A transition is provided for interfacing a coplanar waveguide with a three dimensional microwave waveguide. The transition includes three coplanar conductors that are formed integrally with and extend from the coplanar waveguide. The transition extends into the microwave waveguide through a slot, with the plane of the transition being perpendicular to the direction of propagation of the electric field in the waveguide. The center conductor of the transition is a patch whose width increases. The other two conductors are attached to the side conductors of the coplanar waveguide and to the exterior of the waveguide. They flank the patch and have curved edges complementary to those of the patch. The gaps are initially narrow, and become wider gradually. Further, as each guide steers the electric field while changing direction by 90.degree., it rotates the orientation of the electric field vector by the same amount.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to transitions between a conductor-based transmission line and a three dimensional microwave waveguide.
2. Description of Related Art
In microwave circuit design it is often necessary to interface circuit boards with other circuit components. Circuit boards typically communicate via one of various conductor-based transmission lines, such as microstrip, stripline, coplanar waveguide or slotline. Three-dimensional microwave waveguides typically have rectangular or circular cross sections, and are hollow with metallic shells or are made of waveguide-conducting dielectric. These three dimensional waveguides are referred to herein as microwave waveguides or simply waveguides.
Adaptors or transitions, also referred to as launches, are employed to interface the two different types of media with each other. Such transitions typically suffer from losses due to attenuation and impedance mismatches (reflections). Conventional transitions to microwave waveguide are from stripline or microstrip. The transition is usually via an end of a microwave waveguide section, although it is known to introduce a stripline element laterally through a side of a microwave waveguide, as is illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 4,716,386 issued to Lait. U.S. Pat. No. 4,901,040 issued to Ahlborn et al. discloses a transition from microwave in which a T-shaped element is positioned in the microwave waveguide.
At very high frequencies, such as above 20GHz, active printed circuits are preferably in the form of coplanar waveguides having a signal conductor bounded by two signal return or ground conductors. Device interconnects are preferably provided by microwave waveguides. The printed circuits allow low cost production while microwave waveguides allow easy interconnections and a low loss transmission line for filters and other components.
There is therefore a need for transitions between conductor-based circuits and microwave waveguides which have a wide transmission bandwidth and have low loss due to the generation of spurious modes. At higher frequencies in which coplanar waveguides are used for printed circuits, it is desirable to have such a transition directly between coplanar waveguide and microwave waveguide.

Transition between circuit transmission line and microwave waveguide


One format converter connected to a mixer and another format converter connected to a head amplifier are interconnected via a single control/audio communication line. Each of the format converters includes a communication interface, control signal interface, audio signal interface, and a control section. The control section converts control data and audio data into data compliant with the EtherSound (registered trademark) that allows the control data and audio data to be transmitted over a single physical cable, and then it transmits, over the physical cable, the converted data from the communication interface to the other format converter.

The present invention relates to a mixing system for allowing an audio mixer to remote-control external or peripheral devices that are involved in audio signal processing.
Among the conventionally-known digital audio mixers are ones to which can be connected an external device or peripheral device corresponding to remote operation based on a dedicated communication protocol. For example, a digital audio mixer marketed by the assignee of the instant application under the trade name "PM5D" and a head amplifier marketed by the assignee of the instant application under the trade name "AD8HR" are provided with respective dedicated remote terminals (such as serial communication interfaces of the RS422 standard), and the head amplifier can be controlled by the mixer by connecting the mixer and head amplifier using a physical cable (functioning as a control line) compliant with the communication standard of the remote terminals. Further, the head amplifier is connected to the mixer via a physical cable (functioning as an audio line) compliant with a predetermined digital audio signal transmission standard, such as the AES/EBU standard, and audio signals of a plurality of channels input from an input device, such as a microphone, into the head amplifier are output to the digital audio mixer over the audio lines. Namely, two different types of cables, i.e. one physical cable functioning as an audio line for transmitting audio signals and another physical cable functioning as a control line for transmitting control signals for the remote control, are installed to extend between the head amplifier and the mixer.
A plurality of head amplifiers can be connected, in a "daisy-chain connection" configuration, to the conventionally-known digital mixer. The head amplifiers each include two remote terminals, so that these head amplifiers can be interconnected, e.g. by connecting one remote terminal of the first head amplifier to the remote terminal of the mixer, connecting one remote terminal of the second head amplifier to the other remote terminal of the first head amplifier, connecting one remote terminal of the third head amplifier to the other remote terminal of the second head amplifier, and so on. The individual head amplifiers connected to the mixer are automatically assigned serial ID numbers with the leading ID number being assigned to the first head amplifier connected directly to the remote terminal of the mixer (see, for example, http://www2.yamaha.co.jp/manual/pdf/pa/japan/mixers/PM5DJI.pdf, and http://www2.yamaha.co.jp/manual/pdf/pa/japan/others/ad8 hr_ja_om.pdf).
FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing an example construction or setup of a conventional mixing system where a plurality of head amplifiers are "daisy-chain" connected to a mixer. Here, one mixer 1 and the plurality of (12 (twelve) in the illustrated example of FIG. 7) head amplifiers 2 are connected, in a daisy-chain configuration, via a control-signal transmitting control line 3. The individual head amplifiers 2 are automatically assigned serial ID numbers "#1", "#2", "#3", . . . , "#12" with the leading ID number being assigned to the head amplifier connected directly to the remote terminal of the mixer 1. Once the mixer 1 transmits, over the control-signal transmitting control line 3, control signals containing the ID number of a particular one of the head amplifiers 2, which is to be remote-controlled, the control signals are transferred between the head amplifiers 2 in the order the head amplifiers 2 are daisy-connected. Then, only the particular head amplifier 2 receives the control signals, so that settings of various parameters of the particular head amplifier 2 can be remote-controlled per channel by the mixer 1. As illustrated in FIG. 7, digital audio signals are transmitted from the individual head amplifiers 2 to the mixer 1 over audio lines 4, and one such audio line 4 for transmitting audio signals is installed per head amplifier 2; thus, 12 (twelve) audio lines 4 extending from the 12 head amplifiers 2 are connected to the mixer 1. Note that, in FIG. 7, the control line 3 is indicated by a thick line while the audio lines 4 are indicated by thin lines.
Generally, in a large-size concert venue, for example, the mixer 1 is installed within a control booth located in a central area, rear end area or the like of the concert venue, while the head amplifiers 2 are installed near input equipment on the stage (e.g., on a side of the stage). The reason why the head amplifiers 2 are installed near the input equipment is that it is desirable that analog audio lines connecting the head amplifiers 2 and the input equipment be as short as possible with a view to preventing unwanted mixing-in of noise, degradation of tone quality, etc.
However, because the installed positions of the mixer 1 and the head amplifiers 2 are physically distant from each other, the control line 3 and audio lines 4 extending between the mixer 1 and the head amplifiers 2 would have very great lengths. In addition, because one audio line 4 extends from each of the head amplifiers 2, the total number of the audio lines 4 would increase as the number of the head amplifiers 2 to be installed increases; thus, a multiplicity of the audio lines 4 have to be provided depending on the number of the head amplifiers 2 to be installed. Thus, with the conventional mixing system, operation for installing wiring between the mixer 1 and the head amplifiers 2 tends to be very cumbersome and require high wiring cost.

Mixing system and format conversion device and method therefor


A method and system are directed at automatically tuning a TCP receive window (RWIN). The size of the RWIN may be determined by attributes of a network card. One attribute used to size the RWIN is the speed of the adapter card. The adapter speed is readily available by polling the network card. Once the speed is known, the size of the RWIN is selected from a table and is automatically set. Alternatively, the size of the RWIN may be determined by a formula.

At the heart of the Internet is the collection of networks and gateways that use the Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol ("TCP/IP") suite of protocols to communicate with one another. Tuning the TCP/IP parameters, therefore, directly affects actual throughput speed of the pipe.
Many computing devices, however, are not properly tuned to take advantage of their connection speed to networks. Therefore, computers having high-speed connections may not be utilizing the existing bandwidth available to the fullest extent.
During the TCP/IP connection setup process a receiver advertises its TCP Receive Window (RWIN) size to a sender. The size of the RWIN affects how many packets may be sent before receiving an acknowledgment (ACK) indicating receipt of the packets. On a high bandwidth/high TCP connection, a sender may transmit a number of packets before the first packet ever reaches the receiver. Even if the receiver sent an ACK immediately, it takes some more time for the ACK to reach the sender. If a sender waits for an ACK before sending data the pipe will not remain full thereby decreasing pipe throughput. The sender, therefore, should not stall waiting for ACK. As a result, one of the most significant TCP/IP parameters to tune is the size of the RWIN.
Tuning the size of the RWIN, however, is not a trivial task. Improperly tuning the size of the RWIN results in decreasing throughput of the pipe, while properly tuning the size of the RWIN can dramatically increase throughput.
Today, some advanced users manually set the size of the RWIN. This involves experimenting with different RWIN settings to determine the best setting for their particular connection. Many users, however, do not have the technical expertise to adjust the size of the RWIN. Additionally, if the connection speed changes, the size of the RWIN remains constant unless manually changed.

Method for automatic tuning of TCP receive window based on a determined bandwidth


A system for filling reclosable food storage bags comprising a packaging container containing a plurality of reclosable food storage bags and a frame for supporting and holding open the food storage bags during a filling procedure.

The inventors discovered this procedure when storing large bags of spaghetti sauce. With only two in the household, it was very hard to make a spaghetti sauce small enough. Because of this, and because it is as easy to make a large batch of sauce as it is to make a small batch, the inventors began making very large batches (large enough to fill 15 to 19 one gallon food storage bags with each bag holding enough for one pound of spaghetti). In the past, the inventors both had to help when filling the food storage bags—one would hold the bag open and the other would ladle the sauce into the bag. It was time consuming and took two people. It was worth the aggravation, however, as it was so convenient to just pull a bag of sauce out of the freezer when one did not feel like cooking and/or felt like spaghetti and the storage took so little room in the freezer. It is only necessary to soak the food storage bag with the frozen spaghetti sauce (or other food item with a liquid base) for a few minutes in hot water prior to heating it in a pan or the microwave for consumption. Trying to find an easier way to fill the bags, when one of the inventors was alone and the sauce was made and ready to bag, this inventor found that by emptying a Saltines' cracker box and pulling the edges of the zip lock bag over all four sides of the box by approximately one inch or more, the bag stayed secure and the inventor was able to fill it alone, and also remove the bag easily, seal it and store it.
Having now used the Saltines' box method many times for sauce and many other types of leftovers (with or without liquid) for the refrigerator or freezer (ie. beef stew, filling for chicken pot pie, sauces and gravies, leftover salads—potato, macaroni, fruit) and finding it very simple for one person to fill and store the bags in either the refrigerator or freezer, the inventors decided this idea should be patented.
Research has been done on patents already in existence that have tried to solve the problem of easily filling and storing food in food storage bags. There are quite a few patents, but it appears that all patents on record are separate devices made of different sized and shaped rods of either steel, plastic, nylon or a similar material. These rods are slippery, the shape is not square and it is necessary to pin the bags to the stand in order to hold them stationery when filling. The devices seem more complicated than necessary. These devices defeat the purpose of simplicity and one person cannot fill the bag, remove it and store it without a helping hand. One person could adjust the rods, attach the clips and fill the bag, but when any type of liquid is involved, another person would have to help when the clips were removed in order not to spill the contents. Also, solutions using these separate rod devices would be more expensive for the manufacturer of the bags or any other interested entity to provide than a simple square (or close to square) cardboard (or other non-slippery material) box as is the subject of this patent.
With this invention, food storage bags would be more competitive with plastic storage containers as they would take less space in the refrigerator or freezer when filled and much less room in the drawer or cabinet where they are stored prior to use. Also, one would not have to worry about staining as with plastic containers with covers because the bag would usually be thrown away after its use and not normally washed and stored in the cabinet. Food storage bags are also much less expensive and are usually disposed of after use.


An electro-mechanical transducer element is disclosed. The electro-mechanical transducer element includes a first electrode formed on a substrate; an electro-mechanical transducer film formed on at least a part of the first electrode; and a second electrode formed on at least a part of the electro-mechanical transducer film. In at least one cross section of the electro-mechanical transducer film, a film thickness distribution shape is convex to the second electrode side.

Apparatuses such as a vibration sensor, a piezoelectric speaker, various drive apparatuses, etc., include an electro-mechanical transducer element on which an electro-mechanical transducer film is laminated. In the drive apparatuses, a liquid ejecting head of an inkjet recording apparatus, for example, includes a nozzle which ejects ink droplets, a liquid chamber to which the above-mentioned nozzle is communicatively connected, and the electro-mechanical transducer element such as a piezoelectric element, etc., wherein ink within the liquid chamber is pressurized to thereby cause the ink droplets to be ejected from the nozzle.
In recent years, with an aim to obtain more efficient vibration, and deformation and displacement, various technical proposals are being made on electro-mechanical transducer elements which include an electro-mechanical transducer film. (See Patent documents 1-6):

Electro-mechanical transducer element, liquid droplet ejecting head, image forming apparatus, and electro-mechanical transducer element manufacturing method


A system and method for providing automated remote digital advertising, and more specifically, a system and method for providing a fully automated self-serve smart billboard or display device. is disclosed. The Smart Billboard system consists of a user smart device, a billboard with a display processing system, and a billboard operator server. The user smart device is constructed using a user app processor, a user interface, a content creator, a content uploader, an ad scheduler, a payment processor, a login processor, and a smart device network interface. The billboard display processing system may include an upload controller, a billboard network interface, a display processor, a traffic and content receiver, an external imaging device, and a billboard system data store. The billboard operator server may include an operator processor, a billboard content scheduler, an account manager, a content approver, and a live image receiver.

In the existing billboard advertising system, the customer often does not have real-time availability of billboard advertising space so the customer must contact the billboard operator directly to verify availability of billboard advertising space.
The conventional methods of how content is uploaded to billboards, for example, require a billboard operator to approve contents requested by a customer to be displayed on a billboard. The operator typically is required to login into a computer, connect to the billboard data system or a billboard's software or application, then select the images and upload them. When a customer needs to upload contents to a billboard when the billboard operator is closed for business, the contents may be required to wait until a next business day before a system uploads the customer-selected content to the selected billboard.
Even systems that permit transmitting content and the customer approval of content over the Internet for streaming purposes, for example, do not allow the customer or client to directly connect to a display device or a display device's software or application(s) and upload content on their own. Special software, applications or "patches" are required for the servers or computer systems to recognize billboards from various manufactures and the software or application(s) of various billboards. Without additional software, application(s) or "patches,' servers or computer systems cannot recognize, communicate, control or transfer data between the billboards.
Most prior art solutions require an administrator or operator to approve content and do not provide an option that permits specified customers to transfer or upload contents or data to the display device without having to go through an administrator's approval process.
Additionally, other prior art solutions do not specify the format in which content will be displayed on the display device or permit customers to designate what part of the display device will be used to visualize the content. The systems no do not typically accept content that is always recognizable by the billboard and displayed in the content's interpretative format or recognizable form. In other words, most systems do not specify if a file containing content or any embedded content codes will be properly displayed on a display device. Customers need systems in which the content will be displayed on the screen of any sign, billboard or display device in its decoded form.
Existing methods to upload advertising content to a billboard are often inefficient and require that the billboard operator manually upload the file(s) of the content to be displayed on the billboard. The client often is required to produce advertising and send the content to the operator via e-mail or the operator's website, or even hand-deliver a physical, removable file storage device, so the content can upload to a server. The operator then uploads the content to the digital billboard manually via remote connection to the digital billboard. Current methods of digital billboard advertising fail to take advantage of smart devices, servers, or computer system capabilities. Customers often need to change billboard advertising content immediately and often in order to reflect business activities and changes, but the current method may cause a significant delay in uploading new content.
Additionally, many government, environmental, and law enforcement agencies utilize digital billboards to alert the public about wanted criminals, chemical spills, potential weather hazards, amber alerts, silver alerts, and other time-sensitive announcements. These announcements are critical, but current methods to upload content impose a significant delay and do not permit after-hours updates. Current billboards participate in a Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) initiative to post public notices that may benefit from real-time updates and law enforcement agencies, especially, would benefit from real-time uploads and updates.
Federal, state, and local government offices, as well as medical organizations, also post important messages regarding public health initiatives, such as breaking information about disease outbreaks and steps to take in the case of illness or injury. Again, the current digital billboard advertising method imposes a significant delay in uploading or updating this critical content.
Therefore, a need exists for a web-based application that provides a system and method for providing a fully automated self-serve smart billboard or display device. The present invention attempts to address the existing limitations of current display device industry practices by providing a system and method for a fully automated self-serve smart billboard or display device according to the principles and example embodiments disclosed herein. The present invention addresses the above limitations of the prior art and improves the convenience and speed in which advertising and public service content is uploaded by a client to a digital billboard and allows the digital advertising content to be changed anytime while at the same time taking advantage of the widely and readily available smart device applications. This invention allows billboards to be used or managed by anyone with access or privileges, at any time of the day or night, from any location, and without waiting for approvals, especially when content is time-sensitive.


The present invention relates to antibodies having specificity for BTN2 and uses thereof, in particular for the treatment of cancer.

White blood cells are cells of the immune system involved in defending the body against pathogens. In addition to conventional MHC class I-restricted CD8+CTL and NK cells, other unconventional T cells, notably γδ T cells, display the same sensitivity and cytolytic power as NK and T cells. Vγ9/Vδ2 T cells are the main subset of circulating γδ T cells, representing 1-10% of human peripheral T cells.
Vγ9/Vδ2 T cells are important effectors of the immune defence. They lyse directly pathogen infected or abnormal cells. In addition, they regulate immune responses by inducing dendritic cell (DC) maturation as well as the isotypic switching and immunoglobulin production. This important cell platform of the immune system is strictly regulated by surface receptors, chemokines and cytokines. Vγ9/Vδ2 T cells are activated by nonpeptidic phosphorylated isoprenoid pathway metabolites, referred to as phosphoagonists (PAg).
The priming of T cells is modulated by involvement of specialised cells and secretion of chemotactic cytokines. Nowadays, we know that T-cell activation is the result of two synergistic events. The first is the interaction between the receptor of T cell (TCR) and the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) conjugated with processed antigen on the surface of the antigen presenting cells (APC). The second event is a co-stimulatory antigen-independent signal involving B7 molecules. The lack of co-stimulatory signal induces anergy, i.e. the inhibition of T cell proliferation, cytokine secretion and cytotoxic activities. The study of these pathways may provide insight about the triggering of pathologic events, such as autoimmune or lymphoproliferative disorders.
Butyrophilins constitute a family of transmembrane proteins comprising butyrophilin (BTN), BTN-like (BTNL), and selection and upkeep of intraepithelial T cell (SKINT) proteins (Arnett and Viney, 2014). Their extracellular moieties contain IgV and IgC2 domains exhibiting homology to the corresponding domains of B7 co-stimulatory molecules (Arnett and Viney, 2014), and butyrophilins are thus considered to be members of the extended B7 or Ig superfamily.
BTN1A1, the first butyrophilin identified, is required for the formation, secretion, and stabilization of milk fat globules (Ogg et al., 2004). Then, it has been proposed that B7 genes and MHC class I and II genes may have a common ancestral gene and could encode for proteins involved in similar function, such as T cell activation (Rhodes et al., 2001)
Growing evidence subsequently suggested that butyrophilins play diverse roles in the immune system. Functions have been best elucidated for mouse SKINT1 and human BTN3A1, which are not among the conserved family members. SKINT1 drives the thymic differentiation of mouse Vγ5+Vδ1+ T cells (Boyden et al., 2008).
BTN2 subfamily comprises BTN2A1, BTN2A2 and a pseudogene, BTN2A3 in humans. BTN2A1 and BTN2A2 protein isoforms display an IgV and an IgC extracellular domains, a transmembrane domain, and the characteristic intracellular domain B30.2, as for BTN3A1 and BTN3A3, but not BTN3A2. In mouse, BTN2A2 is a single copy gene and ortholog of the human BTN2A2 gene. Recombinant human BTN2A1-Fc protein revealed that a particular glycoform of BTN2A1 binds to a lectin molecule, DC-SIGN, found on dendritic cells (DCs). Binding of BTN2A1 to DC-SIGN is dependent on high-mannose glycosylation of the protein when expressed by tumor cells (Malcherek et al., 2007). To date, however, no clear function has been identified for human BTN2A1/A2 but some experiments have been performed in mice using recombinant Fc proteins.
Smith et al., 2010 showed that recombinant murine BTN2A2-Fc and BTN1A1-Fc bind to activated T cells, suggesting the presence of one or more receptors on these cells. Immobilized BTN2A2-Fc or BTN2A1-Fc proteins, but not MOG-Fc protein, inhibited the proliferation of CD4 and CD8 T cells activated by anti-CD3. Murine BTN1A1 and BTN2A2 also inhibited T cell metabolism, IL-2, and IFN-g secretion.
Amman et al., 2013 found that binding of mouse BTN2A2-Fc to CD3+ primary mouse T cells stimulated with anti-CD3 and anti-CD28 reduced the number of proliferating cells and entry of cells into the cell cycle. Binding of BTN2A2-Fc to anti-CD3− stimulated T cells inhibited CD3c, Zap70, and subsequent Erk1/2 activation. Murine BTN2A2-Fc also induce Foxp3 expression and Treg differentiation in vitro.
Sarter et al., 2016 showed that Btn2a2−/− mice exhibited enhanced effector CD4+ and CD8+ T cell responses, impaired CD4+ regulatory T cell induction, potentiated antitumor responses, and exacerbated experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis.
To date, treatment of autoimmune diseases and prevention of transplantation rejection in graft versus host diseases (GVHD) depends on immunosuppressive agents that have serious side effects, or are not always effective. New immunosuppressive agents are therefore desired.
To date, the treatment of autoimmune diseases and the prevention of transplant rejection in graft versus host disease (GvHD) merely depend on immunosuppressive agents. However such immunosuppressive agents may not be always effective and/or have serious side effects.
There is therefore a need to identify new suppressive agents and/or methods to inhibit immune response in a patient in need thereof.

Antibodies having specificity for BTN2 and uses thereof


A handle assembly for a vacuum cleaner having an improved rotating connection portion which is capable of rotatably connecting a rigid wand with a flexible hose of the vacuum cleaner, which has a simple internal structure, and can be manufactured at a low cost. The rotating connection portion is disposed between a connector for separably receiving an end of a rigid wand and a flexible hose of the vacuum cleaner. A suction control switch is installed in one side of the rotating connection portion. A first annular groove is formed through an outer periphery of a distal end of the connector, and an elastic C-shaped ring is inserted into and fixed in the first annular groove. A second annular groove is formed through an inner periphery of a front end of the rotating connection portion. When the distal end is inserted into the front end, C-shaped ring is elastically inserted into the second annular groove. Alternately, a first groove is formed through an outer periphery of a distal end of the connector, and a second groove is formed through an inner periphery of a front end of the rotating connection portion. When the distal end is inserted into the front end, an elastic hook-shaped fixing member is inserted into the second locking groove and the first groove in due sequence.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a handle assembly for a vacuum cleaner, and more particularly to a handle assembly for a vacuum cleaner having an improved rotating connection portion which is capable of rotatably connecting a rigid wand with a flexible hose of the vacuum cleaner, has a simple internal structure and can be manufactured at a low cost.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A variety of vacuum cleaners for easily removing dust or other foreign substances piled up on furniture, a floor, or a carpet in a room have been proposed hitherto. Generally, vacuum cleaners can be classified into canister-type vacuum cleaners and upright-type vacuum cleaners.
A canister-type vacuum cleaner includes a body mounted on wheels and a hose assembly for sucking dust or other foreign substances into the body. A suction generating means such as a suction fan, a motor for driving the suction generating means, and a disposable dust container for filtering dust or other foreign substances from air sucked by the vacuum cleaner, are positioned in the body. A main brush and a suction nozzle are provided at a free end of the hose assembly.
An upright-type vacuum cleaner has a constitution which is similar to that of the canister-type vacuum cleaner. However, the upright-type vacuum cleaner differs in that it vacuums a surface directly beneath its body, so a hose assembly is not required.
These days, the canister-type vacuum cleaner is more frequently used in the home than the upright-type vacuum.
FIG. 6 illustrates a canister-type vacuum cleaner 100. Vacuum cleaner 100 includes a floor cleaning unit 110, a canister unit 120, and a hose assembly 130 extending between floor cleaning unit 110 and canister unit 120.
Floor cleaning unit 110 includes a main brush (not shown) or a suction nozzle (not shown), and the like. Floor cleaning unit 110 is detachably connected to hose assembly 130.
Canister unit 120 mainly includes a hood 122, a cover 124 and a body 126. Hood 122 encloses the dust collecting compartment and is pivotally installed onto body 126 so that the dust collecting compartment can be opened and closed. Hood 122 is provided with an inlet opening 127 formed through hood 122 for receiving hose assembly 130. Hood 122 also is provided with a transparent window 128 for notifying the user of the dust collecting state. Cover 124 encloses a motor compartment (not shown) where an electric motor and a suction fan driven by the electric motor are positioned. Further, a main electric cord 129 for applying an electric power from an external electric source to vacuum cleaner 100 is installed in the motor compartment. Main electric cord 129 is provided with a plug 129a at its free end.
Hose assembly 130 comprises a rigid wand 132 and a flexible hose 134, and is pneumatically connected to a dust collecting compartment (not shown) of canister unit 120 by a suction hose connector 136. Rigid wand 132 is rotatably connected to flexible hose 134 by a handle assembly 200.
Meanwhile, FIG. 7 illustrates the conventional handle assembly 200 in detail. Handle assembly 200 mainly includes a connector 131, a rotating connection portion 140 and a handle 170. A free end of connector 131 is detachably connected to an end of rigid wand 132. Pipe hose 131 is rotatably connected to flexible hose 134 by rotating connection portion 140.
Rotating connection portion 140 comprises an inner pipe 142 and an outer pipe 144. Inner pipe 142 is rotatably installed in outer pipe 144. Outer pipe 144 is integrally formed with connector 131. That is, outer pipe 144 extends downward from connector 131. In a front end of inner pipe 142, a ring-shaped packing pipe 150 is disposed on an outer periphery of inner pipe 142. Packing pipe 150 provides an airtight seal between inner pipe 142 and outer pipe 144. In a middle position of inner pipe 142, a ring-shaped first frame terminal 152a and a ring-shaped second frame terminal 152b are mounted to an outer surface of inner pipe 142. First frame terminal 152a and second frame terminal 152b include a plurality of iron cores which are installed therein.
Elastic third frame terminals 154 are disposed on a predetermined portion of outer pipe 144 which is brought into contact with first frame terminal 152a and second frame terminal 152b. When first frame terminal 152a and second frame terminal 152b rotate by rotating inner pipe 142 in relation to outer pipe 144, third frame terminals 154 always makes contact with first frame terminal 152a and second frame terminal 152b. An adapter pipe 156 is firmly fixed to inner pipe 142 by a first screw 158.
A ring-shaped cover terminal 155 is disposed to a lower end of inner pipe 142. Cover terminal 155 extends upward along inner pipe 142 and is electrically connected to a lower end of first frame terminal 152a and a lower end of second frame terminal 152b. A part of flexible hose 134 is fixed to the outer periphery of inner pipe 142, on which cover terminal 155 is disposed. In consideration of an external appearance of handle assembly 200, a cover hose 146 is mounted onto the part of flexible hose 134.
A first lead wire 157a is connected to a free end of cover terminal 155. First lead wire 157a extends from the free end of cover terminal 155 to the motor compartment of canister unit 120 along flexible hose 134, and is connected to a printed circuit board (not shown, hereinafter referred to "PCB") which is installed in the motor compartment.
Meanwhile, second lead wires 157b are connected to an end of first frame terminal 152a. Second lead wire 157b extends from the end of first frame terminal 152a to an interior of handle 170 through a through hole 159 which is formed through a partition wall 131b between connector 131 and handle 170. Second lead wire 157a extending into the interior of handle 170 is connected to both ends of a slide volume 166 of a suction control switch 160 which is installed in the interior of handle 170.
Suction control switch 160 mainly includes an operation knob 162, a supporting plate 164, and slide volume 166, which is a variable resistor. Operation knob 162 slideably moves along a slide opening which is formed through a cover 172 of handle 170. Operation knob 162 slideably makes contact with slide volume 166. Slide volume 166 is fixed to partition wall 131a and a bottom wall 176 of handle 170 by a plurality of second screws 168. Cover 172 of handle 170 is fixed to partition wall 131a and bottom wall 176 of handle 170 by a plurality of third screws 178.
When a user wants to perform a cleaning job by using vacuum cleaner 100 as described above, the user inserts plug 129a of main electric cord 129 into an outlet wall (not shown). Thereafter, the user starts a suction operation by turning on suction control switch 160. Under this state, the user of vacuum cleaner 100 slideably moves floor cleaning unit 110 along the surface to be cleaned so that the cleaning job can be performed. At this time, inner pipe 142 and outer pipe 144 of handle assembly 200 can rotate together in 360 degrees. Accordingly, the user of vacuum cleaner 100 can perform the cleaning job by moving handle assembly 200 into various positions as needed, and can prevent flexible hose 134 from twisting during use.
However, in the conventional handle assembly 200, in order to always provide an electrical connection between suction control switch 160 which is installed in handle 170 and an outer electric source (not shown), and in order to allow for the rotation of handle 170, it is required that first frame terminal 152a, second frame terminal 152b, third frame terminal 154 and cover terminal 155 are installed in handle assembly 200. Accordingly, an internal structure of handle assembly 200 is complicated, and handle assembly 200 frequently breaks down. Further, the manufacturing cost of handle assembly 200 is high. In addition, second lead wire 157b extending between slide volume 166 of handle 170 and first frame terminal 152a can become twisted or can experience a short.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,109,568 issued to Dean R. Rohn et al. on May 5, 1992 discloses a handle assembly for securing a vacuum hose to an intake nozzle of a vacuum cleaner. Dean R. Rohn et al.'s handle assembly includes a first mating handle housing section and a second mating handle housing section which are provided with a plurality of oppositely facing ridges and oppositely facing grooved portions. When a user of the vacuum cleaner connects the vacuum hose to the intake nozzle, the first mating handle housing section and the second mating handle housing section are tightly engaged with an end of the vacuum hose and a shoulder portion of a elbow section, respectively by the ridges and the grooved portions. Accordingly, in Dean R. Rohn et al.s' handle assembly, when the user performs a cleaning job by moving the handle assembly into various positions, clockwise or counter-clockwise rotation of the vacuum hose is prevented.
However, Dean R. Rohn et al.s' handle assembly is contrived to prevent the vacuum hose from rotating during the use of the vacuum cleaner. Therefore, Dean R. Rohn et al.s' handle assembly does not employ a special connection means for rotatably connecting the vacuum hose to the suction nozzle in order to prevent the vacuum hose from running during the use of the vacuum cleaner.

Handle assembly for a vacuum cleaner having an improved rotating connection portion


An anti-spalling edging comprising: a metal strip 21,31 adapted for concrete to be cast against, a return 22,32 along a top edge of the strip and forming a corner with the metal strip, a down-turn 23,33 from the edge of the return spaced from the strip and cut-outs in 26,36 the down-turn for anchoring it in the concrete and an elongate metallic member 201,202 extending in the corner, fixed to the strip and the return for reinforcement of the anti-spalling edge at the corner.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an anti-spalling edging, in particular, though not exclusively for concrete.
2. Description of the Related Art
Concrete is strong in compression, but weak in tension. Small sections are liable to fail in shear. The result is that edges of concrete slabs are liable to spall, that is the edge is liable to crack away, generally at angle.
The problem can be relieved to an extent by a flat steel edging, with may form part of a joint allowing contraction of the slabs on setting and thermal expansion. Flat steel strip can become bent away from the concrete, thus the original problem is not really solved. The steel strip can be reinforced against such bending away by provision of an in-turned edge or return level with the top of the slab. This protects the edge of the slab, but loading, deflections and impact can allow the free edge of the return to lift. This gives rise to another set of problems. In turn the free edge can be turned down and provided with cut-outs for its anchoring in the slab.
Again there is a problem, in that the down-turn has a radius of curvature at its abutment with the top surface of the concrete, which creates yet another potential spalling site.
In our International Application No WO 2010/094910 (Our '910 Application), we have described and claimed an anti-spalling edging comprising:                a metal strip adapted for concrete to be cast against,        a return along a top edge of the strip,        a down-turn from the edge of the return spaced from the strip,        cut-outs in the down-turn for anchoring it in the concrete;wherein:        the cut-outs are so arranged as to provide faces, extending through the return and generally in the direction of the edging, against which faces the concrete abuts when cast level with the outer surface of the return.
In our '910 Application, we envisaged that anti-spalling advantage could be obtained if the faces were non-planar, such as being S or W shaped when viewed in plan, preferably the faces are flat and face directly away from a bend connecting the metal strip to the return. We preferred in the direction of the edging, the transverse faces to predominate compared with fingers of the down-turn extending down between the cut-outs.
We envisaged that the fingers might not joined at their distal ends, but we preferred to join them at their distal ends to stabilise them during installation and casting of the concrete. Members joining the fingers are important for holding the finger from drawing upwards of the concrete.
We envisaged that the metal strip would be of steel galvanised before or after is punching of its cut-outs. However, it could also be of stainless steel, mild steel or plastics materials.
In the preferred embodiment of our '910 Application, a pair of anti-spalling edgings were normally to be provided as a "joint" between two sections of concrete slab, the two metal strips abutting with the returns extending in opposite directions on laying of the concrete and separating on curing. The joint would normally include dowels extending into the two sections of the slab, for vertical load transfer in use; the dowels may be any type of dowels and indeed are optional. Furthermore, a single anti-spalling edging might be used, particularly at an edge.
In testing this joint with admittedly-heavy, localised repetitive loading, we have experienced impacting of the return below neighbouring regions of the edge and the concrete not subjected to the localised load.


A method and a device for optimization of flatness control in the rolling of a strip using any number of mill stands and actuators. A mill model is used represented by a mill matrix that includes information of the flatness effect of each actuator. Each actuator's flatness effect is translated into a coordinate system having a dimension less than or equal to the number of actuators used. The actual flatness values are monitoring/sampling across the strip. A vector of the flatness error/deviation is computed as the difference between the monitored/sampled strip flatness and a reference flatness vector. The flatness error is converted into a smaller parameterized flatness error vector. A dynamic controller is used to calculate optimized actuator set-points in order to minimize the parameterized flatness error, thereby achieving the desired strip flatness. Also a system for optimization of flatness control in rolling a strip.

The control devices or actuators in a rolling mill influence the flatness of the strip in different ways by affecting the roll gap profile of the work rolls.
A condition for high performance flatness control is to have continuous access to the actual flatness across the strip, that is, a flatness profile. With a known flatness profile, the rolling mill can be provided with a flatness control system that based on the measured flatness profile and a given target or reference flatness profile computes set points to the available control devices, achieving closed-loop flatness control, see FIG. 1. The flatness control comprises several executing devices which means that a relatively complex evaluation process have to be done in order to decide on the magnitude of the various actions by the control devices, which provide the best result.
A measurement device could be designed as a measuring roll of metal, with something like 16-64 measuring points located across the strip, which in most cases can be placed between the mill stand and the wind-up reel without the use of deflector rolls. Such a measuring roll is the "Stressometer" produced by ABB. The measurement takes place with the aid of force transducers, based on e.g. the magnetoelastic principle, and primarily provides the stress distribution of the strip along the measuring roll. If the stress is greater than the buckling stress for the material, the sheet buckles when the strip is left free with no influence by any tensile force. The stress distribution is a flatness profile for the strip across the rolling direction. Depending on the technology of the flatness measuring device and the current rolling speed, a new complete flatness profile measurement across the strip may be obtained as often as every 4:th ms (millisecond).
When rolling a strip, it is important to maintain the desired flatness profile at all times. Deviation from the desired flatness may result in costly strip breaks. The task of the flatness control system is thus to drive the actual flatness profile as close possible to the desired flatness profile, which put high requirements on such a system, in terms of calculation speed and accuracy.

Method and device for optimization of flatness control in the rolling of a strip


The device includes a housing, a printed circuit board, a first optical subassembly, a second optical subassembly, and a lever. The device is pluggable to a host structure. The housing has a channel and ground spring fingers. The printed circuit board has contact traces and is mounted to the housing. The first and second optical subassemblies are mounted to the printed circuit board. The lever is rotatably mounted to the housing. The lever includes a rotatably mounted portion, a free end, and an actuation surface for actuation by a user. The free end of the lever forms a hook. In a locked position of the device to the host structure, the ground spring fingers contact and make electrical contact with a faceplate of the host structure, and the hook engages a slot of a circuit board of the host structure.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention pertains to optoelectronic devices. The invention more particularly concerns a pluggable, optoelectronic device which does not plug into a cage.
2. Discussion of the Background
Optoelectronic transceivers are utilized to interconnect circuit cards of communication links and other electronic modules or assemblies. Various international and industry standards define the type of connectors used to interface computers to external communication devices such as modems, network interfaces, and other transceivers. A well-known type of transceiver module developed by an industry consortium and known as a Gigabit Interface Converter (GBIC) provides an interface between a computer and an Ethernet, Fibre Channel, or other data communication environment. Optoelectronic devices are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,717,533; 5,734,558; 5,864,468; 5,879,173; 6,570,768; and Re 36,820, all of which are hereby incorporated herein by reference. Electronics associated with the optoelectronic devices are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,812,582; 5,812,717; 6,108,114; 6,160,647; 6,607,307; 6,711,189; and Re 36,491, all of which are hereby incorporated herein by reference.
Miniaturization of these transceivers is desirable in order to increase the port density associated with the network connection (switch boxes, cabling patch panels, wiring closets, computer I/O, etc.). Various standards are known that define form factors for miniaturized electronic devices, such as the Small Form-Factor Pluggable (SFP) standard that specifies an enclosure 9.8 millimeters in height by 13.5 millimeters in width and having a minimum of 20 electrical input/output connections. The specific standards for SFP transceivers are set forth in the "Small Form-Factor Pluggable (SFP) Transceiver Multisource Agreement (MSA)," dated Sep. 14, 2000, which is hereby incorporated herein by reference. Such optoelectronic devices are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,430,053; 6,551,117; 6,570,768; 6,778,399, all of which are hereby incorporated herein by reference.
Each SFP transceiver is plugged into a cage or receptacle of the host structure. The case is mounted to a circuit board of the host structure. The cage is designed to limit the propagation of electromagnetic radiation. The cage must be attached to the circuit board of the host structure. Also, the cage takes up space on the circuit board of the host structure.
Typically, release mechanisms for transceiver modules rely on an ejection spring of the cage of the host structure to push the module out of the host structure when the module is released. If the ejection spring of the host structure is weak or defective, the module may not be ejected far enough to enable an operator to remove the module by hand. Furthermore, if the module is jammed or not properly located within the host structure, or there is excessive friction between the module and the host structure, the ejection spring of the host structure may be unable to properly eject the module.
Accordingly, there is a need for an optoelectronic device which does not utilize much of the area of a circuit board of the host structure, minimizes the number of parts needed so as to use the optoelectronic device, and is easily removable from a host structure by an operator.

Cageless, pluggable optoelectronic device


A system and method for fuel tuned variable valve timing is disclosed. The system includes a plurality of cylinders, each cylinder being further associated with at least two exhaust valves. A first exhaust valve operates according to a first valve lift curve that is tuned for combustion of gasoline. A second exhaust valve operates according to at least two different valve lift curves that are tuned for E85 fuel. The second lift curve is associated with high engine speeds and the modified second lift curve is associated with low engine speeds.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to motor vehicles and in particular to a motor vehicle with fuel tuned variable valve timing.
2. Description of Related Art
Variable valve timing systems have been previously disclosed. Schneider (German patent number 10,250,771) is directed to an engine breaking device for a combustion engine. Schneider teaches a combustion engine with two exhaust valves per cylinder. Schneider also teaches the use of individually switchable valve drives for the exhaust valves that can be selectively changed between at least two different valve lift curves. In particular, different lift curves can be implemented for the individual exhaust valves. Using varying types of lift curves for each exhaust valve, as well as incorporating a blocking unit in the exhaust tract of the engine allows Schneider to vary the degree of engine breaking.
Schneider does not teach a method of optimizing engine combustion for different types of gasoline by using variable valve lift curves. Although Schneider teaches using varying lift curves in order to modify engine braking effects, Schneider does not teach switching between lift curves depending on the current engine speed.
Engines configured to run on various types of fuel have been previously proposed. Phillips et al., (U.S. Pat. No. 4,594,201) is directed to a multi-fuel system for internal combustion engines. Phillips teaches a carburetor that is configured to provide the proper fuel/air ratio for any type of fuel that may be used. The different types of fuels discussed by Phillips include ethanol, methanol, butane and other types of fuels.
Phillips does not teach a method for optimizing combustion for various types of fuels apart from providing a proper fuel/air mixture. In particular, Phillips does not teach the use of variable valve lift systems in an engine that may be used to precisely control air intake and exhaust outlet within the cylinders.
There is a need in the art for a system and method that addresses the shortcomings of the prior art listed above.


A moisture-proof coupling, which is simple in design and easy to assemble, is disposed between a motor housing and a bearing plate, with the electrical leads running out through the moisture-proof coupling. The electrical leads are integrally molded in an insulated lead-insert, which can be inserted into an opening on the end face of the bearing plate. A circumferential sealing ring is molded on the insulated lead-insert. The sealing ring is injection-molded together with the lead-insert on a brush plate so that it can be pre-positioned and, when the motor is assembled, can be pressed between the motor housing and the bearing plate to form a seal. The brush plate can be fixed together with the lead-insert and the sealing ring in the bearing plate in the manner of a pre-assembled component.

The invention relates to an electric motor having a watertight construction having an insulated lead-insert disposed between an end face of a motor housing and an axially protruding bearing plate.
In European Patent No EP-B1-0 221 304, an electric motor is described having a brush yoke with an integrally molded connector which housing radially projects beyond the opening of the motor housing. The molded connector is pushed, with a snug fit, into an axial longitudinal slot, which is open at the end face, of the motor housing. The molded connector can be fixed in its end operating position by placing the bearing plate against it. Openings are provided in the part of the connector housing projecting through the motor housing, through which the electrical leads run from outside to the brush arrangement which is arranged inside the motor housing. For sealing the electric motor, a compressible seal is interposed as a separate part in between the motor housing and the leads running to the outside of the motor housing.
In European Patent No. EP-A-0 219 681, an assembly unit, including a brush holder and a seal, can be prefabricated so that the seal is joined to the brush holder during preassembly by clamping, interlocking, bonding or welding. To avoid an undefined compression or lateral pushing away of the seal, buffers are provided on the end faces which press the seal together and are thereby mutually sealed. These buffers abut axially in front of one another with mutual bracing. The seal is disk-shaped and is provided with slot-shaped fitting openings in its circumferential direction. Guide lugs are formed onto the end faces and axially engage the slot-shaped fitting openings when the components to be sealed off are braced with the seal lying in between.

Electric motor with watertight construction


Embodiments of the present invention is directed to a method and system for use of ranging MW to reduce dual (MW/PIR) intrusion detector false alarms. A Doppler microwave system may be provided that is capable of detecting an object range and adjusting the sensitivity of the PIR detector to account for object size and range. Multiple range limited MW stages may be configured for different ranges to determine the general range of the moving object. Based on signal levels present on these MW stages, an approximate object range is determined. The sensitivity of the PIR is then adjusted based on a PIR sensitivity vs. object range function that is optimized to alarm on humans and ignore small animals and insects.

Currently, in the field of security systems, motion detectors are generally provided to detect intruders. Dual technology motion detectors incorporate multiple sensing technologies in order to provide efficient intruder detection with minimized risk of false alarms. Many dual detectors incorporate passive infrared (PIR) technology and microwave (MW) technology.
PIR technology has long been used in motion detectors. The PIR sensor detects the difference between the infrared energy emitted from an intruder and that emitted from the ambient environment. Many PIR detectors utilize Fresnel lenses or custom shaped mirrors to focus infrared energy on a pyrodetector. The output signal from the pyrodetector is then processed via analog hardware and/or digital signal processing. Lenses and mirrors are designed to provide various detection zones emanating radially from the sensor. As a target moves across the PIR detection zones, the sensing elements within the pyrodetector are alternately exposed to the target IF energy, resulting in an alternating voltage output from the PIR sensor. The amplitude and frequency of this voltage vary with a number of factors including target size, speed, and direction relative to the PIR zones, difference between ambient and target temperature, width and spacing between the detection zones, and frequency response of the pyrodetector.
Upon receiving the signals, the detector may perform processing by comparing the received signal to one or more voltage thresholds. These threshold crossings produce positive and negative pulses that can be counted and timed, with certain combinations of pulse height, duration, and frequency being considered PIR alarms.
MW technology often operates on the principle of phase shift or Doppler effect. Unlike PIR, MW technology is an active technology. The MW detector transmits MW energy, which reflects off objects and returns to the MW detector. Moving objects result in a received signal that is frequency shifted from the original transmitted signal. The detector receives this signal, and generates an alternating voltage difference frequency signal which is then processed via hardware or digital signal processing. Because only the AC (alternating current) component of the signal is processed, only moving objects are detected. The frequency of the returned signal is dependent upon the target movement direction and speed. The amplitude is a function of transmitted signal strength, target size, distance, and reflectivity. Highly reflective materials such as metal will return significantly greater energy to the detector than less reflective objects such as people or animals. Processing may include comparison of the MW signal to one or more thresholds with certain combinations of quantity, duration, or frequency of threshold crossings considered MW alarms.
Typically, dual technology detectors incorporate an AND function, whereby both individual sensor technologies must be in the alarm state simultaneously to produce an alarm at the detector output. PIR and MW technologies have many differing and distinct potential false alarm sources, as well as some common sources such as small animals. Minimization of false alarms from either detector is likely to greatly reduce the incidence of false alarms for the dual detector system.
PIR motion detectors are susceptible to false alarms caused by small animals close to the detector. A small animal near the detector may provide similar infrared energy levels to the PIR sensor as a human at greater distances. In cold environments, the greater differential between small animal infrared emissions and that of the background can exacerbate this problem. Insects crawling on a detector cover or flying very near the detector also pose a threat in cases where the background includes any kind of stationary object with a temperature different from the ambient temperature, such as a heat source.
Some currently existing systems, such as that of U.S. Pat. No. 5,578,988 minimize PIR false alarms. This system includes a thermistor, which detects ambient temperature in order to adjust a PIR alarm threshold if necessary. However, this system does not consider a distance of the target object from the PIR detector. A solution is needed that minimizes PIR false alarm effects by considering target location in order to improve dual detector accuracy.

System and method for improving infrared detector performance in dual detector system


This disclosure relates to, among other things, devices, systems, methods, computer-readable media, techniques, and methodologies that utilize and/or incorporate display components capable of being configured to detect light.

A mobile device such as a smartphone, tablet, or electronic reader may include an ambient light sensor for detecting ambient light incident on a display of the device. The ambient light sensor may be provided at a periphery of the device, for example. An amount of light transmitted through, emitted by, or reflected by the display may be adjusted based on output from the sensor by controlling a backlight or frontlight unit of the display and/or driving circuitry for driving pixels of the display. For example, in bright ambient light conditions, the brightness of the display may be reduced to compensate for ambient brightness.
There has been an increasing trend towards reducing border areas of mobile devices in order to maximize the display area. A consequence of this trend has been a reduced amount of device real estate available for providing an ambient light sensor, an image sensor, or the like.

Using display components for light sensing


A new crystalline polymorph of ritonavir and methods for its use and preparation are disclosed.

Inhibitors of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) protease have been approved for use in the treatment of HIV infection for several years. A particularly effective HIV protease inhibitor is (2S,3S,5S)-5-(N—(N—((N-methyl-N-((2-isopropyl-4-thiazolyl)methyl)amino)carbonyl)-L-valinyl)amino)-2-(N-((5-thiazolyl)-methoxycarbonyl)amino)-1,6-diphenyl-3-hydroxyhexane (ritonavir), which is marketed as NORVIR®. Ritonavir is known to have utility for the inhibition of HIV protease, the inhibition of HIV infection, the inhibition of cytochrome P450 monooxygenase and the enhancement of the pharmacokinetics of compounds which are metabolized by cytochrome P450 monooxygenase. Ritonavir is particularly effective for the inhibition of HIV infection when used alone or in combination with one or more reverse transcriptase inhibitors and/or one or more other HIV protease inhibitors.
Ritonavir and processes for its preparation are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,541,206, issued Jul. 30, 1996. This patent discloses processes for preparing ritonavir which produce a crystalline polymorph of ritonavir which is termed crystalline Form I. Substantially pure Form I has the powder X-ray diffraction pattern, 13C solid state nuclear magnetic resonance spectrum, the FT near infrared spectrum and the FT mid infrared spectrum which appear in FIGS. 1, 4, 6 and 8, respectively. The angular positions (two theta) of the characteristic peaks in the powder X-ray diffraction pattern of substantially pure Form I shown in FIG. 1 are 3.33°±0.1°, 6.76°±0.1°, 8.33°±0.1°, 14.61°±0.1°, 16.33°±0.1°, 16.76°±0.1°, 17.03°±0.1°, 18.02°±0.1°, 18.62°±0.1°, 19.47°±0.1°, 19.86°±0.1°, 20.25°±0.1°, 21.46°±0.1°, 23.46°±0.1° and 24.36°±0.1°.
Another process for the preparation of ritonavir is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,567,823, issued Oct. 22, 1996. The process disclosed in this patent also produces ritonavir as crystalline Form I.
Pharmaceutical compositions comprising ritonavir or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,541,206, issued Jul. 30, 1996; U.S. Pat. No. 5,484,801, issued Jan. 16, 1996; U.S. Pat. No. 5,725,878, issued Mar. 10, 1998; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,559,158, issued Sep. 24, 1996 and in International Application No. WO98/22106, published May 28, 1998 (corresponding to U.S. Ser. No. 08/966,495, filed Nov. 7, 1997).
The use of ritonavir to inhibit an HIV infection is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,541,206, issued Jul. 30, 1996. The use of ritonavir in combination with one or more reverse transcriptase inhibitors to inhibit an HIV infection is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,635,523, issued Jun. 3, 1997. The use of ritonavir in combination with one or more HIV protease inhibitors to inhibit an HIV infection is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,674,882, issued Oct. 7, 1997. The use of ritonavir to inhibit cytochrome P450 monooxygenase and to enhance the pharmacokinetics of compounds metabolized by cytochrome P450 monooxygenase is disclosed in WO97/01349, published Jan. 16, 1997 (corresponding to U.S. Ser. No. 08/687,774, filed Jun. 26, 1996).
It has now been unexpectedly discovered that ritonavir can be prepared as a new crystalline polymorph which is termed crystalline Form II.
All publications, issued patents and patent applications cited herein are hereby incorporated by reference.


The present invention provides a reduced sodium composition comprising at least one potassium salt, at least one sodium salt, at least one emulsifier and at least one thickening agent. For example, the reduced sodium composition comprises at least: one potassium salt, at least one sodium salt, glycerol monostearate and maltodextrin as well as to its method of preparation. The reduced sodium composition is used for enhancing the flavor of food, as a food seasoning, food condiment and/or food additive and provides a healthier alternative to the consumer, in particular where reducing the sodium in the diet is beneficial for health.

Edible salt is used to enhance the flavour of food, as a food seasoning, food condiment and/or preserving food. Examples of edible salt include table salt or sea salt. The main component of edible salt is sodium chloride. However, excessive salt intake is linked to hypertension. Overtime, excessive sodium intake can lead to stroke, heart attack, kidney failure, and other complications. The recommended sodium intake is no more than 2300 mg a day (equivalent to about a teaspoon of table salt) for healthy adults and no more than 1500 mg a day if suffering from hypertension, kidney disease or diabetes.
Reduced sodium compositions are composed primarily of potassium salt, for example, potassium chloride. However, potassium salt confers a bitter taste and/or metallic aftertaste, which is rather unpleasant. The unpleasant taste makes the reduced salt compositions unpalatable such that consumers may avoid such reduced sodium compositions in favour of edible salt. This is of particular concern; when the consumer is required to reduce the sodium content in their diet continue to choose edible salt over reduced salt compositions despite the risks.
It is therefore desirable to minimise the unpleasant taste in reduced salt compositions.


A multi-purpose head covering is disclosed. The multi-purpose head covering includes a hat capable of covering at least a portion of a wearer's head and a mask capable of covering at least a portion of a wearer's face. The mask has a central body and two extensions on either side of the central body. Each of the two extensions comprises a mask attachment member for attachment to the hat. The mask also includes a number of releasable fasteners, such as snaps, such that when the releasable fasteners are engaged to one another, the size of the mask changes.

Hats in a variety of forms are worn by people around the world every day. Hats having wide brims are commonly worn to limit sun exposure to the head and neck or to shield a person's eyes from the sun. Often times, hats are used as fashion accessories to complete an outfit. In other situation, hats are worn as part of a uniform such as by a police officer or by a baseball player.
One common reason that individuals wear hats is to promote comfort and limit their exposure to certain weather conditions. Hats are often worn during the fall, winter and spring to protect the wearer from weather conditions such as frigid temperature, snow, rain and wind that may make the wearer uncomfortable or even result in the wearer being exposed to dangerous conditions.
Due to these concerns, a number of hat designs incorporating face protection means, such as a mask have been suggested. Examples of such designs include U.S. Pat. No. 2,798,877 Conne; U.S. Pat. No. 2,462,258 Dannenberg; U.S. Pat. No. 2,839,757 Gianola; U.S. Pat. No. 2,897,510 Forbes-Robinson; U.S. Pat. No. 4,180,868 Snow; U.S. Pat. No. 4,593,417 Brown, Jr. et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,214,804 Carey et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,251,336 Nevins; U.S. Pat. No. 5,551,087 Blutstein et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,575,009 Ryvin; U.S. Pat. No. 5,694,648 Nucifora; U.S. Pat. No. 5,822,800 Anderson; U.S. Pat. No. 5,839,432 Daneshvar; U.S. Pat. No. 6,260,204 Morrissey; U.S. Pat. No. 6,260,206 MacDonald et al.; and U.S. Pat. No. D296,031 Coy et al.; all of which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,694,648 Nucifora describes a hat with protective coverings for the neck, ears and face. The coverings are removable and can be stored in the hat. A face mask that covers the eyes, nose and mouth of the wearer is also included, where eye ports are cut into the mask.
U.S. Pat. No. 798,877 Conne discloses a hat with a visor. The visor is hinged to the body portion of the hat and can be swung down into position to be used as a face protector. In addition, the visor can be removed from the hat.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,593,417 Brown, Jr. et al. describes a mask and hat combination, where the mask portions can be folded out of the way. The folded mask portions can be folded upward and affixed to the crown of the hat.
Hats that include a mask-type facial covering are known in the art. However, face masks that can be attached to a hat may be difficult to attach and reattach. In addition, the face mask may allow for cold air, dust and other unwanted particles to enter the facial area, due to the mask not being fitted to the wearer's face or adjustable to the wearer's face. Hence, there is a need for facial mask that can be easily attached and detached from a hat, and a mask whose size can be adjusted by the wearer.
Another frequent use of hats is by hunters or other outdoor enthusiasts. Often times, there may be a law or a hunting standard requiring participants to wear hats and other clothing having bright, distinctive colors to promote visibility. Even non-hunters will frequently wear such headgear when in the outdoors during open hunting seasons to clearly distinguish themselves to hunters who may be in the vicinity. In other situations, hunters may wear a hat designed to blend in with the surrounding environment and limit the possibility of being seen by the hunter's prey as suggested by U.S. Pat. No. 6,499,141 to Egnew, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.
As much of the hunting is done in the early spring or late fall, hunters are often exposed to a wide variety of weather conditions during the day. As a hunter's day often begins before sunrise and may extend beyond sunset, hunters often experience freezing temperatures early in the morning or in the early evening. Oftentimes, the same hunters will experience temperatures 20 to 30 degrees higher during the late morning and early afternoon of the same day. With these changing temperature conditions, hunter's can also experience a combination of rain and snow on any given day.
In addition to the changing weather conditions, hunters may utilize their hats for a number of uses during a single day. Early in the morning hats are often worn to limit exposure to cold weather, to signify their presence to other hunters, or to blend into their surroundings. Later in the day, hats may be used to limit exposure to the sun.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,260,206 MacDonald et al. describes a modular hat that can take on a number of shapes, with various attachment pieces. The hat configuration can be matched to the environmental conditions the wearer is experiencing.
Because of the multiplicity of uses a hunter may have for his or her hat on any given day, it would be desirable to have a hat that can adapt to accommodate the hunter's current situation.


The holding clamp of the invention has a first elongated arm and a second shorter arm both being electrically conducting and interconnected in parallel spaced-apart fashion by a transverse pivotal bracket intermediate their lengths. The first elongated arm is fixedly attached at its upper end to a cathode frame bar and downwardly depends therefrom. A lever pivotally attached to the first arm intermediate the cathode bar and the pivotal bracket engage the upper end of the second arm in clamming fashion to forcibly tilt same between a first limit position, in which the lower ends of the two arms are spaced-apart, and a second limit position, in which the arms lower ends abut one another under the action of coil springs. The lower ends of the arm members form a pair of jaws provided with electrically conducting studs engageable axially to one another, the studs and arms lower ends being otherwise enveloped with a fluid-tight and electrically insulating sleeve, except at the studs outer free ends. Coil springs straddling the two arms between the pivotal bracket and the lever mount bias the jaws forcibly toward one another. An article to be electroplated is to be sandwiched between the electrically conducting studs outer free ends, under bias from the coil springs, to be submerged in an acid solution bath and electroplated therein.

It is known in the art of electroplating to use frames on which are removably anchored plates or the like articles to be plated, for holding them while they are being submerged in large acid tanks or baths, e.g. for creating circuit boards. The acid bath is one of several steps involved in the manufacture of a printed circuit board. The acid solution is usually either chloridric acid or sulfuric acid. The overhanging frames are made of an electrically conducting material sealed in a fluid-tight and electrically insulating material to substantially slow down the corrosive effects of the acidous vapors from the bath of acid, and are sealingly electrically connected to the articles to be plated. The frames are connected to a cathode element, or flight bar, and are subjected to an electrical current which is transmitted through the frame structure, the article and the liquid acid. An anode element is also submerged in the acid bath, spaced 6 to 10 inches from the circuit board. The potential difference between the article and the reducing agent anode element allows the metal composing the latter to migrate and attach itself onto the article. The metal composing the anode element can be for example copper, or any other suitable material combining a proper oxydo-reduction potential and suitable conductive characteristics.
A device as generally described above is disclosed in Canadian patent No. 1,215,939 issued Dec. 30, 1986, with two of the three joint inventors therein being the two joint inventors of the present patent application. The device of the '939 patent indeed comprises a large frame on which can be sealingly bolted a number of articles to be plated, as shown in FIG. 3 of this patent. The electrical current is transmitted through the threaded shaft in FIG. 3, the shaft engaging a bore in the article to be plated and thus conducting the electrical current through this engagement. An electrical insulator covers the plate holding member and the article is thus sealingly engaged on both sides around the electrically conductive threaded shaft.
The device according to the '939 patent comprises three main disadvantages. Firstly, the article to be plated has to be bored therethrough to accommodate the threaded shaft therein. Without this through bore, the article cannot be held by the rack in the acid bath. Secondly, the nut head portion 50 of the holding bolt has to be manually screwed into place and manually removed to install/retrieve the article. This can be a very time-consuming operation, since there can be many such bolts on a single rack as shown in FIG. 1, and moreover there can be many such racks being submerged into the acid baths. Also, screwing/removing an important number of nut heads often results in wrist pain for the worker and can and do lead to claims for insurance disability coverage. Thirdly, the nut head portion of the holding bolt is submerged in the acid bath and then has to be directly manipulated to remove the plated article therefrom. Since the acid bath comprises a poisonous and dangerous liquid, it is clearly not desirable to manipulate directly these nut heads; protective gloves or the like have to be used, and these gloves can become cumbersome and backward in removing the small nut head.
Another invention is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 2,190,440 issued in 1940 to W. Beebe, wherein a rectangular frame holds a number of inwardly oriented clamp members illustrated in FIG. 3. The clamp members have an electrically conductive fixed jaw and an insulative jaw that are biased into a closed position, over the article to be plated, thus holding the latter at the center of the frame. The electrically conductive jaw is sealingly and conductingly connected to the article, but is otherwise covered by an insulative layer. The two jaws are biased into a closed position by means of elastic rubber bands linking them.
The device disclosed in the Beebe patent comprises three important disadvantages. Firstly, the dimension of the whole frame has to be modified to accommodate articles (plates, in this case) of different sizes. This can be highly time-consuming, and is of course not desirable. Secondly, the small clamp members are submerged in the dangerous liquid acid bath, and then have to be manipulated directly to allow the plate to be retrieved. Thus, gloves or other protective gear have to be worn, effectively reducing the preciseness of the manipulation and being cumbersome in operating the small clamp members. Thirdly, four clamps have to be operated to install/remove a single plate from the frame, significantly increasing the time to accomplish these operations.

Holding clamp for electroplating articles


A stacked memory module having alternating layers of printed circuit boards and spacers. Connections between a given circuit board surface and an adjacent (facing) stacked printed circuit board surface, are made using at least one conductive pad incorporated into the electrical circuitry printed on and within the perimeter of each of the adjacent pair of board surfaces; together with means for interconnecting these conductive pads. The spacers can, for example, take the form of standoffs, spacer boards provided with clearance cutouts for components on the printed circuit boards, etc. The printed circuit boards and spacers are then aligned and fastened together using, for example, one or more alignment rods. According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the fastened assembly is placed in a hollow memory module housing (e.g., a metal cylinder) to complete the fabrication of the memory module. Other aspects of the invention are directed to flight recorders per se which incorporate the above described memory module; and to processes for fabricating both the above described memory module and flight recorders containing such memory modules.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to aircraft flight recorders that employ solid state memory devices in memory means used to store flight data. More particularly, the invention relates to methods and apparatus for reducing the memory volume required for housing a solid state recording device so that the volume reduction can be advantageously used in other ways, such as to increase insulation thickness for improved fire protection, decrease crash housing size for weight reduction and improved crash protection, etc.
2. Description of the Related Art
Aircraft flight recorders, such as those installed aboard civilian and/or military aircraft, are commonly used to collect essential data of flights in progress and to record data of one or more flights for eventual read-out.
Such read-out may take place for an eventless flight. Unfortunately, it may also be necessary to read out recorded flight data in case of a possibly serious accident. The later eventuality requires that the flight recorder be able to meet adverse survival requirements designed to insure that the memory survives the possibility of extreme temperatures, pressures, shock, the effects of corrosion, etc., that the flight recorder may be exposed to as a result of an aircraft accident.
Problems related to the survivability of flight recorders have been addressed by the prior art. For example, flight recorders that used magnetic tape as a recording medium and further contained moving magnetic parts for writing data to such tapes, etc., have been replaced with solid state memory devices that eliminate moving parts and provide a more reliable means of preserving recorded data. Furthermore, prior art electronic device packages are known (for flight recorders and other devices as well) in which solid state memory cards are stacked to conserve space, to reduce package density with the object of reducing overall device package size, etc.
An example of one such device in the flight recorder context is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,053,967, issued Oct. 1, 1991, to Clavelloux et al. In particular, the 5,053,967 patent, hereby incorporated by reference, describes a solid state memory device that uses EEPROM type memory chips on stacked memory cards to record flight data.
According to the incorporated reference, the EEPROM based memory circuits are sealed in metal cases. The metal cases are filled with an incompressible inert liquid to eliminate voids to make the packages pressure resistant. Circuit cards, on which circuits containing the scaled memory chips are included, are stacked and braced inside a housing, using glass micro balls to wedge the circuit cards therein.
The incorporated reference further teaches separating the stacked cards with spacers; stacking the memory cards so that they assume a parallelepiped shape in the memory housing; interconnecting the edges of the stacked cards using flexible circuits; and preferably protecting all input connections toward the memory means in parallel by using fast unidirectional zener diodes.
Further yet, the incorporated reference teaches using a silicon based anti-corrosion product, applied to both sides of the printed circuit board or cards so that the circuit cards are at least temporarily resistant to fire and deep sea immersion.
Although describing a flight recorder that includes solid state memory devices (the EEPROM chips) on stacked circuit boards, etc.; the teachings of the incorporated reference would make it difficult, if not impossible, to realize levels of memory module packaging density desirable (and in many cases required) for present day aircraft flight recorders.
Reasons why the teachings of the incorporated reference are inherently problematic include:
(1) The EEPROM type memory required by the incorporated reference is not dense enough to facilitate high density packaging; particularly when compared with the density of other present day commercially available non-volatile memory devices, such as flash memory chips, etc. PA1 (2) The means used to facilitate the stacking of cards taught in the incorporated reference (card edge connectors) are themselves one of the most significant contributors to increased package size since, as those skilled in the art will readily appreciate, the connectors are typically the largest element on the circuit board. The problem is compounded as the number of connector; and/or number of interconnected stacked boards goes up (i.e., where a large number of connectors are used) and will itself have a direct negative impact on board size and overall package density. The problem is compounded even further by any requirement that all such connectors have to be located on the edge of each card, as taught by the incorporated reference.
Other inherent problems stemming from the teachings of the incorporated reference include: (a) the manufacturing process steps required to fill voids in the metal IC packages with the incompressible liquid; (b) the difficulty of insuring the stacked cards are properly wedged in the memory module housing particularly when, as taught in the incorporated reference, components are braced inside the housing using foreign objects, like glass micro balls, to wedge the circuit cards therein; (c) the problems that can arise from the wide temperature range over which the memory module must operate, particularly when the package contains a wide variety of internal materials such as glass (the micro balls), plastics, liquids, etc.; (d) the problems associated with insuring a uniform coat of the silicon based anti-corrosion product called for by the incorporated reference, the ability of silicon to perform well as an anti-corrosion product in the extreme temperature environments that the memory module may be exposed to, etc.; (e) the use of the extra components and manufacturing process steps suggested by the incorporated reference in order to protect all input connections toward the memory means in parallel (not necessary in many cases).
In view of the above, it would, for example, be desirable to provide a flight recorder that includes a memory module that contains printed circuit boards (where the term "printed circuit board" is defined herein to include unassembled printed circuit cards and printed circuit boards that are fully assembled, sometimes described more particularly as a "printed wiring assembly", with these terms all being used interchangeably herein), which allow interboard connectors to be located any place on the board (i.e., not just at the board edges; but anywhere else on and within the perimeter of the board) to help improve overall flight recorder memory module packaging density.
It would be further desirable to provide a flight recorder, flight recorder memory module and flight recorder memory module manufacturing process that solves the other problems discussed hereinabove.
Other patented examples of circuit packaging techniques in general, memory module packaging techniques, etc., that illustrate the present state of the art include: U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,412,538, issued May 2, 1995, to Kikinis et al.; 4,833,568, issued May 23, 1989, to Berhold; 4,574,331, issued Mar. 4, 1986, to Smolley; 5,251,099, issued Oct. 5, 1993, to Goss et al.; 4,953,005, issued Aug. 28, 1990, to Carlson et al.; 4,520,427, issued May 28, 1985, to Brotherton et al.; and Japanese Patent 59-205747, issued Nov. 21, 1984, to Kondou.
Multi-dimensional and multi-element electronic packaging techniques; as well as space saving memory module packaging techniques per se, are taught in the 538' patent to Kikinis et al. (directed to space saving memory modules); the 568' patent to Berhold (directed to three-dimensional circuit component assemblies and methods for constructing such assemblies); and the 331' patent to Smolley (directed to multi-element circuit construction).
Both the 568' and 331' patents, like the incorporated reference, require that the electrical connections between boards be on the board edges; again, this factor adversely affecting the potential for increasing package density for the reasons stated hereinbefore.
The 538' patent requires through hole connections that involve extra process steps during module fabrication (machining steps). Furthermore, as those skilled in the art will readily appreciate, package density is adversely affected by using through hole connectors as taught by the 538' reference.
Accordingly, it would be desirable, in addition to the other desired features of the invention discussed hereinabove, to be able to provide a flight recorder that does not require the use of through hole connectors or edge connections between printer circuit boards to thereby eliminate at least two of the difficulties in achieving increased package densities, reduced memory module sizes, etc.
The 099' patent to Goss et al., describes a high density electronics package that houses a plurality of circuit cards, heat sinks and circuit interconnections in a single conical shaped housing. The package includes stacked circuit boards.
According to the teachings of the 099' patent, connectors and connector pins on pairs of adjacent boards are interconnected through an opening in a heat sink disposed between the boards; and subassembled pairs of boards are interconnected directly to one to another (again using connectors and connector pins) without the use of an intervening heat sink, to form the card stack assembly located within the conical assembly. The card stack is locked in the housing using a multi-components locking mechanism (including tapered lock rings, screws and locks) to force the circuit boards, heat sinks and electrical connections contained within the housing, against the inner housing wall to secure the components placed therein.
Those skilled in the art will readily appreciate, using the teachings of the 099' patent as a point of reference, that it would be desirable to provide a high density package for a solid state flight recorder memory that does not require the use of heat sinks, conic surfaces, intricate locking mechanisms or require connector pins for making electrical connections between boards in the package.
Realizing this desire would eliminate such problems as having of having to drill holes in boards to affix the connectors and pins; reduce board to board spacing requirements necessitated by the size and bulk of such connectors and pins (which when used result in larger volume package requirements); and minimize the number of components required within the housing (for example, the aforementioned locks, tapered rings, screws, heat sinks, etc). It should be noted that in some applications it may be desirable to include heat sinks within the memory module package; however, the need for such devices within the memory module per se could be reduced and even eliminated entirely if memory module packaging size is reduced to the point where the memory module can be adequately protected from heat by insulation located outside the memory module per se (for example, insulation contained within the flight recorder; but located outside and surrounding the desired densely packed memory module included in the flight recorder).
The 005' patent to Carlson et al., describes a packaging system for stacking integrated circuits to provide short interconnection paths between such circuits.
According to the teachings of the 005' patent, integrated circuit dies are mounted to the interconnection leads on frames of tape automatic bonding (TAB) film. Thereafter, each frame of the TAB film with the attached integrated circuit die is affixed to an electrically insulating, thermally conductive plate to form a sandwich structure.
A number of sandwich structures are bonded together to form a stack of sandwiches (i.e., multiple layers of semiconductor devices and spacers assembled in a stack) which are secured together by tie use of rods. The interconnection leads of each sandwich is made on a common outer surface with conductors. The multi-layer assembly, which could be cylindrically shaped or the shape of a square, etc., is then placed in a housing.
Those skilled in the art will readily appreciate that the packaging techniques taught in the 005' patent are not readily adaptable for use in the flight recorder context for several reasons. First, unit serviceability would be very difficult. To get to the surfaces of a given sandwiched structure, the bonded structures would need to be taken apart. Since the integrated circuit dies are mounted to the interconnection leads on frames of film; and the interconnection leads of each sandwich is then made on a common outer surface with conductors, if one layer suffers a failure it would be necessary to break all vertical conductors to disassemble and repair a layer, etc.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide a flight recorder and memory module therefore, that is easy to assemble, disassemble and service.
The 427' patent to Brotherton et al. teaches an electrical assembly that includes a stack of modules secured in a bore through a casing. All connections between boards (which are circular) are made on the periphery of the boards. The 427' patent goes on to teach that the component casing includes longitudinal grooves on the internal surface thereof for accommodating electrical interconnections between modules, insulating material, etc. The multiple modules are secured by using rods and then the whole assembly is placed in a cylindrical housing.
Although the 427' patent represents an improvement over the edge connection strategies discussed hereinbefore with reference to, for example, the incorporated reference (though the 427' patent is not directed to flight recorder memory modules per se); the 427' patent still requires that: connections between boards be made on the periphery thereof. Accordingly, connector density maximization prospects are again limited when compared with a desirable strategy that would allow a connector to be located any place on the board.
Additionally, the machining steps required to manufacture the type of casing called for by the 427' patent (i.e., machining a casing that includes longitudinal grooves on its internal surface to accommodate electrical interconnections between modules, insulating material, etc.), are time consuming and costly.
It would be desirable to be able to produce high density flight recorder memory modules without having to perform such machining operations. Still further, the teachings of the 427' patent require the handling and manipulation of many loose pieces during the assembly process (for example, the conductive members depicted in FIG. 1 of the 427' patent, etc.), which for obvious reasons is not desirable.
Finally, the aforementioned Japanese Patent to Kondou (patent number 59-205747), discloses techniques for manufacturing a semiconductor device taking the form of multiple layer assemblies bonded together with a heat resisting resin. Alternate spacers and stacked substrates are used. Space formed by the spacers is filled with an insulating adhesive resin, such as epoxy; and the resin is cured. Interconnections between layers is made via edge connecting a set of exposed electrode terminals, exposed to the side surface of the device.
The packaging techniques taught in Japanese Patent 59-205747 to Kondou require bonding multiple assembly layers together which, as indicated hereinbefore, is problematic when trying to effect repairs on assembly components without destroying the assembly. The packaging process taught by Kondou also requires the application of heat as part of the manufacturing process.
In the flight recorder memory module context, where thermal expansion and pressure problems need to be anticipated and dealt with, bonding assemblies together and filling spaces between stacked circuits with an insulating adhesive resin (as taught by Kondou) would only compound the number of variables that need to be addressed in order to protect the module under adverse temperature and pressure conditions.
Still further, the teachings of Kondou (employed at the sub-chip level, working with dies; as opposed to dealing with the packaging of memory chips in a flight recorder memory module environment at the circuit board level), call for interconnections between layers to be made via edge connecting a set of exposed electrode terminals (exposed to the side surface of the device), which if applied at the circuit board level (for the reasons stated hereinbefore) would not lend itself to increasing connector density and overall package density.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide a flight recorder, flight recorder memory module and flight recorder memory module fabrication techniques that do not require the steps of bonding components or assemblies together; do not require the use of heat or filling spaces between stacked circuit cards with resins or any other material that needs to be cured, during the assembly process; or require using edge connections to interconnect layers of stacked circuitry.
In addition to all of the aforementioned desirable attributes of flight recorders, flight recorder memory modules and flight recorder memory module fabrication techniques, it would be desirable to reduce the memory volume required for a solid state flight recorder so that the volume saved could, as indicated hereinbefore, be used in other ways, such as to increase insulation thickness for improved fire protection; decrease crash housing size for weight reduction and improved crash protection, etc.