Method for the purification of a volatile metal hydride comprising obtaining a volatile metal hydride feed containing one or more acidic impurities, one of which is a sulfur-containing impurity; contacting the feed with an alkaline material and reacting at least a portion of the sulfur-containing impurity with the alkaline material to remove a portion of the sulfur-containing impurity from the feed and provide an intermediate purified material, wherein the contacting of the feed with an alkaline material is effected at a sub-ambient temperature; and contacting the intermediate purified product with an adsorbent material to remove at least a portion of the sulfur-containing impurity from the intermediate purified material and provide a purified volatile metal hydride product.

Volatile metal hydride compounds are widely used as precursors in chemical vapor deposition (CVD) processes for the manufacture of microelectronic components. The growth and quality of thin metallic films formed from metal hydride precursors are highly dependent upon the purity of the precursor compounds and require extremely low concentrations of impurities, particularly volatile sulfur-containing impurities.
Purification of metal hydride compounds typically is effected in batch processes using purification media such as adsorbents, getters, and other reactive materials. When the purification media becomes spent as indicated by the initial breakthrough of impurities in the treated product, the process equipment is taken off line, disassembled to remove spent purification media, and reassembled with fresh purification media. Because volatile metal hydride compounds (for example, arsine and phosphine) are highly toxic, it is desirable to maximize the operating time between changes of the purification media in order to minimize purification media replacement and reduce potential hazards to operating personnel. Because the concentration of impurities in the raw feed material may vary significantly from batch to batch, it is also desirable to utilize purification processes that maintain high removal efficiencies regardless of fluctuations in the level of feed impurities.
As purity requirements for metal hydride precursors used in CVD processes become more stringent, there is a need for improved methods for removing impurities from precursor feed materials, particularly when the impurities include volatile sulfur compounds. These improved processes should reduce the potential for personnel exposure to the precursors and also allow for wide swings in impurity concentration levels in the feed materials. These needs are addressed by embodiments of the present invention described below and defined by the claims that follow.

Removal of sulfur-containing impurities from volatile metal hydrides


A drainable blade louver comprises a multiplicity of inclined blades extending horizontally between the jambs of a frame. Each blade has in cross-section a base portion sloping smoothly upwardly from a lowermost point at the front edge of the blade to an uppermost point proximate to the rear edge of the blade. The undersurface of the base portion is free of protuberances so that there are no drip points and water clinging to the undersurface of the base portion is transported along the undersurface by the air flowing through the louver. A generally C-shaped bottom trough portion adjacent the upper edge of the blade captures water blown along the undersurface of the blade and drains it to the jambs. A front drainage trough, an intermediate drainage trough, and a rear drainage trough on the top surface of each blade provide high capacity water-capturing ability. Water captured in each drainage trough is flows along each trough to respective front, intermediate and rear drainage channels in the jambs.

It is often desirable to minimize the intrusion of water through a louver. In such cases, the use of a drainable-blade louver, many forms of which are available commercially, is called for. Common to almost all drainable blade louvers is the provision of troughs on the front edges of the upper surfaces of the blades for capturing water that would otherwise run down the blades and fall from the front edges onto the blades below. In so doing, some of the water dripping from the front edges of the blades may become entrained in the air flow and carry through the louver. The troughs capture the water and drain it to vertical drainage channels in the jambs of the blade frames. Some drainable louvers have offsets in the blades to stop water from being blown up the blade surfaces and off the upper, rear edges. Other drainable blade louvers, such as the one described and shown in U. S. Pat. No. 4,103,468 (Olsen, Aug. 1, 1978), have additional troughs intermediate the front and rear edges of the blades and an upper rear flange for capturing water from splash and water blown up the blade surfaces. At least one commercially available drainable blade louver, which is of the sightproof type with inverted V-shaped blades, has troughs on the bottom sides of the rear edges of the blades to catch water carried by centrifugal force of the air flow onto the undersides of the back portions of the blades.
Windblown rain enters the front of a louver and impinges on the blades with considerable force. Water drops that strike the blades splash into small droplets, some of which become entrained in the airflow and some of which are carried up, either by their momentum or by rising turbulent air currents, and wet the underside of the blade above. Some of the droplets fall back onto the blade surface. Droplets that are captured by the blade surfaces and collect on the blade surfaces tend to coalesce into a layer of water. The air flow tends to push the water layer formed from the droplets up the blade surfaces.
Previously known drainable blade louvers vary in their effectiveness in preventing water intrusion (carry-through). Most drainable blade louvers, for example, make no provision for capturing water caught on the undersurfaces of the blades. Many lack sufficient drainage trough capacity to drain off all water captured by the troughs in heavy storm conditions, and the troughs overflow. Previously known drainable blade louvers also make no provision for promoting the formation of large, heavy drops from droplets that collect of some surfaces, and the droplets on such surfaces are prone to being picked up and entrained in the air flow.


A method for drawing electricity from a non-animal organism, the method including coupling a first electrical conductor to the non-animal organism, coupling a second electrical conductor to a ground rod, embedding the ground rod into soil at a predetermined depth as a function of a desired current level, whereby the current available from the non-animal organism is increased by increasing the depth that the ground rod is embedded into the soil, coupling an electrical load between the first electrical conductor and the second electrical conductor, the electrical load being configured to draw electricity from the non-animal organism via the first electrical conductor, and operating the electrical load using electricity drawn from the non-animal organism.

Since the late-nineteenth century the use of, and uses for, electricity has increased tremendously, becoming a fundamental part of everyday life for most people. One only has to look at remote parts of the world to see how drastically different life is without electricity. Most electric devices in use today typically draw between a few milliwatts to several megawatts of power, depending on the application. Higher costs for the fuels needed to generate electricity, and a higher electrical demand in general, however, have led to increased electricity costs, thereby increasing the attractiveness of alternative power sources.
One typical use of electricity is a light emitting diode (LED). LEDs have seen increasing popularity in recent times due to a lower per unit cost and a greater number of available colors. LEDs are more energy efficient (i.e., less power is consumed) and generally have a much longer life expectancy than conventional filament-based light bulbs. In general, LEDs draw approximately 20 mA at 2V (i.e., 40 mW) when illuminated, which is far less than conventional light bulbs.
Distribution of electricity from a generation plant to the end-user is not a trivial problem. Thousands of miles of wires and cables creating a transmission network are involved in delivering power to consumers. The transmission network adds costs such as material costs and the cost of lost energy due to the resistance of the transmission wires. For the average consumer of electricity, the transmission costs generally equal the cost of the electricity itself. Furthermore, portions of the world have no electricity because it is simply too far from the nearest transmission line or the terrain itself prohibits installation of transmission lines.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


An electronic apparatus is disclosed, including a substrate; a unit body part on whose lateral surface the substrate is provided; and a bracket part configured to retain the unit body part. The bracket part includes a first bracket part and a second bracket part to which the first bracket part is slidably attached. The first bracket part is slid with respect to the second bracket part, and when the bracket part is at a close position, the first bracket part fixes the substrate by pressing the substrate in a slide direction and an approximately vertical direction, and the unit body part is fixed to the bracket part.

Regarding an electronic apparatus such as an information processing apparatus as represented by a personal computer, multiproduct production by built-to-order manufacturing has been required. For example, for a so-called desktop-type information processing apparatus, in response to a request for minimizing the apparatus, use of a thin type optical disk drive having a thickness of 12.7 mm or 9.5 mm has begun, instead of an optical disk drive having a thickness of 5 inches (12.7 cm). In order to increase storage density of the information processing apparatus, a combination of the optical disk drive having the thickness of 5 inches (12.7 cm) together with the thin type optical disk drive having the thickness of 12.7 mm or 9.5 mm is applied in practical use.
On the other hand, for this type of the electronic apparatus, a maintenance inspection is also important. Thus, a method has been desired to easily assemble and disassemble components forming the electronic apparatus at a lower cost with reduced space.
FIG. 1A and FIG. 1B illustrate an electronic unit mounted inside a housing of a personal computer being a so-called desktop-type. FIG. 1B is a cross-sectional view taken on line A-A depicted in FIG. 1A. FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the electronic unit depicted in FIG. 1A.
The electronic unit 10 depicted in FIG. 1A, FIG. 1B, and FIG. 2 is mounted inside the housing made of a sheet metal generally having a thickness of approximately 0.8 mm to 1 mm. The electronic unit 10 mainly includes a unit body part 1, a conversion substrate 2 attached on a lateral surface of the unit body part 1, a bracket part 3 to which the unit body part 1 is attached, and the like.
For example, an external surface of the unit body part 1 is made of aluminum and the like, and the optical disk drive (not shown) being a thin type is mounted inside the unit body part 1.
The bracket part 3 is made of a thin metallic plate or resin. As illustrated in FIG. 2, the unit body part 1 is attached to lateral surfaces 3b and 3c, which are formed extending in a vertical direction from a bottom surface 3a of the bracket part 3, by screws 4a and 4b. Also, the bracket part 3 is mounted inside the housing which is not depicted.
The conversion substrate 2 is fixed by screws 5a and 5b on a lateral surface which does not contact the bracket part 3, in lateral surfaces of the unit body part 1. Various types of connectors 6a through 6c are placed on the conversion substrate 2
In others, Japanese Laid-open Patent Application No. 2002-164120 discloses a stopper mechanism which prevents a connector from slipping off or which prevents connector's looseness to be within a tolerance level possible to be electrically connected even if the connector become loose in a case of inserting in and mounting a memory card on the connector, and proposes a configuration for preventing the connector from slipping off due to an external shock to a mobile information terminal apparatus.
However, in aspects depicted in FIG. 1A, FIG. 1B, and FIG. 2, the unit body part 1 is attached to the bracket part 3 by the screws 4a and 4b. Accordingly, tools in addition to the screws 4a and 4b are required to attach the unit body part 1 to the bracket part 3, and an attachment operation process is required for each of the screws 4a and 4b. If it is attempted to reduce the number of the attachment operation processes, the number of components is increased, and a certain capacity is required for attachment operations.
Moreover, if the bracket part 3 is made of resin, first of all, it is difficult to fix the unit body part 1 with other than the screws 4a and 4b, and it is difficult to thinly form the resin. Thus, the bracket part 3 could be thicker. Also, in a case where the bracket part 3 is made of resin, it is required to separately conduct a process for grounding.
In addition, the bracket part 3 mounted on the unit body part 1 is fixed inside the housing which is not depicted. In order to fix the bracket part 3, components and operation processes are further required.
Furthermore, since the conversion substrate 2 to be mounted on the unit body part 1 is fixed on the lateral surface of the unit body part 1 by the screws 5a and 5b, components and operation processes are further required.
Also, for example, the external surface of the unit body part 1 is made of aluminum and the like. In a case where the bracket part 3 is made of metal such as a sheet metal, the bracket part 3 has higher strength than the unit body part 1. Thus, in a case where angles of bending the lateral surfaces 3b and 3c with respect to the bottom surface 3a of the bracket part 3 are defective, or in a case where a length between the lateral surfaces 3b and 3c of the bracket part 3 is wider than the unit body part 1, if the unit body part 1 is attached to the bracket part 3 by the screws 4a and 4b, the unit body part 1 is drawn to the screws 4a and 4b so that there are is mechanical play, and the unit body part 1 is in danger of being deformed. As a result, damage or a malfunction of the unit body part 1 may be caused.
As a response to the above problems, a highly accurate material may be used as a material of the bracket part 3, or a material more fragile than the material of the unit body part 1 may be used as a material configuring the bracket part 3. In the former case, production cost is increased. In the latter case, fastening itself of the unit body part 1 to the bracket part 3 could be weakened.

Electronic apparatus, assembly structure of electronic unit, and bracket


An improved apparatus and method for holding garments, such as neckties, is disclosed. The device comprises a magnet, preferably made of a rare Earth material and magnetized to about Grade N35 or better, and a faceplate. In one embodiment, the magnet is positioned under at least a portion of the wearer's shirt while the faceplate is positioned on a portion of the wearer's necktie. The shirt and/or necktie may additionally include pockets for housing the magnet and/or faceplate. The faceplate may be decorative, and interchangeable, for prominent display in front of the necktie. Alternatively, the device may be configured to be completely hidden from view. Several means for retaining the magnet to the shirt upon separation of the garments are presented.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to garment securement devices, and particularly, to necktie holders for securing one's necktie to itself and to dress shirts.
2. Background Art
Historically, garments worn by a person have been fastened together using buttons, belts, snaps, zippers, hook-and-loop fasteners, and the like. Permanent magnets have also been used to secure garments together, such as the magnetic button disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,397,931 issued to Ellis, the magnetic button disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,974,634 issued to Eisenpresser, and the magnetic attaching device disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,732,451 issued to Mars. But permanent magnets made of traditional materials have not been capable of securely fastening multiple layers of clothing together due to their relatively weak magnetic field strengths. The emergence of high field strength permanent magnets in the marketplace has brought with them new utilitarian uses.
Neckties, in particular, have historically been secured to one's dress shirt using a broad array of spring clips, clasps, tacks, chains, and the like. However, conventional necktie holders such as these suffer from several shortcomings; namely, they may not be completely hidden from view, they may not have interchangeable decorative faceplates, they may not fixedly attach the necktie against the surface of the shirt, they may damage clothing by leaving a hole through the necktie and/or the shirt, and they may not permit easy separation of the ornamental end of the necktie from the shirt while simultaneously retaining the necktie holder.
In addition, conventional necktie holders can be dangerous for those persons who are required to wear a break-away necktie (i.e. clip-on tie) in their professions because conventional necktie holders are incapable of allowing the necktie to smoothly separate from the wearer's neck if the necktie were to become caught in machinery, for example.
Some necktie holders are known to include magnets as a means for securing a necktie to one's shirt. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 2,601,424 issued to Baker discloses a necktie holder having a composite faceplate incorporating both a magnet and a decorative plate in combination with a magnetic spring clip that is clamped onto person's shirt. However, Baker neither teaches nor suggests that all of the components of the necktie holder are completely hidden from view. Likewise, U.S. Pat. No. 6,216,275 B1 issued to Lee discloses a device for securing neckties that also incorporates a magnet. However, Lee neither teaches nor suggests a necktie holder capable of fixedly attaching the necktie to be in direct contact with the surface of the shirt.
Therefore, it would be desirable to provide a necktie holder that is completely hidden from view. It would also be desirable to provide a necktie holder that has interchangeable faceplates. It would also be desirable to provide a necktie holder that fixedly attaches the necktie against the surface of the wearer's shirt. It would also be desirable to provide a necktie holder that does not damage the wearer's clothing. It would also be desirable to provide a necktie holder for enhanced personal safety, yet all quick and easy separation of the necktie from the wearer's shirt to minimize damage to the necktie, as when washing hands or when eating a meal. It would also be desirable to provide a necktie holder that is retained by the wearer's clothing even when the necktie becomes separated from the wearer's shirt. It would also be desirable to provide a necktie holder that allows the necktie to move within a limited range dictated by the length of a tether, but which does not damage the wearer's clothing. It would also be desirable to provide a necktie holder that permits a single, seemingly unitary separation of the necktie from the wearer (if combined with a clip-on necktie) should the necktie become caught in machinery or otherwise pose harm to the wearer.

Apparatus and method for holding garments


A method, computing device and computer program product are provided in order to implement a test plan in an efficient manner. In the context of a method, a plurality of test messages from each of a plurality of different source systems are stored. The plurality of test messages may include test messages to be captured in an electronic health record. The method constructs a test plan. The test plan identifies an end point. The test plan also includes one or more test messages that have been previously stored and respective anticipated outcomes at the end point following transmission of the test messages. The method also includes transmitting the test messages of the test plan and receiving feedback regarding the outcome following transmission of the test messages of the test plan to the end point. The method also includes determining whether the test plan was successfully executed based upon the feedback.

Modern healthcare requires the interconnectivity of a number of disparate systems. For example, physician practices and laboratories must repeatedly communicate to allow a physician to order one or more tests and for the laboratories to report the results of those tests. In order to permit these disparate systems to connect and communicate with one another, an interface is generally positioned between the disparate systems to facilitate their integration.
Prior to commencing commercial use of an interface to connect multiple disparate systems, the interface is generally tested to ensure that the interface and the resulting intersystem connectivity satisfies the various requirements. These requirements may include, for example, workflow, data integrity and regulatory requirements. In order to test the interface, several stakeholders who are members of different organizations must typically participate, thereby resulting in coordination challenges for the resources required to test the interface.
By way of example in which an interface is intended to support the connectivity between a laboratory and a physician practice, representatives of the laboratory, the physician practice and, in some instances, the electronic health record vendor of the physician practice must meet so as to design the test plan via which the interface will be tested. Thereafter, the laboratory must transmit a plurality of test messages to the physician's practice and the physician's practice, in turn, must evaluate the resulting electronic health record to determine if the test messages were properly received and acted upon. If so, the interface may be considered to be functioning properly. However, if the test messages are not properly received, the interface may be considered to have failed such that further evaluation may be conducted prior to the commercial launch.
As the foregoing example demonstrates, the testing of an interface generally requires the cooperation and the devotion of time and resources concurrently by members of several different organizations. It may sometimes prove challenging to obtain the requisite resources from the various organizations and, in any event, may be even more challenging to coordinate the concurrent availability of those resources in order to property test the interface.

Method and apparatus for implementing a task plan including transmission of one or more test messages


A highly efficient liquid cooled, two phase heat exchanger includes a plurality of plate-like flattened tubes (22) in spaced, side-by-side relation. Header plates (10, 12) are located at the ends of the plate-like flattened tubes (22) and receive the same in sealed relation. Tanks (14, 16) are sealed to each of the header plates (10, 12). A liquid inlet (18) is provided to one of the tanks 14 while a liquid outlet (20) is provided to one of the tanks (16). A plurality of flattened serpentine tubes (40) in side-by-side relation are provided and each has a plurality of generated parallel, straight runs (42) located between its ends. A pair of headers (30,32) receive the ends of the serpentine tubes (40) and are in generally parallel relation. Each of the plate-like flattened tubes (22) is in nested relation between two adjacent straight runs (42) of the serpentine tubes (40) in heat exchange relation therewith and each of the serpentine tubes (40) is located between the header plates (10, 12).

The last several decades have seen increasing concern about the effects of internal combustion engines on the environment. Such engines are, of course, the overwhelming choice for the power plant of vehicles of all sizes and shapes. Some of the concerns are related to energy conservation while others relate to emissions.
A number of the problems to be solved, and the approaches to their solution, are interactive. For example, improved efficiency of power consuming systems on a vehicle reduces fuel consumption which serves both energy conservation concerns and concerns about emissions.
In U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,408,843 and 5,520,015, both to Lukas et al, and issued respectively on Apr. 25, 1995 and May 28, 1996, there is disclosed a vehicular cooling system that addresses the foregoing concerns. Both the patents are owned by the assignee of the instant application and their entire disclosures are herein incorporated by reference.
In the system disclosed in the aforementioned patents, a liquid cooled condenser is employed in the vehicular air conditioning system. The condenser condenses refrigerant from the vapor phase to the liquid phase to recycle it to an evaporator where it is evaporated to provide cooling for some part of the vehicle. As disclosed in the Lukas patents, the evaporator is air cooled but in some instances, particularly where it is desirable to have refrigerant lines of minimal lengths so as to reduce refrigerant charge volume and where the location to be cooled is somewhat remote from the air conditioning system, it may be desirable to provide a cooled liquid to the point whereat cooling is required, which liquid is cooled by an evaporator located close to the other components of the air conditioning system.
The present invention is directed to providing a new and improved liquid cooled, two phase heat exchanger for use in systems such as those disclosed in the Lukas patents or anywhere else where heat exchange between a liquid and a fluid changing from the liquid phase to the vapor phase or vice versa is desirable.


An organic light-emitting display device includes a first substrate; a display unit on the first substrate; an encapsulation layer covering the display unit; a second substrate on the first substrate, wherein the display unit is interposed therebetween; a sealant between the encapsulation layer and the second substrate and at the outside of the display unit, wherein the sealant bonds the encapsulation layer and the second substrate to seal them; and a getter on the encapsulation layer in a region between the sealant and the display unit.

1. Field
Embodiments of the present invention relate to an organic light-emitting display device and a method of manufacturing the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
Display devices are devices that display an image, and organic light-emitting display devices have recently drawn attention.
Organic light-emitting display devices emit light themselves and do not require a separate light source, unlike liquid crystal display devices, and thus the thickness and weight thereof may be reduced. In addition, organic light-emitting display devices have high quality characteristics such as low power consumption, high brightness, and high response speed.
In order to increase (or improve) the performance and lifespan of the organic light-emitting display device, the organic light-emitting display device may be tightly sealed to decrease (or minimize) the effect (or influence) of moisture and gas that may permeate (or enter) the organic light emitting display device from the outside. However, there may be a problem in that electrodes and an organic layer included in the above-described general organic light-emitting display device, and in particular, in an organic light-emitting element, are affected by oxygen and moisture that permeate (or enter) into the organic light-emitting display device. Consequently, the electrodes and the organic layer may deteriorate.

Organic light-emitting display device and manufacturing method thereof


A method, system, and computer program product provides a data dictionary that can represent multiple versions of the schema objects, and which provides improved performance, reduced computing costs, and more accurate results in a variety of applications, such as in a database redo log mining system. A method of providing a data dictionary comprises the steps of determining whether information about the data object is present in a denormalized data dictionary history table, and if the information about the data object is not present in the denormalized data dictionary history table, then querying a normalized data dictionary to obtain the information about the data object, including a version identifier of the data object, and storing the version identifier and the obtained information about the data object including the version identifier in the denormalized data dictionary history table.

In a typical relational database management system (RDBMS), all modifications to the database are logged in a redo stream (made up of redo records) to provide recovery and transaction durability. This redo stream (or redo log) can be used to drive asynchronous applications providing a variety of functionality. For example, the redo stream can be used to provide Logical Standby, in which a standby database shadows a primary database by extracting committed transactions out of the redo stream and applying those transactions. As another example, the redo stream can be used to provide Log-based replication, in which a replica site extracts committed changes made to the tables of interest in the database and applies the changes in order to keep the replica tables synchronized. As yet another example, the redo stream can be used to provide user query functionality, in which the redo stream is queried as though it were a relational table.
In one conventional application, the redo stream is analyzed to derive the equivalent data manipulation language (DML) statements that produced the redo stream. DML statements belonging to the same transaction are grouped together and committed transactions are provided to the application. Redo records typically only identify the modified schema objects or the associated columns with numbers generated internally to the database management system (DBMS). In order to perform log analysis and subsequent application of transactions, a data dictionary is needed to provide the mapping from the numbers to user-defined names. For example, SQL statements use column names and table names.
The organization of schema objects is not static. For example, columns may be dropped from or added to a table. Each new organization of a schema object defines a new version of the object. Since asynchronous log based applications may process a given portion of the redo stream multiple times and the organization of a schema object may change in the portion of the redo stream that must be reprocessed, the data dictionary required to do log analysis must represent multiple versions of the schema objects. Conventional log analysis application could only process a given portion of the redo stream one time or would allow multiple passes over a given portion of the redo stream either by requesting that the data dictionary be completely reloaded before each pass (very expensive in terms of computing) or by accepting results that were missing some symbolic information.
A need arises for a technique by which the data dictionary can represent multiple versions of the schema objects that provides improved performance, reduced computing costs, and more accurate results.

On-demand multi-version denormalized data dictionary to support log-based applications


A method for pre-testing software compatibility is illustrated. A system and software information of an operating system is extracted. While that a patch or new software will be installed in the operating system is detected, whether a compatibility test should be executed is determined. While that the compatibility test should be executed is detected, a virtual machine with a first clone system is generated, wherein the first clone system is generated according to the system and software information. The patch or the new software is installed in the first clone system to generate a second clone system. The compatibility test for the second clone system is executed. According to a result of the compatibility test, whether the patch or new software can be installed in the operating system or the second clone system can be switched to be used is determined.

1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to a method for testing software compatibility, in particular, to a method for pre-testing software compatibility and a system thereof.
2. Description of Related Art
With the technology advancement, information industrial develops rapidly and widely. People in daily life usually use the computing device or the cloud server, and the computing device or the cloud server has an operating system, such that the user can operate the computing device or the cloud server through the operating system. However, when the user installs the new software in the operating system, the software patch (for updating the software), or the operating system patch in (for updating the operating system) in the operating system, the incompatible problem may sometimes occur, and thus an error may be generated in portion of softwares and the operating system itself.
To avoid the error generation due to the incompatible problem of the portion of softwares and the operating system itself, a currently used manner is to backup the operating system and the installed softwares in each step which the new software or the patch is installed in the operating system, such that when the error is generated in the portion of the softwares or the operating system itself, the backup data can be used to recover the operating system.
A system snapshot is a technology which can backup a system image of the whole operating system (comprising the softwares installed therein) and recover the operating system. However, when the backup number and the backup organization number increases, the system snapshot consumes a great quantity of the storage space.
Additionally, another currently used manner is that the user reports the information related to the software installation proceeding, software update proceeding, or operating system update proceeding to the software company, and then the software company deals with the problems accordingly. However, the manner passively waits the problem to occur, and then integrates the related data, but does not actively find the incompatible problem.
Regarding the information security check, the operating system or the software must be updated to maintain the information security and avoid the hidden risk of the information security. However, if the system snapshot is used to backup the system image periodically, or during the software installation, the software update, or the operating system update, the consumption of the storage space is increasing as time advances. If the compatibility is not tested, and the error is generated in the portion of the softwares or the operating system, it may be convenient for the user to use the software or the operating system, and even cause the work stop.
In addition, if the computing devices or cloud servers must process the software installation, software update, or the operating system update, the management information system (MIS) engineer can understand whether the incompatible problem exists merely after each of the computing devices or cloud servers have finished the software installation, software update, or the operating system update. If the incompatible problem exists, the MIS engineer must recover the operating system by using the system image backup by the system snapshot, or report the related information to the corresponding software company to request the software company to deal with the problem. Thus, when the computing devices or cloud server must process the software installation, software update, or operating system update, the task of the software installation, software update, or operating system update is a heavy burden for the MIS engineer.

Method for pre-testing software compatibility and system thereof


A rotary furnace for the treatment of minerals, includes an annular chamber provided with a material feeder apparatus and discharge apparatus for the material, disposed adjacent one another in a certain sector of the chamber. A plurality of burners are arranged all along the annular chamber on the side walls and on the top wall thereof. The furnace further includes a conduit for extracting the discharge gases. The gases from a first zone of the chamber downstream of the feeder means and upstream of the gas extraction means, with respect to the direction of rotation of said hearth, are transferred into a second zone upstream of the material discharge means and downstream of the gas extraction means through forced conveying of the gases by suction at the first zone and by pressure delivery at the second zone. A flow regulator is used to regulate the forced conveying.

In the reductive thermal coal treatment of metallic minerals containing metal oxides, the use of rotary hearth furnaces is known. Such furnaces generally consist of an annular chamber having the bottom wall, the so-called rotary hearth, rotating relative to the remainder of the chamber, a plurality of burners being disposed on the side walls and on the top wall of the furnace. Pellets consisting of the mineral containing the metal oxide which is to be treated mixed with coal are usually introduced into the furnace and deposited on the rotary hearth, in order to favor the evolution of CO, which is the effective reducing agent. The heat supplied by the burners allows the heterogeneous coal/mineral mixture to reach the right temperature for the reduction reaction.
The furnaces constructed in this way have nevertheless disadvantages, both from the point of view of the economics of the operation and from the point of view of the environmental impact. On the one hand, the reaction of reducing the metal oxides with C, or rather CO, is in fact endothermic and therefore attains the best efficiency levels at elevated temperatures; Therefore, a good process yield involves a significant energy consumption which inevitably increases the operating costs.
On the other hand, the atmosphere in the interior of the furnace chamber is rich in CO and produces a discharge gas with high pollution potential; consequently, the environmental impact of the thermal coal treatment in question is rather great.
In EP-A-0 508 166 is described a rotary hearth furnace in which the waste gases are transferred from a first zone of the chamber downstream of the feeder means and upstream of the gas extraction means, with respect to the direction of rotation of the hearth, into a second zone upstream of the material discharge means and downstream of the gas extraction means, through an air-gas burner. The first zone is separated from the other parts of the chamber by a curtain that only allows the passage of the mineral on the surface of the rotary hearth. However, the flow rate of gases from the first zone to the second zone can't be regulated. Morever, the combustion of such gases in the second zone is not carried out as a diffused combustion, and this can affect the efficiency of the process.


In accordance with an embodiment, an optical scanning apparatus for exposing a photoconductor includes a light source configured to radiate light, a deflector configured to deflect and scan the light from the light source and guide the light to the photoconductor, a lens configured to guide the light from the light source to the deflector and a holder configured to hold the light source and the lens. The holder includes a first wall portion for holding the light source, a second wall portion for holding the lens, and a pair of third wall portions which are integrally formed with the first and second wall portions to place the light path between the light source and the lens.

In an optical scanning apparatus, the light from a light source passes through a lens and then reaches a polygon mirror. The light source and the lens are held by a holder and configured in such a manner that the light-emitting center of the light source substantially coincides with the optical axis of the lens.

Optical scanning apparatus having light source and holder holding lens and image forming apparatus including optical scanning apparatus


A standard-CMOS-process-compatible optical mode converter transitions an optical mode size using a series of adjacent regions having different optical mode sizes. In particular, in a partial-slab-mode region, which is adjacent to an initial rib-optical-waveguide-mode region, a width of a slab portion of the rib-type optical waveguide decreases and a width of a rib portion of the rib-type optical waveguide decreases to a first minimum tip size. Then, in a slab-mode region, which is adjacent to the partial-slab-mode region, the width of the slab portion decreases to a second minimum tip size. In addition, a dielectric layer is disposed over the slab portion, the rib portion and the BOX layer in the partial-slab-mode region, the slab portion and the BOX layer in the slab-mode region, and the BOX layer in a released-mode region that is adjacent to the slab-mode region and that does not include the semiconductor layer.

Field
The present disclosure generally relates to an optical mode converter for an optical interface. More specifically, the present disclosure relates to an optical mode converter for an optical interface that includes an inverse taper with multiple mode regions and an increased minimum tip size.
Related Art
Silicon photonics is a promising technology that can provide large communication bandwidth, large density, low latency and low power consumption for inter-chip and intra-chip connections. In the last few years, significant progress has been made in developing low-cost components for use in inter-chip and intra-chip silicon-photonic connections, including: high-bandwidth efficient silicon modulators, low-loss optical waveguides, wavelength-division-multiplexing (WDM) components, and high-speed CMOS optical-waveguide photo-detectors. Because of technical advances in CMOS processes, many of these components are now available in a commercial CMOS foundry, which may facilitate mass-volume production and, therefore, cost-effective inter-chip and intra-chip interconnects.
In order to enable dense integration, the optical mode in a silicon optical waveguide is typically sub-micron in size. However, when the optical waveguide is used to transfer data in and out from a silicon photonics chip (i.e., to optically couple light in or out from the silicon photonics chip), it usually suffers from significant optical coupling loss because of a huge optical mode size mismatch with external devices, such as an optical fiber (which has an optical mode size of around 10 μm) or a III-V optical gain chip (which has an optical mode size of around 1-3 μm). This severe optical coupling loss adversely affects the energy efficiency of the overall optical link and system.
In order to address this problem, different types of optical mode converters have been implemented in a submicron silicon-on-insulator (SOI) platform. For example, a surface-normal grating coupler has been widely adopted for versatile optical input/output (I/O) because of its excellent CMOS compatibility and wafer-level processing. However, surface-normal grating couplers also exhibit drawbacks, such as a relatively narrow bandwidth (typically 30 nm), polarization dependence, and strong back-reflection. For a specific application such as hybrid silicon-III-V laser integration, an optical interface with broadband, ultra-low coupling loss and low back-reflection is often very critical. Consequently, a surface-normal grating coupler is usually not suitable for these applications.
An optical mode converter is another widely used component in an optical interface between a silicon photonics chip and an optical fiber or other external device that has an expanded mode size. Typically, an optical mode converter on an SOI platform includes a silicon inverse taper and a dielectric (or a polymer) overcladding-type optical waveguide. A silicon inverse taper in conjunction with an overcladding dielectric waveguide has been successfully implemented to convert a submicron optical waveguide mode into an optical mode of a few microns with a very low loss.
In particular, an optical mode converter typically has very low loss because of the optical mode transition enabled by the adiabatic inverse taper with a tip size of approximately 60-80 nm. However, the widely used krypton-fluoride deep-ultraviolet lithography in foundries is currently targeting feature sizes or critical dimensions of around 100-250 nm and argon-fluoride deep-ultraviolet lithography is currently targeting feature sizes or critical dimensions of around 100 nm. Therefore, a 60-80 nm silicon inverse-taper tip size is clearly a challenge for processing using standard CMOS processes. Indeed, most of the existing optical mode converters were fabricated using low-throughput electron-beam lithography. While the current most-advanced CMOS process line with argon-fluoride immersion lithography is capable of feature sizes or critical dimensions of around 20-45 nm, such processing is not widely available and, therefore, may significantly increase the cost of optical mode converters and silicon photonics chips that include the optical mode converters.
Hence, what is needed is an optical mode converter that does not suffer from the above-described problems.

Optical mode converter having multiple regions


A cushioning or damping layer is disposed between a flexographic printing plate and a printing cylinder or sleeve. The cushion layer is composed of an elastomeric material which has an open-cell relief surface which is sufficiently compressible to compensate for variations in printing materials and press conditions used during printing.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a cushion element for use between a flexographic printing plate and a printing cylinder during printing.
2. Description of Related Art
Flexography applies broadly to printing processes utilizing flexible substrates bearing elastomeric or rubbery relief printing surfaces. Flexographic printing plates are well known for use in printing, particularly on surfaces which are soft and easily deformable, such as packaging materials, e.g., cardboard, plastic films, etc. Flexographic printing plates can be prepared from photosensitive elements containing photopolymerizable compositions, such as those described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,323,637 and 4,427,749. The photopolymerizable compositions generally comprise an elastomeric binder, at least one monomer and a photoinitiator. The photosensitive elements generally have a photopolymerizable layer interposed between a support and a coversheet or multilayer cover element. Upon imagewise exposure to actinic radiation, the photopolymerizable layer polymerizes in the exposed areas causing insolubilization of the exposed photopolymerizable composition. Treatment with a suitable solvent removes the unexposed areas of the photopolymerizable layer leaving a printing relief which can be used for flexographic printing.
Historically, to mount flexographic plates to a printing cylinder, vinyl sheets having adhesive coated on each side, commonly referred to as stickyback, have been used. Plates are mounted with a partial or entire layer of stickyback between the plate and the printing cylinder. The vinyl sheets are incompressible, thin and tend to vary in caliper. The plate, printing cylinder, gears, substrate and impression cylinder also each have variations in tolerances in surface smoothness and height or thickness. Such inaccuracies dictate the use of increased pressure in the printing process, but such increased pressure causes a deterioration in print quality due to yielding under pressure of the flexographic printing plates. Undesirable results include a dirty appearance of printing and inaccurate reproduction of half tones, e.g., oval dots or halos around characters and images. In addition, there is an increase in the use of thinner plates formed by photopolymerization techniques which can accentuate the resulting problems associated with printing with non-uniform materials such as, plates, cylinders, gears and substrates.
In an effort to overcome the shortcomings of the stickyback sheet, layers of synthetic polymeric foam as backing materials or as tapes are used in mounting the flexographic plate on the printing cylinder. The polymeric foam materials are compressible and thus have sufficient cushioning effect to compensate for the variations in thickness or surface height of the plate, plate cylinder, gears, substrate and impression cylinder. In addition, the foam materials must have sufficient resiliency to rebound rapidly and repeatedly to the original dimensions during printing. However, polymeric foam materials typically fatigue with use during printing since the foam looses compressibility and resiliency, and cannot rebound to its original dimensions.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,285,799 discloses a printing blanket for long periods of use in offset lithography which is composed of a polymeric film and woven backing, an ink transfer layer, and a resilient compressible support layer. The support layer has an external surface subdivided by grooves which leaves flat surfaced islands. The blanket is used as an intermediate to transfer an ink image from a printing plate to paper. The support layer has a durometer of at least 60 Shore A. The support layer contains at least about 0.005 cubic inches of voids per square inch of blanket surface but total void volume does not exceed 40%.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,325,776 discloses a cushioning backing sheet material positioned between a flexographic printing cylinder and a flexible printing plate. The cushioning sheet is an elastomeric material containing widely spaced closed-cell voids which provide pockets within which the encapsulated air can be pneumatically compressed when force is applied, and which will rebound rapidly when the force is relieved. A disadvantage of the closed-cell cushioning material is that the cells break with successive use such that the cushioning material fatigues and looses compression and resilience qualities, and thus print quality deteriorates.

Element for cushioning a flexographic printing plate


A spinning reel comprising a rotary frame having a bail arm, a spool which reciprocates axially within the rotary frame with rotation of the rotary frame, and a fishing line retainer for preventing a slack fishing line from penetrating an interior space of the rotary frame. The fishing line retainer is engaged with the rotary frame to rotate in unison with the rotary frame, and is engaged with the spool shaft to reciprocate with the spool. In one embodiment, a gap between the spool and the fishing line retainer is adjustable.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a spinning reel, and more particularly to a spinning reel comprising a rotary frame having a bail arm, a spool reciprocable axially of the rotary frame with rotation of the rotary frame, and a fishing line retainer for preventing the fishing line from slipping out of a rear end wall of a fishing line holding portion of the spool.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the spinning reel, the fishing line wound around the fishing line holding portion of the spool is sometimes loosened under its own resilient returning force to increase a winding diameter thereof. In such a case, the loosened fishing line deviates from the fishing line holding portion to pass over the rear end wall and fall onto the axis of the rotary frame, and then possibly winds about the support shaft positioned at the axis or winds about other parts, as a result of which the fishing line could be broken. The fishing line tends to slip out of the fishing line holding portion, particularly when a velocity of winding the fishing line becomes low or the rear end wall of the spool is reduced in longitudinal dimension resulting from the reel made compact.
As disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Application "Kokai" No. 63-55870, a conventional structure employs a mechanism for preventing the fishing line from passing over the rear end wall and moving toward the axis of the rotary frame through the fishing line retainer. More particularly, the support shaft is supported by supporting arms of the rotary frame having the bail arm extending longitudinally of the supporting arms (along a spool moving direction), and has a roller fitted thereon. The roller is rotatable about and slidable along axially of the support shaft.
An annular groove is defined in the rear end wall of the spool for engaging the roller thereby to move the roller about the spool with rotation of the rotary frame, to relatively rotate the roller about the support shaft, and to reciprocate the roller in the axial direction in unison with the spool. Thus, the roller prevents the fishing line slipping out of the fishing line holding portion from falling onto the axis.
However, the roller is simply mounted adjacent the supporting arm of the rotary frame for preventing slump of the fishing line only at the position of the roller. In other words, the roller can perform its holding function if it is located at the fishing line slipping out of a peripheral part of the rear end wall, but cannot prevent the fishing line from slipping out of the fishing line holding portion through a space defined by the roller revolving around the spool and falling onto the axis of the rotary frame.
On the other hand, Japanese Utility Model Application "Kokai" No. 60-106466 shows an example of the fishing line retainer arranged along a peripheral direction of the rear end wall except a portion engaged with the supporting arms of the rotary frame. However, this structure does not perform a sufficient function against the fishing line having an extended diameter which enters toward the axis along an inner surface of the supporting arm.

Line retaining mechanism of a spinning reel


A method of manufacturing a semiconductor device provides a semiconductor device with a gallium-nitride-based semiconductor structure that allows long-term stable operation without degradation in device performance. After formation of an insulation film on a surface other than on a ridge surface, an oxygen-containing gas such as O2, O3, NO, N2O, or NO2 is supplied to oxidize a p-type GaN contact layer from the surface and to thereby form an oxide film on the surface of the p-type GaN contact layer. Then, a p-type electrode that establishes contact with the p-type GaN contact layer is formed by evaporation or sputtering on the oxide film and on the insulation film. Heat treatment is subsequently performed at temperatures between 400 and 700° C. in an atmosphere containing a nitrogen-containing gas such as N2 or NH3 or an inert gas such as Ar or He.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of manufacturing a semiconductor device with a gallium-nitride-based semiconductor structure.
2. Description of the Background Art
GaN-, AlGaN-, and InGaN-based semiconductor devices and other wide bandgap semiconductor devices have difficulty in achieving a low-resistance p-type semiconductor layer as compared to achieving an n-type semiconductor layer. It is also difficult for a p-type semiconductor layer to provide low contact resistance for electrode contact with as compared with an n-type semiconductor layer.
Besides, a metal electrode layer formed on a p-type semiconductor layer is often considered insufficient as a layered structure for long-term stable operation. For this reason, Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 10-209493, for example, discloses a lamination technique that provides good ohmic properties through the use of palladium (Pd) as a metal electrode layer and through heat treatment in a gas atmosphere containing oxygen. Furthermore, Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 11-54798, for example, discloses a technique for reducing a voltage drop through the intervention of a thickness-controlled surface-oxidized film between a GaN semiconductor layer and a metal electrode layer which form a semiconductor electrode layer.
A method of manufacturing such a GaN-based wide bandgap semiconductor device requires either heat treatment in a gas atmosphere containing oxygen at the time of the formation of a metal electrode layer, or the formation of an oxide film on the surface of a p-type GaN semiconductor layer which is to be a semiconductor electrode layer.
If a heat treatment process in a gas atmosphere containing oxygen is necessary in forming a metal electrode layer, metal species that can be used as high-melting-point metals, which are combined with Pd into a layered structure in order to ensure long-term stable operation at current densities as high as or more than 20 kA/cm2, are limited to those metals that are unaffected by oxidation caused by heat treatment in an oxygen atmosphere. This leads to a drawback that a layer-structure metal electrode layer cannot satisfactorily provide long-term stable operation.
The formation of an oxide film on the surface of a p-type GaN semiconductor layer, which is to be a semiconductor electrode layer, is implemented through the process of first removing an initial oxide film on the surface of a p-type semiconductor layer in an HF solution and then controlling the resultant oxide film to a sufficient level by immersion in hot water or oxidation in an oxygen atmosphere. Thus in an actual semiconductor laser element, a structure including an insulation film that is formed to provide a ridge structure for electrical and optical confinement has the problem that the insulation film may be removed, or reduced in thickness, during the process using a HF solution. This will change electrical and optical confinement conditions in a semiconductor laser, thus giving an adverse effect on the laser properties. In other words, there is a problem of degradation in the performance of a GaN-based semiconductor device.

Method of manufacturing semiconductor device including gallium-nitride semiconductor structure and a palladium contact


A garment strap clip has a closed upper loop and an open lower loop. The lower loop is formed by a hinged or unhinged arm extending from a first end of the upper loop that terminates in a first connector. The first connector engages with a second connector extending from a point near the second end of the upper loop to close the lower loop. The upper and lower loops are generally co-planar and are in immediate connection with one another. A tube can be attached to the upper loop to retrofit the clip. Alternatively, the upper loop is replaced by a tube for retrofitting the clip.

Garments are commonly designed with straps for both functional (support) and aesthetic (decorative) purposes. Garments having straps include, among other things, bras, lingerie, swimsuits and various tops. Common examples of garment straps include, among other things, shoulder straps, garter straps, trouser suspenders and sock suspenders. Oftentimes, the straps are designed to be removed and/or interchanged to allow the user more versatility. As an example, a very popular bra design is the convertible bra. With a convertible bra, the bra strap can be detached and rearranged in different configurations depending on the outer garment.
Typically, straps are connected to a garment via a clip configured with a closed loop permanently affixed to one end of the strap. Attached to the loop is a fixed C-shaped retention member having a hooked end for engaging with a garment strap eye attached to the garment at the garment's strap connection point(s), the eye generally being constructed of fabric or plastic. Although commonly used throughout the clothing industry, this configuration can be quite problematic for several reasons. First of all, when detaching a strap from a garment, the hooked end of the clip commonly becomes snagged on the eye, adding difficulty and frustration to the reconfiguration process, especially in a hurried situation. As a further consequence of the user's frustration that builds in these situations, a clip, commonly constructed of thin plastic or metal, becomes subject to breakage and/or deformity. Contrary to the aforementioned issue, another problem that commonly arises with the current clip technology is the unexpected uncoupling of the strap from the garment. This issue arises when the hook fails to retain the cloth loop, causing the strap to separate from the article, potentially resulting in an embarrassing wardrobe malfunction for the user.
Based on the foregoing, there is a need in the art for a garment strap clip that provides consistent ease of uncoupling and reconfiguration of the strap. Additionally, there is a need in the art for a clip that securely fastens the strap to the garment, and prevents unexpected and/or unwanted uncoupling of the strap from the garment.


The present invention is a method of fingerprint verification that includes the steps of capturing a complete fingerprint of a number of enrollees; capturing a portion of a claimant's fingerprint, where the portion is less than an entire fingerprint; dividing the portion of the claimant's fingerprint into a number of segments; comparing each of the segments against the fingerprint of the enrollee the claimant claims to be; generating a correlation score for each of the segments; calculating a distance error for the segments; combining the distance errors into an average distance error; generating a verification vector based on each of the correlation scores for each of the segments and the distance error; establishing a threshold vector; and comparing the verification vector against the threshold vector in order to determine whether or not the claimant is the enrollee the claimant claims to be.

The skin on a person's palms and soles differs from the skin on other parts of a person's body. This skin is covered by rows of narrow ridges. The patterns formed by these ridges appear to be unique to each person. A ridge on a finger can stop, start, and/or bifurcate (i.e., branch). These characteristics are called minutia.
Fingerprint verification is different from fingerprint identification. In a verification system, the claimant claims to be a particular person and the claimant's fingerprint is compared against the fingerprint of the person the claimant claims to be. A determination is then made as to whether or not the claimant is who the claimant claims to be. A fingerprint identification system compares a fingerprint to a number of fingerprints in order to determine if the first fingerprint matches any of the other fingerprints. If a match is made, the first fingerprint is identified as the person to which it matches. Fingerprint verification is less computationally intensive than fingerprint identification and is, therefore, more appropriate for low-cost applications.
Prior art methods of verification using fingerprints appear to fall into one of the following three categories: comparing the entire fingerprint of a claimant to a stored file of an entire fingerprint of the person the claimant claims to be (i.e., an enrollee); extracting characteristic minutia from the fingerprint of the claimant and comparing it to a stored file containing the minutia of the enrollee the claimant claims to be; and comparing the entire fingerprint of the claimant against a stored file of the enrollee the claimant claims to be that contains less than an entire fingerprint of the enrollee.
Comparing a claimant's entire fingerprint against an enrollee's entire fingerprint is not cost effective in low-cost applications (e.g., car-door entry systems, smart-card or PCMCIA card systems, etc.) mostly because of the size and expense of the scanner required to capture an entire fingerprint and partly because of the amount of memory required to store and process the claimant's entire fingerprint.
Extracting characteristic minutia from the claimant is compute intensive and, possibly, memory intensive. Therefore, this approach may also be impractical for low-cost applications for the same reasons as listed above.
Some fingerprint verification systems reduce the amount of information stored, but such systems are only practical in applications where it is acceptable to have a false acceptance error rate higher (i.e., declaring a match when no such match should be declared) than that obtained by a system using an entire fingerprint. A false rejection error is declaring no match when a match should be declared. There is a need for a method of fingerprint verification that may be implemented in a low-cost application that has an acceptable false acceptance error rate.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,015,240, entitled "PATTERN RECOGNITION APPARATUS," discloses a fingerprint verification device that captures an entire fingerprint image by scanning in every section of the entire fingerprint image and storing the various sections in storage registers. The present invention does not capture the entire fingerprint image of the claimant. U.S. Pat. No. 4,015,240 is hereby incorporated by reference into the specification of the present invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,581,760, entitled "FINGERPRINT VERIFICATION METHOD," discloses a method of comparing the entire fingerprint of a claimant to a subset of an enrollee's fingerprint in order to determine if the claimant is the enrollee the claimant claims to be. The method of U.S. Pat. No. 4,581,760 reduces the amount of storage required for the enrollees, but it still requires a large input device for capturing the entire fingerprint of the claimant. The present invention does not require the capture of the claimant's entire fingerprint. The present invention offers a cost reduction over the method of U.S. Pat. No. 4,581,760 by not requiring a large input device for capturing an entire fingerprint. The method of U.S. Pat. No. 4,581,760 may also suffer from a higher false acceptance error rate as compared to the present invention. U.S. Pat. No. 4,581,760 is hereby incorporated by reference into the specification of the present invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,641,350, entitled "FINGERPRINT IDENTIFICATION SYSTEM," discloses a fingerprint identification device and method that uses a 64.times.64 element window for capturing the fingerprint of an enrollee and a larger 96.times.96 element window for capturing the fingerprint of a claimant. U.S. Pat. No. 4,641,350 stores more information for the claimant then it does for the enrollees. The present invention does just the opposite. The present invention stores the entire fingerprint of an enrollee and captures a smaller subset of the claimant's fingerprint. U.S. Pat. No. 4,641,350 is hereby incorporated by reference into the specification of the present invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,805,223, entitled "SKIN-PATTERN RECOGNITION METHOD AND DEVICE," also discloses a method of comparing the entire fingerprint of a claimant to a subset of each enrollee's fingerprint in order to attempt to identify the claimant as an enrollee. U.S. Pat. No. 4,805,223 also discloses an alternate embodiment that compares a sparsely sampled entire fingerprint of the claimant to the entire fingerprint of an enrollee. Both embodiments of U.S. Pat. No. 4,805,223 require an input device for capturing the claimant's entire fingerprint. The present invention does not require the capture of the claimant's entire fingerprint. U.S. Pat. No. 4,805,223 is hereby incorporated by reference into the specification of the present invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,067,162, entitled "METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR VERIFYING IDENTITY USING IMAGE CORRELATION," and U.S. Pat. No. 5,144,680, entitled "INDIVIDUAL IDENTIFICATION RECOGNITION SYSTEM," each disclose a method of comparing characteristic minutia from the entire fingerprint of a claimant to characteristic minutia from the entire fingerprint of one or more enrollees in order to attempt to identify the claimant as an enrollee. The methods of U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,067,162 and 5,144,680 each require an input device for capturing the entire fingerprint of the claimant. The present invention does not require the capture of a claimant's entire fingerprint. U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,067,162 and 5,144,680 are hereby incorporated by reference into the specification of the present invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,239,590, entitled "FINGERPRINT VERIFICATION METHOD," discloses a method of comparing the fingerprint of a claimant to the fingerprint of an enrollee the claimant claims to be in order to attempt to determine whether or not the claimant is the enrollee. U.S. Pat. No. 5,239,590 attempts to reduce the amount of data required to be stored for the enrollees and the claimant by obtaining fingerprint information from the center of characteristic minutia to the tip of the finger. Not knowing before hand where the center of characteristic minutia is, the method of U.S. Pat. No. 5,239,590 still requires the capture of a substantial portion of the claimants fingerprint in order to determine where the center of the characteristic minutia is. The present invention does not require the capture of a substantial portion of the claimant's fingerprint. U.S. Pat. No. 5,239,590 is hereby incorporated by reference into the specification of the present invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,261,008, entitled "FINGERPRINT VERIFICATION METHOD," and U.S. Pat. No. 5,267,324, entitled "IMAGE COMPARISON METHOD," both disclose a method of fingerprint verification by capturing an entire fingerprint for both enrollees and claimant, but then dividing these images into smaller sections and comparing the corresponding sections. The present invention does not capture the entire fingerprint image of a claimant. U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,261,008 and 5,267,324 are hereby incorporated by reference into the specification of the present invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,363,453, entitled "NON-MINUTIAE AUTOMATIC FINGERPRINT IDENTIFICATION SYSTEM AND METHODS," discloses a method of fingerprint identification that captures an entire fingerprint but then reduces the fingerprint image to an area based on ridge count. The present invention does not capture the entire fingerprint image of a claimant. U.S. Pat. No. 5,363,453 is hereby incorporated by reference into the specification of the present invention.

Method of verification using a subset of claimant's fingerprint

The United States of America as represented by the National Security Agency


An article of footwear is provided having a decorative lighting arrangement wherein one or more LEDs are mounted within the interior of one or more sleeves, having the appearance of a shoelace, which are located in the toe portion of the shoe.

For a number of years, articles of footwear and various items of clothing have been sold with decorative arrays of light sources such as light emitting diodes (LEDs). This has been particularly popular in children's shoes where the LEDs are arranged to complement other design elements of the shoe such as cartoon characters and the like.
In a typical design of an article of footwear of the type noted above, a light module is provided including a plastic housing which is usually mounted within a cavity formed in the heel area of the shoe. The plastic housing contains a battery, a switch and an integrated circuit or other controller which is connected by wires to LEDs located externally of the housing and positioned at desired locations on the outsole, upper or tongue of the shoe. The controller is effective to turn on and off the LEDs, often in a flashing pattern or sequence, to enhance the visual effect and draw attention to the shoe. In many designs, the controller is enabled by the switch that may be operated manually or turned on and off in response to the application of an inertial force, pressure or motion to the shoe. Systems of this type are shown, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,525,487; 6,286,975; 6,012,822; 5,969,479; 5,894,201 and 5,812,063.


In a blow/fill/seal packaging machine, aseptic environment is provided by a telescoping fill station shroud through which a sterile curtain gas flows. The telescoping fill station shroud includes an open-ended lower sleeve, an open-ended upper sleeve slidably coacting with the open-ended lower sleeve, and a manifold plate mounted over a proximal end portion of the upper sleeve.

Aseptic processing is important for packaging pharmaceutical products. Blow/fill/seal or BFS technology is a convenient manufacturing technique used to produce liquid-filled containers. A typical blow/fill/seal machine is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,707,966 to Weiler et al. A container is formed, filled, and sealed in a continuous operation in an enclosed environment. Pharmaceutical liquid dosage forms can be aseptically manufactured in this manner provided precautions are taken to maintain an aseptic environment.
The present invention provides a convenient and efficient means for maintaining an enclosed aseptic region around a fill station of a blow/fill/seal packaging machine.

Telescoping fill station shroud for a blow/fill/seal packaging machine


A head covering commonly known as a skull cap in which the ‘tail’ extending from the back of the neck is fashioned into a pouch with an elasticized opening. The user styles his/her long hair with a ponytail, applies and secures the skullcap, and then inserts the ponytail hair into the ‘tail’ pouch. It may be worn under a helmet or hard hat. It has three functions. During windy outdoor activities or while riding in an open vehicle such as a motorcycle, boat, ATV, snowmobile, or convertible automobile, it contains the hair protecting it from the elements which soil the hair and from movement which tangles the hair. In an industrial environment, it effectively contains the hair to prevent free hair from falling forward and obstructing a worker's vision or entangling in machinery. Thirdly, in medical or food preparation industries, it contains the hair preventing contamination.

The present invention relates to apparel which are coverings for the head. Specifically this device has a flap over the neck which features a pouch for retaining hair.
Skullcap-type head coverings are common in prior art. Examples are U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,469,250; 1,504,100; 1,516,796; 1,519,016; 1,870,298; 2,106,056; 2,817,090; 2,519,512; 6,014,776; and 5,594,956. These skull caps are snug fitting, comfortable and cover short hair, however do not retain long hair.
Hair retaining devices are common in prior art. Examples of clips, barrettes, combs and ties are U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,787,904; 5,186,186; 5,732,720; 5,826,593; 5,174,312; 5,590,422; 5,799,672; and 2,864,383. These retain long hair in a ponytail style however; they do not contain hair upon the crown of the head nor the length of the ponytail hair. Also, they have rigid parts which when worn under a helmet or hard hat cause discomfort when pressed against the scalp.
Hair retaining devices for hair styled in a ponytail are of three types. Examples of sleeve-type coverings are U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,730,161; 5,970,991; and 5,472,003. Examples of wrap around-type coverings are U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,727,575; 6,425,405 B1; and 5,727,575. Examples of pouch or pocket-type coverings are U.S. Pat Nos. 4,378,667; 127,918; 3,746,016; and 5,595,199.
These contain all or most of the length of the ponytail hair. They may or may not cover hair on the crown of the head. Some rely upon rigid parts to secure the device to the hair which when worn under a helmet or hard hat cause discomfort when pressed against the scalp. Others use hook and loop closures in which hair can become entrapped in the hook portion.
Head covering for protecting hair are present in prior art. Examples are U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,621,919; 3,750,681; 2,211,184; 5,920,909; and 6,076,532. These may or may not cover the all of the hair as some are headband type leaving the crown exposed. Many are loose formed bouffant type with elasticized head engaging openings. Such are not snug fitting enough to secure the ponytail which with the user's movements and gravity tend to displace the cap and expose hair.
Some head coverings feature an opening for a ponytail to be pulled through. Examples are U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,875,488; 5,799,334; 5,598,585; 6,401,255 B1; and 5,933,872. These contain the hair on the crown of the head however; they allow the length of the ponytail hair to be free.
Some prior art have combined a head covering with some type of hair retaining feature. Examples are U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,978,967; D482,843; and 5,878,756. Two have either rigid parts or a bulky thick knot which cause discomfort when worn under a helmet or hard hat. The third has hook and loop closures which may entangle the hair and leaves the distal portion of the ponytail hair exposed.


An optical device comprises: an optical structure including a first set of prisms and a second set of prisms which engage with each other, the second set of prisms are formed from electro-optical effect material or provided with electro-optical effect material, when no electric field is applied to the second set of prisms, the first set and the second set of prisms have the same refractivity; at least one pair of electrodes being provided at two sides of the second set of prisms respectively, for generating an electric field therebetween so as to change the refractivity of the second set of prisms in the direction of the electric field; and a control unit connected to the at least one pair of electrodes and performs control to power on the electrodes or power off the electrodes, and controls the intensity of the electric field when the electrodes are powered on.

Liquid crystal displays are classified into a transmissive display, a reflective display and a transflective display.
In the transmissive display, no mirror is provided on back side of the screen and light is only emitted from the backlight source, therefore, it has excellent performance in the environment with weak light or without light. However, when being outdoors in the sunshine or in strong light, the brightness of backlight will be seriously insufficient, and in this case, if simply increasing the brightness of the backlight to improve the performance of the display, the power consumption will increase quickly and the effect is not desired.
The reflective display has a mirror at the backside of its screen and displays relying on an external light source, thus better display effect and contrast may be realized outdoors and in strong light. However, it is difficult for the reflective display to display images with high contrast and color quality in a case of high resolution, especially difficult to meet the full color requirements. When the ambient light is insufficient, the contrast and brightness of the reflective display will greatly deteriorate.
Currently, a conventional transflective display is designed by combining designs of the transmissive display and the reflective display, that is, the conventional transflective display comprises both a backlight source and a mirror, therefore, when operating, the transflective display may use not only the backlight source of its own but also an external light source, thus better viewing effect may be provided to users no matter in strong light or in darkness. However, in the conventional transflective display, a layer of reflective material is coated on half area of each pixel so that one half of each pixel is used for transmission and the other half of each pixel is used for reflection, therefore, utilization of each pixel of the conventional transflective display is only half of that of the reflective display or the transmissive display, which leads to low utilization of light energy. Furthermore, in the conventional transflective display, as it is necessary to coat part of each pixel for reflection with reflective material, thus pixel structure is changed and fabricating process thereof becomes more complex accordingly.

Optical device and display device with the same

Chengdu BOE Optoelectronics Technology Co., Ltd.


A data storage control unit is coupled to one or more host devices and to one or more physical storage units. Data is stored in one of the storage units and, for data integrity, copied to another storage unit. An updated state of the copy process (metadata) is maintained and updated in metadata tracks in a memory of the storage controller and periodically destaged to corresponding metadata tracks of a storage unit. If the copy process is interrupted, such as by a power failure, an error handling routine commences. Track state fields associated with each in-memory metadata track are initialized to an ‘invalid’ state and background staging of metadata tracks from the storage unit to the memory. After a track is staged, the associated track state field is changed to a ‘valid’ state. If a request is received to access a track of copy state data and the track has been staged (as indicated by the state of the associated track state field), the track is accessed. If the requested track has not been staged, requester waits while the requested track is staged; then the requested track is accessed. Once the error handling routine is completed, normal I/O operations with customer data may resume. Preferably, completion of the error handling routine is independent of the completion of the staging of copy state data tracks.

High end storage controllers, such as the International Business Machines Corporation (IBM®) Enterprise Storage Server® manage Input/Output (I/O) requests from networked hosts to one or more storage units, such as a direct access storage device (DASD), Redundant Array of Independent Disks (RAID Array), and Just a Bunch of Disks (JBOD). Storage controllers include one or more host bus adapters or interfaces to communicate with one or more hosts over a network and adapters or interfaces to communicate with the storage units.
Data integrity is a critical factor in large computer data systems. Consequently, backup systems have been developed and integrated into storage controller to prevent the loss of data in the event of various types of failures. Backup systems provided by IBM, known generally as "copy services", include Peer-to-Peer Remote Copy, FlashCopy® and Extended Remote Copy and maintain a separate, consistent copy of customer data. As illustrated in FIG. 1, in a storage system 100, data generated by a host device 110 is transmitted to a primary storage unit 120 for storage on associated storage devices 130. A copy of the data is also transmitted, such as over a fibre channel network 140, and to a secondary storage unit 150 for storage on associated storage devices 160. Because of the flexibility of network interconnections, the primary and secondary units 120 and 150 may be physically located remote from the host 110. And, for additional data security, the primary and secondary units 120 and 150 may be (but need not be) physically located distant from each other, thereby reducing the likelihood of a single disaster simultaneously harming both the primary and secondary units 120 and 150. It will be appreciated that the primary and secondary units 120 and 150 may be the same physical unit, divided logically into two.
Due at least in part to the risk of a power loss or other comparable significant event while customer data is being copied to the secondary unit, the state of the copy services operation is stored in memory and updated as the copy services operation progresses. The state data (as well as other control information used internally by the storage controller), known as "metadata", is periodically destaged from the memory to reserved areas of the customer storage devices 130. Preferably, the metadata is divided into tracks of, for example, 8 KB each. There may be as many as 2000 or more such tracks.
During an error handing routine or behavior (EHB), such as an internal microcode load (IML), following a power loss during a copy services operation or other comparable significant event, the metadata is staged from the storage device to the memory where it becomes available for the recovery operation. In a conventional EHB, other EHB activities must be paused while all of the metadata tracks are staged to memory. Only after all of the metadata has been staged may the EHB be completed and normal customer I/O operations resumed. Consequently, the requirement to stage all of the metadata tracks delays completion of the EHB and adversely impacts customer I/O.
Consequently a need remains for improving the performance of metadata recovery during EHB activities without adversely affecting customer operations.

Metadata access during error handling routines


Optical multiplexers and demultiplexers are provided. In one implementation an apparatus is provided. The apparatus includes a first laser diode pair, a second laser diode pair, a polarization rotator coupled between the first and the second laser diode pairs, and an output port. The first and second laser diode pairs include a first laser diode, a polarization beam splitter, a first quarter waveplate, a filter; a second quarter waveplate, and a second laser diode. The first and second laser diode pairs are coupled to the polarization rotator at the polarization beam splitter of each laser diode pair. In one implementation the apparatus is operable to multiplex distinct light signals emitted from the first and second laser diodes. In another implementation, an apparatus is provided that is operable to demultiplex an input light beam having a plurality of distinct channels.

The present invention relates to optical multiplexers and demultiplexers. An optical multiplexer can be used to combine multiple optical signals to be transmitted at substantially the same time, for example, through a single fiber or waveguide. For example, one type of multiplexer is a wavelength division multiplexer, which combines a number of optical signals, each having different wavelengths, into a single multiplexed signal. An optical demultiplexer, in contrast, can be used to separate a multiplexed signal into a number of individual optical signals, for example, optical signals having different wavelengths.
Conventional packages can be used for a multiplexer or demultiplexer device. For example, a TO-18 package can be used in conjunction with a multiplexer, and a TO-46 package for the demultiplexer. Typically, the laser diodes in the multiplexer, or the photo-detectors in the demultiplexer, take up significant amounts of space in the packages. Consequently, some or all of the other optical components required to multiplex or demultiplex signals may be positioned outside of the packages.

Integrated optical multiplexer and demultiplexer