A method of assembling a multi-chip electronic device into a thin electronic package entails inverting a flip-chip die arrangement over a hollow substrate, stacking additional dies on the hollow substrate to form a multi-chip electronic device, and encapsulating the multi-chip electronic device. Containment of the encapsulant can be achieved by joining split substrate portions, or by reinforcing a hollow unitary substrate, using a removable adhesive film. Use of the removable adhesive film facilitates surrounding the multi-chip electronic device with the encapsulant. The adhesive film can also prevent encapsulant from creeping around the substrate to an underside of the substrate that supports solder ball pads for subsequent attachment to a ball grid array (BGA) or a land grid array (LGA).

1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to electronic packaging of microelectronic devices.
2. Description of the Related Art
A trend in microelectronics packaging is reduction of the electronic package dimensions—both the package footprint and the package thickness—while continuing to provide greater functionality. It is now customary to stack multiple integrated circuit dice, electrically connect the dice using wire bonds, and encapsulate the stack into a single electronic package. The packaged multi-chip electronic device can then be surface-mounted to a printed circuit board (PCB) by forming a two-dimensional array of solder balls on an underside of the packaged device. Such PCBs can then be installed in, for example, mobile electronic devices such as smart phones, tablet computers, global positioning system (GPS) mapping devices, digital cameras, and the like. Each generation of such mobile devices demands smaller and thinner electronic packages, while providing more functions to consumers. Enhanced functionality requires more complex integrated circuits, and more dice stacked into the electronic package.


An inventory retrieval method is disclosed for use with a central order desk computer. The computer has a database containing inventory unit identification related to specific storage locations in a warehouse. One or more inventory retrieval carts are provided, each cart having a number of containers suitable for receiving inventory picked from designated storage locations. Each cart has a display, and communicates with the computer by radio transmission. According to the method multiple orders are received at the computer. Each order is assigned to a container on an assigned cart. The computer sends successive pick locations to the cart, and the cart operator fills the containers on the cart according to the symbol received from the computer.

Various cart apparatus and inventory management systems have heretofore been devised.
For example U.S. Pat. No. 4,363,496 discloses a material handling cart which provides for the transportation and storage of material handling totes in manageable quantities. The material handling cart includes a pair of spaced parallel, vertical members interconnected by a plurality of equidistantly spaced horizontal support rails. A forwardly and downwardly projecting support leg is connected to each of the vertical members and terminates in a vertical portion remote from the connection to the vertical members. A first pair of fixed casters are mounted to the bottom of each of the vertical members and a second pair of rotatable casters are mounted in the ends of each of the vertical portions of the support legs. The material handling cart has curved handle portions and hand grips in order to manoeuvre the material handling cart. The parallel horizontal support rails are structured in order to accommodate material handling totes of the type disclosed in U.S. patent application No. 212,946.
In another example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,834,725 discloses a trolley adapted to hold or to exhibit things or articles of different kinds. The trolley has a plurality of vertically stacked tray-like horizontal containers which are connected to one another by three uprights. The upper and lower containers are fixed to the uprights and the intermediate containers are revolvable on bearings. The trolley has casters attached to each of the three uprights beneath the base container to permit the trolley to be rolled about on a horizontal surface. The trolley also allows for the attachment of accessories to customize the trolley to assist the operator in their task.
Another device is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,920,488 which discloses a method for the inventory of a large number of items having the following steps:
(a) bar code labels are attached to each item to uniquely identify such item; PA1 (b) portable hand held bar code readers read the bar code labels on each item and an operator inputs their absolute geographic location in terms of latitude, longitude and elevation (within one foot of accuracy) in association with the specific bar code; PA1 (c) the information obtained by the portable hand held bar code reader is transferred to a digital computer system and that information is use to update the inventory records, each bar code designation being associated with its geographic location.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,636,950 discloses an inventory management system using transponders associated with specific products. This inventory management system requires the securement to an inventory unit of a micro-electronic transponder having on it an identifiable and coded identification which can communicate with computer controllers and automated data processors. The computer controllers transmit signals which activate the micro-electronic transponder associated with the inventory unit allowing the operator to locate the inventory unit and to engage in inventory analysis.
Finally, U.S. Pat. No. 4,025,766 discloses an inventory recordation and processing system. This system incorporates a platform for attachment to the operator in order to support instrumentation having an alpha-numeric keyboard, calculator and display which is connected to a data-recorder for processing inventory data in a rapid, efficient and accurate manner without the use of written documentation. The data is inputted into the data-recorder on site. Thereafter the data-recorder is connected to a decoder and the information is used to update the inventory records.
Each of said prior art devices referred to above present relatively complicated devices having limited utility.
Moreover, the prior art devices utilized heretofore relate to structures which provide picking of units one order at a time. Such prior art devices do not provide for mobile multiple pickings.
Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide an improved cart and inventory control procedure.
Finally, it is an aspect of this invention to provide a method for multiple order picking and inventory control of units at a pick location in a warehouse, including the steps of: affixing to each unit a code representing that pickable unit and its pick location in the warehouse; inputting said codes into a computer; inputting multiple customer orders into the computer; assigning each of said multiple customer orders to a container on an assigned cart transmitting sequentially from said computer to said cart pick locations for each of said multiple customer orders to a radio frequency terminal an assigned cart by means of radio frequency broadcast; moving a cart carrying radio frequency terminal to pick location displayed on the radio frequency terminal; verifying proper pick location; displaying the quantity of units to be placed in a container carried by the cart; picking displayed quantity of units for placement into appropriate container; manually communicating with the radio frequency terminal to indicate the pick at the location is completed and transmitting the communication to the computer; receiving the next instructions from the computer concerning the next designated pick location; repeating moving, verifying, picking and communicating steps sequentially until assigned multiple customer orders have been picked.


The present invention relates to a phase-locked loop (PLL) circuit and, more particularly to a PLL with a phase lock detection circuit. The PLL circuit includes a phase detector, a charge pump, a loop filter, a voltage controlled oscillator (VCO), a frequency divider, and a phase lock detection circuit having two current charging/discharging circuits with first and second constant current sources for generating a phase lock signal having a pulse form through charging/discharging a capacitor. A voltage level of the capacitor is changed with a hysteresis characteristic. In the out-of-lock state of the PLL circuit, the discharging speed of the capacitor is faster than the charging speed thereof. In the phase lock state of the PLL circuit, the charging speed of the capacitor is faster than the discharging speed thereof. Since the charging/discharging operation of the capacitor is executed linearly and symmetrically, the phase lock detection circuit according to the present invention can obtain stable phase lock information. In addition, it is able to forecast the result of the phase lock state apart from a process variation by using the current mirror.

The present invention relates to a phase-locked loop (PLL) circuit and, more particularly, to a PLL with a phase lock detection circuit.
Phase-locked loops (PLLs) are found in a myriad of electronic applications such as communication receivers and clock synchronization circuits for computer systems. A conventional PLL includes a phase detector for monitoring the phase difference between an input signal and an output signal of a voltage controlled oscillator (VCO) and generating an up control signal and a down control signal for a charge pump circuit which charges and discharges the loop filter at the input of the VCO. The up and down control signals drive the VCO to maintain a predetermined phase relationship between the signals applied to a phase detector, as is well understood.
It is common for the PLL to lose phase lock should the input signal fade or jump to a radically different frequency of operation. The out-of-lock state can be detected with a detection circuit and the system processing suspended until the PLL can re-achieve phase lock. Most, if not all, such lock detection schemes monitor the up control signal and the down control signal at the output of the phase detector to ascertain the lock status of the PLL. If the up control signal and down control signal are not pulsing, then loop node voltage remains substantially constant and the PLL should be in phase lock. When the up control signal and the down control signal are steadily generating pulses charging or discharging the loop filter to adjust the input voltage of the VCO, the loop must be in motion and thus out of phase lock.
During normal operation, the loop node is continuously subjected to leakage through the charge pump circuit thus requiring occasional pulses to maintain the voltage controlling the VCO. However, these intermittent pulses should not indicate an out-of-lock state. The conventional detection circuit typically includes a delay circuit comprising, for example, a string of serially coupled inverters designed to ignore short intermittent pulses from the phase detector having less than a predetermined pulse width. The up and down control signals must have a pulse width as least as long as the delay circuit to trigger an out-of-lock signal. Unfortunately, the pulse widths of the up and down control signals are subject to temperature and process variation and therefore are not well suited as control parameters for ascertaining phase lock. The pulse widths of the up and down control signals are merely rough indicators having limited accuracy of the true phase relationship between the input signals of the phase detector.
Hence, what is needed is an improved detection circuit for a PLL which directly monitors the input signals of the phase detector to determine the lock status of the loop.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a phase lock detection circuit for a PLL circuit in order to supply stable phase lock information.
To attain the above and other objects, according to an aspect of the present invention there is provided a phase lock detection circuit including: a capacitor; a first constant current source for supplying a first constant current; a second constant current source for supplying a second constant current corresponding to M-times (M is an integer of two and more) the first constant current; a window signal generating circuit responsive to the output signal, for generating a window signal which has a pulse width corresponding to an acceptable phase error; a delay circuit for delaying the input signal; a detection circuit for detecting whether the delayed input signal is within the pulse width of the window signal or not and generating a detection signal as a detection result; a first circuit for supplying the first constant current as a charging source of the capacitor or providing a discharge path thereto in response to both a control signal and the detection signal during a first state when the input and output signals are not phase locked; a second circuit for supplying the second constant current as a charging source of the capacitor or providing the discharge path thereto in response to both the control and detection signals during a second state when the input and output signals are phase locked; and a first inverter coupled to the capacitor, for outputting the control signal in accordance with a voltage level developed across the capacitor, wherein during the first state, a charging time of the capacitor is longer than a discharging time thereof, and during the second state, the charging time of the capacitor is more short than the discharging time thereof.
The present invention will be better understood from the following detailed description of the exemplary embodiment thereof taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, and its scope will be pointed out in the appended claims.

Phase lock detection circuit for phase-locked loop circuit


Brackets for mounting auxiliary suspension systems, such as lift axle systems, to vehicles are disclosed herein. For example, brackets are disclosed for attaching lift axle hanger brackets and lift axle load springs to corresponding frame members. In some embodiments, the frame brackets can include physical features (e.g., a series of graduated steps in an edge portion thereof) to facilitate visual alignment of the lift axle with the vehicle frame members during installation. In other embodiments, the frame brackets can be two-piece brackets that enable the load springs to be removed and replaced without having to detach the frame bracket from the frame rail.

Many heavy-duty trucks are designed to carry a wide range of loads that vary depending on the type or amount of cargo they may be carrying. To carry the full range of loads, some trucks include one or more non-drive rear axles in conjunction with one or more drive axles. The non-drive rear axles may be needed for a variety of reasons, such as to comply with suspension and tire load ratings, bridge laws, etc. When the truck is unloaded, the non-drive axle is just "along for the ride," since it is not needed to carry any load in that condition. For this reason, many trucks use non-drive axles that can be lifted off of the ground and into a stored position (the "lifted position" or "raised position") when not needed. This type of axle is often referred to as a "lift axle," a "liftable axle," an "auxiliary axle," and/or an "auxiliary suspension system." By raising the lift axle when the vehicle is lightly loaded, wear on the lift axle tires can be reduced and fuel economy can be increased due to the absence of rolling resistance from the lift axle tires.
Lift axles can be installed ahead of or behind a drive axle on a straight truck or tractor. If a lift axle is positioned ahead of the drive axle, the lift axle is referred to as a "pusher." If the lift axle is positioned behind the drive axle, it is referred to as a "tag." Lift axles can also be installed ahead of or behind an axle or tandem axles on an articulating trailer. There are both steerable and non-steerable lift axles. As the name implies, the wheels on a non-steerable lift axle cannot turn left or right, and as a result non-steerable lift axles need to be raised prior to turning a tight corner or the tires will scuff and impose high lateral stresses on the wheels and other chassis components. In contrast, steerable lift axles include wheels that can caster so they turn and can remain in contact with the ground during tight turning. Various lift axle systems and associated components are described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,403,031 to Gottschalk et al., U.S. Pat. No. 6,073,947 to Gottschalk et al., U.S. Pat. No. 6,311,993 to Hulstein et al., U.S. Pat. No. 6,880,839 to Keeler et al., U.S. Pat. No. 9,352,628 to Barton et al., and U.S. Pat. No. 9,688,318 to Wetter et al., each of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
Lift axle systems are typically attached to the chassis of a truck or other vehicle by a set of brackets. For example, some lift axle systems include two forward hanger brackets that pivotally support the lift axle, and two rearward load springs (e.g., air springs) that are mounted to the lift axle. Such lift axle systems can be attached to the vehicle chassis by two forward brackets and two rear brackets. The two forward brackets attach the two hanger brackets to the two longitudinal frame members, and the two rear brackets attach the two load springs to the two frame members. Often, however, it may be necessary or desirable to adjust the left-to-right position of the lift axle relative to the vehicle frame during installation (or subsequent service) to ensure proper alignment of the axle. Additionally, it may also be necessary or desirable to remove and replace one of load springs without having to detach and then reinstall the corresponding rear frame bracket.
FIG. 1 is an isometric view of a portion of a lift axle system 110 having a hanger bracket 104 attached to a vehicle frame member 102 by a bracket 106 configured in accordance with the prior art. Although FIG. 1 illustrates the right (or passenger) side of the vehicle, it will be understood that a mirror image arrangement of the hanger bracket 104, the bracket 106, and the frame member 102 exists on the left (or driver) side of the vehicle as well. The bracket 106 includes an upstanding flange that is attached to the frame member 102 by a plurality of bolts 108, and a horizontal flange that is attached to the hanger bracket 104 by a pair of bolts 118 that extend through elongated holes 114. It will be noted that both ends of the upper surface of the hanger bracket 104 include a plurality of graduated lines or "tick marks" 112 directly adjacent to an outer edge portion 116 of the bracket 106. When installing the lift axle system 110 on the vehicle with the bolts 118 not fully tightened, the elongated holes 114 enable the lift axle system 110 to be moved back and forth in the lateral direction S to center the lift axle system 110 relative to the vehicle frame. When in position, the installers can verify that the lift axle system 110 is properly aligned by visually inspecting the relative positions of the outer edge portions 116 of the left and right brackets 106 relative to the respective tick marks 112 on the hanger brackets 104.

Mounting brackets for auxiliary suspension systems


A portable audible beacon comprises a housing that encloses a signal generating means and an acoustic transducer. The signal generating means generates an oscillating signal that is periodically interrupted by a zero signal, where the fundamental frequency of the oscillating signal corresponds to a frequency of high auditory sensitivity to the human ear, where the frequency of interruption of the oscillating signal corresponds to a directionally discernible frequency to the human ear, and where the period of duration of each zero signal is less than or about the same as the period of duration of the oscillating signal between each zero signal. The acoustic transducer receives the signal from the signal generating means and converts it into sound. The portable audible beacon of the present invention achieves the combined advantages of power efficiency, auditory sensitivity, and directionality.

This invention relates to a portable, audible beacon and, more specifically, to a portable, audible beacon which may be positioned at the exit of a building and used by firefighters and emergency service personnel as a directional guide to find their way out of the building in heavy smoke conditions.
Firefighters and other emergency service personnel are often required to operate inside buildings filled with heavy smoke. Under such conditions, the firefighters and emergency service personnel may become disoriented and lose their way to the exit of a building. Because of the limited air supply available to them or because of other dangerous conditions within the buildings, such disorientation is often a life-threatening matter for these personnel.
In the past, to assist guiding firefighters in exiting a building, some firefighting units have positioned a firefighter at the exit of a building to signal the firefighters inside. The firefighter at the exit either used a flashlight to provide a visual signal or shouted to provide an audible signal to the firefighters in the building.
This approach, however, has the following disadvantages. Primarily, it is an ineffective means of signaling. The use of a flashlight is ineffective because the light generated by a flashlight is unable to penetrate heavy smoke. Likewise, shouting is also ineffective because a person's shout is unable to be heard throughout a large building, especially amid the noise and chaos of a structural fire. Additionally, shouting is dangerous because a firefighter must remove his mask to shout effectively to his fellow firefighters, thus exposing himself to smoke inhalation and toxic gases. Moreover, posting a firefighter at the exit of a building is ineffective because the firefighter may be unable to remain at his station. The firefighter may be overcome by smoke or heat or may perceive a greater need for his help at another location. Further, posting a firefighter at the exit of a building is inefficient because it reduces the personnel available to fight a fire and to perform search and rescue operations. Finally, posting a firefighter at the exit of a building may be unnecessarily dangerous because it exposes the firefighter to the same dangerous conditions as the firefighters who have entered the building (such as building collapse, falling debris, radiant heat, and flames).
Another approach to assisting firefighters in smoke-filled conditions has been the use of personal alert safety systems or "PASS" devices. Such devices have been disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,317,305 (Campman); 5,216,418 (Lenz); 4,926,159 (Bartlett); 4,468,656 (Clifford); and 4,090,185 (Patty). In general, PASS devices are portable devices carried or worn by firefighters which sound an alarm either automatically (under certain specified emergency conditions) or manually. The PASS alarm assists other firefighters in locating a firefighter in distress.
Unfortunately, the use of PASS devices focuses on bringing rescuers to a lost or injured firefighter. The PASS approach puts the rescuers in the same danger as the firefighter they are attempting to rescue. For this reason, an audible exit beacon is preferable to a PASS device because such a beacon could prevent a firefighter from becoming disoriented, lost and/or injured in the first place.
While technically a PASS device could be used as an audible exit beacon (by placing the PASS device at the exit of a building and initiating its alarm condition), a PASS device is not well-suited to performing the functions of an audible exit beacon. Because of the size and weight restrictions inherent in a device that must be conveniently carried by a firefighter on his person, PASS devices do not have sufficient power to project sound effectively throughout a large building. Furthermore, a device that is small enough to be conveniently carried by a firefighter on his person could easily become immersed in water or covered by a small amount of fallen debris. Under such conditions, it would be impossible for sound to emanate from the device, rendering it useless.
Another major problem typical of most PASS devices and the prior art in general has been the inability to combine power efficiency, auditory sensitivity, and directionality of sound in one device. Until now, audible beacon devices have not been able to combine all of these features because of the inherent design constraints arising from the physiology of human hearing.
One of the most important ways people determine the direction of distant sounds is by detecting the difference in the phase of the sound waves received by the two ears. This method becomes ineffective, however, when the wavelength of a sound approaches or becomes shorter than the distance of separation between the two ears. For adult humans, the directionality of a sound is usually lost when the frequency of the sound exceeds 2000 Hz (corresponding to a wavelength of under seven inches).
Within the range of normal human hearing (which is about 16 Hz to 20 KHz), the human ear is more sensitive to certain frequencies than to others. In particular, the sensitivity of the human ear is greatest at a frequency of about 2700 Hz, and it decreases as one gets further and further away from this peak frequency. The result of the human ear's varying sensitivity to different frequencies is that, at a given power level, some frequencies sound louder than others. For example, if a 2700 Hz sound and a 64 Hz sound are projected at the same power level, the 2700 Hz sound has an apparent loudness to a human ear of about 16 times greater than the 64 Hz sound. Conversely, to achieve the same apparent loudness of a 2700 Hz sound, a 64 Hz sound would require about 100,000 times more power than a 2700 Hz sound. Unfortunately, therefore, sounds that are directionally perceptible to humans are much more "power-hungry" than sounds that are not directionally perceptible.
Although not as constrained with respect to size and weight as PASS devices, an audible exit beacon must take these factors into consideration to be useful. The size and weight of an audible exit beacon cannot be so great as to render such a device non-portable. Portability of an audible exit beacon is essential to the firefighters who need to easily carry the beacon to the different buildings at which they are called to work. In addition, it is generally desirable to have an efficient power consumption so that an audible exit beacon can operate for as long a time as possible before its power source is exhausted. The longer the life of an audible exit beacon's power source, the less likely the possibility that the exit beacon will stop operating while firefighters are working. Such an interruption in operation would be, at the very least, an inconvenience and annoyance (since a firefighter would be diverted from his duties to replace the power source) and could possibly be dangerous under certain circumstances (for example, if the unit stopped operating while firefighters were attempting to escape from dangerous conditions).
One of the patent references cited earlier, Bartlett, discloses a device that attempts to overcome the trade-off between power efficiency, auditory sensitivity, and directionality of audible devices. Bartlett discloses a device that drives a resonant piezoelectric element by a frequency-modulated electrical input. The piezoelectric element resonates at a frequency of about 3000 Hz (a power-efficient frequency). Because of its resonant character, the piezoelectric element generates an amplitude-modulated sound output from the frequency-modulated electrical input. This amplitude-modulated sound output is characterized in Bartlett as a burst of 3000 Hz sound that lasts less than 1 millisecond and that is repeated about every 2 milliseconds. By using bursts of a power-efficient frequency, spaced apart so that the bursts are directionally perceptible, Bartlett's device purportedly achieves both power efficiency and directionality.
Bartlett's device, however, is not suitable for use as an audible exit beacon device. Bartlett's use of a piezoelectric device limits the power output of the device to a range that is unacceptable for audible exit beacons. Typically, portable piezoelectric devices operate in the milliwatt power range. For sound to be heard throughout a large building, an audible device must typically deliver tens of watts of power. Moreover, because of the resonating scheme used in Bartlett, one can not simply replace the piezoelectric device with a more powerful acoustic transducer, such as a loudspeaker, since such a transducer is not normally a resonator. Thus, the frequency modulation of the driving signal to a loudspeaker will not normally result in an amplitude modulation of an audible output signal. Finally, another disadvantage of Bartlett's scheme is that the device delivers output power during less than 50 percent of its cycle time.


A computer-implemented method for transparent data loss prevention classifications may include 1) identifying a document that received a classification by a machine learning classifier for data loss prevention, 2) identifying at least one linguistic constituent within the document that contributed to the classification, 3) identifying a relevant passage of the document that contextualizes the linguistic constituent, and 4) displaying a user interface including the linguistic constituent in context of the relevant passage. Various other methods, systems, and computer-readable media are also disclosed.

In the electronic information age, people may share, access, and disseminate high volumes of information. The ease with which information may be disseminated electronically is empowering. At the same time, the workforce has become increasingly mobile, and the ubiquity of high-speed Internet access, smart mobile devices, and portable storage means that "the office" may be anywhere. As a consequence, it has become more difficult than ever for organizations to prevent the loss of sensitive data. Organizations are therefore increasingly looking to data loss prevention ("DLP") solutions to protect their sensitive data.
Traditional DLP systems may and intercept data at a variety of points in a computing system in efforts to detect and regulate the flow and access of sensitive data. Some traditional DLP systems may allow administrators to define keywords and/or regular expressions to identify potentially sensitive documents. Additionally or alternatively, some traditional DLP systems may employ classifiers generated with machine learning techniques. For example, these DLP systems may use training documents supplied by administrators to generate classifiers, and then apply the classifiers to documents to make DLP classifications. Unfortunately, these machine-learning based classifiers may function without administrators understanding the basis for many of their classifications. Furthermore, these classifiers may yield an unacceptable rate of false positives. Accordingly, the instant disclosure identifies and addresses a need for systems and methods for transparent data loss prevention classifications.

Systems and methods for transparent data loss prevention classifications


A method for supporting communication between communication devices (102, 104, 106) having inconsistent protocols, such as may result from protocol changes or upgrades. Protocol registers (302, 304) maintained in association with the communication devices contain respective first and second protocols (e.g., current and previous protocols) of the communication devices. A sending (or receiving) device, upon being upgraded from protocol C to N, updates (206) its protocol register to indicate N as the current protocol and C as the previous protocol. The device initially attempts to send (222) a message (or attempts 212 to recognize a message) using its current protocol N and, if that fails, the device sends (230) (or attempts 216 to recognize the message) using its previous protocol C. In such manner, when a communication device is upgraded to a new protocol causing a protocol inconsistency with a peer device, the communication device may revert to its previous protocol to restore communication relatively quickly.

In recent years, technological advances have made possible the convergence of widely different technologies, such as telephony, computer and cable technologies, wireline and wireless technologies, and so forth, into heterogeneous networks offering a variety of services. Interoperability between different communication entities of such networks, or even between different entities of a homogenous network (e.g., between two telephony devices, computer devices, etc.) is made possible by using certain standard or proprietary interface protocols between the devices. Examples of known protocols include, without limitation, H.323, IPDC, H.248, SNMP and CORBA. Generally, communication between any peer entities (i.e., sending and receiving devices) cannot occur unless both devices use the same interface protocol. Thus, if a receiving device uses a different interface protocol than a sending device (or perhaps a different software version of the same interface protocol), any message(s) sent from the sending device to the receiving device will not be recognized or understood, causing a loss of communication.
A problem that arises is that as new interface protocols are introduced into the network or as existing protocols are upgraded, the changes/upgrades are made independently, inevitably at different times in different peer devices. Moreover, any particular sending or receiving device—whether or not it has received a protocol change/upgrade—will generally use its most recent protocol exclusively without regard to the protocols used by other peer devices. Indeed, most devices do not know which protocol other peer devices are using. Consequently, when changes/upgrades occur in a communication device, there can be a significant period of time when communication is lost between that device and one or more peer devices; communication is not restored until the peer devices have been transitioned to the same protocol.
A related problem is that different communication devices of a communication network can be manufactured, serviced and maintained by different vendors, such that a coordinated schedule may not exist for performing timely protocol changes in multiple entities/devices. Consequently, service and maintenance personnel associated with a communication device undergoing a protocol change/upgrade may not know when other peer devices will be upgraded to the same protocol. The transition period may comprise several hours, days or weeks, depending on the type of change/upgrade, operational procedures, common practices and the like. Clearly, during such a prolonged and/or indefinite transition period, the inability for peer devices to communicate due to a protocol inconsistency may significantly affect services provided by the network. For example, an inconsistency in a call signaling/control protocol between two or more telephony devices may render the devices unable to set up or tear down voice calls.
Accordingly, there is a need for communication device(s) having inconsistent protocols, such as may result from changes/upgrades, to maintain communications during prolonged or indefinite transition periods.

Method for maintaining communication between communication devices having inconsistent protocols


A current interrupt assembly for electrochemical cells is disclosed. The current interrupter assembly may be a self-contained, sealed unit which may be separately inserted into the cell during cell construction. Several current interrupt assemblies may be inserted in the cell. The current interrupter assembly has particular utility for thin rechargeable cells and when inserted in the cell forms a portion of the electrical pathway between a cell electrode and corresponding terminal. The current interrupt mechanism comprises a thin thermally responsive member preferably comprising a disk of a shape memory metal alloy having a curved surface. The current interrupt mechanism may include a heat producing electrical resistance means, preferably a Zener diode in proximity to the thermally responsive member. When cell temperature exceeds a predetermined value the disk deflects to cause a break in the electrical pathway within the assembly. The assembly may include therein a flexible electrically conductive member which forms a part of the electrical pathway within the assembly and which is physically responsive to deflection of the thermally responsive member. The assembly may also include a pressure actuated diaphragm which may form a portion of the assembly housing. When the cell internal pressure exceeds a predetermined level the diaphragm deflects causing a break in the electrical pathway within the assembly, thereby shutting down the cell.

Electrochemical cells, especially high energy density cells such as those in which lithium or lithium ion is an active material, are subject to leakage or rupture which, in turn, can cause damage to the device which is powered by the cell or to the surrounding environment. In the case of rechargeable cells, the rise in internal temperature of the cell can result from overcharging. Undesirable temperature increases are often accompanied by a corresponding increase in internal gas pressure. This is likely to occur in the event of an external short circuit condition. Also, the internal gas pressure can increase in the event that the cell is overdischarged. It is desirable that safety devices accompany the cell without unduly increasing the cost, size or mass of the cell.
Such cells, particularly rechargeable cells utilizing lithium or lithium ion as an active material, are subject to leakage or rupture caused by a rise in internal temperature of the cell which often is accompanied by a corresponding increase in pressure. This is likely to be caused by abusive conditions, such as overcharging or by a short circuit condition which may occur during overdischarging. It is also important that these cells be hermetically sealed to prevent the egress of electrolyte solvent and the ingress of moisture from the exterior environment.
As set forth above, if such a cell is overcharged, self-heating occurs. Charging at too rapid a rate or overcharging can lead to an increase in the temperature. Overcharging the cell may occur if the charging voltage or charging current becomes too high causing the cell to rapidly overheat, thus posing a safety concern. When the temperature exceeds a certain point, which varies depending upon the chemistry and structure of the cell, an undesirable and uncontrollable thermal runaway condition begins. In addition, because of the overheating, internal pressure builds up, and electrolyte may suddenly be expelled from the cell. It is preferable to initiate controlled venting before that takes place. PTC (positive thermal expansion coefficient) devices, whose resistance increases with current passage therethrough, have been used in attempt to prevent excessive current throughput through a rechargeable cell. However, such devices alone are inadequate in preventing a thermal runaway condition from occurring if the cell becomes overcharged, for example, if excessive charging voltage is employed.
Some rechargeable cells can be very thin, for example, thin prismatic cells, or small size cylindrical cells for cellular phones. It has been difficult to incorporate reliable current interrupt safety devices into such cells because of their small size. But the need for such safety devices is all the greater because of the proximity of the cell to the consumer during normal cellular phone operation.
Conventional cell designs employ an end cap fitting which is inserted into an open ended cylindrical casing after the cell anode and cathode active material and appropriate separator material and electrolyte have been inserted into the cylindrical case. The end cap is in electrical contact with one of the anode or cathode material and the exposed portion of the end cap forms one of the cell terminals. A portion of the cell casing forms the other terminal.

Current interrupter for electrochemical cells


A method for detecting hidden defects and patterns, the method includes: receiving an object that comprises an opaque layer positioned above an intermediate layer; defining an energy band in response to at least one characteristic of the opaque layer and at least one characteristic of a scanning electron microscope; illuminating the object with a primary electron beam; and generating images from electrons that arrive to a spectrometer having an energy within the energy band. A scanning electron microscope that includes a stage for supporting an object that comprises an opaque layer positioned above an intermediate layer; a controller, adapted to receive or define an energy band in response to at least one characteristic of the opaque layer and at least one characteristic of a scanning electron microscope; illumination optics adapted to illuminate the object with a primary electron beam; an electron spectrometer, controlled by the controller such as to selectively reject electrons in response to the defined energy band; and a processor, coupled to the spectrometer, adapted to generate images from detection signals provided by the spectrometer.

Integrated circuits are very complex devices that include multiple layers. Each layer may include conductive material and/or isolating material while other layers may include semi-conductive materials. These various materials are arranged in patterns, usually in accordance with the expected functionality of the integrated circuit. The patterns also reflect the manufacturing process of the integrated circuits.
Integrated circuits are manufactured by complex multi-staged manufacturing processes. This process may include depositing resistive material on a substrate or layer, selectively exposing the resistive material by a photolithographic process, and developing the resistive material to produce a pattern that defines some areas to be later etched or otherwise processed. After the pattern is processed various materials, such as copper are disposed. The deposition step is usually followed by a removing access material. Copper is polished by mechanical means, while other materials can be polished by chemical processes and/or a combination of chemical as well as mechanical processes. The polishing can result in various deformation, such as dishing and erosion.
Copper is sensitive to oxidation, therefore, some of the manufacturers protects the copper layer by a dedicated protective layer that is deposited over copper, after the copper was deposited and/or polished. Usually this layer is made of materials such as Silicon Nitride and Silicon Carbide.
By applying the protection layer various manufacturing process can be executed in a more relaxed manner.
Various metrology, inspection and failure analysis techniques evolved for inspecting integrated circuits both during the manufacturing stages, between consecutive manufacturing stages, either in combination with the manufacturing process (also termed "in line" inspection techniques) or not (also termed "off line" inspection techniques). It is known that manufacturing failures may affect the electrical characteristics of the integrated circuits. Some of these failures result from unwanted deviations from the required dimensions of the patterns.
Electron beam metrology and defect detection tools, such as Scanning Electron Microscopes are used for high resolution measurement of surface features as well as surface defects and contaminations. These tools generate a spot of electrons that is very small. Typical spots may have a diameter of about few nanometers. The electron beam spot interacts with the surface and with a certain volume that is positioned near to the surface.
A typical protective layer is much thicker then the depth of the effective information volume of a typical Scanning Electron Microscope. For example, a protective layer can be few tens nanometers (typically 50 to 100 nm), while the depth of the effective information volume of a typical SEM is about few nanometers.
Accordingly, the typical Scanning Electron Microscope can not view defects that are below the protective layer.
There is a need to provide methods and systems for imaging of sub-surface layers, detecting hidden defects, and especially defects positioned below a protective layer.

Method and system for detecting hidden defects


This memory game is made more exciting and challenging by using plurality of matching pairs of cards or 3-D objects inside stack-able boxes with lids. Boxes are arranged in plurality of stacks. Open lids of two boxes to find a match. Except for top box in a stack, to open a box: lift boxes on top of it and place them on top of another stack first. This process relocates boxes dynamically during play. After collecting matching objects from two open boxes: this game provides options to keep none, some, or all empty boxes in play. Empty boxes left in play also get relocated during play adding more challenge.

This invention is in the field of games designed to help memory development or memory exercise.
Deficiency 1 in memory games available today: They are static: the memory objects (cards or 3-D pieces) are arranged at the beginning of the game. They stay at the same physical location until the end of the game. Even if the objects move during play, they remain in the same relative position compared to other objects.
This invention is makes objects dynamically relocate during play: physically and relative to other objects. This makes the game exciting and challenging.
Deficiency 2 in memory games available today: They are not designed to include empty boxes in play where the empty boxes also dynamically relocate during play.
This invention supports this feature and makes the game even more challenging.
Deficiency 3 in memory games available today: They are not designed to play at a wide range of levels of difficulty, starting at 6 year old to teens to adults to chess grand masters.
This invention supports this feature and makes the investment in the game worthwhile: a child can use it for years and share it with older children or adults in the family.


A printing drum supporting device for a stencil printing machine comprises a forward side-plate and a rear side-plate disposed at a certain distance therebetween, a frame for supporting the drum, a rail device disposed between the two side-plates for guiding the frame, and a pipe disposed between the two side-plates. The frame includes a forward plate and a rear plate disposed at a certain distance therebetween. The rear plate has a hole. The frame supports a rotatable cylindrical printing drum between the forward plate and the rear plate. The frame is detachably supported by the rail device. The frame can slide along the rail device between a printing position inside the two side-plates and a disengagement position outside the same. The pipe is fixed between the two side-plates. An end portion of the pipe is protruding outside through the rear side-plate. An axis of the hole of the rear plate is located vertically beneath an axis of the pipe at a small distance when the frame with the drum is pulled out to the disengagement position. When the frame with the drum is guided to the printing position, the end portion of the pipe is fitted into the hole of the rear plate and the rear plate of the frame is raised small vertically. Thus a frame load of the rear plate side is carried by the rear plate and the pipe.

The present invention concerns a structural improvement in supporting a detachable printing drum in a stencil printing machine.
Referring to FIG. 7, a general explanation will be made to a structure for supporting and guiding a detachable printing drum in a conventional stencil printing machine. The stencil printing machine is composed of functional units for such as perforating, printing, paper feeding, paper discharging, stencil discharging, image reading, and so on. Specifically, a perforating unit perforates a stencil sheet; a printing drum of a printing unit conducts printing with a perforated stencil sheet wrapped on the outer circumferential surface thereof. And a paper feeding unit provides paper with the printing drum; a paper discharge unit receives a printed paper. Further, a stencil discharge unit removes and discards a used stencil sheet from the printing drum. And an image reading unit reads an image from an original for perforation.
FIG. 7 illustrates the printing unit of the conventional stencil printing machine, specifically a structure for supporting and guiding the printing drum in the printing unit. In the drawing, reference numeral 2 indicates a forward side-plate; also reference numeral 4 indicates a rear side-plate. Reference numeral 6 indicates the printing drum, around which a perforated stencil sheet is wrapped, of the stencil printing machine. An ink supplying device is disposed inside the printing drum. An ink supplied by the ink supplying device is to be transferred to a printing paper through the printing drum and perforations formed in the stencil sheet.
Reference numeral 8 indicates a forward plate (a forward member); also reference number 10 indicates a rear plate (a rear member). Both the plates are connected with plural arms 12 to form a frame 13. In the frame 13, the printing drum 6 is rotatably supported around its axis between both the plates 8,10.
Reference numerals 14 and 16 indicate rail devices (sliding rails). Fixed rails 14a, 16a are supported horizontally between the two side-plates so as to be parallel to each other. In the rail devices, sliding rails 14b, 16b are respectively attached to the fixed rails 14a, 16a. The sliding rails 14b, 16b can move parallel with the fixed rails 14a, 16a. The sliding rails 14b, 16b can carry the frame 13. If the sliding rails 14b, 16b carrying the frame 13 move parallel with the fixed rails 14a, 16a, the printing drum 6 attached to the frame 13 moves between a printing position and a disengagement position. The printing position is inside the forward side-plate and the rear side-plate; and the disengagement position is outside the same (outside the machine).
A hook (not shown in the drawing) is disposed on the inner side of the sliding rails 14b, 16b for holding the arm 12 of the frame 13. By engaging the hook with the arm 12, the frame 13 is mounted on the sliding rails 14b, 16b. When the hook is engaged with the arm, the frame 13 can not move in the drum axial direction relative to the sliding rails 14b, 16b.
A supporting axis 20 for the printing drum 6 is extending through and protruding forward the forward plate 8. For convenience in illustration, the supporting axis 20 is drawn in imaginary line in FIG. 7. The printing drum 6 is rotatably supported on the frame 13 via the supporting axis 20. Further, a protruding portion 22 of a tube shape is fixed to a part of the forward plate 8, and the protruding portion 22 is parallel with the supporting axis 20. Holes 2a, 2b are formed in the forward side-plate 2. When the printing drum 6 is guided along the rail devices 14, 16 toward the printing position inside the machine, the supporting axis 20 is fitted into the hole 2a and the protruding portion 22 is fitted into the hole 2b. The protruding portion 22 is for detecting whether the printing drum 6 is in the position inside the machine; a detecting means is equipped with the outside of the forward side-plate 2, although it is not shown.
In the rear side-plate 4, there is formed a hole 4a through which the printing drum 6 is received into the inside of the machine. Two frame support members 18, 18 are disposed to the rear side-plate 4 to be respectively adjacent to the rail devices 14, 16. The frame support member 18 is in an approximate rectangular parallelopiped shape, and is fixed to the rear side-plate 4 with screws. The two frame support members 18, 18 have a protruding rib 18a respectively, which are formed on the inner sides thereof facing with each other. Further, engaging portions 11, 11 are integrally formed on the both sides of the rear plate 10. Each engaging portion 11 has a groove 11a formed in approximate U-shape.
By moving the frame 13 along the rail devices 14, 16 from the disengagement position outside the machine to the printing position inside the machine, each protruding rib 18a engages each groove 11a. As a result of the engagement, the frame support members 18 support the rear side of the frame 13 that carries the printing drum 6. Further, the forward side of the printing drum 6 is supported by engaging the supporting axis 20 with the hole 2a.
According to the conventional printing drum supporting device thus explained, the rear side (nearer side in FIG. 7) of the movable printing drum tends to be shaky, and printing matter obtained blurs in density in traverse direction thereof, which direction is parallel with the axial direction of the drum during stencil printing.
The object of the present invention is to provide a printing drum supporting device for a stencil printing machine, which is capable of overcoming the foregoing problems thus explained.

Printing drum supporting device for stencil printing machine


An optical fiber stripper is formed with an interior cylindrical elongate passage for housing a fiber length and for containing stripper fluid. To assure ample room for expansion of the fiber coating during stripping, the passage has a greater volume than that of the coated fiber after the coating expands from contact with the fluid. The passage has a fluid inlet at its interior end for introducing stripping fluid. A relatively sharp shoulder disposed at the interior end of the passage and formed by a short cylindrical neck section coaxial with the passage has a diameter only marginally greater than the diameter of the coated fiber. Once the coating in the passage is softened by the stripper fluid, the fiber is withdrawn allowing the shoulder to cleanly strip away the coating. Advantageously, the stripper is made from graphite, so that any incidental contact with the fiber during the draw-stripping operation has no deleterious effect on the fiber surface.

In the art of optical fiber splicing, it is increasingly necessary to make splices of reliably high strength in strands of optical fiber cable. Splicing entails having to remove the existing protective coating from the fiber prior to splicing. One prior art stripping device consists of a body with an elongate passage in which the coated fiber is placed. A stripping fluid such as acetone is flowed into the passage to loosen the coating. As the fiber is drawn thereafter out of the passage, interior surfaces within the passage appropriately sized and located strip the coating from the fiber.
One disadvantage of this type of stripper is that the passage geometry as well as the choice of stripper material can cause scoring or scratching of the fiber's surface as the bare glass fiber without its coating is removed from the passage. The scoring can significantly decrease the strength of the fiber in the region of the score, with the result that the splice creates a weak point in the fiber that can fail under tensile stress. Another drawback is that no provisions are made for a clean, planar demarcation between the stripped coating and the coating remaining on the fiber. If the stripping results in a ragged or uneven coating termination, a proper recoating of the fiber following splicing is difficult to achieve.
As a further result, in many prior situations where it is necessary to closely control the location at which the coating ends and the bare fiber is exposed for splicing, the control is not handily available.
One material frequently used in prior art draw-through type strippers is glass. Glass, however, cannot be formed into a stripper by simple processes such as machining. Further, glass because of its relative hardness has a tendency to place scores on the surface of the glass fiber during the draw-through step.

Stripper for removing coating from optical fibers

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In high-resolution scanning microscopy, a sample is excited by illumination radiation to emit fluorescence radiation in such a way that the illumination radiation is focused at a point in or on the sample to form a diffraction-limited illumination spot. The point is imaged in a diffraction-limited manner into a diffraction image on a spatially resolving surface detector, wherein the surface detector has a spatial resolution that resolves a structure of the diffraction image. The sample is scanned by means of different scanning positions with an increment of less than half the diameter of the illumination spot. An image of the sample is generated from the data of the surface detector and from the scanning positions assigned to said data, said image having a resolution that is increased beyond a resolution limit for imaging. For the purposes of distinguishing between at least two predetermined wavelength regions in the fluorescence radiation from the sample, a corresponding number of diffraction structures are generated on the surface detector for the at least two predetermined wavelength ranges, said diffraction structures differing but having a common center of symmetry. The diffraction structures are evaluated when generating the image of the sample.

One conventional field of application of light microscopy for examining biological preparations is luminescence microscopy. Here, specific dyes (so-called phosphors or fluorophores) are used to specifically label samples, e.g. cell parts. The sample is illuminated with illumination radiation acting as excitation radiation, and the excited luminescence radiation is captured using suitable detectors. In this way, representation of individual, differently colored cell parts in the microscope is possible. It is of course also possible for multiple parts of a preparation to be colored at the same time using different dyes which attach specifically to different structures of the preparation. This method is referred to as multiluminescence. It is also possible to measure samples that luminesce per se, i.e. without the addition of dye.
As is generally the case, luminescence is here understood to be the umbrella term for phosphorescence and fluorescence, i.e. it encompasses both processes. Where fluorescence is mentioned here, this is intended to be understood pars pro toto and not in a limiting fashion.
For examining samples, it is also known to use laser scanning microscopes (also LSM for short) which use a confocal detection arrangement (in that case referred to as a confocal LSM) or a non-linear sample interaction (so-called multiphoton microscopy) to image only that plane of the sample that is located in the focal plane of the objective. An optical section is obtained, and the recording of multiple optical sections at different depths of the sample allows the generation of a three-dimensional image of the sample, which is then made up of the different optical sections. Laser scanning microscopy is therefore suitable for examining thick preparations. A combination of luminescence microscopy and laser scanning microscopy is of course also used, in which a luminescent sample is imaged in different depth planes using an LSM.
In principle, the optical resolution of a light microscope, including that of an LSM, is diffraction-limited by physical laws. The term "high-resolution" is here used for resolutions beyond the diffraction limit.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,043,570 B1 describes an attempt to increase the resolution by way of "oversampling." This does not result in a significantly increased resolution below the diffraction limit of the microscope.
Using non-linear depopulation processes, the resolution can be raised to a factor of up to 10 above that of a diffraction-limited confocal LSM. Such a method is described, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,866,911 B1. For the depopulation processes, different approaches are known, for example those described in DE 4416558 C2, U.S. Pat. No. 6,633,432 B1 or DE 10325460 A1.
Another high-resolution microscopy method is mentioned in U.S. Pat. No. 5,867,604 B1, in which an object is scanned with a periodic structure. A similar method for increasing resolution is also described by EP 1157297 B1. Structured illumination uses non-linear processes, e.g. saturation of the fluorescence. The approach requires a reconstruction algorithm for image generation and the use of multiple recordings for an image.
A method that achieves high resolution in the wide field is known from WO 2006/127692 A1 and DE 102006021317 A1. This method, shortened to PALM (photo-activated light microscopy), uses a labeling substance that can be activated using an optical activation signal. Only in the activated state can the labeling substance be excited to emit specific fluorescence radiation. The activation is effected such that at least a specific portion of the activated labeling molecules is arranged at a distance from neighboring activated molecules such that the labeling molecules of the portion are separated, or can be separated retrospectively, measured on the optical resolution of the microscopy. After recording of the luminescence radiation, for said isolated molecules, the center of their radiation distribution due to resolution limits is then ascertained and, on that basis, the position of the molecules is determined by way of calculation with greater accuracy than would actually be possible with optical imaging. To image the entire sample, the isolation of the labeling molecules by activation radiation, subsequent excitation and fluorescence radiation imaging is repeated until all labeling molecules, where possible, are included once in a subset and have been isolated.
Further high-resolution methods are described in Hell, "Far-Field Optical Nanoscopy," Science 316, 1153-1158, 2007.
EP 2317362 A1 has disclosed the so-called Airy scan microscopy. This document combines, in the embodiment illustrated and described in FIG. 5 therein, diffraction-limited illumination of the sample with a surface detector, wherein a scanning device is configured such that the diffraction image of the point that is illuminated with the illumination spot rests on the surface detector. This arrangement is referred to as a so-called "de-scanned" detector arrangement. It is typically achieved by disposing a scanner that deflects the beam path between the sample and the combination point between illumination device and imaging device. Such a scanner acts both on the illumination spot and on the imaging of the point that is illuminated with the illumination spot, with the result that the beam path in the imaging direction after the scanner is static. An alternative to such a scanner is the use of a movable sample stage which displaces the sample. In that case, the diffraction image also rests on the surface detector. In the concept of EP 2317362 A1, the surface detector is provided with a spatial resolution that, with reference to the imaging scale, effects oversampling of the diffraction image and thus permits resolving the structure of the diffraction image. EP 2317362 A1 also provides an embodiment in which color analysis is possible. Multiple detectors are provided herefor, which are located in corresponding spectral channels that are formed by a dichroic color splitter. This approach has long been known for laser scanning microscopy. However, it has the disadvantage that a corresponding color splitter having a corresponding detector is required for each color channel. In conventional laser scanning microscopy, which uses a non-spatially resolving detector behind a confocal pinhole, this requirement is largely unproblematic; but using an oversampling surface detector in accordance with EP 2317362 A1 is associated with a considerable outlay, especially since such surface detectors are expensive. In the oversampling principle according to EP 2317362 A1, a plurality of these surface detectors have to be adjusted with sub-pixel accuracy relative to one another because otherwise a chromatic aberration would arise between the generated images of the individual color channels. The images of the individual color channels fit over one another only if the surface detectors are adjusted with sub-pixel accuracy in all color channels with respect to the optical axis.
The generic document WO 2016/020459 A1 develops Airy scan microscopy to the effect of the diffraction image being provided with an appropriate number of diffraction structures for at least two predetermined wavelength ranges by means of a spectrally selective element, said diffraction structures each being embodied as point symmetric Airy disks and being located laterally next to one another in full on the same surface detector. A color image corresponding to the at least two wavelength ranges can be generated by way of an appropriate evaluation of the diffraction structures. This approach requires only one surface detector. The Airy disks are located next to one another thereon.

High-resolution scanning microscopy with discrimination between at least two wave-length ranges


A method and a device for forming a metal billet into an elongated product body of desired cross-sectional shape and dimension by a combination of die drawing and hydroextrusion from a pressure chamber having a central axis, holding a pressurized working liquid and being fitted with a hydroextrusion die, which are characterized by placing a drawing die of smaller cross-sectional size than the hydroextrusion die in coaxial alignment with the latter at a distance L downstream therefrom whereby the hydroextrusion die and the drawing die form a pair of dies flanking an intermediary empty region; adjusting the distance L to fit the metal and size of the elongated product body such that any stretch of an extruded body passing through the intermediary empty region retains its elastic stability; continuously extruding the billet through the hydroextrusion die to form an extruded intermediate product; continuously passing the extruded intermediate product across the intermediary empty region into the drawing die; and continuously pulling an elongated product body out of this drawing die; whereby the elongated product body is obtained with desired degrees of precision and surface quality in one operational cycle.

About 75% of cold-formed seamless pipes, and almost 100% of pipes, rods and wires of a diameter less than 4 mm are produced throughout the world by drawing, i.e. by a relatively simple process in which a metal billet is pulled through a drawing die. The main disadvantage of this process is that it has to be carried out in several stages or cycles, notably in the production of small-diameter pipes and rods where the required sizing of the final product is achieved only after a considerable number of stages. The need for a multi-stage operation stems from the known fact that in a single drawing stage, the deformation expressed by the ratio of a cross-section area of an elongated body before and after drawing cannot exceed about 55%. Accordingly, for the production of, for example, seamless capillary steel pipes, as many as about 10 to about 20 drawing stages may be required. Such a multi-stage process requires a variety of intermittent auxiliary operations such as thermal treatment, etching, straightening, cutting, etc. all of which impair the degree of precision with which the final body is formed as well as the surface quality thereof. In addition, the multi-stage nature of the process in combination with the auxiliary operations augments the volume of the required industrial facilities and leads to increased consumption of metal, energy and working time. Also, at least some of the auxiliary operations are ecologically hazardous. Finally, the drawing process for the formation of elongated bodies is inadequate for the manufacture of a variety of specific products such as, for example, pipes and rods from brittle or super-hard metals, thick walled pipes with a relatively small and precise inner channel, high precision pipes and others.
In the production of metal pipes and rods, the above shortcomings may be at least partly overcome by employing so-called hydrostatic extrusion, also known as hydroextrusion. Hydroextrusion is a process in which a billet is squeezed through a die mounted in a wall of a pressure chamber filled with a pressurized working liquid serving for the creation of a working pressure that exceeds the yield point of the processed metal. As known to those skilled in the art, by this technique, it is possible to achieve in one single stage a deformation that exceeds 55%. However, this process in which the driving force for the extrusion is provided exclusively by the pressurized working liquid, is slow, non-stable and expensive and accordingly not widely used.
In an effort to improve the productivity of hydroextrusion, it has been proposed to combine the drawing and hydroextrusion techniques into one processing cycle for the continuous production of wire, rods and pipes.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,747,384 describes a method of reducing the cross-sectional area of a body by means of hydroextrusion with the simultaneous application of a pulling force. In accordance with that method extrusion, which proceeds via a conical extrusion die, proceeds by the action of two driving forces, to wit hydrostatic pressure and pulling force, which act in combination on the billet passing through one and the same die. The deformation of the billet achieved in this way does, however, not correspond to the maximal sum of deformations which might be provided separately by hydroextrusion at the given pressure and drawing at the given pulling force, because, for the optimization of these two forces, different conical shapes of the die are required.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,841,129 describes a continuous hydrostatic extrusion process and apparatus wherein in a first phase a stock wire is drawn through a drawing die into a high pressure chamber with a hydroextrusion die and is spooled therein, and in a second phase the partly formed wire which remains under hydrostatic pressure is paid off and drawn through the hydroextrusion die. A single apparatus unit thus performs a first forming operation by drawing and a second, subsequent forming operation by hydrostatic extrusion, and by using a series of two or more such units, the forming operation may be performed in several stages. Basically, the second forming operation of U.S. Pat. No. 3,841,129 is equivalent to the process of U.S. Pat. No. 3,747,384.
SU 1,726,083 A1 describes a method and equipment for the continuous forming of elongated tubular billets into pipes applying in combination hydroextrusion and drawing. The equipment includes a high pressure chamber with inlet port for a tubular billet and with a hydroextrusion die, and pulling means for applying pulling force to the forward end of the billet protruding from the hydroextrusion die, and basically this method is similar to that of U.S. Pat. No. 3,747,384.
The above specified methods and equipment are typical of the prior art and as mentioned have an intrinsic shortcoming that in one operational cycle the deformation does not yield the maximal possible deformation at the given energy consumption. In addition, these methods are inadequate for the production of thin-walled pipes since the elevated liquid pressure inside a pipe would tear it at the exit from the hydroextrusion die where the pressure around the pipe drops down to atmospheric. Still further, in the prior art equipment, the operations cannot be adjusted to the requirements of specific materials such as hard and brittle metals and to other needs of a specific case. Still further, the known combined methods are inadequate for the production of pipes and other elongated products with a high degree of precision and good surface quality.
A further problem encountered in hydroextrusion is the so-called shot effect which occurs when the rear end of a pressure formed elongated body is forced away from the hydroextrusion die by the action of the pressurized liquid inside the pressure chamber. It has been proposed to avoid the shot effect by providing the billet with a flaring rear end portion which is retained by the hydroextrusion die at the end of the extrusion operation, i.e. when the billet would otherwise be ejected from the high pressure chamber. By another known method for avoiding the shot effect, the pressure within the pressure chamber is abruptly reduced when the rear end of the billet reaches the hydroextrusion die. By either of these methods the shot effect may be eliminated but they have the common drawback that at the end of a cycle, the hydroextrusion die must be dismantled for removing therefrom the stuck end of the billet, which is an obvious complication that affects the efficiency of the operation and leads to a loss of metal.

Method and device for combined drawing and hydrostatic extrusion of billets from metal and alloys

Project 3-P Precise Pipe Production Ltd.


A system including a wired or wireless automation device of an automation system that detects threats within a secured geographic area, a processor of the automation device that measures performance parameters of the automation device and reports the measured performance parameters to a control panel of the automation system and a processor of the control panel that compares the measured performance parameters of the automation device with one or more criteria, detects a potential failure of the automation device and presents recommendations for ameliorating the potential failure to an authorized human user of the automation system.

Home or building automation systems that serve and protect people and assets within secured areas (e.g., a home or other residence, commercial area, etc.) are known. Such systems are typically based upon the use of one or more controlled devices and may include one or more sensors that detect threats within the area.
Threats to people and assets may originate from any of number of different sources. For example, a fire may kill or injure occupants who have become trapped by a fire in a home or a commercial building. Similarly, carbon monoxide from a fire may kill people in their sleep.
Alternatively, an unauthorized intruder, such as a burglar, may present a threat to assets within the area. In the case of intruders, sensors may be placed in different areas based upon the respective uses of those areas. For example, if people are present during some portions of a normal day and not at other times, then sensors may be placed along a periphery of the space to provide protection while the space is occupied while additional sensors may be placed within an interior of the space and used when the space is not occupied.
In most cases, threat detectors are connected to a local control panel. In the event of a threat detected via one of the sensors, the control panel may sound a local audible alarm. The control panel may also send a signal to a central monitoring station.
In general, home or building automation system work well. However, it are sometimes difficult to anticipate problems in such systems and to troubleshoot those problems when they occur, especially where an unexpected fault occurs. Accordingly, a need exists for better methods and apparatus for troubleshooting such systems.

Maintenance plan forecast using automation control devices' usage pattern through big data analytics


A customer-customizable lamp includes a vertical support post mounted to a base plate. The customer selects from five different heights of decorative blocks to be mounted on the post. Each selected block may be provided in any one of five selectable colors or four selectable simulated wood grains. The selection of blocks and finishes are made on a web page with an interactive representation of the customizable lamp being displayed as the design is being created by the customer. The remaining height on the support post to be filled with decorative blocks is displayed. Once the post is filled and the customer has selected finishes for each selected block, the lamp design can be finalized for delivery to the customer. The customer selectable blocks and colors/finishes permit several million permutations so that the customer can create a highly individualized decorative lamp.

The present invention relates to lamp constructions, and particularly to a lamp that is customizable by the customer.
Interior decorating for a house, apartment or office certainly involves personal taste. Style, layout, texture and color combine to create a desired look, mood or impression. However, for the individual customer, most interior decorating is limited to fixed selections provided by companies or designers. To be sure, most customers are not willing to pay the high price for a true custom design for furniture and accessories. Thus, it is much more cost-effective and efficient for companies to provide a limited selection of styles, materials and colors for interior decorating items.
For many interior decorating decisions, the general style of the furniture and accessories is relatively easily determined. For instance, the size and layout of a room will dictate the type of furniture that can be effectively used in that room. The style of the furniture chosen by the customer—i.e., Louis XVI, retro, new age, etc.—generally dictates the shape and design of the decorating items. However, in most cases, the most difficult interior decorating decisions are driven by the color and material. In many respects, color is the most personal choice in interior decorating. Color and color combinations can speak volumes about an individual. Moreover, the color of a decorating item is more readily noticed, whether consciously or unconsciously, than the overall shape of the furniture or accessory item.
Most customers crave choice, perhaps especially in the field of home décor. The need for a wide range of choices is especially acute for those who hope to use interior decoration as a statement of personal expression. However, the needs of inexpensive mass-produced decorating items inherently limit choice. There is a need for interior decorating items that can be mass-produced, that are affordable and that provide the customer with seemingly infinite design options in color and material.

Method for creating a customer customizable lamp


The solder bonding is conducted by applying a postflux, which contains halogen compounds in the ratio of 0.2% or less as the amount of halogen, over a metal surface, which is the portion to be bonded by solder, of a member including metal accommodated in a gas-impermeable container in a hermetically sealed manner together with a rust-proof agent packet. The method of the present invention prevents, in an extremely simple way and at a low cost, the oxidation of the metal surface by retaining the member including the metal under a reductive atmosphere in which no oxygen, moisture or corrosive substances actually exist, and in which reductive gas co-exists with the material including the metal member, and the use of the flux containing a small amount of halogen easily enables good bonding properties of the solder. Accordingly, it is unnecessary to remove the flux by organic halogen based solvents after the solder bonding, the cleaning steps may be simplified and cost reduction may be promoted.

The present invention relates to a solder bonding method for metal or a member including metal, or more preferably, an electronic member. More particularly, the present invention relates to a solder bonding method which prevents metal from oxidizing during transportation or preservation and which enables the solder bonding of metal applying flux, which contains a small amount of halogen, and without cleaning.
When a member including metal is exposed to air during preservation or transportation, the metal easily oxidizes, an oxide layer forms over the metal surface, and the bonding properties of solder on the metal rapidly deteriorates. Therefore, in order to attain good bonding properties between the metal and solder by removing the oxide layer on the metal surface, flux (postflux) is applied on the portion to be bonded with the other material or member by solder bonding. However, the postflux usually contains halogen compounds, and when the postflux containing a large amount of halogen compounds is used in the solder bonding of a member having metal, especially an electronic member used in the electronic field, the remaining halogen compounds cause the corrosion of metal and lowers the electrical insulatability. Therefore, the halogen compounds remaining on the electronic member after application of solder are removed by cleaning treatment with organic halogen based solvents such as chlorofluoro hydrocarbon, chlorohydro hydrocarbon and fluoro hydrocarbon, and water containing surface active agents. However, the use of organic halogen-based solvents tends to be prohibited by international conventions in order to prevent the destruction of earth's environment such as the ozone layer, thereby limiting the applicability of flux containing a large amount of halogen compounds to the solder bonding of electronic material and/or an electronic member. Moreover, there are some problems in the water cleaning that waste water containing heavy metals and organic solvents after the water cleaning has to be treated in order not to contaminate the earth's environment with heavy metals and organic solvents and that drying after the water cleaning costs a considerable amount of money.
Because of the above-mentioned circumstances, no cleaning technology which does not require cleaning after the solder bonding when organic halogen based solvents are used has been developed by applying a postflux containing a small amount of halogen compounds (hereinafter referred to as "subvital postflux"). In this case, the amount of the remaining halogen on a substrate on which parts are mounted by solder bonding has to be restrained in the amount of 14 .mu.g/inch.sup.2 or less. It is necessary to reduce the amount of halogen contained in the subvital postflux.
Because of the weak strength of the subvital postflux to remove oxides, it is necessary to prevent the oxidation of the member including metal during preservation or transportation. Therefore, the following preservation methods are usually adopted: accommodating the metal member and a desiccant in a hermetically sealed manner; or replacing the inside of the preservation container with inert gas. However, these preservation methods have not always been satisfactory. For example, it is not easy to completely replace the air within the preservation container even by the method of replacing the inside of the container with inert gas such as nitrogen and argon. Even if the air is completely replaced, oxygen and moisture permeate through the packing material into the container during preservation, and the oxygen content and the humidity within the preservation container increase, causing the metal surface to be oxidized. In the method using desiccants, even if moisture is completely removed, the problem that oxidation of the metal occurs still remains. Moreover, the humidity rises due to moisture that permeates through the packing material with the passage of time or the moisture contained in the object to be preserved, causing oxidation of the metal surface.
In any case, it was difficult to prevent oxidation of the metal member by the conventional methods. As a result, there was a problem that the oxide layer of the metal member could not be removed by the solder bonding using the subvital postflux.
As described above, there was a problem that sufficient bonding properties could not be obtained by the conventional method of bonding metal by solder using a subvital postflux. The object of the present invention is to provide a method for enabling a good solder bonding of the metal and other material or member using a no-cleaning subvital postflux.


A receiver with bypass mode for improved sensitivity is disclosed. An apparatus is provided that includes a non-bypass signal path coupled to a receiver, the non-bypass signal path comprising a filter, a bypass signal path coupled to the receiver, the bypass signal path configure to bypass the filter, and a switch configured to couple an antenna to the non-bypass signal path during time intervals when signals transmitted by a related local transmitter are transmitted with a signal power that exceeds a threshold, and to couple the antenna to the bypass signal path during other time intervals. In another aspect, the switch is configured to couple the antenna to the non-bypass signal path during time intervals when a jamming signal in a selected frequency range is received with a signal power that exceeds a threshold, and to couple the antenna to the bypass signal path during other time intervals.

1. Field
The present application relates generally to the operation and design of transceivers, and more particularly, to improving the sensitivity of receivers.
2. Background
High quality signal reception is especially important for the current generation of portable devices. Typically, such devices provide multiple services, such as wide area network (WAN) communication services, wireless local area network (WLAN) communication services, and various other communication services. A device may include several transceivers to provide such communication services. Accordingly, each transceiver within a device should be carefully designed to reject interfering signals and receive desired signals with high sensitivity.
Signal interference may be especially problematic in multi-radio coexistence scenarios where, for example, a portable device includes a WAN transceiver and a WLAN transceiver. In this coexistence scenario, strong radio frequency (RF) jamming signals can appear at the input of the WAN receiver due to transmissions by the local related WAN transmitter. Furthermore, jamming signals from external transmitters may also appear at the input to the WAN receiver. Such signals may jam the WAN receiver and thus interfere with WAN signal reception.
To address this problem, a filter, such as a duplexer, is typically inserted in the receive signal path to suppress jamming signals associated with transmissions by the local related WAN transmitter or external transmitters. Unfortunately, the filter introduces an insertion loss of up to approximately 2.5 dB into the receive signal path. Thus, at times when there are no jamming signals present, the received WAN signals still experience the insertion loss of the duplexer thereby reducing the sensitivity of the WAN receiver.
Therefore, it would be desirable to have an efficient way to overcome the insertion loss of a duplexer or other filter utilized in a radio front end to improve receiver sensitivity.

Receiver with bypass mode for improved sensitivity


An electricity transformer station having a foundation and a housing on top of the foundation, the housing comprising walls and a roof. The housing comprises a plurality of identical modules assembled in a row along a longitudinal axis of the housing, each of the modules having two side walls and a roof section connecting the side walls.

The term Compact Secondary Substation (CSS) is typically used for trans-former stations in which the power from the main electricity net is transformed from medium voltage, which is in the range 12-24 kV, to low voltage, which is in the range of 100-1000 volts. Typical CSS are produced with a concrete foundation and a concrete or metal housing on top of the foundation. Examples of typical prior art CSS are shown in FIG. 1a and FIG. 1b. Prior art CSS systems are to a certain degree modular in as much as part of the walls of the CSS may be extended by metal profiles to the desired length of a station. When the correct configuration has been achieved, a roof is placed on top of the walls, where the roof is assembled of typically two modules or made in one piece, if the station is of relatively small dimensions.
The modular wall concept implies a certain degree of flexibility, because lengths of CSS can be varied by similar wall sections and adapted to the length of the foundation, which, normally, comes in few certain predetermined model lengths. An assembly, where the length can be freely chosen is not possible, because the roofs are only delivered in certain lengths and because part of the side walls along the foundations does not follow the modular metal profiles with respect to partition.
However, in line with the increasing demands for different types of CSS in different countries, there is an aim for even greater flexibility when it comes to CSS construction.


A particulate removal tool and method are provided to remove the particulates such as ash and soot from a particulate filter. The particulate filter can be placed on a filter holder in a housing of the tool where a quick burst of air can be provided to clean the particulate filter. The air then can travel to a container which includes additional filter to filter the air. A vacuum can be used to remove additional particulates from the container.

Diesel engines, gasoline engines and other engines emit contaminants and other pollutants as part of their operating products. Emissions from vehicles and other sources that use these engines are becoming more of a concern for the environment as the world economy is expanding and the potential for global warming is increasing. The emissions standards set by governing bodies have become stricter and the amount of contaminants that can be released from a vehicle has dramatically decreased.
Conventional methods and devices that trap the contaminants include using a filter to trap and reduce the amount of contaminants that are dispersed into the environment through the exhaust portion of a vehicle. However, after use over many hours, the contaminants build up in the filters and impede the air flow of the exhaust. The impeded air flow will increase the cost of operating the engine and decrease the efficiency of the filters. Thus, the filters need periodic maintenance and cleansing.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide a device and method that can clean the filter with a burst of air and contain the dispersed contaminants within a system for disposal.


A system for allocating a wireless resource for a Space Division Multiple Access (SDMA) communication is provided. The system for allocating the wireless resource for the SDMA communication includes: a channel state recognition unit to recognize a channel state of wireless channels generated among adjacent nodes including a source node, a relay node, and a destination node; and a wireless resource allocation unit to control at least one of an amount of channel state information fed back from the destination node to the source node, and a relay level of a relay signal, the relay signal being generated by relaying a source signal transmitted from the source node, according to the channel state.

1. Field of the Invention
Aspects of the present invention relate to a Space Division Multiple Access (SDMA) technology of transmitting a signal by using a plurality of antennas, and more particularly, to a system and method of allocating a wireless resource for an SDMA communication in order to apply an additional scheme to a beam-forming scheme for an SDMA and establish an optimized SDMA communication environment.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, research is actively under way in order to provide various multimedia services including a voice service in a wireless communication environment, and support a high-quality and high-speed data transmission. A technology of a Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) system using a channel of a space area has been rapidly developed as a part of research.
Many people desire a high-speed wireless communication service, however, many problems exist in providing or using the high-speed wireless communication service in the wireless communication environment. In particular, a limit exists in increasing a data rate in a communication environment using a wireless channel since multipath fading, selective frequency fading, various communication barriers, and the like, exist. Representative technologies for overcoming the limit are a multi-antenna technology and a signal relay technology.
The multi-antenna technology is a technology of increasing reliability of a signal transmission and acquiring a high-speed data rate by transmitting a signal using a plurality of antennas. Also, a space diversity technology of transmitting the signal via the plurality of antennas can increase reliability of a received signal. In particular, a technology of transmitting different signals to multiple users via the plurality of antennas is referred to as a Space Division Multiple Access (SDMA) technology. The SDMA technology increases a capacity of an entire system by efficiently using a wireless resource.
Beam-forming of the signals transmitted via the plurality of antennas using the SDMA technology are performed via a precoding scheme according to a wireless channel state. Specifically, interference generated between wireless channels can be reduced by appropriately precoding a data stream according to the wireless channel state. For example, a mobile terminal feeds back Channel State Information (CSI) for a wireless channel generated between the mobile terminal and a base station to the base station in which the plurality of antennas is installed, and the base station performs optimized beam-forming using the fed-back CSI. Also, the wireless resource is consumed so that the CSI may be fed back to the base station.
Also, the signal relay technology is a technology of relaying a signal generated from a source node via a relay node existing between the source node and a destination node. A power amplification relay scheme as a representative relay scheme improves a Signal-to-Interference and Noise Ratio (SINR) or a data rate since the relay node amplifies a power of a source signal and transmits the source signal to the destination node. Also, in this case, the wireless resource is consumed when the relay node relays the signal.
Also, since a beam-forming technology for an SDMA and the signal relay technology are respectively researched as separate technologies, the wireless resource cannot be efficiently used. For example, even though the relay node is not necessarily used when the channel state of the wireless channel generated between the source node and the destination node is favorable, a high data rate and a high SINR can be acquired via the appropriate beam-forming. However, in this case, consuming many wireless resources for a signal relay can be wasteful.
Also, when a desired data rate and a desired SINR can be achieved with only a slight signal amplification since the relay node and the destination node are located within a short distance, increasing a feedback amount for the CSI can waste the wireless resource despite reducing a necessity that the destination node feeds back the voluminous CSI to the source node so that the source node may perform the beam-forming.
Accordingly, a system and method of allocating a wireless resource for an SDMA communication, which can reduce waste of the wireless resource and achieve excellent performance by simultaneously using the signal relay technology and the beam-forming technology and efficiently controlling the two technologies is needed.

Method of allocating wireless resource for space division multiple access communication and wireless resource allocation system of enabling the method


A closure used on a beverage container has an outlet neck centered on an axis. The closure has a mount secured to the neck and a valve body formed with an outwardly open passage extending along a passage axis generally coaxial with the outlet-neck axis. This body is pivotally displaceable in the mount about a valve-body axis generally coaxial with the passage axis and outlet-neck axis between an open position and a closed position and through an intermediate position. Structure on the valve body and mount block flow through the passage in the closed position, allow free flow through the passage in the open position, and limit flow through the passage in the intermediate position.

A drink container or bottle typically has a neck centered on an axis and provided with a closure forming a passage running through the closure and having a valve. A valve body of the valve can block the passage in a first closed position and open it in a second open position. The valve body passes between the closed and open positions through an intermediate position in which it lets air into or out of, normally the latter, the container. This way the user can crack the valve to relieve pressure so that he or she is not sprayed by the liquid in the container.
The valve body in such a closure of a drink container normally has a valve body that extends diagonally to the direction of flow of the liquid exiting the container through the closure. In an intermediate position between the closed position and the opened position the container is vented in order to reduce gas pressure inside it, as mentioned above. With this system it is not immediately clear how to operate the valve, that is which way to turn the valve body to open or close it. In addition to this, the closure protrudes considerably out of the container neck.

Venting valve-type closure for beverage container