Disclosed are shielding platters for semiconductor wafers, and more particularly a reactive ion etch (RIE) chamber wafer masking system, wherein a mechanical mask facilitates the implementation of multiple etches on a single semiconductor wafer.

The present invention relates to reactive ion etch (RIE) systems. More particularly, the invention relates to a RIE chamber wafer masking system, wherein a mechanical mask facilitates the implementation of multiple etches on a single semiconductor wafer.
Devices fabricated on semiconductor wafers are becoming increasingly complex, as are the tools and processing steps employed in building those devices. The cost of processing a single semiconductor wafer is likewise continually increasing. Accordingly, there is an ongoing need for innovative tooling solutions in order to control processing costs wherever possible.
In the development and control of RIE processes, it is common to etch patterns under several different conditions in order to define the limits of a specific process or process capability. Testing of a RIE process for production requires that a wafer be etched under conditions as close as possible to those in an actual production tool. This often requires that one entire wafer be etched at a particular set of conditions. Determining the optimum process with this approach may require a large number of wafers, which are not only expensive, but at times may be impractical or even impossible to procure. Consequently, any reduction in the quantity of wafers employed will result in considerable cost savings.
Workers in RIE process development have used a technique of mechanically masking a portion of a wafer during an etch process test, thereby preserving the masked area of the wafer for use in a subsequent test. This technique permits a single test wafer to be used in multiple etching conditions, so that fewer wafers need be used for process testing. However, the use of mechanical masks has not been extensive, inasmuch as the mask surface composition ordinarily does not match that of the semiconductor wafer surface; this causes the etching plasma to be unstable and not representative of the plasma during actual production. In addition, placing a mechanical mask directly on the wafer to be etched may damage the wafer surface.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide a shielding or masking platter for a semiconductor wafer which permits localized etching of the wafer in order to provide for multiple etches at different locations (thereby resulting in the saving of wafers), while allowing a stable plasma which mimics the conditions in the production RIE process.
The shielding or masking of all or at least a portion of the surface of semiconductor wafers during processing or etching thereof has long been utilized in industry. In particular, lithographic processes related to RIE are well known, wherein a masking material deposited on a wafer has patterns formed therein to shield regions of the semiconductor wafer surface from the RIE plasma.
Reactive ion etching (RIE) of semiconductor wafers or chips has been employed for a considerable number of years. For example, Muto (U.S. Pat. No. 3,971,684) describes a RIE chamber utilized for etching thin film circuits on a substrate, wherein the substrates to be etched are covered by masks and positioned on a cathode electrode which is enclosed in the chamber. The chamber also contains a chemically reactive gas employed as an etchant; the cathode is negatively biased so as to ionize the reactive gas and attract the chemically reactive ions toward the cathode. However, the disclosure in Muto does not contemplate the use of a mechanical mask which will enable multiple etches to be performed on a single semiconductor wafer.
Peterson (U.S. Pat. No. 4,599,970) discloses an apparatus for coating a selected area of the surface of an object, wherein a mask is employed for covering portions of the body surface. The mask has openings to expose the exact areas of the object which are to be coated. There is no disclosure of a reactive ion etch chamber for carrying out etching of semiconductor wafers wherein a mechanical mask apparatus or shielding structure is capable of enabling multiple etches at different locations using different processes on a single semiconductor wafer. Moreover, as noted above, a simple mechanical wafer mask has limited use in RIE process development due to the mismatch of materials between the mask and the wafer surface.
Geffcken (U.S. Pat. No. 3,561,993) discloses a method of producing cyclically extending layers, in which similar layers are deposited in a cyclical form through the use of diaphragms forming radial slits therebetween; this arrangement essentially provides; a mask system. The particular mask system as described in this patent is used in material deposition rather than etching, and provides for two moving plates instead of a fixed plate making contact with the object being processed. Thus, although different parts of a wafer may be etched or have material deposited thereon, this disclosure does not utilize a masking or shielding apparatus for a reactive ion etching chamber as contemplated by the present invention.

Reactive ion etch chamber wafer masking system


A support apparatus for an animal has a frame for suspending an animal for hanging, gutting, cleaning and/or storage. At least one prong member is connected to the frame and has at least one hook extending from it. The prong member is movable between an animal supporting position and an animal releasing position. A securing mechanism releasably secures the prong member in the animal supporting position until the hanging, gutting, cleaning and/or storage and any additional processing is completed, after which the prong member is free to fall to the release position and the animal is released from the support.

The present invention relates to a releasable support apparatus for an animal and, more particularly, to an apparatus for suspending an animal for hanging, gutting, dressing out, handling and storage, with a quick, safe release of the animal during, or upon completion of, the processing of the animal. The present invention also contemplates an optional auxiliary support assembly for supporting the animal during the release and after the release, and for providing for further handling, processing or storage of the animal.
By the present invention, an apparatus is provided by which wild and domestic animals such as deer, pigs, cows, sheep, and the like can be attached by the hind legs for hanging, gutting, dressing out, handling and storage, with a quick, safe release upon completion of the processing and/or storage of the animal. The apparatus consists of a frame with attached prongs for receiving the legs between the bone and tendon, the prongs being movable between an animal-supporting position, in which the animal can be gutted, dressed out, handled or stored, and a releasing position, in which the animal can be removed or supported by an auxiliary support assembly.
The auxiliary support assembly includes a ring and a line or cable assembly attachable to the legs of the animal and to the support apparatus. Additionally, a securing mechanism is provided to hold the prongs in the animal-supporting position and thereby safely retain the animal during processing. The securing mechanism can be activated to permit the prongs to move under the influence of gravity to their release position, whereupon the legs fall from the prongs. Where the auxiliary support apparatus is used, after its release from the prongs, the animal is still supported by the ring and the line or cable, which are attached to the support apparatus. The auxiliary support assembly can be removed from the support apparatus with the animal and thereby provide a mechanism by which the animal can be hung for further processing or cold storage. Alternatively, the releasable support apparatus can be kept in the animal animal-supporting position and used to store the animal.


In accordance with an embodiment, one or more enterprise software application products, such as Fusion Applications, can be installed and/or configured according to an integration and deployment design/blueprint that is built or optimized for use within a multi-tiered enterprise deployment topology at an organization/customer's data center. Based on the organization/customer's site topology and needs/requirements, provisioning of the software applications can be optimized, and application life cycle operations performed. This enables each product component to be aware of the topology, which in turn provides customers with an “out-of-the-box” solution. The deployment topology can also be optimized for security, performance and simplicity.

Traditional methods of enterprise application deployment often require organizations/customers to install software application products within a single node at a data center, or to customize the installation to best suit the particular requirements of the customer site.
With complex enterprise application products, which include many software components, such products have traditionally been deployed to best suit the needs of each individual component, with less consideration as to how the components (in the context of Oracle Fusion Applications, the different applications that comprise a Fusion Applications environment) should be wired together, e.g., how many application server or Weblogic domains should be included, or how the middleware components should be used.
There are generally no well-defined blueprints regarding the deployment of such products. This is the general area that embodiments of the invention are intended to address.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

System and method for providing an enterprise deployment topology


The fluid dynamic bearing device includes a housing, two bearing sleeves fixed to the housing at positions axially spaced apart from each other, and a shaft member inserted along inner peripheries of the bearing sleeves. The housing includes a spacer portion protruding further radially inwardly than inner peripheral surfaces to which the bearing sleeves are fixed. An axial fluid path is formed in the spacer portion, and the axial fluid path communicates to flow paths formed by axial grooves of the bearing sleeves.

A fluid dynamic bearing device supports a shaft member in a non-contact manner with a dynamic pressure effect of fluid formed in a bearing gap. The bearing device of this type has characteristics of high-speed rotation, high rotational accuracy, low noise, and the like, and is recently being suitably used as a bearing device for a motor mounted on various electric equipment such as information equipment, specifically, for a spindle motor of a magnetic disk device including an HDD, or an optical disk device including a CD-ROM, a CD-R/RW, and a DVD-ROM/RAM, and a magneto optical disk device including MD and MO, for a polygon scanner motor of a laser beam printer (LBP), for a color wheel motor of a projector, and for a fan motor.
For example, in a fluid dynamic bearing device incorporated in a spindle motor for a disk drive, such as an HDD, both the radial bearing portion supporting the shaft member in the radial direction and the thrust bearing portion supporting the shaft member in the thrust direction may be formed by fluid dynamic bearings. In a known radial bearing portion in a fluid dynamic bearing device of this type, dynamic pressure grooves as a dynamic pressure generating portion are formed, for example, either in the inner peripheral surface of a bearing sleeve or in the outer peripheral surface of a shaft member opposed thereto, and a radial bearing gap is formed between the two surfaces (see, for example, Patent Document 1).
By the way, in information equipment which incorporates the fluid dynamic bearing device having the above-mentioned structure, for example, a disk drive such as an HDD, further high-speed rotating is required for the purpose of a further increase in speed of reading. In this case, a moment load that acts on a bearing portion supporting a spindle shaft in a freely rotating manner. Thus, in order to deal with an increase in moment load, it is necessary to provide radial bearing portions at multiple points so as to be axially spaced apart from each other, and to increase a span between the radial bearing portions. Further, while there has been adopted conventional structure in which the multiple radial bearing portions are provided on an inner periphery side of one bearing sleeve, downsizing of motor and a reduction in diameters of a spindle shaft and a bearing sleeve involved therewith are required, and hence, in some cases, it is difficult to manufacture a bearing sleeve capable of dealing with an increase in the span between the radial bearing portions.
As means for increasing a span between radial bearing portions and facilitating manufacture of a bearing sleeve, it is considered that multiple bearing sleeves are arranged at multiple points so as to be axially spaced apart from each other (see, for example, Patent Document 2). However, in a fluid dynamic bearing device disclosed in Patent Document 2, it is necessary to arrange a spacer member between the bearing sleeves arranged so as to be axially spaced apart from each other, and hence there arises a problem in that a number of components and an assembly man-hour are increased.
Patent Document 1: JP 2003-239951 A
Patent Document 2: JP 3602707 B


A barcode processing system for a semiconductor wafer, comprising a workstation controller, a bar code reader attached to the workstation controller for reading a bar code assigned to the wafer, a tool assigned to the workstation controller for processing the wafer, and a host computer assigned to the tool and the workstation controller for determining the appropriate process to be performed on the wafer.. The bar code read by the bar code reader is sent to the workstation controller, and the workstation controller requests processing information from the host computer, wherein that request includes information obtained from the bar code read by the bar code reader and sent to the workstation controller. The host computer determines an appropriate process step, or recipe, to be applied to the wafer based upon the information received from the processing information request from the workstation controller, and sends this information to the workstation controller.. The workstation controller determines an appropriate process associated with this process step. Once the workstation controller has the appropriate process to be applied to the wafer, the workstation controller determines if that process can be performed by the tool associated with the workstation controller. If the process can be performed by the tool, the recipe is sent to the tool so that the tool has the information it needs to process the wafer.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an improved method and apparatus for processing semiconductor wafers, and more particularly to a method and apparatus directed towards ensuring the accuracy of the process.
2. Description of the Related Art
Many present-day systems for semiconductor wafer fabrication utilize a computer to control a tool, where the tool is used for such processes as chemical vapor deposition (CVD). Wafers are placed into the tool and a process is performed on those wafers as one step in the process of fabricating semiconductor wafers. The process that is performed on the semiconductor wafer in the tool is known as a "recipe" which consists of various processing sequences that are performed on the wafer, such as specified temperatures and pressures applied to the wafer over specified periods of time while a particular gas is flowed. A wafer will typically be processed with different recipes and at different tools, at different stages of the semiconductor wafer fabrication process.
Given the large number of wafers that must be processed and the various recipes that are appropriate, it is possible for the wrong recipe to be run on a wafer, thereby destroying them, or rendering them unsuitable for use as semiconductors. It would be desirable to have a production system that minimized potential production errors relating to manufacturing of semiconductor errors.

Bar code recipe selection system using workstation controllers


A method and apparatus for a high-capacity cellular network by improved sectorization and interleaved channel assignment is presented. Data transmission over a cellular network is carried out by implementation of a sectorization scheme, called the Narrow-Beam Quad-sector Cell (NBQC) sectorization scheme, and the corresponding Interleaved Channel Assignments (ICA). The NBQC sectorization scheme calls for each cell of a cellular network to be divided into four sectors, with each sector covered by a 60 degree antenna. Use of the NBQC sectorization scheme allows for implementation of the corresponding ICA, in which assignment of transmission channels to each cell is based on a re-use factor of N=2. Accordingly, the interleaved channel assignments allow for the use of the transmission channels in cells which are adjacent in the cellular network.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a high-capacity cellular network and, more particularly, to a method and apparatus for a high-capacity cellular network by improved sectorization and interleaved channel assignment.
2. Description of the Art
Capacity is one of the most important issues in wireless systems. Because of the limited available frequency spectrum, current cellular radio systems adopt the concept of frequency reuse to utilize the same frequency repeatedly at different locations. A large frequency reuse distance can enhance channel quality due to low interference, but will decrease the overall system capacity. One challenge for cellular engineering, then, is to optimize the tradeoff among channel quality, system capacity, and the costs of infrastructure and user terminals.
In an attempt to meet the challenge, there are two directions taken to improve the tradeoff between channel quality and system capacity. One direction is to adopt more sophisticated technologies, such as code division multiple access (CDMA), adaptive antenna array, and dynamic channel allocations (DCA), etc. These techniques are capable of handling high interference, thereby reducing frequency reuse distance and thus increasing system capacity. They also relieve the burden of frequency planning. However, in addition to increasing the cost of base station equipment and user terminals, these techniques also breed a host of new issues. For example, a CDMA system requires sophisticated power planning to achieve high capacity. The adaptive antenna array processing needs to deal with the power consumption issue and the size of users"" handsets. The DCA systems must meet some operational conditions to function effectively, e.g., the accuracy of time synchronization among all base stations and the agility of user terminals"" synthesizers, etc.
On the other hand, the second direction, a more economical approach to enhance the spectrum efficiency, is to develop a better cellular engineering methodology. This approach is economical in the sense that it minimizes the cost of base station equipment and requires no changes on user terminals at all. Thus a better cellular engineering methodology usually results in equivalent improvements on both downlink and uplink transmissions. This type of cellular engineering includes three major aspects: 1) optimizing frequency planning to reduce interference; 2) selecting a cell architecture to improve the coverage and interference performance; and 3) choosing better cell site locations to enhance service coverage.
To optimize frequency planning and coverage and interference performances, traditional cellular engineering considers a frequency reuse factor of Nxe2x89xa73, only to ensure at least a xe2x80x9cbufferedxe2x80x9d cell between co-channel cells, where the re-use factor N is defined as the number of cells repetitively sharing the whole frequency spectrum once. The smaller the reuse factor N, the closer together the same channel frequency can be utilized at different antenna locations in the cellular network and, thus, the higher the system capacity. Few papers in the area of cellular engineering even discuss system architectures with a low reuse factor of Nxe2x89xa62. One paper, an article entitled xe2x80x9cA Novel Two Site Frequency Reuse Planxe2x80x9d by J. Xiang, discusses a cell planning approach that can achieve a reuse factor of N=2, unfortunately, however, at the cost of using six antennas at a cell. Also, in an article entitled xe2x80x9cRadio Resource Allocation in Fixed Broadband Wireless Networksxe2x80x9d by T. K. Fong et al., a frequency planning method with a reuse factor of N=1 is discussed, but is, however, only suitable for receiver terminals at fixed locations. Lastly, an article entitled xe2x80x9cA New Cellular Architecture based on an Interleaved Cluster Conceptxe2x80x9d by Li-Chun Wang, and which is hereby incorporated by reference, discusses that the cellular system can achieve a reuse factor of N=2 with good channel quality by using a sector rotation technique and clover-leaf cellular architecture. However, with this technique the impact of variations of cell site location are unknown.
Accordingly, the present invention introduces an improved cellular planning method and apparatus to achieve a high-capacity cellular mobile network having a reuse factor as low as N=2. Such a low reuse factor, while maintaining coverage and interference performance optimization, is achieved by an improved cellular architecture, the Narrow-Beam Quad-sector Cell (NBQC), in conjunction with a new frequency planning technique, the Interleaved Channel Assignment (ICA).
The Narrow-Beam Quad-sector Cell (NBQC) is a sectorization scheme for a cell of a cellular network which employs four 60xc2x0 directional antennas at a base station, each of which is separated by 90xc2x0. Such a sectorization scheme thus breaks up the single cell into four square-shaped sectors and allows for better coverage and interference performance.
Taking advantage of the NBQC, the Interleaved Channel Assignment (ICA) is a unique way of channel assignment in which each cell in the same column of a cellular network is assigned with four channels (or channel sets), one for each of the cell""s four sectors. To take full advantage of the directivity of the sectoral antennas, the channels assigned to the corresponding sectors of adjacent cells in the same column are interleaved. Thus the interleaved channel assignment allows for cells in a neighboring column to use a different set of four channels, thus yielding a frequency reuse factor of 2 and optimizing frequency planning.
The present invention, including its features and advantages, will become more apparent from the following detailed description with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Method and apparatus for a high-capacity cellular network by improved sectorization and interleaved channel assignment


A compact exhaust silencer especially for use in diesel locomotives having a single exhaust outlet located in relatively close proximity to the roof of the engine hood. The silencer includes an offset duct having dual oppositely curved ninety degree bends, leading to a roof outlet opening and providing broadband high frequency sound level reduction, combined with a compact Helmholtz cavity-type resonator. The resonator consists of a chamber mounted near the first bend in the direction opposite the main duct offset and a connector tube extending from the side of the duct downwardly into the chamber and tuned with the cavity to the sound frequency at which maximum silencing is desired, preferably the predominant firing frequency in the engine noise spectrum at full speed and load.

Throughout the early history of railroad locomotives both steam and diesel powered, there was relatively little use of engine exhaust silencers or mufflers, especially in so-called road locomotives. There was some use of mufflers on special locomotives for use in mines and other enclosed applications and spark arresting devices not especially intended for sound reduction have been extensively applied in the past.
With the advent of turbocharging of diesel powered locomotives, it was observed that directing the exhaust gases through the turbine had the effect of reducing the transmitted sound levels of certain frequencies of exhaust noise so that the exhaust from turbocharged locomotives appeared to be quieter than that from naturally aspirated locomotives. More recently however, the desire for further reductions in artifically produced noise in the environment has lead to the availability of exhaust silencing devices for both turbocharged and naturally aspirated locomotives designed for domestic use.
There is currently available an exhaust silencer designed for use with turbocharged diesel powered domestic road-type locomotives having a single elongated exhaust outlet, opening upwardly from the turbine. This silencer includes a dual bend offset outlet conduit, defining a passage that provides broadband sound reduction in the medium and high frequency range, combined with a large tank-like chamber surrounding the lower portion of the outlet conduit and connected thereto by perforations through the conduit wall, so as to provide sound reduction in the lower frequency ranges.
Recently, it has been desired to provide an exhaust silencer of similar effectiveness for turbocharged diesel-powered export model locomotives sold for overseas use. However, because of the lower exterior height of the export model locomotives, designed to meet the lower clearance requirement of many overseas railways, the space available within the engine hood section of the locomotive carbody of the export locomotives is not adequate to permit application of the previously designed domestic locomotive exhaust silencer arrangement.

Compact exhaust silencer for diesel locomotives


Systems, methods, and other embodiments associated with test execution of user SQL in server code are described. One example method includes producing a reproduced execution environment that reproduces a portion of an execution environment in which a user SQL runs. The example method may also include running the user SQL in the reproduced execution environment and capturing a statistic associated with performance of the user SQL while the user SQL runs in the reproduced execution environment. The method may conclude by storing, displaying, and/or providing a signal concerning the statistic.

Some conventional database systems offer Structured Query Language (SQL) diagnosis and management products. These conventional products aim to help customers complete tasks including understanding and resolving performance issues, diagnosing faults in the product, and running tests to see how their system will behave after performing some change. Conventionally, SQL management products have not tested user SQL statements within server code. Since the SQL statements are not executed within server code, there is a lower certainty and/or confidence in advice based on the resulting data. The certainty and/or confidence is negatively impacted by the inability to execute the test code in a realistic environment and to produce reproducible, verifiable statistics. Indeed, conventional approaches may be unable to prove their advice. Running the SQL statement externally will create issues, including causing contention with other database activity due to acquisition of row locks, modifying the database state which will cause other database sessions to do extra work to see a version of the database before these changes were made, and mixing the statistics collected for normal SQL executions run by the application with those collected for testing.
Several challenges have frustrated attempts to test user SQL statements within server code. For example, it has been difficult, if possible at all, to collect reliably certain information about SQL statements to be tested. A set of SQL statements may be referred to as "an SQL" and/or as "SQLs". Conventional approaches to collecting statistics for a single user's activity involve tracing, which can negatively impact performance itself, or attempting to capture performance information from the system's dynamic performance views, which can be unreliable and also can mix user statistics with the test statistics when cursors are shared. Another challenge is reproducing the original execution environment when test-executing the SQL. This is challenging enough when running the SQL on the same system, but becomes all the more challenging when executing on a secondary test system. The environment is a very complex and heterogeneous entity. Therefore, defining, capturing, transporting, and reproducing an environment is challenging. Additionally, it has been difficult, if even possible, to execute SQLs without causing a noticeable impact on the system on which the testing occurs. Noticeable impacts may be caused by acquiring row locks, modifying user data when running data manipulation language statements, which will impact those statements that come later, and so on. Tools that execute user SQLs in a way that can impact a production workload will be less useful than tools that prevent this harmful interaction. Like a set of SQL statements may be referred to as "an SQL", a set of data manipulation language (DML) statements may be referred to as "a DML".
When executing a single SQL statement, conventional systems are challenged to force the SQL to complete or abort within a specific time limit. While not critical for normal user executions of SQL statements being run by an application where all SQLs are expected to run to completion no matter how long it takes, performance and diagnostic tools that are built into the database cannot afford to run SQL statements for an unspecified amount of time because this would cause noticeable harm to the system. Therefore performance and diagnostic tools determine how much time the SQL statement should be allowed to run for and then terminate the execution once the execution reaches this time limit.
Another challenge for conventional systems has been finding an effective way to measure and compare the performance of different execution plans for the same user SQL. This involves reproducing the set of execution plans of interest, executing them, capturing relevant performance metrics for those executions only, and choosing an appropriate set of metrics that can be used to judge the goodness of the different plans and compare them to each other. Yet another challenge for conventional systems has been discovering an approach to manage the execution of multiple plans for the same user SQL in a scheme that addresses fairness in how resources are split between plans and accuracy in how the plans are compared and evaluated. Time resources need to be used carefully so that all plans will complete in a reasonable amount of time with a useful result that facilitates identifying which plan has the best performance. In some cases, depending on which plans complete and which do not, comparisons may or may not be valid. Example systems account for the (in)validity of comparisons.
Analyzing the results of user SQL statements is also a challenge. Typical interfaces for running SQLs require the application to know in advance the format of the results of the SQL and to define locations in memory to place results. Doing this in a generic fashion is not trivial but it is useful for tools seeking to analyze the results of the SQL execution to, for example, assure that all execution plans for the same query return the same data. Additional challenges are added because some of the information that an analysis tool would like to examine is only available inside the database while the SQL is executing.

Test execution of user SQL in database server code


A photographic light-sensitive material having an antistatic layer containing a water-soluble, film-forming polymer having a carboxylic acid group and gelatin, said layer further containing a carboxylic acid activating condensing agent.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a photographic sensitive material, more particularly, to a photographic sensitive material having an antistatic layer containing not only a carboxylic acid polymer but also a carboxylic acid activating condensing agent that acts on the polymer to add appreciably to the physical strength of the antistatic layer.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Static buildup on photographic sensitive materials has long annoyed the photographic industry. Static electricity is generated during the manufacture and use of photosensitive materials when they are wound on rolls, rewound therefrom, transported on rollers or when they contact other objects in transit. Generation and accumulation of static charges is a product of, for example, the electric conductivity and triboelectric series of the photographic material, moisture, the properties of the contacted object as well as the atmosphere in which the contact occurs. Accumulated static electricity sometimes discharges to cause irregular fogging of the photosensitive material. This is so deleterious to the material that it may even lose its commercial value. For instance, an X-ray film, even if it experiences the slightest fogging, not only fails to achieve the intended purpose but may result in an inaccurate diagnosis.
It is well known to provide an antistatic layer in a photographic material so as to avoid any adverse effect of static buildup and many types of photographic materials have been proposed that incorporate an antistatic layer that dissipates static charges. Illustrative examples include U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,649,374, 3,033,679, 3,437,487, 3,525,621, 3,630,740, and 3,681,070. These references describe various antistats and antistatic layers that contain them. However, all these conventional antistatic agents or antistatic layers have serious defects that make them unsuitable for use as a component of a photographic sensitive material. For example, due to their poor function, they are unable to prevent fogging from occurring in a high-sensitivity photographic material, or the antistatic layer may dissolve in a developing bath to form scum, or the layer or the photographic material that contains it is so low in strength that it becomes less abrasion-resistant or durable until it is no longer of value as a commercial product or may cause troubles in the production line.
British Pat. No. 1,496,027 proposes an improved antistatic layer free from these defects which comprises (a) a water-soluble, film-forming anionic high molecular electrolyte in the form of a free acid (e.g., polystyrenesulfonic acid), (b) a film-forming, water-soluble, crosslinkable high molecular binder (e.g., polyvinyl alcohol) and (c) a cross-linking agent for said high molecular binder (e.g., glyoxal). However, the antistatic layer of this patent is such that it fixes the water-soluble, electrically conductive, anionic high molecular electrolyte within the network structure formed by the binder and the cross-linking agent therefor, and as a result, it cannot prevent dissolution of the electrolyte in a developing bath which unavoidably leads to a low pH and scum formation. In addition, the anionic electrolyte accounts for about a third to half the weight of the antistatic layer. In other words, a third to half of the antistatic film is not crosslinked and this insufficiency in the physical strength of the film poses a serious problem in the high-speed production of photographic light-sensitive materials.

Photographic light-sensitive material having a carboxylic acid polymer antistatic layer


An improved animal tethering device is provided which prevents the leash from becoming entangled with the legs of the animal or with its free end thereof during rapid directional changes or movement by the animal. One end of the leash line is affixed to the animal and the other end over a pulley apparatus to a weighted loop which engages and slides along the leash line to maintain the leash line in an untangled posture.

1. Field Of The Invention
The invention herein pertains to devices for maintaining animals within a specified area and particularly to a leash-type device which allows the animal limited freedom to roam and which can be adjusted to give the animal more or less available territory as desired and which will not become entangled during use.
2. Description Of The Prior Art And Objectives Of The Invention
Urban and surburban dwellers in recent years have had an increasing need for a practical device for maintaining a pet such as a dog in a confined area. Fences, barricades and various leash devices have long been available but have proven unsatisfactory or inconvenient in certain circumstances. In U.S. Pat. No. 227,666 ('666) a counterweight is employed to prevent an animal from becoming tangled in the tethering rope. In a more recent U.S. Pat. No. 4,656,967 ('967), a dog walking device is utilized employing an endless belt suspended between two pulleys to provide a large roaming area. These devices represent two different types of tethers, the '967 device demonstrating a fixed length of leash from a laterally suspended belt, whereas the '666 device allows the leash to shorten or lengthen as a counterweight moves up and down. The device as set forth in U.S. Pat. No. 819,561 ('561) demonstrates a tether which provides a counterweighted leash extending from a horizontal cable. As would be understood, both the '561 and '666 devices could become entangled as the animal may move in a circular path around the weighted end and enwrap the depending lines or other nearby objects.
In order to overcome the disadvantages of the prior art devices as described above, the present invention was conceived and one of its objectives is to provide a leash line which is adjustable in length and which extends from a pulley apparatus positioned on a horizontal cable, yet which will not become entangled with the counterweighted portion of the depending leash line.
It is yet another objective of the present invention to provide a tethering device for an animal having a variable length leash line with an adjustable stop mounted thereon which is convenient and easy to install, adjust and use by the owner.
It is still another objective of the present invention to provide an animal tethering device which includes a weighted loop catch which will slide along the vertical portion of the leash line as the animal roams.
Various other objectives and advantages of the present invention become apparent to those skilled in the art as a more detailed description is set forth below.


A computer data handling method, system and apparatus are disclosed. A data item or information object are received in one protocol. Based on data contents, a protocol transfer module (engine) optimizes information presentation by transferring/converting the data item from the one protocol to a form of the data item in a different protocol. The resulting form (i.e. the data item/information object in the different protocol) optimally presents the data contents to an end-user. The end user reads the converted data item in the different protocol. The invention system enables the user to reply or otherwise further handle the data item in the initial protocol as desired. The initial protocol may be email and the resulting form of the data item may be one or more feed entries in machine-readable feeds specified by the user. The invention optimization effectively reduces email In-box clutter and streamlines reading in feed readers.

Knowledge workers are overwhelmed by information. They are swamped with more and more messages in traditional information sources (protocols), such as email, and solutions providers are giving them new applications and new information sources—instant messaging, social software like Facebook, and "syndicated feeds". Often a particular application or source type has a measure of interest to the user that is different from other applications/sources. In general, emails, because they are generally directed "at" the user are more compelling than feeds broadcast generally. However, this distinction is not always true. A spam email holds considerably less interest for the user than a particular newsfeed item related to that user's job goals, for instance.
Email inboxes are cluttered. IBM (International Business Machines, Inc—Assignee) has tried several ways to remove some of the clutter to other services or venues, including Cattail (to share files without sending the files through email), activities, teamrooms, Quickr. Similar experiments and services have been tried and commercialized outside of IBM.
Where possible, people have used machine-readable feeds (e.g., Really Simple Syndication (RSS) and Atom Syndication Format) and feed readers for certain types of information. There is art known in gmail for providing access to mail content via a syndication format (e.g. Atom/RSS). This strategy has two advantages. First, messages that might have cluttered email are now in a more appropriate medium. Second, the feed reader has its own UI (user interface) affordances that make dealing with this type of information easier.

System and method for managing data transfers between information protocols

International Business Machines Corporation


A media transport system in a phototypesetter for "leading" and "reverse leading" movement of film media at minimal inertia and little friction between a supply cassette and a self-threading take-up cassette, and characterized by vacuum pockets adjustable to varied media width and controlled by sensors for the delivery and removal of media and for the transport thereof across a make-up area where said media is held taught in a focal point while being positioned and moved by encoded drive means synchronizing placement of the typeset image at the make-up area.

The state of the art in setting type provides phototypsetters capable of producing high resolution characters at high speed, for example at speeds up to 4,000 characters per second, and the setting of newsprint at 1250 lines per minute. The media upon which this typesetting is produced is photographic film or paper intermittently fed from a roll supply varying in width from three to seventeen inches. The media has a photo sensitive emulsion that is exposed through a make-up area or aperture to a cathode ray tube and a lens system or the like, whereby photocomposition is attained. A feature of newsprint and the like is that the typesetting is organized into columns or galleys. For example, a newspaper will be comprised of six columns and separated into different news articles between the top and bottom of the page. Accordingly, page composition requires the starting and stopping of the typesetter, for the separation and arrangement of news article in sequence and in side by side relation, including spaces for pictures and the like. Separation is referred to as "leading" when progressing forward or downwardly, and as "reverse leading" when reversing the film media and setting other columns of type adjacent to previously set columns of type. Therefore, it is an object of this invention to provide a storage means for film media ahead of and behind the make-up area or aperture, so as to enable both "leading" and "reverse leading" within the phototypsetter per se.
This invention relates to the handling of exposed media in phototypesetters, wherein film is transported through an aperture from a supply to a take-up. Fragile media such as photographic film is to be transported for exposure without scratching or marring, and moved under low constant tension with minimal inertia, so that it can be accelerated and decelerated quickly. The media is caused to move forward and backward, and friction is to be minimized; and in these respects it is an object herein to advantageously employ a lens system to project images written on a cathode ray tube and onto film media in motion. This is in preference to the use of fiber optic face plate tubes over which the film must be dragged. Accordingly, with the present invention the film media or paper is tensioned between the supply and take-up by unique means that minimizes inertial mass so that there is extraordinarily little friction or drag.
A feature of this phototypsetter transport is its encoder means that is used to measure movement of the media and synchronize the typesetting function by displacing the image written through the optics and onto the moving media in response to said movement thereof. It is an object therefore to provide a transport system with buffer means in the form of a supply pocket and a take-up pocket adapted to maintain a substantially constant tension upon the media as it spans the make-up area or aperture. With the present invention, vacuum pockets are provided to receive loops of media, and as shown to enable reverse leading for example up to 26 inches. In practice, separate systems are used to feed media into the supply pocket and into the take-up pocket, and sensor means at said pockets monitors the media therein; so that when the supply pocket becomes too empty, a feed means brings in more media from the supply; and so that when the take-up pocket becomes too full, a take-up means pulls the media therefrom for delivery into the take-up. A characteristic feature of this transport system is that in moving the media through the make-up area or aperture, the said media is not pulled from heavy rollers or shoved into a crowded take-up area. On the contrary, the involved mass is reduced to that of the media alone, and the tension to be counteracted is produced by the vacuum only as it is regulated at the two pockets.
The state of the art provides media in supply and take-up cassettes, and it is common practice to transport film media with pinch rollers. Accordingly, the present invention employs pinch roller drive means from a supply cassette. However, with the present invention it is an object to tension the media by means of a vacuum pocket, and to this end the media is drawn tight across the make-up area or aperture as said media extends from a supply pocket to the pinch rollers of the drive means. And, additionally there are pinch rollers of a supply means responsive to the aforesaid pocket sensor means to feed the media into said pocket on demand. Similarly, it is an object of this invention to remove exposed media by means of pinch rollers of a take-up means, and to this end the media is drawn from a take-up pocket where it is held taught by a vacuum when delivered thereto by said drive rollers. This is significant in that the media is held in taught equilibrium across the make-up area.
A deficiency in prior art phototypesetters has been the alignment of media as it feeds from the supply cassette. Reference is made to supply cassettes that are supposedly installed in alignment and which journal the spool or core of film media substantially but not exactly aligned, thereby requiring realignment means to receive the film media supplied by the said cassette. With the present invention alignment is inherent, it being an object of this invention to align the cassette core with the transport mechanism and to permit the case of the cassette to float. In this respect the core of the cassette is accurately produced with facility and turns upon centers that are adjustable as to media width, all as circumstances require.
A deficiency in prior art phototypesetters has been the difficulty of threading of and the limited capacity of the take-up cassette. It is therefore an object of this invention to provide self threading and to substantially increase capacity by a direct cooperative relationship with the take-up means as it operates independent of the drive means to fill the cassette. And, intermediate the closely associated take-up means and take-up cassette there it is cutter means that trims and separates sections of media which is self threading into said cassette through a light trap. In practice, the take-up means and take-up cassette have a common drive means.

Self threading phototypesetter transport system


A handlebar throttle controller includes a cylindrical housing adapted to be rotatably mounted to an end of a handlebar, and a rotary shaft supported within the housing for relative rotation about a longitudinal axis. A first spring angularly biases the shaft toward a first angular position, while at least one of a cam and follower arrangement and a friction element and reaction element arrangement generates a first torque characteristic resisting relative rotation of the shaft when the shaft is rotated in a first direction relative to the housing, and a second torque characteristic resisting relative rotation of the shaft within the housing when the shaft is rotated in a second direction relative to the housing. A sensor on the housing generates an electrical output representative of an instantaneous angular position of the shaft relative to the housing, for use, for example, in an electronic throttle control system.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to handlebar-mounted electronic sensor assemblies for a motorcycle with which to detect an operator's request for a given throttle angle and/or torque output from the motorcycle's engine, the sensor output signal thereafter being used by an engine control processor to thereby control engine operation.
2. Background Art
The prior art teaches electronic throttle control (ETC) systems for motor vehicles in which an operator's request for a desired throttle angle or torque output is detected by at least one electronic sensor to obtain a throttle request signal that is thereafter used by an engine control module in selecting a suitable engine operating condition, for example, through adjustment of such engine operating parameters as engine air-fuel ratio (either through control of air mass flow, of metered fuel, or both), ignition timing or "spark," EGR, and valve timing, among others. Thus, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,276,230 teaches a handlebar throttle controller for a motorcycle in which an angle sensor generates an output voltage generally proportional to the extent to which an operator has angularly displaced a grip relative to the handlebar. A return spring biases the grip towards a first angular position against an idle stop to ensure that the request signal returns to an idle request upon release by the operator of the grip.
Unfortunately, the operation and feel of such spring-biased handlebar throttle controllers remains significantly different from mechanical throttle linkages. With mechanical throttle linkages using a sheathed cable, torque defines a hysteresis loop characterized by an increased resistance to relative angular movement of the grip as the operator requests an increased engine output, and increased hysteresis as angular movement increases. This torque displacement characteristic is created at least in part due to the frictional interaction of the control cable, its enveloping sheath, the throttle return spring and linkage geometry.
Accordingly, what is needed is a handlebar throttle controller that provides a more-realistic throttle "feel" than is provided by such known handlebar throttle controllers providing the operator with good control of the engine.

Handlebar throttle controller with hysteresis


An automatic coil winder provided with a turret having a rotation axle for carrying a bobbin and a motor for rotating this rotation axle, and provided with a nozzle for supplying wire to the bobbin, further comprises a mechanism for rotating the turret and a mechanism for fixing the turret in a predetermined rotation position. The rotation axis of the bobbin can therefore be inclined depending on the projection direction of a terminal pin on the bobbin, and the tying of the wire around the pin can be easily accomplished. By providing a displacement mechanism which can displace the turret in three dimensions, it is easy to adapt to operations other than winding such as soldering wire to the terminal pin or taping it to the bobbin, and the entire series of coil manufacturing processes can be automated. Further by linking a tiepin, to which the wire is temporarily attached, to the turret via a link mechanism which can be freely engaged and disengaged, the tying of the wire to the bobbin terminal pin can be performed efficiently.

When a wire coil is wound onto a bobbin, the wire has to be tied to terminal pins provided on the bobbin at the start and end of the winding operation. In conventional winding machines which performed this winding operation automatically, a nozzle for supplying wire was for example moved around a terminal pin on a bobbin supported in a fixed position so as to secure the wire to the pin.
As the nozzle is generally lighter than the bobbin, considering the winding operation alone, it is more logical to have the nozzle move around the bobbin supported in a fixed position than have the bobbin move around a fixed nozzle.
However, considering operations after winding such as soldering, taping, pin cutting, testing, and loading and unloading of the bobbin to a spindle, it is more advantageous from the viewpoint of automation of coil manufacture to fix each operating unit and have the bobbin move between them.
In Tokkai Hei 2-18915 published by the Japanese Patent Office, for example, a coil winder is proposed wherein the nozzle supplying the wire is fixed, and the bobbin is moved around it in three dimensions so as to perform the wire tying operation. In this winder, after the winding operation is completed, the bobbin is progressively moved onto other operating units so that each process in the coil manufacturing operation is performed smoothly.
However, the direction in which the bobbin is supported is fixed, and the bobbin could not be inclined. In general, this type of machine is capable of handling a plurality of bobbin types, but in different types of bobbin, the terminal pins of the bobbin do not necessarily project in the same direction. If therefore the bobbin was supported in a fixed direction, there was a risk that this difference in the projection direction of the pins would interfere with operations after winding such as tying the wire to the pin or soldering on the wire-tied pin.
Moreover, in this winder, the wire was tied to the terminal pins by moving the bobbin with respect to the fixed nozzle, the wire being gripped by chucks installed on both the bobbin and the nozzle. These chucks were provided with independent drive mechanisms.
However, provision of chucks on both the bobbin and the nozzle made the structure of the device unavoidably complex.
In particular, as the chuck on the bobbin always moves together with the bobbin, the chuck has to be withdrawn frown the operating area during operations other than wire tying such as coil winding or winding a tape on the coil. This required a complex drive mechanism so that the chuck on the bobbin could be moved into the correct position for wire tying, or withdrawn.


According to one implementation, a molding equipment of a composite material includes a vessel, a decompression system and a heating medium supply system. The vessel houses a molding target sealed by a sealing object. The decompression system performs bending forming of the molding target and pressurization on the molding target after the bending forming by decompressing a region surrounded by the sealing object in the vessel. The heating medium supply system supplies a heating medium into the vessel. The heating medium is supplied for the bending forming, and heating and curing of the molding target under the pressurization.

Conventionally, as a method of molding a composite material, such as CFRP (carbon fiber reinforced plastics) and GFRP (glass fiber reinforced plastics), a method of using A/C (autoclave) molding equipment is known.
In a molding method using the conventional autoclave molding equipment, sheet-like prepregs are laminated on a jig (a mold or a molding jig) which fits a shape of a finished product. Next, the sheet-like prepregs are covered using a bag film, a sealant and so on. Subsequently, a region covered by the bag film and the sealant is made into a vacuum state. Thereby, the prepregs covered by the bag film and the sealant become in a pressurized state by the atmospheric pressure. The work that seals prepregs by vacuuming with a bag film and a sealant is called bagging. Next, the prepregs after the bagging are conveyed in autoclave molding equipment. Then, the prepregs are cured by heating using the autoclave molding equipment. Thereby, the cured prepregs are obtained as a molded product of a composite material.
In the case of molding a composite material using the conventional autoclave molding equipment, prepregs are heated and cured by a circulation of hot air. Nitrogen may also be filled for a purpose of an increase in pressure and inactivation under a high temperature. However, it is difficult for the conventional autoclave molding equipment, which heats a molded product by hot air, to improve low uniformity of temperature and raise temperature instantly. The low uniformity of temperature leads to deterioration of an appearance or an internal quality of a molded product. Therefore, it is difficult for the conventional autoclave molding equipment, which heats a molded product by hot air, to cure a molded product, having a complicated structure, or a molded product, having a large size, uniformly in a satisfactory quality.
Thus, autoclave molding equipment which heats a molded product by steam instead of hot air has been devised (for example, refer to Japanese Patent Application Publication JP 2012-153133 A). In the case of using steam as a heating medium by a heat transfer, uniformity of temperature can be dramatically improved compared to the case of using hot air or nitrogen. Therefore, in the case of using the autoclave molding equipment which heats a molded product with steam, even a product having a complicated structure can also be molded.
Specifically, when shaping of prepregs is previously performed by a shaping device, even a molded product, having a complicated structure, can be heated and cured using steam type autoclave molding equipment. The shaping of prepregs by a shaping device is typically shaping processing which warms laminated sheet-like prepregs to a temperature appropriate for the shaping and subsequently shapes the warmed sheet-like prepregs. Therefore, sheet-like prepregs shaped by a shaping device are heated and cured by steam type autoclave molding equipment. Note that, the forming of prepregs before curing of the prepregs is generally called "shaping" in order to distinguish from the forming of prepregs by curing of the prepregs.
An object of the present invention is to manufacture a molded product of a composite material, having a complicated structure, more simply.

Molding equipment of composite material and molding method of composite material


A high resolution, cathodoluminescent display screen or device and a method of producing such a display device is disclosed. The display screen includes a plurality of channel structures having longitudinal ends, a transparent medium formed in a plane to which the channel structures are fixed with one longitudinal end thereof oriented toward the plane of the transparent medium, and a cathodoluminescent material deposited on the channel structures whereby incident electrons and light generated by the incident electrons are directed along the channel structures. Preferably, the display screen also includes a mechanism for removing built up charge from the display screen, such as conductive channel structures and/or a conductive transparent medium. The cathodoluminescent material can include phosphors, and for producing a color display, different materials producing different colors would be used. In one preferred embodiment, the channel structures are tubules. Alternately, the channel structures can be channel plates or other structures providing channeling structures. In the preferred embodiment, the transparent medium is glass. However, the transparent medium could be quartz or some other equivalent material. In order to provide a display device the display screen is then mated with an addressable electron source for generating electrons incident on the cathodoluminescent material of selected channel structures. Preferably, the electron source means includes a field emitter array with a reflecting surface.

Most cathodoluminescent displays are produced by a number of different methods that deposit a granular phosphor onto a conductive glass substrate. These known methods of phosphor deposition incorporate a patterning process to provide multicolors, such as red, green and blue phosphor dot clusters or stripe clusters, which create a spectrum by color addition. However, there are a number of disadvantages inherent in screens produced by these known methods.
One disadvantage is that the light generated in each grain comes out in all directions. This has a number of undesirable consequences. For example, because not all the light comes out to the viewer, there is a significantly lower usable light efficiency. In addition, the light which scatters into neighboring grains results in decreased spatial resolution of the screen. Finally, the light that scatters into neighboring grains can excite these neighboring grains and cause them to radiate different, unwanted colors or at least unwanted radiation so that spatial and chromatic resolution is decreased.
With the prior art displays, it will also be appreciated that the electron beam can scatter into neighboring grains which results in a number of deleterious consequences. For example, such scatter can excite neighboring grains so that spatial resolution is decreased or different colors are introduced. In addition, electrons deposited from the electron beam on to the phosphor screen can significantly charge up the non-conducting phosphor. One consequence of this charging up is that the incident electron beam is deflected to neighboring grains instead of hitting its intended target grain, thereby decreasing spatial resolution. Another consequence of charge up is that the impinging electron energy distribution is significantly spoiled, thereby decreasing light output and light output uniformity. Additionally, if the phosphors are allowed to charge up too much, the charged phosphor screen can catastrophically break down (voltage breakdown). This breakdown problem results in flickering, non-uniform brightness and blooming resulting from both the dispersion in the impinging electron energy and the redirection of the electron trajectory. Finally, the charge-up of the phosphor, which creates charge-induced defects, can change the cathodoluminescent properties and lower the useful lifetime of the phosphor.
A further disadvantage of the existing process of phosphor deposition is the fact that the phosphor discharge path is long. This means that a relatively high energy electron beam is required. Also, the boundary between different colors is very hard to control.
It will be appreciated from the foregoing that the production of a cathodoluminescent display screen by the existing process of phosphor deposition onto a glass substrate is limited in terms of the clarity of the image produced.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,857,799 (Spindt, et al), the use of field emission cathodes for providing an electron stream to a flat screen cathodoluminescent display coated with luminescent phosphor is disclosed. The cathodes are incorporated into a display backing structure.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,277,114 (De Jule), the use of a cathodoluminescent display panel which incorporates a gas discharge device is disclosed. The gas is under pressure and the use of phosphor disposed on the transparent walls of the cavity surrounding a positive column is disclosed. The disclosed device uses plasma to generate an electron stream.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,103,204 (Credelle), the use of a group of channels for directing an electron path is disclosed. A gun structure selectively injects electrons into the channels and slalom focusing is used to guide the electrons down the path to the display device. The use of a channeling technique is provided to improve picture quality.
In U.S. Pat. No. 3,992,644 (Chodil, et al) a cathodoluminescent device is disclosed which displays colors. The disclosed device uses a hollow cylindrical cathode shell and an anode that is flush with the shell.
Field emitter arrays which are designed for row-column addressability of general interest are disclosed in the following U.S. Pat. Nos.: 4,578,614 (Gray, et al), 4,307,507 (Gray, et al) and 4,513,308 (Greene, et al).

Method and apparatus for a high resolution, flat panel cathodoluminescent display device

The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Navy


A fine-pitch flexible electrical connector includes a plurality of generally parallel metal conductors in a matrix of a molecularly flexible dielectric adhesive, and may be made in various sizes and thicknesses so as to be utilized as a connector, jumper, test membrane, interposer or other electrical connection structure providing connection between two or more electronic devices and/or substrates. The connector is made by providing a number of metal conductors disposed in relation to the dielectric adhesive, such as by lamination or aggregation, and then separating individual connectors therefrom by cutting, slicing and/or otherwise separating transversely to the longitudinal direction of the conductors.

The present invention relates to electrical connectors and, in particular, to a method for making an electrical connector employing flexible adhesive.
Silicone rubber compression connectors made with alternating layers of conductor and insulator material have been in use for making temporary and/or permanent electrical connections between two electrical circuit boards, such as conventional printed wiring circuit boards, for at least thirty years. Compression connectors and/or compression jumpers are so called because they are clamped to or otherwise compressed or held under pressure between the two electrical circuit boards for making electrical connection therebetween. These connectors have the desirable characteristic of being compliant and compressible due to the characteristics of the silicone rubber, and so can accommodate variations in flatness and tolerances of the contact pads on each of the circuit boards to which they make electrical connection.
Typical conventional compressible connectors are made using a silicone rubber dielectric matrix having conductors therein provided by compatible silicone rubber that is filled with carbon, silver, gold or other conductive material. The use of silicone rubber for both dielectric and conductors provides for proper bonding therebetween for mechanical strength. A thickness along the direction of electrical conduction of about 1 mm (about 40 mils) is typical, and such silicone rubber connectors are available from several suppliers, such a ZEBRA(copyright) elastomeric connectors from Fujipoly (Internet URL www.fujipoly.com) and Z-axis Connector Company (Internet URL www.z-axiscc.com).
Although the silicone rubber elastomeric connectors may be xe2x80x9cidealxe2x80x9d for some applications, the silicone rubber presents certain drawbacks and disadvantages. For example, uncured silicone rubber, e.g., silicone molecules, may leach out or otherwise come to be disposed upon electrical contacts and contact pads, thereby to caus problems in soldering, bonding or otherwise making reliable electrical connection thereto. A further disadvantage is that mechanical fasteners and/or clamps are necessary to make electrical connection to such silicone rubber connectors, which increases the cost of the use thereof both with respect to the cost of the connector and of the labor necessary to utilize it, but allows replacement and rework.
Conventional elastomeric compression connectors have been made by many techniques that can provide a suitably fine pitch (i.e. the center-to-center spacing of adjacent conductors) for conventional printed circuit board applications. At fine pitch, e.g., pitch as fine as about 2-10 mils (about 50-250 xcexcm), manufacturability becomes limited by the available electrically conductive filler materials that fill the silicone elastomer to render it electrically conductive. In fact, very few such elastomeric compression connectors are suitable for pitches less than about 6 mils (about 150 xcexcm), either because their current-carrying capacity is too small or because they are too difficult to manufacture.
Accordingly, there is a need for an electrical connector suitable for manufacture at fine conductor pitch while providing improved current-carrying capacity as compared to conventional elastomeric compression connectors.
To this end, the method of the present invention comprises
providing a plurality of elongated metal conductors of an electrically-conductive metal;
placing the plurality of elongated metal conductors in generally parallel spaced-apart spatial relationship;
filling the spaces between the spaced apart elongated metal conductors with a molecularly flexible dielectric adhesive;
drying or B-staging the molecularly flexible dielectric adhesive;
whereby the plurality of elongated metal conductors are embedded in the dried or B-staged molecularly flexible dielectric adhesive; and
cutting the dried or B-staged molecularly flexible dielectric adhesive and the elongated metal conductors embedded therein in a direction transverse to the elongated direction of the elongated metal conductors.

Fine-pitch flexible connector, and method for making same


A method for testing a subject to detect a reduction in cerebral function presumably resulting from mild traumatic brain injury, that affects visual, proprioceptive, and vestibular brain functions includes: providing a user interface, input device, and portable computer into the hands of the test subject suspected of having mild traumatic brain injury; providing an icon on the user interface visible to the subject; rotating the subject holding the computer a predetermined number of revolutions, at a predetermined rate of rotation, to engage the vestibular system of the subject prior to testing; aligning, by the subject, the icon on the screen of the user interface in alignment with a test administrator; maintaining the alignment of the icon on the screen and the test administrator throughout the rotations; and conducting a real-time test for mild traumatic brain injury utilizing the user interface, the user input device, and the associated computer.

A concussion is a mild traumatic brain injury that is generally defined as a head injury with a temporary loss of brain function. Mild traumatic brain injury, such as a concussion, can occur, for example, with sports injuries, bicycle accidents, car accidents, falls, blows to the head, and so forth.
A concussion can create various physical, cognitive, somatic, and emotional systems. By way of example, a concussed person may experience a headache, feeling in a fog, being emotionally distraught, amnesia, slow reaction times, and sleep irregularities. Some symptoms may be so subtle that they are not recognized.
Risk for concussions is particularly high for certain athletic competitions such as football, rugby, and soccer. Should mild traumatic brain injury occur during such an event, speedy assessment of the subject is critical. If the assessment shows positively that the subject is concussed, the subject clearly should not return to the game and should be provided the immediate and proper medical care needed.
Known tests and methods for assessment of subjects who may have received a concussion are inadequate. Others have attempted to overcome these deficiencies with new tests and methods for assessment; however, these tests and methods have been found also to have various shortcomings.
Related utility patents known in the art include the following:
U.S. Pat. No. 9,064,370, issued to Daniel on Jun. 23, 2015, discloses a method for conducting a sports technology reality show that includes a concussion tracker device on the sidelines.
Related patent application publications known in the art include the following:
U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2007/0027406, filed by LaPlaca et al. and published on Feb. 1, 2007, discloses a display enhanced testing for concussions and mild traumatic brain injuries.
U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2011/0205167, filed by Massengill and published on Aug. 25, 2011, discloses a brain concussion screening method and apparatus.
Related pending patent applications known in the art, yet not published, include the following:
Ser. No. 13/074,980, Portable System and Method for Detecting Neurological Issue, filed Mar. 9, 2011 by Daniel, not published, but accessed online 2015-06-27 through Public PAIR.
Related non-patent literature known in the art includes the following:
The K-D (King Devick) test and Impact test, VISUAL & VESTIBULAR ABNORMALITIES FOLLOWING CONCUSSION.
The foregoing patent and other information reflect the state of the art of which the inventor is aware and are tendered with a view toward discharging the inventor's acknowledged duty of candor in disclosing information that may be pertinent to the patentability of the technology described herein. It is respectfully stipulated, however, that the foregoing patent and other information do not teach or render obvious, singly or when considered in combination, the inventor's claimed invention.

Sideline test to detect concussions that affect visual, proprioceptive, or vestibular brain functions


A strip accumulator for supporting a continuous length of strip material includes a plurality of circumferentially spaced stationary idler rolls for supporting an inner bundle of convolutions of the strip material on edge and an outer rotatable table surrounding the stationary idler rolls for supporting an outer bundle of such strip convolutions on edge. During overspeed filling of the accumulator, lifters are activated to facilitate transfer of the convolutions from the inner bundle to the outer bundle. Circumferentially spaced, radially extending skid bars may be provided on the upper surface of the rotatable table to reduce drag on the strip material during such transfer of the strip material from the stationary idler rolls to the rotatable table during overspeed filling of the accumulator. When the accumulator is filled to the desired capacity, the lifters are lowered out of the way so as not to interfere with the smooth transfer of the convolutions from the outer bundle to the inner bundle. Relatively short rods or bars are provided in the gap between the rotatable table and stationary idler rolls to prevent irregular or bent strip from getting hung up in the gap during transfer of the strip material from the rotatable table to the stationary idler rolls.

Strip accumulators of various types have long been used for storing a continuous length of strip material in an expanding and contracting spiral coil having a fixed number of turns with the strip material entering the outer diameter of the coil and withdrawn from the inner diameter or vice versa.
A major drawback of most accumulators is the time it takes to fill the accumulators to capacity after the supply of strip material has been replenished. The maximum fill speed of most accumulators is approximately 2.6 times the maximum line speed. This is particularly disadvantageous when processing thicker strip material with less footage in each coil or when processing smaller coils of any thickness of strip material in that the end of a new coil of strip material may be reached before the accumulators are filled to capacity, thus cutting down on the time available for the operator to replenish the supply by making coil changes and end welds without interruption or slowdown of the line.


A portable refrigeration apparatus includes a base defining an open interior cavity. An electric refrigeration unit is operably disposed in the base for cooling the contents of the interior cavity. A food container is configured to be removably disposed within the interior cavity of the base such that the cooled air is prevented from entering the food container and instead is trapped and circulated within the interior cavity surrounding the food container. A lid is positionable over the food container and configured to be removably placed onto an upper edge of the base or onto the food container to form a generally air-tight seal therebetween.

The present invention generally relates to refrigeration units. More particularly, the present invention relates to a food cooling container which is designed in size so as to be portable for placement on counter tops, used for picnics, pot-luck events and the like.
While the refrigerator is an excellent tool for keeping perishable food items fresh, there are certain drawbacks associated with their use. Foremost is the fact that the perishable foods must be kept inside the refrigerator in order to last any period of time. However, items such as fruit and vegetables which are stored in areas of the refrigerator which are not readily seen or frequently accessed can go unnoticed until they begin to spoil. However, placing fruit or vegetables on a kitchen counter, while more easily noticed, severely limits their life span as spoilage occurs at a faster rate. Moreover, such foods are often more desirable when cool. Furthermore, salad greens and vegetables tend to wilt and dry out when stored in conventional vessels.
Similar problems are often encountered while hosting a dinner, or during pot-luck events. Lettuce tends to wilt and cheese dries out when serving such perishables in the traditional manner. Foods containing mayonnaise, eggs, or milk are particularly susceptible to food spoilage even within an hour or two. In restaurants and other places with self-service buffets, tables and counters are often provided with cooling wells in the table or counter top for such food that must be kept cold to preserve its quality. Such cooling wells comprise box-shaped recesses or depressions in a table or counter top with external surrounding cooling tubes or a cooling jacket. However, such commercial cooling wells are often not available to the typical home owner or dinner host. Moreover, such cooling wells and tables are very expensive, occupy a significant amount of space, are not portable and also have disadvantages. For example, even in such restaurant settings, the displayed food will gradually become wilted, dried out or otherwise drab and unappetizing.
Picnics and cookouts are popular recreational pastimes during the summer months. Oftentimes, food is catered, such as to the movie industry, in an outdoor setting as well. A potential hazard for outdoor eating, however, is food spoilage. Such foods are often kept in a picnic cooler up until serving time. However, once people begin to eat, such foods are usually moved from the cooler and placed on the serving table, where it may sit for several hours while people eat, talk, play games, etc. Particularly in the summer months, the food is very susceptible to drying out, wilting and spoilage.
Attempts have been made in the past to overcome these problems. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,520,633 relates to a salad bowl having a relatively flat interior partition separating the bowl into an upper food containing receptacle and a lower ice-containing chamber. U.S. Pat. No. 5,345,784 discloses a salad bowl comprising interior and exterior bowls, with a cooling chamber filled with cold water or the like therebetween. However, these devices only serve to keep food cool for a very short period of time. Moreover, these devices do not address the problems associated with wilting and drying of the surface of the food to be served. Moreover, these devices can be messy in that the water can spill from these devices on the serving table as the food is removed from the containers, or they are transported.
Accordingly, there is a continuing need for a food cooling container which overcomes the problems discussed above and takes into account the drawbacks associated with prior devices and systems. The present invention fulfills these needs and provides other related advantages.


An electrical receptacle connector includes a metallic shell, a terminal module in the metallic shell, a baffle plate at a rear portion of the metallic shell, and conductive ground legs. Accordingly, the baffle plate is at the rear portion of the metallic shell, and the conductive ground legs are at two sides of the metallic shell. Therefore, during the connector transmits data, the produced noises are shielded by the baffle plate, and the current formed by the noises is guided to a circuit board through the conductive ground legs, thus the noises are grounded and diminished. The conductive ground legs are adjacent to the baffle plate. Hence, the current flowing through the baffle plate is guided to the circuit board through the conductive ground legs, with a shorter path. Therefore, the current would not have antenna effect easily on the path, and the noise spreading can be reduced.

Nowadays, electronic devices generate more electromagnetic waves as they are becoming more multifunctional. However, the more electromagnetic waves the devices generate, the worse radiofrequency interference (RFI) affects the operation or the signal transmission between devices.
Existing USB 3.0 electrical receptacle connectors produce noise during data transmission. A conventional USB 3.0 electrical receptacle connector is assembled to a crack at one side of a circuit board by a sinking technique. In addition, a shielding iron sheet is assembled at a rear portion of a metallic shell of the connector for shielding the noise from spreading.
When the noise is shielded by the shielding iron sheet, the noise further forms an electrical current, and the current has to be grounded to the circuit board by the legs at two sides of the metallic shell. Nevertheless, because the legs are distant from the shielding iron sheet and not in contact with the shielding iron sheet, the current flowing through the shielding iron sheet has to be guided to the rear of the metallic shell and then further guided to the legs from the rear of the metallic shell.
As a result, the current (i.e., the noise current) has to be transmitted with over a longer distance for grounding, and the noise current would have an antenna effect on the transmission path thus spreading the noise and affecting the operation of an electronic device connected to the connector. For example, the signal transmission of a USB 3.0 connector on a laptop affects the operation of a wireless mouse with 2.4 G transmission speed connected to the same laptop. In this situation, the reaction of the mouse lags behind the user's operation.

Electrical receptacle connector including a baffle plate


A method for detecting barge-in in a speech dialog system comprising determining whether a speech prompt is output by the speech dialog system, and detecting whether speech activity is present in an input signal based on a time-varying sensitivity threshold of a speech activity detector and/or based on speaker information, where the sensitivity threshold is increased if output of a speech prompt is determined and decreased if no output of a speech prompt is determined. If speech activity is detected in the input signal, the speech prompt may be interrupted or faded out. A speech dialog system configured to detect barge-in is also disclosed.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention, in general, is directed to speech dialogue systems, and, in particular, to detecting barge-in in a speech dialogue system.
2. Related Art
Speech dialogue systems are used in different applications in order to allow a user to receive desired information or perform an action in a more efficient manner. The speech dialogue system may be provided as part of a telephone system. In such a system, a user may call a server in order to receive information, for example, flight information, via a speech dialogue with the server. Alternatively, the speech dialogue system may be implemented in a vehicular cabin where the user is enabled to control devices via speech. For example, a hands-free telephony system or a multimedia device in a car may be controlled with the help of a speech dialogue between the user and the system.
During the speech dialogue, a user is prompted by the speech dialogue system via speech prompts to input his or her wishes and any required input information. In most prior art speech dialogue systems, a user may utter his or her input or command only upon completion of a speech prompt output. Any speech activity detector and/or speech recognizer is activated only after the output of the speech prompt is finished. In order to recognize speech, a speech recognizer has to determine whether speech activity is present. To do this, a segmentation may be performed to determine the beginning and the end of a speech input.
Some speech dialogue systems allow a so-called "barge-in." In other words, a user does not have to wait for the end of a speech prompt but may respond with a speech input during output of the speech prompt. In this case, the speech recognizer, particularly the speech activity detecting or segmentation unit, has to be active during the outputting of the speech prompt. Allowing barge-in generally shortens a user's speech dialogue with the speech dialogue system.
To avoid having the speech prompt output itself erroneously classified as a speech input during the outputting of a speech prompt, different methods have been proposed. U.S. Pat. No. 5,978,763 discloses voice activity detection using echo return loss to adapt a detection threshold. According to this method, the echo return loss is a measure of the attenuation, i.e., the difference (in decibels), between the outgoing and the reflected signal. A threshold is determined as the difference between the maximum possible power (on a telephone line) and the determined echo return loss.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,062,440 discloses monitoring text-to-speech output to effect control of barge-in. According to this disclosure, the barge-in control is arranged to permit barge-in at any time but only takes notice of barge-in during output by the speech system on the basis of a speech input being recognized in the input channel.
A method for barge-in acknowledgement is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,162,421. A prompt is attenuated upon detection of a speech input. The speech input is accepted and the prompt is terminated if the speech corresponds to an allowable response. U.S. Pat. No. 7,212,969 discloses dynamic generation of a voice interface structure and voice content based upon either or both user-specific controlling function and environmental information.
A further possibility is described in A. Ittycheriah et al., Detecting User Speech in Barge-in over Prompts Using Speaker Identification Methods, in ESCA, EUROSPEECH 99, IISN 10108-4074, pages 327-330. Here, speaker-independent statistical models are provided as Vector Quantization Classifiers for the input signal after echo cancellation, and standard algorithms are applied for speaker verification. The task is to separate speech of the user and background noises under the condition of robust suppression of the prompt signal.
Accordingly, there is a need to provide a method and an apparatus for detecting barge-in in a speech dialogue system more accurately and more reliably.

Detecting barge-in in a speech dialogue system


An apparatus and a method for use with a device for delivery of a therapeutic fluid into a body of a patient and/or for sensing of a bodily analyte are disclosed. The apparatus is adapted for accommodating at least one subcutaneously insertable element and at least one penetrating member for penetrating the skin of the patient. The apparatus includes a protective member having an elongate body from which the subcutaneously insertable element and the penetrating member can be protracted to penetrate the skin of the patient and into which the penetrating member can be retracted subsequent to the penetrating, thereby retaining the subcutaneously insertable element in the body of the patient.

Continuous subcutaneous delivery of medication or monitoring of a body analyte is often accomplished using a cannula, which remains in the body of a patient for several days. Diabetes patients may use such cannula positioned in a subcutaneous compartment for continuous delivery of insulin effectuated by pumps and/or for monitoring interstitial glucose levels by means of sensors. A combination of a tube, connecting an insulin pump to the cannula and a detachable connector is often referred to as an infusion set. Such infusion sets and modes of their insertion are discussed in, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,755,173, 5,176,662 and 5,257,980. Subcutaneous cannula insertion modes for continuous glucose monitoring are discussed in, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,390,671, 5,568,806 and 5,586,553. Usually trans-cutaneous ("hypodermic") cannula insertion can be carried out with the aid of a sharp metallic "penetrating member" to be withdrawn after piercing the skin. This procedure can be carried out manually by the patient. The insertion is usually painful and may require considerable skill. Some patients are reluctant or hesitant to pierce their own skin, and therefore achieving proper insertion of the cannula may be difficult. Another hurdle of currently existing methods of manual or automatic cannula insertion is a possibility for unintentional self piercing. Conventional systems have a further problem associated with a need for a proper bio-hazard disposal of the cannula. Such difficulties can be attributable to insufficient patient's manual dexterity or alternatively to his or her anxiety associated with anticipated discomfort as the needle pierces the skin. This problem can be especially significant when an insulin pump is used since misplacement of the cannula can cause kinking along the cannula, incorrect cannula insertion angle or incorrect cannula insertion depth leading eventually to cannula obstruction. As a result of this, delivery of insulin could be hampered causing a life threatening situation.
In an attempt to cope with this problem, automatic infusion set insertion devices ("inserters") were developed to assure correct placement of a cannula in the body of the patient (i.e., subcutaneous layer), at a correct angle, while minimizing pain and hazardous obstructions associated with cannula insertion. U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,093,172 and 6,830,562 disclose inserters having a spring-loaded plunger for an automatic subcutaneous placement of infusion sets. These automatic inserters can be used with "pager like" insulin infusion pumps having long tubing and a cannula. However, these devices cannot be used for insertion of a cannula that is employed in skin adherable insulin pumps, which do not employ long external tubing. An example of such device is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,699,218 to Flaherty et al. In this skin adherable insulin delivery device, the cannula is rigidly connected to the pump's housing. After adhesion of the device to user's skin, the cannula is fired, i.e., it emerges from the device's housing and pierces the skin. Consecutively, the penetrating member is retracted back into the pump's housing.
One of the disadvantages of this device is that it is relatively bulky, heavy and indiscreet because the spring loaded mechanism is enclosed within the device's housing during the entire period of usage. In addition, the cannula has only one length, and it can penetrate the skin at only a certain angle. Further, the patient cannot adjust these parameters according to various insertion sites and other clinical requirements.
Continuous glucose monitors are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,390,671 and 6,143,164, assigned to MiniMed and E. Heller & Company, respectively. These devices monitor glucose levels within the subcutaneous compartment by a sensor that is insertable manually or automatically, as discussed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,110,803, assigned to DexCom, in a similar manner as is inserted a cannula for drug delivery.
In view of the foregoing, it would be desirable to provide improved systems and methods for protecting and concealing needles for use in inserting cannulae and/or sensors into the body of a patient.


This disclosure relates to apparatus and method for placing an identifying marking on a hull of a small boat. The boat includes a first part of the hull, and an opening is formed in the first part. A marking plate having a face side and a back side is made of a material which may be imprinted by deformation such as punching and hot stamping, and the plate is located closely adjacent the first part with at least a portion of the face side visible through said opening. The margin of the opening overlies the edge portion of the plate at least partially around the periphery of said plate, and a second part of said hull overlies at least a portion of the back side of the plate and is secured to the first part, thereby holding the plate in place.

This invention relates to small boats of the type wherein an operator stands or sits on the hull of the boat while guiding the boat using a handle pole.
Small boats of the foregoing type (also disclosed, for example, in Japanese Patent Provisional Pub. No. 49-58590) have become very popular as recreational boats. Generally, such a boat includes a hull which encloses a fuel tank, an engine, and a water jet propulsion unit driven by the engine. A floor is included in the hull and an operator stands on this floor. A vertically rotatable handle pole is supported on the hull and a handle lever to be held by the operator is attached to the rear end of the handle pole.
In a small boat constructed as described above, it is frequently required that a hull number be applied to the hull for production and quality control, for example. In one prior art construction, the hull is made of a material that cannot be deformed as by punching or hot stamping, and therefore a separate marking plate is attached to the hull only by adhesion. This construction has the disadvantage that the marking may be detached or altered intentionally. In another prior art construction where the hull is made of a deformable material, the marking is formed integrally with the hull. However, this construction has a disadvantage because occasionally a defective hull may be discarded, giving rise to complications for reviewing managers because of missing numbers.