A subscriber data control method in a mobile communication network which reduces the processing load on a mobile switching center and can effectively use the resource of a visitor subscriber data area is provided the subscriber data of the visitor mobile station is not deleted in response to the subscriber data delete request from its home mobile switching center due to a fact that the visitor mobile station has further moved to another service area, and the state of the registered subscriber data of the visitor mobile station is set as the inactive holding state from the active state, and thereafter in the case where the visitor mobile station returns to the subject service area within a predetermined period of time and again performs the location registration, restoration of the subscriber data of the visitor mobile station can be made by only changing the state of the subscriber data from the inactive state to the active state. With respect to the subscriber data being put as the inactive holding state, it is deleted if no location registration is made within a predetermined period of time.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a subscriber data control method in a mobile communication network, and more particularly to a subscriber data control method in a mobile switching center when a visitor mobile station has entered into a service area controlled by the mobile switching center.
2. Description of the Related Art
The mobile communication network is constituted by a plurality of mobile switching centers as the backbone nodes of a communication network and a plurality of base stations which are controlled by the mobile switching centers and providing radio communication areas (cells). In the actual mobile communication network, a base station control unit that controls the base stations exists between each mobile switching center and each base station, but the technique related to the present invention is not directly involved in the existence of the base station control unit. Accordingly, a description is made assuming that the base station control unit is contained in the mobile switching center.
When a person is newly registered as a mobile communication subscriber (hereinafter referred to as xe2x80x9cmobile stationxe2x80x9d) with respect to a mobile communication network provider that managers the above-mentioned mobile communication network, subscriber data relating to the mobile station is registered in a mobile switching center that handles a service area in which the mobile station is normally used. The subscriber data includes various data given to each mobile station individually, and is made up of the representative data, a subscriber number allocated to the mobile station, an equipment number of the mobile station, the contents of service subscribed, registered location information, and so on.
Also, as described above, the mobile switching center is a backbone node of the mobile communication network, and controls a plurality of base stations which provide a plurality of radio communication areas (i.e., cells) as a service area. Therefore, there are a plurality of service areas in the mobile communication network, and each of the service areas are managed and controlled by the respective mobile switching centers. With respect to a particular mobile station, a mobile switching center, in which subscriber data of the mobile station is registered, is called as a home mobile switching center, and a service area controlled by the home mobile switching center is called a home service area. On the other hand, a mobile station, which is located in a particular service area and its subscriber data is not registered in a mobile switching center managing the service area, is called a visitor mobile station to the mobile switching center.
When a mobile station has moved from one service area to another service area, the mobile station is informed that it has moved to a different service area by broadcasting information transmitted in respective service areas. Then, the mobile station performs a location registration operation to notify the mobile communication network that the mobile station has changed the locating service area.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram for explaining a control operation when the mobile station moves around the mobile communication network. The structure of the figure will be described.
Mobile switching centers (MSCs) 1 to 3 constitute a service area H, a service area A and a service area B by base stations (BSs) 11 to 1n, 21 to 2n and 31 to 3n, respectively. A mobile station (MS) 4, its subscriber data has been registered in the MSC 1, is moving through respective service areas. As described above, the MSC 1 is called xe2x80x9chome switching centerxe2x80x9d to the MS4 because the subscriber data of the MS 4 is registered in the MSC 1, and also the service area H is called xe2x80x9chome service areaxe2x80x9d. On the contrary, since the MSCs 2 and 3 are mobile switching centers to which the MS4 is going to visit, respectively, they are called xe2x80x9cdestination A MSCxe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9cdestination B MSCxe2x80x9d to MS4.
In the mobile communication network thus structured, the control operation in the case where the MS4 has moved from the service area H to the service are a A will be described.
Upon entering the service area A, the MS4 receives a location registration area number announced by the base stations constituting the service area A and discriminates that the location registration area number is not identical with that stored in the self mobile station. As a result, the MS4 knows that it has moved to a new location registration area (=a service area), and renews the location registration area stored in the self mobile station for a new location registration area number, and notifies the mobile communication network that it has moved to a different service area by transmitting a location registration signal.
The MSC 2 of the service area A, which has received a notification of the location registration by the location registration signal transmitted from the MS 4 through one of base stations in the service area A, performs the location registration request operation for the MS 4. The MSC 2 requests the MSC 1, which is the home MSC of the MS 4 and discriminated by a equipment number transmitted with the location registration signal, to register a new location of the MS 4 (i.e. service area A), and also request the MSC 1 to transfer the subscriber data relating to the MS 4. Then, the MSC 1 renews the location registration information of the MS 4 registered in the subscriber data, and transfers the subscriber data relating to the MS 4 to the MSC 2. The MSC 2 registers the subscriber data of the MS 4 transferred from the MSC 1 as visitor subscriber data in a subscriber data storage area of visitor subscribers.
A call to be terminated to the MS 4, which is visiting to other service area, is first routed by the MSC 1 which is a home MSC of the MS 4, and it is discriminated that the MS 4 exists in the service area A by referring to the location registration information stored in the MSC 1. Then, the call is routed to the MSC 2. The MSC 2 refers to the subscriber data stored in the subscriber data storage area of visitor subscribers, and instructs base stations in the service area A to transmit a paging signal for the MS 4. As the equipment number of the MS 4 is designated in the paging signal, the MS 4 replies to the paging signal when the equipment number of the MS 4 coincides with the equipment number designated in the paging signal, and then, the call is terminated to the MS 4 which has responded to the paging signal.
Also, in the case of dealing with a call origination of the MS 4 by the MSC 2, the MSC 2 refers to the subscriber data in response to the call request from the MS 4, and performs a call origination control in accordance with the subscriber data of the MS 4.
When the MS 4 further moves, and is entering the service area B, the MS 4 transmits the location registration signal in the same manner as the operation performed at the service area A. As the result, the MSC 3 requests the MSC 1 to register new location of the MS 4 (service area B) and to transfer the subscriber data of the MS 4. The MSC 1 responds to the request, and transmits the subscriber data of the MS 4 to the MSC 3. When the MSC 1 knows that the service area in which the MS 4 exists has been changed, the MSC 1 transmits a subscriber data delete request to the MSC 2 to delete the subscriber data of the MS 4 which is no longer required in the service area A. The MSC 2, which has received the subscriber data delete request, deletes the subscriber data of the MS 4 stored as the visitor subscriber data, and sends a delete response back to the MSC 1.
As described above, in the mobile communication system, with the movement of the mobile station, the subscriber data transfer request and the subscriber data delete request are frequently transferred between mobile switching centers, and also the subscriber data registration operation and the subscriber data delete operation are similarly frequently performed in each mobile switching center.
Subsequently, referring to FIG. 2, the tendency of the service area structure in the mobile communication network will be described.
The service area structure in a large city area tends to form concentric circulars by each service area as shown in FIG. 2(A). This aims for expecting such an effect that traffic in each of the service areas is dispersed more as compared with the service area structure forming the wide stretch in the X-Y axial directions as shown in FIG. 2(B).
For example, it is assumed that the down towns exist at positions shown in the figure. Since it is presumed that the mobile station moves along the down town, in case of the service area structure of FIG. 2(B), it tends to occur a condition that the traffic is concentrated in the service area 2 and the service area 4 but there is few traffic in the service area 1 and the service area 3. On the contrary, in case of the service area structure of FIG. 2(A), the occurring traffic is dispersed in the respective service areas 1, 2 and 3. This dispersion of the traffic is desirable because it is effective from the viewpoint of an equipment plan in the mobile communication network.
In the control operation of the mobile communication switching center, an internal processing load relating to the control operation to be performed for the movement of the mobile station is as same amount as or larger than that of the control operation for handling to a call as compared with the switching center of a fixed communication network.
In particular, in the mobile communication network in which the concentric circular service areas are disposed as shown in FIG. 2(A), because the movement of the mobile stations which crosses from one service area to another service areas is severely increased, the registration and the deletion for the visitor subscriber data are frequently carried out, and the number of control signals for the registration request and the deletion request is increased. In addition, in the case where the mobile station existing in the vicinity of the boundary of the service area moves unsteadily, the location registrations are frequently carried out at relatively short time intervals until the mobile station finally enters any one of the service areas.
This results in that an unnecessary load is applied to the mobile switching center because the above-described registration process and the deleting process for the visitor subscriber data are frequently carried out. Especially under the heavy traffic condition, the load of such internal processing affects a call connection processing, which is inherently performed by the mobile switching center, and resulting in such a problem that the call connection processing is suspended in the worst case.
Also, the mobile station belonging to another service area seems to be existing in the visiting service area as far as it has performed the location registration in the visiting service area, and the subscriber data of the mobile station transmitted from the home switching center is always held in the memory area for the visitor mobile station until receiving a deleting request from the home switching center.
In the case where a user of the mobile station in the visiting service area turns off the power of the mobile station and has moved [away] to another service area, or a user of the mobile station in the visiting service area goes to an underground area, where no radio signal is received, and has moved to another place by a subway, the visitor subscriber date of those mobile stations held in the mobile switching center are no longer necessary. The visitor subscriber data of such mobile stations are held until the home switching center receives the location registration request of the mobile station from another mobile switching center and recognizes that the mobile station has moved to another service area, and this results in such a problem that the memory area for the visitor subscriber data is used in, vain.
The present invention has been made in view of the above-described circumstances, and has an object of the present invention to provide a subscriber data control method in which the load on a mobile switching center does not increase even if the registration and deletion of the visitor subscriber data is frequently carried out, and the subscriber data of a visitor mobile station which does not exist in the service area is deleted so that the resource of the mobile switching center can be effectively used.
In order to solve the above-described problems, according to the present invention, there is provided a subscriber data control method in a mobile communication network in which subscriber data of a mobile station is transferred from a home mobile switching center to a destination mobile switching center when the mobile station moves from a home service area controlled by the home mobile switching center to a destination service area controlled by the destination mobile switching center, and performs a location registration in the destination service area, the method comprises:
(1) registering the subscriber data, in the destination mobile switching center, transmitted from the home mobile switching center in response to a location registration request by the destination mobile switching center in accordance with the location registration performed by the mobile station; and
(2) changing a state of the registered subscriber data from an active state representative of an operating state to an inactive state representative of a holding state in response to a subscriber data delete request, which is caused by a recognition of movement of the mobile station to another service area, by the home mobile switching center.
Also, the subscriber data control method according to the present invention is characterized by further comprising:
(1) changing the state of the registered subscriber data from the inactive state to the active state when receiving a location registration from the mobile station within a predetermined period of time after the state of the registered subscriber data was changed to the inactive state; and
(2) deleting the registered subscriber data when receiving no further location registration from the mobile station within the predetermined period of time after the state of the registered subscriber data was changed to the inactive state.
Further, the subscriber data control method according to the present invention is characterized by further comprising:
(1) searching the registered subscriber data periodically in a first period of time, and changing the state of the registered subscriber data of the mobile station, which does not perform a periodic location registration for specifying a paging area in the destination service area within a predetermined period of time, to the inactive state; and
(2) searching the registered subscriber data periodically in a second period of time, and deleting the registered subscriber data of the inactive state.
A subscriber data control method according to the present invention is characterized by comprising the following from the viewpoint of the subscriber data state transition:
(1) registering the subscriber data, in the destination mobile switching center, transmitted from the home mobile switching center in response to a location registration request by the destination mobile switching center in accordance with the location registration performed by the mobile station;
(2) searching the registered subscriber data periodically in a first period of time, and changing the state of the registered subscriber data of the mobile station, which does not perform a periodic location registration for specifying a paging area in the destination service area within a predetermined period of time, from an active state representative of an operating state to a first inactive state representative of a delete waiting state;
(3) changing a state of the registered subscriber data from an active state representative of an operating state to a second inactive state representative of a holding state in response to a subscriber data delete request, which is caused by a recognition of movement of the mobile station to another service area, by the home mobile switching center; and
(4) searching the registered subscriber data periodically in a second period of time, deleting the registered subscriber data of the first inactive state, and changing the state of the registered subscriber data of the second inactive state to the first inactive state.
Also, a subscriber data control method according to the present invention is characterized by comprising the following in more detail from the viewpoint of the subscriber data state transition:
(1) registering the subscriber data, in the destination mobile switching center, transmitted from the home mobile switching center in response to a location registration request by the destination mobile switching center in accordance with the location registration performed by the mobile station;
(2) searching the registered subscriber data periodically in a first period of time, and changing the state of the registered subscriber data of the mobile station, which does not perform a periodic location registration for specifying a paging area in the destination service area within a predetermined period of time, from an active state representative of an operating state to a first inactive state representative of a delete waiting state;
(3) changing a state of the registered subscriber data from an active state representative of an operating state to a second inactive state representative of a holding state in response to a subscriber data delete request by the home mobile switching center;
(4) changing the state of the registered subscriber data to the active state when receiving the location registration from the mobile station within a predetermined period of time after the state of the registered subscriber data was changed to any inactive state of the first inactive state and the second inactive state; and
(5) searching the registered subscriber data periodically in a second period of time, deleting the registered subscriber data of the first inactive state, and changing the state of the registered subscriber data of the second inactive state to the first inactive state.
Further, the subscriber data control method according to the present invention is characterized by comprising the following from the viewpoint of reducing the control load of the mobile switching center:
(1) registering the subscriber data, in the destination mobile switching center, transmitted from the home mobile switching center in response to a location registration request by the destination mobile switching center in accordance with the location registration performed by the mobile station;
(2) changing a state of the registered subscriber data from an active state representative of an operating state to an inactive state representative of a holding state in response to a subscriber data delete request by the home mobile switching center; and
(3) ignoring the subscriber data transmitted from the home mobile switching center in response to a location registration request by the destination mobile switching center in accordance with the location registration performed by the mobile station within a predetermined period of time after the state of the registered subscriber data was put in the inactive state, and changing the state of the registered subscriber data from the inactive state to the active state.
Further, the subscriber data control method according to the present invention is characterized by comprising the following from the viewpoint of reducing the control load of the mobile switching center:
(1) registering the subscriber data, in the destination mobile switching center, transmitted from the home mobile switching center in response to a location registration request by the destination mobile switching center in accordance with the location registration performed by the mobile station;
(2) changing a state of the registered subscriber data from an active state representative of an operating state to an inactive state representative of a holding state in response to a subscriber data delete request by the home mobile switching center;
(3) transmitting the location registration request with data indicating that the transfer of the subscriber data is unnecessary to the home mobile switching center when receiving a location registration from the mobile station within a predetermined period of time after the state of the registered subscriber data was put to the inactive state; and
(4) receiving a location registration response from the home mobile switching center, and changing the state of the registered subscriber data from the inactive state to the active state.
The subscriber data control method according to the present invention is characterized by comprising the following from the viewpoint of reducing the transfer signal in the mobile switching network:
(1) registering the subscriber data, in the destination mobile switching center, transmitted from the home mobile switching center in response to a location registration request by the destination mobile switching center in accordance with the location registration performed by the mobile station;
(2) searching the registered subscriber data periodically in a first period of time, and changing the state of the registered subscriber data of the mobile station, which does not perform a periodic location registration for specifying a paging area in the destination service area within a!predetermined period of time, from an active state representative of an operating state to an inactive state representative of a delete waiting state; and
(3) searching the registered subscriber data periodically in a second period of time, and deleting the registered subscriber data of the inactive state.

Method of subscriber data control in a mobile communication network where subscriber data is transferred from a home mobile switching center to a destination mobile switching center


System and methods for improving data movement perimeter monitoring and detecting non-compliant data movement within a computing environment include generating a forwarding configuration associated with activity logs, such as activity logs associated with a test environment. The forwarding configuration includes specific fields and file types or the contents of those specific fields and files that facilitate perimeter monitoring or otherwise determining which activity log data elements are needed by an operational intel tool to reduce the amount of data input or analyzed by the operational intel tool, and thus, to reduce its processing load. The forwarding configuration is input into the operational intel tool. Mainframe data is normalized and analyzed to identify abnormal data flows and to generate electronic alerts to facilitate perimeter monitoring. False positives are identified before the alerts are communicated.

Perimeter monitoring, or data traffic monitoring, is the process of monitoring data movement into and out of different environments for the purpose of detecting movement that presents a potential risk to the organization. The process of perimeter monitoring is facilitated by several control schemes, including directive controls, preventative controls, and detective controls. Directive controls are standards, policies, and processes that define how data should be captured, scrubbed, and provisioned. Preventative controls aim to prevent sensitive information from entering test environments. Detective controls generate alerts when other controls fail and attempt to limit the impact, identify areas that need improvement, and collect evidence that the various controls are working. These controls help to protect systems, infrastructure, information, and brand, and when they are not followed, all of these aspects may be at risk.
Current methods for identifying non-compliant data movement are largely manual in nature, and involve manual discovery efforts that attempt to associate defined processes with actions taken. These methods typically do not use empirical data, such as activity logs, primarily because the information is difficult to properly correlate.

State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company


A method of encapsulating and hermetically sealing a printed circuit board of a flex cable includes: positioning a printed circuit board portion of a flex cable into a channel defined in a first mold half of a mold, the printed circuit board portion including a substrate and electronic components mounted on the substrate; mounting a second mold half onto the first mold half to enclose the channel of the first mold half and form a cavity within the mold; and filling the cavity of the mold with an encapsulation material through an inlet opening defined through the mold.

Powered surgical devices include electronic components, such as printed circuit boards, switches, sensors, etc., to enhance the control of functions of the surgical devices. The intelligence of such surgical devices result in a higher product cost compared to currently available disposable units. Accordingly, it would be beneficial if such intelligent devices are reusable.
For example, surgical devices in the form of surgical stapling apparatus are employed by surgeons to sequentially or simultaneously apply one or more rows of fasteners, e.g., staples or two-part fasteners, to body tissue for the purpose of joining segments of body tissue together and/or attaching a surgical implant to body tissue. Disposable surgical stapling apparatus are used to perform various stapling functions in surgery, such as performing anastomosis of tubular body structures (e.g., the colon, the stomach, the small intestine, etc.) in an end to end, end to side, or side to side manner. Once the procedure is complete, the device is discarded. Reusable surgical stapling apparatus are also used to perform various stapling functions in surgery, and the use thereof may result in lower cost of a procedure over the life of the device.
Powered surgical stapling apparatus include electronic components to monitor and facilitate functions, such as clamping, stapling, and/or cutting forces of the device. For example, load reading sensors can be used to detect pre-set loads and cause the device to react to such a response. For instance, during clamping of thick tissue, the load will rise to a pre-determined limit where the device can slow clamping to maintain the clamping force as the tissue relaxes. This allows for clamping of thick tissue without damage to such tissue (e.g., serosa tears).
Reusable surgical devices must be cleaned and sterilized prior to subsequent uses. Cleaning and sterilization procedures, however, are aggressive in nature. Cleaning (e.g., washing and/or disinfecting) utilizes alkaline solutions having high pH values (e.g., a pH of 11). Autoclaving (a common method of sterilization) utilizes high pressure superheated steam (e.g., 30 PSI@160° C. for 20 minutes). Such environments are known to damage various electronic components. For example, surgical devices may suffer from moisture ingress during cleaning and/or sterilizing procedures which, in turn, may corrode and/or degrade the electronic components.
The electronic components of reusable surgical devices may be protected from high temperatures, steam, and/or moisture by utilizing, for example, conformal coatings, potting, sealed enclosures, and/or overmolding. The electronic components, however, may still suffer from moisture ingress during cleaning and/or sterilizing procedures (e.g., cracking or delamination of conformal coatings), and/or may be damaged during application of the protective materials (e.g., heat damage during sealing of enclosures).
Thus, it would be beneficial if the durability of the electronic components is enhanced to improve the reliability of the electronic components and/or extend the effective cycle life of the surgical devices.

Fully encapsulated electronics and printed circuit boards


A liquid crystal display device free of breakdown caused by static electricity substrate. The liquid crystal display device includes pixels regularly arranged on the transparent insulating substrate, data bus lines arranged among the pixels on the transparent insulating substrate and adapted to send video data to the pixels, a high level voltage source, a low level voltage source, a gate driving circuit adapted to receive required voltages from the voltage sources and generate gate driving signals, gate bus lines arranged among the pixels such that the gate bus lines cross the data bus lines and adapted to transmit the gate driving signals, a gate insulating film formed on the transparent insulating substrate and adapted to insulate the gate bus lines from the data bus lines, thin film transistors respectively connected to the pixels, the gate bus lines and the data bus lines adapted to apply the video data via the data bus lines to the pixels by switching operations thereof based on the gate driving signals, a single short circuit line connected to the data bus lines, and static electricity removing circuits connected between the gate driving circuit and respective of the gate bus lines and electrically connected in common to the high level voltage source, the low level voltage source and the short circuit line.

The present invention relates to a liquid crystal display device, and more particularly to a liquid crystal display device free of breakdown caused by static electricity and the like.
Generally, liquid crystal display devices (LCDs) have an active matrix structure including a plurality of thin film transistors (TFTs) arranged in an active matrix manner on a transparent insulating substrate such as a glass substrate and made of polysilicon or CdSe.
In order to utilize characteristics of polysilicon TFTs, such active matrix LCDs are fabricated by integrating, on to a transparent insulating substrate such as a glass substrate, a plurality of TFTs, a gate driving circuit for driving gates of the TFTs and a video data driving circuit for applying input video data to pixels in an optional order.
By this structure, it is possible to reduce the fabrication cost and the wiring cost, and improve the reliability of the device finally obtained.
Referring to FIG. 1, there is illustrated a conventional active matrix LCD. As shown in FIG. 1, the active matrix LCD includes a glass substrate 1, a plurality of uniformly spaced gate bus lines 2 formed on the glass substrate 1, and a plurality of uniformly spaced data bus lines 3 formed on the glass substrate 1 and arranged to cross the gate bus lines 3. A gate driving circuit 4 is also provided which applies gate driving signals respectively to the gate bus lines 2 in accordance with a start pulse SP and a clock signal CK. The active matrix LCD further includes a plurality of pixels 5 regularly arranged among the gate bus lines 2 and the data bus lines 3, a plurality of TFTs 6 respectively connected to the pixels 5, the gate bus lines 2 and the data bus lines 3 and adapted to apply the video data received therein via the data bus lines 3 to the pixels 5 in accordance with the gate driving signals, and a data driving circuit 7 for applying data signals to the data bus lines 3 in an optional order in response to the input video data. In FIG. 1, the reference numeral 8 denotes a gate insulating film 8.
As shown in FIG. 1, the gate driving circuit 4 includes a plurality of shift registers SR.sub.1, SR.sub.2, SR.sub.3 . . . , and SR.sub.n (in the illustrated case, n is 4) adapted to output sequential signals in response to the input start pulse SP and the input clock signal CK, and a plurality of inverters I.sub.1, I.sub.2, I.sub.3 . . . , and I.sub.n (in the illustrated case, n is 4) driven by a high level voltage V.sub.DD and a low level voltage V.sub.SS applied thereto and adapted to invert the sequential signals received from the shift registers SR.sub.1 to SR.sub.n, thereby outputting gate driving signals, respectively.
FIG. 2 is a circuit diagram of each inverter shown in FIG. 1. Generally, the inverter has a complementary metal oxide semiconductor structure including a P-channel metal oxide semiconductor (PMOS) and an N-channel metal oxide semiconductor (NMOS), as shown in FIG. 2.
Now, operation of the conventional LCD device will be described in conjunction with FIG. 1.
The inverters I.sub.1 to I.sub.n apply sequentially gate driving signals to the gate bus lines 2 in the order that the uppermost one of the gate bus lines 2 receives first the gate driving signal. On the other hand, the data driving circuit 7 outputs sequentially video data via the data bus lines 3 in the order that the outputting of the video data is begun from the leftmost one of the data bus lines 3. As a result, the video data are sequentially displayed in the order from the leftmost pixel to the rightmost pixel and in the order from the uppermost pixel to the lowermost pixel.
Although not shown in FIG. 1 which is a planar circuit diagram, the gate bus lines 2 should be electrically insulated from the data bus lines 3 (or drain bus lines). For such an electrical insulation, a gate insulating film 8 such as a silicon nitride (SiN.sub.X) film is formed between the gate bus lines 2 and the data bus lines 3 by use of a deposition process such as a plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) process.
This gate insulating film plays an important role for normal operations of the TFTs. However, careful attention must be paid to the formation of the gate insulating film and the preceding or subsequent step to the formation because the gate insulating film has a very small thickness.
For example, a static electricity may be generated during formation of a polysilicon TFT array on the glass substrate 1 as the transparent insulating substrate or liquid crystal injection performed after the formation. Such a static electricity may greatly break down the gate insulating film 8, depending on surrounding environment or moved condition of the substrate.
In other words, the gate insulating film 8 formed between the gate bus lines 2 and the data bus lines 3 may be relatively incomplete or excessively thin at its step portion, as compared to other portions. In this case, the gate insulating film 8 is likely to be broken down due to an impact of static electricity discharged. Through the broken-down portion of the gate insulating film 8, a short circuit between the gate electrodes of the TFTs and the drain electrodes may occur. This serves as a fatal defect in fabrication of an LCD device.
For avoiding such a short circuit between gate and drain electrodes, there has been proposed a method utilizing a short circuit line to which separate voltages V.sub.DD10 and V.sub.SS10 are applied.
In accordance with this method, a separate short circuit line 9 is provided in an LCD so as to short-circuit all of the data bus lines 2 and the gate bus lines 3, as shown in FIG. 3a.
Even when a static electricity is generated in fabrication of TFTs, the gate bus lines 2 and the data bus lines 3 can always be kept at constant voltage level by virtue of the short circuit line 9. As a result, it is possible to prevent a breakdown of the gate insulating film and a short circuit between the gate electrodes and the drain electrodes in fabrication of TFTs.
After completion of the formation of TFTs on the glass substrate 1, a photo-etching process step is performed to cut the short circuit line 9 among the gate bus lines 2, as shown in FIG. 3b.
For an injection of liquid crystal, another substrate is then placed such that it faces the glass substrate 1 formed with the TFT array and then bonded thereto. Thereafter, the liquid crystal injection is carried out. After the liquid crystal injection, the glass substrate 1 is subjected to a cutting work for dividing it into individual LCDs. At this time, the data bus lines 3 are separated from the short circuit line 9. Thus fabrication of a TFT-LCD panel is completed.
FIG. 3c shows a circuit diagram of a region K, namely, an inverter I.sub.2 of FIGS. 3a and 3b. As shown in FIG. 3c, the inverter I.sub.2 includes a PMOS and an NMOS, both of which have drains connected to a common gate line 2. This common gate line 2 is coupled to the short circuit line 9.
If the short circuit line 9 is not provided in the case of FIGS. 3a and 3b, the gate insulating film 8 may be broken down by a static electricity generated on a gate electrode of each TFT 6. This is because there is no current passage provided for discharging charges of the static electricity out of the gate electrode.
Where the short circuit line 9 is provided, however, the static electricity generated on the gate electrode can be freely discharged. As a result, it is possible to avoid a potential difference between the gate bus lines 2 and the data bus lines 3 and, thus, a breakdown of the gate insulating film 8.
Thus, the conventional LCD structure can avoid the breakdown of the gate insulating film 8 caused by the static electricity generated during the fabrication of TFTs on the glass substrate 1.
Since the short circuit line 9 is cut among the gate bus lines 2 after the formation of the TFT array on the glass substrate 1, as shown in FIG. 3b, it no longer plays any role for static electricity generated during subsequent steps for liquid crystal injection after the formation of the TFT array. As a result, the static electricity generated at the liquid crystal injection steps may break down the gate insulating film 8.
In addition to the short circuit line 9, the conventional LCD structure illustrated in FIGS. 3a to 3c needs two electrodes for the application of two additional voltages V.sub.DD10 and V.sub.SS10. For formation of such additional electrodes, it is required to perform a separate masking work, and thereby an etching process and photoresist removal process.
As a result, there are drawbacks of a lengthened LCD fabrication time, an increased manufacture cost and an increased probability of failure.

Liquid crystal display device having static electricity removing circuits


Multigrain abrasive compacts and processes for making the same are provided which comprise fine granules of cubic boron nitride or diamond bound by a sintered matrix derived from a coating on the granules. The coating comprises one or more layers of an active coating material which chemically bonds to the underlying surface. These compacts are obtained by coating fine granules of cubic boron nitride or diamond with the active coating material and sintering the coated particles with or without a powdered metal or alloy. The compacts can be obtained utilizing a short sintering step with relatively low pressures and temperatures. In certain embodiments, the use of high pressure, high temperature equipment can be voided. These compacts have improved breakdown characteristics due to the nature of the coated particles incorporated therein. The process provided is well suited for the use of diamond powder obtained from chemical vapor deposition processes.

This invention relates to multigrain compacts of diamond or cubic boron nitride particles bonded by a sintered matrix material.
A compact is a mass of abrasive particles that is bonded together in a self bonded relationship as described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,852,078 and 3,876,751; by means of a bonding medium, as described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,136,615, 3,233,988, 3,743,489, 3,767,371 and 3,918,931 or by means of some combination thereof. The abrasive particles used can have single grain (monocrystalline) or multigrain (polycrystalline) crystal structure. Monocrystalline particles are formed with the aid of a catalyst while polycrystalline particles are obtained by direct conversion of a compound having an alternate crystal structure such as hexagonal boron nitride and graphite. Representative of these compacts are U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,367,404, 3,650,714, 3,957,461, 3,929,432, 3,984,214, 4,224,380, 4,288,248 and 4,738,689.
Compacts of cubic boron nitride can be formed simultaneously with the conversion of hexagonal boron nitride to cubic boron nitride. This can be done with or without the aid of a catalyst metal or alloy. One example of a method which does not require a catalyst is described in copending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 07/365,883, filed Jun. 14, 1989, and assigned to the same assignee as the present invention. In the manufacture of prior art compacts, high temperatures and pressures greater than 50 kbar are required to obtain interparticle bonding and/or conversion of HBN to CBN.
From the foregoing, it can be seen that it would be advantageous to form multigrain compacts at lower temperatures and pressures, particularly since high pressure/high temperature apparatus represent significant capital equipment expense and their use requires a significant expenditure of energy.
It is well known in the art that metal coatings on abrasive particles such as diamond and cubic boron nitride improve the retention of such particles in the matrices of abrasive tools such as grinding wheels and similar agglomerated aggregates. For example, it is preferable to use a nickel coating on diamond and cubic boron nitride particles to improve their retention within a resin matrix of a grinding wheel. In copending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 07/365,883, a coating to prevent oxidation is used on the HBN particles which is said to help bond the particulates. However, until now, coated granules have not been used to provide abrasive compacts under relatively mild process conditions.

Products and process for making multigrain abrasive compacts


A process for the construction of a semi-buried structure for the protection of a subgrade formed on a mountainside, and the structure thus constructed. The structure consists entirely of precast concrete elements forming a succession of adjacent sections, each consisting of three precast elements, respectively an upper covering element bearing, via longitudinal articulations, on two side elements comprising, respectively, a solid wall on the uphill side and at least one pillar on the downhill side, and each provided with a widened footing enabling the element simply to be placed on the ground, and with an upper portion in the form of a stringer on which are formed longitudinal portions for the articulated bearing of the corresponding lateral edge of the covering element. The invention applies, in particular, to the protection of highways or railroad tracks in mountainous locations.

It is often necessary, in uneven terrain, to form the subgrade of a highway or of a railroad track by the coast or at the foot of a piece of ground with a steep gradient, sometimes even a vertical cliff, for example at the exit of a tunnel.
Such a structure is intended essentially to protect the highway against landslides or avalanches. It must therefore consist, on the uphill side, of a solid wall which is joined to a covering enabling the landslides or avalanches to be held back or alternatively to pass over the top of the highway. On the downhill side, on the other hand, the covering generally bears on a wall pierced with orifices, often a series of pillars, so as to permit natural lighting of the highway and not to extend the tunnel purposelessly.
The covering must be able to sustain very substantial impacts caused, for example, by the fall of large blocks, and it is often preferred to give it the shape of a vault. Furthermore, it is preferably covered with an embankment which enables the impacts to be absorbed.
Such a structure must, however, also be able to sustain substantial lateral forces caused by the landslides and the avalanches.
Such structures have been known for some time.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,282,056 for example, discloses such protective tunnels, but these are constructed entirely from corrugated sheet metal panels which must be held in place by ties. Such panels do not have the same strength as a reinforced concrete wall and, in particular, the risks of corrosion do not give the structures constructed in this way sufficient durability. This is why the use of reinforced or prestressed concrete is normally preferred. For example, the journal "Route et Circulation Routiere", No. 6, of June 2, 1967 shows a protective tunnel consisting of an arched concrete wall embedded in the ground on the uphill side and resting on a series of pillars on the downhill side.
Swiss Patent No. 402,919 likewise discloses a tunnel of this type, comprising a covering slab anchored in the rock wall on the uphill side and resting, on the downhill side, on a wall provided with movable panels enabling the downward pressure caused by the passage of an avalanche to be absorbed.
In the past, such structures were constructed using conventional techniques with reinforced concrete, in other words by casting in-situ, using forms and arch centers. These processes take a relatively long time and are relatively expensive.
In mountainous terrain, the season which is favorable for construction is very short. Moreover, workers and equipment are not fully protected against the rock falls or landslides which may occur during construction.

Semi-buried structure formed on a mountainside


A method for securing passwords, personal identification numbers and identifying patterns utilizes a MasterCode camouflaged within a grid which contains all the characters, symbols or pictograms of which the MasterCode is a subset. For securing numeric sequences, the MasterCode is comprised of ten characters randomly associated to a corresponding digit (including zero). The characters thereby associated with each numeric password are expanded into an ordinary, natural language word, a SecureWord using non-associated letters. The MasterCode is masked by its unique placement in a MasterGrid known only to the user. For securing passwords comprised of alpha numeric symbolic characters, each unique character, the MasterCode, is assigned a sequential number which becomes a sequence of positions in the MasterGrid with each MasterCode character placed in the appropriate position and the remainder of the character set filled in. SecureNumbers are the positions in the MasterGrid of each character in a password. For securing patterns, a MasterGrid containing a set of pictograms is chosen from an offered array of such sets. The user then makes a pattern in the MasterGrid, his MasterCode. To gain access, the user must identify his MasterGrid from an array of similar grids and correctly recreate his pattern. Apparati for implementing the method are also described.

This invention relates to secured systems using pattern recognition as a method for protecting access, and more particularly to secured lists of passwords and personal identification numbers and graphical patterns.
Systems that are secured for use only by authorized individuals frequently rely upon a password or personal identification number (PIN). Examples of systems which utilize PINs include college registration, employee access to information, cellular phones and other communication devices in addition to savings and checking accounts, ATM transactions, telephone calling cards, debit cards, credit cards and numerous other systems.
While some individuals are able to remember random sequences of numbers and letters, most passwords and PINs that are selected by the individual have some personal relevance so that they can be easily remembered; and thereby, vulnerable to unauthorized access. When random words and numbers are used or assigned (often in combination), they are frequently written in a list that is kept handy. The list of passwords and PINs is often difficult to secure, which also facilitates unauthorized access.
Thus, individuals are faced with the dilemma of either having a password or PIN that is easy to remember and consequently facilitates unauthorized access or having a password or PIN that is so difficult to remember that it has to be written down, also facilitating unauthorized access. Therefore, there is a need for a system to secure a list of passwords and PINs from unauthorized access, but which are easily accessed.
The present invention concerns a method and system for using pattern recognition as a method for providing access as well as protecting access to a list of passwords, personal identification numbers or patterns. A grid is used for tracing a user-defined path through it to identify a set of unique characters positioned on the path. The set itself is one of a subset of a much larger set which is determined by the size of a rectilinear grid. Each character of the full set appears once and only once on the grid in individualized order and each user describes a unique sub-set of characters.
A path of 10 locations in the grid facilitates an embodiment in which the characters to be encoded are primarily numeric so that each location represents, one of the nine digits plus zero. A master code (MasterCode) of 10 natural language characterizes is generated with each letter assigned to one of the digits. To encode a numeric password (PIN) a word list is searched to identify natural language words which meet 3 conditions: (1) they contain the letters assigned to the pin; (2) the assigned letters occur only in the same order as in the pin; and (3) the unused letters in the MasterCode do not occur.
In another embodiment the characters from which a MasterCode can be drawn include numbers, symbols and upper and lower case letters. The identification of the step in the path by numeric sequence creates a SecureNumber. A typical use would be where 81 keyboard symbols, numbers and letters comprise the larger set; a randomly selected 15 to 20 unique characters comprise the MasterCode group for a given individual; each of the assigned passwords of 4 to 8 characters is randomly generated to from the MasterCode.
In another embodiment, a xe2x80x9cmasterxe2x80x9d computer generates a series of grids with characters or picto grams in different arrangements and provides them to a xe2x80x9cslavexe2x80x9d computer. The slave computer chooses any one of the grids as the first step. Next, it selects a path through the chosen grid. To retrieve the PIN the slave computer first selects the unique grid it provided previously, and next the unique path in the grid is traced. Either step can be controlled by the keyboard, mouse, stylus, pointing devices, orally or, a combination of these. The Oral control provides an additional level of security beyond the security provided with the encrypted password alone. If the proper pictogram and path are chosen, valid access is enabled.

Method and apparatus for securing a list of passwords and personal identification numbers


An effective laboratory method for developing complete capillary pressure curves involves directly measuring an oil/water saturation profile within a cylindrical porous rock core plug. The saturation profile, which includes a free water level, is established under a known pressure gradient induced by centrifuging and is measured using image mapping techniques. The free-water level is established at a desired position within the length of the core plug and provides a reference position of zero capillary pressure to facilitate measurement of both positive and negative capillary pressures.

Knowledge of capillary pressure for each specific rock/oil/water combination present in reservoir rocks is highly important for predicting potential hydrocarbon recovery from the reservoir. Capillary pressure data, which is a measure of the interaction between fluids and the rock pore surface, includes determination of data that include development of complete positive and negative primary drainage, imbibition and secondary drainage curves. The strength of capillary interaction varies with the fluid saturations, the interfacial tension between the fluids, the pore structure, and the wettability of the pore surfaces. A measure of capillary pressure in a core sample can be calculated from the force exerted by the density difference between retained fluids at each height above or below a free water level in a centrifuged core. Knowing the fluid saturations as a function of the height above and below the free-water level permits the determination of a capillary pressure curve for any given reservoir rock/fluid system. Knowledge of the capillary pressure hysteresis, also called scanning curves, for a reservoir rock can be obtained in a laboratory. However, in practice this has been difficult to achieve, and is of uncertain accuracy or extremely time consuming to experimentally determine.
Capillary pressure curves are typically determined by either mercury intrusion, porous plate/membrane or centrifuge methods. Mercury intrusion, although rapid, provides questionable results due to the use of mercury in a vacuum to mimic water/oil behavior. Its methodology limits the technique to primary drainage and possible positive imbibition capillary pressures. Porous plate/membrane methods can generate all the capillary pressure curves, but to reach apparent equilibrium saturation can take days to months per pressure point for five to eight data points. This delays the availability of the results and limits the number of tests that can be made. The lengthy experimental time also increases the chance of a mechanical failure. The centrifuge method is normally used to determine drainage or negative imbibition curves. However, this method requires several centrifuge runs, which are time consuming such that it takes days to months to complete a test. A major limitation of the centrifuge methods is that it requires an assumed model to predict saturation distribution inside the core from the amount of liquid expelled. Accordingly, only an indirect or assumed or calculated measure of saturation at the inlet face of a rock plug is provided based on the amount of fluid expelled from the rock. Numerous methods over the past fifty years have been proposed for approximating the inlet saturation from centrifuge effluent volumes, but in every case, the model chosen influences the results, especially in the shape and location of the transition zone.
Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to derive complete positive and negative capillary pressure curves that closely mimic reservoir mechanism.
It is a more specific object of this invention to derive a capillary pressure curve that is determined from a measured oil/water saturation profile under a known pressure gradient as measured from a free-water level in a reservoir rock core sample.
A still more specific object is to establish an oil/water saturation distribution in a reservoir rock plug, via known fluid differential pressure by centrifuging.
Yet another object is to provide a method for deriving capillary pressure curves using noninvasive imaging techniques for determining fluid saturations, where the method is rapid, accurate and robust.
Still, another object of this invention is to provide methodology for capillary pressure measurement of rocks having a great disparity in petrophysical properties.

Method for laboratory measurement of capillary pressure in reservoir rock


In a doctoring apparatus, blade edge loading is controlled along the sides of the surface being doctored.

This invention relates to doctoring apparatus, including those of the so-called "pull through" type where flexible elongated doctor blades are advanced longitudinally across the surfaces being doctored.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,691,406, the disclosure of which is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety, discloses a pull through doctoring apparatus. The doctor blade has a length greater than the width of the surface being doctored. A blade holder applies an intermediate portion of the blade to the surface being doctored. The blade is movable longitudinally through the blade holder, and has continuing portions which extend in opposite directions beyond the ends of the holder to pay off and take up reels. Clamps act on the continuing blade portions and are adjustable between closed settings preventing relative movement between them and the blade, and open settings permitting such relative movement. A drive reciprocates the blade holder. The clamps are opened and closed in timed sequence with reciprocation of the blade holder to achieve longitudinal shifting of the blade in a selected direction across the doctored surface, from one to the other of the reels. This type of blade transfer system maximizes efficiency by eliminating lost production time normally associated with the changing of conventional "cut to length" blades.

Blade edge loading control for doctoring apparatus


A light emitting device for a vehicle includes a substrate; a light emitting element which is provided on the substrate; a resistive element which is provided on the substrate, and connected in series with the light emitting element; and a thermistor which is provided on the substrate. The thermistor has a positive temperature coefficient, and is connected in parallel with the resistive element.

In recent years, a lighting device for vehicle in which a light emitting diode (LED) is used as a light source, instead of an incandescent lamp (filament lamp), is put to practical use.
In addition, a parallel resistance circuit in which a circuit formed by connecting a resistive element and a thermistor with a positive temperature coefficient in series is connected in parallel to a resistive element which is connected in series to a light emitting diode is proposed.
The thermistor provided in the parallel resistance circuit is operated due to heat which is generated in a resistive element or a protection circuit case when an overvoltage is applied. When an overvoltage is applied, the thermistor enters a non-energized state, regardless of a temperature rise of the light emitting diode, and a current which flows through the thermistor is blocked.
In addition, it is necessary to set a lighting device for vehicle to be used even in a high temperature and high humidity environment in which an environmental temperature is 85° C., and humidity is 85%, for example.
For this reason, when an environmental temperature is high, there is concern that a temperature of a light emitting diode may become excessively high, even when an overvoltage is not applied.
In addition, a temperature compensation circuit which includes a thermistor which is connected in series to a laser diode, and has a negative temperature coefficient, and a resistive element connected in parallel to the thermistor with the negative temperature coefficient is proposed. In this case, when a temperature of the laser diode rises, a light output decreases; however, a voltage applied to the laser diode increases, since a resistance of the thermistor decreases, when a temperature of the thermistor rises. When a voltage applied to the laser diode increases, a light output of the laser diode increases.
As described above, it is necessary to set the lighting device for vehicle to be used even in a high temperature and high humidity environment in which an environmental temperature is 85° C., and humidity is 85%, for example.
For this reason, when a voltage applied to the laser diode is increased in a case of a high environmental temperature, a temperature of the laser diode further rises.
Therefore, a development of a technology in which it is possible to suppress an excessive temperature rise of a light emitting element, even when an environmental temperature is high, is desired.

Light emitting device for vehicle, lighting device for vehicle, and lighting tool for vehicle

Toshiba Lighting & Technology Corporation


The disclosed method for creating credential vaults that use multi-factor authentication to automatically authenticate users to online services may include (1) detecting a user account for an online service that uses multi-factor authentication comprising a token that generates a cryptographic authentication code, (2) creating a virtual representation of the token that is capable of generating the cryptographic authentication code, (3) storing the virtual representation of the token and a set of credentials for the user account in a credential vault for a user, (4) sending a message to the online service that associates the virtual representation of the token with the user account, (5) authenticating the user to the credential vault, and (6) automating the multi-factor authentication process for the online service by providing the cryptographic authentication code and the set of credentials to the online service. Various other methods, systems, and computer-readable media are also disclosed.

Security is often described as a continuum between convenience and safety. A system that requires ten layers of authentication may be very difficult to attack, but it may also be so inconvenient that it will never be used. At the opposite end, a system with no means of authentication or authorization is highly convenient for users but also highly insecure. A growing number of online services now use multi-factor authentication (MFA) systems that involve some combination of a username or email address, a password, and a cryptographic authentication code generated by an additional device owned by the user. Keeping track of a physical device and/or a special application for each online service may be frustrating for users. Frustration often leads to poor security measures, such as password re-use and storing physical tokens in insecure areas. A growing number of users are avoiding the hazards of password re-use and the difficulties of keeping track of a large number of passwords by using password managers or credential vaults.
Many traditional systems for credential vaults are only capable of storing a username and password for each online service and may not be able to store or otherwise access the token that generates the cryptographic authentication code. These traditional systems may not be able to fully automate the login process of online services that use MFA. Accordingly, the instant disclosure identifies and addresses a need for additional and improved systems and methods for creating credential vaults that use multi-factor authentication to automatically authenticate users to online services.

Systems and methods for creating credential vaults that use multi-factor authentication to automatically authenticate users to online services


A sheet reversing apparatus for a sheet-fed rotary press with a reversing mechanism includes a paper convey cylinder, gaps, a reversing mechanism, a paper holding unit, a gripper moving unit, and a gripper pad moving unit. The gripper moving unit moves the gripper member of the paper holding unit from the gap to an outer surface of the paper convey cylinder in accordance with a pivotal movement of the paper convey cylinder. The gripper pad moving unit moves, in accordance with the pivotal movement of the paper convey cylinder, the gripper pad member of the paper holding unit between an operating position and a retreat position.

The present invention relates to a sheet reversing apparatus for a sheet-fed rotary press with a reversing mechanism, which has upstream and downstream cylinders with respect to a paper convey direction and a paper convey cylinder disposed therebetween to be in contact with each other and reverses a paper sheet upon gripping and conveyance of the paper sheet between the upstream cylinder and the paper convey cylinder, thereby performing perfecting printing.
Various sheet-fed rotary presses with reversing mechanisms each capable of performing single-sided printing and perfecting printing have been proposed and put into practice along with a variety of printing techniques. An example of such a rotary press is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,448,125. This rotary press has double-diameter impression cylinders on the upstream and downstream with respect to a paper convey direction and a reversing cylinder disposed therebetween to serve as a double-diameter paper convey cylinder. This apparatus will be described below.
FIGS. 18 to 23 show a sheet-fed rotary press with a reversing mechanism disclosed in this prior art. FIG. 18 shows the cylinder arrangement. FIG. 19 shows a paper holding unit and a paper trailing end holding unit. FIG. 20 corresponds to FIG. 19 and shows the paper holding unit and the paper trailing end holding unit in a state wherein the paper trailing end holding unit holds the trailing end of a paper sheet to transfer the paper sheet to the paper holding unit. FIG. 21 shows the cylinder arrangement for a single-sided printing operation. FIGS. 22 to 24 show the cylinder arrangements for a perfecting printing operation.
Referring to FIG. 18, in each of adjacent printing cylinders, i.e., in each of first and second printing units 1 and 2, a plate cylinder 3 having a plate mounted thereon and a blanket cylinder 4 having a blanket wound thereon are arranged to be pressed against each other. A double-diameter impression cylinder 5 as an upstream cylinder with respect to the paper convey direction is in contact with the blanket cylinder 4 of the printing unit 1.
A double-diameter impression cylinder 6 as a downstream cylinder with respect to the paper convey direction is pressed against the blanket cylinder 4 of the printing unit 2. A double-diameter reversing cylinder 7 is arranged between the impression cylinders 5 and 6 to be pressed against each other.
A plurality of sets of gripper units 8 each having grippers and gripper pads and serving as a paper holding unit are aligned along the axial direction of the impression cylinder 5 at positions which divide the circumference of the impression cylinder 5 into halves. Similarly, a plurality of sets of gripper units 9 are aligned along the axial direction of the impression cylinder 6 at positions which divide the circumference of the impression cylinder 6 into halves.
Reversing gripper units 10 are aligned along the axial direction of the reversing cylinder 7 at positions which divide the circumference of the reversing cylinder 7 into halves. The positions of the reversing gripper units 10 are set to oppose the gripper units 8 and 9 upon rotation of the cylinders 5 to 7. A plurality of suction levers 11 connected to a suction air source such as a pump (not shown) are arranged near the reversing gripper units 10 at positions which divide the circumference of the reversing cylinder 7. A swinging unit 12 grips a paper sheet 15 fed onto a feeder board 14 to transfer the paper sheet 15 to the gripper unit 8 of the impression cylinder 5.
With the above structure, in single-sided printing shown in FIG. 21, when the cylinders 5 to 7 and the like are rotated, the paper sheet 15 is gripped by the gripper unit 8 and conveyed. When the paper sheet 15 passes between the blanket cylinder 4 and the impression cylinder 5, printing of the first color is performed on the paper sheet 15. The paper sheet 15 is gripped from the gripper unit 8 to the reversing gripper unit 10 which operates as in a conventional gripper unit, wound on the lower-side surface of the reversing cylinder 7, and conveyed. The paper sheet 15 wound on the reversing cylinder 7 is gripped from the reversing gripper unit 10 to the gripper unit 9 of the impression cylinder 6 and conveyed. When the paper sheet 15 passes between the blanket cylinder 4 and the impression cylinder 6, printing of the second color is performed on the same surface as in the first-color printing operation.
When such single-sided printing is to be switched to perfecting printing, the phase of the upstream cylinder group including the impression cylinder 5 with respect to the paper convey direction is adjusted such that the trailing end of the paper sheet 15 gripped by the gripper unit 8 corresponds to the suction levers 11. With this operation, the phase state shown in FIG. 21 is changed to that shown in FIG. 22. Thereafter, the printing operation is restarted. Upon rotation of the cylinders 5 to 7 and the like, the paper sheet 15 is gripped by the gripper unit 8 and conveyed. When the paper sheet 15 passes between the blanket cylinder 4 and the impression cylinder 5, printing is performed on the upper surface of the paper sheet 15. The paper sheet 15 passes through the contact point between the cylinders 5 and 7 without being gripped by the reversing gripper unit 10 at its leading end and is wound on the lower-side surface of the impression cylinder 5, as shown in FIG. 23.
When the trailing end of the paper sheet 15 wound on the impression cylinder 5 reaches the contact point between the cylinders 5 and 7, the trailing end of the paper sheet 15 is drawn by the suction levers 11 of the reversing cylinder 7 and gripped by the reversing gripper unit 10. At the same time, the leading end of the paper sheet 15 is released from the gripper unit 8. As shown in FIG. 23, the paper sheet 15 is gripped by the reversing gripper unit 10 and reversed. The paper sheet 15 is gripped from the reversing gripper unit 10 to the gripper unit 9 and conveyed by the impression cylinder 6. When the paper sheet 15 passes between the blanket cylinder 4 and the impression cylinder 6, printing is performed on the lower surface of the paper sheet 12, thereby performing perfecting printing.
The structures and operations of the suction levers 11 and the reversing gripper unit 10 will be described below in more detail with reference to FIG. 19 and 20. Gaps 7a are formed in the outer surface of the reversing cylinder 7. A plurality of grippers of each reversing gripper unit 10 axially supported to be free to pivot are arranged in each gap 7a at a predetermined interval along the axial direction of the cylinder. The grippers of each reversing gripper unit 10 are pivoted in the forward/reverse direction by a cam mechanism and a spring member (neither are shown). The grippers of each reversing gripper unit 10 are fixed on a gripper shaft 19 extending in the axial direction of the cylinder. Each reversing gripper unit 10 comprises boat-like gripper pad holders 21 having gripper pads 20 at their free end portions, and gripper holders 23 arranged next to the gripper pad holders 21 and having grippers 22 at their free end portions. Each gripper 22 provided to the gripper holder 23 is opened/closed by a cam mechanism (not shown) to grip the paper sheet 15 with the corresponding gripper pad 20.
A bearing 24 is fixed on the bottom surface of the gap 7a. A tubular suction lever shaft 25 is axially supported by the bearing 24 to be free to pivot. The suction lever shaft 25 communicates with a pump or the like through a rotary valve and is pivoted through a predetermined angle in the forward/reverse direction by a cam mechanism (not shown). The plurality of suction levers 11 are fixed to the suction lever shaft 25 in correspondence with the grippers of the reversing gripper unit 10.
The perfecting printing operation of a conventional sheet-fed rotary press with a reversing mechanism having the above structure will be described. When the reversing cylinder 7 is rotated from the state as shown in FIG. 19, a paper suction surface 11a of the suction levers 11 reaches the contact point between the cylinders 5 and 7. Immediately before the paper suction surface 11a reaches the contact point, the suction levers 11 are pivoted by the cam mechanism to a position shown in FIG. 20 and escape from the gripper pad holders 21. The reversing gripper unit 10 including the gripper pad holders 21 is largely pivoted by the cam mechanism to a position shown in FIG. 20 with a small time lag. At this time, the grippers 22 of the reversing gripper unit 10 are kept closed.
During the pivotal movement of the gripper pad holders 21, the suction levers 11 escape not to interfere with the gripper pad holders 21. After the suction levers 11 have successfully escaped from the gripper pad holders 21, the suction levers 11 return to the position shown in FIG. 19. At the same time, the rotary valve is opened, and suction air acts on the suction surface 11a of the suction levers 11. With this operation, the trailing end of the paper sheet 15 is drawn by the suction surface 11a.
The suction levers 11 which draw the trailing end of the paper sheet return to the position shown in FIG. 20 again. At the same time, the grippers 22 are opened, and the trailing end of the paper sheet drawn by the suction surface 11a of the sucker levers 11 is gripped by the reversing gripper unit 10. Thereafter, the suction levers 11 which have released the paper sheet are pivoted to the position shown in FIG. 19. At the same time, the reversing gripper unit 10 which grips the trailing end of the paper sheet conveys the paper sheet 15 in accordance with the rotation of the reversing cylinder 7. After the paper sheet 15 is gripped from the reversing gripper unit 10 to the gripper unit 9 of the impression cylinder 6, the reversing gripper unit 10 returns to the position shown in FIG. 19.
In such a conventional sheet reversing apparatus for a sheet-fed rotary press with a reversing mechanism, however, during the perfecting printing operation, the entire reversing gripper unit 10 having the grippers 22 and the gripper pads 20 is integrally moved into the gap 7a of the reversing cylinder 7 to avoid interference with the upstream impression cylinder 5. For this reason, the gripper pressure cannot be increased, and the paper sheet 15 is often gripped in an erroneous direction. Therefore, a printing failure occurs to degrade the quality of printed matter or increase wasted paper.

Sheet reversing apparatus for sheet-fed rotary press with reversing mechanism


A nuclear fuel pin for a fast breeder nuclear reactor has a central fissile region containing fissile material in the form of vibro-compacted microspheres and axial breeder regions above and below the central region containing fertile material in the form of pellets or packed microspheres. The microspheres containing fissile material are of two sizes with the smaller microspheres packed into the interstices between the larger microspheres. To prevent intermixing of the material of the fissile and fertile regions a barrier layer is located between the fissile region and each breeder region which comprises a layer of microspheres having a diameter intermediate the diameter of the larger and smaller diameter microspheres of the fissile region.

This invention relates to nuclear fuel pins.
In a fast breeder nuclear reactor the core which contains the fissile nuclear fuel material is surrounded by a breeder blanket of fertile material which may include axial breeder blankets above and below the core. In one type of fuel pin suitable for use in a fast breeder nuclear reactor the axial breeder blankets are provided by fertile material above and below the fissile nuclear fuel material in the pin. Conveniently, the fissile nuclear fuel is in the form of microspheres packed inside the fuel pin by vibratory lcompaction. To ensure sufficiently high packing density within the pins microspheres of different sizes may be used. It is known to use microspheres of two or three sizes to ensure the required packing density of the fissile nuclear fuel material. In the case of a fuel pin having microspheres of two sizes the larger microspheres are placed in the fuel pin first and the fuel pin is vibrated to compact the microspheres before microspheres which are small enough to pass between the larger microspheres are added and the fuel pin is vibrated until all the fissile material is compacted.
After a nuclear fuel pin has been irradiated in the core of a fast breeder nuclear reactor it is reprocessed to separate the reusable fissile material from the products of nuclear fission. The breeder blanket and fissile nuclear fuel material are preferably reprocessed separately and so it is advantageous if the fissile and fertile regions remain separate within the pin. It is an object of the present invention to seek to prevent the intermixing of the material in the fissile and fertile regions within a nuclear fuel pin.


A support mechanism system has a mechanism base at which a support plate for accepting a treatment and/or examination subject can be detachably attached, and a transport gurney and at least two support plates that are fixable at the transport gurney. One of the support plates is fashioned as an operation plate for carrying out a surgical intervention at a subject, and the other a radiological support plate having at least one radiation-transparent region. Either plate can be optionally attached to the base by a fastening arrangement that is compatible with both plates. The base also has at least one connector for providing operation support for an implement or component used in a surgical procedure.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a support system for an examination subject of the type having a mechanism base onto which a support plate for accepting a treatment and/or examination subject can be detachably attached.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Support mechanism systems of this type are normally utilized in the medical field. The patient to be treated or examined is situated on the support plate in a treatment or examination room. Support plates are known in the form of operation plates. An operation plate is fashioned for carrying out a particular operative intervention at the subject. The operation plate can be fastened via specific fastening elements at the mechanism base that is firmly arranged in the operating room. Normally, the already anaesthetized patient, already lying on the operation plate, is brought from another room by means of a transport gurney into the operating room, where the operation plate is taken from the transport gurney and is fastened at the mechanism base, the operation plate being detachably fastened at said transport gurney for this purpose. However, only operation plates which have appropriate fastening capabilities or which have fastening elements compatible with the fastening elements provided at the mechanism base, can be attached to the mechanism base.
Another known support mechanism system has a support plate that is fashioned as a radiological support plate and that has a more or less large radiation-transparent region making it possible to undertake transillumination exposures of a patient lying on the radiological support plate, using a fluoroscopy device such as an X-ray device. For example, the radiological support plate can be fashioned as an angiography table for that specific application. A radiological support plate is often firmly and detachably connected to the mechanism base; however, when the support plate is detachable, specific fastening means are utilized, which exclusively enable the fastening of such radiological support plates. The mechanism base is also situated in a specifically provided examination room.
The known support mechanism systems have the disadvantage that each system is limited to allowing only certain support plate to be attached to the mechanism base, due to the configuration of the fastening means. For example, when three operation rooms and, for example, two rooms for carrying out radiological examinations are provided in a hospital, considerable difficulties occur when all three operation rooms are occupied simultaneously and an emergency operation must be promptly undertaken. This is not possible in the radiological examination rooms, since the support plates provided there, allow X-ray-diagnostic examinations and also minimally invasive treatments, for example by means of a catheter, but they are not suitable for carrying out operations at an open vessel or cavity, since the hygienic requirements and the device equipment are not sufficient.
An object of the present invention is to provide a support mechanism system, which is highly flexible, so that aforementioned bottlenecks can be prevented.
For solving this problem with respect to a support mechanism system of the type described above, the inventive support mechanism system includes a transport gurney or cart and at least two support plates that can be fixed at the transport gurney, with one support plate being utilized for carrying out an operative intervention at the subject and the other one being fashioned as a radiological support plate having at least one radiation-transparent area. The plates are optionally attachable by the same fastening arrangement, at the mechanism base, and the base has at least one connector for an implement or component of a medical operating system for examination, treatment or surgery.
The system includes support plates of various types, namely at least one operation plate and at least one radiological support plate. A number of each type can be provided. Each plate type is specifically fashioned with regard to the hygienical and technical requirements associated with the procedure or procedures for which the plate is intended. As a result of the utilization of homogenous, identically fashioned fastening arrangements at each of the procedure-specific plates, as well as at the mechanism base (or at respective mechanism bases arranged in different rooms), it is possible to optionally arrange any of the support plates at any mechanism base in the inventive system. One or more connectors at the mechanism base itself supply required operational support such as current, gases etc. for implements or components, so that the devices necessary for the required treatment or examination can be connected. The inventive optional exchangeability of the respective support plates has the considerable advantage that the room containing the mechanism base can be used as an operation room, for example for emergencies, and can be used for radiological examinations as well. Apart from this significant advantage, another advantage is that only the homogenous type of fastening arrangement is needed, i.e., it is no longer necessary to provide different fastening arrangement for different plate-base-systems, as has been hitherto necessary in the prior art.
Inventively, each support plate situated at the mechanism base can be adjusted in height and is tiltable around at least one axis extending in the longitudinal direction and at least one axis extending in the transverse direction of the support plate. The inventive system provides this tilting possibility for each support plate type, i.e., the operation plate (which has conventionally mounted to tilt around its longitudinal axis and around one or more transverse axes) and the radiological support plate (which has not been conventionally mounted to as to be tillable) can now be more or less fully adjusted as needed. Apart from adjustment in height, rotation around the vertical base axis is also possible.
The radiological support plate can be inventively movable along an axis extending in the longitudinal direction relative to the support plate and along an axis extending in the transverse direction relative to the support plate. This floating mounting has the advantage that the patient can be moved relative to a radiological examination system, an X-ray device for example, in order to position the xe2x80x9cregion of interestxe2x80x9d with respect to the image pickup system. It is expedient for the radiological support plate to be variable in length.
In another inventive embodiment, at least one electromechanical or hydraulic adjustment device is provided for the support plate situated at the mechanism base, and at least one electromechanical or hydraulic adjustment device for effecting tilting of the support device can be operated via a power supply and via a power supply independent thereof. The integration of the adjustment device in the mechanism base makes it possible to make the adjustment device accessible only at the side of the base, and each support plate can be moved by means of this adjustment device. Moreover, the operability of the adjustment device via an independent power supply has the advantage that a support plate that has been adjusted to a certain position can be brought again into an initial position, in which it can be removed from the mechanism base by means of the transport gurney, if the main power supply fails.
Furthermore, it is expedient for each support plate and base mechanism to have any crevices or recesses sealed, or for the plate to be sealingly encased, so that fluids cannot penetrate into the area of possible joint or motion mechanics or connections or into the area of the fastening arrangements. Such sealing or casing offers a secure protection against penetration by fluids such as blood or other body secretions and against fluids required in an interventional procedure, this being important for hygienical reasons. An encasing such as a lamella encasing can be provided at the mechanism base in order to prevent fluid from penetrating into the mechanism base region.

Support system for an examination or treatment subject


A Contact Smart Card (3) is inserted in a contact card reader and its capacitance is measured by applying a square wave generated by an oscillator (1) to it via a resistor (4). The capacitance effect of the smart card (3) affects the amplitude of the output from the resistor (1) and the output is monitored in an amplitude detector (2) connected to receive the signal output from the resistor (4) and to compare it against a threshold level for the signal previously established and stored for an acceptable card.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a method and apparatus for verifying the integrity of a Smart Card.
2. Description of the Related Art
"Smart Cards" are cards normally of a plastics material having embedded in them circuitry and active or passive components which carry information in coded form. These cards are used as enabling devices and can have the information in them altered or changed at will and information can be read out from the card to check an identity or authority when the card is used as a key or pass card.
Although some Smart Cards may include their own power source such as a built in battery or may be activated externally by an induction or capacitative connection many rely on actual physical connections to host device. The present invention is particularly concerned with such cards which are hereinafter referred to as `Contact Smart Cards`. Since the cards may be used as a money substitute or for enabling a privileged access it is important that only truly authenticated cards are able to be used and that false cards or simulations of card effects are detected and are unable to be used. The cards may, for example, be used in such areas as to permit travel on a transit system or to operate decoders for pay television or in public telecommunication networks or for the access to personal and confidential information.
With the increasing reliance on Smart Cards in such areas, it is important that the host system cannot be deceived by anything which is not a genuine Smart Card, issued by the controlling authority.
The possibility of simulating the behaviour of certain types of Smart Cards has been demonstrated, using only a basic circuit consisting of easily available electronic components. This opens the way for a person with a basic knowledge of electronics to by-pass payment or compromise security.
Knowing that it is possible for an unscrupulous person to build such a circuit, which can be functionally indistinguishable from a genuine card, some means is required to detect whether the Smart Card presented is in fact genuine, or is a simulated card.
An effective way of distinguishing between genuine Smart Cards and Smart Card simulating circuits would be to detect the presence of the wires which would be required to connect such a circuit to the Smart Card reader contacts.
Traditional methods of detecting the connecting wires have involved coils mounted around the card reader entry slot. This involves the difficulty and expense of mechanically mounting these coils. These methods can also be overcome by reducing the amount of metal used in the connecting wires such that the response is negligible.

Method and apparatus for verifying the integrity of a smart card


The invention relates to a lamp dimming circuit with electricity leakage preventing function, includes a power module, a PWM signal conversion module, an optocoupler, an analog signal conversion module, and a controller and a voltage conversion module for connecting the illuminator. By adding the PWM signal conversion module, optocoupler and analog signal conversion module, the external dimming input signals in turn converted into PWM modulation signal, optical signal and analog voltage signal, and transferring the converted analog voltage signal to the controller for processing, and the controller sends the processed signal to the voltage conversion module for processing. Since the voltage signal entering the optocoupler is transmitted in the form of light, and there is no Y capacitor crossover between the power line and the dimming line.

With the rapid development of LED technology, its luminous efficiency has gradually increased, and the LED application market has become more extensive. Especially in the context of the global energy shortage worry, the prospect of LED in the lighting market has attracted worldwide attention. The gradual maturity of intelligent lighting technology has enabled more and more companies to intervene in this field. Major companies have made their own dimming fixtures, and the schemes used are various.
FIG. 1 shows the traditional lamp dimming circuit used in most enterprises. The traditional lamp dimming circuit mainly includes power module, dimming controller, microcontroller, dimmer and LED lamp. The power module, dimming controller and the microcontroller will have a grounding point correspondingly; the power module is span connected to the dimming controller through a Y capacitor, and another Y capacitor is also disposed between the dimming controller and the microcontroller, and the microcontroller is connected with the dimmer, and the dimming controller is connected to the LED light. Thus, part of the common mode interference is eliminated by the Y capacitor span connecting between the power module and the dimming controller, the dimming controller and the microcontroller. At the same time, the electricity leakage current of the Y capacitor flows through the three grounding points. If the number of interconnected lamps increases, a large electricity leakage current will flow through the dimming circuit of the lamp dimming circuit, which may cause electric shock.

Lamp dimming circuit with electricity leakage preventing function


A wear resistant rubber hose for transferring fluid containing abrasive material such as crushed stone, coral, etc. comprises an inner surface rubber and a continuous chainshaped filling body having a rigidity which is considerably higher than that of the inner surface rubber embedded directly inside the inner peripheral surface thereof.

(1) Field of the Invention
This invention relates to wear resistant rubber hoses and more particularly to a wear resistant rubber hose for transferring fluid containing abrasive material such as crushed stone, coral, etc.
(2) Description of the Prior Art
In transferring mud dug from the sea-bed together with the sea water by means of a conventional rubber hose, sharp corners of the crushed stone or coral mixed in the mud strike against the inner surface of the rubber hose, thus inducing the premature tear failure thereof and hence deteriorating its durability.


A method for fabricating a metal interconnect structure. A first insulating layer and a second insulating layer with a low dielectric constant are formed on a substrate in sequence. An opening is formed in the second insulating layer. A compact and high density third insulating layer is formed on the second insulating layer and in the opening to protect the second insulating layer from being damaged in a subsequent process for removing a photo-resist layer. A contact window is then formed in the third insulating layer at a bottom of the opening and the first insulating layer, so that a dual damascene opening is formed. The dual damascene opening is filled with metal with low resistivity to form the metal interconnect.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates in general to a method of fabricating a metal interconnect, and more particularly, to a fabrication method of dual damascene.
2. Description of the Related Art
High-density integrated circuits, such as very large scale integration (VLSI) circuits, are typically formed with two or multiple metal interconnects to serve as three-dimensional wiring line structures to comply with a very high density of devices. A multilevel interconnect structure comprises a first metal wiring layer electrically connecting to a source/drain region in a substrate via a metal plug. The electrical connections between various devices are achieved by the formation of a second or other metal wiring layers. As the integrated density of devices increases, the capacitance effect between metal wires increases. Consequently, the resistance-capacitance time delay (RC delay time) increases, and cross talk between the metal wires become more frequent. The metal wires thus carries a current flow in a slower speed.
In response with the development of the fabrication process of integrated circuits, the resistivity of each of the metal wires and the parasitic capacitance between the metal wires become crucial factors to determine the speed of current flow. To achieve the reduction of the resistivity of metal wires, materials with low resistivity are selected for fabricating the metal wires. The objectivity of reducing the parasitic capacitance can also be achieved by fabricating insulating layers with low dielectric constants between the metal wires.
In a conventional fabrication process, a metal plug is formed in a dielectric layer, followed by forming a metal wiring layer to couple with the metal plug. However, problems of overlay error and process bias frequently occur during photolithography. A dual damascene process has been developed to resolve the problems occurring in the conventional fabrication process, so as to enhance reliability of devices and improve the process performance. The dual damascene thus becomes a popular technique to form a dual damascene structure of insulating layers with low dielectric constants in accordance with highdensity of devices.
FIGS. 1A through 1D are schematic, cross-sectional views showing a conventional method for fabricating a dual damascene structure.
Referring to FIG. 1A, a substrate 100 comprising a transistor is provided. The substrate 100 further comprises a metal wire 102. An oxide layer 104 and a hard mask 106 are formed on the substrate 100 in sequence. A conventional photolithography and etching process is applied to form an opening 108 within the hard mask layer 106.
Referring to FIG. 1B, an oxide layer 110 is deposited on the hard mask layer 106 to fill the opening 108.
Referring to FIG. 1C, a patterned photo-resist layer 112 is formed on the oxide layer 110. Using the hard mask layer 106 as an etching stop layer, the oxide layer 110 is etched with the photo-resist layer 112 as a mask. Meanwhile, the oxide layer 104 at a bottom of the opening 108 is also etched to form a dual damascene opening 114. The photo-resist layer 112 is then stripped using oxygen plasma.
Referring to FIG. 1D, a conductive layer 116 is formed to fill the dual damascene opening 114. A dual damascene structure is thus formed.
As mentioned above, the problem of parasitic capacitance caused by an inter-metal dielectric layer between two metal layers becomes more and more obvious as the integrated density of semiconductor devices grows. Thus, in deep sub-micron semiconductor fabrication process, an inter-metal dielectric layer with a low dielectric constant such as the oxide layer 110 shown in FIG. 1B is used to moderate the effect of RC time delay. However, a photo-resist layer is typically made of high molecular material, and the inter-metal dielectric layer with a low dielectric constant is very often made of material like polymer. The inter-metal dielectric layer with a low dielectric constant is easily damaged by oxygen plasma while stripping the photo-resist layer. The resultant dual damascene 114 (shown in FIG. 1D) is thus poisoned to cause an out-gassing phenomenon when the opening 114 is filled with the conductive layer 116. The out-gassing phenomenon frequently results in a bad contact between the conductive layer 116 and the underlying metal wire 102, even causes an open circuit therebetween.

Method for fabricating metal interconnect structure

Worldwide Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp.