A swaging tool for swaging fittings and joining separate tubes together. The swaging tool includes a removable head assembly having a head member and a first spring clip adapted to retain a first die to a portion of the head member. The head assembly includes a die block and a second spring clip adapted to retain a second die to a portion of the die block. The swaging tool includes a power unit assembly having a base member adapted to receive the die block and head member of the head assembly. The power unit assembly includes a moveable piston adapted to engage the die block so as to move the second die towards the first die during a swaging operation.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to swaging devices and, in particular, to a swaging tool for swaging fittings.
2. Description of the Related Art
In hydraulic systems, swaged fittings connect ends of tubes together to form fluid-tight connections between the tubes. Swaged fittings in hydraulic systems of aircraft have been used for many years. During the swaging operation, tubes are inserted into a fitting, such as a cylindrical sleeve, and the fitting is then swaged or compressed radially inwardly by the swaging tool. Annular ridges on the outer surface of the fitting are flattened and transferred to the inner surface of the fitting, and form annular indentations in the tube to securely fasten it to the fitting.
The fittings to be swaged are often in locations that are difficult to reach. As a result, there has existed a need for a swaging tool that is compact enough to gain access to hard-to-reach fittings. Some conventional swaging tools provide a compact structure that supports an upper die held within a yoke and a lower die connected to the tool by a die holder. In some swaging tools, the yoke can be separated from the remainder of the tool for connection to the fitting.
There are numerous problems associated with conventional swaging tools. In some conventional swaging tools, the lower die has a tendency to rotate or wobble during swaging operations. Die rotation or wobble can damage the swaging tool and result in a defectively swaged fitting. Repeated improper use of the swaging tool over time could result in wear-related swaging problems. Thus, conventional swaging tools can become unreliable.
There is a need for a swaging tool that is versatile and compact to handle various swaging operations and that overcomes the drawbacks associated with conventional swaging tools.


A touch sensing device includes a touch screen coupled with a display panel including data lines, gate lines crossing the data lines, and pixels arranged in a matrix form, and a touch sensing circuit which supplies a driving signal to lines of the touch screen and senses a touch input. The touch sensing circuit detects an optimum sensing time, in which changes in a voltage change of the gate lines are maintained within a previously determined allowable range, in a touch screen drive period in which data is not written to the pixels of the display panel. The touch sensing circuit supplies the driving signal to the lines of the touch screen only in the optimum sensing time of the touch screen drive period.

Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the invention relate to a touch sensing device coupled with a display device and a method for driving the same.
Discussion of the Related Art
User interface (UI) is configured so that users are able to communicate with various electronic devices and thus can easily and comfortably control the electronic devices as they desire. Examples of the user interface include a keypad, a keyboard, a mouse, an on-screen display (OSD), and a remote controller having an infrared communication function or a radio frequency (RF) communication function. User interface technologies have continuously evolved to increase user's sensibility and handling convenience. The user interface has been recently developed to touch UI, voice recognition UI, 3D UI, etc., and the touch UI has been basically installed in portable information devices. A touch screen is installed on a display panel of household appliances or the portable information devices, so as to implement the touch UI.
A capacitive touch screen has greater durability and definition than an existing resistive touch screen and is able to carry out multi-touch recognition and proximity-touch recognition. Hence, the capacitive touch screen may be applied to various applications. Because the capacitive touch screen is attached to the display panel or is embedded in the display panel, the capacitive touch screen is electrically coupled with the display panel. The display panel and the touch screen may be time-division driven in a display panel drive period and a touch screen drive period. Because a data voltage having a relatively large swing width is supplied to data lines of the display panel in the display panel drive period, a load of the display panel increases.
A current path between an output channel of a data driving circuit and the data lines of the display panel is cut off during the touch screen drive period. Hence, the data lines are floated, and are in a high impedance state or are held at DC voltage. Thus, the load of the display panel during the touch screen drive period is less than the load of the display panel during the display panel drive period. During the display panel drive period, a gate pulse (or scan pulse), which swings between a gate high voltage and a gate low voltage, is supplied to gate lines (or scan lines) of the display panel. During the touch screen drive period, the gate lines of the display panel may be held at the DC voltage, for example, the gate low voltage.
The gate low voltage supplied to the gate lines of the display panel changes because of a load difference between the display panel drive period and the touch screen drive period. For example, when the gate low voltage supplied to the gate lines of the display panel is −10V in the touch screen drive period, the gate low voltage of the gate lines is measured to almost −10V because the load of the display panel is small in the touch screen drive period. On the other hand, when the gate low voltage supplied to the gate lines of the display panel is −10V in the display panel drive period, the gate low voltage measured in the gate lines increases to almost −8V because of the large load of the display panel.
The gate low voltage supplied to the gate lines of the display panel may greatly change in a period, which changes from the display panel drive period to the touch screen drive period and vice versa, because of the load difference between the display panel drive period and the touch screen drive period. When the gate low voltage greatly changes, a noise of a voltage sensed from the touch screen greatly changes due to electrical coupling between the touch screen and the display panel. The noise reduces the sensing sensitivity of the touch screen.

Touch sensing device and method for driving the same


A water resistant connector jointing with a housing, comprises a base, a sleeve plug disposed in the base, a clamping member disposed in the base and a locking member. The sleeve plug contacts with the neck portion of the base. The locking member is locked at the housing and contacts with the clamping member. The transmission line passes through the locking member, the clamping member, and the sleeve plug such that one portion of the transmission line is exposed at the exterior of the base. The locking member moves linearly and extrudes the clamping member and the sleeve plug such that the sleeve plug has deformation by the extrusion from the neck portion of the base. The effects of water resistance and seal may be achieved by using the sleeve plug to tightly joint with the internal wall of the base and the transmission line.

1. Technical Field
The disclosure relates to a water resistant connector, and more particularly to a water resistant connector capable of waterproof sealing, and preventing the transmission line from loosing.
2. Related Art
Currently, electrical devices are widely applied in every field with the development of the electronics technology. Implantable medical electronic devices become prevalent recently. For assurance of the safety and lifespan, the implantable medical electronic devices must be capable of preventing water from entering inside. Thus, the connector plug on the electronic devices or the holes on the housing of the electronic devices must be tightly sealed to achieve water resistance. Thus, moisture can be prevented from entering the interior electronic devices from the holes on the housing, and the oxidation of the electrical elements or damages on the circuitry can be avoided. In particular, for the implantable medical electronic devices, the designers must be more careful about the water resistance mechanism to avoid dangers to the patients.
Waterproof rubber rings are generally configured in the conventional electrical devices to seal the gap in the connector to achieve water resistance such that the moisture may be prevented from entering to the electrical devices. However, for the implantable medical electronic devices used for minimally invasive implant surgery, the external diameter of the electrode line must be less than the internal diameter of the guide pin. For the tiny electrode lines configured with the general waterproof rubber ring, no other mechanism may extrude the waterproof rubber ring to achieve tight sealing. Thus, the moisture still enters to the devices from the gap between the electrode lines and the connector, and then penetrates into the interior of the electrical devices. Thus the electrical components in the implantable medical electronic devices become wet, oxidized, or damaged, and the devices may further cause dangers to the patients.


Downlink interference alignment schemes are described which provide, among other things, channel state information (CSI) from the UEs using a constant amplitude codebook. By providing only phase information associated the UEs' channel states, instead of both amplitude and phase information, fewer bits can be used to inform the BSs of the UEs effective channels, thereby reducing the bandwidth requirements associated with the transmission of CSI by UEs for downlink interference alignment purposes. According to other embodiments, feedback information can be used to perform user selection scheduling and rate balancing.

Radio communication networks were originally developed primarily to provide voice services over circuit-switched networks. The introduction of packet-switched bearers in, for example, the so-called 2.5G and 3G networks enabled network operators to provide data services as well as voice services. Eventually, network architectures will likely evolve toward all Internet Protocol (IP) networks which provide both voice and data services. However, network operators have a substantial investment in existing infrastructures and would, therefore, typically prefer to migrate gradually to all IP network architectures in order to allow them to extract sufficient value from their investment in existing infrastructures. Moreover, to provide the capabilities needed to support next generation radio communication applications, while at the same time using legacy infrastructure, network operators could deploy hybrid networks wherein a next generation radio communication system is overlaid onto an existing circuit-switched or packet-switched network as a first step in the transition to an all IP-based network. Alternatively, a radio communication system can evolve from one generation to the next while still providing backward compatibility for legacy equipment.
One example of such an evolved network is based upon the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) which is an existing third generation (3G) radio communication system that is evolving into High Speed Packet Access (HSPA) technology. Yet another alternative is the introduction of a new air interface technology within the UMTS framework, e.g., the so-called Long Term Evolution (LTE) technology. Target performance goals for LTE systems include, for example, support for 200 active calls per 5 MHz cell and sub 5 ms latency for small IP packets. Each new generation, or partial generation, of mobile communication systems add complexity and abilities to mobile communication systems and this can be expected to continue with either enhancements to proposed systems or completely new systems in the future.
As such new systems and technologies enter the marketplace, the general trend is to support more users and greater bandwidth in a given geographic area. This gives rise to more and more interference between transmitters and receivers operating in close proximity to one another. FIG. 1 illustrates some basic interference concepts. Therein, a base station (BS) 100 transmits radio signals on the downlink towards user equipments (UEs) 102 and 104 within its cell 106. For example, BS 100 can transmit a signal 108 which is intended for reception on a downlink radio bandwidth resource by UE 102. At the same time, however, BS 100 may transmit a signal 111 intended for reception by UE 104. Some portion of the signal energy associated with signal 111 may interfere with the reception of the signal 104 by UE 102, which type of interference is sometimes referred to as "intracell" interference. Similarly, other base stations associated with neighboring cells may also be transmitting signals which can be received by UE 102 in a manner which overlaps with its reception of signal 108. An example of such "intercell" interference is shown in FIG. 1 as BS 111 transmitting signals 112.
Various techniques have been used historically to combat interference, e.g., orthogonal channelization, interference rejection, etc., in order to increase channel capacity. Downlink interference alignment is a relatively new, joint transmitter-receiver strategy that attempts to align interfering signals. In MIMO networks, for example, interference alignment uses the spatial dimension offered by multiple antennas for alignment. The main concept behind downlink interference alignment techniques is that UEs coordinate their downlink transmissions from the BSs, and the base stations' transmitters use a precoding scheme, such that the downlink interference signals lie in a reduced dimensional subspace at each UE's receiver relative to the desired downlink signal.
However, this technique requires feedback from the UEs in the form of channel state information (CSI) to be transmitted to the network. The transmission of CSI information by the UEs reduces the available bandwidth for the transmission of other data in these systems.

Downlink limited-feedback interference alignment with constant amplitude codebooks and rate balance scheduling


An apparatus and method for providing targeted cooling to a pre-molded article, such as a preform. A cooling pin is inserted into the preform such that it makes contact with targeted area, such as the mold gate area. This permits conductive cooling of the targeted area. The apparatus and method are particularly suited to post-mold cooling in conjunction with a robotic take-out plate.

The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for localized cooling of molded articles, such as preforms made of plastic resins. In particular, the present invention relates to a method and apparatus for localized cooling of a preform on a take-out plate, or like device.
Beverage containers, and the like are commonly made by blow molding a parison, or preform, that is made from polyethylene teraphthalate (PET) material. Such PET reheat and blow preforms are commonly manufactured in an injection molding machine. Injection molding machines are typically equipped with a hopper that contains particulate thermoplastic polymer resin, usually in pellet form. The resin particles are fed to an extruder where they melt under the application of thermal and shear energy. The resulting molten resin is then fed to an injection nozzle and injected into a mold. Once the molded resin has set, or frozen, sufficiently, the resulting plastic article is ejected from the mold, and the process repeats.
Proper cooling of molded articles represents a very critical aspect of the injection molding process because it affects the quality of the article and the overall injection cycle time. Cooling is particularly critical in applications where semicrystalline resins are used, such as the injection molding of PET preforms. Lack of sufficient cooling, or too slow cooling, can lead to the development of crystallized regions in a preform. Typically, to avoid crystallinity problems, the PET resin must remain in the mold cavity space for cooling for a sufficient period of time to prevent formation of crystalline portions and to allow the preform to solidify before being ejected.
Two things typically occur if a preform is too rapidly ejected from a mold in order to reduce the cycle time of the injection process. The first is that the preform is not uniformly cooled. For example, the mold gate area is often crystallized. The gate area is prone to crystallization because the resin in the mold cavity space is still in contact with the hot stem of the hot runner injection nozzle during the cooling phase in the mold. Crystallinity in the mold gate area can weaken the quality of an article subsequently blown from the preform. Another critical area of a preform is the neck finish portion which in many instances has a thicker wall and thus retains more heat than the other portions. This neck portion needs aggressive post-mold cooling to prevent it from becoming crystallized, and to sustain further manipulations. Secondly, a preform ejected too quickly from the mold may be too soft and can thus be deformed during subsequent handling.
Many attempts have been made in the past to provide post-mold cooling. However, the prior art systems have not resulted in a significant improvement in the quality of the molded preforms or a substantial reduction of the cycle time. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,382,905 to Valyi discloses an injection molding machine where the molded preform is transferred to a first tempering mold for a first cooling step and then to a second tempering mold for a final cooling step. The tempering molds are provided with internal means for cooling the walls that contact the preforms. Valyi does not provide for cooling of the preforms during the transfer steps. The device taught by Valyi adds significant complexity to an injection molding machine and process, and increases the size of the molding machines.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,592,719 to Bellehache discloses an injection molding apparatus for fabricating PET preforms where molded preforms are removed from the injection cores by a transfer device. The transfer device includes vacuum suction to hold the preforms, and air absorption (convection) cooling of the outer surface of the preform. Further cooling is provided by circulating ambient air inside the preform and withdrawing it through a suction rod inserted into the preforms. The apparatus taught by Bellehache does not provide directed cooling to problem areas, such as the mold gate area, and suffers many of the disadvantages of the prior art, such as poor cooling uniformity, high cooling times, and a high potential for preform deformation.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,176,871 to Fukai teaches a post-injection preform cooling method and apparatus. The preforms are transferred to cooling tubes and cooling air is blown around the outside of the preform. Cooling cores are inserted into the preforms to prevent shrinkage. The cooling rods taught by Fukai do not provide localized cooling to prevent crystallinity, and merely increase the overall cooling of the preforms in the cooling tubes while preventing shrinkage.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,338,172 to Williamson discloses a closed circuit cooling system for post-mold cooling of preforms. The preform is inserted into a cooling tube, and a cooling probe is inserted inside the preform. A cooling fluid flows around the outside of the preform, and then circulates into the preform and is withdrawn though channels in the probe. This system uses expensive liquid nitrogen or carbon dioxide coolants, and does not provide targeted cooling to problem areas, such as the mold gate area.
Further reference is made to U.S. Pat. No. 5,085,822 to Uehara. Uehara teaches a blow mold that includes a stretch rod provided with cooling means. Generally, the preform must be heated, stretched and blown, and cooled in rapid succession. The cooling means in the stretch rod simultaneously provide the air to blow the preform and to cool it, but does not provide localized cooling to prevent the development of crystallinity in the original preform.
It is, therefore, desirable to provide a method and apparatus that can provide localized or targeted cooling to the areas that are prone to crystallinity. It is further desirable that this cooling be provided outside the mold cavity to decrease overall cycle time.
In a first embodiment of the present invention, there is provided an apparatus for providing targeted cooling to a molded article in a post-mold operation. The apparatus has a cooling pin that is shaped to have a targeting portion configured to conform to a targeted area on an inside surface of a partially cooled article. For example, the targeting portion can be an enlarged head at the end of the pin that conforms to the inside surface of the gate area of the preform. The targeting portion can also be an enlarged portion that fits conforms to to the interior of the neck finish portion of the preform. The apparatus also includes means to insert the cooling pin into the partially cooled article such that the targeting portion contacts the inside surface of the targeted area. Typically, the preforms will be carried on a take-off plate, and the cooling pins on a frame. The frame can then be moved towards the take-off plate such that the pins are inserted into the preforms until they contact the targeted area. The cooling pins can then be cooled, typically by circulating a cooling fluid therein, to conductively cool the targeted area.
In a further embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a cooling pin for an injection molding machine. The cooling pin has a head portion configured to conform to an interior surface of a targeted area of a molded article, such as the interior of the gate region of the preform. The head portion is attached to a shaft such that it contacts the interior surface of the targeted area when inserted into the molded article. The pin can be conductively cooled to withdraw heat from the targeted portion. The cooling pin can also be provided with a further targeting portion that contacts a second targeted area. For example, the shaft can include an enlarged base portion that conforms to the interior surface of the neck finish of a preform. This permits simultaneous localized cooling of both the gate region and neck finish region.
In a further embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a method for providing localized cooling to a partially frozen molded article. The method begins by removing a partially frozen article from a mold. A conductive cooling device is then placed on a targeted area on an interior surface of the article. The conductive cooling device is a cooling pin, as described above. The cooling device is then conductively cooled, thereby selectively cooling the targeted area.

Method for localized preform cooling outside the mold


A method of fabricating diffraction gratings wherein a photomask is arranged on a substrate which is coated with a photoresist, light is to be incident thereupon at an acute angle relative to the normal direction of the photomask, and a bright/dark pattern is formed on said photoresist by the interference of the transmission light that has passed through the photomask and the diffraction light. The invention further deals with a photomask used for the above method.

I. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of fabricating diffraction gratings and a photomask for use in the same. More specifically, the invention relates to a method of fabricating diffraction gratings by the contact exposure method utilizing electromagnetic waves and, particularly, ultraviolet rays and SOR rays, the diffraction grating being suited for the production of optical elements that contain a diffraction grating therein, such as a distributed feedback (DFB) laser, a distributed Bragg reflection (DBR) laser, an optical amplifier, a spectroscope, and the like. The invention further relates to a photomask used therefor.
II. Description of the Related Art
Diffraction gratings have heretofore been fabricated by the so-called holographic exposure method according to which a laser beam is branched and is then synthesized again as disclosed, for example, in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 148050/1974. In particular, the diffraction grating having a uniform grating period is fabricated by the above-mentioned method.
The diffraction gratings include a diffraction grating having a uniform grating period and a .lambda./4-shifted grating in which the phase of diffraction grating is inverted. These gratings are fabricated by a positive and negative photoresist method based upon the holographic exposure method, or by a phase image projection method. The positive and negative photoresist method has been discussed in IEICE TECHNICAL REPORT, OQE 85-11, April, 1985, pp. 69-76, and the phase image projection method has been discussed in IEICE TECHNICAL REPORT, OQE 85-60, July, 1985, pp. 57-64.
The above related arts have problems as described below. First, with the holographic exposure method, visibility (bright/dark ratio) of fringe decreases due to mechanical vibration and sway of the air, making it difficult to obtain a diffraction grating maintaining good reproduceability. When it is desired to expand the area of exposure, in particular, the exposure must be continued for an extended period of time. Therefore, degradation of visibility becomes a serious problem. Second, it is difficult to fabricate a diffraction grating having a nonuniform grating phase, such as a phase-shifted diffraction grating in which positions of ruggedness on the grating are partly changed and a chapted diffraction grating in which the period of ruggedness is changed at a relatively short period.
With the positive and negative photoresist method, furthermore, the reproduceability is deteriorated since a mid-layer must be made present to prevent the resists from being mixed by each other. Further, with the phase image projection method which involves an interference pattern caused by multi-reflection due to phase image plates that are closely contacted to the substrate,
it is difficult to obtain a diffraction grating that produces little noise.

Optical device diffraction gratings and a photomask for use in the same


A user is writing an email or other message. A text processing layer prepares the message for analysis and performs some initial analysis and preparation such as a sentence separator, a “tokenizer”, a “unique body” identification, and/or possibly other filtering or analysis routines. An analytics layer analyzes the message using a “regular expressions” analysis, a statistical natural language processing analysis, and/or a template matching analysis. If an attachment is indicated, a suggestion to add an attachment is provided to the user. The analysis may begin when the user begins creating the message, indicates that the message should be sent, or at some point in between. The user may provide feedback that the suggestion is accepted or that the suggestion is rejected.

E-Mail has become a common mode of communication in both personal and business settings. In many cases, a user intends to attach something to an email, such as a text document, a picture, a movie, a sound clip, a presentation, a scan, etc. Unfortunately, the user may be in such a hurry, or may be so distracted, or may be concentrating so much on the message, that the user forgets the attachment and just clicks "Send". Sometimes the user immediately notices the error and resends the email with the attachment. Other times the user gets a notice from one or more of the recipients that there was no attachment and the user then re-sends the email with the attachment. This double-transmission of the original message, one without the attachment, and one with the attachment, and the notices from recipients that there was no attachment, waste the time of the user and the recipients, and waste bandwidth on the communications media used to send the email.


Occupancy sensing using ultra-wideband (UWB) keyless infrastructure is provided. Channel impulse response (CIR) measurements are received from a plurality of UWB transceiver nodes arranged about a plurality of locations. A classification model it utilized to predict occupancy of each of the plurality of locations based on CIR tensors formed from the CIR measurements for each of the UWB transceiver nodes.

Vehicle occupancy has been an active area of interest, both for supporting regulatory requirements and for providing good user experience. At the base level, vehicles may detect occupancy in front seats to provide seat belt reminders. Such a system can also provide additional features such as airbag control and enhanced user experience with regards to climate and audio controls. Vehicle occupancy information is also a component for effective shared autonomy, such as human sensing, shared perception-control, and deep personalization, for human-centered autonomous vehicle systems.


Link tracking includes generating an electronic communication with links providing for a destination URL and a target URL. Upon selection of the active link, a destination site is accessed, based on the destination URL. In the destination site, the tracking information associated with the incoming data access request is parsed off. This tracking information may then be stored in a database or business warehouse for monitoring the response from the electronic communication. Also, a target site is determined based on the tracking information. The destination site thereupon redirects the access request to the target site, providing for the access to the target site to be to directed back to the user and not through the destination site. Therefore, the user may access the target web site based on the electronic communication and this activity can be tracked through the destination site.

The present invention relates generally to tracking user activity in online transactions and more specifically to tracking user selection of one or more active links.
Tracking a user's activity can be important for managing different transactions. For example, with multiple users, it may be beneficial to track where different users traverse within different web sites. This tracking may be used to better design and layout a web site, as well as monitor how the user is using the web site or responding to various advertising approaches.
In another example, it is important to know from where users linked into the particular web site. There currently exists known universal resource locator (URL) tracking techniques that monitor how a person accesses a particular web site. These techniques provide for referral allocation, such as found within advertising on a secondary web page, e.g. a search engine. In one technique, an active URL may include the URL portion for the intended web site and a secondary portion having a reference identifier. In this technique, when a user selects the active hyperlink, the destination web site parses off the second portion for tracking information.
In a further technique, the URLs within the destination web page may also be dynamically created to include the reference information. In this technique, when a user selects one of the links on the destination page, any further web pages within the web site will also include a reference identifier. This may be advantageous for tracking referral fees for any subsequent online purchases.
The existing techniques are limited because the tracking information is available only to the destination web site. Once a user selects the active hyperlink, the linking activity information may be stored on computers associated with the destination web site, but these links are also only customizable as allowed by the referring web site. For example, if the referring web site is a search engine, any customization by the target web site with URLs or tracking information may be problematic because the target web site would require the search engine to adjust its encoding. In systems having multiple advertisers and with companies having multiple advertising campaigns, tracking all this information is not only cumbersome, but is also readily error prone.
With the growth of web activities, companies may employ multiple different web sites under multiple URLS. While these sites may include a fair amount of common information, it is possible to even further personalize these web sites for particular users. One approach is using different URLs and directing different users to different URLs. For example, a company may sell pet food and wish to direct dog lovers to a dog food web site and cat lovers to a cat food web site. In existing systems, the referring web site would have to either include both referring URLs or require the user to select one or the other, or the referring web site would have to know the user's pet preference for either a cat or a dog.
The above example is also limited based on only two different pet food options. Scenarios exist where there are a significant number of options, such as with professional sports teams. These techniques are applicable to directed advertising approaches. Although, these techniques may be ineffective when using referring active links and tracking of user information through these referring sites because the referring site does not necessarily provide the user with the appropriate URL based on the referring sites lack of proper knowledge of which URL to present to the user.


The lateral motion control apparatus calculates lateral motion control amounts for a plurality of control targets that operate cooperatively in order to change the lateral motion amount of the vehicle based on a target value for the lateral motion amount of the vehicle, and control the plurality of control targets based on the calculated lateral motion control amounts. Meanwhile, it is determined whether or not the control of the plurality of control targets is to be stopped. When it has been determined that the control of the plurality of control targets is to be stopped, lateral motion degeneration control amounts are determined for each of the plurality of control targets so that the lateral motion control amounts of the plurality of control targets degenerate starting at that time, and the plurality of control targets are controlled based on the determined lateral motion degeneration control amounts.

In recent years, driving assistance apparatuses (called "driving assistance applications" hereinafter) that assist in the driving of a moving vehicle are being developed. For example, lane keep apparatuses that automatically steer or assist in driving so that vehicles travel along a road, lane departure prevention apparatuses that assist in driving by preventing vehicles from departing from their lanes, emergency avoidance apparatuses that automatically steer vehicles in order to avoid obstructions on the traveled road surface, and so on are being developed.
Request signals outputted from a driving assistance application such as a lane keep apparatus, a lane departure prevention apparatus, or an emergency avoidance apparatus (for example, a signal indicating a target lateral acceleration) are inputted into a lateral motion control apparatus that controls the amount of lateral motion (for example, the yaw rate) of the vehicle. Control signals are outputted from this control apparatus to a control target such as an actuator. The lateral motion of the vehicle is controlled as a result of the control target being controlled based on the control signals.
In the case where a driver has performed steering operations while the lateral motion of the vehicle is being controlled by the lateral motion control apparatus based on a request signal outputted from a driving assistance application (such interventional steering performed by the driver will be called "overriding"), the lateral motion control performed by the lateral motion control apparatus is stopped in order to give priority to the steering operations performed by the driver.
JP2006-117181A discloses a vehicle steering control apparatus that, when an electrical current instruction value for assistance control based on a steering torque has exceeded a determination reference value during an automatic steering mode, switches its steering mode from the automatic steering mode to a manual steering mode. Meanwhile, JP1998(H10)-278823A discloses a vehicle steering control apparatus that determines whether or not a present situation is a preparatory state for the start of steering control based on a preparatory operation performed by a driver and the travel conditions at that time. When the situation is the preparatory state, the vehicle steering control apparatus then determines whether or not the present situation is a starting state for steering control based on a starting operation performed by the driver and the travel conditions at that time. And when the situation is the starting state, the vehicle steering control apparatus commences the steering control.

Lateral motion control apparatus for a vehicle


The present invention relates to a disintegrant free pharmaceutical composition comprising apremilast or pharmaceutically acceptable salts thereof and one or more pharmaceutically acceptable excipients. Particularly the present invention relates to disintegrant free immediate release dosage form comprising apremilast or pharmaceutically acceptable salts thereof and one or more pharmaceutically acceptable excipients. It further relates to process of preparing such composition and its use in psoriatic arthritis and psoriasis.

Apremilast is an oral small-molecule inhibitor of phosphodiesterase 4 (PDE4) specific for cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) and it is indicated for the treatment of psoriatic arthritis and psoriasis.
The IUPAC name for apremilast is, N-[2-[(1S)-1-(3-ethoxy-4-methoxyphenyl)-2-(methylsulfonyl)ethyl]-2,3-dihydro-1,3-dioxo-1H-isoindol-4-yl]acetamide. Its empirical formula is C22H24N2O7S and the molecular weight is 460.5. The chemical structure is shown below:

Apremilast is currently available in the market as tablet for oral use under the brand name OTEZLA® in USA market in 10 mg, 20 mg and 30 mg strengths.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,020,358 by Celgene Corporation, discloses apremilast generically.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,893,101 by Celgene Corporation, discloses solid forms of apremilast.
US20150306226 by RatiopharmGmbh, discloses an immediate release composition comprising a melting of apremilast together with pharmaceutically acceptable excipients.
CN104546831 by Hangzhou XinbosiBiolog Medicine Co Ltd, discloses a pharmaceutical composition comprising apremilast and cyclodextrin or a cyclodextrin derivative.
WO2017076987 by Ratiopharm GMBH, discloses a solid solution or solid dispersion of apremilast.
U.S. Pat. No. 9,468,605 by Celgene Corporation, discloses an immediate-release oral dosage form comprising about 10-30% by weight of apremilast, about 40-50% by weight of lactose, about 20-30% by weight of cellulose, about 1-5% by weight of carboxymethyl cellulose, about 1-5% by weight of fumed silica and about 0.1-2% by weight of magnesium stearate and about 1-5% by weight of a coat.
US20130164376 by Celgene Corporation, discloses tablet comprising core composition comprises apremilast at an amount of about 100/by weight of the total core composition; lactose at an amount of about 60% by weight of the total core composition; microcrystalline cellulose at an amount of about 26.25% by weight of the total core composition; croscarmellose at an amount of about 3% by weight of the total core composition; magnesium stearate at an amount of about 0.75% by weight of the total core composition and tablet core is coated with coating composition.
Disintegrating agent is one of the excipients used in tablet formulation, however the use of disintegrant has a few disadvantages such as but not limited to 1) hygroscopic nature of the disintegrant, use of disintegrant in higher percentage must be protected by atmospheric moisture as it may lead to softening of the tablets 2) Requirement of high concentration of disintegrants when used in direct compression as method of tablet manufacture 3) Poor compression properties, and the like.
The objective of the present invention was therefore to overcome the above mentioned disadvantages which leads to processing and manufacturing challenges during tableting operations.
Hence there is unmet need to design more stable, reproducible, cost effective and easy to scale up and bioequivalent composition comprising apremilast.
Accordingly, inventors of the present invention developed disintegrants free stable composition of apremilast and surprisingly found that it is bioequivalent with that of the marketed OTEZLA® composition. The present invention further provides a simple, economical and industrially feasible process for preparing pharmaceutical composition of apremilast.

Pharmaceutical compositions of apremilast


A device to aid a person to stand up from a sitting position on a chair or the seat of a water closet is provided with a base panel that is cut out to interfit around the base of the water closet or support and hold an easy chair. Horizontal stop members in the form of a vertical hole through a block are attached on the top of the panel to receive the bottom ends of chair legs sitting on the top of the base panel. Two members, one on each side of the chair, inclined upwardly past the front of the chair, are attached to the base panel and supported at the front ends. A front section of the inclined member is a cantilever section to be gripped by the hands to facilitate rising from the chair. Rails are structurally attached to the inclined members extending forwardly proximate and below the front ends of the inclined members to allow the person to rise up, rest his or her hands on the rail members and begin walking away from the chair or seat.

This invention involves a device to aid persons to stand from a sitting position and to begin walking.
Most older infirm persons wish to continue to be on their own and not depend on another person's continuing physical aid as much as possible. However, the difficulty in rising up from a sitting position and beginning to walk to another location in the home defeats the desire for independence for many older persons. In many cases, the older infirm person is of limited strength and does not have the leg and back strength necessary to rise from a sitting position. The difficulty is particularly apparent when the person is attempting to rise up from the lower height of the seat of a water closet or from a soft comfortable chair, which allows the person to sink into it. Thus, while the older infirm person would enjoy the comfortable chair, it is the very nature of that chair that makes getting out of it more difficult and thus unsatisfactory for use, unless there is another person to aid the infirm person in rising from the chair.
There are a number of mechanical devices which, if made part of the chair, tilt and aid the person in rising. These devices are not practical for the water closet seat and are expensive mechanical devices that require maintenance and upkeep. Further, tilting the chair can cause the person to lose balance as he or she is raised up to a near standing position. Attaching rails to the wall in the bathroom are permanent and unattractive. None of the other devices in the prior art satisfy the needs described above, nor attain the objects provided hereinbelow.


Systems, methods, and computer-readable storage media for managing transcription resources. A system practicing the method retrieves a class of service for a subscriber recipient of a message deposited at a first server for transcription by a second server, determines a probability of near-term access of the message by the subscriber, assigns a weight to the message based on the class of service and the probability of the near-term access, and transcribes, at the second server, the message based on the weight. Classes of service can include a real-time class of service and/or one or more non-real-time class of service. The probability of near-term access can be based on subscriber presence, subscriber receipt of a new message notification, historical statistics of subscriber message access times, message urgency, and other message metadata. A channel manager can manage a finite number of channels between the first and second servers.

1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to unified messaging and more specifically to prioritizing transcriptions for message, such as a voicemail, in a unified messaging system.
2. Introduction
Unified messaging (UM) is an approach to integrate messages which are created, transmitted, and stored in different communication media into a single interface which is accessible from a wide array of devices. For example, a unified messaging interface can be accessible via desktop or laptop computer, a web interface, smart phone, cellular phone, landline phone, and so forth. A UM server can pass transcribable messages, such as voicemail, video mail, images, and other audiovisual messages to a transcription server for transcription.
Message transcription is a very resource intensive process, requiring a significant amount of processing power and memory. Some UM subscribers access their messages very quickly and others wait for an extended period of time to access their messages. One solution to solve this problem is to devote additional resources to transcription, such as purchasing more or faster memory, processors, bandwidth, or even additional transcription servers. However, this approach may not be feasible due to high cost. Further, this approach wastes computing resources during low-demand periods.

System and method for prioritizing message transcriptions


Embodiments of the present invention disclose a method and an apparatus for selectively installing a webpage plug-in. The method includes: when there is a webpage plug-in in a webpage, determining whether the webpage plug-in has been shielded by a subscriber according to a list of shielded plug-ins that records information of webpage plug-ins shielded by the subscriber; terminating a procedure of selectively installing the webpage plug-in if the webpage plug-in has been shielded; downloading the webpage plug-in and installing the webpage plug-in if the webpage plug-in has not been shielded. The apparatus includes a browser control and an auxiliary tool of download and installation of a webpage plug-in and. According to the embodiments of the present invention, the speed of browsing a webpage is improved.

The statements in this section merely provide background information related to the present disclosure and may not constitute prior art.
In order to enrich the visual and audio enjoyment obtained from the Internet, at present, multiple webpage developers have employed such webpage plug-in using the networking multimedia object technique as the ActiveX plug-in and the like to make applications of Web more flexible and accesses to the Internet rapider and more convenient.
For the purpose of preventing insecurity factors from entering a local computer that a subscriber is using through the webpage plug-in, each webpage plug-in has a security certificate showing its own security. Taking the ActiveX plug-in as an example, the security certificate of ActiveX plug-in, issued after a special organization evaluates the security of ActiveX plug-in, is packed along with the ActiveX plug-in to be distributed. Only the ActiveX plug-in with a legal security certificate can be normally installed and run in the computer of a subscriber.
Referring to FIG. 1 and taking the ActiveX plug-in as an example, the existing method for selectively installing a webpage plug-in includes the following steps.
Steps 101˜102: an Internet Explorer (IE) control detects that there is an ActiveX plug-in in the webpage and then determines whether the Internet security strategy of a browser allows the ActiveX plug-in to be used. If the ActiveX plug-in is allowed to be used, Step 103 would be performed. Otherwise, the procedure of selectively installing the ActiveX plug-in is terminated.
Such browsers as the IE and the like all include an IE control for detecting whether there is an ActiveX plug-in. Thus, when a subscriber opens a webpage containing an ActiveX plug-in, the browser, through its own IE control, obtains information of the ActiveX plug-in contained in the webpage such as Global Unique Identifiers (GUID), Uniform Resource Locator (URL) of installation packet, and the like.
In order to facilitate the subscriber in configuring operations of the browser on the webpage plug-in and the script, the operating system used by the subscriber classifies the Internet security strategies of the browser as high, middle, middle-low, and low levels. Except the high level, other security levels all allow using a secure ActiveX plug-in. The method for determining whether the ActiveX plug-in is allowed to be used includes determining that the ActiveX plug-in is allowed to be used if the Internet security strategy of the browser is at the middle, middle-low, or low level and the security certificate of the ActiveX plug-in is legal; otherwise, determining that the ActiveX plug-in is not allowed to be used.
Steps 103˜104: determine whether the local computer has installed an identical ActiveX plug-in. If the local computer has installed an identical ActiveX plug-in, the procedure of selectively installing the plug-in is terminated. Otherwise, the ActiveX plug-in is downloaded to the local computer.
When there is the identical ActiveX plug-in installed in the local computer, it indicates that the local computer has finished installing and running the ActiveX plug-in and it is unnecessary to process the identical ActiveX plug-in again. When there is no identical ActiveX plug-in installed in the local computer, it indicates that the local computer has not installed and run the ActiveX plug-in and the ActiveX plug-in is downloaded for selectively installing the ActiveX plug-in in the follow-up process.
Steps 105˜107: determine whether to make a security warning according to the Internet security strategy of the browser. If it is determined to make a security warning, the subscriber is prompted through the security warning to choose whether to install the ActiveX plug-in. Then determine whether to install the ActiveX plug-in according to a choice of the subscriber; if it is determined to install the ActiveX plug-in, Step 108 would be performed; otherwise, the procedure of selectively installing the plug-in is terminated. If it is determined not to make a security warning, Step 108 is performed directly.
The security warning means providing such information as name and source of the ActiveX plug-in, organization issuing the security certificate, and the like for the subscriber and prompting the subscriber to choose whether to install the ActiveX plug-in. The method for determining whether to make a security warning includes determining to make a security warning if the Internet security strategy of the browser is at the middle or middle-low level, otherwise, determining not to make a security warning if the Internet security strategy of the browser is at the low level.
After the security warning is made, the subscriber determines whether to install the ActiveX plug-in according to his/her own need. If the subscriber chooses to install the ActiveX plug-in, proceed to perform the follow-up process, otherwise, terminate the procedure of selectively installing the plug-in as it is unnecessary to carry out any processing of the ActiveX plug-in.
Step 108: install the ActiveX plug-in in the local computer.
If the Internet security strategy of the browser indicates that the ActiveX plug-in may be installed directly without making the security warning or the subscriber chooses to install the ActiveX plug-in in the local computer under the prompt of the security warning, the ActiveX plug-in downloaded in Step 104 is installed in the local computer in this process.
Thus, the existing procedure of selectively installing a webpage plug-in is completed.
Although the conventional method above ensures the security of using the ActiveX plug-in and allows the subscriber to choose whether to install the webpage plug-in in the webpage according to his/her need, in case that the network traffic is relatively high while the network speed is not so high, if the subscriber browses a webpage containing a webpage plug-in, the download of the plug-in will block the webpage and lower the speed of browsing the webpage. In addition, in order to determine whether the subscriber desires to install the webpage plug-in, a security warning window has to be popped up to inquire of the subscriber whether to install the plug-in, which disturbs the subscriber who does not need the plug-in and makes the procedure less convenient.

Method and apparatus for selectively installing webpage plug-in

Tencent Technology (Shenzhen) Company Limited


A semiconductor device comprises a semiconductor element and electrodes electrically connected to the semiconductor element, the semiconductor element and the electrodes being sealed by a sealing agent having an insulating property, the electrodes being exposed around a mounting surface that is joined via a joining agent to an external mounting circuit board, wherein the electrodes are shaped so that the joining agent is visually identifiable from side surfaces surrounding the mounting surface when the mounting surface is joined via the joining agent to the mounting circuit board.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor device with enhanced visual identifiability of a joining agent deposited on external terminals, and to a method of manufacturing the semiconductor device.
2. Description of the Related Art
In response to recent demands for smaller and slimmer semiconductor devices, nonleaded semiconductor devices have been proposed such as VQFN (Very Thin Quad Flat Nonleaded Package) and VSON (Very Thin Small Outline Nonleaded Package) in which external terminals are exposed from the package bottom surface. See Japanese patent application Laid-open Publication No. 2003-31753.
FIG. 14 is a perspective view showing a mounting surface of a conventional VQFN semiconductor device 100. As shown in this figure, a plurality of external terminals (bonding pads) 106 are exposed at given pad pitches on a circumferential portion of the mounting surface of the conventional semiconductor device 100.
FIG. 15 is a sectional view showing the mounting condition of the conventional semiconductor device 100 to a printed wired board 200. An upper surface portion of the printed wired board 200 is coated with a solder resist 201 to prevent a joining agent 300 such as solder from being deposited on any portions other than conductive pattern. Portions not coated with the solder resist 201 serve as lands 202 as conductive pattern.
In such a case, the external terminals 106 of the conventional semiconductor device 100 are joined via the joining agent 300 to the lands 202 of the printed wired board. It is to be noted that spacings between the external terminals 106 (pad pitches) have been made narrower in response to demands for finer pitches (narrower pad pitches), thus rendering the adjacent external terminals 106 more vulnerable to a so-called solder bridge by which the joining agent 300 deposited on each of the external terminals 106 overlaps with each other. To prevent this solder bridge, the amount of the joining agent 300 deposited on the external terminals 106 is kept to a minimum.
Incidentally, following mounting of the semiconductor device to the printed wired board, fillets (shapes) of the joining agent 300 formed between the external terminals 106 and the lands 202 are shown on monitor using a CCD camera or something similar provided in a given inspection device. Based on the image shown on a monitor, a pass/fail judgment is made through visual check on the joining condition of the external terminals 106 and the lands 202 via the joining agent 300.
In the case of nonleaded semiconductor devices such as VQFN, however, the external terminals 106 are arranged exposed on the mounting surface (package's rear surface), with the amount of the joining agent 300 kept to a minimum for finer pitches. This results in difficulties in visually checking the shape of the joining agent 300, thus making a pass/fail judgment difficult on the joining condition of the external terminals 106 and the lands 202.

Semiconductor device including inclined cut surface and manufacturing method thereof


A starting assistance method and device for an internal combustion engine supplied with a fuel that may contain ethanol, and including a fluid connection pipe between an intake manifold and a braking assistance device. The method including determining the engine temperature, determining the outdoor air temperature, blocking the pipe between the intake manifold and the braking assistance device for a given duration during a phase of starting the engine when the temperature of the engine is lower than a first threshold value and the outdoor air temperature is lower than a second threshold value, and freeing the pipe between the intake manifold and the braking assistance device when the engine is rotating autonomously.

Engines supplied with ethanol and/or with a mixture of ethanol and a traditional fuel (gasoline, premium) encounter difficulties when starting at low temperature. Low temperature is understood to mean an (outdoor) air temperature lower than 5° C. (degrees Celsius). Specifically, when the engine is cold and the air temperature is lower than 5° C., it is difficult for the ethanol to combust. These difficulties are reflected in a lengthier or even impossible process of starting the engine when temperatures are particularly low.
One well-known solution involves heating the fuel mixture before it is injected into a combustion chamber. To this end, heating means are positioned on a fuel intake and heat the fuel before it is injected into the combustion chamber. This technique thus makes it possible to improve cold-starting of the engine. However, the time to start the engine (including the pre-heating time) using such a device still remains relatively lengthy, of the order a few seconds, and such a solution additionally has a relatively high cost.
Document FR 2937381, incorporated herein by reference, proposes a method for starting a combustion engine supplied with a first fuel that may contain ethanol. The engine is also equipped with an auxiliary cold-starting system including an auxiliary tank containing a second fuel having a low ethanol content, and a temperature sensor that measures a temperature of a liquid coolant of the engine. Depending on the proportion of ethanol in the first fuel and on the temperature of the liquid coolant, some of the second fuel is introduced into an engine intake in response to the observation of an event preceding a request to start the engine, such as for example unlocking and opening of a driver's door. Thus, when the starting phase is launched, the low-ethanol fuel is present in the combustion chambers, thereby improving the cold-starting of the engine.
Problems with the ability to reproduce cold-starting exist with such devices. Specifically, for example when the low-ethanol fuel tank is empty, cold-starting is difficult. In addition, adding more or less bulky and complex materials to the engine, such as for example a heating element or else a small tank, leads to problems with bulk, but also with compatibility with the surroundings of the engine.

Starting assistance method and device for an internal combustion engine


A system and method for providing big data analytics responsive to dynamically-changing data models are provided. The method includes parsing, based on a logical data schema, a user query into a plurality of sub-queries; sending the plurality of sub-queries to a plurality of data stores, wherein each data store is selected based on a physical data schema of a dynamic data schema; receiving a plurality of sub-result datasets, wherein each sub-result dataset corresponds to a sub-query; and combining the plurality of sub-result datasets into a single resulting data set based on a logical schema of the dynamic data schema, wherein the combining includes at least any of: an aggregation operation and a join operation.

Techniques for collecting, managing, and providing real-time or near real-time relevant information have been enhanced through the use of the Internet and online research and information collection tools. One such set of tools is known as web analytics. Web analytics focuses on a company's own website for collection of online information, particularly traffic data. Web analytics are limited in that they only consider a subset of the relevant online universe, specifically the behavior of users of a given website.
Other analytics tools try to learn and predict the exposure and reach of advertisements displayed on web-sites including the social media websites. These tools gather statistics related to the reach and exposure of the advertisements. The statistics may include the number of impressions, URLs of web-pages displaying the advertisements, geographical locations of users that watched the advertisements, click-through rate of advertisements, the period of time that each viewer watched the advertisements, and so on.
Currently, every ad-serving company as well as each social media website independently gathers its own statistics and analytics with regard to the exposure and reach of advertisements. However, campaign managers who like to have better understanding about the reach and whether their budget was well spent have limited tools by which to do so. As a result, campaign managers cannot efficiently analyze and understand the performance of an advertisement campaign.
Specifically, the information gathered by a single ad-serving company or a social website per campaign may include trillions of records. When observed among different companies serving the same campaigns, these trillions of records become several times more voluminous, thereby making it almost impossible for campaign managers to analyze the gathered information using existing tools. Further, in addition to the volume of the gathered information, each ad-serving company presents the gathered statistics using a different format. This further increases the complexity of the campaign analysis.
It should be noted that failing to efficiently and accurately analyze the performance of an advertising campaign results in revenue losses for businesses, as their advertising budget is not being efficiently spent. Advertising campaigns can cost millions of dollars, and such costs may be better spent on some advertisement hosts than on others. Many businesses implement analysis of multidimensional data to compare the effectiveness of advertising campaigns among various advertising hosts and/or under different advertising conditions.
In the related art, online analytical processing (OLAP) engines supporting only processing of static datasets. An OLAP engine typically permits users to analyze multidimensional data from various perspectives. Such perspectives are based on consideration of one or more dimensions such as, for example, customers, products, and periods of time. One form of the OLAP is multidimensional OLAP (MOLAP), which involves storing multidimensional data in an optimized multidimensional array storage. This optimized multidimensional array storage requires pre-computation and storage of information in a static data model. In contrast to OLAP, relational OLAP (ROLAP) engines support semantic datasets. That is, the ROLAP engines access a relational database and generate structured query language (SQL) queries in response to a user query.
Existing ROLAP engines typically require submission of queries in a precise format to a single data source (database) to properly generate the desired performance analysis. This precision requirement makes ROLAP engines almost unfeasible for use in retrieving data from ever-changing data models. Specifically, ROLAP engines would require submitting appropriate queries to manipulate data and/or to obtain data. As such, specific queries should be written based on the data model. Therefore, ROLAP engines largely require database administrators to write new queries, to interact with the data, and to maintain the data models. In addition, the lack of direct interactivity with a ROLAP engine does not enable business analysts to gather important insights about the data.
Further, existing OLAP and ROLAP solutions tend to struggle when dealing with data updates. As data models increasingly become ever-changing (that is, iteratively updated within increasingly narrow periods of time), providing multidimensional data analytics that are consistent with frequently changing data becomes increasingly significant. Another limitation of OLAP and ROLAP engines is that they are limited to accessing only one data source (database). Therefore, such engines are optimized and in most cases can be utilized for the retrieval and/or manipulation of big data from a single source, but cannot be effectively utilized for retrieval and/or manipulation of big data from multiple sources.
It would therefore be advantageous to provide a solution that would overcome the deficiencies of the prior art by providing big-data analytics that efficiently support ever-changing data models.

System and method for providing big data analytics on dynamically-changing data models


An electromagnetic transmitter arrangement includes an antenna line array or subarray defining at least first and second ends, and including first, second, third, fourth, and fifth antenna elements, arranged with the first antenna element at the first end, the fifth element at the second end, the third element at the center, the second element between the first and third elements, and the fourth element between the third and fifth elements. Multiple (N) corresponding radio frequency sources are provided, each source communicating with a respective antenna element along a given radio-frequency signal path extending from the given signal source to the given antenna element, and where a first signal source generates signals at frequency f0, and each of the N−1 additional sources generate signals at frequencies of f0±(N−1)Δf, where N is an integer greater than or equal to 5.

Those skilled in the arts of antenna arrays and beamformers know that antennas are transducers which transduce electromagnetic energy between unguided- and guided-wave forms. More particularly, the unguided form of electromagnetic energy is that propagating in "free space," while guided electromagnetic energy follows a defined path established by a "transmission line" of some sort. Transmission lines include coaxial cables, rectangular and circular conductive waveguides, dielectric paths, and the like. Antennas are totally reciprocal devices, which have the same beam characteristics in both transmission and reception modes. For historic reasons, the guided-wave port of an antenna is termed a "feed" port, regardless of whether the antenna operates in transmission or reception. The beam characteristics of an antenna are established, in part, by the size of the radiating portions of the antenna relative to the wavelength. Small antennas make for broad or nondirective beams, and large antennas make for small, narrow or directive beams. When more directivity (narrower beamwidth) is desired than can be achieved from a single antenna, several antenna elements may be grouped together into an "array" and fed together in a phase-controlled manner, to generate the beam characteristics of an antenna larger than that of any single antenna element, and which is therefore capable of generating a narrower beam than a single antenna element of the array. The structures which control the apportionment of power to (or from) the antenna elements are termed "beamformers." A beamformer includes a beam port and a plurality of element ports. In a transmit mode, the signal to be transmitted is applied to the beam port and is distributed by the beamformer to the various element ports. In the receive mode, the unguided electromagnetic signals received by the antenna elements and coupled in guided form to the element ports are combined to produce a beam signal at the beam port of the beamformer. A salient advantage of sophisticated beamformers is that they may include a plurality of beam ports, each of which distributes the electromagnetic energy in such a fashion that different beams may be generated simultaneously.
A large number of methods and apparatus have been used to generate electronically scanned antenna beams using phased arrays made up of, or comprising, multiple radiating elements. A phased array can be formed as a linear array, as illustrated in FIG. 1, in which the radiating elements of the array are in-line. In FIG. 1, a linear array 10 includes a set 12 of antennas 120, 12φ, 122φ, 123φ, 124φ, 125φ, 126φ, 127φ, 128φ, and 129φ. Each of the antennas of set 12 of antennas is coupled by way of a phase shifter of a set 14 of phase shifters to a source of signal of a set 16 of sources. More particularly, antenna 120 is coupled by way of a phase shifter 140 to a source 160. Antenna 12φ is coupled by way of a phase shifter 14φ to a signal source 16φ, antenna 122φ is coupled by way of a phase shifter 142φ to a signal source 162φ, antenna 123φ is coupled by way of a phase shifter 143φ to a signal source 163φ, antenna 124φ is coupled by way of a phase shifter 144φ to a signal source 164φ, antenna 125φ is coupled by way of a phase shifter 145φ to a signal source 165φ, antenna 126φ is coupled by way of a phase shifter 146φ to a signal source 166φ, antenna 127φ is coupled by way of a phase shifter 147φ to a signal source 167φ, antenna 128φ is coupled by way of a phase shifter 148φ to a signal source 168φ, and antenna 129φ is coupled by way of a phase shifter 149φ to a signal source 169φ. Each source of set 16 of signal sources of FIG. 1 is at the same frequency f0 and in-phase. Each phase shifter of set 14 of signal sources of FIG. 1 is set to create the progressive phase shift. More particularly, phase shifter 140 provides some phase shift as a reference to the other phase shifters. Phase shifter 14φ provides phase shift equal to the reference phase plus φ as shown in FIG. 1. Phase shifter 142φ provides phase shift equal to the reference plus 2φ and so on. So the array beam peak is steered to the angle
                              sin                                                                          θ            0                          =                              φ                                                                                λ              0                                            2                                                                          π                                                                          D                                              (        1        )            where:                D is the physical separation between antenna elements, or more properly between their phase centers;        λ0 is the wavelength at the carrier frequency f0; and        θ0 is the angle to which the beam peak is steered or guided.
A phased array can also be formed as a planar array, such as that illustrated as 20 of FIG. 2. In FIG. 2, planar array 20 includes six rows I, II, III, IV, V, and VI of antenna arrays, any one of which may be similar to array 10 of FIG. 1. In FIG. 2, row I is illustrated as including the antennas of array 10 of FIG. 1. Of course, planar array 20 may contain more or fewer rows than six, and each row may contain more or fewer antennas than nine.
Linear phased arrays may also be subdivided into overlapping and nonoverlapping subarrays. A nonoverlapping array is illustrated by 30 in FIG. 3. In FIG. 3, antenna array 30 includes a linear array of 32 antenna elements included within eight antenna subarrays of a set 31 of subarrays. Of course, array 30 may contain more or fewer than 4 elements in subarray and more than 8 subarrays. Each row 30 can be part of planar array similar to FIG. 2. Each subarray of set 31 is fed by a summing or dividing circuit (E) of a set 38 of subarrays. Each summing circuit of set 38 of summing or dividing circuits is, in turn, fed by a phase shifter of a set 34 of phase shifters from a source of a set of sources 36. More particularly, a subset 311 of antenna element subset 31 includes antenna elements 321, 322, 323, and 324, each of which is fed from an output port of a summing or dividing circuit 381. The common port 381c of summing or dividing circuit 381 is fed by a phase shifter 341 from a source 361. Similarly, a subset 312 of antenna element subset 31 includes antenna elements 325, 326, 327, and 328, each of which is fed from an output port of a summing or dividing circuit 382. The common port 382c of summing or dividing circuit 382 is fed by a phase shifter 342 from a source 362. A subset 313 of antenna element subset 31 includes antenna elements 329, 3216, 3211, and 3212, each of which is fed from an output port of a summing or dividing circuit 383. The common port 383C of summing or dividing circuit 383 is fed by a phase shifter 343 from a source 363. There may be many subarrays in the array 30 of FIG. 3, and the last subarray is illustrated as 31N. Subarray 31N includes antenna elements 3229, 3230, 3231, and 3232, each of which is fed from an output port of a summing or dividing circuit 38N. The common port 38NC of summing or dividing circuit 38N is fed by a phase shifter 34N from a source 36N. As in the case of the array of FIG. 1, all the sources of set 36 of sources are at the same frequency and phase.
Linear phased arrays may also be combined into overlapping subarrays, as illustrated in simplified form by array 40 in FIG. 4. In FIG. 4, overlapping linear array 40 includes 32 antenna elements, illustrated on different lines to clarify the subdivisions. The uppermost line 411 includes twelve mutually adjacent elements. The left-most 4 elements in line 411 are fed at a frequency of f0 by a phase shifter and source 421. The next 4 elements in line 411 (elements 5 through 8 from the left) are fed simultaneously from first phase shifter and source 421 and a second phase shifter and source 422. The last 4 elements in line 411 (elements 9 through 12 from the left) are fed simultaneously from first phase shifter and source 421, second phase shifter and source 422 and a third phase shifter and source 423. In the second-from-top line 412 of antenna elements, four additional antenna elements (at the right of the line) are fed simultaneously from phase shifter and sources 422, 423, and 424. The third-from-top line 413 of antenna elements includes four additional antenna elements, all of which are fed simultaneously from phase shifter and sources 423, 424, and 425. The fourth-from-top line 414 of antenna elements includes four additional antenna elements, all of which are fed simultaneously from phase shifter and sources 424, 425, and 426. The fifth-from-top line 415 of antenna elements includes four additional antenna elements, all of which are fed simultaneously from phase shifter and sources 425 and 426. The right-most four antenna elements of row 416 are fed from phase shifter and source 426.
Another known approach to electronic scanning is a technique which may be referred to as ultra-fast "within-pulse-electronic-sector-scanning" (WPESS), which can be found in various references, such as
[1]U.S. Pat. No. 2,426,460August 1947 Lewis[2]U.S. Pat. No. 3,012,244November 1961Langenwalter et al.[3]U.S. Pat. No. 5,943,010August 1999Rudish et el.[4]U.S. Pat. No. 5,541,607July 1996 Reinhardt[5]U.S. Pat. No. 6,531,976March 2003 Yu[6]U.S. Pat. No. 6,624,783September 2003 Rabideau[7]U.S. Pat. No. 6,778,137August 2004Krikorian et al.
Samuel M. Sherman, Monopulse Principles and Techniques, Artech House, Norwood, Mass., 1984
Within-pulse-electronic-sector-scanning (WPESS) is based on progressive frequency offset between the adjacent radiating elements. Progressive frequency offset is illustrated in FIG. 5 for the case of a linear array 512 of antenna elements. In FIG. 5, linear array 512 includes antenna elements designated 5120, 5121, 5122, 5122, 5124, 5125, 5126, 5127, 5128, and 5129. Each antenna element of FIG. 5 is driven by a signal source at a frequency defined by the frequency shown on the bottom of each antenna. For example, antenna element 5120 is driven at a frequency f0, antenna element 5121 is driven at a frequency f0−Δf, antenna element 5122 is driven at a frequency f0−2Δf, antenna element 5123 is driven at a frequency f0−3Δf, antenna element 5124 is driven at a frequency f0−4Δf, antenna element 5125 is driven at a frequency f0−5Δf, antenna element 5126 is driven at a frequency f0−6Δf, antenna element 5127 is driven at a frequency f0−7Δf, antenna element 5128 is driven at a frequency f0−8Δf, and antenna element 5129 is driven at a frequency f0−9Δf. The differential phase shift between far field components radiated by antenna 5120 and antenna 512n isφn=−2πnΔft+nkd sin θ  (2)and includes time-dependent progressive phase shift with decrement −2πΔft. So the linear array 512 beam peak position becomes determinable from
                              sin                                                                                θ              0                                                  (              t              )                                      =                                            2                                                                                π                                                                                Δ                                                                                f                                      k                                                                                d                                          t                                    (        3        )            Therefore, all the phase shifters of set 14 in FIG. 1 can be removed and replaced by the set of local oscillators with frequency offset Δf, 2Δf, 3Δf . . . as shown in FIG. 5. The beam steering velocity and angular coverage is controlled by the value of frequency offset and must be matched with pulse duration. The f0 carrier oscillator driving antenna 5120 of FIG. 5 may be viewed as being a phase or frequency reference to which other phases or frequencies may be referred. The phase or frequency reference may be at a location within the array, rather than at an end thereof as illustrated.
A full scan of a sector of several tens of degrees is usually required for any volume search radar (VSR). If this sector is covered during a single pulse using Within-pulse-electronic-sector-scanning (WPESS) technique, all targets within this angular sector are illuminated in sequence and the return signals therefrom can be processed. The main disadvantage of the "within-pulse-electronic-sector-scanning" (WPESS) architecture of the prior art is poor signal-to-noise ratio. This poor signal-to-noise ratio occurs because fast scan means short time of target illumination, and consequently results in less energy being reflected toward the receiver from the target. Some signal-to-noise ratio loss can be reduced by integration of several returns from the target. However, this multi-pulse processing is limited in accuracy by the scintillation effect, glint, propagation and multipath errors, jamming, and the like, as set forth in reference [8].
Improved or alternative electromagnetic target acquisition and tracking techniques are desired.

Super-angular and range-resolution with phased array antenna and multifrequency dither


First and second laminated structures are respectively formed at one surface and the other surface of an insulating layer. A laminate is formed of the first laminated structure, the insulating layer and the second laminated structure. A heat-assisted wiring trace is included in the first laminated structure, and a support substrate and a connection terminal are included in the second laminated structure. The surface of the connection terminal is exposed at the other surface of the insulating layer. A first portion of the laminate including the connection terminal has a thickness smaller than the thickness of second and third portions of the laminate including portions on both sides of the connection terminal.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a suspension board with a circuit, a suspension board assembly sheet with a circuit and a method of manufacturing the suspension board with a circuit and the suspension board assembly sheet with a circuit.
2. Description of Related Art
Actuators are used in drives such as hard disc drives. Such an actuator includes an arm provided rotatably around a rotation shaft, and a suspension board with a circuit for a magnetic head that is attached to the arm. The suspension board with a circuit is a printed circuit board for positioning the magnetic head at a desired track of a magnetic disc.
Generally, in the suspension board with a circuit, a wiring is formed at one surface, and a metal substrate is formed at another surface, of an insulating layer. In a suspension described in JP 2012-119032 A, a plurality of conductors are formed at the upper surface of the insulating layer, and a metal base is formed at the lower surface of the insulating layer. An electrical circuit portion that is electrically independent from the metal base is formed at the lower surface of the insulating layer. End portions of part of the plurality of conductors are connected to the electrical circuit portion via a conductor coupling portion that penetrates the insulating layer.

Suspension board with circuit and suspension board assembly sheet with circuit, and method of manufacturing the same


An exhibit including a non-planar outer piece formed from a plurality of substantially flat lenticular panels. The outer piece defines an interior and is configured to display an external view of the interior through the plurality of substantially flat lenticular panels.

Signs have long been used to display information to customers or other observers. Eye-catching, fun, interesting, or otherwise unique signs or exhibits help grab an observer's attention, make a viewing experience more enjoyable, or otherwise increase communicative impact on the observer. Lenticular images have been used as one way of catching a viewer's attention. A "lenticular surface," or a surface including lenses, is often associated with a piece of ribbed plastic aligned with a series of segmented images. In such applications, elongate and transparent ribs act as lenticules, or lenses. Often, the lenticules run vertically, such that a viewer turning the surface, or passing by the lenticular surface, views an incrementally changing image. The use of segmented lenticular images can facilitate visual effects such as: flips, where two or more images change between one another; three-dimensional effects; animations, with three or more images used to create the illusion of motion; and other variations or combinations of such effects.


The present invention provides an image processing device capable of realizing appropriate color expression without requiring a large increase in data amount of image data for displaying a composite screen. A television broadcast receiver (1) includes a synthesis processing section (40) and an OSD processing section (24) for creating an OSD plane C as a composite screen in index color expression by combining an OSD plane U and OSD plane L, which are display screens in the index color expression. By the processing section (40) and the OSD processing section (24), the OSD plane C for attaining a display effect in which the OSD plane U and OSD plane L are superimposed is created.

Display devices such as televisions, etc. has an OSD (On-Screen-Display) function, so as to display a menu screen thereon for setting. Moreover, such display devices are configured to be able to display subtitles, data broadcast or the like apart from the menu display, by using the OSD function. Hereinafter, a display operation for display a certain screen by using the OSD function is referred to as an OSD display operation. The OSD display operation is carried out such that a 2-dimensional plane region (hereinafter, referred to as an OSD plane) for image formation for a menu screen, subtitle, or the like is set, and the OSD plane is outputted on a display section of the display device.
Moreover, in the OSD display, pixel colors in image data are generally expressed based on a RGB expression or a YCbCr expression. In this case, however, such problems should be encountered that storing the pixel colors expressed on the RGB expression or the YCbCr expression requires the memory to store a large data amount to occupy a memory space, updating the OSD display requires a high read/write speed to perform reading and writing to the memory, that is, requires a wider bandwidth for memory. In order to encounter this problems, a technique in which the pixel colors are expressed based on an index color expression is adopted. That is, in general, the display devices expresses colors by combinations of intensities of RGB. However, when the index color expression is used, only necessary one or ones of the combinations are selected and indexed, so that the pixel colors are indicated by color codes. Moreover, in order to display or convert the pixel colors, a look-up table (pallet (CLUT)) between the color codes and the colors of the RGB expression is referred to allot actual colors to the pixels.
In some cases, it is demanded that OSD planes for different kinds of usages should be displayed in combination with each other in superimposition with an image. In such cases, a plurality of OSD planes are required. How many OSD planes can be displayed is dependent on such hardware restrictions as a storage capacity of the memory to store the image data for image formation in the OSD planes, read/write speed of OSD display data to the memory, that is, bandwidth etc. of the memory. As such, the number of the OSD planes to be displayed is restricted. In case where a plurality of OSD planes are superimposed and thereby combined with each other, the following problems are encountered when such a composite OSD plane prepared by combining the OSD planes is displayed.
For example, as illustrated in FIG. 2, there is a case where a composite product (composite screen) synthesized by partially imposing OSD planes U and L expressed in the index color expression has an superimposed portion F at which the OSD planes U and L are superimposed. If the composite screen is also expressed in the index color expression, the superimposed portion F sometimes has a color that does not exist on a pallet for the composite screen. In such a case, a color of one of the OSD planes U and L which is superimposed over the other is adopted as the color of the portion F (in FIG. 2, the color of the OSD plane U is adopted). That is, there is a problem that the superimposition of displays in the OSD planes U and L cannot be precisely expressed. Note that FIG. 2 is a view of a conventional art and illustrates an example of a composite screen synthesized by superimposing the different OSD planes U and L expressed in the index color expression.
In order to appropriately express the color of the superimposed portion F, it can be considered to synthesize a composite product by combining the OSD planes U and L converted from the index color expression to the RGB expression, as illustrated in FIG. 3. Note that FIG. 3 is a view of a conventional art and illustrates a composite product synthesized by superimposing the different OSD planes U and L expressed in the index color expression and converted to the RGB expression. However, in this case, the composite screen should be stored in the RGB expression, thereby requiring the memory or the like to store a larger data amount than storing the composite screen in the index color expression as illustrated in FIG. 2.
Moreover, the OSD plane can be used not only for displaying the aforementioned display contents but also for giving a fading effect to an image displayed on the display device. The fading effect may be a fading-out process for darkening an image gradually to black and a fade-in process for appearing an image gradually from a black display. In general, such a fading effect is realized by specially using an OSD plane colored in a particular color (usually black) for the fading effect (see Patent Literature 1, for example). In a broadcast receiving device disclosed in Patent Literature 1, fading out is carried out by gradually increasing transmittance of a black OSD plane from 0% to 100%. On the contrary, fading in is carried out by gradually decreasing the transmittance of the black OSD plane from 100% to 0%.
Moreover, Patent Literature 2 discloses an electronic circuit capable of combining various OSD images (OSD planes) with a source image (image). The electronic circuits causes a memory to store therein (i) the source image, (ii) index color data indicative of color codes of pixels constituting the OSD image, (iii) pallet data including image signal values and α values for indicating composition ratios. By an image processing section of the electronic circuit, a color for each pixel is determined by combining, at a composition ratio determined by an α value, the source image data with an image signal value indicated by the color code. By this, the electronic circuit can change a transmittance of an OSD image by updating the α values, thereby being able to synthesize various OSD images. It is also possible that different OSD planes are combined and displayed in combination, where one of the different OSD planes is utilized to attain such a display effect, such as fading effect, that a display is dynamically changed over a certain time period. If the composite screen of such a display is stored in the index color expression, the superimposed portion F of the composite screen would possibly fail to appropriately reflect the dynamic display change. For example, in case of the one of the OSD planes that is mono-colored and whose transmittance is changed, a color of the other one of the OSD planes cannot be appropriate if, in the superimposed portion F the color of the one of the OSD planes as a result of the change in the transmittance does not exist on the pallet of the composite screen. Thus, in case where the composite screen is stored in the index color expression, there is a possibility that the composite screen thus stored does not reflect the dynamic display change appropriately. Moreover, it can be considered to express and store the composite screen in the RGB expression. In this case, as described above, the composite screen can reflect the dynamic display change appropriately, but results in an increase in data amount to display the composite screen.

Image processing device, control method for image processing device, control program for image processing device, and recording medium in which control program is recorded