to reduce the equilibrium solubility of carbon dioxide, and hence, reduces removal capacity in the absorber. Interstage cooling has been employed to minimize these effects.
A disadvantage of known methods and devices that have been used to reduce the temperature in the absorber and the energy used in the absorption and regeneration system is that these methods often require reconfiguration of the absorber, expenditure of capital, and plant shut-down. Additionally, previously developed and used systems have not taken full advantage of the heat energy created in the absorber.

Method and system for low energy carbon dioxide removal


A tarpaulin side kit for use with a separate top cover in covering a load on a vehicle having a flat bed and a plurality of post brackets mounted at spaced apart locations along the periphery of the flat bed. The side kit includes a plurality of longitudinally arranged inverted U-shaped bows, a plurality of side posts, and a plurality of side cover sections formed of a flexible, sheet-like tarp material. The side cover sections each have a plurality of pocket sized to receive the posts and support the side cover sections from slipping down on the posts. A weather flap extends along the length of each of the side cover sections and overlies the flat bed to protect the load from weather. A plurality of stake extensions are also provided to permit use of the side kit with higher standing loads. The bows, side posts and stake extension are conveniently stored in carries mounted to the underside of the bed of the vehicle.

Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an improved cover system for flat bed vehicles and, more particularly, to a tarpaulin type cover system which may be erected and removed as desired to cover or uncover the space above the flat bed.
Flat beds trailers have been used for many years to haul a wide variety of loads. The flat bed facilitates loading onto the trailer as there are no walls to restrict or impede access thereon. However, in order to protect and/or contain the loads, it is often desirable to erect a structure covering the top and sides of the load. For such purposes, many flat bed trailers are provided with stake bodies on which may be erected rigid sidewall assemblies and a fabric tarpaulin type top cover. Usually the sidewall assemblies, which are known as side kits, include a number of wooden posts or stakes, wooden side boards, a wooden headboard panel, and a wooden tailgate panel. The posts are received in rectangular shaped brackets which are mounted at regular intervals along the length of the flat bed and receive the side boards. The posts are provided with a socket at the top end to receive inverted U-shaped bow members of metal construction which extend over the load between the sidewalls formed by the sideboards. The fabric top cover extends over the bows and overlaps the sidewalls, with tie down ropes being used to secure the top cover to the flat bed.
A significant disadvantage of the cover system just described is its weight. It is estimated that the weight of a side kit for a 48 foot long flat bed trailer having 1/2 inch thick panels and sideboards is approximately 640 pounds. This is a significant amount of extra weight, especially given the fact that quite often the side kit is not being used but must nevertheless be stored on the trailer. Excess bulk and weight can also be a significant disadvantage to a truck driver as the driver cannot count on the availability of any assistance in erecting or removing the cover system.
In the past, tarpaulin cover systems have been devised to cover both the top and sides of a flat bed trailer, thereby avoiding certain disadvantages associated with conventional cover systems employing wooden side kits. However, such systems have other disadvantages which have prevented any of these systems from coming into widespread use. For example, many of these types of cover systems employ mechanical retraction and extension systems which are themselves expensive, heavy and/or unreliable.


In a high speed complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) inter-integrated circuit (IC) chip communication system, transmission line voltage swings between logic high and logic low levels are reduced by defining minimum and maximum bus voltages which lie between CMOS logic levels, thus lowering bus transition and hence data transfer times. The system is versatile, and does not involve typical emitter-coupled logic (ECL) logic levels. Transceivers interfacing between IC chips and the backpanel transmit data in the reduced logic level range on a pre-charged transmission line, and receive and convert data back to CMOS levels. A limiting transistor in the transmitter portion of the transceiver limits logic low level of the transmission line. The receiver portion of the transceiver converts the voltages received to CMOS levels with the aid of a differential (sense) amplifier.

Integrated circuit (AC) chips using complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) technology have advantages when compared to those using emitter-coupled logic (ECL) technology. Among the advantages are lower power consumption and hence lower cooling requirements, and lower construction cost. However, CMOS chips are inferior to ECL chips in both intra-chip and inter-chip (backpanel) operation speeds. The aforementioned advantages of ECL chips are mainly due to a lower voltage swing between logic low and logic high levels (-1.7 to -0.9 volts for ECL, 0 to 5 volts for CMOS), and fewer transmission line effects resulting from impedance matching.
Prior art CMOS data transfer systems exist for intra-chip communication which limit data bus swings to ECL levels, and employ CMOS-to-ECL converters, and vice versa. What is desired is a CMOS inter-chip data transfer system which not only limits voltage swings to increase data transfer speed, but which is also operable at logic levels other than the standard ECL levels (but falling between the CMOS levels), according to design choice.


An optical waveguide device having multiple functions or high performance, to improve the productivity of products, and to provide an optical waveguide device capable of suppressing deterioration of an operating characteristic of the optical waveguide device, including a thin plate 1 having a thickness of 20 μm or less, and at least an optical waveguide 2 formed in the thin plate. The thin plate is bonded and fixed to a supporting substrate 5 with an adhesive 4 interposed therebetween, and a film having a higher refractive index than the thin plate is provided on a surface of the thin plate bonded and fixed to the supporting substrate so as to be in contact with a part of the optical waveguide.

In an optical communication field or an optical measurement field, an optical waveguide device in which an optical waveguide or modulation electrodes are formed on a substrate having an electro-optical effect or the like has been often used in the related art.
In particular, since the amount of transmitted information tends to increase with the development of multimedia, it is necessary to widen a band of a light modulation frequency. In order to realize this, an external modulation method using an LN modulator or the like has been proposed. However, in order to widen the band of the LN modulator, it is necessary to realize speed matching between a light wave and a microwave, which is a modulated signal, and to reduce a driving voltage.
In order to solve the problems, it is known that a condition of speed matching between a microwave and a light wave is satisfied, and at the same time, a driving voltage is reduced by making a substrate thinner than in the related art.
In the following Patent Document 1 or 2, an effective refractive index of a microwave is reduced by providing an optical waveguide and modulation electrodes on a thin substrate (hereinafter, referred to as a 'first substrate') having a thickness of 30 μm or less and bonding another substrate (hereinafter, referred to as a 'second substrate') having a dielectric constant lower than the first substrate to the first substrate, such that the speed matching between the microwave and the light wave is realized and the mechanical strength of the substrate is maintained.    Patent Document 1: JP-A-64-18121    Patent Document 2: JP-A-2003-215519
In Patent Document 1 or 2, LiNbO3 (hereinafter, referred to as 'LN') is mainly used for the first substrate and a material having a lower dielectric constant than LN, such as quartz, glass, and alumina, is mainly used for the second substrate. In the combination of these materials, temperature drift or DC drift according to a temperature change occurs due to a difference between coefficients of linear expansion. In order to eliminate such problem, Patent Document 2 discloses that the first substrate and the second substrate are bonded to each other using an adhesive having a coefficient of linear expansion close to the first substrate.
On the other hand, use of the optical waveguide device is not limited to the light modulator described above. The optical waveguide device is requested to have multiple functions, for example, to be used as a diffraction grating or a variable wavelength filter. In addition, the optical waveguide device is also requested to have high performance, for example, to monitor a control state of the optical waveguide device or an optical integrated circuit, in which a plurality of optical waveguide devices are provided.
For example, in a variable wavelength filter, not only an optical waveguide or an electrode is provided in an optical waveguide device, but also a titanium oxide layer and unevenness need to be formed on the optical waveguide in order to form the refractive index distribution which periodically changes along the optical waveguide as disclosed in Patent Document 3 or 4.    Patent Document 3: JP-A-5-88123    Patent Document 4: JP-A-5-264809
Moreover, in the optical integrated circuit, optical waveguides need to be bent near an end of a substrate, and accordingly, a reflecting means, such as a green lens, needs to be arranged on the end surface of the substrate. In addition, in order to monitor a light wave propagating through the optical waveguide device, it is necessary to provide an optical waveguide or a directional coupler for monitoring.
Thus, in order to realize an optical waveguide device having multiple functions or high performance, the number of optical waveguides or electrodes provided in the optical waveguide device increases and various kinds of films, unevenness shape, and the like increase. As a result, the optical waveguide device itself becomes complicated. Furthermore, if the members described above are formed on the thin plate described above, the thin plate is easily damaged due to a difference between coefficients of thermal expansion of the thin plate and each of the members or due to mechanical or thermal stress distortion caused by the complicated shape of the thin plate. As a result, problems that yield of products decreases, unnecessary stress is applied to the thin plate and an operating characteristic of the optical waveguide device deteriorates, and the like occur.


A bipod support for a two-wheeler is provided which swivels about an axis extending in a transverse direction of the vehicle. For its operation, a foot lever can be swiveled about this swiveling axis from a first end position for the driving operation into a second end position for parking the two-wheeler. In this case, during the swiveling for placing the two-wheeler in an intermediate position, the bipod support touches the ground with both its feet and, starting from this intermediate position, the two-wheeler and the axis of the bipod support are swiveled about another swiveling axis along the connection line of the two ground contact points of the feet, until the bipod support has reached its second end position. One of the two feet of the bipod support, viewed in the longitudinal direction of the two-wheeler, projects farther toward the front than the other to thereby cause a temporary tilting of the vehicle toward the driver during parking operations.

This application claims the priority of German Priority application 101 12 655.7 filed Mar. 16, 2001, the disclosure of which is expressly incorporated by reference herein.
The invention relates to a bipod support for a two-wheeled vehicle. Preferred embodiments of the invention relate to a bipod support for a two-wheeler which is mounted on the two-wheeler swivellably about an axis extending in the transverse direction of the vehicle. For its operation by a foot lever can swivell the bipod support about this swiveling axis from a first end position for the driving operation into a second end position for parking the two-wheeler.
Two-wheeler supports are known which are called bipod supports or tilting stands. A tilting stand is normally constructed as a two-armed bearing block which, swivellably about a transverse vehicle axis, is mounted on the two-wheeler and supports the latter in its upright position in that a wheel is lifted off the ground.
For a better operability, some tilting stands are provided with foot levers which make it easier for the operator of the two-wheeler to reach the tilting stand and, as a result of the lever effect, the formation of a favorable point of application of force, etc., reduce the force to be applied by the operator to righten up the two-wheeler. German Patent Document 535 592 describes a tilting stand for motorcycles with a foot lever which can be reached from the motorcycle operator""s seat, which foot lever is mounted such that, when the wheel is raised, it rests with its free end on the road.
The foot lever aids the righting-up of the two-wheeler in that it can be loaded at its free end by the entire body weight, which generates a torque about the contact point of the tilting stand on the ground, which torque lifts up the two-wheeler, possibly aided by an upward-directed pulling force exercised by the operator at the two-wheeler.
When the operator of the two-wheeler loads the tilting stand by means of his body weight, he can only apply limited additional force for holding the two-wheeler in the vertical direction to prevent it from tipping over. Therefore, when the torque is applied to the foot lever by the driver, he has to make absolutely certain that the two-wheeler tilts as little as possible. When the ground is uneven or the road is inclined, this is not always possible, particularly if the vehicle is loaded, in which case a tilt of the two-wheeler directed toward the operator has a favorable effect for a stabilization during the righting-up on the tilting stand, while a tilt of the two-wheeler directed away from the operator can easily cause a tipping-over. Particularly, low-weight persons, will no longer be able to bring the two-wheeler back into the vertical position starting even at a relatively slight tilt in this direction. This applies not only to setting up the two-wheeler on the tilting stand but also to the so-called removal from the tilting stand for readying the two-wheeler for its operation.
It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a two-wheeler which makes it easier for the operator to prevent a tipping-over of the two-wheeler when the two wheeler is rightened up on the tilting stand and removed from the tilting stand under unfavorable conditions.
According to the preferred embodiments of invention this object is achieved by providing a tilting stand for a two-wheeler which is mounted on the two-wheeler for swiveling about a first axis extending in a transverse direction of the vehicle. For its operation the tilting stand can be swiveled about this first axis by means of a foot lever from a first end position for the driving operation into a second end position for parking the two-wheeler. During the swiveling for placing the two-wheeler in an intermediate position, the tilting stand touches the ground with both of its feet and, in this intermediate position, the two-wheeler and the axis of the tilting stand are swiveled about a second swiveling axis which connects the two ground contact points of the feet, until the tilting stand has reached its second end position. One of the two feet of the tilting stand, viewed in the longitudinal direction of the two-wheeler, projects farther toward the front than the other.
This arrangement has the advantage that, for the righting-up of the two-wheeler and for its removal from the tilting stand, the latter is swiveled to a side by a defined angular range, a slight tilt of the two-wheeler directed toward the operator of the two wheeler creating a force application position which is favorable for the operator, which force application position contributes to the simple operability of the tilting stand when stabilizing the two-wheeler during the righting-up on the tilting stand and the removal from the tilting stand.
In an advantageous embodiment of the invention, the right foot projects farther toward the front. This has the advantage that during the righting-up on the tilting stand and during the removal from the tilting stand, the two-wheeler is swiveled toward the left to the side by a defined angular range. After the driver, as customary, has mounted the motorcycle and dismounted from the motorcycle from and onto the left side and also operates the tilting stand from there, a slight tilt of the two-wheeler toward the left is favorable for a force application position of the operator of the two-wheeler, as a result of which a tipping-over of the two-wheeler can easily be avoided.
Other objects, advantages and novel features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the invention when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

Bayerische Motoren Werke Aktiengesellschaft


When an air bag body beings to expand due to gas flowing from an inflator into the air bag body, a left side folded piece and a right side folded piece which have been folded into concertinas expand quickly to thrust laterally to the left and right. Vent holes are located to be exposed in upper faces of the folded pieces. Accordingly, the gas can flow out from the interiors of the folded pieces through the vent holes as soon as the folded pieces begin to expand.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a passenger seat air bag which is installed in an instrument panel in front of a passenger seat of a vehicle. Particularly, it relates to a passenger seat air bag in which the bottom side of an air bag body is rolled, next the top side of the air bag body is rolled, and then the left side and the right side of the air bag body are folded. In addition, the invention relates to a passenger seat air bag apparatus provided with the passenger seat air bag, and a vehicle provided with the passenger seat air bag apparatus.
2. Related Art
A passenger seat air bag has been disclosed in Patent Literature 1. In the passenger seat air bag, the bottom side of an air bag body is rolled to form a bottom side folded piece. Next, the top side of the air bag body is rolled and put on the bottom side folded piece so as to form a laminated piece. Then, the left side and the right side of the laminated piece are rolled to form a left side folded piece and a right side folded piece respectively so that a space is formed between the left side folded piece and the right side folded piece.
The top side represents a part composing the upper side of the air bag when the air bag is completely inflated, and the bottom side represents a part composing the lower side of the air bag when the air bag is completely inflated. On the other hand, the left and right represent the left and right of a passenger on a passenger seat.
In this Patent Literature 1, as shown in FIG. 1, vent holes are provided in the middle in an up-down direction and on the leftmost side and the rightmost side. Thus, the vent holes are involved in the left side folded piece and the right side folded piece.
A passenger seat air bag which is configured so that a diffuser is placed in an air bag body so as to regulate the flow of gas from an inflator has been disclosed in each of Patent Literatures 2 and 3. In Patent Literature 2, the direction of the flow of gas from the inflator is regulated in the left-right direction by the diffuser. In Patent Literature 3, gas outlets provided in the diffuser (referred to as inner bag in Patent Literature 3) are displaced in the up-down direction or the left-right direction from the direction right behind the vehicle so as to inflate the air bag softly for a passenger on the passenger seat or a child in front thereof.

Passenger seat air bag, passenger seat air bag apparatus and vehicle


According to at least one embodiment, an organic light-emitting component includes a substrate, a first electrode arranged on the substrate, and a second electrode. An organic light-generating layer stack is arranged between the first and second electrodes and includes a first organic OLED functional material. A first organic coupling-out layer is in optical contact with the organic light-generating layer stack and includes an organic material containing a second organic OLED functional material. One of the first and second electrodes is translucent, and the first organic coupling-out layer is arranged on that side of the electrode that faces away from the organic light-generating layer stack.

In organic light-emitting components, in particular in organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs), the generated radiation is only proportionally coupled out directly. By way of example, waveguiding effects of a transparent substrate arranged in the beam path of the component (so-called external modes), waveguiding effects in the organic layers and a translucent electrode (so-called internal modes), absorption losses on account of materials through which generated radiation passes, and the formation of surface plasmons, in particular at a metallic electrode, for example, the cathode, as loss channels can lead to light losses. Without technical assistance, such light cannot be coupled out from the OLED.
Hitherto, in order to increase the coupling-out of light, by way of example, films having surface structures have been applied to the outer side of the substrate or the outer side has been structured in order to improve the coupling-out of external modes (so-called external coupling-out). With these measures, in particular conventional films on the outer side of the substrate, which largely consist of polymers, only a coupling-out efficiency of approximately 60 to 70% of the light guided in the substrate can be achieved, however. The light guided in the substrate corresponds to approximately 25% of the total light generated in the component. With these conventional devices, internal modes can scarcely be coupled out or cannot be coupled out at all. Furthermore, these measures adversely influence the appearance of the OLED since, as a result of the scattering, a milky or diffuse surface characterizes the appearance of the component in the switched-off state (so-called off-state appearance).

Organic light-emitting component and method for producing an organic light-emitting component


A power module includes a number of sub-modules connected via removable jumpers. The removable jumpers allow the connections between one or more power semiconductor die in the sub-modules to be reconfigured, such that when the removable jumpers are provided, the power module has a first function, and when the removable jumpers are removed, the power module has a second function. The removable jumpers may also allow for independent testing of the sub-modules. The power module may also include a multi-layer printed circuit board (PCB), which is used to connect one or more contacts of the power semiconductor die. The multi-layer PCB reduces stray inductance between the contacts and therefore improves the performance of the power module.

Power modules are standalone devices that may perform a variety of functions in a power converter system. For example, power modules may include any number of switching components necessary to form boost converters, buck converters, half-bridge converters, full-bridge converters, or any portion thereof. Conventional power modules have generally used power converter circuitry with silicon (Si) switching components. While effective in many applications, using power converter circuitry with silicon switching components generally limits the switching frequency at which the power converter circuitry can operate. This in turn necessitates the use of larger magnetic components, which may drive up the cost of a power converter system. Further, the efficiency of silicon switching components is limited, which may result in unnecessary energy expenditure in the power converter system.
Conventional power modules are generally single-purpose devices that do not lend themselves to repair or re-working. A conventional power module may include a number of power semiconductor die that are permanently attached to a power substrate and connected as desired to one or more electrical connectors. Due to the permanent nature of the connections to the power semiconductor die, conventional power modules can usually only be used for a single specific function for which they were designed (e.g., in a boost converter, a buck converter, a half-bridge converter, or a full-bridge converter). Further, if one of the power semiconductor die fails, the entire conventional power module usually must be replaced.
A number of important performance metrics of a power module (e.g., gate control loop inductance and power loop inductance) are determined by the layout of the power semiconductor die and the routing between the contacts thereof and one or more electrical contacts. While improvements to these aspects of power modules are continually evolving, there is significant room for improvement.


There is provided a mechanism for converting rotary motion into linear motion in which high positioning accuracy can be obtained in mutual conversion between rotary motion and linear motion. The mechanism includes a plurality of rollers having a roller annular groove member and a pair of thrust bearings, a thrust bearing portion that is convex shaped and is held between the pair of thrust bearings on an outer surface of an end of the roller shaft, a step surface that is disposed on an inner surface of the roller annular groove member and facing to the thrust bearing portion putting one of the pair of thrust bearing in between, a thrust facing member that is in mesh with an inner surface of the roller annular groove member and is facing to the thrust bearing portion putting the other one of the pair of thrust bearing in between.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a mechanism for converting rotary motion into linear motion that mutually converts between rotary motion and linear motion, and relates to a lifting device that converts rotary motion of a rotary drive source such as a motor to linear motion for linearly driving an object.
2. Description of the Related Art
For example, in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open 2007-120658 (FIG. 2 and FIG. 11), there is proposed a mechanism for converting rotary motion into linear motion including, a rod having a threaded portion constituting its outer surface, a holder member disposed on the outer surface of the rod so as to be rotatable and movable in an axial direction relative to the rod, and a plurality of rollers that is supported rotatably on the holder member having a plurality of annular grooves that is in mesh with a threaded portion on an outer surface of the roller, and converts the rotation of the roller (holder member) into linear motion of the rod by the mesh.
In such a mechanism for converting rotary motion into linear motion, it is required, for example, to improve positioning accuracy in linear motion converted from rotary motion.
Accordingly, it is an objective of the present invention to provide a mechanism for converting rotary motion into linear motion that mutually converts between rotary motion and linear motion with high positioning accuracy, and to provide a lifting device that is equipped with the mechanism for converting rotary motion into linear motion.

Mechanism for converting rotary motion into linear motion and lifting device


A video poker machine configured to allow a player to play a card game includes at least one display device, at least one input device, and at least one computer configured to display at least a first hand and a second hand of at least five cards all face up, each hand including the same five cards. A player is provided an option to play a hand by selecting none, one or more than one of the face up cards from the first hand and the second hand and any additional hands as cards to be held. Each of the cards not selected to be held are discarded from each hand and replaced with a face up card. The player is provided a pre-established amount based on the amount of a wager made on the hand if the resulting cards of the hand comprise a predetermined poker hand ranking.

This invention relates primarily to electronic video poker games, and more particularly to electronic video poker games that are based on poker hand rankings and that allow the player to discard and replace unwanted cards with replacement cards. The present invention has many versions with the common thread being that cards are duplicated from an initial hand of cards into one or more additional hands to allow the player the opportunity to play one or more cards from the starting hand of cards multiple times. The invention also involves features which may apply to casino table games as well.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


The present disclosure relates to a semiconductor substrate and a method for making the same. The semiconductor substrate includes an insulation layer, a first circuit layer, a second circuit layer, a plurality of conductive vias and a plurality of bumps. The first circuit layer is embedded in a first surface of the insulation layer, and exposed from the first surface of the insulation layer. The second circuit layer is located on a second surface of the insulation layer and electrically connected to the first circuit layer through the conductive vias. The bumps are directly located on part of the first circuit layer, where the lattice of the bumps is the same as that of the first circuit layer.

1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to a substrate and a manufacturing method thereof, and more particularly to a semiconductor substrate and a manufacturing method thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a conventional semiconductor substrate, the outermost circuit layer is embedded in a surface of an insulation layer of the substrate, and exposed from the surface of the insulation layer. As an exposed surface of the circuit layer may be coplanar with the surface of the insulation layer, during bonding to a flip chip, if warpage occurs on the circuit substrate, part of bumps (for example, solder balls) of the flip chip may not contact the circuit layer, causing an open circuit, resulting in product failure.
A solution is forming bumps (for example, copper pillars) on the exposed surface of the circuit layer, and then bonding to the flip chip. However, bumps formed in the existing manners have a problem of offset, that is, the bumps cannot be located right on the pads of the circuit layer, but may cover part of the surface of the insulation layer. Such situation is unallowable when the distance between circuits is closer and denser, because it easily results in that the bumps of the flip chip simultaneously contact the offset bump and adjacent pad or trace thereof, to cause a bridge, resulting in produce failure.

Semiconductor substrate and method for making the same

Advanced Semiconductor Engineering, Inc.


A microwave integrated circuit, includes: a dielectric substrate having a signal line on a front surface of the dielectric substrate and a mount pad disposed adjacent to an end of the signal line in a longitudinal direction of the signal line; a semiconductor chip having an upper electrode and a lower electrode provided on opposite surfaces of the semiconductor chip, the lower electrode being mounted on the mount pad; a bonding block connecting a bottom surface of the bonding block to the end in the longitudinal direction of the signal line; and a wiring member configured to bond the upper electrode of the semiconductor chip and a top surface of the bonding block together.

This application is based upon and claims the benefit of priority from prior Japanese Patent Application P2002-87509 filed on Mar. 27, 2002; the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a microwave integrated circuit, more specifically, to a structure of a microwave integrated circuit using a chip element.
2. Description of the Related Art
Along with utilization of quasi-millimeter-wave and millimeter-wave bands in recent years, a microwave integrated circuit which can operate efficiently in these bands has been in demand.
A mounting structure of an earlier microwave semiconductor device inside a microwave integrated circuit will be described by use of FIG. 1. FIG. 1 is a view showing an example of a microwave detection circuit in which a detector diode is used as a semiconductor chip 101 and the detector diode is bonded to a microwave transmission line such as a microstrip line.
A lower electrode 103 of a semiconductor chip 101 is soldered to a mount pad 116 with a gold-tin solder or the like. The mount pad 116 is connected to a ground plate 118b of a microstrip line formed on a rear surface of a dielectric substrate 115 through a via hole (not shown) and is thereby grounded. An upper electrode 102 of the semiconductor chip 101 is bonded to a point C on a signal line 118a of a microstrip line formed on a front surface of the dielectric substrate 115, with a bonding wire 111 such as a gold wire. Moreover, in order to provide the semiconductor chip 101 with a direct-current bias, a direct-current bias circuit unit 119 and the signal line 118a are bonded together through a relay bonding pad 117 with bonding wires 111, such as gold wires, having a sufficiently large inductance.
In the detection circuit, a microwave signal is inputted from the signal line 118a, and a detection output is obtained at the direct-current bias circuit section 119. Firstly, an input signal is propagated on the impedance-matched signal line 118a. However, an impedance mismatch occurs at the point C, which is a bonding point to the semiconductor chip 101. The mismatch is due to an influence of the inductance of the bonding wire 111. Accordingly, a standing wave is generated in response to the input signal, and the input signal is thereby attenuated.
In order to reduce the influence of the inductance of the bonding wire 111, the upper electrode 102 of the semiconductor chip 101 and the signal line 118a may be bonded with a shorter distance therebetween. However, a practical length of the bonding wire 111 cannot be short enough because of structural and manufacturing restrictions. Therefore, attenuation of the input signal attributable to generation of the standing wave cannot be avoided. Consequently, the input signal cannot excite the semiconductor chip 101 sufficiently, and it is difficult to obtain a desired detection output.
FIG. 2 shows one example of a voltage standing wave ratio (VSWR) with regard to a frequency of the input signal when observing the semiconductor chip 101 from the point C. Similarly, FIG. 3 shows a Smith chart which exemplifies a frequency locus of an input impedance when observing the semiconductor chip 101 from the point C.
In the case where a pin diode is substituted for the semiconductor chip 101 in the mounting structure in FIG. 1, a voltage standing wave is generated because of the existence of a similar impedance mismatch, and a signal is thereby attenuated.
It is desirable that the value of the VSWR may be in a target range close to 1, and no greater than 2. However, as shown in FIG. 2, the influence of the inductance of the bonding wire 111 increases the VSWR to exceed 2 along with an increase in the frequency over 25 GHz. Particularly, the value exceeds 3 in a millimeter-wave band at 30 GHz and above, whereby signal loss inside the circuit is increased and operation of the integrated circuit becomes impossible. Moreover, in the case when the VSWR is improved by adding an impedance matching circuit, the input impedance at the side of the semiconductor chip 101 as seen from point C has a high inductive impedance at 30 GHz and above as exemplified in FIG. 3. As a consequence, a matching method associated with parallel connection of capacitance components, which is frequently used in the microwave band, is not easily applicable and composition of such a matching circuit becomes difficult.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a microwave integrated circuit which can lower the VSWR inside the integrated circuit even in a quasi-millimeter-wave or millimeter-wave band.
A first aspect of the present invention inheres in a microwave integrated circuit and includes: a dielectric substrate having a signal line on a front surface of the dielectric substrate and a mount pad disposed adjacent to an end of the signal line in a longitudinal direction of the signal line; a semiconductor chip having an upper electrode and a lower electrode provided on opposite surfaces of the semiconductor chip, the lower electrode being mounted on the mount pad; a bonding block connecting a bottom surface of the bonding block to the end in the longitudinal direction of the signal line; and a wiring member configured to bond the upper electrode of the semiconductor chip and a top surface of the bonding block together.
A second aspect of the present invention inheres in a microwave integrated circuit and includes: a dielectric substrate having first and second signal lines on a front surface of the dielectric substrate, the first and second signal lines aligned on a longitudinal direction, and a mount pad disposed between facing ends of the first and second signal lines in the longitudinal direction; a semiconductor chip having a first electrode disposed on a bottom surface of the semiconductor chip and second and third electrodes disposed on a front surface of the semiconductor chip, the first electrode being mounted on the mount pad; bonding blocks connecting bottom surfaces of the bonding blocks to the respective facing ends of the first and second signal lines; and wiring members respectively configured to bond the second and third electrodes of the semiconductor chip and top surfaces of the bonding blocks together.


A door lower molding that has a main body molded of a synthetic resin by extrusion. The main body is fixed along a lower end of a door of a vehicle. The main body has a seal lip extended thereon, which closely contacts a rocker molding of the vehicle body when the door is closed. A core made of a synthetic resin is embedded in the main body. The seal lip may be covered on its outer side with a skin which has a flaw resistance characteristic and on its inner side with a sealing layer including silicone to prevent freeze-sticking to the vehicle body.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a door lower molding, particularly to a door lower molding that is fixed along a lower edge of a door of a vehicle so as to shut off a gap between the door and a car body.
2. Description of Related Art
FIG. 4 shows such a door lower molding. This door lower molding is a surface-mounting type which is secured directly to the door.
FIG. 4 is a cross sectional view of the door lower molding. In this figure, the left side illustrates the inside of the car and the right side illustrates the outside of, the car.
As shown in the figure, the door lower molding 51 has a main body 52 which is disposed along a lower edge of a door D. The main body 52 is fixed by screws (not shown) or an adhesive double coated tape with an upper portion closely contacted to an inner surface of the door D. The main body 52 is made by extruding a polyvinyl chloride resin (PVC). A lower portion thereof has a reversed L-section that is bent toward a cabin space of the car. An insert 53 is embedded into the lower portion along its full length for a reinforcement. The insert 53 is made of a stainless steel into the reversed L-section. The insert 53 has both of its lateral ends folded in order to improve its strength or binding force with the main body 52. A shoulder 54 is projected from an outside of the lower portion of the main body 52 along its full length. The shoulder 54 touches the lower end of the door D from below so as to position the main body 52 to the door D.
A seal lip 55 slants downward from the lower part of the main body 52 for its full length.
When the door D is closed, as shown by a two-dot chain line, the seal lip 55 is warped and has an inner surface of its leading end closely contacted with a rocker molding R which is arranged at the body B side of the car. Thus, the seal lip 55 shuts a gap between the door D and the rocker molding R, thereby blocking intrusion of mud or dust into the cabin space, shielding road noise, preventing clothes of passengers from becoming dirty during ingress and egress, etc.
The door lower molding 51 weighs too much since the main body 52 is embedded with the stainless steel insert 53. Therefore, it is not suitable for achieving the lighter car weight that has been requested especially in recent years.
In manufacturing, molding 51 needs a bending step for each end of the insert 53, a coating and drying step of an adhesive on the bended insert 53, etc. Thus, it requires many production steps. Also, it is necessary to add equipment for bending both ends of the insert 53. Consequently, production costs may be unreasonably high.
Since the door lower molding 51, being fixed on the lower end of the door D, is in a position very close to the road, it is inevitable that small stones or the like are rolled up and hit the outside thereof while the car is running. Accordingly, scratches or flaws may soon be made on the molding, thereby affecting its appearance, even if the main body 52 is molded of the PVC that has a comparatively good resistance to such damages.


Disclosed are methods, systems, and articles of manufacture for using pattern matching with an integrated circuit layout including recognizing shapes within the IC layout, identifying features for the shapes, and extracting situations for the respective features. The method may further include simulating the situations to determine a set of situations for modification based on an OPC requirement, modifying the set of situations to improve satisfaction of the OPC requirement, and reintegrating the modified set of situations into the IC layout. The method may also include simulating a subset of the extracted situations to determine aerial images of the subset, and tiling the subset of situations to form a larger aerial image. The method may also include removing overlap from a window based on the situations extracted for the window, calculating a density for each of the situations, and calculating a density for the window based on the density.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to systems, methodologies and techniques for improving design for manufacturability of integrated circuits and semiconductors, and more particularly relates to systems, methodologies and technologies for the analysis and transformation of integrated circuit layouts using situations.
2. Description of the Related Art
Traditionally, semiconductor design for even modestly complex semiconductors has involved the use of a series of masks, layered one on top of the other, to represent the completed design, where each mask represents a processing step. The impact of even small errors in the design of a single mask can propagate to the complete failure of an entire design. It has therefore become important that the design of individual masks be optimized against such errors even before fabrication of the semiconductor begins.
To avoid such costly errors, a typical semiconductor manufacturer implements a fairly complex set of layout analyses and transformations (or modifications) to improve the yield of their designs and minimize the design errors of individual masks. Today's integrated circuits can typically contain eight or more metal layers and two poly layers, which translates into several dozen mask layers. A modern design with 50 million transistors can contain more than a billion shapes. GDSII layout files can reach sizes in excess of 100 Gigabytes (GB) after traditional optical proximity correction features are added and the geometry is flattened. The computational load of performing analyses and transformations on modern IC layouts keeps growing.
Additionally, as diffraction-limited optical systems have become implemented in semiconductor manufacturing, what is printed on the wafer may not be what was designed on the mask. One such error is typically referred to as an optical proximity effect. One technique that has been developed for identifying optical proximity effects that will require a transformation of the layout is optical proximity correction, or OPC. OPC is typically either rule-based or model-based. Rule-based OPC involves automatically altering a feature depending on a list of predetermined rules, and generally uses a geometric algorithm to find a particular feature type. This feature is then automatically changed, based on the rule. Model-based OPC uses a fast simulation technique to predict how a mask feature will appear on the wafer (i.e., based on the simulated, optical characterizations of the manufacturing equipment). Iterative modifications are made until an acceptable error exists between the designer's intent and the simulated wafer feature.
The OPC problem is significant for its complexity. Most algorithms become easier to perform each year as CPU speed is constantly increasing. However, OPC involves using today's processors to design tomorrow's processors, which means that the problem complexity scales with the speed to today's processors. In fact, the OPC complexity may scale more quickly than the current CPU speeds are increasing because of additional factors such as an increasing number of mask (i.e., metal) layers. Since the OPC problem involves storing a dynamic polygon database, tens or hundreds of GBs of memory are likely needed for good performance. These figures roughly double with each technology generation.
Thus, what is needed are systems and techniques that allow broader, yet efficient, means to perform computationally intensive transformations and analyses, such as OPC, on IC layouts as semiconductor feature size decreases and mask designs become more numerous and complex.


A medical instrument for dissecting human and/or animal tissue comprises a shaft, a first tool and a second tool at a distal end of the shaft, the first tool and the second tool cooperating in the manner of a punch by means of an axial relative movement with respect to one another, and at least one of the tools comprising a cutting element which is arranged in such a way that it forms, with the other tool, a punch area that defines a plane which, with a longitudinal axis of the shaft, forms an angle in the area of the distal end of the shaft. The distally arranged tool tapers convexly in diameter toward the distal end in the longitudinal direction of the shaft, the external contour lines of the distally arranged tool intersecting, when viewed in a section through a longitudinal central plane, at an angle smaller than 160°.

The present invention generally relates to the field of medical instruments for dissecting human and/or animal tissue.
Such an instrument is known, for example, under order numbers 651050, 651055, 651060 or 651065 from the German catalog "Endoskope und Instrumente für HNO" [Endoscopes and instruments for ENT], 6th edition, Janurary/2000, from Karl Storz GmbH & Co. KG.
The instrument for dissecting tissue is an instrument for detachment of tissue, for example of hard tissue and/or bone, in particular a tissue punch.
Surgical instruments of this kind are used in the context of minimally invasive surgery for detaching hard tissue or bone in the human or animal body, usually under endoscopic visual control. For this purpose, instruments of this kind have an elongate shaft at whose distal end at least one movable tool is arranged which interacts with another movable or immovable tool at the distal end of the shaft in order to detach tissue.
Surgical instruments whose tools cooperate with one another on the basis of an axial relative movement have the advantage that the effective diameter of the instrument does not change upon opening and closing of the tools. As a result, damage to the surrounding tissue or surrounding bone by opening and closing of the tools is avoided.
By virtue of the fact that the effective diameter of the instrument does not increase upon opening and closing of the tools, such instruments can also be used in smaller body apertures than can those instruments which have tools opening like forceps.
Such tissue punches are therefore preferably used in ear, nose and throat surgery (ENT surgery) in which the smaller effective diameter of the instrument is of great advantage.
Such instruments have a shaft at whose distal end two tools are arranged. Of these two tools, at least one is axially movable relative to the second tool. In the known instrument, at least one of these two tools has an approximately circular cutting element on the side facing toward the second tool. By means of their axial relative movement with respect to one another, the two tools act in the manner of a punch. In this case, the at least one cutting element defines a punch area which is approximately at right angles to the longitudinal axis of the shaft in the distal area thereof.
During use of these instruments, however, it has been shown that high loads can occur in small areas of the cutting elements of the instrument, especially when cutting through bone lamellae which are at an angle to the punch area. It has been found that this can lead to damage of the cutting surfaces or even to breaking-off of metal pieces from the cutting elements. These metal parts that have broken off are extremely sharp-edged and remain in the patient's body. These metal pieces left behind may migrate through the tissue and may cause not inconsiderable damage there. This is extremely dangerous for the patient, especially in the area of ENT surgery.
The operational safety of the known instruments is thus not guaranteed.
The patent specification U.S. Pat. No. 5,582,618 discloses a surgical instrument with a shaft at whose distal end two tools are arranged, of which one tool is axially displaceable relative to the second tool. These two tools each have a straight cutting element on an upper edge. A straight punch line is defined by these cutting elements.
The disadvantage of these instruments is that they only permit cutting along a straight punch line. Cutting about a partial circle, as is possible with the above-described instruments and as is desirable especially in ENT surgery, is not possible with such an instrument.
When an instrument of the type specified in the introduction is to be used for punching of bone lamellae, as is the case without limiting the general application of the instrument of the present invention, it is necessary first to push the distally arranged tools of the instrument through the bone lamella until the punch area comes to lie in the area of the bone lamella. The previously known instruments are not suitable for cutting through bone lamellae.

Medical instrument for dissecting tissue


A compact, high response regulating valve has a solenoid modulated armature and plunger construction. The solenoid assembly and armature minimize magnetic flux leakage by maintaining the armature in close proximity to the induced magnetic field. In one embodiment, the lightweight armature has a number of holes to increase the speed at which it may be modulated. Mounted to the armature is a regulator plunger which controls fluid communication between the valve's inlet and outlet ports. Normally spring-biased closed, the plunger uses a line seal to maximize flow with minimal longitudinal plunger movement. Plunger response time is enhanced by eliminating elastomeric friction (i.e., eliminating O-rings and replacing them with a number of notches about the plunger periphery). A conical seat and bevelled plunger provide an effective line seal.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the art of hydraulic control valves and applications therefor having severe space limitations. More specifically, the present invention relates to an improved hydraulic modulator control valve, used in connection with a device requiring a regulated flow of hydraulic fluid wherein the valve configuration has been significantly reduced in size to permit utilization in smaller mechanisms.
2. Description of Related Areas of Art
While no configuration either identical to this valve or designed to accomplish the same objects of this valve are known to the applicant, several devices are known which illustrate the principal operational characteristics of the device. U.S. Pat. No. 4,774,976 issued on Oct. 4, 1988, entitled "Modulating Hydraulic Pressure Control Valve And Assembly Method Therefor", and owned by Applied Power Inc. of Butler, Wis., illustrates a control valve which operates in generally the same manner as the present invention insofar as fluid flow is regulated by an armature which is magnetically controlled by an electric coil. This configuration, however, is inapplicable to many constructions because minimum valve size is limited by the various necessary elements disclosed therein.

High response, compact solenoid two-way valve


An apparatus is disclosed to monitor movement of a held object in a virtual reality system. The apparatus comprises a primary tracking system with a first sensor to monitor movement of the user's hand, and a secondary tracking system with a second sensor to monitor a position of the held object. The position is measured in relation to the hand movement.

Many computer applications, of interest to workstations in particular (e.g., computer-aided design (CAD), media, and entertainment) rely on precision input. Current virtual reality (VR) or augmented reality (AR) controller technologies are not well-suited to capturing the precise motions of the human hand.
The same numbers are used throughout the disclosure and the figures to reference like components and features. Numbers in the 100 series refer to features originally found in FIG. 1, numbers in the 200 series refer to features originally found in FIG. 2, and so on.

Tracking stylus in a virtual reality system

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


A DC-DC converter includes an Nch FET1 which is series connected between an input terminal and an output terminal, and an Nch FET2 which is connected between the output terminal side of the Nch FET1 and a ground terminal. On the output terminal side of the circuits, a smoothing circuit and a comparator circuit are connected. The output side of the comparator circuit is connected to an on-time limiter circuit, and the on-time limiter circuit is connected to an H/S driver circuit for controlling the Nch FET1 through an inverter and directly connected to an L/S driver circuit for controlling the Nch FET2. Here, when a switching control signal for turning on the Nch FET1 is input to the on-time limiter circuit from the comparator, the on-time limiter circuit detects a time in the on state and outputs a signal by which the Nch FET1 is temporarily off controlled.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates a DC-DC converter for step-down converting an input DC voltage to a DC voltage having a predetermined value, and more particularly, to a step-down ripple detection type self-oscillation converter.
2. Description of the Related Art
At the present time, low-voltage and high-current DC-DC converters are required because of the demand for computer power-supply circuits. As representatives of such DC-DC converters, PWM control converters and ripple detection type self-oscillation converters (hereinafter, simply referred to as ripple converters) are utilized. Among them, ripple converters have lately attracted some attention even though the later-developed PWM control converters have been overwhelmingly popular, because the response to load variations is good with ripple converters.
FIG. 5 shows a basic circuit of a ripple converter.
As shown in FIG. 5, in the ripple converter, a PNP transistor Tr1 defining a switching element and an inductor L01 which are series connected, are disposed between an input terminal 3 at which an input voltage Vin is input and an output terminal 4 at which an output voltage Vout is output, and a flywheel diode connected between the connection point of the PNP transistor Tr1 to the inductor L01 and the ground is provided. Furthermore, a comparator 10, in which a voltage in accordance with an output voltage Vout is input to a non-inverting input terminal, a reference voltage Vo is input to an inverting input terminal, and a switching control signal is output to the PNP transistor Tr1, is provided.
In such a ripple converter, while the PNP transistor Tr1 is in the off state, when the output voltage Vout becomes less than the reference voltage Vo, a low signal output from the comparator is input to the base of the PNP transistor Tr1 and the PNP transistor Tr1 is turned on. Then, the output voltage Vout increases such that the PNP transistor Tr1 is turned on. On the other hand, while the PNP transistor Tr1 is in the on state, when the output voltage Vout becomes greater than the reference voltage Vo, a high signal is output from the comparator and input to the base of the PNP transistor Tr1, and as a result, the PNP transistor Tr1 is turned off. Then, the output voltage Vout is reduced such that the PNP transistor Tr1 is turned off. By repeating such a control operation, the output voltage Vout goes up and down around a voltage that is close to the reference voltage Vo and an output voltage Vout which substantially equal to the reference voltage Vo is obtained.
In a practical circuit of such a ripple converter disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 9-51672, a ripple converter having a structure in which a switching element of a Pch FET and a choke coil are connected between an input terminal and an output terminal, and a diode is connected between the connection point of the Pch FET to the choke coil and the ground potential. Furthermore, in the ripple converter described in JP 9-51672, a comparator in which a voltage in accordance with an output voltage is input to an inverting input terminal and a reference voltage is input to a non-inverting input terminal and a drive IC which outputs a switching control signal to the Pch FET in accordance with the output voltage of the comparator are provided. Then, in this ripple converter, a desired output voltage is obtained from input voltage such that the output voltage is compared to a reference voltage and, based on the results of the comparison, the Pch FET is switched.
When compared with Nch FETs, Pch FETs have less desirable characteristics. So if the Pch FET is used in a synchronous rectification type ripple converter, the conversion efficiency is degraded. Therefore, a synchronous rectification type ripple converter using the Nch FET is required, instead of the Pch FET.
In such a ripple converter using an Nch FET, a higher voltage than the source voltage must be applied to the gate in order to drive the FET, and a bootstrap circuit shown in FIG. 6A is typically required on the control signal input side of the Nch FET.
FIG. 6A is a circuit diagram of a synchronous rectification type ripple converter using an Nch FET in which a related bootstrap circuit is provided, and FIG. 6B shows voltage waveforms at fixed points (point A and point B) in the circuit shown in FIG. 6A.
As shown in FIG. 6A, an Nch FET1 (hereinafter, referred to as an FET1) and an inductor L1 are series-connected between an input terminal 3 at which an input voltage Vin is input and an output terminal 4 at which an output voltage Vout is output. A bootstrap circuit including a bootstrap diode D0 and a bootstrap capacitor C0 which are series connected to each other is provided between the drain and source of the FET1. An H/S driver circuit 1 is connected to the gate of the FET1. The voltages at both ends of the bootstrap capacitor C0 are applied to the H/S driver circuit 1. The gate of an Nch FET2 (hereinafter, referred to as an FET2) is connected to an L/S driver circuit 2, the drain is connected to the connection point between the FET1 and the inductor L1, and the source is grounded. The L/S driver circuit 2 is connected between the input terminal 3 and the ground. Furthermore, a capacitor C1 is connected between the connection point of the inductor L1 to the output terminal 4 and the ground. Moreover, an illustration of a comparator which detects the ripple of an output voltage Vout and supplies a FET switching signal to the H/S driver circuit 1 and the L/S driver circuit 2 is omitted.
In such a ripple converter, the voltages having waveforms shown in FIG. 6B are generated at point B and point A in FIG. 6A, such that the output characteristics of the FET1 and FET2 are reversed and synchronized therebetween. When the FET1 is turned on at point A (the FET2 is turned off), substantially the same voltage as the input voltage Vin is supplied at point A, and, when the FET1 is turned off (the FET2 is turned on), approximately zero volts (ground potential) are supplied at point A. Then, a voltage obtained by subtracting the voltage drop in the bootstrap diode D0 from the input voltage Vin is applied to the bootstrap capacitor C0, so as to charge the capacitor C0. Therefore, at point B, when the FET1 is turned on (the FET2 is turned off), a voltage increasing above the input voltage Vin by the electric charge charged in the bootstrap capacitor C0 is generated, and, when the FET1 is turned off (the FET2 is turned on), a voltage obtained by subtracting the voltage drop in the bootstrap diode D0 from the input voltage Vin is generated.
In such a structure, as described above, since an increased drive control voltage of the FET1 is generated from the H/S driver circuit 1, such that the charged bootstrap capacitor C0 is discharged, the FET1 must be repeatedly turned on and off. That is, the FET1 is not continuously in the on state and the FET1 must be switched on and off at a certain duty factor. Moreover, a duty factor mentioned here represents the ratio, expressed by percentage, of the time that the FET1 is in the on state all of the time, that is, if the FET1 is constantly in the on state, the duty factor is 100%.
However, as shown in FIG. 5, the ripple converter does not include any circuit for controlling a duty factor and the duty factor cannot be effectively controlled in principle. Therefore, when the input voltage Vin is decreased, the output voltage Vout does not reach the reference voltage Vo, and the FET1 is constantly in the on state, then, as a result, the bootstrap capacitor C0 is completely discharged. When the bootstrap capacitor C0 is discharged, the voltage across the capacitor C0 cannot be increased, a voltage required for the gate of the FET1 cannot be supplied, and as a result, the FET, is turned off. Therefore, the output voltage Vout is further reduced.
Thus, when the output voltage Vout is reduced, as described above, a voltage cannot be supplied from the bootstrap capacitor C0. Accordingly, the FET1 cannot be turned on, and the output voltage Vout is further reduced. That is, the FET1 cannot be stably operated such that the bootstrap capacitor is completely discharged.


An upper vehicle body structure of a vehicle with a sun roof in which an edge of a roof panel at which the sun roof is installed may be connected to a center pillar positioned at a center among a plurality of pillars formed to extend in a height direction of the vehicle and arranged in a longitudinal direction of the vehicle, may include a ring reinforcement member attached to the roof panel so as to form a closed section with the roof panel, a gusset unit mounted under the center pillar and the ring reinforcement member, Wherein the sun roof may be connected to the gusset unit.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an upper vehicle body structure of a vehicle with a sun roof having improved strength of connection between a roof and a center pillar of a vehicle including a sun roof.
2. Description of Related Art
In general, a roof of a vehicle constitutes an upper portion of a vehicle room, is disposed in a longitudinal direction of the vehicle, and is connected to a plurality of pillars extending in a height direction of the vehicle to be supported.
In order to improve habitability of the vehicle room, a sun roof is installed in the roof, and the sun roof called a roof window includes an opening and a door opening/closing the opening in the roof.
When the opening is opened, an interior of the vehicle room communicates with the outside of the vehicle room through the opening, thereby giving openness to a passenger inside the vehicle room, and fresh outside air smoothly flows inside the vehicle room through the opening, thereby improving ventilation inside the vehicle room.
However, when the sun roof is installed in the roof, structural strength of the roof deteriorates, so that it is difficult to effectively respond to a side crash of the vehicle.
A method of connecting the sun roof with the roof and the pillars may be considered in order to complement a strength deterioration problem. However, in this case, there is difficulty because the method needs to simultaneously meet a free motion head foam (FMH) regulation for reducing head damage of a passenger if a crash of a vehicle occurs.
The information disclosed in this Background of the invention section is only for enhancement of understanding of the general background of the invention and should not be taken as an acknowledgement or any form of suggestion that this information forms the prior art already known to a person skilled in the art.

Upper vehicle body structure of vehicle with sun roof


A wiring board includes a first imprint layer having a first groove, a first conductive layer in the first groove, a second imprint layer on the first imprint layer and having a second groove and a contact hole, a second conductive layer in the second groove and the contact hole, a first terminal side conductive part constituted by the second conductive layer and including a first terminal and disposed to partially overlap the contact hole, a first non-terminal side conductive part constituted by the first conductive layer and not including the first terminal and disposed to partially overlap the contact hole, a second terminal side conductive part constituted by the second conductive layer and including a second terminal, and a second non-terminal side conductive part constituted by the second conductive layer and not including the second terminal and joined to the second terminal side conductive part.

Electronic devices such as tablet laptop computers and portable information terminals have recently been becoming mounted with touch panels (touch screen sensing modules) for the purpose of enhancing operability and usability. A known example of a touch panel is disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication (Translation of PCT Application) No. 2015-509255. A touch screen sensing module disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication (Translation of PCT Application) No. 2015-509255 includes a first base plate, a first conductive layer, a second base plate, a second conductive layer, and a support substrate. A first groove of a predetermined shape is defined on one side of the first base plate. The first conductive layer is shaped in conformance with the first groove, and the first conductive layer is accommodated in the first groove. A second groove of a predetermined shape is defined on one side of the second base plate. The second conductive layer is shaped in conformance with the second groove, and the second conductive layer is accommodated in the second groove. The first conductive layer and the second conductive layer are shaped in conformance with the first groove and the second groove, respectively. This eliminates the need for etching to obtain an electrode in forming a conductive layer, thus making it possible to avoid wasting materials and reduce costs.
In the touch screen sensing module disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication (Translation of PCT Application) No. 2015-509255, a first electrode lead wire is formed in the same first groove as the first conductive layer, and a second lead wire is formed in the same second groove as the second conductive layer. That is, since the first electrode lead wire and the second electrode lead wire are placed on the first base plate and the second base plate, respectively, a design needs to be made with such consideration that the first electrode lead wire placed on a lower level is not covered by the second base plate placed on an upper level. For this reason, the ranges of placement of the first electrode lead wire and the second electrode lead wire tend to be so wide that a frame width is great. Further, the difference in level between the first electrode lead wire and the second electrode lead wire makes it difficult to mount an external component that is connected to the first electrode lead wire and the second electrode lead wire.

Wiring board, display device, and method of producing wiring board


A power delivery system includes a rotary transformer having a primary winding and a secondary winding and configured to transfer power between stationary coupling elements on a stationary side and rotational coupling elements on a rotational side. The rotational coupling elements share a central axis with the stationary coupling elements, and are adapted to rotate with respect to the stationary coupling elements. The power delivery system includes an isolation transformer that drives the primary winding of the rotary transformer, and a plurality of power inverter stages whose outputs are adapted to be summed and coupled to the rotary transformer. A plurality of output power converters receive transmitted power from the rotary transformer. A plurality of control elements, disposed on the rotating side, are configured to close a feedback loop on desired and actual performance of the output power converters, and to control the power inverter stages.

The next generation of medical computed tomography (CT) equipment may have to address increasing demands for operational modalities and reduced patient dose. Modalities such as real-time cardiac imaging may require faster rotational speeds, and high voltage responses with higher peak powers. Increased power may require more disc space for increased tube cooling and more space for the traditional high voltage power supply. It is desirable to provide solutions to these challenges that do not place excessive constraints on a CT design. The need for reliable performance at higher rotational speed and power may require a new approach to rotational high voltage power generation.

Non-contact rotary power transfer system


On condition that output of a torque of not lower than a preset reference torque from a motor continues for at least a predetermined time period in a vehicle stop state with output of a corresponding torque from the a second motor based on a detected accelerator opening, a torque command of the second motor is set to decrease the output torque of said motor by a torque decrease rate, which is set according to the corresponding torque and the accelerator opening in the vehicle stop state (initial accelerator opening). After a changeover of a current crowding phase in the second motor, the torque command of said motor is set to increase the output torque of said motor by a torque increase rate, which is set according to the accelerator opening in the vehicle stop state.

One proposed structure of the vehicle includes an engine, a planetary gear mechanism having a carrier connected to a crankshaft of the engine and a ring gear linked with an axle, a first motor having a rotating shaft connected with a sun gear of the planetary gear mechanism, and a second motor having a rotating shaft connected with the ring gear of the planetary gear mechanism (see, for example, Patent Document 1).    Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. H11-215687
Another proposed structure of the vehicle is driven with output power of a motor (see, for example, Patent Document 2). In a vehicle stop state on an upslope with the accelerator opening kept at a substantially constant level, that is, in a current crowding state of the vehicle with concentric flow of electric current only in one specific phase among the respective coil phases of the motor, the output torque of the motor is decreased by a predetermined rate to move the vehicle back and release the vehicle from the current crowding state. Such control aims to restrict heat generation in the motor and in the driving circuit.    Patent Document 2: Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 20005-45863

Vehicle and driving system for vehicle installation


Technologies for intelligent traffic optimization include a directional flow server that receives dynamic traffic data from traffic infrastructure devices in a monitored region. The traffic data may include traffic volume data and traffic control status data. The server updates a dynamic layer of a high-definition map based on the dynamic traffic data. The high-definition map also includes a static layer and a directional flow layer. The server optimizes the directional flow in response to updating the dynamic layer. The directional flow layer is indicative of traffic direction associated with roads in the monitored region. The server may optimize each of several sub-regions and then optimize connection roads between the regions. The server may distribute the optimized directional flow layer to consumers such as traffic control devices, autonomous vehicles, and other subscribing devices. Other embodiments are described and claimed.

An autonomous vehicle is a vehicle capable of sensing a surrounding environment and navigating through the environment to reach a predetermined destination, typically without further input from a vehicle operator. To do so, the autonomous vehicle includes various sensors, such as lasers, radar, global positioning system (GPS), and computer vision technologies, to facilitate navigation. A vehicle control system incorporated within the autonomous vehicle may process the sensor data to identify appropriate navigation paths, obstacles, relevant signage, and other navigational data. Of course, some "autonomous" vehicles may be semi-autonomous and require operator input, confirmation, and/or oversight.
High Definition (HD) maps are highly precise maps (e.g., accurate to the centimeter-level) used by autonomous vehicles to support navigation of the vehicle. HD maps differ from typical navigation maps designed for vehicle operator viewing. For example, HD maps are more precise, have multiple layers of information, and may not be configured for visual display.
HD maps are typically provided to an autonomous vehicle by an HD map provider and communicated as tiles, which include navigation information for a particular area. However, many HD map providers utilize proprietary HD map solutions such that the HD maps are not interoperable across different HD map solutions and/or vehicle manufacturers. As such, autonomous vehicles cannot utilize HD maps from a non-subscribed HD map provider, which can result in a lack of HD map tiles for certain areas as different HD map providers may cover different areas. Additionally, the proprietary HD mapping solutions create difficulties in crowdsourcing HD maps as the protocol of communicating such data may be unknown to non-subscribed autonomous vehicles. Furthermore, the quality-of-service requirements may differ between HD map providers, which can create further difficulties in sharing HD maps and information.

Technologies for intelligent traffic optimization with high-definition maps


Disclosed herein is a framework for facilitating image-assisted diagnostic evaluation. In accordance with one aspect of the framework, imaging parameters used in acquiring a treatment image of a portion of patient anatomy are automatically recorded during an imaging examination. The treatment image may indicate at least one location of at least one treated site. During a follow-up examination, a follow-up image of the portion of the patient anatomy may be automatically acquired using the recorded imaging parameters. To assist evaluation of treatment results, the treatment image with the indicated location of the treated site may be overlaid over the follow-up image.

Stem cells are naturally used by the human body to facilitate healing damaged tissues. When a human body is injured, stem cells travel to an injured site and transform themselves into the type of cells damaged to substitute for the damaged cells. Stem cells are able to renew themselves through mitotic cell division and to differentiate into a diverse range of specialized cell types. Overall, stem cells do a good job to heal most damage. Unfortunately, for heart disease cases, stem cells do not completely repair damaged heart tissue. Therefore, stem cell therapy for heart disease is performed in hospitals.
Stem cell therapy for heart disease is a relatively new procedure that is commonly carried out in an angiography x-ray laboratory. A physician typically uses a known angiography system in stem cell therapy. In known systems, a physician performs fluoroscopy to find a damaged heart tissue site of a patient and injects stem cells at the site. The location of the site of stem cell injection is marked on a film that is manually placed on top of an x-ray monitor. This film is used to record the location of the stem cell treatment location. It is used in a follow-up visit to check treatment results.
In a follow-up visit, the film that was previously used to record the stem cell injection site is placed on top of a display monitor showing a current image of the stem cell injection site to evaluate the therapy result. This is a cumbersome and error-prone procedure that is vulnerable to misalignment of the film and misidentification of a site in the current image.
As such, there is a need for an improved framework that addresses these deficiencies and related problems.


A circuit including an operational amplifier (A) having an input stage comprising first and second transistors (10, 12) coupled in differential configuration and being powered by a first current source (20), the current source being powered by the output of the operational amplifier, wherein in order to ensure start up of the amplifier a second current source (34) is coupled to the differential pair of transistors, wherein a sensing means (40, 42) is provided responsive to the inputs of the operational amplifier and arranged to control energization of the second current source in order to switch off the second current source after switch on of the amplifier.

Referring to FIG. 1, a known current source circuit is shown for generating a current I having stable value for use in an integrated circuit. The circuit comprises a voltage divider network R1, R2 connected between supply rail VDD and reference potential rail GND providing a reference voltage V at node B coupled to the inverting input of an operational amplifier A. The output of the amplifier is coupled to the gate of transistor 2 and the gates of transistors 4,6. The transistor 2 is connected via a connection node IN to a current sink device and supplies current I thereto. The current sink device comprises an externally mounted resistor R of precise value. Connection node IN is coupled to the non-inverting input of amplifier A. Amplifier A ensures that the voltage at the non-inverting input of the amplifier will also be V, hence the current I through the resistor R will be precisely determined as V/R. Currents flowing through transistors 4, 6 which are coupled to loads (not shown) are proportional to current I and constitute the output of the circuit. The operational amplifier A is realised in CMOS technology and includes a current source 8 within the tail of a differential pair of transistors 10, 12 forming the input stage of the amplifier.
In the following description of the drawings, similar parts to those of FIG. 1 are denoted by the same reference numerals.
To ensure accuracy of operation and to ease constraints on the operational amplifier used in the circuit shown in FIG. 1, the arrangement shown in FIG. 2 is frequently employed. The current source 8 is provided by a transistor 20 controlled via transistors 4, 22 in a current mirror arrangement. The problem with this arrangement is that it may not start up upon initial switch on, since the drive for the current source 8 is dependent upon the output of the amplifier.
In order to ensure switch on the circuit of FIG. 2, the start up arrangement as shown in FIG. 3 has been used in the past. As shown in FIG. 3 transistors 30 and 32 are connected between the power supply VDD and ground GND with the gate of transistor 30 coupled to the reference potential. This ensures that transistors 30 and 32 carry current at start up. Current through transistor 32 is mirrored by a transistor 34 which is coupled in parallel with transistor 20 to ensure that the amplifier has start up current upon switch on of the device A. Transistor 36 is provided in order to switch off transistor 34 upon switch on of the device.
The arrangement shown in FIG. 3 has, however, the disadvantage that transistors 30 and 36 remain on throughout the operation of the comparator increasing overall power consumption in the device. Another disadvantage of the described comparator is that the on chip voltage divider R1,R2 generating reference voltage V contributes also to power consumption even if the comparator is not in use, i.e. when node IN is not connected to resistor R.


A telecommunications module includes a plurality of adapters mounted at a front face. The adapters are provided in groups of two and are stacked extending from the top to the bottom of the module. The front face of the module defines a center portion, a right portion, and a left portion. According to one embodiment, the right and the left portions are generally angled forwardly at an acute angle relative to a line that is perpendicular to the sides of the module as they extend from the center toward the right and left sides of the module. Each angled portion defines a slope as it extends from the center portion toward the right and left sides. The angled portions define a stepped configuration as they extend from the center toward the sides. Each step in the stepped configuration defines adapter receptacles that are also angled at an acute angle with respect to a line that generally defines the slope of the angle of the right and left angled portions. According to another aspect of the disclosure, the right and the left portions of the front face are generally angled rearwardly at an acute angle with respect to a line that is perpendicular to the sides of the module as they extend from the center toward the right and left sides. Stacked adapters mounted to the angled portions have longitudinal axes that are perpendicular to slopes defined by the angled portions.

In fiber optic telecommunications systems, it is common for optical fibers of transmission cables to be split into multiple strands. Further, when such systems are installed, it is known to provide excess capacity in the installations to support future growth and utilization of the fibers. Often in these installations, modules including splitters may be used to provide the connection between transmission fibers and customer fibers. While the demand for added capacity in telecommunications is growing rapidly, this demand is being met in part by increasing the density of fiber optic transmission equipment. Even though fiber optic equipment permits higher levels of transmission in the same or smaller footprint than traditional copper transmission equipment, the demand requires even higher levels of fiber density. This has led to the development of high-density fiber handling equipment.
Further improvements in adding fiber optic capacity and increasing density while achieving accessibility are desired.


An image signal is input to an image processor for precessing, and motion vectors of an object in the input image signal are detected. A motion vector from among the detected motion vectors is identified which satisfies a predetermined condition, and predetermined processing is performed on the input image signal in accordance with the identification result. An image processing program is recorded on a computer readable recording medium for execution by the image processor to perform the predetermined processing.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus and method in which motion vectors are detected from input image data and the image data is processed utilizing the detected motion vectors.
2. Description of the Related Art
For example, there is an image processing apparatus 100 shown in FIG. 1 as a general image processing apparatus. In image processing apparatus 100, the user instructs execution of predetermined image processing through an external switch 101.
That is, the image processing apparatus 100 includes the external switch 101 through which the user provides the image processing apparatus 100 with a command to execute predetermined image processing, an image processing circuit 103 which performs the predetermined image processing for a moving-image signal input from an input terminal 104 and outputs the resultant signal from an output terminal 105, and an image-processing control circuit 102 for controlling the execution of the predetermined image processing performed by the image processing circuit 103 in accordance with the execution command provided through the external switch 101.
The image processing apparatus 100 having the above-described configuration is generally applied to a video camera and the like.
For example, in a video camera having the configuration of the image processing apparatus 100, when a user depresses a video recording button (the external switch 101) at the moment of the start of video recording processing, an image-processing control circuit 102 within the video camera generates a video-recording start signal (an instruction of execution), so that a recorder (the image processing circuit 103) starts video recording processing (predetermined image processing) of an image to be photographed.
In Laid-Open Japanese Patent Application (Kokai) No. 6-165181 (1994), a monitor camera system is described, which has the feature that video recording processing is controlled according to the presence/absence of motion of an object to be photographed. This monitor camera system has a configuration 200 shown in FIG. 2.
That is, this monitor camera system includes a memory 201 for storing the motion of an object to be photographed in a moving-image signal input from an input terminal 205, a detection circuit 202 for detecting the presence/absence of a motion from motion information stored in the memory 201, and the moving-image signal currently input from the input terminal 205, an image processing circuit 204 for performing predetermined image processing, such as video recording processing and the like, for the moving-image signal input from the input terminal 205 and outputting the resultant signal from an output terminal 206, and an image-processing control circuit 203 for controlling the execution of the predetermined image processing in the image processing circuit 204 based on the result of detection by the motion detection circuit 202.
Accordingly, in this monitor camera system, the start and end of a video recording operation, a video-recording-time mode and the like are controlled based on motion being detected by the motion detection circuit 202.
However, in the conventional image processing apparatus 100 shown in FIG. 1, since a timing of execution of predetermined image processing is instructed through the external switch 101, it is very difficult to execute the predetermined image processing at a timing which is more precise than the response speed of the user.
For example, in the above-described conventional video camera, when it is intended to execute image processing for obtaining a special effect at a desired timing while photographing an object, the user""s operation of the external switch 101 is delayed from the intended timing, so that the expected special effect cannot be obtained.
The conventional monitor camera having the configuration shown in FIG. 2 automatically performs predetermined image processing, such as video recording processing and the like, based on the presence/absence of motion of an object to be photographed. However, since such camera controls whether or not predetermined image processing is to be merely executed based on the presence/absence of motion in an object to be photographed, it is impossible to finely control the predetermined image processing.
It is an object of the present invention to solve the above-described problems.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an image processing apparatus and method in which predetermined image processing is controlled with a high function in accordance with motion of an object in an image signal, and a computer-readable recording medium storing an image processing program for such an apparatus and method.
According to one aspect, the present invention which achieves these objectives relates to an image processing apparatus including input means for inputting an image signal, detection means for detecting motion vectors of an object from the image signal input by the input means, identification means for identifying a motion vector which satisfies a predetermined condition from among the motion vectors detected by the detection means, and image processing means for performing predetermined processing of the image signal in accordance with an output from the identification means.
According to another aspect, the present invention which achieves these objectives relates to an image processing method including the steps of inputting an image signal, detecting motion vectors of an object from the input image signal, identifying a motion vector which satisfies a predetermined condition from among the detected motion vectors, and performing predetermined processing of the image signal in accordance with a result of the identification.
According to still another aspect, the present invention which achieves these objectives relates to a computer readable recording medium in which an image processing program is recorded. The recording medium includes program codes of an input step of inputting an image signal, a detection step of detecting motion vectors of an object from the image signal input in the input step, an identification step of identifying a motion vector which satisfies a predetermined condition from among the motion vectors detected in the detection step, and an image processing step of performing predetermined processing of the image signal in accordance with a result of the identification.
Other objects, features and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

Image processing apparatus and method utilizing motion vectors