A shock absorber apparatus is provided. The shock absorber apparatus includes an elastic device and at least one mounting device connected to the elastic device. Each mounting device includes two securing elements. Each securing element is configured to secure an opposing portion of a structure. Each mounting device can also include two sliders. Each slider can have at least two surfaces, which are interconnected by an inclined surface facing an opposing slider, and a ground surface. The inclined surface can be slidably connected to one of the at least two securing elements. Each slider can be arranged to move in response to an applied force. The ground surface is configured to slidably connect to an inner wall of a box.

Servers, networking devices, storage systems, and other devices known in the art are sometimes used in racks. Each rack can house multiple devices coupled to each other as well as devices in other racks. Some of those racks are relatively tall to enable the rack to house a relatively large number of devices. For example, conventional 42 unit (42U) racks may measure up to 7 feet tall, and other rack types can exceed that height. The shipping and delivery of such racks can raise a number of issues. Conventional rack delivery systems typically involve rigidly mounting the rack to a shipping pallet (e.g., via brackets secured to the shipping pallet and bottom of the rack) that provides a wider base than the rack, and increases the tip angle of the rack to reduce the chances of the rack tipping-over during shipping and delivery.
However, in addition to tipping-over, other concerns arise during rack shipping and delivery. For example, racks may be subject to external forces during shipping and delivery that can damage the rack and/or components in the rack. Such damage can be expensive as racks may be shipped and delivered with equipment valued up to several million dollars. Conventional solutions for dealing with such forces during rack delivery and shipping have included the use of foam as a layer in the shipping pallet (sometimes referred to as a "shock pallet"). The foam is configured to absorb vertical forces that may be induced during delivery (e.g., in a truck or other delivery vehicle) and transmitted to the shipping pallet. However, it has been found that racks can experience significant horizontal motion that can provide damaging forces on the rack as well. For example, forces induced by the rack delivery vehicle during rack shipping and delivery are typically transmitted to the bottom portion of the rack (e.g., at the mounting location to the shipping pallet), and have been found to introduce significant horizontal motion at the unconstrained top portion of the rack. This can result in the bending of structural members in the rack, seizing of rack casters, and in extreme cases, rack component damage. Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide an improved rack delivery system.

Vibration isolation apparatus for server rack delivery


A power control circuit to minimize power consumption of CMOS circuits by disabling/enabling the clock input to the CMOS circuit. A phase locked loop (PLL) or delay locked loop (DLL) drives a capacitive load of the component and a dummy load comparable to the component load. A standby latch is provided to control the clock input to the component. In a standby state, the clock signal is not provided to the component but the PLL/DLL continues to operate, driving the dummy load. Thus, when it is desirable to power on the circuit, the standby latch is reset and the clock signal is provided to the component, thereby turning on the component with little latency.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the control of power in CMOS devices. More particularly, the present invention relates to the control of a synchronized clock in a CMOS device.
2. Art Background
Many solid state components such as processors and memory devices are implemented with CMOS circuits when they are utilized for power sensitive applications. CMOS circuits are desirable for low power operation as CMOS circuits dissipate very little power when not actively clocked. This provides a natural low power state for a system. Power is simply controlled by disabling the clock.
An exemplary block diagram of a CMOS component controlled by a system clock is shown in FIG. 1. An external clock source 10 generates a system clock 20. Access by the CMOS component 30 to the clock signal 10 is controlled by the clock enable signal 40 generated by the processor or controller 50. The clock source 10 can be enabled and disabled quickly by the processor 50 to correspondingly turn off the CMOS component 30. The clock signal is buffered by clock buffer 55 in the CMOS component 30 in order to drive the capacitive load presented by the logic and memory circuits 60. In high performance CMOS devices, however, it may not be possible simply turn off the clock source. For example, when the CMOS device uses phase lock loop (PLL) or delay lock loop (DLL) circuits to create a synthesized clock, from the external clock signal received, the PLL/DLL may require long intervals of times, in the order of hundreds or thousands of clock cycles, in order to relock to the external clock. Thus, when the PLL/DLL is powered down, it becomes unsynchronized to the external clock. Therefore, each power down and power up process would require many clock cycles before the circuit was locked, synchronized and operational, making power down operations undesirable due to the latency involved.

Method and apparatus for power control in devices


Various embodiments are provided that relate to clock synchronization. In one embodiment, a method for synchronizing a relative clock to a global clock comprises receiving a network packet from a master computing device, the network packet including a network packet time stamp indicating a system time of the global clock when the network packet was transmitted; determining a receipt time offset between a receipt time of the network packet and the network packet time stamp, the receipt time indicating a time at which the network packet is received as measured by the relative clock; and adjusting a system time of the relative clock toward the system time of the global clock by updating a system time offset to the receipt time offset if the receipt time offset is smaller than the system time offset.

Synchronizing media playback between a plurality of media playback device requires the establishment of a clock time shared among the playback devices so that an audio signal heard on one device matches video displayed on another, so that playback on one device does not lag behind playback on another, etc. Some approaches use a separate synchronization time server which sends and receives time stamps to and from each playback device.
However, such approaches have high network traffic overhead and computational burdens, as each device must send, receive, and decode time stamps to the synchronization time server to establish the shared clock. Further, such approaches may also improperly assume that inbound and outbound network traffic speeds are symmetric, which may lead to additional computational burden when correcting the improper assumption.

Clock synchronization for shared media playback


A keycap structure includes a reinforcement element and a keycap body. The reinforcement element includes two long segments and two short segments. The keycap body includes plural fixing parts and two protruding parts. The plural fixing parts are used for fixing two ends of each long segment of the reinforcement element. The two protruding parts are used for pushing the two short segments of the reinforcement element, so that the reinforcement element is subjected to deformation. Consequently, the reinforcement element generates a reacting force to push against the bilateral sides of the keycap body. Under this circumstance, the top surface of the keycap body is formed as a downwardly-concave arc-shaped surface, so that the shape of the keycap structure is effectively corrected.

For facilitating users to operate electronic devices, a variety of human interface devices are gradually introduced into the market. For example, a keyboard is a widely-used human interface device for controlling a computer. Generally, the keyboard is equipped with plural character keys and plural function keys for generating different signals. According to these signals, corresponding functions of the electronic device can be operated by the user. By depressing one of the character keys, a corresponding letter, number or symbol is inputted. By depressing one of the function keys, a corresponding function signal is generated. Moreover, the function key and a corresponding character key may be combined as a shortcut.
For providing better tactile feel of depressing the keycap of the key, the top surface of the keycap is specially designed to have a downwardly-concave arc-shaped surface for complying with the curvature of the user's fingertip. Moreover, some of the character keys and some of the plural function keys have elongated keycaps. For example, the key "0" of the numeric keypad zone, the enter key or the space key has the elongated keycap.
Since most keycaps are produced by a plastic ejection molding process, the elongated keycaps made of the plastic material may have some drawbacks. For example, since the elongated keycap has a relative long pressing surface, the structural strength of the elongated keycap is usually lower than the structural strength of the ordinary keycap. After the elongated keycap has been pressed for a long time, the elongated keycap is readily damaged. Moreover, since the plastic product is possibly suffered from deformation, the top surface of the elongated keycap may be changed from the downwardly-concave arc-shaped surface to an upwardly-convex arc-shaped surface. Under this circumstance, since the tactile feel of depressing the elongated keycap is deteriorated and the membrane switch under the elongated keycap is difficult to be conducted, the sensitivity of the key is impaired.
For overcoming the above drawbacks, there is a need of providing an improved keycap structure in order to enhance the structural strength of the elongated keycap and correct the deformed top surface of the elongated keycap from the upwardly-convex arc-shaped surface to the downwardly-concave arc-shaped surface.


A color image recording apparatus for producing a composite color image on a paper sheet by developing electrostatic latent images formed on a photoconductive element, which is implemented as a belt, in different colors. The belt is supported and driven in a rotary motion by at least two rollers, i.e., a drive roller and a tension roller. The drive roller is fixed in place at a transfer station, while the tension roller is situated downstream of an exposure station with respect to the intended direction of rotation of the belt, i.e., at a developing station side. More specifically, the tension roller is so positioned as not to be effected by a change in the configuration of the belt ascribable to the selective content of developing rollers of individual developing units with the belt. The length of the belt as measured from the exposure station to the transfer station is maintained constant. The belt moves at the same speed at both of the exposure station and transfer station.

The present invention relates to a color image recording apparatus for producing a color image by selectively developing in different colors a plurality of latent images which are formed on a photoconductive element implemented by a belt and are each associated with respective one of the different colors, on a contact development basis.
Generally, an electronic color copier, color printer or similar color image recording apparatus has a plurality of developing units which individually store toners of different colors, e.g. yellow (Y), magenta (M), cyan (C) and black (BK). The developing units are selectively operated to develop latent images electrostatically formed on a photoconductive element by the toners of different colors. The resulting toner images are sequentially transferred to the same paper sheet one over another to produce a composite color image. A prerequisite with this kind of apparatus is that while a certain developing unit is operating in contact with the photoconductive element, the other developing units be spaced apart from the photoconductive element. Should the developing units not joining in the development under way be held in contact with the photoconductive element, the toners deposited on those developing units would disturb the latent image or the toner image already provided on the element. The above requirement may be met by adopting a system wherein each developing unit is shifted by a solenoid, spring or similar urging means, as proposed in the past. This kind of system, however, results in a complicated and expensive construction.
Recently, a color image recording apparatus of the type using a contact development system is drawing much attention. This kind of apparatus has a photoconductive element in the form of an endless belt. Specifically, among a plurality of developing units, one needed for development is caused into contact with the belt with the others being spaced apart from the belt so as to develop a latent image associated with a particular color and formed on the belt. The contact development system allows the development units to be moved into and out of contact with the belt by using the flexibility of the belt, thereby promoting the ease of selective development of latent images. A problem with the contact development system, however, is that when any of the developing units is urged against the belt, the belt is displaced at the contacting position and the amount such displacement varies in association with the developing unit. Hence, the timing for the belt to move away from an exposure station to a transfer station or the length of the belt between the exposure station and the transfer station depends on the developing unit. This prevents the toner images of different colors from being accurately brought into register with each other on the same paper sheet, resulting in the deviation of as well as banding.


The connection of a vehicle fuel fill system access door to an access door hinge includes exposed guide members on the access door and the hinge to assist an installer in properly positioning and moving the access door relative to the hinge. Spacing structures between the access door and the access door hinge have a variable relationship for accommodating part variations. An audible sound is generated as the door is connected to indicate final positioning of the door on the hinge.

In a known automobile configuration, a fuel fill pipe is accessed through a fuel fill door located in a vehicle body side opening. The opening contains a fuel fill system housing which protects the end of the fuel fill pipe, and an access door hinge connects the fuel fill door to the housing. It is known to provide the fuel fill doors in the same color as the body panels adjacent the door and to fit the access door surface smoothly into the contour of the body panel in which it is located. It is known also to provide the fuel fill system housings and the plastic fuel fill doors separately to the vehicle assembly plants because the doors require painting to match the vehicle body. The access doors either are painted with the vehicle body in the assembly plant, or are painted in a separate outside vendor location and provided to the assembly plant in a painted condition. In either situation, it is common that the access door is installed onto the vehicle in a separate location from the housing installation. It is often desired that the access door and hinge attachment features are not visible to the customer, thereby providing a cleaner, more aesthetically appealing and upscale appearance for the vehicle.
It can be difficult to align the access door correctly for attachment to the access door hinge in the environment of an assembly line. By hiding attachment features from the consumer in the final installation, the attachment features are also hidden from or difficult to be seen by the assembly line worker. This can slow the worker's performance, especially if the worker has several operations to complete on each vehicle. Accordingly, to increase assembly plant efficiency, there is value in simplifying the assembly line workers' job requirements. A difficult to align door may also increase worker stress and frustration. As a result of difficult alignment, the assembly line worker might not properly or fully install the fuel fill system access door on the access door hinge. This may later surface as a quality issue if the door becomes detached from the hinge and/or has poor appearance or fit in relation to the vehicle body side.
Another problem that can arise is in fitting the access door and access door hinge together so as to achieve a no gap assembly. The door to hinge interface is designed with a specified fit relationship between confronting parts; however, due to manufacturing variations, a specific combination of a hinge and a door may have an actual fit relationship different from the designed relationship. In a known assembly procedure, the parts are tested fit together, which of course requires additional time. Any looseness between the test fitted parts is measured, and if the looseness is within the design parameters, tunable surfaces are modified to eliminate the gap and achieve a no gap assembly. If the measured gap is outside of the design parameters, such that adjustment would not achieve the desired fit, the parts are not used, and are therefore wasted. With the target being a no gap fit in the final assembly, installation efforts are high and the possibility of improper installation are also high.
Known designs for access doors and access door hinges provide no definitive signal or indication to the installer that the parts are fully, completely and correctly installed. An installer may believe that the door has been attached completely when the door remains out of position slightly relative to the hinge on which it is installed. Further, known designs require high assembly force, which can lead to installer fatigue and incompletely attached access doors.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide a construction in which a no gap installation can be achieved without requiring pre-installation fitting and adjustment of the parts, a construction which tolerates a wider range in manufacturing variations, a construction which provides visible cues and physical control of part positioning during assembly, and/or a construction which assembles easily with minimal force to thereby reduce installer fatigue.

Self-adjusting and self-aligning access door


From the coordinate data of defects detected on the circuit patterns, the areas where the defects belong are identified. The sizes of the defects detected are compared with the data to determine the lethality to thereby determine the lethality of the defects. Further, the severity of the defects is calculated from the sizes of the defects to thereby select the review object in the descending order of the severity.. Thereby, when inspecting the circuit patterns on a semiconductor wafer or the like, the lethality of the defects can automatically be determined even though the review is not carried out, enhancing the efficiency of the inspection. To perform the review with efficiency, the defects to be reviewed are automatically selected, while the quality of the inspection itself is maintained.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of determining the lethality of defects in the circuit pattern inspection, a method of selecting defects to be treated as review objects, and the circuit pattern inspection system involved with these methods. Particularly, the invention relates to a method of efficiently determining, in a manufacturing process to form semiconductor devices on a semiconductor wafer, whether a defect detected by an appearance/particle inspection instrument is lethal in accordance with the characteristics of circuit patterns of the semiconductor devices, a method of efficiently selecting a defect that should be treated as a review object when defects are detected, in accordance with the characteristics of defects generated on each process, and the system involved with the above methods.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the semiconductor manufacturing process, it is essential for maintaining or enhancing the yield to detect the cause of a failure as quickly as possible and feedback the countermeasure to the process and/or the manufacturing facilities. In order to establish the countermeasure, it is important to detect a failure by an inspection instrument and analyze the inspection data.
As the conventional technique in this field, defects such as pattern shorts and a pattern missing which are generated on the wafer process, and particles are automatically inspected by, for example, the inspection instruments using an image processing and dark field irradiation by laser beams.
These inspection instruments output the coordinate data of defects and particles in the semiconductor wafer, and the sizes of the defects to an analysis system that stores these data. Next, the inspected wafer is moved onto a stage of an optical microscope or scanning electron microscope, the stage is moved to the position corresponding to the coordinate data of a detected defect, and the defect is classified by the magnified image thereof. This classification work is called the review.
This review has two objects.
One is to classify defects detected in accordance with the characteristics of the defects themselves, such as pattern missing, pattern shorts, film residue, particles, etc.
Another one is to determine whether a defect leads to a lethal defect for the function of the semiconductor device, and from the result to classify the defect into a lethal defect or non-lethal defect.
After completing the review, a review station outputs the classification identifiers predetermined in accordance with the classification and lethality/non-lethality of the defects themselves to the analysis system that analyzes the data.
The foregoing conventional technique has become an essential technique for enhancing the yield when forming circuit patterns on a semiconductor wafer through the micro fabrication.
On the process of manufacturing a semiconductor wafer, if a defect is detected, occasionally the defect cannot be any obstacle to the operation. If there are particles on the wafer, to regard all the semiconductor chips made therefrom as failure is to treat even the normally operating chips as failure. That is impractical.
Therefore, the determination as to whether the defect is lethal or not is specially important in the inspection process. However, the conventional technique involves the following problems in the determination of the defect being lethal or not.
In the conventional technique, the review and the determination of lethality are carried out by human hands and brains, and therefore, the work needs a considerable time, which will become a hindrance to enhancing the throughput of the total inspection process.
In regard to the determination of lethality, the inspector needs to have the knowledge of functions and structures of the circuit patterns of a defective area as well as the discrimination of the defects themselves, and the work is entrusted to specialists having those specific knowledge. Further, the determination criterion of lethality differs among these specialists, and the result of determination varies depending on the inspector, which is a problem.
If the determination of lethality by the review is not conducted at all on the pretext of the throughput, or the determination of only a part of defects is conducted, the following inconveniences will arise.
This problem will be described with reference to FIG. 19. FIG. 19 illustrates a graph in which a relation between the total number of defects and the yield is plotted, and a graph in which the total number of defects produced in time series on each of inspection wafers is plotted.
As shown in FIG. 19(a), there is not a correlation between the total number of defects and the yield of the semiconductor chips, and thereby a significant control limit cannot be introduced. Here, the control limit signifies the number of defects that is provided for controlling the quality. The yield indicates the rate of non-defectives against all the chips on a wafer.
Accordingly, as shown in FIG. 19(b), although the total defect number by each inspection wafer is plotted in time series to thereby predict the abnormality of the yield and to thereby take a countermeasure in an earlier stage, since the total defect number does not function as a monitor value, the setting of a control limit will not bring about a good detection of abnormality. In the example of this drawing, since the total defect number exceeds the control limit in every point, all the defects are to be determined as abnormal.
During the review, it is necessary to view an enlarged image by the optical microscope or scanning electron microscope, which accompanies the works of moving the stage, bringing the defect into the field of view, focusing and the like. Therefore, to carry out the reviews of all the defects detected by the inspection instrument will be a contradiction against the requirement for enhancing the throughput in the inspection process. Accordingly, it is necessary to reduce the number of the defects of the review object, however, this work to reduce the number is entrusted to the review operator; and the selection results of the review object will differ depending on the operators, which is a problem.
The present invention has been made to resolve the foregoing problems, and it is therefore an object of the invention to provide a method of determining the lethality of defects, which enhances the efficiency of inspection by automatically determining the lethality of defects without conducting the review when inspecting circuit patterns formed on a substrate of a semiconductor wafer or the like, and an inspection system to implement the same.
Another object of the invention is to provide a method of automatically selecting defects to be reviewed in order to efficiently perform the review in the inspection of the circuit patterns while maintaining the quality of the inspection itself, and an inspection system to implement the same.

Method of determining lethality of defects in circuit pattern inspection method of selecting defects to be reviewed and inspection system of circuit patterns involved with the methods


Improved receiver set for an indirect or direct gas operated firearm wherein the charging handle has been moved to the side of the upper receiver, the magazine well has been flared open to better receive a magazine, and the lower receiver has a semi-circular shelf in the rear which supports the proximal end of the bolt carrier as it is longitudinally displaced due to firing of the weapon.

1. Field of the Invention
The disclosures herein relate generally to firearms. Specifically, the herein disclosure relates to the M16 series of firearms, and its derivatives. The improved receiver system described herein provides a side charging handle, a flared magazine well for more readily receiving a magazine, and a support feature in the lower receiver which prevents carrier tilt.
2. Description of the Prior Art
All U.S. patents and applications and all other published documents mentioned anywhere in this application are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.
Without limiting the scope of the invention, a brief summary of some of the claimed embodiments of the invention is set forth below. Additional details of the summarized embodiments of the invention and/or additional embodiments of the invention may be found in the Detailed Description of the Invention below.
In the general area of auto-loading rifles, many systems exist which have had their success in military weapon procurements, some of which have migrated into the civilian sector.
The M16 family to include the AR15, AR10 and all of their derivates, has gained significant success with military, law enforcement and civilian shooters alike. Improvements to the M16 family of firearms are diverse in their purpose with new embodiments being developed regularly due to the inherent modularity of the base platform. This rifle design itself has undergone many refinements to improve its functional reliability, to expand its mission roles, and to reduce its manufacturing costs, yet the design's operable principles have not been significantly improved. Today, many manufacturers sell their own variations of this reputable rifle fitted to several calibers from .223 to .308.
The standard magazine well is straight walled and designed to receive any magazine which conforms to its basic shape and latch mechanism, well known in the prior art. The ability of the user to quickly insert a magazine is of paramount importance for military, law enforcement and civilian shooters. Military and law enforcement shooters need to quickly insert a magazine to provide ammunition to operate the firearm when they are engaged in a violent encounter. Civilian shooters, whose skills and ranking within their sport is based on time, need the ability to quickly insert a magazine into the magazine well of the host firearms receiver. The factory magazine well is narrow and easy to miss when the users are under pressure. Further, damage to the feed lips of the magazine can occur when the user drives the magazine into the side of the magazine well. Adding a flare to the magazine well to aid with the insertion of the magazine has been attempted by others. These solutions typically embody a secondary piece of material which incorporates the "flare" being bolted or otherwise secured to the factory magazine well. Unfortunately these designs are reliant on tension, bolts or other methods to remain affixed. Another solution is to machine the lower receiver with the larger magazine well opening, such as found with the JP Enterprises CTR-02 rifle.
Indirect gas operating systems for the M16 family of rifles and to a lesser extent direct gas operating systems, have a phenomenon called carrier tilt occur when the bolt carrier tilts back during normal operation. This tilting creates drag in the system which hinders the proper operation of the firearm and leads to premature wear of the lower, receiver and leads to numerous cycling related issues. The addition of an enlarged boss at the rear of the bolt carrier has been the method used to minimize carrier tilt. This solution does not entirely solve the problem in M16 type firearms, especially those which utilize higher pressure cartridges such as .308win.
With the use of silencers becoming main stream for military and civilian shooters a like gas blow back from the M16 family of firearms has become an issue of some concern. The addition of a silencer to a firearm generates an increased amount of gas blow back into the firearm's receiver with the majority of this gas blow back being vented through the ejection port and the charging handle void of the prior art rifles. Gas blow back consists of un-burnt powder particles, carbon and trace amounts of other gases. Having gas blow back from the firearm operating system being vented into the user's face is not only distracting but also presents a potential health problem for the shooter. Typically this situation has been addressed by impeding the exit of the gas blow back through the charging handle hole. Charging handles such as the one designed by PRJ (U.S. Pat. No. 6,311,603) reduce the gas blow back, but do not eliminate it.
Being able to force the bolt carrier assembly closed, under certain adverse conditions, became a significant design features of the M16A2 and later variants. A forward assist, well known in the prior art, was developed to provide the user a device which could be hit with the palm of the users hand to force the bolt carrier assembly, closed, or into battery. The M16 and the majority of its derivatives are designed, primarily, for a right handed shooter. The forward assist is on the right side of the weapon and requires the shooter to remove his hand from the pistol grip of the weapon to use it.
The present invention overcomes the undesirable features of the "factory" M16 type rifles. The lower receiver is machined with a magazine well flare, also known as a magazine funnel, to aid in the insertion of a magazine. Having the magazine well flare as an integral part of the receiver eliminates the inherent weakness of bolt on parts. The angle of the magazine well flare was selected for ease of use. This addition adds minimal cost to the production of the receiver with a noticeable gain in functionality.
A semi-circular shelf which is designed to guide the rear of the bolt carrier, into the buffer tube, is machined on the inner surface of the lower receiver near the receiver extension. This shelf guides the bolt carrier into the buffer tube and prevents it from tilting down to strike the lower portion of the receiver extension. The void for the charging handle in the upper receiver has been removed to prevent gas blow back from exiting at this point into the shooter's face. Removal of the charging handle void is made possible by the inclusion of a side charging handle which facilitates the manual operation of the host firearm action.
A charging handle has been added to the left side of the rifle. Further, the charging handle location allows the shooter to keep the primary firing hand on the firearm and maintain a sight picture while loading and unloading the rifle. By depressing the knob located on the side of the charging handle a tab is placed in operational contact with the bolt carrier and allows the user to force the bolt carrier assembly forward should the situation warrant it. This is a replacement for the prior art forward assist and is advantageous over the previous design because the shooter does not have to remove his hand from the firing grip of the weapon to use it. Similar side charging handles are used on the FN F AL type rifle, and its variation, but the prior art does not teach how to make an operable combination of components.
A brief abstract of the technical disclosure in the specification is provided as well only for the purposes of complying with 37 C.F.R. 1.72. The abstract is not intended to be used for interpreting the scope of the claims.


A segment of a seal assembly for sealing against a rotating member is disclosed. The segment includes a radial external surface, a radial internal surface for sealing against said rotating member, a face groove, and a secondary sealing surface. In embodiments, the segment may include a radial feed groove, and the face groove has an axial depth from the surface of the secondary sealing surface that is greater than the axial depth of the radial feed groove. Additionally, in embodiments, the face groove may include a relief groove, the face groove has a radial length at the axial position of the secondary sealing surface, the relief groove is axially offset from the secondary sealing surface, and the relief groove includes a portion with a radial length greater than the radial length of the face groove at the axial position of the secondary sealing surface.

Segmented radial or circumferential seals have been employed in a number of environments associated with compressible fluids, such as gases. They have been used, for example, in connection with gas turbine engines. Such radial seals typically act to, among other things, seal high pressure areas from low pressure areas.
Conventional segmented seals commonly utilize a shallow face groove to control axial loading on the segmented seal. However, the radial position of the shallow face groove is limited due to the run-out of the shaft and the ability of the secondary seal to maintain contact with the sealing surface of the housing. Axial loading of segments is commonly required to maintain an adequate secondary seal contact between the secondary surface of the segment and a mating sealing surface. As axial loading on the segment increases, the ability of the segment to track shaft run out or respond to transient excursions of the shaft is negatively affected. In a number of applications the shallow face groove seal is positioned as low radially as possible to minimize pressure effects, therefore minimizing the axial loading on the segments but decreasing the secondary seal surface area.
Among other things, it is desirable to provide a segmented seal in which the radial location that the system pressure can act on, and can even be adjusted, to reduce the axial loading that the system pressure may apply to the segment without compromising the secondary seal surface area.

Segmented seal with axial load control feature


A bottom-up method of fracturing a multi-zone subterranean formation intersected by a wellbore that enables one zone to be fractured while at the same time flowing previously placed fracture fluid from one or more other zones back to the surface is provided. The method employs a bottom-hole assembly (“BHA”) that is attached to the bottom end of a tubing string. The BHA includes a hydra jetting sub, a centralizer, a packer and valve sub. The hydra jetting sub is used to perforate and initiate the fracture in the zones of interest. The zones are fractured by pumping fracturing fluid down the annulus formed between the tubing string and the wellbore. The previously placed fracture fluid flows back to the surface through the tubing string. It enters through the valve sub in the BHA.

The present invention relates generally to methods for fracturing subterranean formations having tight lenticular gas sands or multiple pay sands and more particularly to a fracturing method that allows one zone of the formation to be fractured while simultaneously flowing back previously placed stimulation and/or fracture fluids from one or more other zones in the formation.
Many subterranean formations containing hydrocarbon reservoirs suffer from the problem of having insufficient permeability or productivity to enable the hydrocarbons to be recovered at the surface in an effective and economical manner. A number of techniques have been developed to increase the permeability or productivity of these formations. The most common techniques include hydraulically fracturing the subterranean formation and/or chemically stimulating the formation.
Hydraulic fracturing commonly involves injecting fluids into the formation at sufficiently high pressures to cause the formation to fracture. The fractures are then injected with a granular material known as a proppant, which may include sand, ceramic beads or other similar material. The proppants hold the fracture open after the pressure is released. The proppant-filled fractures create a higher permeability flow-path for the hydrocarbons to follow from the reservoir to the wellbore than that occurring naturally in the subterranean formation. Chemical stimulation techniques involve pumping certain chemicals into the formation, such as acid-based fluids, that etch away a path in the formation through which the hydrocarbons can flow or otherwise alter the properties of the formation so as to enhance its permeability.
After the flow paths have been created, regardless of the technique, the treatment fluids that have been injected into the formation must be recovered. The treatment fluids are recovered for a number of reasons. For one, some of these treatment fluids are expensive and can be reused in other fracturing and/or stimulating other wellbores. Furthermore, it is believed that certain treatment fluids, especially water-based treatment fluids, left in the formation for extended periods of time can actually inhibit the flow of hydrocarbons rather than enhance it. This damage can be compounded by time and depth of fluid penetration. The process reduces and in some instances prohibits the hydrocarbons from flowing toward the wellbore. This condition is known as imbibement. The step of producing the fracture or stimulation fluid to the surface is known as "flow back."
In conventional fracture methods, the fracture/stimulation fluids are not circulated back to the surface until after the fracture/stimulation procedure has been completed, which can sometimes take several days or even weeks if multiple zones are being fractured using conventional fracturing/stimulation techniques. After that period of time, the amount of imbibement can be significant.
In addition to the ill effects of imbibement, which are caused using conventional fracture/stimulation methods to complete a well, the time lost associated with these techniques is significant and can result in potentially significant lost revenue. This is because each of the steps associated with fracturing/stimulating a multi-zone formation have conventionally been performed separately. Furthermore, conventional fracturing/stimulation techniques require multiple trips into and out of the well of downhole tools to accomplish the various fracturing/stimulation steps. For example, the steps of perforating the formation, fracturing the formation and flowing the treatment fluid out of the fracture back to the surface all typically require multiple trips of various downhole tools into and out of the well to complete. This can be very time consuming, especially when multiple pay zones are involved.
A number of solutions have been proposed to reduce the number of trips needed to fracture multiple zones in a multi-zone formation. In a number of these solutions, the fractures are formed starting at the bottom of the well and working upward. In one such method, the first fracture is initiated by perforating the formation in the first zone using a gun perforator that has been lowered into the well using a wireline. After the perforations have been formed, a tubing with a packer is lowered and set beneath the perforations. Then the fracture fluid is pumped down the annulus between the tubing and the casing or wellbore as the case may be. After the fracture has been formed, the packer is unset and the tubing raised to a location above the next zone to be fractured. Then the gun perforator is again lowered into the well adjacent to the region to be fractured to perforate that region. The gun perforator is again removed from the well using the wireline. Next, the tubing is lowered and the packer set between the perforated second zone and the fractured first zone. The fracture fluid is then pumped down the annulus into the second zone so as to fracture that zone. This process is repeated if additional zones need to be fractured. After all of the zones have been fractured then the fracture/stimulation fluid is produced. This solution saves a number of process steps by leaving the tubing in the well during the perforating and fracturing steps and by using a removable packer. However, it still requires multiple trips into and out of the well and thus allows for a substantial amount of imbibement to occur.
A number of solutions propose using a bottom-hole assembly ("BHA"), which combines the packer with a multi-stage perforating gun, which in turn is attached to a tubing string or jointed pipe. In one solution, the multi-stage perforating gun is detachably secured to the packer, which is disposed below the perforating gun. In another solution, the packer is attached above the multi-stage perforating gun. In the latter solution, a depth-control device may be incorporated into the BHA or at the surface to assist the well operator in accurately positioning the tool within the wellbore during perforation and fracturing.
The advantage of these solutions is that since the perforating gun is attached to the packer, the perforating gun does not have to be recovered at the surface between perforation steps. Therefore, a plurality of production zones can be perforated and fractured by a single run into the well in a continuous unbroken sequence, without withdrawing the tubing string, perforating gun or packer from the well before all the zones have been perforated and treated. A drawback of this solution, however, is that it does not allow flow back of the hydraulic fracture/stimulation treatment fluid in the multiple zones until after all of the zones have been perforated and fractured. Accordingly, this solution is subject to a certain amount of undesirable imbibement.
Therefore, it is desirable to be able to perforate and fracture multiple production zones in the formation while simultaneously flowing back previously placed hydraulic fractures/stimulation treatment fluids in zones that have already been perforated and fractured all in a single trip. The assignee of the present invention has carried out such a method using a top-down approach, i.e., by perforating and fracturing zones in a sequence starting at a location up hole and working toward the bottom of the well. The tool employed in this method was a BHA having an expandable packer connected to a tubing string, a centralizer connected to the packer, a hydra jetting sub connected to the centralizer and a ball sub connected to the hydra jetting sub, such as the one illustrated in FIG. 1A.
The assignee's prior method is carried out in the following sequence. First, Zone 1 is perforated using the hydra jetting sub, then it is fractured, and then the BHA is moved downhole toward Zone 2 washing down the wellbore in the process, as shown in FIG. 1A. Next, a ball is circulated down the tubing until it reaches the ball sub, as shown in FIGS. 1B and 1C. Once the ball has landed, the fluid exits the jets in the hydra jetting sub to thereby perforate Zone 2, as shown in FIG. 1C. Once Zone 2 has been perforated, the ball is circulated back up the tubing to the surface using the pressure from the formation, as shown in FIG. 1D. Next, the BHA is moved up hole and the packer is set just below Zone 1, as shown in FIG. 1E. Then the fracturing fluid is pumped down the tubing into the perforations in Zone 2 causing Zone 2 to fracture, as shown in FIG. 1E. The previously placed fracture fluid from Zone 1 is simultaneously recovered up the annulus. Next, the BHA is moved downhole toward Zone 3 washing down the wellbore in the process, as shown in FIG. 1F. The BHA is then moved downhole so that the hydra jetting tool is adjacent to Zone 3. The ball is again landed in the ball sub, and then fluid in pumped through the hydra jetting tool to perforate Zone 3, as shown in FIG. 1G. The process continues until all of the desired zones have been perforated, fractured and had their fracturing fluid flowed back to the surface.
The assignee's prior method of simultaneously perforating, fracturing and flowing back multiple zones in a subterranean formation overcomes many of the disadvantages of prior fracturing methods and has proven to be a useful method for treating multiple zones in a subterranean formation in the Northeastern United States. There are some formations, however, where the top-down fracturing method is less than desirable, for example, those found in the United States and Canadian Rockies. Furthermore, top down fracturing has several drawbacks.
The top down completion method requires the fracturing fluid to be pumped down the tubing which results in a larger ID tubing being needed to facilitate the flow rates needed to fracture the reservoir. A drawback of using larger pipe (2.375-2.875 inch diameter) is that it is relatively difficult to handle in the wellbore compared to smaller pipe sizes (1.5-2.0 inch diameter) and is more expensive. Also, in the top down method, the previously placed fracturing fluid is produced up the annulus, which impinges against the tubing string and therefore can cause damage to the tubing string. Furthermore, in the top down method the previously fractured zones are above the packer and flowing these zones back may result in proppant building up on the top of the packer. Additionally, top down completions diminish the annular pressure and mechanical integrity, which can greatly compromise future recompletion efforts.
It is therefore desired to have a bottom-up method of simultaneously perforating, fracturing and flowing back multiple zones that overcomes some of the drawbacks of the assignee of the present invention's prior treatment method.

Fracturing method providing simultaneous flow back


A pixel structure having the following structure is provided. A light-shielding layer with a flat layer covering thereon is disposed on a substrate. A channel layer, a data line and a first pad are disposed on the flat layer. A source and a drain partially cover two sides of the channel layer. A gate dielectric layer with a gate, a scan line and a second pad disposed thereon covering the channel layer, the source and the data line exposes the drain and the first pad. A protection layer covering the gate and the scan line exposes the drain, the first and second pads. A patterned transparent conductive layer includes a pixel electrode disposed on the protection layer, a first retain portion disposed on the first pad and a second retain portion disposed on the second pad.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a pixel structure, and more particularly to a pixel structure with a simplified structure.
2. Description of Related Art
A thin film transistor liquid crystal display (TFT-LCD) is mainly composed of a TFT array substrate, a color filter substrate and a liquid crystal layer. The TFT array substrate includes a plurality of TFTs arranged in an array and a plurality of pixel electrodes corresponding to each TFT. The above-mentioned TFT includes a gate, a channel layer, a drain and a source. A TFT and a pixel electrode compose a pixel structure. The TFT serves as a switch device of a liquid crystal display unit (LCD unit).
When fabricating a TFT, one of the most important considerations is to reduce the process steps thereof and thereby reduce the fabricating cost. In particular, the required number of the photomasks needs to be effectively reduced due to the expensive cost of each photomask.
Generally speaking, 4-7 photomasks are usually required to fabricate TFTs. In order to promote the process efficiency, the most of manufactures employ four photomask processes currently. However, along with the large-scale panel tendency all the related manufactures are pursuing nowadays, a higher cost problem brought by a larger photomask is a significant challenge for the manufactures to be confronted and to be solved.


A technique is described herein for controlling equipment in a local environment. The technique can use a conversational interface component to receive messages from any user in a group of users. In a media-related context, a media BOT receives each message and determines whether it contains a command to play a particular media item. If so, the media BOT formulates the message as an input query and sends the input query to a search system, with instruction to perform a domain-specific search. The search system identifies a top-ranked media item based on the input query, selected from among a curated media-specific corpus. By virtue of the use of the scoped search system, the technique can successfully leverage preexisting linguistic processing mechanisms. The technique can also generate group profiles associated with users who interact with the conversational interface component, and then use the group profiles to automatically select media items.

The industry offers numerous control mechanisms for use in interacting with various devices in a local setting, such as media playback equipment provided in a user's home or work environment. For instance, a user may build a local network having a control device and one or more media playback devices (e.g., speakers). In operation, an authorized user may interact with the control device to select one or more media items (e.g., songs) for playback on the media playback equipment, e.g., by calling up a list of available media items, and selecting one or more items from the list. While the above approach is relatively straightforward, some users may experience it as cumbersome and inefficient.
The technical literature generally describes more complex man-machine control interfaces compared to the mechanism described above. But these types of interfaces can also be expensive and time-consuming to develop, test and maintain. And once developed, these interfaces can potentially offer uneven performance due to their increased complexity.

Control system using scoped search and conversational interface


A sensor module includes: a metal member having a recessed portion; a resin portion embedded within the recessed portion; a radiator provided within the resin portion and configured to emit radio waves; a wireless communication portion provided within the resin portion and connected to the radiator; and a sensor connected to the wireless communication portion, wherein the metal member is insulated from the radiator by the resin portion and functions as a parasitic element.

Conventionally, microstrip antennas include a dielectric substrate sandwiched between a patch surface and a ground surface of a radiating conductor (see, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-1). In the microstrip antenna, at least a portion of the ground surface is bent so that its tip has a height substantially equal to the patch surface, a side surface of the dielectric substrate is covered with a bent portion, and a surface including the patch surface is configured so that an interval between a peripheral end of the patch surface and a bent end of the ground surface is longer than the height of the bent portion of the ground surface.

National University Corporation YOKOHAMA National University


The invention refers to a diplexer, particularly for use in microwave devices, comprising a low-pass filter and a high-pass filter, both having inductors and capacitors. It is suggested that at least one inductor of each of said filters is provided as an active inductor.

The invention is based on a priority application EP 01 440 412.3 which is hereby incorporated by reference.
The present invention relates to a diplexer, particularly for use in microwave devices, comprising a low-pass filter and a high-pass filter, both having inductors and capacitors.
Generally, a diplexer is a three-port frequency-dependent device that may be used for separating or combining signals. The diplexer comprises a low-pass filter for extracting signals in a low frequency band and a high-pass filter for extracting signals in a high frequency band. Both, the low-pass filter and the high-pass filter are designed as passive units using capacitors and inductors for realising the mentioned functions.
A diplexer as mentioned above is for example known from U.S. Pat. No. 5,793,265. This diplexer also comprises a high-pass filter and a low-pass filter and serves the function of separating an incoming television signal from an incoming telephony signal, so that each of these signals can be processed by separate receivers when in a private home. Each of the filters is constructed in the form of a ladder network having series branches and parallel branches. In the high-pass filter, the series branches comprise capacitors and the parallel branches comprise inductors, with one of the parallel branches having a series inductor-capacitor circuit. In the low-pass filter, the series branches comprise inductors and the parallel branches comprise capacitors, one of the parallel branches having an inductor-capacitor series circuit.
In this document, it is proposed that all of the inductors of both filters be constructed as toroids. However, the problem is that these passive components have a physical size which makes it difficult to further minimize the diplexer. Moreover, the inductors have a bad quality factor in a frequency range above 1 GHz.
It has also turned out that using active filters instead of the passive filters shown for example in the above-mentioned prior art document is not an appropriate approach to the mentioned problem due to the relatively poor characteristics of such active filters. These characteristics make them insufficient for use in diplexers.
In view of the above, it is the object of the present invention to provide for a diplexer as mentioned in the outset which overcomes the problems mentioned above. Particularly, it is an object of the present invention to provide for a diplexer having a compact design, a high quality factor and stability, and being less expensive than prior art diplexers.
This object is solved by a diplexer particularly for use in microwave devices, comprising a low-pass filter and a high-pass filter, both having inductors and capacitors, wherein at least one inductor of each of said filters is provided as an active inductor.
That means in other words that spiral inductors, like toroids, are replaced with active components being constituted by capacitors, resistors and transistors and having the electrical characteristic of an inductor. The advantage of the diplexer according to the present invention is a substantial reduction of size since an active inductor builds smaller than a corresponding spiral inductor. Preferably, a reduction of about 90% may be achieved.
A further advantage of the diplexer according to the present invention is a cost reduction of the diplexer due to smaller packaging. Hence, the diplexer according to the present invention is less expensive compared to prior art diplexers.
A further advantage of the diplexer according to the present invention is an approvement of the quality factor and the stability.
The diplexer according to the present invention may be designed using GaAs technology. However, it is preferred to implement the diplexer using SiGe technology since the consumption of the diplexer is lower.
In a preferred embodiment, said active inductor having an input and an output terminal, said terminals being connected by a first branch comprising a first resistor, a first capacitor, a drain-source path of a first transistor and a second capacitor; a second branch comprising a gate-source path of a second transistor, a source-gate path of a third transistor, a third capacitor, a gate-source path of said first transistor and said second capacitor; a third branch comprising a gate-drain path of said second transistor, a fourth capacitor and a second resistor; a fourth branch comprising said gate-source path of said second transistor, a source-gate path of said third transistor, a fifth capacitor and said second resistor; and a fifth branch comprising said gate-source path of said second transistor, said source-drain path of said third transistor, a sixth capacitor and said second resistor.
This design has turned out as advantageous in view of its electrical characteristics. However, it is to be understood that other designs may be possible and the present invention is not limited thereto.
In a further embodiment, the low-pass filter comprises series and parallel branches, the series branches having inductor elements and active inductors alternately arranged, and the parallel branches having inductor elements and capacitor elements serially connected. Preferably, said high-pass filter comprises series and parallel branches, the series branches having capacitor elements, and the parallel branches having either inductor elements or active inductors, and capacitor elements serially connected.
It is to be understood that other inductor elements of the low-pass and high-pass filters may be replaced with active inductors.
Further features and advantages can be taken from the following description and the enclosed drawings.
It is to be understood that the features mentioned above and those yet to be explained below can be used not only in the respective combinations indicated, but also in other combinations or in isolation, without leaving the scope of the present invention.


The present invention relates to a combination lock. The lock is particularly adapted for locking a container such as a pill bottle and includes a push button lid with a plurality of push button tabs. The tabs include indicia and a plurality of protrusions that mate with recesses located, for example, on a container or a receiver tube. In some embodiments, some of the recesses include a ramp that is configured to move a protrusion laterally when the protrusion moves along the ramp so that the lid can be lifted off of the container.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a push-button combination lock.
2. Background of the Invention
In the US and around the world, many prescription drugs such as pain killers (e.g., oxycodone and hydromorphone) and stimulants (such as amphetamine and dextroamphetamine) are susceptible to misuse. In some cases, the misuse relates to people other than the prescription holder trying to take the drugs. In other cases, the misuse relates to a prescription holder trying to take more than the prescribed dose—e.g., an adolescent prescription holder trying to take the drug when an adult caretaker is not watching.
There is a continuing need to prevent abuse of prescription drugs.


A picket fence panel comprising at least two post members aligned substantially vertical and spaced apart is disclosed. A plurality of pickets are aligned substantially vertical to the post members. Each of the pickets have an upper end, a lower end, an upper bore located proximate to the upper end and a lower bore located proximate to the lower end. An upper c-shaped rail and a lower c-shaped rail is also provided. Each rail is aligned and mounted between the post members and has a plurality of paired openings to accept the plurality of pickets. A corresponding plurality of aperture openings are located along each of the upper and lower c-shaped rail. Each aperture has at least two flaps hingedly deposed thereon. First and second rod members extend substantially over the length of the upper and lower c-shaped rail and engage the plurality of pickets and the aperture openings.

This application is not referenced in any microfiche appendix.
The present invention is generally relates to fence construction and more specifically toward an improved picket fence panel.
Picket fence designs are in the prior art including those utilizing hollow or tubular members. These members are secured according to a complicated apparatus utilizing moving parts or in unsatisfactory manner. These prior art fences are difficult and costly to manufacture. Thus there is a need for a picket fence that addresses the concerns above the prior art picket fences.
Below is a listing of the previous cited art references for this application:
The present invention satisfies the needs discussed above. The present invention is generally directed toward fence construction, more specifically toward a picket fence panel that is simple and easy to manufacture and assemble.
In one aspect, the present invention provides for a picket fence panel comprising at least two post members aligned substantially vertical and spaced apart. A plurality of pickets are aligned substantially vertical to the post members. Each of the pickets have an upper end, a lower end, an upper bore located proximate to the upper end and a lower bore located proximate to the lower end. An upper c-shaped rail and a lower c-shaped rail is also provided. Each rail is aligned and mounted between the post members and has a plurality of paired openings to accept the plurality of pickets. A corresponding plurality of aperture openings are located along each of the upper and lower c-shaped rail. Each aperture has at least two flaps hingedly deposed thereon. First and second rod members extend substantially over the length of the upper and lower c-shaped rail and engage the plurality of pickets and the aperture openings.
Further objects features advantages of the present invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art upon reference to the accompanying drawings and upon reading of the following description of the preferred embodiments.


An ultra wide band-pass, absorptive band-reject filter has a pair of quadrature hybrid couplers cascaded and coupled by a phase shifting element and a matched pair of band-reject filters in two parallel paths. The matched pair of band-reject filters each rejects signals in a desired reject frequency band. The quadrature hybrid couplers each have an insertion loss amplitude crossover for signals propagated to terminals across the coupler that coincides with the reject frequency band. The phase shifting element is configured to have a phase shift of 180 degrees at frequencies in the reject frequency band. In a preferred embodiment, the pair of quadrature hybrid couplers are identical in performance and the band-reject filters are identical in performance with respect to a center frequency fn of the reject frequency band. The absorptive band-reject filter thereby provides an absorptive rejection response in the reject frequency band while a very wide pass-band frequency range is maintained.

Wireless technology has become an integral part of society with widespread use of such devices as the pager and cellular phone, as well as networking technology such as wireless routers. With the explosion in use of wireless technology, there are many instances where a nearby wireless transmitter may interfere with an adjacent receiver. Under these circumstances, it is possible to remove the offending transmitter signal at the receiver's frequency by placing a band-reject filter at the output of the transmitter and tuning the band-reject filter to the frequency of the adjacent receiver.
Band reject filters find utility in canceling interference in a number of wireless technologies such as cellular phone, wireless routers, hand-held radios, satellite communications, and any other situation where there may be a number of wireless devices in close proximity. Conventional, non-absorptive filters reflect power at frequencies in the reject band, which can create undesirable electromagnetic interference, as well as, damage electronic components if the reflected power is too large. As the radio frequency (RF) power level of transmitters increase, it becomes a problem to use conventional band-reject filters.
An example of a commercially available conventional band-reject filter is Model U2916 band-reject filter offered by Delta Microwave Inc. at 300 Del Norte Boulevard, Oxnard, Calif. 93030. As illustrated in FIG. 1, the high return losses 1 of such conventional filters in the reject band are the result of the power at frequencies in the reject band being reflected back to the transmitter. The insertion losses 2 are also shown in FIG. 1. At low RF power levels, the reflected power can interact with the transmitted power to create interference signals known as intermodulation distortion products. At high RF power levels, the reflected power can physically damage the transmitter.
While it may be desirable to provide a band-reject filter with an absorptive response, it is also desirable to have a pass-band over a very wide frequency range because RF systems can operate over a maximum-to-minimum frequency range ratio exceeding 100:1. For example, modern digital radios, each operating over several octaves of frequencies, can be multiplexed together to cover very wide frequency ranges. There have been published methods for achieving band-reject filters or wide bandwidth all-pass networks, but none have reported the ability to create an absorptive notch filter with a pass-band that operates over a very wide (100:1 or more) frequency range. Therefore, there is a need for an absorptive band-reject filter that also operates with a pass-band over a very wide (100:1 or more) frequency range bandwidth.
In other prior art, U.S. Pat. No. 3,748,601, entitled "Coupling Networks Having Broader Bandwidth than Included Phase Shifters", issued to Harold Seidel on Jul. 24, 1973, describes a technique for extending the bandwidth of a quadrature hybrid coupler using a phase shifter. However, this disclosure does not provide the advantages of a wide pass-band, absorptive band-reject filter that reduces the insertion loss of the quadrature hybrid coupler and the overall topology.
U.S. Published Patent Application 2009/0289744, entitled "Electronically Tunable, Absorptive, Low-Loss Notch Filter", filed in the name of Kevin Miyashiro, and owned in common with the present patent application, describes a technique for creating an absorptive band-reject filter, but its bandwidth is limited by the quadrature hybrids used.
FIG. 12 illustrates pass-bands of three different all-pass networks. The dotted line plot 33 indicates a wide frequency pass band range for an all-pass network. FIG. 13 illustrates the components in a conventional all-pass network having two cascaded quadrature hybrid couplers 3 and 7 in parallel coupled in one path by a 180-degree phase shifter 4, similar to that described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,748,601. However, the all-pass network of the prior art cannot perform the band-reject function to prevent interference from a transmitter on an adjacent receiver while maintaining the wide pass-band. When quadrature hybrid couplers are used in a shunt configuration as described in U.S. Published Patent Application 2009/0289744, an absorptive response in the reject band is achieved, but the pass-band is limited to frequency ranges of 20:1 because the response is limited by the bandwidth of the quadrature hybrid couplers. The solid line 34 in FIG. 12 indicates the pass band using this technique, but it does not extend to low frequencies. The wide pass band also cannot be achieved by cascading two quadrature hybrid couplers without a phase shifter in one of the parallel paths. The dashed line 35 in FIG. 12 indicates that the frequency range with this technique is also limited and does not extend to low frequencies.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,323,955, entitled "Narrow-band Absorptive Bandstop Filter with Multiple Signal Paths," issued to Douglas R. Jachowski on Jan. 29, 2008, describes a technique for achieving absorptive band-reject filters using a quarter-wave transmission line, but whose band-pass bandwidth is limited by the narrow bandwidth of the quarter-wave transmission line.

Ultra wide pass-band, absorptive band-reject filter


A switch device includes a substantially disk-shaped operator; a substantially ring-shaped indicator provided between the operator and the light emitting elements disposed below the operator; and a visible portion formed in the center of an inner periphery of the operator. Since the indicator carrying indications of equipment functions in characters, symbols, figures or the like is formed separately from the operator, the indications will never turn sideways or upside down owing to the rotation of the operator.

In recent years, a growing number of vehicles have been equipped with a lighted switch device, disposed on a front panel in a vehicle interior, with various styles of operators to operate various kinds of electronic equipment such as air-conditioner or audio equipment. Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication No. 2005-216798 discloses such a lighted switch device.
A conventional switch device and an input device using the same are described with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5. FIG. 4 shows a cross-sectional view of the conventional switch device and the input device using the same, and FIG. 5 shows an exploded perspective view of the conventional switch device and the input device using the same. The input device using the conventional switch device includes a substantially disk-shaped operator 210 formed from an insulating resin and indications 220 as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5. On the top surface of operator 210, indications 220 are applied by laser machining, co-injection molding or the like so as to expose predetermined forms of characters, symbols, figures or the like on a transparent or light colored translucent portion 212 surrounded by opaque portion 211 colored in black or the like.
Switch-element 230 with an upward projecting operation axis 231 includes a plurality of contacts (not shown) internally to perform electrical switching by rotating or vertical moving of operation axis 231. Operation axis 231 is fixed into cylindrical projection 213 projecting from the bottom surface of operator 210.
Wiring board 240 having a plurality of wiring patterns (not shown) on its top and bottom surfaces and substantially box-shaped case 250 formed from an insulating resin form the switch device. Case 250 covers switch-element 230 and light emitting elements 260 such as light emitting diodes mounted on the top surface of wiring board 240, and operator 210 projects rotatably and movably vertically out of cylindrical opening 251 formed in the center of case 250.
Controller 270 is formed on the top surface of wiring board 240 using electronic components such as micro-computers. Switch-element 230 and light emitting elements 260 are connected to controller 270 via the wiring patterns to form a conventional input device.
Such a conventional input device has been installed on the front panel or the like in a vehicle interior and controller 270 is connected electrically to various kinds of electronic equipment such as an air-conditioner or audio equipment and vehicle electronic circuits (not shown) via connectors or lead wires (not shown).
In the above configuration, upon rotating operator 210 clockwise or counter-clockwise, operation axis 231 fixed on the bottom surface of operator 210 rotates together to perform electrical switching of contacts in switch-element 230, thereby transmitting the signals from controller 270 to electronic devices or electronic circuits to control for instance the air-conditioning temperature.
Upon pressing operator 210 downward, operation axis 231 is pressed to perform electrical switching of contacts in switch-element 230, thereby changing the temperature setting mode for air-conditioning from automatic to manual.
Moreover, light emitting elements 260 turn on in a case when it is dark such as at night to illuminate operator 210 from below. Since the light past translucent portion 212 illuminates indications 220 on the upper surface, characters, symbols, figures or the like on indications 220 become visible so that operator 210 can be identified and operated easily even in the case when it is dark.
Namely, the switch device can operate various functions of electronic equipment such as an air-conditioner by rotating or pressing downward operator 210 and can perform the operation easily with the aid of illuminated indications 220 on operator 210 even when it is dark.
As described above, however, since indications 220 in characters, symbols, figures or the like are formed integrally on the top surface of operator 210 in the input device using the conventional switch device, indications 220 rotate together with the rotation of operator 210, causing the indications to turn sideways or upside down. The problem is, therefore, that it is difficult for a driver to view the indications until he/she becomes accustomed to the operation, which can cause operational errors.


In a process for producing C1-C10 aldehydes by oxidative dehydrogenation of C1-C10 alcohols over a shaped catalyst body obtainable by three-dimensional shaping and/or arranging in space of silver-containing fibers and/or threads, the average diameter or the average diagonal length of an essentially rectangular or square cross section of these silver-containing fibers and/or threads is in the range from 30 μm to 200 μm.

The present invention relates to a process for producing C1-C10 aldehydes by oxidative dehydrogenation of C1-C10 alcohols over a shaped catalytst body which comprises shaped silver-containing fibers and/or threads, wherein the average diameter of these silver-containing fibers and/or threads is in the range from 30 μm to 200 μm.
The process for producing formaldehyde by oxidation/dehydrogenation of methanol over a silver catalyst is long known, see for example Ullmann's Encyclopedia of Industrial Chemistry, 2005, pages. 1 ff.
The silver catalyst used can be used in various forms. For example as granular crystalline silver but also in the form of silver nets or silver gauze.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,076,754 (Du Pont) describes a two-stage process for the manufacture of formaldehyde from methanol, air and water. The catalyst used comprises 40 superposed sheets of 20 mesh silver gauze (i.e., mesh size 1.25 mm) made from silver wire 0.014 inch (i.e., 350 μm or 0.35 mm) in diameter. The density or the void fraction of the silver gauze is not disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,076,754.
DE 2829035 A1 (Heraeus) describes a catalyst comprising catalytically active metallic fibers which consist of silver, platinum, rhodium, palladium or an alloy based on one thereof, wherein the metallic fibers are interconnected feltlike in the manner of a needle-bonded composite. The catalyst can be used for ammonia oxidation and the manufacture of hydrocyanic acid or formaldehyde. The cross section of a ribbon-shaped fiber can be rectangular with the dimensions of 100 μm and 50 μm, the length can be between 10 cm and 1 m. The density or the void fraction of the interfelted metallic fiber body is not described.
DE 3047193 A1 (Johnson Matthey) describes a catalyst made of silver or a silver alloy. The catalyst body is produced by melt spun process or melt extraction process. For example, a ribbon 1 to 2 mm in width and 50 to 60 μm in thickness is processed by crimping and cutting to yield undulating catalyst bodies about 1 cm in length and hence rather short-fibered. DE 3047193 A1 does not disclose a braid, knit, felt or the like formed from these catalyst bodies.
Although the catalytic oxidation/dehydrogenation of alcohols to aldehydes, more particularly methanol to formaldehyde, is already long known, there is still room for improvement, for example an increase in catalytic activity, in formaldehyde selectivity, advantageously for unchanged catalytic activity, or in the pressure drop over the catalyst.
Applicant studies have shown, particularly with regard to the oxidative dehydrogenation of methanol to formaldehyde, that it is not a straightforward matter to use fiber- or wire-containing structures as catalysts. This is because the constitution of the shaped catalyst body has to make it possible to establish a stable ignited reaction zone under the operating conditions of the industrial process for example of the oxidative dehydrogenation of methanol to formaldehyde. However, the current state of the art does not disclose the requisite features of such a shaped catalyst body.

Oxidative dehydrogenation of methanol to formaldehyde over silver-containing knits


Executing a long running application while maintaining state of the application. A method includes identifying that a new event has taken place with respect to an execution of an orchestration. The method includes establishing the state of the orchestration by replaying the execution of the orchestration by replaying any previous state from a history of the execution of the orchestration. The method further includes executing a next instruction of the execution of the orchestration. The next instruction is an instruction coded in the orchestration to execute after items in the history have been replayed.

Background and Relevant Art
Computers and computing systems have affected nearly every aspect of modern living. Computers are generally involved in work, recreation, healthcare, transportation, entertainment, household management, etc.
Further, computing system functionality can be enhanced by a computing system's ability to be interconnected to other computing systems via network connections. Network connections may include, but are not limited to, connections via wired or wireless Ethernet, cellular connections, or even computer to computer connections through serial, parallel, USB, or other connections. The connections allow a computing system to access services at other computing systems and to quickly and efficiently receive application data from other computing system.
Interconnection of computing systems has facilitated distributed computing systems, such as so-called "cloud" computing systems. In this description, "cloud computing" may be systems or resources for enabling ubiquitous, convenient, on-demand network access to a shared pool of configurable computing resources (e.g., networks, servers, storage, applications, services, etc.) that can be provisioned and released with reduced management effort or service provider interaction. A cloud model can be composed of various characteristics (e.g., on-demand self-service, broad network access, resource pooling, rapid elasticity, measured service, etc.), service models (e.g., Software as a Service ("SaaS"), Platform as a Service ("PaaS"), Infrastructure as a Service ("IaaS"), and deployment models (e.g., private cloud, community cloud, public cloud, hybrid cloud, etc.).
Cloud and remote based service applications are prevalent. Such applications are hosted on public and private remote systems such as clouds and usually offer a set of web based services for communicating back and forth with clients.
In distributed computing environments, long running applications may be implemented. Example long running applications are applications such as batch processing jobs or applications that are interacting with multiple services. Those services themselves have chunks of work items. Such work items may include, for example, provisioning a virtual machine in a cloud environment or setting up a database, etc. In particular, an orchestrator may control the overall flow of a long running application and may assign different worker tasks to perform substantive activities associated with the orchestrator instance. In present implementations, long running applications are quite non-trivial to implement. Developers typically write a lot of plumbing code for the simplest of these long running apps. Thus, rather than just being able to focus on coding application functionality, the developer also spends considerable time determining how entities for running the long running application interact with each other.
The subject matter claimed herein is not limited to embodiments that solve any disadvantages or that operate only in environments such as those described above. Rather, this background is only provided to illustrate one exemplary technology area where some embodiments described herein may be practiced.

Durable execution of long running applications


A method for curvature based complex identification and classification comprises sensing a cardiac signal and computing curvatures at sample points on the sensed cardiac signal. Then to extract features from the computed curvatures, and compare the extracted features with a set of predetermined templates, and then to classify the sensed cardiac signal based on the outcome of the comparison.

Analysis of cardiac signals, which is routinely performed in electrocardiography is generally based on visual inspection to quantify or qualify wave morphology for the purpose of identifying and classifying abnormal patterns. Certain morphological characteristics of commonly recorded signals have high diagnostic value. The shape and inter arrival times of R-waves recorded in the electrocardiogram generally provide a wealth of information about the state of the heart. Accordingly, automated approaches for identifying and classifying abnormalities in signals such as cardiac signals have sought to use a signal's significant morphologic characteristics.
However, given the wide diversity of possible shapes for cardiac signals, it is usually not possible for an automatic approach to identify significant characteristics that can be used for unambiguous classification. Rather, automated classification approaches generally compare the entire morphological shape of a signal with the shape of similar signals with known abnormalities but without particular regard to the specific characteristics that the signals contain. Alternatively, automated classification approaches restrict the automated examination only to those signals which are essentially normal and use detailed metrics (for example QRS width, QT interval or ST segment amplitude) of the essentially normal morphology for classifying abnormalities.
Despite its importance in the analysis of biologic signals, the automated and accurate identification and quantification of the significant morphological characteristics (for example turns, peaks, knees, inflection points, and the like) in any cardiac signal (both abnormal as well as normal) is still in a developing stage. Existing methods have used the concept of sharpness (for example to detect R-waves) but have had limited success. This is due in part to the overly simplistic mathematical treatment this concept has received, as reflected in the rudimentary algorithms used for these measurements. Most of the current detection methods rely on three point interpolations to measure sharpness. The simplest and most commonly used methods for measuring peaks of R-waves are based upon Taylor-series approximations to estimate the second derivative of the sensed signal. This formula utilizes highly local information (the point at the peak and its two close neighbors) ignoring nearby points which may contribute to signal peak. Other popular approaches utilize less local data, such as the peak and two adjacent extrema. All of these methods, which rely on three-point estimates of sharpness, may produce inaccurate estimates, if waveforms are complex or are contaminated with noise. Thus, a need exists for automated identification and classification of peaks, knees, inflection points, and the like in sensed cardiac signals that takes into account wave scale and complexity that can yield a more accurate estimate of peaks for identifying and classifying abnormalities in cardiac signals.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Curvature based method for selecting features from an electrophysiologic signal for purpose of complex identification and classification


A rotor disc for a vacuum pump, in particular a turbo molecular pump, having an inner ring. The inner ring is connected to a plurality of blade elements extending radially outward. The inner ring has at least one expansion joint. For assembly, the inner ring can be surrounded by a retaining ring and arranged on a hollow cylindrical carrier element as applicable.

1. Field of the Disclosure
The disclosure relates to a rotor disc for a vacuum pump, in particular a turbomolecular pump, as well as to a rotor comprising such rotor discs.
2. Discussion of the Background Art
Vacuum pumps, such as in particular turbomolecular vacuum pumps, have a rotor shaft supported in a pump housing. The rotor shaft which is driven in particular by an electric motor carries a rotor surrounded by a stator arranged in the pump housing. In particular turbomolecular pumps comprise a plurality of rotor discs. The individual rotor discs comprise a plurality of rotor blades. Stator discs of the stator surrounding the rotor are respectively arranged between adjacent rotor discs, the stator discs also having stator blades.
It is known to produce the rotor of a turbomolecular pump as a single piece. In this regard, the individual rotor discs are manufactured from a solid block, in particular by milling. This is an extremely tedious and expensive method. With such rotors, the stator discs are most often of a two-part design so that they can be inserted between two adjacent rotor discs from outside.
It is further known from DE 10 2007 048 703 to assemble a rotor for a turbomolecular pump from individual rotor discs. In this case, the individual rotor discs are connected with each other via reinforcement rings, each disc having in particular a plane of rotor vanes. The reinforcement rings respectively surround an inner ring of the rotor disc. A rotor of a vacuum pump built from a plurality of rotor discs is manufactured using mechanical joining methods. For this purpose, the inner ring of the rotor disc is oversized with respect to the reinforcement ring. Joining is performed by heating or cooling the components to be joined and by subsequent pressing. This is disadvantageous in that the joining process introduces tensions into the inner ring or the hub of the rotor disc. Further tensions occur due to the great centrifugal forces, as well as to the different thermal expansions of the rotor disc and the reinforcement ring during operation.
It is an object of the present disclosure to provide a rotor disc and a rotor having a plurality of rotors discs, wherein the occurrence of tensions is reduced, in particular at the inner ring of the rotor disc.


The display panel includes an opposite substrate and an array substrate. The opposite substrate includes a first substrate including a first surface and a second surface opposite to the first surface, a first wire electrode formed on the first surface, a first transparent electrode formed on the first surface and partially overlapping with the first wire electrode, and a common electrode formed on the second surface. The first wire on the first surface is formed before the first transparent electrode on the first surface. The array substrate includes a second substrate including a third surface facing the second surface, and a pixel layer formed on the third surface and facing the common electrode.

1. Field of the Invention
Exemplary embodiments of the invention relate to a display panel and a method of manufacturing the display panel. More particularly, exemplary embodiments of the invention relate to a display panel improving reliability and a method of manufacturing the display panel.
2. Description of the Related Art
A touch display panel including a touch panel directly inputting information on a screen using a finger or a pen has been developed. The touch panel is mounted on a conventional display panel, or a light sensing element, a pressure sensing element, etc. is formed in the conventional display panel, so that the touch display panel may be embodied.
When the touch panel is mounted on the conventional display panel, the conventional display panel includes an array substrate and an opposite substrate, and the touch panel includes a lower substrate having a first transparent electrode and an additional upper substrate having a second transparent electrode. Thus, when a touch occurs, the second transparent electrode makes contact with the first transparent electrode, so that a touched position may be detected by a current generated by a voltage drop. However, the touch display panel includes four substrates, so that a manufacturing cost and a thickness of the touch display panel may be increased.
To solve the above-mentioned problem, the touch display panel including the opposite substrate of the display panel on which the first transparent electrode is directly formed, instead of a separate lower substrate of the touch panel, has been developed.
However, when manufacturing the touch display panel including the opposite substrate of the display panel on which the first transparent electrode is previously directly formed, scratches of the formed first transparent electrode and a first wire electrode or cracks of the opposite substrate and the array substrate may be generated, in forming the first wire electrode electrically connected to the first transparent electrode or in assembling the opposite substrate with the array substrate. Thus, the reliability of the touch display panel may be reduced.

Display panel and method of manufacturing the same


An imaging lens is provided and includes: in order from an object side of the imaging lens, a first lens having a convex surface on the object side and having a positive power; a second lens having a concave surface on the object side and having a negative power; a third lens having a positive power; and a fourth lens having a convex surface on the object side near a paraxial axis and having a meniscus shape. The imaging lens satisfies conditional expressions specified in the specification.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a fixed-focus imaging lens which can be suitably mounted on a small-sized imaging apparatus such as a digital camera using an image device such as a CCD (Charge Coupled Device) or a CMOS (Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor), a camera using a silver film, etc.
2. Description of Background Art
In recent years, with the popularization of personal computers over general homes or the like, digital still cameras (hereinafter referred to as "digital cameras" simply) capable of inputting image information of photographed scenes, persons, etc. into personal computers have been coming into wide use rapidly. With the sophistication of cellular phones, module cameras (portable module cameras) for inputting images have been often mounted on cellular phones.
In such an imaging apparatus, an imaging device such as a CCD or a CMOS is used. With recent development in miniaturization of imaging devices, such an imaging apparatus as a whole has been highly miniaturized. With higher pixel counts in imaging devices, higher resolution and higher performance have been developed.
For example, imaging lenses for use in such a miniaturized imaging apparatus have been disclosed in the following patent documents. JP-A-10-48516 and JP-A-2002-221659 disclose imaging lenses with three-lens configurations respectively. JP-A-2004-302057, JP-A-2005-24581, JP-A-2005-4027 and JP-A-2005-4028 disclose imaging lenses with four-lens configurations respectively. The imaging lens disclosed in JP-A-2004-302057 has a stop disposed between a second lens and a third lens from the object side. The imaging lens disclosed in JP-A-2005-24581 has a stop disposed the most closely to the object. The imaging lens disclosed in each of JP-A-2005-4027 and JP-A-2005-4028 has a stop disposed the most closely to the object or between a first lens and a second lens from the object side.
As described above, with the miniaturization and the higher pixel counts in recent imaging devices, particularly imaging lenses for digital cameras are requested to have higher resolution performance and to have a compact configuration. On the other hand, imaging lenses for portable module cameras have been heretofore chiefly requested to be low in cost and compact in configuration. Recently, also portable module cameras have showed a tendency to make their imaging devices higher in pixel counts. Thus, the imaging devices in the portable module cameras have been requested to have higher performance.
It is therefore desired to develop a wide variety of lenses comprehensively improved in cost, imaging performance and compact configuration. For example, it is desired to develop low-cost and high-performance imaging lens having compactness secured to be high enough to be mounted even in a portable module camera, and having performance high enough to be mounted even in a digital camera.
To meet these requests, for example, it is considered that the number of lenses is three or four in order to secure compactness and low cost, and aspheric surfaces are used aggressively in order to secure high performance. In this case, the aspheric surfaces contribute to compactness and high performance. However, the aspheric surfaces are disadvantageous in terms of manufacturing efficiency, and the cost is increased easily. It is therefore desired to take the manufacturing efficiency into consideration when the aspheric surfaces are used. The lenses according to the aforementioned patent documents have a three-lens or four-lens configuration using aspheric surfaces. However, they are insufficient, for example, in terms of compatibility between imaging performance and compactness.