An article such as a soft cover portfolio, or desk folder includes a graphic image thereon by transferring an image from a source to a processor which is operable to control a printer to print multiple images on a sheet of polyvinyl chloride or the like. The printed images may be protected by laminating a transparent vinyl sheet over the image sheet and the images are then precut to final size. The individual images are applied directly to the article or to a member used in forming an article by RF sealing the image to the member. The image may be supported on a debossing die or placed on the member wich will form the article, then struck by the debossing die.

The present invention pertains to an article of manufacture, such as a portfolio, desk folder, ring binder, wallet or similar business accessory article having an improved graphic image printed thereon by an image transfer process which includes transferring the image from a source image to a sheet of flexible material, such as vinyl, providing a protective coating or laminate over the image and adhering the image sheet to the article which may include a debossing operation.
Business accessory and gift articles, such as portfolios, desk folders, ring binders, wallets, luggage tags, keyfobs, memo pads and similar articles, are typically fabricated of a soft, durable material such as fabrics, vinyl, leather or other synthetic leather-like materials. The application of ornamental designs with graphic images or other pictorial features on the surface of the leather or synthetic leather-like material of the article is important and certain developments in the production of promotional and gift articles of the general type discussed above have been carried out. U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,762,375 and 5,961,150, both to Randy A. Kogutt and Michael A. Kogutt, and assigned to the assignee of the present invention, are directed to important advancements in the art of manufacturing articles of the type described herein. The subject matter of both of the above-mentioned patents is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
The above mentioned patents provide an article having a graphic image disposed in a xe2x80x9cwindowxe2x80x9d of the cover or other outer surface, for example, of an article such as a desk folder or portfolio as described in detail in the patents. However, such a xe2x80x9cwindowxe2x80x9d may also be provided as a raised or depressed surface of the material of the article and an image placed in the xe2x80x9cwindowxe2x80x9d by providing the image on a separate sheet of material and adhering the image sheet so provided to the material of the article within the xe2x80x9cwindowxe2x80x9d. Alternatively, the window may be simultaneously formed with application of a sheet or substrate bearing the image to the material of the article which is to be decorated with the image.
There is also a desire in the manufacture of articles of the type in question to be able to conveniently provide a virtually infinite variety of images to be placed on the article and to make the images aesthetically pleasing and durable as well as economical to produce when applied to relatively large quantities of articles of the type in question. It is to these ends that the present invention has been developed.
The present invention provides an improved article of manufacture, such as a business accessory or gift item, including but not limited to a portfolio, desk folder, wallet, other articles mentioned hereinbefore or a similar article, which includes an improved graphic image placed thereon which is aesthetically pleasing, durable, inexpensive to manufacture and adapted to be easily produced in various quantities.
The present invention also provides an improved method of making an article of the type referred to hereinabove wherein a pre-selected graphic image is transferred to a flexible sheet or substrate. Single or multiple images may be transferred to the flexible sheet or substrate. If the images are relatively small, multiple images are printed on relatively large sheets of substrate material. Individual image sheets may then be cut out of the larger sheet preferably to the contours of the images themselves and are applied, respectively, to a surface of an article which is to bear the image, preferably using a debossing die and, preferably using radio frequency (RF) sealing or bonding of the image sheet to the surface of the article.
In accordance with one aspect of the invention a selected image may be generated by copying the image from a photograph or print of the image to a digital processor or computer wherein the image may be adjusted for size, quality and color and the adjusted image is then transferred one or multiple times to an image receiving sheet using a printer including, preferably, a multicolor inkjet type printer. However, a thermal ribbon printer or an electrostatic printer may also be used to provide single or plural images on the sheet. Individual image sheets are then cut out of a larger sheet bearing one or multiple images.
In accordance with another aspect of the invention an improved image is provided for application to an article of the type described herein, which image is provided on a sheet or substrate which is adapted to receive a graphic image in accordance with a method as described herein. The image is preferably provided on an opaque flexible sheet of material, such as polyvinyl chloride (PVC), having a suitable coating thereon to allow ink adherence, if required. For purposes of discussion herein, the term image xe2x80x9csheetxe2x80x9d or image xe2x80x9csubstratexe2x80x9d refers to the underlying sheetlike member on which the image resides and one or more image sheets may be cut from a larger sheet of the same material on which one or more images are formed. Still further, the image sheet may be laminated with a clear vinyl overlay or provided with a transparent or xe2x80x9cclearxe2x80x9d coating to preserve the quality and durability of the image, all in accordance with the present invention.
In accordance with yet a further aspect of the invention, an article of the type described hereinabove is provided with an improved graphic image by adhering a prepared flexible sheet or substrate, including the image printed thereon, to a surface of the article using, preferably, radio frequency (RF) bonding or xe2x80x9cweldingxe2x80x9d of the image sheet to the article. The bonding may take place on a surface of the article which has been previously lightly debossed, or the debossing may take place simultaneously with bonding of the image sheet to the article. A debossing die may be positioned in a so-called face up orientation to allow an operator to accurately place the image sheet on the debossing die. Alternatively, the debossing die may be operated in a face down orientation to lightly deboss the surface of the member to receive the image sheet whereby an indentation is provided to act as a guide for accurate placement of the image sheet on the surface of the article. Still further, other methods of accurately placing the image sheet on the surface of the article may be used, such as concentrated light beam xe2x80x9cpointerxe2x80x9d type guides or templates which can be used to place the image sheet accurately on the surface of the article and then moved out of the way prior to the step of sealing the image sheet to the member.
The image sheet is then permanently adhered or sealed to the member which will form at least part of the article preferably using a debossing die and an RF sealing apparatus. Accordingly, an important advantage of the present invention is that the process of adhering an image to an article of the type described herein permits decorating or adding images to previously completed products. Of course, image sheets may be adhered to larger sheets, such as the cover sheet of an article of manufacture and whereby the cover sheet is then further finished to complete the fabrication of the article. Accordingly, one advantage of the method of the present invention is that the image transfer or adherence process is adaptable for otherwise finished articles or for component parts of articles.
Those skilled in the art will further appreciate the above mentioned features and advantages of the invention together with other important aspects thereof upon reading the detailed description which follows in conjunction with the drawing.

Business accessory article with graphic image and method of making


A closure securing mechanism implementing a latching without further operator interaction mechanism for sliding doors when completely slid closed. The closure securing mechanism implements the automatic latching function through industry standard compatible devices or modifications to existing sliding door latching hardware. When the closure securing mechanism is installed on a sliding door the latching mechanism will be positively secured anytime the door is fully slid closed. The mechanism can be opened from inside and outside with standard pull handles with sliding locks. The sliding lock portion has a spring of specific tension, specific body and total length in tension so whenever the door is slid closed and the keeper latch is angled to engage and hold a latching arm inhibiting opening of the door until the tension of the spring is overcome by an operator sliding the sliding lock against the spring in tension.

1. Technical Field of Invention 70/91
This invention relates to a door lock and more particularly to such a door lock for a sliding glass door with automatic latching capability.
2. Background of the Invention
Sliding doors offer many benefits to building functionality. This is particularly true when the sliding doors are constructed of mostly glass. Glass sliding doors are quite popular as they let in maximum amounts of light yet offer decent security and safety. Latching of sliding doors has been difficult to design given the conflicting priorities presented. A few of the priorities are: egress/ingress, security, safety, and ease of use. Everyone would like to have a door that was easy to open from the inside, easy to secure for the outside, and impervious to vandals. Unfortunately, many of these functions are at odds when designers try to satisfy all priorities. Currently, the standard for sliding glass doors is a pull handle on both inside and outside, a lock engage-able and release-able only from the inside, and a inhibit lever to prohibit releasing the lock when the inhibit lever is engaged without disengaging the inhibit lever. Additionally, keyed locks are also typically used to allow access from the outside when the inhibit or night latch is engaged. A safety problem has been identified that can cause undue risks to young children, pets, or compromised adults. The safety problem occurs typically when the sliding door is slid closed the lock may or may not have been set. It is easy for most functional adults to remember to close the door when required (when a pool or similar hazard is beyond the door). It is also easy to check from a distance if the door is slid closed but the lock is impossible to verify (locked/unlocked) from any distance and most often is only checked by a physical pull on the door handle. Some recent designs offer auto closing and independent auto latching however these are expensive and difficult to operate and may cause a fire hazard to shorter individuals unable to operate the raised release during an emergency. Previous attempts to latch sliding door mechanisms suffered from internal mechanism binding and an inability to operate from both inside and outside. What is needed is an auto-latching mechanism for sliding door hardware without additional operational requirements.


Compositions comprising (A) non-branched polybutadiene having terminal hydroxyl functionality less than 2 per molecule by average; and (B) branched polybutadiene having terminal hydroxyl functionality more than 2 per molecule by average; the weight ratio of (A) to (B) being about 99:1 to 1:99. These compositions are reacted with organic polyisocyanates to form prepolymers which are cured by reaction with a chain extender such as a diol to produce cured resins which exhibit unexpectedly improved tear strength properties and themoplasticity with high modulus, and improved tackiness and shelf life for hot melt adhesives. The prepolymers have lower viscosity and better storage stability as compared with those from conventional branched polybutadienes of the (B) type. Alternatively, the compositions can be cured directly in a one-shot reaction with diisocyanates to form a polyurethane with the described combination of properties. In addition, the compositions of (A) and (B) can be reacted to form polybutadienes with carboxyl, amine or epoxy-terminal functionality with are useful components of formulations.

This invention relates to hydroxyl-terminated polybutadiene compositions, curable compositions comprising such hydroxyl-terminated polybutadienes, resin products made by reacting such hydroxyl-terminated polybutadienes with polyisocyantes, epoxy resins, anhydrides, amines, or phenolics, and cured polymers based on such formulations such as polyurethanes.
Prior hydroxyl-terminated polybutadienes prepared by radical polymerization, such as commercially available ones sold under the designations Poly bd R45HTLO or Liquiflex P, contain a large percentage of oligomers and polymers with branched microstructures and more than 2.0 hydroxyl functionalities per molecule, with an average functionality of such polybutadienes is about 2.4-2.6 hydroxyl groups per polymer molecule. Polyurethane formulations prepared from such branched hydroxyl-terminated polybutadienes reacted with polyisocyanates exhibit low tensile and tear strength properties.
Prior hydroxyl-terminated polybutadienes derived from anionic polymerization, such as Krasol(copyright) LBH 2000, 3000 and 5000, and the Nisso-G series have a non-branched structure and a maximum of 2.0 hydroxyl functionalities per chain, typically 1.8-1.9 hydroxyl groups per polymer chain. Such non-branched hydroxyl-terminated polybutadienes have been used in the prior art for reaction with organic polyisocyanates, to form polyurethanes or urethane-terminated prepolymers.
It has been a longstanding objective of those skilled in this art to form polyurethanes with improved and unique combination of properties, and to form prepolymers with lower viscosity and with improved storage stability thereof.
It has also been an objective in this art to improve the thermoplasticity and modulus of the chain extended cured resins of this type.
These objects, and others which will become apparent from the following disclosure, are achieved by the present invention which in one aspect comprises a composition comprising (A) non-branched hydroxyl-terminated polybutadiene having hydroxyl functionality lower than 2 per molecule by average; and (B) hydroxyl-terminated polybutadiene having hydroxyl functionality greater than 2 per molecule by average, the weight ratio of (A) to (B) being about 99:1 to 1:99. Preferably the weight ratio is 90:10 to 10:90.
In another aspect the invention comprises mixtures of (A) and (B) with an organic polyisocyanate to form polyurethane resins, isocyanate-terminated prepolymers prepared from such mixture or chain extended thermoplastic resins prepared by reacting the isocyanate terminated prepolymers with a chain extender such as a diol.
In another aspect, the invention comprises reaction products of the mixtures of (A) and (B) with anhydrides to form carboxyl-terminated prepolymers, with peracids to form epoxy-functionalized resins, with epoxy resins to form epoxy-terminated prepolymers, with phenolics to form phenol-terminated prepolymers, or with amines to form amine-terminated polymers, all or which are curable by reacting with chain extenders or curing agents.
Another aspect of the invention is direct cured polyurethane resins prepared by reacting an organic polyisocyanate with a mixture of (A) and (B).
In still another aspect, the invention comprises a method of preparing hydroxyl-terminated polybutadienes by blending types (A) and (B) in a ratio of 99:1 to 1:99 by weight, and of preparing prepolymers therefrom and of preparing cured resins from the prepolymers.
Suitable non-branched hydroxyl-terminated polybutadienes (A) are low molecular weight resins, preferably having a weight average molecular weight, Mw, of about 1000 to 20,000, more preferably about 2000 to 10,000, and a 1,2-vinyl content of about 15-90 mole percent, preferably 20 to 70 mole %, with an average hydroxyl functionality less than or equal to 2 per molecule. These non-branched polybutadienes are preferably derived from anionic polymerization. The hydroxyl groups can be primary or secondary. Krasol(copyright) LBH 2000, 3000 and 5000, and the Nisso-G series are examples of such non-branched hydroxyl-terminated polybutadienes.
Suitable branched hydroxyl-terminated polybutadienes (B) are also low molecular weight resins, with a preferred number average molecular weight, Mn, of about 1000 to 20,000, more preferably about 2000 to 10,000, and have a 1,2-vinyl content of about 15-90 mole percent, preferably 20 to 70 mole % and an average hydroxyl functionality of more than 2.0, preferably about 2.4-2.6 per molecule. These branched polybutadienes are preferably derived from radical polymerization. The hydroxyl groups can be primary, secondary, or tertiary. Poly bd R45HTLO, Poly bd R45M, Poly bd R20LM, Liquiflex(copyright) H, and Liquiflex(copyright) P are examples of such branched hydroxyl-terminated polybutadienes.
The hydroxyl-terminated polybutadiene mixture compositions can further comprise hydrogenated branched or non-branched hydroxyl-terminated polybutadiene which results in improved high temperature stability with lower concentration of unsaturation. Hydrogenated hydroxyl-terminated polyisoprene, such as Epol(copyright) resin, can also be used as the branched hydroxyl-terminated polybutadiene.
The hydroxyl-terminated polybutadiene mixtures of (A) and (B) and any additional polybutadienes can be mixed with polyisocyanate and reacted to form isocyanate-terminated polyurethane prepolymers which can be further reacted with chain extenders to form resins which have good tensile and tear strength but with, surprisingly, similar modulus when compared with polyisocyanates prepared from (B) alone, as is typical in the prior art.
Suitable polyisocyanates are those with two or more isocyanate groups per molecule on average, for example 4,4xe2x80x2-methylenebis(phenyl isocyanate) (MDI), toluene diisocyanate (TDI), hexane diisocyanate, and others as are well known in this art.
The cured polyurethane of the invention exhibit greatly improved tensile and tear strength properties compared to the polyurethanes made from radical produced hydroxyl-terminated polybutadienes having terminal hydroxyl functionality of 2.4 to 2.6, but have high moduli compared to polyurethanes made from the anionic-produced hydroxyl-terminated polybutadienes.
The cured polymers are characterized by exceptional flexibility and toughness and high modulus properties. Moreover, they possess excellent water resistance and superior low dielectric properties. This combination of properties is not achievable with compositions of the prior art.
While the urethane polymers and isocyanate-terminated prepolymers cured with diols are preferred uses of the types of resins of the invention, the hydroxyl-terminated polybutadienes can also be reacted to form carboxyl, phenol, epoxy or amine-terminated polybutadienes, which can be cured to produce resins which also exhibit the improved properties. The cured thermoplastic resins are useful in a wide variety of applications such as coatings, adhesives, membranes, brake fluids, for example.

Hydroxyl-terminated polybutadienes and curing formulations


A lighting apparatus includes a string of serially-connected light-emitting devices including at least a first segment and a second segment and a control circuit configured to control a relationship of light outputs of the first segment and the second segment by diverting current from a node of the string to at least one energy storage device and subsequently transferring energy from the at least one energy storage device to at least the first segment. The control circuit may be configured to divert the current responsive to a control input, such as a temperature and/or a dimming level. The at least one energy storage device may include at least one inductor. In some embodiments, the control circuit may control at least one color characteristic of light produced by the string.

Solid-state lighting arrays are used for a number of lighting applications. For example, solid-state lighting panels including arrays of solid-state light emitting devices have been used as direct illumination sources in architectural and/or accent lighting. A solid-state light emitting device may include, for example, a packaged light emitting device including one or more light emitting diodes (LEDs), which may include inorganic LEDs, which may include semiconductor layers forming p-n junctions and/or organic LEDs (OLEDs), which may include organic light emission layers.
Solid-state lighting devices are often used in lighting fixtures, such as incandescent bulb replacement applications, task lighting, recessed light fixtures and the like. For example, Cree, Inc. produces a variety of light fixtures that use LEDs for illumination. The fixtures include can-type down lights, such as the LR-6 and CR-6, and troffer-type fixtures, such as the CR-24. Solid-state lighting devices may be attractive for retrofit/replacement applications, where devices such as LEDs may offer improved energy efficiency, reduced heat generation, extended life and desired performance characteristics, such as certain color and/or color rendering capabilities.
Solid-state lighting devices may include circuitry that may be used to control spectral output. The chromaticity of a particular light source may be referred to as the "color point" of the source. For a white light source, the chromaticity may be referred to as the "white point" of the source. As noted above, the white point of a white light source may fall along the Planckian locus. Accordingly, a white point may be identified by a correlated color temperature (CCT) of the light source. White light typically has a CCT of between about 2000 K and 10000 K. White light with a CCT of 3000 may appear yellowish in color, while light with a CCT of 8000 K may appear more bluish in color. Color coordinates that lie on or near the Planckian locus at a color temperature between about 2500 K and 8000 K may yield pleasing white light to a human observer.
"White" light also includes light that is near, but not directly on the Planckian locus. A Macadam ellipse can be used on a 1931 CIE Chromaticity Diagram to identify color points that are so closely related that they appear the same, or substantially similar, to a human observer. A Macadam ellipse is a closed region around a center point in a two-dimensional chromaticity space, such as the 1931 CIE Chromaticity Diagram, that encompasses all points that are visually indistinguishable from the center point. A seven-step Macadam ellipse captures points that are indistinguishable to an ordinary observer within seven standard deviations; a ten step Macadam ellipse captures points that are indistinguishable to an ordinary observer within ten standard deviations, and so on. Accordingly, light having a color point that is within about a ten step Macadam ellipse of a point on the Planckian locus may be considered to have a substantially similar color as the point on the Planckian locus.
The ability of a light source to accurately reproduce color in illuminated objects is typically characterized using the color rendering index (CRI). In particular, CRI is a relative measurement of how the color rendering properties of an illumination system compare to those of a reference illuminator, with a reference illuminator for a CCT of less than 5000K being a black-body radiator. For CCT of 5000K and above, the reference illuminator is a spectrum defined by the CIE which is similar to the spectrum of sunlight at the earth's surface. The CRI equals 100 if the color coordinates of a set of test colors being illuminated by the illumination system are the same as the coordinates of the same test colors being irradiated by the reference illuminator. Daylight has the highest CRI (of 100), with incandescent bulbs being relatively close (about 95), and fluorescent lighting being less accurate (70-85).
Generally speaking, incandescent bulbs tend to produce more natural-appearing illumination than other types of conventional lighting devices. In particular, incandescent bulbs typically go from a color temperature of about 2700K at full brightness to a color temperature of about 2000 k at 5% brightness and to a color temperature of about 1800K at about 1% brightness. This compares favorably with daylight, which varies from about 6500K at midday to about 2500 k at sunrise and sunset. Research indicates that people tend to prefer warmer color temperatures at low brightness levels and in intimate settings. U.S. Pat. No. 7,213,940 to Van De Ven et al. describes a lighting device using LEDs that can produce warm white light by combining the light from unsaturated yellow (blue-shifted yellow (BSY) LEDs and saturated red LEDs.
In illumination applications, it is often desirable to provide a lighting source that generates a light with a color behavior that approximates the behavior of incandescent lighting. LED-lighting units have been proposed that may be coupled to an AC dimmer circuit and approximate the lighting variation of a conventional incandescent light as the dimmer circuit increases or decreases the brightness of the generated light, as described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,038,399 to Lys et al.
United States Patent Publication No. 2009/0160363 describes a system in which phosphor converted LEDs and red LEDs are combined to provide white light. The ratio of the various mixed colors of the LEDs is set at the time of manufacture by measuring the output of the light and then adjusting string currents to reach a desired color. The current levels that achieve the desired color are then fixed for the particular lighting device. LED lighting systems employing feedback to obtain a desired color are described in U.S. Publication Nos. 2007/0115662 and 2007/0115228. U.S. Publication Nos. 2012/0306375 and 2011/0068701 describe various techniques for controlling LEDs in a string configuration responsive to inputs such as temperature to provide a desired color.

Lighting apparatus and methods using switched energy storage


An integrated circuit package for sensing fluid properties includes: a substrate made of semiconductor material; a fluid property measurement circuit formed on the substrate; and a sensor circuit coupled to the fluid property measurement circuit within a same integrated circuit package. The sensor circuit is configured to generate a field that interacts with the fluid. The fluid property measurement circuit is configured to determine a change in a property of the sensor circuit as results from the field interacting with the fluid and is further configured to determine a property of the fluid based on the change in the property of the sensor circuit.

Integrated circuits (ICs) are currently used to sense some properties of a fluid. For example, Ion-Sensitive Field Effect Transistors (ISFETs) fabricated using complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) processing technology are used to sense an ion concentration of an electrolytic solution (i.e., ion concentrated fluid). More particularly, the ISFET is a MOSFET formed on a substrate, such as silicon, and comprises a source and drain region with a channel therebetween. The ISFET further comprises a floating gate region that is electrically connected to ion concentrated fluid via a metal sense plate and one or more other metal interconnects or structures. During operation of the ISFET, in general, the ion concentration within the fluid results in a corresponding electrical bias of the floating gate. This bias results in a measurable change in channel conductivity within the channel between the source and drain. In this manner, it can be said that the ISFET directly senses the ion concentration of the fluid through its source/drain channel conductivity.
Such an ISFET structure has some shortcomings, however. For example, the threshold voltage (Vt) at neutral pH of such devices is known to vary widely. These deleterious effects are primarily attributed to the presence of fixed charge within the floating gate dielectric (and/or a passivation layer) as well as process-induced charges within the floating gate of the ISFET. Consequently, the electrical behavior of the ISFET (with respect to a given ion concentration of the fluid) can be difficult to predict, unless sufficient care is exercised in the manufacturing phase.
Methods such as ultraviolet erase processes and voltage trimming techniques have been used to address the varying threshold voltages of ISFETs. However, in order to sense the ion concentration of the fluid, it is required that at least a portion of the IC be directly exposed to the fluid. Unless additional material cost is factored into the IC fabrication process to protect the exposed IC components, the IC can suffer corrosive effects from the fluid exposure, thereby limiting its lifetime.
The present invention is illustrated by way of example and is not limited by the accompanying figures, in which like references indicate similar elements. Skilled artisans will appreciate that elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements in the figures may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help improve the understanding of embodiments of the present invention.
The apparatus and method components have been represented where appropriate by conventional symbols in the drawings, showing only those specific details that are pertinent to understanding the embodiments of the present invention so as not to obscure the disclosure with details that will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art having the benefit of the description herein.

Methods and integrated circuit package for sensing fluid properties


Gas burner safety device for use with gas fired heating systems and water heaters to shut-off main gas valve controlled gas flow to the burner's main gas jet in the event that the main jet becomes partially submerged to at least a critical level in surrounding floodwater and unable to function normally, although the burner's pilot light remains lit and unimpeded resulting in generation of a erroneous thermocouple safety interlock signal for the main gas valve. The device prevents any massive injection of gas into the surrounding floodwater as gas bubbles which can float about and uncontrollably ignite, or release of gas into the circumjacent environment, thereby preventing an otherwise very dangerous situation where fire or explosion may occur which might result in extensive property damage, as well as personal injury or death.

Unexpected partial flooding of basements has been observed to lead to a peculiar accident causing situation where considerable damage to several different heating system boilers is known to have occured. More importantly, the set of conditions which causes the problem is not of isolated or exceptional origin, because these conditions have repeatedly taken place in different settings with widely different kinds of gas-fired heating systems. In one incident, the fire department was summoned by tenants of an apartment building and the firemen encountered "fire popping up all over the place", meaning on the surface of the water which had flooded the basement as the result of heavy downpour rain. In addition, the heating system wiring (particularly the low-voltage thermostat wiring) was heavily damaged and the plastic knob and other parts on the combination gas valve/regulator body had melted. The fire department appeared to have no idea of what had gone wrong, and they merely concluded that the hot-water (hydronic) boiler had broken down. In another occurrence involving a different location and a steam-boiler of totally different design the same mysterious failing again took place. Just as in the previous situation, the gas valve was destroyed by intense heat where all the plastic parts had melted and the wires connected to it were charred. Again, and to my surprise, no one from the gas utility company (who was called to repair it) appeared to have any idea whatsoever of what had gone wrong: just that the basement had flooded and as a result the gas valve has "failed" and needed replacement.
Upon more careful examination and subsequent evaluation of the setting for each of these unsual failures, the common thread which has been discovered is that the water level which was observed to have been flooding each of the heating system boiler areas had been relatively shallow, on the order of 4 to 6 inches or so. I have since determined that what appears to take place is that natural gas is injected directly into the water in the form of gas bubbles which will then surface and ignite, either from being near the gas burner's pilot flame, or from one-another (like a "row of dominos"). This scenario is obviously the setting for a very dangerous situation, because the burning gas bubbles can at best merely damage the boiler and its controls, but worse they may ignite nearby flammable material or trash.
What I further discovered is that when the water floods and submerges the heating system's gas burner to a certain (albeit unexceptional) CRITICAL LEVEL, which happens to be typically on the order of 4 to 6 inches or so, the depth of the water is just sufficient to obstruct the main jets on the gas burner, while the pilot light and the associated thermocouple is ordinarily placed a little higher and keeps on operating as though nothing is wrong. This critical level for the floodwater establishes a set of conditions which uniquely combine to fool and thus defeat the usual safety provisions inherent of the modern gas valve used on the gas burner, because the still heated thermocouple continues to produce an interlock signal indicating that all of the operating conditions are proper, while in reality the actual operating conditions are not. As a result of this false thermocouple produced interlock signal condition, the main jets will be able to turn ON and massive amounts of gas will inject directly into the water as gas bubbles. Of course, if the water becomes deeper than the critical level the pilot light will also be snuffed out allowing the thermocouple to cool and a loss of the interlock signal, and the main gas valve can not open as provided for with the usual safety precautions included by most, if not all, gas valve manufacturers. Unfortunately the water level invariably has to pass through the certain critical level where false operation of the burner occurs if the heating system or hot water heater calls for "more heat". This condition is of course more exacerbated in cold weather or during certain portions of the day when main burner operation is likely to be more frequent.
I find that it is the surfacing gas bubbles which lead to the peculiar distruction of the burner's gas valves and wiring. If a typical gas burner setup such as commonly found in a boiler or furnace is investigated, it is usual that the main gas jets are quite near (and often under) the gas valve. It is also usual practice that the main gas jets are sited substantially lower than the location of the pilot light and thermocouple. As a result, any gas which becomes injected into the water may surface under or very near the valve and where it can be ingnited by the still-burning pilot flame. Obviously much damage will result from such a situation. It is also possible that, if the gas bubbles are to drift some distance away from the gas burner before they surface and ignite, the even more dangerous possibility is present for further igniting of nearby inflammable trash or other objects. A worst-case scenario is that of where the raw gas accumulates in the confined area of a basement or boiler room and is then suddenly ignited by the still-present pilot light flame with the result being a massive explosion or building fire.
The current design and manufacture method of modern gas burners used in boilers and furnaces is a clearly defined area of at least engineering oversight, if not outright product negligence. It is probably unknown just how many fires, explosions, and deaths occur each year due to the synergistic effect of shallow flooding of a basement causing partial gas burner flooding to a critical level which leads to failure of the usual safety provisions of a conventional gas burner. For the most part, in the event of severe fire or explosion, the cause may be written-off as due to unknown causes. Product negligence results because popular and well-known manufacturers of gas-fired major appliances such as furnaces and boilers continue to make and sell huge quantities of equipment which does not provide any shut-down provision for the gas burner apparatus in the event of partial flooding such as I have observed to occur. Moreover these same manufacturers do not provide for any aftermarket retrofit of millions of not-so-old existing installations in homes and commercial buildings.

Partially flooded gas appliance safety shut-off method and apparatus


An improved process for repair of worn and damaged surfaces of railway structures such as frog and diamond transition surfaces, rail head surfaces and wheels. A worn or damaged surface is prepared using a robotically-controlled laser to melt or gouge away metal using controlled laser energy and air pressure to remove existing worn or damaged surfaces. The process further utilizes laser cladding, laser weld overlaying, or laser additive manufacturing, of formulated powder, wire or stick welding material to worn surfaces that have been prepared for material build-up to original dimensions and similar metallurgical properties.

Railway track infrastructure wears and degrades continually from increasing traffic, heavy axle loads and increasing speeds. As rail, crossing and switch point surfaces wear, the railroads continually need to repair or replace the damaged surfaces. This has become increasingly more difficult with less available track time due to increasing traffic and train speed demands. Moreover, the need to repair this infrastructure becomes increasingly necessary due to regulatory requirements.
Manganese frog and diamond transition points are more susceptible to damage due to the wheel impact across the open transition points. Current repair processes utilize arc gouging and grinding techniques in the field to remove the damaged surfaces, followed by metal inert gas ("MIG") welding of stick or wire manganese to layer, or build-up, new layers until more than the original dimensions have been achieved. The surface is then ground back down to the specified dimensions. The life of the repair is dependent on operator skill and ability to keep the temperature of the parent material under a specified temperature, 500 degrees F. The life of the repair also depends on the ability of the operator to remove slag between layers created by the MIG welding process. All of this is complicated by the environmental conditions and the time pressure to clear the track or switch for traffic needs.
It is often that rail surfaces having deep damage may be replaced completely instead of repaired. Rail surfaces are typically removed by replacing sections of the rail and welding in a new section with two Thermite or flash butt welds. This typically requires removing and replacing large sections of track.
To prepare a worn surface for repair, a section thereof of the worn surface is typically arc gouged and the heat affected zone is then ground smooth using a grinder and torch to remove arc gouging slag. An operator must typically utilize the grinder and torch by hand. Thus, it may be difficult for an operator to precisely grind away the surface fully to prepare for repair. In addition, because an operator typically utilizes the grinder by hand, the precise contours of the ground surface may be difficult to control. Moreover, grinding railway structures may be hazardous due to the propensity of the arc gouging, grinding and torch tools to throw sparks, which may cause fires, damage or injury, and the generation of fumes, which may be hazardous to operators' health.
Typical MIG welding of rail surfaces requires deposition of metal material, such as steel manganese alloys, at precisely controlled interpass temperatures. During the welding process, the temperature of the metal surface must typically be maintained at or below the specific interpass temperature, such as below 500 degrees F.
MIG welding often leads to voids, entrapped slag or metal oxide by-products, cracks and overheating between layers of deposited material, which can significantly reduce the life of a railway structure. The primary culprit in premature degradation of the manganese material is overheating. An operator must typically constantly stop or use forced air cooling to ensure the interpass temperature between layers is maintained below 500 degrees F.
In addition, typical welding creates slag materials or metal oxide by-products that must be scraped from the railway structure as metal is deposited thereon. Thus, after a layer of material is welded thereon, the slag is typically manually removed using all or a combination of descalers, hammering and wire brushing, and another layer is added thereto. Invariably, due to the chaotic nature of the weld process and human errors or lack of attention, weld slag is typically entrapped below and in the weld repair surface. Repairing worn or damaged surfaces of railway surfaces is often slow, tedious, inefficient and operator dependent.
A need, therefore, exists for a process for repairing railway structures. Specifically, a need exists for a process for repairing railway structures, such as rails and transition points, such as frog and diamond transitions. More specifically, a need exists for a process for repairing railway structures, such as rails and transition points, having surfaces worn and damaged by rail traffic.
Moreover, a need exists for a process for removing worn and damaged surfaces of a railway structure using a laser removal system. In addition, a need exists for a laser removal system that quickly, efficiently, precisely and cost-effectively removes metal surface material from worn and damaged railway structures.
Further, a need exists for a process to build-up surfaces of railway structures for repairing the same using a laser cladding, laser overlaying, or laser additive manufacturing system and process. Still further, a need exists for a laser cladding, laser overlaying, or laser additive manufacturing system and process that quickly, efficiently, and precisely deposits metal surface material to a railway structure to repair the same.
Specifically, a need exists for a laser cladding, laser overlaying or laser additive manufacturing system and process having large deposition rates using both powder feed and hot wire.
In addition, a need exists for a laser removal and/or laser cladding process for worn railway structures that is precisely controlled, and controls and reduces the amount of heat input into the railway structure. More specifically, a need exists for a laser removal and/or laser cladding process that maintains the temperature below 500 degrees F.
Further, a need exists for a laser cladding, laser overlaying or laser additive manufacturing system and process that utilize a variety of materials, such as powder, wire, strip and other like materials. Still further, a need exists for a laser cladding, laser overlaying or laser additive manufacturing system and process that can be utilized to building up a variety of 3D shapes, providing more control of the final shape of the repair and reducing or eliminating subsequent machining and grinding steps.
Moreover, a need exists for a laser removal and/or laser cladding process that is robotically-controlled. Specifically, a need exists for a laser removal and/or laser cladding, laser overlaying or laser additive manufacturing system and process that is automatically controlled, achieves high levels of gouging and/or welding, and provides high quality laser removal and/or laser weld overlays.

Robotically-controlled laser cladding process for repair of worn and/or damaged railway structures


The present invention provides a method of manufacturing a three-dimensional structure having portions different in thickness, the method comprising forming a laminated structure, which comprises at least two layers to be processed and at least one inner mask interposed between the layers, the layers and the inner mask being joined together, such that the laminated structure has top and bottom major surfaces, forming an outer mask on at least one of the major surfaces of the laminated structure, selectively etching the layers from one of the major surfaces of the laminated structure through the outer mask to expose the inner mask and then through the inner mask, so that the portions different in thickness are formed by one etching process.

This application is based upon and claims the benefit of priority from the prior Japanese Patent Application No. 2001-223479, filed Jul. 24, 2001, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of manufacturing a three-dimensional structure including a plurality of portions different in thickness, for example, an oscillator applied to an optical scanner.
2. Description of the Related Art
U.S. Pat. No. 6,188,504 discloses an optical scanner including a three-dimensional structure called as an oscillator, which is produced by selectively etching a semiconductor substrate. FIG. 18 shows the configuration of this optical scanner.
As shown in FIG. 18, the optical scanner comprises an oscillator 510 having a movable plate 512, a support frame 514 surrounding the movable plate 512, and a pair of elastic members 516 connecting the movable plate 512 and the support frame 514, a coil 522 extending along the periphery of the movable plate, a pair of wires 524 extending through the elastic members 516, respectively, a pair of feeding pads 526 formed on the support frame 514, and magnets 532 fixed to the support frame 514. The movable plate 512 has a reflecting surface 528 formed thereon to reflect a beam of light. The wires 524 have ends connected to the ends of the coil 522 and the other ends connected to the feeding pads 526. The elastic members 516 comprise an insulating elastic film such as polyimide resin. The insulating elastic film extends also over the movable plate 512 to function as an interlayer insulating film, which insulates the coil 522 from the wires 524.
In FIG. 18, when an AC voltage is applied to the pair of feeding pads 526, an AC current flows through the coil 522. Then, Lorentz force is generated owing to the interaction between the current flowing through the coil 522 and magnetic fields generated by the magnets 532. Thus, the movable plate 512 is subjected to a couple of forces exerted around an axis thereof passing through the interior of the elastic members 516. The directions of these forces depend on the direction of the current flowing through the coil 522. Since the AC current flows through the coil 522, the movable plate 512 oscillates around the axis passing through the interior of the elastic members 516. The oscillation of the movable plate 512 scans a beam of light reflected by the reflecting surface 528 of the movable plate 512.
Now, the process steps of manufacturing the oscillator 510 of this optical scanner 510 will be described with reference to FIGS. 19 to 22.
First, as shown in FIG. 19, a silicon nitride film 544 is formed on the major surfaces (top and bottom surfaces) of a silicon substrate 542. Then, the silicon nitride film on the bottom surface side is selectively etched to form a mask 548 used to form the movable plate and the support frame.
Then, as shown in FIG. 20, the coil 522, a polyimide film 552, the wires 524 and feeding pads 526, a polyimide film 554, and a polyimide etching mask 556 are sequentially formed on the silicon nitride film on the top surface side of the silicon substrate 542. An end of each of the wires 524 is electrically connected to a corresponding end of the coil 522 through a corresponding one of via holes formed in the polyimide film 552.
Subsequently, as shown in FIG. 21, with the top surface side of the silicon substrate 542 sealed, the silicon substrate 542 is selectively etched through the mask 548 from the bottom surface side with TMAH (Tetramethyl ammonium hydroxide) or the like, so that its portion that is not covered by the mask 548 is removed, to form the movable plate 512 and the support frame 514.
Furthermore, the polyimide films 552 and 554 are etched through the polyimide etching mask 556 to form the elastic members 516 (see FIG. 22). Finally, the polyimide etching mask 556 and the remaining silicon nitride film 544 and 548 are removed to obtain the oscillator 510 for an optical scanner, shown in FIG. 22.
In the oscillator 510 for an optical scanner, shown in FIG. 22, the thickness of each of the movable plate 512 and the support frame 514 is always the same as that of the silicon substrate 542, as is apparent from the method of manufacturing the oscillator. If the movable plate 512 is miniaturized, i.e. a dimension of the movable plate 512 such as the width W or length A thereof is reduced, the area of the coil decreases relatively to the volume of the movable plate 512. Consequently, the oscillator or scanner is less efficiently driven.
As the movable plate 512 is miniaturized, the dimension of the movable plate 512 such as the width W or length A thereof approaches the thickness of the silicon substrate 542. Accordingly, the movable plate 512 is shaped like a block as shown in FIG. 23. As a result, the position of the center of gravity 564 of the movable plate deviates from an oscillation axis 562. That is, as the movable plate 512 is miniaturized, the distance D from the oscillation axis 562 to the position of the center of gravity increases. This may cause unwanted vibration modes to be generated during driving.
Further, with the TMAH-based etching, which is most commonly applied to silicon etching, etching speed varies depending on the plane direction of silicon. Accordingly, the plane direction of silicon is selected according to the shape of a structure to be produced. A wafer with a plane direction (100) is used to form the movable plate described previously. In this case, the sides of the movable plate are tapered as shown in FIG. 23. The width WL or length LL of the top surface of the movable plate, in which the coil is formed, equals the width WS or length LS, respectively, of a mask 566 used to form the movable plate plus double the width (length) LT of the tapered portion. Therefore, the etching process with TMAH does not enable the formation of a movable plate in which the width WL or length LL of the top side is smaller than 2xc3x97LT.
The value of LT depends on the thickness of the silicon substrate. Accordingly, a thin silicon substrate 542 may be used to form a small movable plate. However, the thin silicon substrate 542 is not stiff and is thus not strong enough for handling during production. Further, the support frame 514 formed is as thick as the silicon substrate 542 used. Consequently, the produced oscillator 510 is not strong and is thus difficult to handle.
Therefore, with the method of manufacturing the oscillator 510 (three-dimensional structure) described previously, it is difficult to produce a very small movable plate (member).
It is a main object of the present invention to provide a method of manufacturing a three-dimensional structure, the method allowing portions different in thickness to be formed by a single etching process.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a method of manufacturing a three-dimensional structure, such as an oscillator, the method allowing a very small member, such as a movable plate, to be formed by wet etching.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a method of manufacturing an oscillator, the method allowing production of an oscillator that can be efficiently driven even with a small movable plate.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a method of manufacturing an oscillator, which hardly generates unwanted vibration modes even with a small movable plate.
The present invention provides a method of manufacturing a three-dimensional structure (for example, an oscillator applied to an optical scanner or an acceleration sensor) having portions different in thickness, the method comprising: forming a laminated structure, which comprises at least two layers to be processed and at least one inner mask interposed between the layers, the layers and the inner mask being joined together, such that the laminated structure has top and bottom major surfaces; forming an outer mask on at least one of the major surfaces of the laminated structure; selectively etching the layers from one of the major surfaces of the laminated structure through the outer mask to expose the inner mask and then through the inner mask, so that the portions different in thickness are formed by one etching process.
Initially, portion that is not covered with the inner mask provided outside the laminated structure is selectively etched. Then, the inner mask provided inside the laminated structure is exposed. Subsequently, portion that is not covered with the inner mask is selectively etched. As a result, a three-dimensional structure having a thicker portion and a thinner portion is formed. The thickness of the thinner portion depends on the position of the inner mask in the laminated structure. Therefore, the thickness of the thinner portion of the three-dimensional structure can be independently and accurately controlled.
According to the present invention, a method of manufacturing a three-dimensional structure is provided, the method allowing portions different in thickness to be formed by a single etching process. Further, according to the present invention, an arbitrary portion of the structure can be formed to have an arbitrary thickness. Therefore, a very small member can be formed by wet etching.
Additional objects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in the description which follows, and in part will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention. The objects and advantages of the invention may be realized and obtained by means of the instrumentalities and combinations particularly pointed out hereinafter.

Method of manufacturing three-dimensional structure and method of manufacturing oscillator


The present disclosure describes an anti-cancer drug for treating tumor diseases and providing antibacterial, antivirus, and anti-inflammatory effects. The drug contains a naphthalene dicarboxamide compound with a structural formula as shown in Formula I or a biologically acceptable salt or ester form of the compound with the formula I as an active ingredient. The drug is able to help inhibit the growth of tumor cells and possesses certain antibacterial, antivirus, and anti-inflammatory effects.

With the fast pace of modern society and high pressure in daily work, many people are suffering in a suboptimal health status (SHS). An insufficiency of autoimmunity leads to increasing incidences of various diseases, which seriously threaten people's lives. Since the 20th century, organic chemical synthesis has played a vital role for novel small molecules discoveries to treat various diseases due to their unique spatial stereo structure, electronic distribution, and spatial arrangement of active groups.
Naphthalene diamides are based on naphthalene rings as a parent nucleus, connecting with two amide bonds. It can interact electrically with enzymes and receptors related to cancer in organisms through the interaction of amides and electron-rich groups. Meanwhile, aromatic rings in the structure can stack with enzymes and receptors to inhibit the occurrence of cancer.

Drug for treating tumor diseases and having antibacterial antivirus anti-inflammatory effects


A wireless communication device and method are capable of detecting a receive timing of a direct wave at higher precision without increasing transmit power. A signal receiver receives a signal having a center frequency changed in a predetermined rule at predetermined time intervals. A time-frequency transformer transforms the received signal from a time domain to a frequency domain. A filter removes frequency-domain signal components unused during reception, based on the predetermined rule, from the frequency-domain signal. A reverse modulator performs a reverse modulation process on the remaining signal components. A signal adder generates an added signal by performing accumulative addition on the signal components that underwent the reverse modulation process in the reverse modulator for a predetermined period. A direct wave arrival time determiner determines an arrival time of a direct wave according to an impulse response obtainable from an output of the frequency-time transformer.

Recently, attention has been focused on a position detection technology for wireless terminals in the field of sensor networks or cellular communications. For example, in the field of sensor networks, a technology draws attention, which achieves position detection by placing sensors equipped with a wireless communication function in different places and analyzing reception results by these sensors. More specifically, a configuration has been proposed, in which the precision of position detection is increased by considering positions (coordinates), placement density, and radio coverage of the sensors. In the field of cellular communications, a technology is known, which requires Time Difference Of Arrival (TDOA) of radio waves received via multiple receive antennas, and detects the positions based on the TDOA. A system designed to receive radio waves via the multiple receive antennas may include, for example, a Distributed Antenna System (DAS) (see FIG. 2B).
Position detection used in these fields is performed, for example, in the manner shown in FIG. 3. FIG. 3 illustrates a position detection method on the assumption that one wireless terminal X exists in a system with four receiver antennas. In FIG. 3, each of the distances d1˜d4 represents estimated distances calculated based on received radio waves that have arrived at the respective antenna from the wireless terminal X. Because multiple estimated distances can be obtained with use of multiple antennas, an intersection of areas having the estimated distances as their radii may be presumed as a position where the wireless terminal exists. Each estimated distance is calculated based on a receive timing of a received radio wave that has arrived at each antenna.
For example, when a relative delay time difference TDOA between certain antennas is 50 ns, a distance difference between the antennas is calculated as 15 m because light velocity c is approximately 3×108 m/s. When a reference time is determined using the Global Positioning System (GPS), it is also possible to measure a distance based on the time from the reference time until the first radio wave is received. Meanwhile, three-point positioning may be used when position detection is performed using the GPS in a downlink (a link from a base station to a wireless terminal). Even in this case, the first arrived radio wave is used. In order to perform such position detection, it is necessary to obtain a time difference using the first arrived radio wave.
Herein, reference will be made to Japanese Patent No. 3,596,442, which is hereby incorporated by reference.
However, an influence of reflected waves is added to the radio waves in a transmission path. Thus, in order to increase precision of position detection, it is necessary to precisely detect arrival timings of direct waves from received radio waves to which the influence of reflected waves was added in the transmission path. In addition, measurement precision of position detection in the current cellular mobile communication (without GPS function) is 300 m at most. One of the main reasons is that because an occupied bandwidth of cellular terminals is about 1 MHz, time resolution is insufficient, and it is difficult to distinguish direct waves from delayed waves. Besides, if the time resolution is increased in order to make it easy to distinguish direct waves from delayed waves, the wireless terminal needs to transmit broadband sensing signals. Thus, it is very difficult for the wireless terminal to achieve the intention using its limited power resource.

Wireless communication device, wireless communication system, and method for detecting receive timing of direct wave


A controller for a DC/DC converter can include a first error analog to digital converter (EADC) configured to detect a primary voltage from a secondary side of a transformer and generate a first error signal corresponding to the primary voltage. The first error signal is generated based on a comparison between a first reference voltage and the detected primary voltage. A first accelerator can be configured to process the first error signal and generate a first compensation signal that is a primary voltage variation signal used for feedforward control. A second EADC and a second accelerator can be configured to provide a output voltage feedback control. A compensation signal of the first accelerator can be used to scale the second accelerator output to facilitate fast feedforward control.

Many intermediate bus converters (IBC) and almost all adaptive bus converters (ABC) supplying DC power at power levels above 200 W and with a size of ⅛ brick or larger have controllers on the secondary side of the converter due to system communication and pre-bias requirements. Due to physical size and cost restrictions however, bulky primary current transformers and expensive isolated linear voltage transceivers are rarely used. Thus, how to implement digital control without direct primary voltage and current sensing becomes a concern. Most existing solutions utilize an extra bias transformer winding and a sample-hold circuit to sense primary voltage. The voltage signal has to be filtered and even amplified before feeding to a digital controller. It usually requires several switching cycles for external circuits to respond while converter sensing and firmware interrupts may require additional time to process the voltage information before a modulated duty cycle can be adjusted. The slow signal sensing and control response does not allow the converters to have limited output voltage disturbances when input voltage surges occur. Too great of an output voltage disturbance can cause the converters to shut down.

Primary voltage sensing and control for converter


Methods and tools for detecting and correcting problems arising in the configuration process of a programmable logic device are described. An analyzer is used to aid a user in debugging the configuration process. The analyzer can access the programmable logic device through a boundary scan architecture such as JTAG. The analyzer can step through the configuration process, capturing the data received by the programmable logic device at each step, and compare that captured data with expected data. Mismatches can indicate errors in the configuration process, and the analyzer can help a user correct such errors.

A programmable logic device (PLD) is a well-known type of digital integrated circuit that can be programmed to perform specified logic functions. One type of PLD, the field programmable gate array (FPGA), typically includes an array of configurable logic blocks (CLBs) and programmable input/output blocks (IOBs). The CLBs and IOBs are interconnected by a programmable interconnect structure. Some FPGAs also include additional logic blocks with special purposes (e.g., DLLs, RAM, multipliers, processors).
The CLBs, IOBs, interconnect, and other logic blocks are typically programmed in a configuration process by loading a stream of configuration data (bitstream) into internal configuration memory cells that define how the CLBs, IOBs, and interconnect are configured. The configuration data can be read from memory (e.g., an external PROM (programmable read-only memory)) or written into the FPGA by an external device. The collective states of the individual memory cells then determine the function of the FPGA.
Another type of PLD is the complex programmable logic device (CPLD). A CPLD typically includes two or more "function blocks" or "macrocells" connected together and to input/output (I/O) resources by an interconnect switch matrix. Each function block of the CPLD includes a two-level AND/OR structure similar to those used in programmable logic arrays (PLAs) and programmable array logic (PAL) devices.
For all of these programmable logic devices, the functionality of the device is controlled by data bits, or configuration data, provided to the device for that purpose. The data bits can be stored in the PLD in volatile memory (e.g., static RAM cells, as in FPGAs and some CPLDs), in nonvolatile memory (e.g., flash memory, as in some CPLDs), or in any other type of memory cell. In some cases, particularly where the PLD stores configuration data in volatile memory, the data is provided to the PLD by an external nonvolatile device. For example, an FPGA can be configured by an external nonvolatile memory such as a PROM. In this way, configuration data can be preserved when power is not being supplied to the system. As another example, configuration data can be provided to a PLD by another external configuration device, such as a processor or microcontroller.
PLDs that store configuration data in volatile memory receive that data during the configuration process. Typically, at power-up (or at any other time a PLD is configured), the external configuration device, such as an external PROM or processor, transfers the configuration data to the volatile memory of the PLD through a pre-defined interface. For example, the configuration processes for the Virtex™-II series of FPGAs manufactured by Xilinx®, Inc. of San Jose, Calif. ("Xilinx"), is set forth in Chapter 3 of the "Virtex-II Platform FPGA Handbook," UG002 (v1.0) 6 Dec. 2000 (the "Virtex-II Handbook"), which is incorporated herein by reference.
As is common in all electronic designs, a designer often faces the challenge of debugging a non-functional design. When designing for a PLD, there are many possible reasons that a PLD may fail to function as intended by the designer. One problem unique to PLDs that can cause failure is a problem arising during the configuration process. For example, the configuration data being supplied to the PLD from the external configuration device may have been corrupted in transit. As another example, the external configuration device may be providing the wrong or otherwise flawed bitstream. Many other problems can occur during the configuration process. Often these problems can be difficult, or even impossible, for most users to debug.
Therefore, there is a need for methods and tools for debugging the configuration process in PLDs.

Method of debugging PLD configuration using boundary scan


Methods and systems are provided for using a measurement of only one axis of a three-axis magnetometer to perform at least one corrective action on an unmanned aerial vehicle (“UAV”). An exemplary embodiment comprises (i) receiving from a three-axis magnetometer a measurement representative of an attitude of a UAV, wherein the measurement is of only one axis of the magnetometer, (ii) comparing the measurement to an allowable range of attitudes, (iii) determining that the measurement is not within the allowable range of attitudes, and (iv) performing at least one corrective action on the UAV.

An unmanned aerial vehicle ("UAV") is a remotely piloted or self-piloted aircraft that can carry cameras, sensors, communications equipment, or other payloads. A UAV is capable of controlled, sustained, level flight and may be powered by, for example, a jet or an engine. A UAV may be remotely controlled or may fly autonomously based on preprogrammed flight plans or more complex dynamic automation systems.
UAVs have become increasingly used for various applications where the use of manned flight vehicles is not appropriate or is not feasible. For example, military applications may include surveillance, reconnaissance, target acquisition, data acquisition, communications relay, decoy, harassment, or supply flights. UAVs are also used in a growing number of civilian applications, such as firefighting when a human observer would be at risk, police observation of civil disturbances or crime scenes, reconnaissance support in natural disasters, and scientific research, such as collecting data from within a hurricane.
A UAV may have avionics equipment on board to control the flight and operation of the UAV. The avionics may control the direction, flight, stability compensation, and other aspects of flight control. The avionics may comprise, for example, a three-axis magnetometer to provide attitude measurements of the vehicle. Additionally, a UAV may carry a variety of equipment on board tailored to the mission that the UAV is to accomplish.

Performing corrective action on unmanned aerial vehicle using one axis of three-axis magnetometer


A process for producing a printed wiring board comprises the steps of depositing a base metal on at least one surface of an insulating film to form a base metal layer and further depositing copper or a copper alloy to form a conductive metal layer, then removing a surface metal layer, which is formed through the above step, by etching to form a wiring pattern, and then treating the base metal layer with a treating liquid capable of dissolving and/or passivating the metal that forms the base metal layer. The printed wiring board so provided comprises an insulating film and a wiring pattern formed on at least one surface of the insulating film, the wiring pattern including a base metal layer deposited on the insulating film surface and a conductive metal layer, the base metal layer for forming the wiring pattern protrudes in a widthwise direction more than the conductive metal layer for forming the wiring pattern.

Wiring boards have been heretofore produced by the use of copper-clad laminates in which a copper foil is laminated onto a surface of an insulating film such as a polyimide film using an adhesive.
Such a copper-clad laminate is produced by thermally bonding a copper foil under pressure to an insulating film having an adhesive layer formed on the surface. In the production of the copper-clad laminate, therefore, the copper foil must be handled alone. However, the tensile strength of the copper foil is lowered as the thickness thereof is decreased, and the lower limit of the thickness of the copper foil which can be handled alone is about 9 to 12 μm. If a copper foil having a thickness smaller than this thickness is used, handling of the copper film becomes very troublesome, for example, a copper foil with a support needs to be used. Further, if a wiring pattern is formed using a copper-clad laminate in which such a thin copper foil is bonded to a surface of an insulating film with an adhesive, warpage deformation of the resulting printed wiring board is brought about by heat shrinkage of the adhesive that is used for bonding the copper foil. In particular, with miniaturization and lightening of electronic equipments, thinning and lightening of printed wiring boards have been also promoted, and it is becoming impossible that the copper-clad laminates of three-layer structure consisting of an insulating film, an adhesive and a copper foil meet such printed wiring boards.
Then, instead of the copper-clad laminates of three-layer structure, laminates of two-layer structure in which a metal layer is directly laminated onto a surface of an insulating film have been employed. Such a laminate of a two-layer structure is produced by depositing a seed layer metal on a surface of an insulating film, such as a polyimide film, by means of electroless plating, deposition, sputtering or the like. On a surface of the metal thus deposited, copper or the like is deposited by plating, then a photoresist is applied, exposed to light and developed, and then etching is carried out, whereby a desired wiring pattern can be formed. In particular, the laminate of a two-layer structure is suitable for producing an extremely fine wiring pattern having a wiring pattern pitch width of less than 30 μm because the metal layer (e.g., copper layer) is thin.
By way of further background, Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 188495/2003 (JP '495) discloses a process for producing a printed wiring board comprising subjecting a metal coated polyimide film, which has a first metal layer formed on a polyimide film by a dry film-forming method and a second metal layer having conductivity that is formed by plating on the first metal layer, to etching to form a pattern, wherein after the etching, the etched surface is subjected to cleaning treatment with an oxidizing agent. In Example 5 of JP '495, an example comprising plasma depositing a nickel-chromium alloy in a thickness of 10 nm and then depositing copper in a thickness of 8 μm by plating is shown.
JP '495 further discloses that after the pattern is formed by etching, the first metal layer present on the surface of the polyimide resin film is treated with an oxidizing agent. In such a treatment using an oxidizing agent, however, a considerable amount of the first metal remains, and passivation thereof is not carried out completely, so that in severe environments short-circuit or the like sometimes occurs in a relatively short period of time. Further, the metal that forms the first metal layer in JP '495 is all treated with an oxidizing agent, but a part of the metal is hardly oxidized, and in this case, there is a possibility that favorable insulation is not formed between wiring patterns. In the treatment adopted in JP '495, moreover, a trace amount of a metal remaining is hardly passivated. Therefore, after a voltage is continuously applied for, for example, 1000 hours or more, the value of insulation resistance between wiring patterns tends to become lower than that before the application of a voltage though the value of insulation resistance is favorable immediately after the production.
Paragraphs [0004] and [0005] of Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 282651/2003 (JP '651) disclose that a metal layer 1 made of an alloy of copper and a metal other than copper is provided on a surface of a flexible insulating film 2 in order to ensure adhesion strength between the flexible insulating film and a wiring pattern, then on a surface of the metal layer 1 a copper foil is arranged to form a composite, and from the composite a flexible wiring board is produced. JP '651 further describes that at the peripheral lower part of the lead of the wiring pattern formed by the use of such a composite, the metal layer 1 remains as an unremoved part as shown in FIG. 5 of JP '651, and further discloses that because of the unremoved part, abnormal deposition 6 of the plating metal takes place. Moreover, JP '651 further discloses that at the place of the abnormal deposition 6 of the plating metal, a crystal of tin grows and becomes a "whiskers", and because of the whisker, a short-circuit takes place in the wiring pattern. That is to say, if the metal layer 1 provided to ensure adhesion strength of the wiring pattern is left as it is and if a tin plating layer is formed on the surface of the metal layer 1, a whisker is generated from the thus formed tin plating layer. In JP '651, therefore, the metal layer 1 is completely removed as described in paragraph [0023] thereof.
However, it is extremely difficult to completely remove the metal layer 1 from the outer periphery of the wiring pattern. In the process described in JP '651, the metal layer 1 remains as it is at the lower part of the outer periphery of the wiring pattern though the amount is small, and generation of whiskers from the tin plating layer attributable to the residual metal layer 1 cannot be completely prevented.

Method for producing a printed circuit board


A dual transmission stream generating device includes an adaptor to receive a normal stream and to generate an adaptation field in an area of a packet of the normal stream; and a stuffer to generate a packet for a dual transmission stream by stuffing a turbo stream into the adaptation field. Accordingly, the turbo stream and the normal stream can be transmitted efficiently by the generation of the dual transmission stream in various constructions.

1. Field of the Invention
Aspects of the present invention generally relate to a dual transmission stream generating device and method for generating a dual transmission stream which includes a normal stream and a turbo stream for digital broadcasting. More particularly, aspects of the present invention relate to a dual transmission stream generating device and method for improving a digital broadcast performance by generating a dual transmission stream which includes a normal stream and a robust-processed turbo stream in order to enhance a reception performance of an Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC) Vestigial Sideband Modulation (VSB) system which is a. terrestrial Digital Television (DTV) system.
2. Description of the Related Art
A single-carrier ATSC VSB system, which is a terrestrial digital broadcasting system used in the United States of America and in other areas, uses a field sync having 312 segments or packets. Hence, its reception performance is not good in a poor channel environment, especially, in a Doppler fading channel.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a transmitter and a receiver representing a general terrestrial digital broadcasting system that conforms to the ATSC DTV standard. The digital broadcasting transmitter of FIG. 1 is an Enhanced Vestigial Sideband Modulation (EVSB) system suggested by Philips, and is structured to generate and transmit a dual stream by adding a robust data to a conventional normal stream of the conventional ATSC VSB system.
As shown in FIG. 1, the digital broadcasting transmitter executes an error correction coding by induding a randomizer 11 to randomize the dual stream, a Reed-Solomon (RS) encoder 12 which is a concatenated coder to add a parity byte to the transmission stream to correct errors occurring during the transmission due to certain channel characteristics, an interleaver 13 to interleave an RS-encoded data in a certain pattern, and a trellis encoder 14 to map to 8-level symbols by trellis-encoding the interleaved data at a ⅔ rate.
The digital broadcasting transmitter further includes a multiplexer 15 to insert field syncs and segment syncs to the data which went through the error correction coding, as shown in FIG. 2, and a modulator 16 to insert a pilot tone by adding a certain DC value to the data symbols having the inserted segment sync and field sync, to perform the VSB modulation through pulse shaping, to up-convert to an RF channel band signal, and to transmit the converted signal.
Accordingly, the digital broadcasting transmitter multiplexes (not shown) and applies the normal data and the robust data to the randomizer 11 according to the dual stream scheme which transmits the normal data and the robust data in one channel. As shown in FIG. 1, the input data is randomized in the randomizer 11, the randomized data is outer-encoded in the RS encoder 12 which is an outer encoder, and the outer-encoded data is interleaved in the interleaver 13. The interleaved data is inner-encoded by 12 symbols at the trellis encoder 14 and mapped to 8-level symbols. The field sync and the segment sync are inserted to the mapped data in the multiplexer 15. Next, the multiplexed data is transmitted after the pilot tone is inserted, the VSB modulation is performed, and the multiplexed data is converted into an RF signal in the modulator 16.
A digital broadcasting receiver of FIG. 1, includes a tuner (not shown) to convert the RF signal, which is received through a channel, to a baseband signal, a demodulator 21 to perform sync detection and demodulation on the converted baseband signal, an equalizer 22 to compensate for a channel distortion occurring due to multiple paths with respect to the demodulated signal, a viterbi decoder 23 to correct errors in the equalized signal and to decode the equalized signal into symbol data, a deinterleaver 24 to deinterleave the decoded data which was interleaved by the interleaver 13 of the digital broadcasting transmitter, an RS decoder 25 to correct errors, and a derandomizer 26 to derandomize the data corrected at the RS decoder 25 and to output an MPEG-2 transmission stream.
Hence, the digital broadcasting receiver of FIG. 1 recovers the original signal by down-converting the RF signal to the baseband signal, demodulating and equalizing the down-converted signal, and carrying out channel decoding in an operation that is an inverse of the operation performed the digital broadcasting transmitter.
FIG. 2 shows a VSB data frame having the inserted segment sync and field sync of a digital broadcasting (8-VSB) system used, for example, in the U.S. As shown in FIG. 2, one frame consists of 2 fields, and one of the fields consist of a field sync segment, which is the first segment, and another of the fields consist of 312 data segments or packets. In the VSB data frame shown in FIG. 2, each of the data segments corresponds to one MPEG-2 packet and such segments consist of a 4-symbol segment sync and 828 data symbols.
In FIG. 2, the segment sync and the field sync, which are the sync signals, are used for synchronization and equalization in the digital broadcasting receiver. In other words, the field sync and the segment sync are already known to the digital broadcasting transmitter and the digital broadcasting receiver and are used as reference signals by the digital broadcasting receiver to synchronize and equalize the VSB data frame.
The terrestrial digital broadcasting system of FIG. 1 is structured to generate and transmit the dual stream by adding the robust data to the normal data of the conventional ATSC VSB system so that the robust data can be transmitted together with the normal data.
However, the terrestrial digital broadcasting system of FIG. 1 cannot enhance the poor reception performance of the conventional dual stream in a multipath channel even when the conventional dual stream is transmitted with the added robust data. That is, the reception performance is not improved at all even with the improved dual stream. In addition, with respect to the robust data (turbo stream), the reception performance does not show great improvement in the multipath channel or environment. Therefore, there is demand for generation of a dual transmission stream to effectively transmit the robust data (turbo stream) and the normal data (normal stream) and process the robust data (turbo stream) more robustly.

Dual transmission stream generating device and method


A lighting apparatus formed from a translucent cylindrical foam tube such as a white “pool noodle” that is soft, flexible, and resilient and has a flexible electrically powered internal illumination source such as an LED strip bearing multiple LEDs extending through its interior. The lighting apparatus is typically provided with electricity via a plug adapted for insertion into an automobile cigarette lighter socket, and is readily positioned along the interior edges of an automobile window for illumination of areas where window tint/film is being applied to the window. The lighting apparatus can also have a self-contained power source and be connected in series for added versatility and utility.

This invention pertains generally to the field of window tinting by application of window film. More particularly, this invention describes an improved lighting source and method for use in application of film for window tinting in automobiles and/or other vehicles.
Window film for tinting purposes in automobiles and for similar uses is generally comprised of a thin laminate film that can be installed to the exterior of glass surfaces in automobiles and the like. It is typically formed from Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET), a thermoplastic polymer resin of the polyester family. (PET is particularly desirable due to its clarity, tensile strength, dimensional stability, and ability to accept a variety of surface-applied or embedded treatments). Such films can be categorized in several ways. In terms of their construction components, they can be dyed, pigmented, metallized, ceramic or nano. In terms of their intended use, they can be categorized as automotive, marine, or architectural. Alternately, they can also be classed by substrate type, such as glass or polycarbonate, and/or by their technical performance, such as privacy, solar control, safety and security.
However, in the categories of interest to the instant invention, for automotive windows and the like, they can all uniformly be categorized as difficult to apply. In general, the craftsmen who apply window tint are required to precisely position and delicately cut out the window shape/pattern against the outside of the prospective automotive window glass. For this purpose, an adequate light source of some type is imperative and is generally positioned adjacent the location where work is being done on the inside of the window glass to properly illuminate and facilitate the work being performed. Unfortunately, inadequate and/or improper lighting behind the window glass makes the tint and window edges difficult to see during this cutting and fitting process, rendering the process very difficult and sometimes impossible to perform properly. In addition, typical lighting devices are difficult to maneuver for focusing light to specific areas, meaning the light source is constantly being adjusted on the interior of the vehicle while the film is cut on the exterior of the vehicle. Furthermore, typical lighting sources are hard to the touch and inflexible, making them unfavorable when working with glass; a highly fragile material.
In order to overcome the limitations of the prior art and better serve the needs of the automobile window tinting industry, the instant invention provides an improved lighting source comprising a long, white, translucent cylindrical foam tube that is soft, flexible and resilient as well as being illuminated from within. Given these qualities, it is provides a source of lighting capable of being shaped or molded to the interior window frame of any vehicle and cannot damage window glass. Thus, it is capable of wrapping around and illuminating curved areas at corners of the window as well as along straight edges. However, the size, shape and resilience of the product causes it to be inflexible enough as to put pressure against the window frame to hold it in place without further need of attachment, and without causing any damage to the vehicle. The cylindrical foam tube is illuminated via an LED light strip on the inside causing the translucent white foam tube to glow brightly behind the window film, thus allowing the craftsman applying window tint greater ability to see the edges of the glass during the window pattern cutting process from the exterior of the vehicle. The tube in question is advantageously formed from a white hollow tube of flexible, resilient, buoyant polyethylene foam of the type commonly referred to as a "pool noodle". A tube of this material has been found to scatter and diffuse the light of an enclosed LED light strip so as to create an even and clear lighting source and also to pad and shield both the light strip and window from damage.
The LED light strip is primarily powered in one of two ways. As most vehicles are pre-equipped with both cigarette lighter and/or at least one 12-volt outlet which takes a male plug in a female receptacle, the first way is to plug into the cigarette lighter having a male to female receptacle with a positive and negative lead which connects by long wire. One end plugs into either a cigarette lighter, or a 12-volt outlet, the opposing end connecting to the LED light strand which would run the full length of the tube, each end having foam caps/plugs to keep the LED strand safely in position from any tugging and/or pulling at the cord. In addition, a preferred embodiment of the invention has a female receptacle for the male plug at its the opposite end of the foam tube, allowing the illumination tubes of the invention to be connected in series ("daisy chained") and for more than one tube to receive power from the same outlet. The second way to power my invention is through the utilization of a battery pack (which is preferably rechargeable). Such a 12 volt 5-10 amp battery pack can be external to the tube of the invention, or located internally at one end of the cylindrical white tubing with a short internal wire connecting to the LED so that both lighting and power sources are inside of the cylindrical foam tubing of my invention.

Lighting apparatus and method for application of window tint to automobiles


A camera for taking an image of movement of a hand, and a hand pattern switching apparatus which operates an object equipment based on the result of the image taken by the camera, having a storage unit for saving the image taken in the state that a hand does not exist in the image pickup area of the camera, as an initial image data, a differentiation unit for obtaining a difference image data between an original image data that is the image taken in the state that a hand exists in the image pickup area of the camera, and the initial image data, a luminance detection unit for obtaining an average luminance in a place close to a hand based on the image data of a place close to a hand obtained by the differentiation unit, and a processing unit for performing binary processing of the original image data by a threshold value based on the average luminance calculated by the luminance detection unit.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a hand pattern switching apparatus suitable for easily operating equipment incidental to or installed in a vehicle, such as a side mirror, an air conditioner and audio equipment, without touching the operation panel or disturbing driving of the vehicle.
2. Description of the Related Art
It has been proposed to obtain the operating information on a vehicle-mounted equipment by taking an image of a part of a driver's body (e.g., a left hand) by a camera and recognizing the image pattern, as a technique of operating the vehicle-mounted equipment without touching the operation panel (refer to Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 11-134090). It has also been proposed to obtain the information for operating the vehicle-mounted equipment by detecting the shape and gesture of a driver's hand (refer to Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 2001-216069).
Such a technique is realized by a pattern recognizing process to recognize the shape of a hand, for example, from the image of the hand, and a motion detecting process to detect the motion of a hand by tracing the changes in the position of the recognized hand. It is called here a hand pattern switching apparatus or the like for the sake of convenience.
When a vehicle-mounted equipment is operated by using the above-mentioned hand pattern switching apparatus, it is necessary to detect the shape and motion of a driver's (operator's) hand securely and exactly. A hand includes a palm and fingers, and the words "palm" and "fingers" will be used hereinafter depending on the situation. It is first necessary to recognize exactly what part of the image of a driver's (operator's) hand is a hand or a palm.
It is necessary to separate a hand from the background when recognizing a hand from the image of the hand. The hand part in the image is bright (white), and the background is dark (black). Thus, a hand is extracted from the background by converting the image into white when the luminance of the image is brighter than a threshold value, and black when it is darker.
The illuminance of the environment in which the image of a driver's (operator's) hand is taken changes. This causes a problem that if the above-mentioned threshold value is fixed though the environment changes, a hand cannot be exactly extracted from the background.

Mitsubishi Fuso Truck and Bus Corporation


The invention relates to a clock display and particularly a clock display comprising a combined electronic display unit and mechanical clock hands. The clock hand has a visible state for showing the time and a transparent state used when in it is not desired to obscure the underlying display unit. The clock display may be incorporated in a portable device, such as a mobile telephone or a wrist watch.

Most portable devices, with an electronic display unit for displaying various information relating to the operation of the device, also incorporate a clock. Usually the time is shown on a part of the display, either as digits or as images in the form of analog clock hands.
However, many people prefer watches with mechanical clock hands to digital display systems. Even today with the currently available sophisticated digital displays, most of the wrist watches sold are provided with mechanical clock hands. However, in a portable device whose main purpose is not showing the time, mechanical clock hands will obstruct the view when the display unit is showing other information than the time.
Combined digital displays and mechanical hands are known per see. See for example EP 1046086, disclosing a watch with overlapping, separately driven mechanical and digital displays. However, in a timepiece it is not a problem that the clock hands are visible at all times.


A credit card holder made from a generally rectangular sheet of aluminum that is folded back upon itself so that the bottom is closed, while the top and both sides have slit-like openings between the front and the back of the holder. A pair of generally congruent indentations are formed into the right side and a pair of offset indentations are formed into the top of the holder.

The field of the invention is credit card holders.
Most credit card holders on the market today are a paper or plastic sleeve that holds one or two credit cards (for purposes of this specification, the term "credit cards" also includes debit cards, charge cards, and the like). Some conventional leather billfolds are also made with slots for holding credit cards. A problem with these prior art holders is that identity thieves can walk by a person and use a scanner to scan that person's credit card numbers. The only material (other than water) that can block scanning is aluminum, and to that effect aluminum billfolds are currently available. However, aluminum billfolds are hard and therefore uncomfortable to sit on. No aluminum credit card holders are known to exist in the prior art. Credit card holders with indentations are not known to exist in the prior art.


A counting method and a communications apparatus are provided. The method includes: determining to retransmit a first protocol layer data packet; and if the retransmission is retransmission for the first time, initializing a retransmission counter associated with the first protocol layer data packet; or if the retransmission is not retransmission for the first time and the first protocol layer data packet is not pending for retransmission, updating the retransmission counter or keeping a value of the retransmission counter unchanged. In this way, RLF can be correctly triggered, to reduce a quantity of times of unnecessary RLF triggering and reduce overheads.

In long term evolution (LTE), as recorded in the 3GPP TS 36.322 protocol, a radio link control (RLC) layer is responsible for an automatic repeat request (ARQ). For each RLC protocol data unit (PDU), each RLC PDU segment, or each RLC PDU portion, that needs to be retransmitted, the RLC layer maintains a retransmission counter for a PDU, to record a total quantity of times of retransmission of the RLC PDU or the RLC PDU segment or the RLC PDU portion that corresponds to the PDU. When the retransmission counter reaches a preset threshold, radio link reestablishment is triggered.
In LTE, an RLC layer of a sending end transfers, to a media access control (MAC) layer of the sending end based on a request from the MAC layer, an RLC PDU, or RLC PDU segment, or RLC PDU portion that needs to be retransmitted. Then the MAC layer immediately sends, to a receiving end, the RLC PDU, or RLC PDU segment, or RLC PDU portion that needs to be retransmitted; and the RLC layer locally deletes the RLC PDU, or RLC PDU segment, or RLC PDU portion that needs to be retransmitted.
In 5th generation (5G) communication, to improve a processing speed, a preprocessing concept is introduced. An RLC layer of a sending end does not wait for a request from a MAC layer of the sending end. Instead, the RLC layer of the sending end directly transfers an RLC PDU, or RLC PDU segment, or RLC PDU portion that needs to be retransmitted to the MAC layer. The MAC layer buffers the RLC PDU, or RLC PDU segment, or RLC PDU portion that needs to be retransmitted after performing a preprocessing operation, including adding a MAC packet header, on the RLC PDU, or RLC PDU segment, or RLC PDU portion. The MAC layer may not immediately send the RLC PDU, or RLC PDU segment, or RLC PDU portion, but performs the sending only when determining that the RLC PDU, or RLC PDU segment, or RLC PDU portion is needed to be sent.
When preprocessing is introduced, if the retransmission counting method of LTE is still used, radio link reestablishment may be incorrectly triggered.

Counting method and communications apparatus