A dispensing container for medicinal or food supplement tablets, capsules or other similarly shaped products, or granular, powder or liquid products, said container having a hollow body (101) closed at one end (122) and an aperture (106) at the other end and two external dispensing means (102, 110) movable in relation to said hollow body (101) and each other, said external dispensing means (102, 110) being attached to said other end of said hollow body so as to prevent them from being removed, said two external dispensing means (102, 110) having dispensing apertures or cut-outs (107, 115) that can either be aligned with said aperture (106) in said hollow body (101) by moving each one of said external dispensing means (102, 110) in relation to said hollow body (101), in order to enable the dispensing of said product or, alternatively, be misaligned with said aperture (106) in said hollow body (101) by moving either one of said external dispensing means (102, 110) in relation to said hollow body (101), in order to prevent the dispensing of said product, and means to move said two external dispensing means (102, 110) and said hollow body (101) in relation to each other in order to align and misalign said dispensing apertures or cut-outs (107, 115) with said aperture (106).

Most child resistant packaging closures currently on the market, especially those used for medical and health care tablet and capsule containers and bottles, as well as those used for cosmetic products, household cleaning products, gardening and other household substances, are too difficult to open and close for elderly people, particularly those people who suffer from weak and arthritic hands. Consequently, there is a tendency by elderly people not to close these child resistant packages properly or to leave the caps off completely or even to transfer the contents, such as tablets, into containers or bottles that are not child resistant. The American publication `Packaging Strategies` reported that "a 1983 study by the American Association of Poison Control Centers for the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission found that 82% of child poisoning exposures involving prescription drugs takes place in the child's home and involves medications that do not belong to anyone living in the home (often a visiting grandparent). The study found that seniors often do not or cannot use child resistant packs for their medications. This is at the heart of Consumer Product Safety Commission's new senior friendly child resistant packaging test requirements."
In order to make packaging both resistant to young children and easy to access by elderly people, it is necessary to substitute force and dexterity for opening of closures with cognitive skills that are within the ability of elderly people and yet beyond the capability of young children.
The dispensing container for tablets which is the subject of the International Application No. PCT/AU91/00233 (International Publication No. 91/18808), the U.S. Pat. No. 5,383,559 and the European Patent No. 0531394, all with priority of expired Australian Provisional Patent Application No. PK 0484 of Jun. 4 1990 (same applicant and inventor as for the present patent application), has an inherent feature that makes it easy to use for elderly people, namely that the closure does not have to be removed and replaced in order to dispense one or more tablets or capsules. Turning the closure in relation to the container to align the dispensing apertures in the closure and the container is much easier than removing and replacing any of the conventional child resistant closures such as, for instance, the widely used closure that has to be simultaneously pressed down and unscrewed. Replacing either child resistant or even non child resistant, conventional screw caps is particularly difficult for elderly people and people with arthritic hands because the threads in the cap and on the container have to be co-axially aligned for the threads to engage.
It is generally difficult to achieve a design that is convenient for use by elderly people and at the same time resistant to access by children.


Systems and methods for concentrating and storing solar energy are provided. A solar energy receiver for use with the systems and methods may include a container for holding a solar absorption material, such as a phase change material, and a cooled cover disposed above the container for condensing and collecting vaporized phase change material collected along an underside of the cover.

Large-scale solar concentrator and storage systems currently in use typically include a field of solar reflectors that focus light onto a tower-mounted receiver structure. The receiver structure may be a direct absorption type (e.g., molten salt flowing down a vertical surface) or a tube type (e.g., with water flowing through tubes). The thermal storage medium absorbs the thermal energy and, in the case of water, turns to steam or may be used to generate steam for use in a conventional steam turbine system for generating electricity. The heated medium may be transferred to an insulated storage tank so that, when the sun does not shine, hot medium from the storage tank is available to provide heat for the power cycle.
Solar power towers have several inefficiencies that adversely affect their economics. For example, because the boiler tubes in the receiver are uninsulated and exposed to the ambient environment, such systems incur high heat losses due to air convection and radiation from hot surfaces. Further, the storage medium has to be pumped up to the elevation of the boiler, which requires significant pumping power. As a result, the overall efficiencies of solar tower systems are relatively low—about 20%. Moreover, capital costs to build the solar power towers to support the heavy receiver are high.
Some of the drawbacks of tower-mounted receivers are overcome in alternative systems, where the tower supports secondary mirrors that re-direct the solar energy into a receiver on, or preferably partially buried in, the ground. On the downside, the use of secondary mirrors further reduces the efficiency of converting solar into thermal energy. The system efficiency is further constrained by the maximum solar energy density that the secondary mirrors can withstand without damage due to overheating.
An additional constraint on the ability of solar power systems to store high energy densities is posed by the temperature range in which the storage medium is chemically stable. Molten salt compositions currently in use, such as nitrate mixtures, decompose as temperatures approach 600° C., thus limiting the maximum temperature and, accordingly, the energy storage density of the system and the efficiency of power cycles downstream of the receiver.
Accordingly, there is a need for solar power systems that facilitate efficient solar-energy conversion, high-density energy storage, and robust and continuous power supply, preferably at low capital cost.


Large quantities of data can be processed and/or queried relatively quickly using a combination of continuous event processing and a Map-Reduce algorithmic tool. The continuous event processor can continuously produce real-time results by merging (a) CQL query results from events received since a currently executing Map-Reduce job was started with (b) a most recent query result produced by a most recently completed Map-Reduce job. When the currently executing Map-Reduce job completes, its query result can be stored and made accessible to the continuous event processor, and a new Map-Reduce job can be started relative to event data that has grown in size since the execution of the last Map-Reduce job. The Map-Reduce algorithmic tool provides a convenient mechanism for analyzing and processing large quantities of data.

A continuous event processor is capable of receiving a continuous stream of events and processing each event contained therein by applying a continuous event processing (CEP) query to that event. Such a CEP query may be formatted in conformance to the syntax of a CEP query language such as the continuous query language (CQL), which is an extension of the structured query language (SQL). Whereas SQL queries are often applied once (per user request) to data that has already been stored in the tables of a relational database, CQL queries are applied repeatedly to events in an incoming event stream as those events are received by the continuous event processor.
For example, a data stream may specify stock prices for various companies. As time passes, the most recent stock prices for those companies may be added to the data stream. The continuous event processor may receive each such stock price and apply a CQL query to that stock price as that stock price arrives. The CQL query may specify various operations, potentially including filtering and aggregation operations. The continuous event processor may then output the results of the application of the CQL query to various interested listeners.

Integrating event processing with map-reduce


A method for compressing the bit data of an alpha mask image frame composed of an array of pixels having bit data indicative of a level of brightness includes selecting a modifying function identifier which represents a mathematical transformation, applying a threshold function to the alpha mask image frame to generate a binary image frame, and encoding the binary image frame and the modifying function identifier for transmission. The method may include receiving an encoded signal containing the binary image frame and the modifying function identifier, decoding the encoded signal to extract the binary image frame and the modifying function identifier, selecting the mathematical transformation represented by the modifying function identifier, and then transforming the bit data of at least one pixel in accordance with the mathematical transformation.

Video compression methods are employed to reduce the number of bits needed to transmit and store a digital video signal. As a result, a lower bandwidth communication channel can be employed to transmit a compressed video signal in comparison to an uncompressed video signal. Similarly, a reduced capacity of a storage device, which can comprise a memory or a magnetic storage medium, is required for storing the compressed video signal. A general video compression method includes encoding, which converts the video signal into a compressed signal, and decoding, which reconstructs the video signal based upon the compressed signal.
A video signal is a sequence of image frames that are created when a scanning system captures an image at periodic intervals of time. Each frame of the sequence is a function of two spatial variables x and y and a temporal variable t. A frame consists of an array of digital picture elements or pixels located along the horizontal spatial variable x and the vertical spacial variable y. As examples, a frame may consist of an array of 512.times.480 pixels, 176.times.144 pixels, 720.times.576 pixels, or the like.
To the observer, the pixels form images or objects in the frame. Each of the objects has an outer edge which is referred to as the contour of the object. The contour of an object separates that object from other objects in the frame.
Each pixel is represented as a digital code word having a given number of bits. A bit can have a value of zero or one. Many facsimile and printing devices have one bit allocated to each pixel. If the bit has a value of one, then ink is applied to the pixel location. If the bit has a value of zero, then no ink is applied to the pixel location. Thus, these devices are known as bi-level.
Many applications such as multimedia and the like use digital code words having more than one bit allocated to each pixel. Typically, eight to thirty-two bit digital code words may be used to represent a pixel.
Thus, an eight bit code word can have a value, in base 10 numerals, ranging from zero to 255. Consequently, each pixel can have many more color shades or brightness levels than the bi-level devices because there is more information available in the eight bit code word.
For instance, a gray scale image frame consists of pixels having several defined levels of brightness with the neutral color gray. In essence, assuming that each pixel in a gray scale image frame is represented by an eight bit code word, the level of brightness of a pixel is scaled from a value of zero to 255. Similar to bi-level devices, a pixel is black if the code word has a value of zero and is white if the code word has a value of 255. Unlike the bi-level devices, a pixel in a gray scale image frame can embody a variety of shades. If the code word has a value close to 255 then the pixel is light gray or if the value is close to zero then the pixel is dark gray. Finally, if the code word has a value of 127 then the pixel is true gray. Thus, a gray scale image frame is known as a multilevel continuous-tone image frame.
A gray scale image frame must be compressed to reduce the transmission time and meet stringent memory limitations for virtually all applications. For instance, an image frame consisting of an array of 720.times.576 pixels with each pixel represented by an eight bit code word would take about 52 seconds to transmit over a 64 Kbit/second transmission line. The amount of memory stored would be over 3.3 Mbits. The transmission rate and the amount of memory needed are much too high for bandwidth and memory storage constraints of a typical application.
A gray scale alpha mask is a code or an instruction that identifies the transparency of each pixel of the image frame. A gray scale alpha mask is structurally the same as a gray scale image frame. But while a gray scale image frame is meant to be viewed as an image, a gray scale alpha mask is a code for each pixel that identifies its transparency. For the sake of simplicity, we will refer to gray scale alpha masks as gray scale image frames and the alpha values as shades of gray. For a large percentage of gray scale alpha masks, the textures are relatively simple. The texture of a gray scale alpha mask refers to the alpha values of a group of pixels in a portion of the frame or all the pixels in the whole frame. Alpha refers to the value of the digital code word representing the transparency of a pixel.
One example of a simple texture is a gray scale alpha mask consisting of pixels having a constant gray shade. Thus, each pixel in this alpha mask is represented by the same digital code word having a given value. For instance, the value of 127 meaning that each pixel in the frame has a true gray color or equal transparency.
Another example of a simple texture is a gray scale alpha mask that consists of a binary alpha mask with the code word value of the pixels around the edges of the binary alpha mask tapered from 255 to zero to provide a smooth compositing with the background. A binary alpha mask refers to an image having pixels which are represented by code words having a value of zero or 255. Thus, alpha for a binary alpha mask is either zero or 255. Because the binary alpha mask has pixels which can only have two discrete values, the code words representing the pixels of the binary alpha mask can be encoded and decoded as if they were a one bit code word. Thus, a binary image frame is similar to the image frames generated by the bi-level devices discussed earlier.
Two of the main functions of gray scale alpha masks are to feather object edges for smoother compositing and for fades in or out of an object in a video sequence. Feathering refers to a blurring or anti-aliasing of the boundaries of an object to provide a smooth visual transition between objects in the image frame when they are composited together. Fades in or out refer to having an object materialize into a scene slowly through a number of frames of the video sequence by having its pixels transition from completely transparent to opaque or vice versa. Another common function of gray scale alpha masks is for providing the illusion of depth to an object in the image frame by having it slowly disappear in the distance. This spatial fade or dissolve effect is achieved by having the gray scale alpha values of an object in a single frame transition as a function of their pixel position. For example, the alpha values of the pixels may decrease as a function of their horizontal or vertical position.
Most current compression algorithms achieve bit reduction by compressing the gray scale image frame as sequences of blocks or pixels such as the Joint Photographic Experts Group (JPEG) standard and quadtree decomposition algorithm. Unfortunately, neither of these two methods represents the image frames as compactly as possible because neither of them recognizes the functionality achieved by utilizing gray scale alpha masks and instead try to represent the original frame as closely as possible and not just capture the functionality embodied in the original data. Accordingly, these algorithms require a significant number of bits to achieve the gray scale alpha mask functionality. As a result, for many bandwidth constrained applications these methods are unacceptable.
Another recent technique is to decompose a gray scale alpha mask into a binary alpha mask and a texture. The binary alpha mask is encoded with any algorithm applicable to binary alpha masks. The texture is encoded by transforming it with the Discrete Cosine Transformation (DCT) and then quantizing the resulting coefficients. This technique also strives to efficiently represent the original data and not just capture the functionality of the original data. A primary disadvantage with the steps of transforming the texture with the DCT and then quantizing the coefficients is that the bandwidth requirements are significantly greater than with the present invention.

Efficient representation of texture for gray scale alpha maps


An improved open end construction for jacks which provides for tabs which extend at right angles to the side surfaces of the channel members so as to allow pivot pins to be received in the open ends after which the tabs are bent so that they lie in the plane of the side surfaces of the channel members so as to lock the pivot pin in the ends of the channel assembly. Also, partial flanges can be formed about the openings in the ends of the channel members so as to provide bearing surfaces for the pivot pins.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to scissors jacks with open end construction.
2. Description of Related Art
One means of assembling a jack is by using open end construction. Such open end construction is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,802,653, assigned to the assignee of the present invention. While this method is normally used at the trunion ends of the jack, open end construction could be used at any pivot point on the jack. In the structure illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 4,802,653, the open ends of the legs are bent around the pivot point so as to retain the pivot shaft in the opening. In the typical trunion-channel assembly using open end design as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,802,653, once the trunion is inserted into the open end, the end tabs are simply bent toward each other, thus locking the trunion axle in place. Under normal conditions, this is very satisfactory since the linkage members of a jack are in compression when lifting a vehicle. The weakness of this design is that if a linkage member is loaded in tension, the tabs can be spread open again and let the assembly come apart. There are two reasons for this. First, the cross-sectional area of the tabs must be small enough to allow the tabs to bend and therefore are limited to how strong they could be made. Second, when the channel is placed in tension, the tensile force is applied to the tabs in the same plane that the tabs are bent. So as to prevent the tabs from spreading in the prior art jack, it is necessary to use higher strength steel than the jack would normally acquire.


An array substrate includes a display area including a plurality of pixels coupled to a plurality of gate lines and a plurality of data lines; a data driving unit, coupled to a fan-out unit and configured to drive the data lines; a first switching circuit between the display area and the data driving unit and configured to control the data lines to share electric charges in an image display mode; and a second switching circuit coupled to the fan-out unit via a fuse unit and configured to be disconnected from the fan-out unit in the image display mode.

1. Field
Example embodiments of the present invention relate to a display device.
2. Description of Related Art
Generally, liquid crystal display (LCD) devices may include a display panel having a plurality of pixels, each pixel including a liquid crystal layer having a dielectric anisotropy material between a pixel electrode and a common electrode, and a driving unit that drives the display panel. The LCD device may display an image by controlling light transmittance of the liquid crystal layer based on an intensity of an electric field formed between the pixel electrode and the common electrode.
Among various types of display devices, some devices such as LCD devices and organic electro-luminance devices may include pixels having switching elements and a display substrate having display signal lines.
These display devices such as the LCD devices and organic electro-luminance devices must go through visual inspection test processes that test the state of the signal lines after being assembled. When the visual inspection test is performed, gate signals are applied to turn on all of the switching elements through a test pad, and data signals are applied to the pixels through another test pad for inspecting the state of the pixels. The data signals are applied to the pixels by a laser trimming procedure in which the data signals are applied after all of the data signal lines are connected together. The connected signal lines are separated after the visual inspection is completed. The laser trimming procedure may make the manufacturing process more complex and may increase manufacturing time.

Array substrate including a first switching circuit, a second switching circuit, and a fan-out unit, display device including the same and method of operating the display device


A toilet training system and method which includes a plurality of sheets with patterns adapted to dissolve when contacted with urine, at least one chart for recording the child's use of a toilet, instruction for positioning one of the sheets in the toilet such that the patterned sheet is contacted by the child's urine and therefore dissolves, and instructions for recording the child's toilet training progress on the provided chart. Optionally receiving means are positioned in the toilet to hold the sheet out of the water and in line with the child's urine stream. The sheet is preferably formed of carboxymethyl cellulose and sized to dissolve when contacted with 30 cc of urine. In the preferred embodiment this toilet training system and associated method of encouraging child to use the toilet is in a booklet form.

The present invention is directed to a toilet training system useful in encouraging small children to control their excretory system and eliminate urine and fecal matter in a toilet or potty. The training system includes a combination of urine dissolvable sheets, a chart for recording potty training progress, and instructions that explain how to use the sheets and chart for potty training.
Toilet training or potty training (toilet and potty shall hereinafter by considered reversible terms) has been causing new parents concern for centuries. The process of helping a child achieve control of his excretory systems so that diapers are no longer necessary can be a frustrating process for both the child and the training adult. Typically, the child is introduced to the idea of potty training by watching adults use the toilet. A child's potty or a seat adapted to fit on the adult toilet can be used to begin the actual toilet training process.
In the past, various systems for training children have been introduced. For example one system requires the child be placed on the toilet every 15 minutes for a period of 5 minutes each. When the child eliminates while on the potty they are praised. Another system parents use is watching for warning signals of bowel movements such as turning red, grunting, or straining, then placing the child on the potty to complete the activity. Few children train in a matter of days or even weeks, it usually takes months. The length of the training period often has to do with the child's interest or lack thereof in sitting on the potty. To many children the potty is uninteresting and requires time away from toys and other entertainment.
To enhance a child's interest in using the potty certain training systems encourage the adult to place floatable toys in the toilet to entertain the child. These toys are inconvenient in that they are in contact with urine and fecal matter and they must be removed prior to flushing the eliminated matter. The present invention is directed to a potty training system which employs a patterned sheet dissolvable in urine and a method of use that enhances a child's interest in becoming potty trained. The development of paper-like material capable of being dissolved in liquid was originally employed by the U.S. government for espionage activity. This type of material is also employed in certain types of welding activities.


Provided are double stacked and multiple stacked BGA packages in which two or more BGA packages are stacked to increase the packaging density. Each of the individual BGA packages included in the stacked BGA packages includes at least one semiconductor chip and a substrate on which the chip is mounted with the substrate(s) being sized to be approximately the same size or, in some instances, slightly larger than the semiconductor chip(s) mounted thereon. A plurality of external contact terminals are provided on each of the substrates, with the corresponding external contact terminals of the multiple BGA packages being electrically connected using a flexible substrate.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor device, and more particularly, to a stacked BGA (ball grid array) package capable of increasing packaging density per area.
2. Description of the Related Art
As semiconductor technologies have become advanced, more highly integrated and higher performing semiconductor devices have been developed. One of the methods developed for increasing the capability of a semiconductor device is a method of stacking multiple chips or packages in a single device. These semiconductor stacking methods allow semiconductor device package density to be increased even in instances in which the sizes of the individual semiconductor devices increase or remain constant.
The stacked semiconductor device can be implemented as a chip stacked device in which bare chips, that is, non-packaged chips, are stacked, or as a package stacked device in which packaged devices are stacked after an assembling process. Because typically only the basic electrical characteristics and functionality of the chips are tested before packaging, chip stacked devices are more likely to incorporate one or more chips having incomplete functionality and/or inadequate performance. This result is problematic because the packaging process itself may be relatively expensive compared to the chip cost and good chips will likely be discarded along with the underperforming chip(s), thereby reducing the yield and increasing the cost when chip stacked devices are discarded. Package stacked devices, sometimes referred to as three-dimensional stacked semiconductor devices, typically include two or more premanufactured and tested packages arranged in a substantially vertical stack.
On the other hand, as electronic devices have become smaller and lighter, efforts have continued to reduce the size of the semiconductor chip packages incorporated in such devices. In addition, as semiconductor devices have become more highly integrated and faster, various configurations and methods have been investigated in an effort to produce economical and reliable packages. As a result of these efforts, ball grid array (BGA) packages, in which external electrical contact portions are arranged in a grid structure, were developed and have enjoyed widespread acceptance. BGA packages are advantageous in that they provide a method for coping with the increasing number of input/output pins required for the operation of highly integrated semiconductor chips while reducing the inductive component of the electrical contact portions and allowing package sizing to approach chip scale.
FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a conventional stacked BGA package in which an upper BGA package 120 is stacked on a lower BGA package 110. Provided on an upper surface of the lower BGA package 110 are a plurality of lands 112, arranged outside the periphery of the central chip regions, for receiving and forming electrical and mechanical connections to the connecting solder balls 122 provided on the lower surface of the upper BGA package 120. The BGA packages included in this conventional stacked BGA package structure are larger than the incorporated semiconductor chips 115, 125, making it difficult to incorporate or adapt such BGA packages into package stacked devices that more closely approximate a chip scale package (CSP) sizing. In addition, the ability to reduce the height of the conventional stacked BGA package device illustrated in FIG. 1 is hampered by the size of the solder balls 122 required to maintain a gap 127 or separation distance between the lower and upper BGA packages 110 and 120.


Methods and apparatus are described which permit stage cementing within a well bore by means of a well tool which includes a cementer having cementing ports which may be responsively opened and closed by means of a knife gate valve. The knife gate valve is disposed within the housing between outer and inner cylindrical walls and being slidable therein between an open position, wherein the cementing port is open and fluid may be communicated therethrough, and a closed position, wherein the cementing port is closed thus blocking fluid communication through said port. The knife gate valve is further operationally associated with a driver assembly and trigger device adapted to receive a trigger signal and actuate the driver assembly in response thereto. In alternate exemplary embodiments, the trigger signal may comprise an acoustical, magnetic, electromagnetic wave, electrical or other suitable signal which is received by the trigger device. The driver assembly may comprise a hydraulic or pneumatic arrangement or a suitable electric motor arrangement.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to methods and apparatus for use in well completion operations. More particularly, the invention relates to methods and apparatus for use in stage cementing a well bore.
2. Related Art
Cementing operations within well boreholes typically involve mixing a cement and water slurry and pumping the slurry down steel casing to particular points located in the borehole's annulus around the casing, in the open hole below, or in fractured formations. Multiple stage cementing has been developed to permit the annulus to be cemented in stages from the bottom of the well working upward. In multiple stage cementing, a cementer having cement ports is positioned proximate sections of casing or joints to be cemented within the borehole. Cement slurry is flowed through the bottom of the casing and up the annulus to the level of the cementer, thus closing off the bottom. Valves in the cementer are opened and cement slurry is then flowed through the cementer to a point further up the annulus. Stage cementing can be accomplished by employing such valved cementers at successive stages within the borehole.
Well tools which have been used for multiple stage cementing typically control the opening and closing of the cementer ports using sliding sleeves internally disposed within the housing of the well tool. Typically, two such sleeves are used, each of which is shear-pinned into an initially upper position such that the cementing ports of the tool are closed. It is common to open the cementing ports by use of a plug which is placed within the borehole and flowed down the casing until it is seated on the lower of the two sleeves. Fluid pressure within the casing is increased above the plug until the shear-pins holding the lower sleeve are sheared and the lower sleeve is moved downward to uncover the cementing ports. When a desired amount of cement has been released through the cementing ports these ports are closed by flowing a second plug down through the casing behind the cement until it is seated on the upper sleeve. Fluid pressure is increased within the casing behind the second plug until the shear-pins holding the upper sleeve are severed and the upper sleeve is moved down to close the cementing ports.
Unfortunately, a variety of problems can be encountered in the present method for opening and closing cementing ports. Occasionally, opening and closing the ports is extremely difficult since the sliding sleeves become clogged with cement or debris. Following the cementing operations, both the plugs and sliding sleeves must be removed from the tool by drilling them out. Since the plugs have been strongly pressured against the sliding sleeves, this drilling operation entails a significant degree of time and expense. It would be desirable, then, to provide a reliable means of opening and closing cementing ports which avoids the problems associated with the traditional plug and sliding sleeve arrangement.


A sliding seismic isolator includes a first plate attached to a building support, and an elongate element extending from the first plate. The seismic isolator also includes a second plate and a low-friction layer positioned between the first and second plates, the low-friction layer allowing the first and second plates to move freely relative to one another along a horizontal plane. The seismic isolator also includes a lower support member attached to the second plate, with a biasing arrangement, such as at least one spring member or at least one engineered elastomeric element, which can include one or more silicone inserts, positioned within the lower support member. The elongate element extends from the first plate at least partially into the lower support member and movement of the elongate element is influenced or controlled by the biasing arrangement.

Field of the Invention
The present application is directed generally toward seismic isolators, and specifically toward seismic isolators for use in conjunction with buildings to inhibit damage to the buildings in the event of an earthquake.
Description of the Related Art
Seismic isolators are commonly used in areas of the world where the likelihood of an earthquake is high. Seismic isolators typically comprise a structure or structures that are located beneath a building, underneath a building support, and/or in or around the foundation of the building.
Seismic isolators are designed to minimize the amount of load and force that is directly applied to the building during the event of an earthquake, and to prevent damage to the building. Many seismic isolators incorporate a dual plate design, wherein a first plate is attached to the bottom of a building support, and a second plate is attached to the building's foundation. Between the plates are layers of rubber, for example, which allow side-to-side, swaying movement of the plates relative to one another. Other types of seismic isolators for example incorporate a roller or rollers built beneath the building, which facilitate movement of the building during an earthquake. The rollers are arranged in a pendulum-like manner, such that as the building moves over the rollers, the building shifts vertically at first until it eventually settles back in place.


An image processing apparatus, system, and method to automatically determine a plurality of image acquisition settings for an scene; acquire a set of images of the scene, the set of images including multiple images acquired with a distinct plurality of the determined image acquisition settings; and generate a single image by combining the acquired set of images.

When capturing an image using a conventional automatic mode of current cameras, camera phones, and other devices, the camera attempts to set the acquisition parameters such as exposure, focus, and white balance for the user. The automatic mode of operation attempts to obtain an optimal result in the captured image. However, due to limitations in the optics (e.g., depth of field) and sensor (e.g., sensitivity, dynamic range, etc.) of the camera, the images actually produced by the camera's automatic mode of operation are often images that are suboptimal in some aspects. For example, some objects in the resulting image may be in focus while others are out of focus due to the limited depth of field of the optical system. In high dynamic range scenes containing very bright and very dark regions the sensor might not be able to capture all regions at the same time due to the limited dynamic range of the sensor. In some instances low light scenarios may result in noise dominating the captured image if the exposure time is minimized in an attempt to avoid introducing motion blur.
As such, current camera automatic modes and techniques are often times insufficient to produce a good quality image that accurately represents the captured scene. Additionally, the current camera automatic modes and techniques only produce a single, static image, which cannot be later re-experienced under different conditions (e.g., re-focusing to different objects of interest). Furthermore, the heretofore proposed partial solutions for addressing the imaging problems above typically operate by acquiring multiple images with fixed parameters within a fixed interval or range of values determined by the automatic modes. It is also noted that a user must usually actively and specifically select a particular mode of camera operation in order to address a specific imaging situation that may be problematic for a conventional automatic mode. However, such a selection requires the user recognize the need to select the specific mode of operation and then make the camera mode change that will start the specific mode of operation before taking a picture.

Method and system for perfect shot imaging from multiple images


There is provided a piercing apparatus in which the occurrence of an inner surface flaw in a hollow shell is suppressed. A piercing apparatus (10) according to an embodiment of the present invention is the piercing apparatus (10) which pierces a billet (18). The piercing apparatus (10) has a plug (14). The plug (14) has a through hole (30). The through hole (30) extends along the central axis, and allows the central portion of the billet (18) being pierced to pass therethrough.

As a piercing apparatus for piercing a billet, for example, an inclined roll type piercing apparatus, a press roll piercing apparatus, and even a piercing press are available. The inclined roll type piercing apparatus is used for the production of seamless steel pipe using the Mannesmann process. The inclined roll type piercing apparatus produces a hollow shell by piercing-rolling a round billet.
The inclined roll type piercing apparatus includes, for example, a pair of inclined rolls and a plug. The paired inclined rolls are inclined with respect to the pass line. The plug is arranged on the pass line between the paired inclined rolls. On the inclined roll type piercing apparatus, the plug is pushed into a round billet while the round billet is rotated in the circumferential direction by the inclined rolls to piercing-roll the round billet into a hollow shell.
When the round billet is piercing-rolled into a hollow shell by using the inclined roll type piercing apparatus, a flaw (hereinafter, referred to as an inner surface flaw) may occur on the inner surface of the hollow shell. The inner surface flaw occurs, for example, through the mechanism described below. During the piercing-rolling, a Mannesmann fracture occurs on the round billet, and a flaw (crack) is formed in the central portion of the transverse cross section of round billet. The flaw formed in the central portion of round billet is turned to an inner surface flaw of the hollow shell by the piercing-rolling.
If the draft ratio of a plug nose is decreased, the inner surface flaw of hollow shell caused by the Mannesmann fracture can be reduced. However, as the draft ratio of the plug nose is decreased, the thrusting ability of round billet between the inclined rolls decreases. Therefore, it is preferable that the inner surface flaw of hollow shell can be reduced by any other method.
Techniques for reducing the inner surface flaw of hollow shell have been proposed in WO 2004/052569 (Patent Literature 1) and JP2009-18338A (Patent Literature 2).
In Patent Literature 1, a plug having a specific shape is used. This plug has a front end rolling portion, a work portion, and a reeling portion. The front end rolling portion has a columnar shape having an outside diameter d, and the front end surface thereof is formed in a spherical surface shape having a radius of curvature r. The work portion is formed by an arc rotating surface having a radius of curvature R so that the work portion is continuous with the front end rolling portion and the outside diameter thereof increases toward the rear end in the axial direction. The reeling portion is formed so as to be continuous with the work portion and has a predetermined taper angle such that the outside diameter increases toward the maximum outside diameter D at the rear end in the axial direction. The outside diameter d, the radius of curvature R, the axial direction length L1 of the front end rolling portion, the axial direction length L2 of the work portion, the axial direction length L3 of the reeling portion, and the outside diameter of a billet satisfy a predetermined relational expression.
In Patent Literature 2, a pusher device having a specific construction is used. This pusher device includes a cylinder device and a pusher mandrel. The cylinder device includes a cylinder shaft. The pusher mandrel is attached to the front end of the cylinder shaft. The front end of the pusher mandrel is brought into contact with the rear end of billet. The transverse cross-sectional area of pusher mandrel and the transverse cross-sectional area of billet satisfy a predetermined relational expression. The length of pusher mandrel and the transverse cross-sectional area of pusher mandrel satisfy a predetermined relational expression. The moved distance of the front end of cylinder shaft during piercing-rolling and the outside diameter of cylinder shaft satisfy a predetermined relational expression.
In both of the techniques in Patent Literatures 1 and 2, the Mannesmann fracture can be restrained. In some cases, however, a defect is present in the center of the transverse cross section of billet before piercing-rolling. Hereinafter, such a defect is referred to as a "center defect". The center defect is, for example, porosity or segregation occurring in the central portion of billet. The center defect includes a flaw formed in the central portion of billet. Even if the Mannesmann fracture can be restrained, if a billet having a center defect is piercing-rolled, the center defect is elongated and may appear on the inner surface of hollow shell.
Accordingly, to reduce the inner surface flaw attributable to the center defect in the billet, it is thought that the occurrence of defect is suppressed at the stage of a cast piece. For example, JP2-224856A (Patent Literature 3) discloses a technique for suppressing the occurrence of a vacancy-form defect in the central portion of the cast piece. In Patent Literature 3, before the solidification of the interior of cast piece drawn from a continuous casting mold is finished, the cast piece is forging-pressed continuously under predetermined conditions. However, it is difficult to completely eliminate the vacancy-form defect.

Piercing apparatus, plug used for piercing apparatus, and method for producing seamless steel pipe

NIPPON STEEL & SUMITOMO METAL CORPORATION


A method of improving the release and antideposition characteristics of a hard impermeable surface. A hard impermeable surface is coated with a film of an aqueous solution. The solution is formed by combining (i) a dimer of at least two alkoxy functional silanes, (ii) an aqueous silicone emulsion of a polydiorganosiloxane, and (iii) water. The film is allowed to dry on the hard impermeable surface or the film can be wiped to dryness. The solution may also contain a water soluble hydrophilic solvent such as propylene glycol.

This invention is directed to a silicone release agent which can be used on hard impermeable surfaces. The release agent is in the form of an aqueous solution containing an alkoxy functional silicone dimer, and a silicone emulsion.
Release agents are substances which control or eliminate the adhesion between two surfaces. Such agents are also known under a variety of terms such as antideposition aids, adherents, antistick agents, surface lubricants, and parting agents.
Release agents are available as neat liquids, solvent solutions, emulsions, and dispersions, and can be applied by standard coating methods such as brushing, dipping, or spraying, techniques. Their primary function is to reduce the accumulation of many different substances on various surfaces. Typically, a synthetic polymer is employed, and some common examples are the use of polyolefins for refrigerator ice trays, fluorocarbon treated cookware, and silicone treated metal baking dishes and pans.
According to the present invention, a novel silicone composition is provided, which has been found to possess the capability of imparting to hard impermeable surfaces, an improved appearance and excellent release characteristics. As a hard surface protectant, the composition allows easier cleaning of impermeable surfaces such as appliances, countertops, and siding, for example.


A projection system includes: a position detecting section that detects the position of a target object located in front of a host vehicle; and a control section which, on the basis of the position of the target object detected by the position detecting section, controls a headlamp so as to project onto the position of the target object a projection pattern that moves in a direction corresponding to the direction of motion of a background at the position of the target object or a direction corresponding to the opposite direction of the direction of motion of the background.

Technical Field
The present invention pertains to a projection system and a computer-readable storage medium and particularly to a projection system and a computer-readable storage medium that control a headlamp.
Related Art
Conventionally, a vehicle headlamp device has been known which can easily control the projection of light in the direction of a road shoulder in such a way that it can alert at least one of a driver and a pedestrian (e.g., Japanese Patent Application Laid-open (JP-A) No. 2009-220631).
Furthermore, a moving body approach notification system has been known which can, with a simple and easy configuration and such that is easy for a driver to understand in a sensory way, give notification of the presence of a moving body that is, approaching and difficult to notice (JP-A No. 2008-299779).
The technology of JP-A No. 2009-220631 has the problems that it is necessary to add a separate lamp in order to alert the driver and/or the pedestrian, the cost of the device increases, and the volume needed to install the device in a vehicle increases. Furthermore, sometimes, in cases where the driver is driving absentmindedly, the driver fails to notice the pedestrian just by having the headlights projected onto the pedestrian.
Furthermore, the technology of JP-A No. 2008-299779 has the problem that, although it uses a cabin lamp to notify the driver that a moving body is approaching, the lighting-up of the cabin lamp is difficult for a driver whose gaze is fixed in the forward direction to notice.

Projection system and computer-readable storage medium


A monitoring system includes at least one fixed location monitoring station, a remote central station and a communications link interconnecting the monitoring station with the remote central station. The monitoring station includes a processor coupled to an input device for retrieving subject identification definition data and subject location definition data. The processor also retrieves physiological parameter sampling data from the subject and determines whether the physiological parameter sampling data lies within boundary limits of the identification definition data and also determines whether the location of the monitoring station lies within boundary limits of the location definition data. In the event the sampling data and the fixed location are within boundary limits, the processor may actuate an access control to permit the subject to enter or exit a controlled premises. Transaction logs including out of boundary conditions as well as in boundary conditions and the location of the monitoring station are transmitted to a remote central station.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a system for monitoring a remote subject and more particularly to a system for identifying a monitored subject, ascertaining an out of boundary condition and transmitting event data pertaining to the monitoring activities to a central station.
2. Antecedent History
Various monitoring devices for promotion of safety and security of persons and property have been described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,825,283 entitled System for the Security and Auditing of Persons and Property, issued to Applicant herein on Oct. 20, 1998 and incorporated herein by reference.
While the previously known monitoring systems were capable of ascertaining the physical location of a subject as well as monitoring the status of vehicular functions and the like, e.g. U.S. Pat. No. 5,450,321, and were further capable of reducing the number of out of boundary condition reports by, for example, providing a time window within which an out of boundary condition may be corrected, as illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 5,430,432 entitled Automotive Warning and Recording System, issued Jul. 4, 1995 to Applicant herein, there was a perceived need to provide a monitoring system with remote monitoring stations capable of monitoring an identifying physiological parameter associated with the subject, determining whether an out of boundary condition exists and conveying event data to a central station.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


In order to handle platter flutter in a hard disk operated at high speed (e.g. 10,000 RPM) and maintain tracking of read/write head, peak filters are added to a head tracking servo feedback loop. In some embodiments, several lag-lead type peak filters centered at a plurality of flutter mode frequencies are provided to process a Position Error Signal (PES) read from the read/write head. The several filter are preferably arranged in series (i.e. to operate on the PES sequentially), alternatively the filters can be arranged in parallel. Phase lags and leads caused by the several filters partially cancel at frequencies intermediate center frequencies of the several filters. According to another embodiment two or more, preferably three narrow band filters are used to cover the spectrum of each flutter mode. In a configuration mode, a spectrum of the flutter modes can be obtained and used to set the center frequencies, and bandwidths of filters used to filter out the flutter modes.

Not applicable
1. Field of the Invention
The invention disclosed broadly relates to data storage devices. More particularly, the present invention relates to techniques for correcting the adverse effects of vibrations on servo systems in data storage devices.
2. Description of the Related Art
Hard disk drives are commonly used for mass storage purposes in computers. In FIG. 1 there is shown a block diagram of the major electro-mechanical components of a disk drive 102. The disk drive 102 has a read/write transducer 104, voice coil actuator 106, recording medium or disk 108, and read/write control electronics 110. There is a constant demand for increase storage capacity and reduced disk access times as new software and new applications become available. The present generation of hard disk drives 102 are designed to operate in a portable, a desk-top and a server environment. In order to meet the demand for lower disk access times, the spindle rotation speed for disk 108 has been on the increase. However this increase in spindle rotation speed has present substantial design challenges to overcome.
These design challenges can be categorized based on their source and the directional effects on the read/write transducer 104. The first problem is vibration which is caused from mass imbalances, physical tolerance limitations and electro-mechanical sources. The vibration manifests itself by moving the read/write transducer 104 back and forth in a direction parallel to the surface of the disk 108. The typical sources of vibration include the disk drive itself, other disk drives and other electro-mechanical drives sharing a chassis such as CD ROM drives, diskette drives, and tape drive devices. Vibration produces poor settle out and/or reduces track following characteristics, especially for track densities of 10,000 tracks per inch (TPI) and beyond. Servo systems reduce the track-follow error by about 20 to 30 dB using basic servo loop error rejection properties. Another technique for reducing the effects of vibration is disclosed in application Ser. No. 08/119,181 by S. M. Sri-Jayantha et al. entitled xe2x80x9cAdaptive Vibration Control For Servo Systems In Data Storage Devicesxe2x80x9d filed on Jul., 20, 1998 and is commonly assigned herewith to IBM.
The second problem is flutter of the disk platter 108. The flutter is the movement of the disk 108 that causes track mis-registration error (TMR). Disk-flutter, is primarily caused by pressure fluctuations associated with internal turbulent airflow. The airflow is the result of aerodynamic effects between the fast rotating surface of the disk 108 causing air to disturb the close flying read/write transducer 104. As the rotating speed of a disk is increased from 5,400 rpm to 10,000 rpm, the aerodynamically induced disk-flutter becomes a major contributor to track mis-registration error. The track density of present generation drive is about 15,000 TPI. About 30% of the TMR budget is consumed by disk-flutter effects at disk speeds 7,200 rpm in a disk drive with conventional servo-mechanics configuration. As track density is increased, the disk-flutter-based TMR is expected to contribute well above 30% of the allowed TMR budget unless a cost effective solution is found.
The impact of disk-flutter on TMR can be minimized by aerodynamic redesign of the base-plate, improved stiffness and damping of disk platter substrate, or by novel servo method. Present 3.5xe2x80x3 disk drives have reached the TMR limit posed by the disk-flutter mechanics. Disk-flutter has been observed in the high track density 3.5xe2x80x3 products. The disk-flutter problem can be tackled from three technical viewpoints: mechanical, aerodynamic, and servo.
A higher bandwidth servo system can effectively compensate for the disk-flutter, but no cost effective methodology has been proposed by the storage industry to increase the servo bandwidth without increasing the component count. The strength of the airflow disturbance can be reduced by means of shrouding. However, complex shrouding or machining operations makes the mechanical approach not economical. Moreover, the shrouding must be custom designed for each type and model of hard disk drive 102. One approach can be found in the prior art has been to reduce airflow disturbance in the disk enclosure is in U.S. Pat. No. 4,583,213 by Allen T. Bracken et al. for xe2x80x9cAir shroud for data storage disksxe2x80x9d, issued Apr. 15, 1986. Accordingly, a need exists to reduce fluttering in disk drives without the need of redesigning custom shrouding or custom base plates.
Another approach to reduce disk-flutter is by use of an alternate disk platter substrate with increased stiffness and damping properties. However, new substrates call for investments in research and development. Therefore, a need exists for a method and apparatus to reduce the effects of disk-fluttering TMR without the need of new disk substrates.
Still another approach to reduce disk-flutter problems is to use smaller diameter disk drives. Due to the lack of cost effective solutions for larger diameter hard disks, the storage industry has moved towards 3.0xe2x80x3 and 2.5xe2x80x3 diameter disks to minimize the severity of disk-flutter problems. The effect of mechanical movement of the data tracks due to disk-flutter can be effectively track-followed by increasing the servo bandwidth of a head positioning system. Using micro actuators the bandwidth of a conventional head positioning system can be increased. Examples of micro actuators are found in U.S. Pat. No. 5,657,188 by Ryan Jurgenson et al. for xe2x80x9cHead suspension with tracking microactuatorxe2x80x9d issued Aug. 12, 1997 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,189,578 by Kenji Mori for xe2x80x9cDisk system with sub-actuators for fine head displacementxe2x80x9d issued Feb. 23, 1993. But using micro actuators can add cost to the servo assembly. Accordingly, a need exists to reduce the effect of disk-fluttering TMR without the need to reduce the diameter of the disk and the need to use new forms of disk actuators.
Briefly, in accordance with the present invention, a rotating media storage system comprising: a servo feedback loop for providing a position error signal to position read/write transducer over a rotating media storage; a detector for detecting at least one of the disk-flutter modes induced on the transducer and a narrow band filter is set to servo compensate the fundamental mode of at least one flutter mode.
In another embodiment, the disk-flutter mode is minimized using a lead-lag filter which reduces the amplification of the disk-flutter in the flutter enhancement zone.
In accordance with another embodiment of the present invention, a method that corresponds to the above rotating media storage system is disclosed.

Servo system for disk-flutter in rotating storage systems

International Business Machines Corporation


A micro-machine switch which causes a contact electrode to make contact with or separate away from a signal line formed on a substrate, to thereby turn on or off the signal line, includes (a) first to N-th lower electrodes formed on the substrate, wherein N is an integer equal to or greater than 2, (b) first to N-th upper electrodes supported facing the first to N-th lower electrodes, respectively, and (c) an electrode supporter for vertically raising and lowering the first to N-th upper electrodes between a first position where the contact electrode makes contact with the signal line when electrostatic force is generated between the first to N-th upper electrodes and the first to N-th lower electrodes, respectively, and a second position where the contact electrode is separated away from the signal line when the electrostatic force is not generated.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a micro-machine mems switch, with electrical insulator and more particularly to a micro-machine switch used for opening and closing an electric contact.
2. Description of the Related Art
As one of conventional micro-machine switches, the micro-machine switch suggested in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 9-17300, which is based on the U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/493,445 filed on Jun. 22, 1995 and assigned to Rockwell International Corporation, is illustrated in FIGS. 1A and 1B. FIG. 1A is a plan view of the same, and FIG. 1B is a cross-sectional view taken along the line 1Bxe2x80x941B in FIG. 1A.
An anchor 114 composed of thermosetting polyimide, a lower electrode 116 composed of gold, and a signal line 118 composed of gold are formed on a substrate 112 composed of GaAs.
A cantilever arm 120 supported at one end on the anchor 114 extends beyond the lower electrode 116 and to the signal line 118, and faces both the lower electrode 116 and the signal line 118 with a spatial gap therebetween. The cantilever arm 120 is comprised of silicon dioxide films.
An upper electrode 124 composed of aluminum is formed on the cantilever arm 120, extending from the anchor 114 to the lower electrode 116.
A contact electrode 122 composed of gold is formed on a lower surface of the cantilever arm 120 in alignment with the signal line 118.
The signal line 118 faces the contact electrode 122 with a gap therebetween. Accordingly, when no voltage is applied to the micro-machine switch, no current runs through the signal line 118.
On application of a voltage of 30V across the upper electrode 124 and the lower electrode 116, there is generated electrostatic force which pulls the upper electrode 124 towards the substrate 112. Hence, the cantilever arm 120 is downwardly deformed, resulting in that the contact electrode 122 makes contact with the signal line 118, and accordingly, a current runs through the signal line 118.
Thus, it is possible to make a current run through the signal line 118 or stop a current from doing the same by applying a voltage across the upper electrode 124 and the lower electrode 116 or stopping application of the voltage.
However, the conventional micro-machine switch 110 illustrated in FIGS. 1A and 1B is accompanied with the following problems.
When the cantilever arm 120 is deformed towards the substrate 112, the contact electrode 122 located at a distal end of the cantilever 120 first makes contact with the signal line 118, and then, the upper electrode 124 is attracted towards the lower electrode 116. In this situation, a force is applied to the cantilever arm 120 at a proximal end, and not at a distal end of the cantilever arm 120.
As a result, the contact electrode 122 does not make parallel contact with the signal line 118, but makes contact with the signal line 118 at a certain angle. That is, the contact electrode 122 makes contact with the signal line 118 only in a certain area. This causes non-uniformity in a contact resistance of the signal line 118, and degrades an area at which the contact electrode 122 makes contact with the signal line 118, in a lifetime test in which a load is applied to the signal line 118.
That is, the first problem is remarkable deterioration in contact performance.
In the micro-machine switch 110 having a structure where a force is applied to the cantilever arm 120 at a proximal end thereof to thereby cause the contact electrode 122 to make contact with the signal line 118, it is considered that the contact electrode 122 slides relative to the signal line 118. The slide movement between the contact electrode 122 and the signal line 118 increases an adhesive force generated therebetween in dependence on materials of which the contact electrode 122 and the signal line 118 are composed and a contact force therebetween, resulting in problems of non-uniformity in a restoring voltage and troubles in operation.
In the micro-machine switch 110, the contact electrode 122 and the signal line 118 are both composed of gold. Since gold has high electrical conductivity, it would be possible for a switch composed of gold to accomplish small insertion loss and high current-running capacity. However, since gold has a highest adhesion coefficient, gold would generate a high adhesive force.
An operational voltage at which the micro-machine switch 110 operates is dependent on a restoring force generated by the cantilever arm 120 and an electrostatic force generated between the upper electrode 124 and the lower electrode 116.
On the other hand, a characteristic of a contact resistance between the signal line 118 and the upper electrode 122 is dependent predominantly of a contact force. One of factors for determining a contact force is a spring constant of the cantilever 120 after the contact electrode has made contact with the signal line 118.
That is, stiffness of the cantilever arm 120 determines a characteristic of an operational voltage and a characteristic of a contact resistance. Hence, the micro-machine switch 110 has to be designed taking a balance between those characteristics into consideration, resulting in reduction in designability of the micro-machine switch 110.
The conventional micro-switch 110 is singly fabricated on the single substrate 112, and controls on/off of the signal line 118. In other words, the conventional micro-machine switch 110 has only one signal-input section and only one signal-output section. Hence, if a signal was to be output into a predetermined signal line among a plurality of signal lines, it was necessary to fabricate a circuit including a plurality of the micro-machine switches 110 each formed on the substrate 112.
However, such a circuit would increase a size of a system board including the circuit, and further increase a cost of fabricating the system board.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 9-147720 has suggested a relay unit including a movable contact block having a movable contact at a center in an upper surface thereof and further having a movable piece deformable in a thickness-wise direction in accordance with an external signal, and a fixed contact block having a fixed contact facing the movable contact, the fixed contact being capable of making contact with and separating away from the movable contact.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 9-269336 has suggested a micro G switch including a beam and a movable mass both fabricated by processing a silicon substrate. The movable mass is comprised of a movable contact supported by the beam, and a fixed contact formed on a glass substrate in facing relation to the movable contact. A center of gravity of the movable mass is located on a center line of the beam. The beam, the movable mass, the movable contact and the fixed contact are positioned in a hermetically sealed space formed by the silicon and glass substrates.
The above-mentioned problems remain unsolved even in the above-mentioned Publications.
In view of the above-mentioned problems in the conventional micro-machine switches, it is an object of the present invention to provide a micro-machine switch which is capable of stably operating and being fabricated in low costs.
In one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a micro-machine switch which causes a contact electrode to make contact with or separate away from a signal line formed on a substrate, to thereby turn on or off the signal line, including (a) first to N-th lower electrodes formed on the substrate, wherein N is an integer equal to or greater than 2, (b) first to N-th upper electrodes supported facing the first to N-th lower electrodes, respectively, and (c) a device for vertically raising and lowering the first to N-th upper electrodes between a first position where the contact electrode makes contact with the signal line when electrostatic force is generated between the first to N-th upper electrodes and the first to N-th lower electrodes, respectively, and a second position where the contact electrode is separated away from the signal line when the electrostatic force is not generated.
It is preferable that the first to N-th lower electrodes are located in symmetry about the signal line.
It is preferable that the first to N-th upper electrodes are located in symmetry about the contact electrode.
There is further provided a micro-machine switch which causes a contact electrode to make contact with or separate away from a signal line formed on a substrate, to thereby turn on or off the signal line, including (a) a first support formed on the substrate, (b) a second support formed on the substrate at a distance away from the first support, (c) a first upper electrode located between the first and second supports, (d) a second upper electrode located between the first upper electrode and the second support, (e) a first resilient member connecting the first support and the first upper electrode to each other such that the first upper electrode is kept floating above the substrate, (f) a second resilient member connecting the second support and the second upper electrode to each other such that the second upper electrode is kept floating above the substrate, (g) a first lower electrode formed on the substrate below the first upper electrode, and (h) a second lower electrode formed on the substrate below the second upper electrode, the contact electrode being supported between the first and second upper electrodes such that the contact electrode is floating above the substrate, the contact electrode being caused to make contact with the signal line when electrostatic force is generated between the first upper electrode and the first lower electrode and further between the second upper electrode and the second lower electrode, the contact electrode being separated away from the signal line due to restoring force generated by the first and second resilient members.
In the above-mentioned micro-machine switch, the first support, the first resilient member, the first upper electrode, the contact electrode, the second upper electrode, the second resilient member and the second support are arranged in this order. The first resilient member, the first upper electrode, the contact electrode, the second upper electrode and the second resilient member are supported floating above the substrate. On the substrate are formed the first and second lower electrodes facing the first and second upper electrodes, respectively.
By applying a voltage between the first and second upper electrodes and the first and second lower electrodes, there is generated an electrostatic force. By increasing this voltage, the generated electrostatic force increases, and hence, the first and second upper electrodes are attracted to the first and second lower electrodes, and resultingly, the contact electrode approaches the signal line.
By further increasing the voltage, a restoring force caused by the first and second resilient members overcomes the electrostatic force, and accordingly, the contact electrode makes contact with the signal line. Thus, the signal line is turned on.
By decreasing the voltage, the contact electrode separates away from the signal line due to the restoring force of the first and second resilient members. As a result, the signal line is turned off.
In the conventional micro-machine switch illustrated in FIGS. 1A and 1B, since the contact electrode moved in a curved line and then made contact with the signal line, there were caused problems of partial contact between the contact electrode and the signal line and slide movement of the contact electrode relative to the signal line.
In contrast, the contact electrode in the present invention makes contact with or separates away from the signal line with being positioned between the first and second upper electrodes. Thus, the contact electrode in the present invention moves in parallel with the signal line when making contact with the signal line, ensuring that the above-mentioned problems of partial contact and slide movement are no longer caused.
The micro-machine switch in accordance with the present invention may have the following structure and function.
The micro-machine switch electrically connects a first signal line formed on a substrate, to a second signal line spaced away from one end of the first signal line, or electrically disconnects the first signal line from the second signal line.
The micro-machine switch includes first and second supports fixed on the substrate and positioned in the vicinity of a space between the first and second signal lines and in symmetry about the signal line, first and second resilient members projecting from the first and second supports, respectively, and mechanically and electrically connected to the first and second supports, respectively, first and second upper electrodes mechanically and electrically connected to the first and second resilient members, respectively, an electrically insulating plate fixed to lower surfaces of the first and second upper electrodes and horizontally spaced away from the substrate, first and second lower electrodes formed on the substrate in alignment with the first and second upper electrodes, respectively, and a contact electrode mounted on a lower surface of the electrically insulating plate.
The first support, the first resilient member and the first upper electrode all located at a side of the signal line are integrally formed, and the second support, the second resilient member and the second upper electrode all located at the other side of the signal line are integrally formed. The contact electrode is equally spaced away from the first and second upper electrodes.
By applying a voltage across the first and second upper electrodes and the first and second lower electrodes, electrostatic forces having the same intensity are generated at the opposite sides of the contact electrode. The electrostatic forces allow the contact electrode to make contact with the signal line in parallel. When the voltage is stopped from being applied across the first and second upper electrodes and the first and second lower electrodes, the contact electrode separates away from the signal line in parallel.
Thus, it is possible to solve the above-mentioned problems of partial contact and slide movement, and ensure a preferred characteristic in operation.
By composing the contact electrode of ruthenium, for instance, it would be possible to reduce an adhesive force of the contact electrode down to such a degree that the adhesive force does not harmfully influence an operational characteristic of the micro-machine switch.
In the micro-machine switch in accordance with the present invention, after the contact electrode has made contact with the signal line, the electrical insulating member surrounds the contact electrode. As a result, a contact force which determines a contact resistance characteristic can be ensured due to stiffness of the electrical insulating plate, and has nothing to do with stiffness of the first and second resilient members which determine an operational voltage characteristic.
Hence, the designability of the micro-machine switch can be enhanced.
A plurality of the above-mentioned micro-machine switches may be formed on a single substrate. Specifically, a plurality of signal input sections and a plurality of signal output sections are formed on a single substrate, and the micro-machine switches are arranged across the signal input sections and the signal output sections. This arrangement makes it possible to output a signal into a predetermined signal output section. This ensures reduction in a size of a system board including the micro-machine switches.
It is preferable that the micro-machine switch further includes an electrical insulator extending between the first and second resilient members in parallel with the substrate, and having a first surface facing the substrate and a second surface not facing the substrate, the contact electrode being mounted on the first surface of the electrical insulator, the first and second upper electrodes being mounted on the second surface of the electrical insulator.
For instance, the electrical insulator may be in the form of a plate.
It is preferable that the micro-machine switch further includes a first pad formed on the substrate and electrically connected to the first upper electrode through a wire, and a second pad formed on the substrate and electrically connected to the second upper electrode through a wire.
It is preferable that the micro-machine switch further includes a third pad formed on the substrate and electrically connected to the first lower electrode through a wire, and a fourth pad formed on the substrate and electrically connected to the second lower electrode through a wire.
It is preferable that the substrate has a grounded area surrounding the signal line, the grounded area being electrically connected to the first and second lower electrodes.
It is preferable that the grounded area surrounds the signal line at a constant distance therebetween.
For instance, the substrate may be composed of glass or silicon.
It is preferable that at least a surface of the contact electrode is composed of ruthenium (Ru), rhodium (Rh) or gold cobalt, in which case, it is preferable that the contact electrode is composed of gold except the surface.
It is preferable that at least a surface of the signal line is composed of ruthenium (Ru), rhodium (Rh) or gold cobalt, in which case, it is preferable that the signal line is composed of gold except the surface.
The micro-machine switch may further include a reinforcing plate mounted on the second surface of the electrical insulator between the first and second upper electrodes.
It is preferable that the reinforcing plate has a larger area than an area of the contact electrode, and has a greater thickness than thicknesses of the contact electrode and the electrical insulator.
It is preferable that a first gap between the first upper electrode and the first lower electrode is equal to a second gap between the second upper electrode and the second lower electrode, and the first and second gaps are greater than a third gap between the contact electrode and the signal line.
It is preferable that the first and second upper electrodes are electrically connected to each other through a wire, and the first and second lower electrodes are electrically connected to each other through a wire.
In another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a micro-machine switch unit including (a) a substrate, (b) first to N-th micro-machine switches wherein N is an integer equal to or greater than 2, and (c) a common signal line and first to N-th signal lines all formed on the substrate, a K-th micro-machine switch electrically connecting the common signal line to a K-th signal line and electrically disconnecting the common signal line from a K-th signal line wherein K is an integer in the range of 1 to N both inclusive. Each of the first to N-th micro-machine switches is comprised of the above-mentioned micro-machine switch.
In still another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of fabricating a micro-machine switch including a first substrate, first and second supports standing on the first substrate, first and second upper electrodes located between the first and second supports, and first and second resilient members connecting the first and second supports to the first and second upper electrodes such that the first and second upper electrodes are kept floating above the first substrate, the method including the steps of (a) etching the first substrate in a selected area, (b) forming a mask on the first substrate, (c) diffusing an impurity into the first substrate in an area not covered with the mask, to thereby make a pattern of the first and second supports, the first and second upper electrodes, and the first and second resilient members, (d) forming an electrical insulator on the first substrate such that the first and second upper electrodes are located on the electrical insulator, (e) forming a contact electrode between the first and second upper electrodes, (f) fixating the first substrate on a second substrate such that the first and second supports stand on the second substrate, a signal line being formed on the second substrate in alignment with the contact electrode, first and second lower electrodes being formed on the second substrate in alignment with the first and second upper electrodes, respectively, and (g) melting the first substrate except the area into which the impurity was diffused.
It is preferable that a pattern of a reinforcing plate is also made in the step (c), the reinforcing plate being mounted on the electrical conductor between the first and second upper electrodes in a final product.
It is preferable that the first substrate is fixated to the second substrate in the step (f) by electrostatic bonding.
It is preferable that the first substrate is composed of silicon and the second substrate is composed of ceramics or GaAs, and the first substrate is fixated to the second substrate through an adhesive.
The advantages obtained by the aforementioned present invention will be described hereinbelow.
In accordance with the present invention, a contact electrode moves in parallel with a signal line, and makes contact with the signal line. Thus, the problems of partial contact between a contact electrode and a signal line and slide movement between a contact electrode and a signal line, which remain unsolved in the conventional micro-machine switch, can be solved. Accordingly, the micro-machine switch can stable operate.
In other words, in the micro-machine switch in accordance with the present invention, electrostatic forces necessary for turning a signal line on are generated in symmetry about a contact electrode, and restoring forces necessary for turning a signal line off are generated in symmetry about a contact electrode. This structure enables a contact electrode to make contact with a signal line almost in parallel. Hence, it would be possible to prevent partial contact and slide movement of a contact electrode when the contact electrode makes contact with or separates away from a signal line.
In addition, by composing a contact electrode of rhodium, ruthenium or gold cobalt, it would be possible to minimize adhesion in a contact area of a contact electrode at which the contact electrode makes contact with a signal line, ensuring both reduction in non-uniformity in a voltage to be applied across the upper and lower electrodes, and prevention of troubles in operation.
An operational voltage can be ensured by stiffness of the first and second resilient members, and a contact force of a contact area where a contact electrode makes contact with a signal line can be ensured by stiffness of the electrical insulator. As a result, the micro-machine switch could have enhanced designability.
Furthermore, a plurality of output signal lines, a common signal line electrically connected to each of the output signal lines, and a plurality of the micromachine switches can be formed on a single substrate. This ensures that an apparatus which can turn on or off a plurality of signal lines can be fabricated in a small size and in low fabrication costs.
The above and other objects and advantageous features of the present invention will be made apparent from the following description made with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which like reference characters designate the same or similar parts throughout the drawings.

Micro-machine (MEMS) switch with electrical insulator


A system uses a keyboard application to encrypt and decrypt e-mail, messages, and other digital data. By using quantum random number generators, the system has improved data security. Using a quantum random number, an agent (at a sender side) generates an encryption key which is used to automatically encrypt a message. The encryption key is stored at a key server. The encrypted message will be sent by an application using its standard transmission means such as SMTP, SMS, and others. The encrypted message can be automatically unencrypted by using an agent (at a recipient side) and retrieving the key from the key server. The system also provides an optional double encryption, where the message is encrypted with a user-generated password before being encrypted using the encryption key.

This invention relates to encryption of software and more specifically to encryption and decryption of e-mail, application messaging, and other digital data.
The Internet and Internet communications such as e-mail and text messaging have enjoyed widespread success. However, there are significant concerns about preventing data breaches and ways of securing digital communications.
There is a need for improved approaches to securing digital communications, especially through encryption.

Using keyboard app to encrypt e-mail and other digital data


An upright vacuum cleaner with one or more features, such as a top opening rigid container, a headlight, a replaceable power cord a motor housing suspended within the vacuum to reduce noise and/or vibration a clutch assembly with a RPM sensor, and/or one or more filter plates to improve airflow.

1. Field of the Invention
The inventions disclosed and taught herein relate generally to vacuum cleaners; and more specifically relate to upright vacuum cleaners.
2. Description of the Related Art
U.S. Pat. No. 8,424,155 teaches a "floor cleaning apparatus includes a body having a nozzle assembly and a canister assembly. The handle assembly is pivotally attached to the nozzle assembly. The nozzle assembly includes an agitator cavity that receives a rotary agitator. Both a suction generator and a dirt collection vessel are carried on the body. In addition, the vacuum cleaner includes an agitator lift assembly. The agitator lift assembly includes a sliding actuator and a fulcrum plate."
U.S. Pat. No. 8,286,302 teaches an "upright vacuum cleaner for cleaning a surface includes a base unit, a carriage configured to move the base unit on the surface, and an upper body having a dust collection container disposed therein. The upper body is supported so as to be tiltable relative to the base unit and is lockable in a parked position in which the vacuum cleaner has a substantially upright position when standing on the surface. A motor-fan unit is configured to provide a partial vacuum at the surface. An air conduit connecting the base unit and the dust collection container includes an interface and a section formed by a hose or an assembly of the hose and a wand. The section is connected downstream of the interface and is disposed at least partially externally on the upper body. The section is configured to enable a vacuuming mode of operation that is independent of the base unit. A tubular member forming at least part of a transition between the hose and the upper body. The tubular member is swivelably disposed on the upper body."
U.S. Pat. No. 8,281,456 teaches an "upright vacuum cleaner for cleaning a surface includes an upper body with a handle, a base unit and a carriage configured to move the base unit on the surface. The carriage includes a wheel disposed in a rear portion of the base unit. A motor-fan unit is disposed in the base unit and configured to create a partial vacuum at the surface. A tilting joint provides for relative tilting between the upper body and the base unit. The tilting joint has a pivot axis extending in a horizontal direction when the vacuum cleaner is in a position of use. The wheel is mounted on a pivotable carrier member, which has a pivot axle that is spaced apart from a rotatable axle of the wheel. A pivoting mechanism is disposed on the tilting joint in a vicinity of the carrier member and is configured to pivot the carrier member and the wheel during a pivoting movement of the upper body relative to the base unit."
U.S. Pat. No. 8,272,097 teaches an "upright vacuum cleaner for cleaning a surface includes an upper body having a dust collection container received therein, a base unit and a carriage configured to provide movement of the base unit on the surface. A motor-fan unit is disposed in the base unit and configured to create a partial vacuum at the surface. A rigid, yoke-shaped duct member provides at least a portion of an air path from the base unit to the upper body. The yoke-shaped duct member supports the upper body such that the upper body is pivotable relative to the base unit about a tilt axis extending horizontally when the upright vacuum cleaner is in a position of use."
U.S. Pat. No. 8,201,302 teaches an "upright vacuum cleaner for cleaning a surface includes an upper body with a dust collection container received therein, and a base unit. A carriage is configured to provide movement of the base unit on the surface. A motor-fan unit is disposed in the base unit and configured to provide a partial vacuum at the surface. The upper body is connected to the base unit by a tilting joint such that the upper body and base unit are tiltable relative to each other about a tilt axis extending horizontally when the upright vacuum cleaner is in a position of use. An air conduit is disposed rotatably with respect to the motor-fan unit and communicates with a suction side of the motor-fan unit."
The inventions disclosed and taught herein are directed to advanced features for an upright vacuum cleaner.