A wireless headphone device has a first elongate portion having first and second opposite ends with an attachment interface at the first end, the first portion comprising an on-board power supply and a transceiver with functional circuitry, and a second elongate portion coupled pivotally to the first portion at the second end, and having an ear bud and a microphone at an end away from the pivotal coupling. The functional circuitry enables receiving and playing of audio from an MP3 player through the ear bud, and use as speaker and microphone for a wirelessly coupled telephone.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is in the field of headsets and charging devices, and pertains more particularly to headsets enabled for wireless transmission and reception.
2. Discussion of the State of the Art
In the computer arts there continues to be motivation for increased density and ease-of-use in mass storage devices. A solid state device known now in the art as a thumb drive was relatively recently introduced advancing the standard for both density and ease-of-use, and such hot-plug drives are made by several manufacturers. A common feature of thumb drives as known in the art is a male USB connector, and functionality to hot-plug and remove, that is, without turning off the computer to which the drive is connected and disconnected. Another common feature is a plastic protective cover for the male USB connector.
Although the advance in the mass storage art with the advent of thumb drives is dramatic, there are still some problems with such a system. For example, the plastic covers for use on the male USB connectors are not very secure, and tend to come loose and be lost. As a remedy, many manufacturers provide two and sometimes three plastic covers with each device sold, often with different colors. Still another problem is that USB ports on computers are not universally easily visible and accessible. Some such ports are on the back of tower cases which are often placed under desks or other furniture, so finding an unused USB female port for connecting the male USB connector of a thumb drive is often not trivial. When a female port is out of sight or in a darkened area, the connection must often be made by feel alone. Still further, when the thumb drive is connected to a computer, the plastic protective cover is removed, and is easily misplaced.
Another problem in the art related to thumb drives that are enabled for wireless communication is that there is a relative dearth of headsets, and flexibility and functionality of headsets.


An improved process for wire harness assembly using air pressure to seat and manufacture wiring harnesses.

1) Field of the Invention
The present disclosure relates to an improved process for forming wire harnesses for placement in devices.
2) Description of Related Art
In various industries, electrical or computer-communication related wires must be gathered and specifically placed within a device to provide electricity and communication between the various sections of the device, such as between the driver controls of an automobile and the engine. Most automobiles today are replete with electronic devices, which require special wiring throughout the vehicle. This wiring provides electrical power and communication for radios, door locks, door windows, and automotive computer accessories.
Placement of wiring may be accomplished with a wiring harness; a wiring configuration designed for specific wiring devices. The harness provides a single connection point for multiple wires, as well as positions and provides stability and protection for the wires. It also may form junctions for allowing electrical communication between different wiring. Wiring is a complicated process that typically requires training and retraining personnel as it is a meticulous, time-consuming job.
Electrical wiring, especially in more complex devices, requires complicated configurations. Most wiring diagrams include multiple wires where each wire is color coded to represent a specific electronic feature. The wiring harness simplifies this configuration. It provides one connection point for multiple wiring configurations. For example, most auto alarm systems, which contain complicated multiple wire configurations, are connected using a wiring harness. The harness makes installation easier because the wires join at one connection point. Without the harness each wire would need to be manually connected to each wire of the alarm; a very time consuming, costly and error-prone process.
Current automated processes for manufacturing wire harnesses results in various issues that hinder product quality and produce unnecessary waste materials. Current wire harness forming processes may bend or buckle wires during insertion. Leading to faulty connections or wiring harnesses with structural defects that may later fail and impede performance. Moreover, in today's process lines, portions of the wire harness may be preassembled and delivered to a manufacturer or assembler for further processing. In these situations, a manufacturer using current harness assembly techniques must not only treat the assembly carefully, but must also deal with tolerances for devices the manufacturer did not assemble or create.
Indeed, modern applications may use a sleeve or cap to protect the wiring junction and wiring. Use of the sleeve requires "seating" the junction and wires within the sleeve and securing same to ensure the wires remain in the proper configuration. Securing the wires and junction within the harness may be accomplished by crimping the sleeve with the wires and junction positioned therein. However, this may lead to bending wires, and creating "wire memory" issues where a crimped wire carries a bend into a new section of the wiring assembly after the bend forms. Moreover, crimping is machinery intensive and requires specific, precise tooling to prevent damaging the wires and junctions. Further, crimping and current assembly methods, such as pulling a wire harness into place inside the sleeve, may hinder or damage terminal placement, bend terminals, cross wires, or damage accoutrements such as locking tabs. Moreover, securing wire harnesses in place via pulling or tugging is an inconsistent method that does not allow for precise measurements regarding wire and junction placement within a sleeve or cap. Further, current testing methods include the twist test to determine how many revolutions wire or other material can withstand. This test can be used to measure wire twist before breakage or twist and load characteristics. This test may check a wire for brittleness, inclusions, hidden seams and other flaws. Prior assembly methods tend to produce products that do not perform well during the twist test due to stresses placed on the wire during assembly.
What is needed is an improved process for wire harness assembly where harnesses may be assembled without damaging the wire assembly while also reducing waste and coming as close to zero defect production as possible.


A method for preserving a component including polymeric material that reduces oxidation degradation after irradiation. The method includes sealing the polymeric material in a container filled with a fluid, preferably a liquid. Monitoring the integrity of the container""s seal is enhanced by use of liquid rather than a gas. The method can be used for long term storage of orthopaedic implants which include polymeric material, especially Ultra High Molecular Weight Polyethylene.

The present invention relates to a method of preserving sterilized implant which contains polymeric components, and the sterilized sealed package which contains a quench liquid reducing free radical generation and oxidative degradation, an implant, and an optional leak indicator. More particularly, the present invention provides a method for producing stable implants by reducing free radical generation and oxidative degradation of implants formed from or containing ultra high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE), while at the same time, permitting cross-linking of the polymer component.
Human and animal implant components generally must be sterilized before implantation. A common sterilization approach is irradiation, especially gamma irradiation. However, irradiation can adversely affect the implant component.
In particular, gamma irradiation can adversely affect orthopaedic implant components made from or including polymeric materials. Irradiated polymeric materials typically exhibit an increased oxidation rate which is thought to be due to the formation of free radicals during irradiation. Oxidation may continue during storage after sterilization is complete. Implant oxidation can result in decreased ductility, higher wear rates, and shorter functional life.
Oxidation can be reduced in some cases by sealing the implant component in an air-tight/water-tight container before sterilization and removing the implant component from the container shortly before implantation. The container is typically filled with an inert gas or is maintained under a vacuum to prevent oxidation. Likewise, an oxygen absorbent material can be placed inside the container to remove oxygen.
However, if the container seal is compromised, undetected oxygenation can occur. Another problem is that filling a container with a gas and subsequent sealing is complex. Upon sealing, the gas diffusion rate of the container limits the shelf-life of the sealed component as oxygen from the surrounding air diffuses into the container.
Hence, one problem with preserving implant components, particularly those containing polymeric materials, is limited shelf-life. Another is undetected container breach which reduces the functional life of the implant component.
The present invention provides a method of preserving polymeric materials after sterilization and before implantation such that free radical generation are minimized, and the packaged containers in which the method can be carried out and stored after sterilization.
One aspect of the present invention is a method of sterilizing which reduces free radical generation and oxidative degradation of implants formed from or containing polymeric materials, permits cross-linking of the polymer component, and increases shelf-life of the sterilized implant.
Another aspect of the present invention is providing a packaged implant for sterilization with sufficient quench liquid for sterilization and to avoid formation of a dry surface on the packaged implant.
A still further aspect of the present invention is preserving an polymer containing implant by contacting the component with a free radical quenching fluid in a closed environment,and sterilizing the in the presence of radiation in the presence of the free radical quenching fluid.
A further aspect of the present invention is providing a sealed and sterilized package, e.g., an article of manufacture, which includes (i) a fluid impermeable, sealed, radiation transparent container, (ii) a free radical quenching liquid within the container, and (iii) an implant component including a polymeric material, the liquid and implant component being sealed in the sealed container.

Method for preserving sterilized implant components


A carburetor and a fuel seeding system having the same including an air suction passageway through which air is fed, and a fuel feeding passageway which is disposed so as to be intersected to the air suction passageway and through which fuel is fed, the air suction passageway and the fuel feeding passageway being intercommunicated to each other. A roughened surface portion is formed on a wall surface of at least one of the air suction passageway and the fuel feeding passageway to generate turbulence in fluid flow and promote carburetion and granulation of the air-fuel mixture due to the turbulence. The tip portion of a jet needle serving as a part of the fuel feeding passageway may be provided with a substantially flat surface portion or a substantially conical surface portion having a vertical angle above 145 degrees.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a fuel feeding system for an internal combustion engine, and particularly to a fuel feeding system having a carburetor for providing a fuel-air mixture, a fuel injection equipment, etc., and more particularly to a fuel feeding system having a carburetor for supplying fuel-air mixture (emulsion) to an engine of an automobile, a motor-bicycle, a bicycle having a motor, a pocket motorcycle, an outboard motor, a hang glider, a chain saw, a lawn mower, a road-cutter, etc., a fuel injection equipment, a fuel injection nozzle, etc.
2. Description of Related Art
A carburetor has been known as one of fuel feeding systems for mixing air and fuel in a suitable mixing ratio and then supplying air-fuel mixture to an engine of an automobile, etc. for combustion. A conventional carburetor is provided with a throttle valve disposed in an air-suction passageway so as to be movable in such a direction that air flow in the air suction passageway is suitably intercepted to form a variable venturi portion in the air-suction passageway, a fuel feeding passageway which serves to control a fuel flow (supply) amount to the venturi portion and is intercommunicated to the air suction passageway so as to be intersected to the air-suction passageway, and a tapered jet needle whose diameter is gradually reduced toward its tip portion, the rear end portion of the tapered jet needle being secured to the throttle valve while the front (tip) end portion thereof is inserted into the fuel feeding passageway. In the carburetor thus constructed, the clearance (gap) between the jet needle and the fuel feeding passageway is varied by suitably moving the throttle valve in the intersecting direction to the air suction passageway, and the fuel amount proportional to an air suction amount flowing in the venturi portion is fed to the venturi portion with controlling an air fuel ratio.
In general, the tip portion of the jet needle has a needle-shaped portion which is tapered with a constant gradient, or a conical portion which is tapered with a gradient being varied at the tip portion of the conical portion. The conical tapered jet needle generally has a vertical angle of about 60 degrees.
Further, the surfaces (walls) of the fuel feeding passageway and the jet needle along which the fuel flows are smoothly formed (smoothened) to reduce flow resistance between the fuel and the surfaces (walls). That is, each of the fuel feeding passageway and the jet needle has a smoothened or flat surface.
In this type of carburetor, when the jet needle is moved rearwardly (in such a direction that the intercommunication between the air suction passageway and the fuel feeding passageway is opened) to broaden the clearance between the jet needle and the fuel feeding passageway, the jet needle is liable to be fluctuated due to vibration of an engine, or to be downwardly pushed by air pressure in the air suction passageway, so that a fuel feeding state in the venturi portion is instabilized and thus the stability of the air fuel ratio is lost. Therefore, in the conventional carburetor having the fuel feeding system as described above, a knocking phenomenon due to reduction in combustion efficiency and a time lag to accel response (so-called discontinuous combustion) frequently occur, so that an engine efficiency is greatly reduced. The reduction of the engine efficiency causes a moderate or dull power-up of horsepower at a lower speed region (thus causes reduction in starting power), and the discontinuous combustion causes a rapid speed change (thus a violent fall of a motorbicycle, etc.).
In order to overcome the above disadvantages, the Japanese Laid-open Patent Application No. 59-90751 has proposed a fuel feeding system in which the outer diameter of a jet needle is set to be substantially equal to the inner diameter of a needle jet constituting a fuel feeding passageway to prevent the jet needle from being fluctuated over a movable region of the jet needle, and a chamfered portion is formed at the side surface of the jet needle such that clearance between the needle jet and the inner surface of the needle jet is gradually increased toward the tip portion of the jet needle.
Conventional techniques directing an improvement in performance of the above type of fuel feeding system, which representatively contains the Japanese Laid-open Patent Application No. 59-90751 as described above, have been researched and developed to mainly prevent the fluctuation of the jet needle. In addition, in these conventional techniques, the tip portion of the jet needle has been commonly formed in a conical shape having an acute vertical angle in consideration of the basic concept of hydrodynamics that smooth flow of fuel can be obtained by reducing flow resistance of the fuel.
However, according to the consideration of the inventor of this application, the low combustion efficiency of the conventional fuel feeding system can be estimated not to be caused by the instability of the air fuel ratio due to the fluctuation of the jet needle, but to be caused by the following two points.
Firstly, the low combustion efficiency would be caused by the smoothened (flat) wall surface of a fluid passageway such as a fuel feeding passageway, an air suction passageway, etc., along which fuel, air or air-fuel mixture flows in contact with the wall surface thereof although the smoothened surface itself is considered as a most preferable surface on the basis of the hydrodynamics. That is, since the wall surface of the fuel feeding passage or the surface of the jet needle (hereinafter referred to as "wall surface") is smoothly (flatly) formed in a conventional fuel feeding system, a boundary layer is formed between the surface wall of each of the fuel feeding passageway and the jet needle and the fuel due to friction therebetween. The flow of the fluid such as fuel, air or air-fuel mixture is decelerated by the boundary layer, so that the fuel feeding is restricted or disturbed. This restriction or disturbance of the fluid flow by the boundary layer mainly causes the instability of the air fuel ratio. Therefore, the conventional fuel feeding system can not provide an ideal air combustion ratio. In addition, difficulty in increase of air suction amount for power-up would be also caused by the smoothly-formed (smoothened) surface wall of the air suction passageway. When the clearance between the jet needle and the fuel feeding passageway is small, the clearance would be mostly occupied by the boundary layer, and thus the flow resistance of the fuel would be remarkably great.
Therefore, if the area of the boundary layer is reduced in the fluid passageway, the flow condition of fuel, etc. could be approached to an ideal condition in which no friction occurs between the fluid (fuel, air, air-fuel mixture) and the wall surface of the fluid passageway, and thus the flow resistance could be reduced to increase the fuel feeding amount, so that an ideal (optimum) air fuel ration can be obtained to improve the combustion efficiency.
Further, conventionally, only the clearance between the jet needle and the fuel feeding passageway has been considered, but no consideration or attention has been paid to the flow resistance caused by the boundary layer, and thus it has been conventionally difficult to control the fuel flow amount in proportion to the clearance. Therefore, the design and setting of peripheral equipments of the jet needle have not been simply performed, and skilled sense and experience have been required for the design and the setting.
Secondly, the low combustion efficiency would be caused by stable fluidity of fuel which is controlled by the shape of the tip portion of the jet needle. That is, the fuel is allowed to smoothly flow through the clearance between the jet needle and the needle jet by an acute shape of the tip portion of the jet needle and thus the fluidity of the fuel itself is stabilized irrespective of the instability of the fuel feeding to the venturi portion. This stability of the fluidity of the fuel causes insufficient fine-granulation of the fuel in the venturi portion where the air-fuel mixture is generated and/or insufficient turbulence of the air-fuel mixture, so that a flaming speed in a combustion chamber can not be improved. Accordingly, if the stable fluidity of the fuel in the clearance between the jet needle and the needle jet is intentionally disturbed to form turbulent flow of the fuel in the clearance, the turbulent flow of the fuel would cause the turbulence of the air-fuel mixture and thus improve the combustion efficiency.

Carburetor and fuel feeding system having the same


In a digital printing system there is a natural hierarchical relationship to the data representing jobs, documents, pages, and page image data (separations). Instead of grouping data by the imposed hierarchical method, the page image data is organized into "bursts," a burst being defined as a series of page images which can be printed without requiring that the digital printer be reconfigured to enable or disable specific printer functions or features. The printer is supplied with a burst whenever a burst is available without regard for job or document boundaries. This method allows the printer to be supplied with image data at optimal speeds and minimizing first-page-out time.

High-speed digital printing presents unique requirements to data-processing equipment. For example, to operate a printing apparatus which is designed to output over 100 page-size images per minute, the ability to make the desired image data of a particular page available to the printing hardware requires very close tolerances in the management of the "overhead" when data is transferred from a memory and applied to the printing hardware. A typical letter-sized page image at 600 dpi resolution, in a format suitable to be submitted to printing hardware is typically of a size of about 4 MB for monochrome and 16 MB for color; when printing hardware demands the image data to print the particular page image, this image data must be accessed from memory within a time frame of approximately 300 milliseconds.
As is known in the art of digital printing, these large quantities of data must be processed in numerous sophisticated ways. For example, image data in a page description language (PDL), such as HP-PCL or PostScript.TM., must be decomposed into raw digital data, and this raw digital data may often have to be compressed and decompressed at least once before the data reaches the printing hardware. In addition, in a high-volume situation where hundreds of different pages are being printed in various jobs, the particular set of image data corresponding to a page to be printed at a given time-window must be carefully managed.
In digital printing, and particularly in network or color printing, the various specific tasks which must be performed by software and hardware in a system lead to a number of design trade-offs which must be made. One essential trade-off may occur between the requirements for a high or maximum throughput of the printing hardware (that is, having the printer hardware supplied with enough hardware-ready image data to maintain the hardware at maximum physical speed for the longest period of time) and minimizing the time until the first page emerges from the printer, which has been shown to be a major customer requirement. This trade-off centers on the fact that the step of "interpreting" original image data from a PDL to "raw" binary data which is directly operative of printing hardware not only takes a fairly significant amount of time, but also the time required may vary widely depending on the complexity of a particular page image being printed. If a system simply sent binary image data to the printing hardware as it became available from an interpreter, it is likely that the printing hardware would very often find itself waiting for the next page image to be output by the interpreter, thus wasting significant amounts of time.
At the same time, many printer architectures impose special requirements on incoming page image data. Some printing apparatus output pages in an "n to 1" order, meaning that the last page must be printed first so that the ultimate stack of output pages is in a correct order; in this case, it can be seen that an entire set of page images forming a document must be completely processed by the interpreter before any pages can be submitted to the printing hardware: this of course will cause an enormous delay in first page out time. However, if the printing apparatus is designed to output pages in "1 to n" order it would be still be desirable to have a number of page images immediately ready for submission to the printing hardware to minimize the time in which the printing hardware has to wait for the interpreter.
Because there is a distinction between the printing of images via use of image data directly (hardware interface), and the means of getting the image data to the printer (print controller), digital printers are not predisposed to operating on a job, document or page boundary. They primarily work on a page by page basis when printing. This implies that data need not be grouped according to the job or document boundaries when the print controller sends the image data to be printed by the digital printing hardware. Feasibly, a set of print image data pages could be printed transcending job or document boundaries.
"Middle-ware" refers to systems architecture and software which interfaces producers and consumers of data. One often recurring and unique method of organizing data is to describe the data within a hierarchical format. The middle-ware presented herein enables data producers to interface with data consumers for the specific case where those producers and consumers operate on the same set of hierarchically organized data, but do not necessarily work on the same level of data (i.e. job, document, or page boundaries) within the hierarchy. The middle-ware acts as an ideal consumer for the data producer by accepting the data at the level the producer most readily supplies it, and, at the same time, the middle-ware acts as an ideal producer to the data consumer supplying the consumer with data at the level the consumer most readily accepts it. Data supplied by the producer is kept in memory until the consumer needs it. Maximum data throughput is achieved because the middle-ware is always ready to accept data from the data producer, and the middle-ware is always ready to supply the data consumer with data as soon as the consumer requests it (both acceptance of data from the producer and supplying data to the consumer are contingent on whether or not there is data, of course).
The result is a middle-ware for interfacing data producers and consumers of hierarchically organized data within the digital printing framework, while managing such data via a method which maximizes throughput of the data. The key to data throughput maximization is achieved by simply interfacing to the producer as an ideal data consumer (according to the producer's perspective) and, at the same time, interfacing to the data consumer as the ideal data producer (according to the producer's perspective).
The data, as it is prepared for the consumer within this middle-ware, is grouped into what has been termed a burst. A burst consists of a set of data grouped according to the data consumption constraints of the data consumer and is not grouped according to the constraints of delivery of the data by the data producer. Such a middle-ware would be widely reusable and could serve as an interface between any combination of data producer(s) and consumer(s) (one-to-one, one-to-many, many-to-one, and many-to-many relationships are possible) and provides an optimal balance between data producer output and consumer data consumption.


An AC power supply apparatus used for an AC load of a high voltage such as a cold cathode tube. When a cold cathode tube is caused to emit a light, a DC voltage is on/off controlled at a predetermined ratio; thereafter, an AC signal of a high frequency is applied to the on/off controlled voltage in an oscillator circuit; then the resultant signal is boosted up to a predetermined level of voltage in a booster circuit; and thereafter, the AC power supply of the high voltage is applied to the load such as the cold cathode tube.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an AC power supply apparatus for use in applying a load to a cold cathode tube etc.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, a cold cathode tube is widely used as a light source for an LCD (liquid crystal display) unit etc. The adjustment of the amount of light of the cold cathode tube is performed depending on the amount of a current caused to flow through the cold cathode tube. Therefore, when there is a large amount of a current, it is bright and the power consumption is high. When there is a small amount of a current, it is dark and the power consumption can be low.
FIG. 9 shows a conventional AC power supply apparatus of a cold cathode tube in which a control signal is supplied together with a DC voltage to an input part 1, and the DC voltage is on/off controlled according to the control signal, thereby generating input power supply. An oscillator circuit 2 oscillates the power supply provided from the input part 1 at an AC frequency, boosts the voltage up to a predetermined voltage (for example, 600 V) by a booster circuit 3 configured by, for example, a transformer, and provides the result to a cold cathode tube through a connector 4.
Relating to the above-mentioned AC power supply apparatus, FIG. 10A shows a power supply waveform supplied from the input part 1 to the oscillator circuit 2. According to the control signal, the on/off control is performed every unit time, the ratio is controlled, and power is supplied to the oscillator circuit 2 on the basis of the ratio. The waveform shown in FIG. 10B is an output waveform of the oscillator circuit 2 to which an AC frequency is assigned by the oscillator circuit 2 in an energized period. The higher the frequency is, the higher the AC frequency tends to be in brightness.
As described above, with the conventional AC power supply apparatus, the energized/nonenergized time ratio shown in FIG. 10A is controlled, the current supplied to the cold cathode tube is varied, and the light modulation of the cold cathode tube is controlled.
However, in a notebook computer recently used in an LCD unit, a PDA (personal digital assistants), etc., the brightness of the display is controlled during, for example, transportation etc. such that it can be dark to reduce the power consumption. In this case, the energized period shown in FIG. 10A is controlled such that the period can be shorter. Although it is preferable that a high frequency is used with the brightness during use taken into account, a leakage current occurs in a cold cathode tube in this case if the energized period is shortened at a high frequency, and one end of the cold cathode tube becomes dark.
The patent document 1 discloses an invention of preventing a leakage current in the lighting circuit of a cold cathode tube used as a backlight of a liquid crystal display.
Patent Document 1: Japanese Published Patent Application No. H10-200174


In a process of developing software applications from software components, the validity of component interactions is automatically validated by a program that determines a permission statement for any given utilization of a server component (305) by a client component (307). In a predefined structure (211–272), descriptors (211–219) are assigned (231–239) to components (301–309), descriptors (220–225) are assigned (241–255) to descriptors (211–224), some descriptors (223) have declarations to components (305), and some descriptors (217) have declarations to descriptors (223). The permission statement is true when 4 predefined conditions are all in compliance. The conditions are defined in relation to a common descriptor (225), to client (217) and server (223) intermediate descriptors, and to first (261) and second (262) declarations.

Components are software entities comprising data structures and associated functions. By combining components to each other, one can provide complex application programs, for example, for use in a business organization. Components for the application program are usually stored in a common repository with thousands of prefabricated components. Usually, within the repository, the components are organized in groups. For example, components comprise instructions for a processor to execute a function, data used by the function, or both instructions and data.
Usually, the repository stores the components in source code form; a compiler converts the components into binary code before a processor executes the application.
Components highly depend on each other. Interaction between components can occur, for example, by sending messages or events that invoke functions by components. For convenience, the following uses "messages" collectively for "messages" and "events". Each component may have a protocol-defined set of messages that the component responds to. Encapsulated components hide their internal structure. This has advantages for the software vendor: only information regarding the interface of the component needs to be provided (i.e. describing the messages that the component responds to); the underlying code of the component has not to be revealed. Some components can delegate messages to another components.
Interaction between the components occur (a) between components inside the same group or (b) between components of different groups.
Groups, components and interactions are classified according to predetermined criteria. Preferably, the criteria are chosen to meet the needs of the organization or to ensure compliance with legal requirements. The criteria may limit component interaction. In other words, some interactions between components must be enabled, others must be disabled.
However, the interface (i.e. the protocol-defined set of messages of a prefabricated component) is difficult to be modified. A component might be updated from time to time. Modifying a single component often requires to modify other components in the same repository too. This is unwanted and especially true if the component interface changes.
In other words, logically integrating the component repository according to the criteria is of paramount importance, technically modularizing is required. There is a technical problem to (i) provide interaction means for the component without substantially changing them. Further, it is desired to provide technical means that shield humans from the details of connecting the components.
For the discussion of components, the following references are useful: U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,737,606; 6,047,318; 6,044,224; 5,737,606; 6,138,171; as well as "Jörg Ackermann, SAP AG, Walldorf (Baden), Germany: 'Das SAP—Paketkonzept—Erfahrungen bei der Modularisierung bestehender Anwendungssysteme', October 2000".

Development computer, development program for combining components to applications, using component descriptors related to the components, method, and computer program


Substrates for β-lactamase of the general formula I

This application is a continuation application of U.S. application Ser. No. 10/280,482, filed Oct. 24, 2002, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,157,575, which is a continuation application of U.S. application Ser. No. 09/481,756, filed Jan. 11, 2000, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,472,205, which is a continuation application of U.S. application Ser. No. 08/727,616, filed Oct. 15, 1996, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,291,162, which is a continuation application of PCT/US96/04059, filed Mar. 20, 1996, which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No. 08/407,544, filed Mar. 20, 1995, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,741,657.

Substrates for beta-lactamase and uses thereof

Abstract: in which one of X and Y is a fluorescent donor moiety and the other is a quencher (which may or may not re-emit); R′ is selected from the group consisting of H, lower (i.e., alkyl of 1 to about 5 carbon atoms) and (CH2)nOH, in which n is 0 or an integer from 1 to 5; R″ is selected from the group consisting of H, physiologically acceptable metal and ammonium cations, —CHR2OCO(CH2)nCH3, —CHR2OCOC (CH3)3, acylthiomethyl, acyloxy-alpha-benzyl, delta-butyrolactonyl, methoxycarbonyloxymethyl, phenyl, methylsulphinylmethyl, beta-morpholinoethyl, dialkylaminoethyl, acyloxyalkyl, dialkylaminocarbonyloxymethyl and aliphatic, in which R2 is selected from the group consisting of H and lower alkyl; A is selected from the group consisting of S, O, SO, SO2 and CH2; and Z′ and Z″ are linkers for the fluorescent donor and quencher moieties. Methods of assaying β-lactamase activity and monitoring expression in systems using β-lactamase as a reporter gene also are disclosed.

The Regents of the University of California


Method and apparatus for variable help content and abandonment intervention based on customer behavior in computer applications. A pattern detection and intervention mechanism may be provided that may collect usage and possibly other data for the application for a plurality of users of the application and analyze the usage data to determine usage patterns. The collected data and determined usage patterns may then be used by the pattern detection and intervention mechanism to look for and detect deviations from expected behavior and/or patterns of abnormal behavior. Embodiments may provide one or more methods of intervention to provide context-specific help or otherwise assist users for which deviations from expected behavior and/or abnormal patterns of behavior are detected. The detection that users are having difficulty with the application and proactive intervention when such difficulties are detected may help to prevent the users from abandoning the application.

Various software applications may involve the collection of data or other input from users, forms or documents that users may need to fill out, and/or a sequence of steps that the users may need to follow. The users of these applications may encounter various difficulties when interacting with the user interfaces presented by the applications. In some cases, the difficulty for a user may be such that the user may actually abandon the application. Conventionally, at least some vendors of software applications have collected "after the fact" data from the users of their products in the form of customer calls, chats, product feedback, etc. that may provide some information about where in the applications the users encountered difficulties. An example of such a software application is a tax preparation program.
Tax preparation software programs (hereinafter referred to as "tax programs") are available that assist tax preparers in preparing accurate tax returns and other tax forms for filing by or on behalf of a taxable entity with a governmental entity, e.g., a Federal, State, county, city, district, and/or other municipality (hereinafter collectively referred to as tax authorities). These tax programs guide the tax preparer through tax return processes for various tax authorities, and may automatically perform necessary tax preparations in accordance with data input and forms, schedules, tax data, tables, and formulas stored with or coded into the program. Personal and professional versions of tax programs may be offered. Professional versions may be used by tax one or more preparation professionals to prepare various tax returns for multiple taxable entities. Further, these tax programs may be used to prepare annual taxes, quarterly taxes, etc for filing with various tax authorities by or on behalf of taxable entities.
Typically, the tax preparer will enter necessary data and information via the user interface of the tax program, and, when done, access the user interface to direct the tax program to complete the tax return under preparation. The tax program may perform any necessary calculations using the entered data and information and in accordance with tax formulas relevant to the particular tax return under preparation (e.g. Federal tax return, State tax return, local tax return, etc.), and possibly data and information from other sources such as previous tax returns or other tax-related documents, to generate appropriate calculated values for certain fields of the tax return under preparation.
The completed tax return may indicate that the taxable entity owes taxes to the tax authority or that the taxable entity is owed a tax refund from the tax authority. The tax return may then be filed (electronically or conventionally) with the tax authority. If taxes are due, the tax amount may be, but is not necessarily, paid to the tax authority by the taxable entity at the time of filing. Conventionally, the tax payment may be transferred electronically or alternatively may be paid by check. If a refund is due, the refund amount may be paid to the taxable entity by the tax authority either electronically to an account (e.g., a bank account) of the taxable entity or by check.
The users of tax programs (tax preparers) may encounter various difficulties when preparing their tax return documents. In some cases, the difficulty for a user may be such that the user may actually abandon the tax program. Conventionally, at least some vendors of tax programs have collected data from these users of their products "after the fact" in the form of customer calls, chats, product feedback, etc. that may provide some information about where in the tax programs the users encountered difficulties.

Method and apparatus for variable help content and abandonment intervention based on user behavior


A vehicle heat transfer module including a conduit for air circulation, an evaporator in the conduit between the cabin air input and cabin air output, and a heater having vehicle engine coolant circulated therethrough, the heater being in a first path between the evaporator and the cabin air output. A first door selectively opens or closes the fresh air input and fresh air output, and a second door blocks a selected amount of cabin air from the first path. A controller controls the first and second doors responsive to heating and cooling requirements. Cabin and fresh air is selectively circulated over the heater and evaporator responsive to detected requirements, including selectively either (a) circulating cabin air from the cabin air input over the evaporator and out the cabin air output, and circulating fresh air from the fresh air input over the heater and out the fresh air output, or (b) blocking the fresh air input and fresh air output and passing cabin air from the cabin air input over one or both of the evaporator and the heater and out the cabin air output.

Control of cabin air in vehicles for the comfort of the cabin occupants is an important component of any vehicle, not only in enhancing enjoyment of riding in the vehicle but also in making the vehicle a desirable choice among potential purchasers of such vehicles. Reliability of the vehicle in transporting occupants, as well as fuel efficiency, is also clearly important to potential vehicle purchasers, as well as vehicle cost. This may be particularly important, for example, to bus companies, which depend upon cost efficiency as well as customer satisfaction and repeat business for their economic viability. Uncomfortable passengers are unlikely to be repeat customers, as are passengers who are stranded due to a breakdown of the vehicle.
The present invention is directed toward providing vehicles in which the above important factors are enhanced.

Combination HVAC and auxiliary engine cooling


A method for switching system state and a portable terminal. The method is applied to a portable terminal comprising a first system and a second system. The second system has a second control module provided therein. The method comprises: obtaining, by the second system, state information of the first system through the second control module when at least one of the first system and the second system is in an inactive state; receiving, by the second control module, a system state switching event; switching, by the second control module, the second system to a state corresponding to the state information of the first system based on the state information of the first system. According to the embodiments of the present invention, when the system state is to be switched, it is not necessary that both systems are in the active state. Rather, the state information can be transmitted between the systems in the inactive state by using a control module provided in one or both of the systems, and the power consumption of the portable terminal can be reduced.

A terminal of hybrid system architecture is, for example, a Personal Computer (PC) in which at least one further system is embedded into a conventional PC having one system. The different systems can function cooperatively to achieve their respective advantages. Currently, a typical PC of hybrid system architecture has a master system (e.g., Vista) and a slave system (e.g., WinCE) integrated therein. The master system and the slave system can share a keyboard, a network adapter, a display device, a memory device, an audio unit and the like. During operation of the PC of such hybrid system architecture, the master system and the slave system can be switched therebetween as required.
In an existing PC of hybrid system architecture, the master system and the slave system each have system state management software which operates when the respective system is active and is configured to record state information of the system. When a state of one of the systems is to be switched, the state management software performs a switching operation by driving respective hardware, such that the state of the current system can be switched based on the recorded state information. However, when both of these systems are inactive, the system state information of the inactive systems cannot be recorded due to the inoperability of its system state management software. Thus, system switching cannot be performed until the inactive systems are both woken up.

Method for switching system state and portable terminal


A flash assembly includes a circuit board unit, a flash unit, and a housing. The circuit board unit includes a circuit board and two connecting members electrically disposed on the circuit board. Each connecting member defines a gap. The flash unit includes a reflector and a flash tube received in the reflector and electrically connected to the reflector. The flash tube includes two power electrodes received in the corresponding gaps and electrically connected to the circuit board by the connecting members. The flash unit and the circuit board unit are received in the housing.

1. Technical Field
The disclosure relates to flash assemblies and, particularly, to a flash assembly for a portable electronic device.
2. Description of the Related Art
Portable electronic devices, such as film cameras, digital cameras, and mobile phones equipped with a camera module, typically employ a flash assembly to illuminate an object in low lighting conditions. Typically the flash assembly has a flash tube with two power electrodes and a circuit board. The power electrodes of the flash tube are connected to the circuit board by wires for assembling the flash tube to the circuit board. However, such flash assembly is complex in structure and inconvenient to be assembled in a portable electronic device.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide a flash assembly for a portable electronic device which can overcome the above-mentioned problem.

Flash assembly having connecting members on circuit board to electrically connected to flash unit


A polyolefin based biaxially oriented multi-layer film having at least one surface layer comprise of the propylene-ethylene random block copolymer;

An polyolefin based thermoplastic elastomer or plastomer is a polymer composite of such as a random copolymer represented by ethylene-α-olefin copolymer, and has been widely used in industry such fields as films, sheets, fibers, non-woven fabrics, various containers or molded products, and modifiers because of it's appropriate flexibility and strength, also low environmental load in respect of recycling or burning disposal, and further satisfactory light weight, processability and economic efficiency.
Among these thermoplastic elastomers, a reactor TPO obtained through sequential polymerization that composed of a crystalline polypropylene produced in the first step and a propylene-ethylene copolymer elastomer produced in the second step (such propylene based polymer is generally referred to as "block copolymer") has the advantages of heat resistance and productivity as compared with a random copolymer elastomer, and of the abilities to provide a product having a stable quality in the wide range of it's compositions at a low production cost as compared with an elastomer composite produced by mechanically mixing. Accordingly, this reactor TPO has high economic efficiency and excellent heat resistance and strength, and is recently widely used.
However, many of them have defects that their transparency is remarkably poor and their flexibility is not enough, because a crystalline polypropylene produced in the first step and a propylene-ethylene copolymer elastomer produced in the second step are immiscible and show a phase-separated structure.
Under these circumstances, a polyolefin based elastomer or plastomer having excellent transparency and flexibility is advantageous for industrial uses, and therefore various improvements have been made heretofore.
For example, in order to improve flexibility and transparency, there is a proposal of sequential polymerization by a Ziegler-Natta catalyst, which comprises a pair of steps, in the first step, a polypropylene or propylene-ethylene copolymer containing small amount of ethylene is prepared, and in the second step, a propylene-ethylene copolymer elastomer containing relatively low but higher than that of the polymer component obtained in the first step (see Patent Publication Documents 1 and 2). However, since a Ziegler-Natta catalyst has various kinds of active sites, the propylene-ethylene random copolymer thus produced has broad composition distribution and broad molecular weight distribution. And such a polymer contains a considerable amount of low crystallinity and/or low molecular weight components. Accordingly, such products obtained thereof are sticky and poor in bleed-out (leaching of low molecular weight component or additives), and have defects of easily causing problems such as blocking or poor appearance.
In order to solve this problem, a modification of the former method is proposed that an intrinsic viscosity (i.e. a molecular weight) of an elastomer is increased higher than a certain level to suppress the formation of a low molecular weight component (see Patent Publication Document 3). However, even when the molecular weight is increased, the formation of a low crystalline component is not efficiently suppressed and transparency is not sufficient and stickiness or bleed-out problems are not sufficiently improved. Further, the higher molecular weight elastomer causes a poor appearance due to the presence of grains (generally called fisheyes (FE) or the like), and a poor processability, which need an addition of an organic peroxide for rheology control.
Thereafter, a reactor TPO obtained by a metallocene catalyst has been developed. For example, a propylene based copolymer having a specific elution pattern in temperature rising elution fractionation (TREF) was obtained by the sequential polymerization that a polypropylene was prepared in the first step and a copolymer of propylene and ethylene and/or a C4-C18 α-olefin was prepared in the second step. This copolymer showed no tackiness as an improved feature because of narrow composition distributions and narrow molecular weight distribution (see Patent Publication Documents 4 and 5).
Particularly, in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, Patent Publication Document 4 disclosed a propylene based polymer composition comprising a polypropylene component and a propylene-ethylene copolymer component, being satisfied with requirements that a component eluted under 90° C. is from 50 to 99 wt % to the total components, a component eluted above 90° C. is from 50 to 1 wt %, and a component eluted under 0° C. is at most 10 wt % in a temperature rising elution fractionation using o-dichlorobenzene solvent.
However, the propylene based polymer composition obtained by this method had a high melting temperature and was not suitable for processing at low temperature, particularly calendaring, and also had a problem that heat resistance remarkably declined in the case of the specific composition for highly improved flexibility.
Also, Patent Publication Document 5 discloses a composition containing large amount of the eluted fraction under 0° C. in TREF by increasing an ethylene content in the second step.
This composition had excellent flexibility but poor heat resistance. And this composition took a phase-separated structure, so there were various problems of a poor transparency evaluated by a total light transmittance although a haze value is not high, and of a poor appearance due to flow mark.
By the way, a polyolefin film is excellent in physical properties, transparency, processability, economical efficiency and low environmental load, and is accordingly widely used as a packaging material in various fields mainly for foods, daily necessaries, pharmaceuticals, miscellaneous goods and the like.
Further, various functions are required in packaging material, so many kinds of films are used, such as an oriented film being excellent in strength and stiffness, a heat shrinkable film for adhesive packaging, a gas barrier film for storing, a retort film for boiling sterilization and so on.
Among these various functions, one of the most important function is a heat sealing property for a polyolefin film as a packaging material.
Mechanical properties such as strength and stiffness of a polyolefin film are enhanced by orientation.
But, a crystalline polypropylene oriented film has poor heat sealing properties. For example, heat sealable temperature is high, heat sealable temperature range is narrow, heat sealing strength is not enough, a slippery property and an anti-blocking property are poor, and packaging operatability is not satisfactory.
To solve these problems, a polypropylene based oriented multi-layer film having a surface layer with good heat sealing properties is proposed.
But a conventional heat sealing material such as low density polyethylene is poor in transparency and anti-blocking property, and a propylene-ethylene random copolymer containing very low amount of ethylene is poor in low temperature heat sealing property although transparency and anti-blocking property are satisfactory.
When an ethylene content is increased in propylene-ethylene random copolymer, its low temperature heat sealing property is improved, but anti-blocking property becomes poor. Even by using a copolymer of propylene and butane-1, slippery property, anti-blocking property, and packaging operatability is not satisfactory, or heat sealing strength is not satisfactory although low temperature heat sealing property is improved (see Patent Publication Document 6).
A multi-layer film having a surface layer using a composition of propylene-ethylene random block copolymer and polyolefin is improved in heat sealing property, slippery property and tearing property (see Patent Publication Document 7), a co-extruded multi-layer film improved in heat sealing property and slippery property by using a composition of propylene-ethylene random block copolymer having different ethylene contents as a surface layer (see Patent Publication Document 8), a co-extruded multi-layer film improved in heat sealing property by using a propylene-ethylene block copolymer having an elution component specified by temperature rising elution fractionation method (see Patent Publication Document 9), a multi-layer film improved in heat sealing property and impact strength by using a propylene-α-olefin block copolymer as a surface layer (see Patent Publication Document 10), a multi-layer film improved in heat sealing property, anti-blocking property and stiffness by using a composition of propylene based polymer and propylene-α-olefin random copolymer as a surface layer (see Patent Publication Document 11), and a co-extruded multi-layer film improved in heat sealing strength by improving thickness accuracy of a biaxially oriented base layer by using a composition of propylene homopolymer and propylene-ethylene random copolymer as a base layer and a propylene-α-olefin copolymer as a surface layer (see Patent Publication Document 12).
However, even these improving techniques do not satisfy following all of the properties at the same time, i.e., heat sealing strength, low temperature heat sealing property, transparency, slippery property and anti-blocking property.
Patent Publication Document 1: JP-A-63-159412 (Claims, page 2, right lower column)
Patent Publication Document 2: JP-A-63-168414 (Claims, page 2, right lower column)
Patent Publication Document 3: Japanese Patent No. 3358441 (Claim 1)
Patent Publication Document 4: JP-A-2000-239462 (Abstract)
Patent Publication Document 5: JP-A-2001-64335 (Abstract)
Patent Publication Document 6: JP-A-8-238729 (Claim 1, paragraphs 0001, 0003 and 0005 to 0013)
Patent Publication Document 7: JP-A-9-227757 (Abstract, Claim 1)
Patent Publication Document 8: JP-A-9-239925 (Abstract)
Patent Publication Document 9: JP-A-2000-239462 (Abstract, Claim 1, Claim 6 and Claim 7)
Patent Publication Document 10: JP-A-2001-59028 (Abstract, Claim 4)
Patent Publication Document 11: JP-A-2003-55510 (Abstract)
Patent Publication Document 12: JP-A-2003-170555 (Abstract, Claim 1, paragraph 0004)
As described above, the main object of the present invention is to develop an industrially useful polyolefin elastomer or plastomer material by improving transparency, flexibility and heat resistance.
Further, the present invention is directed to a propylene-ethylene random block copolymer useful as a material excellent in processability, which suppresses stickiness and bleed-out so as not to cause a poor appearance due to FE.
Still further, in view of the prior art discussed above, another object of the present invention is to propose a polyolefin based biaxially oriented multi-layer film which has excellent performance in following all the properties, heat sealing strength, low temperature heat sealing property, transparency, anti-blocking property and slippery property.
In order to obtain a novel random block copolymer, the present inventors have discovered that important requirements are to select a kind of catalyst and a specific polymerization method, to specify crystallinities both of a high crystalline component and a low crystalline or an amorphous component in the copolymer and to specify their composition.
In detail, the present inventors have discovered that important factors for preparing the above-mentioned novel and excellent propylene-ethylene random block copolymer are to employ a metallocene catalyst, to employ sequential (multi-step) polymerization of a block copolymer as a polymerization method, to be composed of a specific crystalline propylene-ethylene random copolymer component having a narrow crystallinity distribution and a specific low crystalline or a specific amorphous propylene-ethylene random copolymer component in a specific amount.
Furthermore, in the present invention the extremely flexible and transparent random block copolymer can be obtained keeping an adequate heat resistance, by increasing ethylene content in crystalline component in the first step instead of increasing an amount of low crystalline or amorphous component in the second step too much.
On the other hand, the present inventors apply the specified propylene-ethylene random block copolymer as a surface layer of the film to improve above-mentioned properties, i.e., heat sealing strength, low temperature heat sealing property, transparency, appearance, anti-blocking property and slippery property. In order to improve these properties, it is recognized that these properties are closely related to polymerization method, composition of respective components, comonomer content of each component, molecular weight, molecular weight distribution, miscibility of respective components, and crystallinities. The present invention has been conceived on the basis of this discovery.
For example, in order to obtain a high heat sealing strength, it is important that the surface layer has an appropriate flexibility, which mainly depends on a composition of respective components and an comonomer content of the random block copolymer. On the other hand, in order to improve transparency, low temperature heat sealing property and anti-blocking property, it is an important that the random block copolymer is made by a specific polymerization method with a specific kind of catalyst in the preparation and that obtained random block copolymer has a specific crystallinity and a specific composition. Precisely speaking, the transparency depends on miscibility of the random block copolymer, in other words, depends on the crystallinity (comonomer content) and molecular weight of two components of the random block copolymer. The heat sealing property and anti-blocking property depend on a crystallinity, molecular weight, molecular weight distribution, a composition of respective components and a comonomer content.
On the basis of the above-mentioned consideration and experimental analyses, the present invention basically employs the propylene-ethylene random block copolymer having specific characteristics obtained by sequential polymerization employing a metallocene catalyst as a surface layer of the polyolefin based biaxially oriented multi-layered film. The random block copolymer is obtained through sequential polymerization which is composed of 30 to 70 wt % of a propylene-ethylene random copolymer component having an ethylene content of 1 to 7 wt % in the first step and 70 to 30 wt % of a low crystalline or an amorphous propylene-ethylene random copolymer component in the second step having an ethylene content of 6 to 15 wt % higher than that of the polymer component obtained in the first step. Further, in order to specify miscibility which is deeply related to transparency, temperature-loss tangent (tan δ) curve obtained by Dynamic Mechanical Analysis (DMA) is employed. When this tan δ curve shows a single peak at 0° C. or lower, the propylene-ethylene random block copolymer is miscible and a film obtained therefrom is highly transparent.
JP-A-8-244182 discloses a multi-layer film excellent in peeling property and in tear property, which has surface layer comprising a propylene based block copolymer having Mw/Mn range of 1 to 4 and being composed of two component 1 to 70 wt % of component(A) and 30 to 99 wt % of component(B), where component(A) is polypropylene or propylene based random copolymer having at least 90 mol % propylene content and component(B) is propylene-ethylene random copolymer having 10 to 40 mol % ethylene content.
However, this technique is directed to improve peeling property and tear property only, and to obtain high heat sealing strength, it is necessary to employ significantly large amount of a propylene-ethylene random copolymer component(B). In such a case, there is a problem that it is necessary to employ a relatively large amount of additives for keeping anti-blocking property. Further, to obtain sufficient heat sealing strength, there is a problem that it is necessary to increase a thickness of a surface layer extremely, however this method is generally undesirable from an economical point of view.
The present invention partly overlaps with this prior art with respect to a composition of components in a propylene-ethylene random block copolymer, however the present invention focuses on improving not peeling property and tear property but heat sealing strength, low temperature heat sealing property, transparency, anti-blocking property and slippery property. To achieve these purposes, this invention specifies not only the composition and comonomer contents of the random block copolymer but also a kind of a catalyst and a polymerization method. Moreover, this invention specifies loss tangent properties closely related mainly to transparency. Thus, it is clear that the present invention is substantially different from this prior art technique.

Propylene-ethylene random block copolymer and biaxially oriented multi-layer film using the same as a surface layer

Abstract: The propylene-ethylene random block copolymer obtained through sequential polymerization catalyzed by a metallocene component which is composed of 30 to 70 wt % of a propylene-ethylene random copolymer component having an ethylene content of 1 to 7 wt % produced in the first step of the polymerization and from 70 to 30 wt % of a low crystallinity or an amorphous propylene-ethylene random copolymer component produced in the second step of the polymerization having an ethylene content of 6 to 15 wt % higher than that of the polymer component obtained in the first step, wherein that shows a single peak at 0° C. or lower in the temperature-loss tangent (tan δ) curve obtained by dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA).


A line width on the grounded side of distributed-constant-line-type resonators which form a distributed-constant-line-type filter is made wider than a line width on the open side. By increasing the line width on the grounded side, where a larger electric current flows, of a distributed-constant-line-type resonator, the line resistance of the distributed-constant line decreases, making it possible to reduce the loss of the distributed-constant-line-type resonator and further to reduce the insertion loss of the distributed-constant-line-type filter. Further, by decreasing the line width on the open side to less than the line width on the grounded side, an increase in the size of the filter because the line width on the grounded side is increased can be prevented.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a filter device and, more particularly, to a distributed-constant-line-type filter.
2. Description of the Related Art
Since distributed-constant-line-type filters are typically formed of a strip line, they are thinner and lighter than filters using a block resonator, and are used for signal processing of a portable telephone set requiring a strictly smaller size.
FIG. 9 shows an example of a distributed-constant-line-type filter formed by combining conventional distributed-constant-line-type resonators. A distributed-constant-line-type filter 100 is a comb-line-type filter, namely, a comb-type filter formed of a plurality of distributed-constant-line-type resonators 101, 102, 103, 104 and 105, and a grounding electrode 106 connected to the resonators. The resonators are disposed at such positions as to be coupled to each other. One end of each of the distributed-constant-line-type resonators 101 to 105 is an open end. A distributed-constant line 107 for input is connected to the outermost resonator 101. A distributed-constant line 108 for output is connected to another outermost resonator 105. The distributed-constant-line-type resonators 101 to 105, the grounding electrode 106, the input/output distributed-constant lines 107 and 108 are strip lines or may be microstrip lines.
Since the distributed-constant-line-type resonators 101, 102, 103, 104 and 105 form a resonance circuit, components having a resonance frequency of a resonance circuit from among signal components from the input 107 are sent to the output 108, and other signals are reflected by the resonance circuit and return to the input 107. That is, the distributed-constant-line-type filter 100 operates as a band-pass filter.
As a main factor for a signal loss in the distributed-constant line, there is a loss due to resistance (line resistance). In order to reduce loss, it is common practice to widen the line width so as to lower the line resistance. However, in the conventional filter 100, if the line width of the resonator is widened, the spacing between the adjacent lines becomes narrow, and the coupling between the resonators becomes too strong, causing the characteristics of the filter to vary. In order to reduce the loss of the line and adjust the coupling between the resonators to a predetermined level, the spacing between the adjacent lines may be widened. However, the size of the filter in the right-to-left direction in the figure increases.

Filter device having a distributed-constant-line-type resonator


Disclosed herein is a liquid crystal display including substrates, a liquid crystal, an orientation layer, and electrodes. The orientation layer includes a base layer having a principal surface provided with a plurality of grooves in parallel, and a coating film covering the principal surface. The coating film has a horizontally orienting ability to orient in parallel the molecular major axes of the liquid crystal molecules in the condition where no voltage is impressed on the principal surface. The grooves each extend along a predetermined direction, and are arrayed repeatedly at a given pitch along the direction orthogonal to the predetermined direction.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a liquid crystal display and a method of manufacturing the same, and is applicable to various liquid crystal modes such as TN (Twisted Nematic), ECB (Electrically Controlled Birefringence), STN (Super Twisted Nematic), IPS (In-Plane Switching), FFS (Fringe Field Switching), etc. According to the present invention, the surface on the lower side of an orientation film is formed in a grooved shape to provide the orientation film with an orienting ability in a specified direction, thereby realizing a higher productivity, a more satisfactory orientation control force for a liquid crystal, and a higher image quality, as compared to those obtained according to the related art.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the past, in liquid crystal display panels of various liquid crystal modes such as TN, ECB, STN, IPS, FFS, etc., the liquid crystal molecules are oriented in a fixed direction by an orienting treatment, and a variety of techniques have been proposed for carrying out the orienting treatment.
The rubbing method as one of the orienting treatments is the most frequently used method, in which an orientation film composed of a film of a polymer such as a polyimide is formed on a transparent electrode, and thereafter the orientation film is rubbed in a fixed direction by a roller fitted with a cloth or the like on the surface thereof, whereby an orienting ability is imparted to the orientation film. The rubbing method, however, has the problem that the surface of the orientation film may be stained by deposition of debris generated upon rubbing, and that the TFTs (Thin Film Transistors) on the panel may be broken due to generation of static electricity.
The so-called grating method as an orienting treatment method substituting for the rubbing method is a method in which the surface of a substrate is processed to form a grating (grooves), and the elastic strain arising from the grating is utilized to orient the molecules of a liquid crystal. In the grating method, the liquid crystal molecules are oriented in the direction parallel to the grating in which the elastic free energy is most stabilized.
In relation to the grating method, M. Nakamura et al., J. Appl. Phys., 52, 210 (1981) proposes a method in which a photosensitive polymer layer is irradiated with light to form a grating in the form of straight lines arranged at a fixed interval. In addition, Japanese Patent Laid-open No. Hei 11-218763 proposes a method in which a photo-polymerizable monomer on a substrate is irradiated with light to form a grating-formed orientation film. Besides, Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 2000-105380 proposes a method in which by application of a technique of transfer, a resin coating film on a substrate surface is provided with a grating-like recess-and-protuberance (undulating) shape, to thereby form a grating-formed orientation film.
In the grating method, it is known that the anchoring energy can be controlled by regulating the pitch and height of the grating (Y. Ohta et al., J. J. Appl. Phys., 43, 4310 (2004)).
In relation to the grating method, besides, there has been proposed a method in which the anchoring strength is enhanced by utilizing the orientation control force possessed by the orientation film material (such as polyimide) itself. Specifically, Japanese Patent Laid-open No. Hei 5-88177 proposes a method in which a photosensitive polyimide is patterned by photolithography, and Japanese Patent Laid-open No. Hei 8-114804 proposes a method in which the surface of a first orientation film is provided with a recess-and-protuberance shape which is stripe-shaped in a predetermined direction and which has a saw-toothed surface profile in the direction orthogonal to the predetermined direction, and an organic matter with molecular axes oriented in the orthogonal direction is layered on the first orientation film to form an orientation film. Further, Japanese Patent Laid-open No. Hei 3-209220 proposes a method in which a photosensitive glass is photo-etched to form the glass surface into a recess-and-protuberance shape, followed by applying an orientation film material to the thus shaped surface.
According to the grating method, it is possible to obviate the staining of the orientation film surface and the generation of static electricity which are frequently encountered in the rubbing method.

Liquid crystal display with orthogonal orientation and method of manufacturing the same


An improved window frame and window piece for a micromirror assembly is disclosed herein. The window frame includes a stress-relieving contour positioned in the middle of the frame that can absorb the mechanical stresses applied to the window frame from the ceramic base and from the window piece. The window frame may be comprised of a single piece of sheet metal that has been stamped to include a stress-relieving contour. The stress-relieving contour may be comprised of a variety of shapes, including a “U” shape, an inverted “U” shape, a curved step shape, or other combinations thereof.

Micromechanical devices are small structures typically fabricated on a semiconductor wafer using techniques such as optical lithography, doping, metal sputtering, oxide deposition, and plasma etching similar to those developed for the fabrication of integrated circuits. Digital micromirror devices (DMDs), sometimes referred to as deformable micromirror devices, are a type of micromechanical device. Other types of micromechanical devices include accelerometers, pressure and flow sensors, gears and motors.
Digital micromirror devices have been utilized in optical display systems. In these display systems, the DMD is a light modulator that uses digital image data to modulate a beam of light by selectively reflecting portions of the beam of light to a display screen. While analog modes of operation are possible, DMDs typically operate in a digital bistable mode of operation and as such are the core of many digital full-color image projection systems.
Micromirrors have evolved rapidly over the past ten to fifteen years. Early devices used a deformable reflective membrane that, when electrostatically attracted to an underlying address electrode, dimpled toward the address electrode. Schieren optics illuminate the membrane and create an image from the light scattered by the dimpled portions of the membrane. Schieren systems enabled the membrane devices to form images, but the images formed were very dim and had low contrast ratios, making them unsuitable for most image display applications.
Later micromirror devices used flaps or diving board-shaped cantilever beams of silicon or aluminum, coupled with dark-field optics to create images having improved contrast ratios. Flap and cantilever beam devices typically used a single metal layer to form the top reflective layer of the device. This single metal layer tended to deform over a large region, however, which scattered light impinging on the deformed portion. Thin hinge structures, which restrict the deformation to a relatively small region of the device, limit the amount of light scattered and improve image quality.
Torsion beam devices enabled the use of dark field optical systems. Torsion beam devices use a thin metal layer to form a torsion beam, which is referred to as a hinge, and a thicker metal layer to form a rigid member, or beam, typically having a mirror-like surface. The rigid member or mirror is suspended by, and typically centered on, the torsion hinge-allowing the mirror to rotate by twisting the torsion hinge. Address electrodes are formed on the substrate beneath the mirror on either side of the torsion hinge axis. Electrostatic attraction between an address electrode and the mirror, which in effect form the two plates of an air gap capacitor, is used to rotate the mirror about the longitudinal axis of the hinge.
Recent micromirror configurations, called hidden-hinge designs, further improve the image contrast ratio by using an elevated mirror to block most of the light from reaching the torsion beam hinges. The elevated mirror is connected to an underlying torsion beam or yoke by a support post. The yoke is attached to the torsion hinges, which in turn are connected to rigid support posts. Because the structures that support the mirror and allow it to rotate are underneath the mirror instead of around the perimeter of the mirror, virtually the entire surface of the device is used to fabricate the mirror. Since virtually all of the light incident on a hidden-hinge micromirror device reaches an active mirror surface-and is thus either used to form an image pixel or is reflected away from the image to a light trap-the hidden-hinge device's contrast ratio is much higher than the contrast ratio of previous devices.
Images are created by positioning the DMD so that a light beam strikes the DMD at an angle equal to twice the angle of rotation. In this position, the mirrors fully rotated toward the light source reflect light in a direction normal to the surface of the micromirror device and into the aperture of a projection lens-transmitting light to a pixel on the image plane. Mirrors rotated away from the light source reflect light away from the projection lens-leaving the corresponding pixel dark.
Full-color images are generated either by using three micromirror devices to produce three single-color images, or by sequentially forming three single-color images using a single micromirror device illuminated by a beam of light passing through three color filters mounted on a rotating color wheel.
An example of a small portion of a digital micromirror array is depicted in FIG. 1. In FIG. 1, a small portion of a digital micromirror array 100 with several mirrors 102 is depicted. Some of the mirrors 102 have been removed to show the underlying structure of the DMD array. FIG. 2 is an exploded close-up of one individual mirror 102 of a DMD array. The electrical interconnections and operations of the individual micromirrors 102 are described in further detail in U.S. Pat. No. 6,323,982 entitled Yield Superstructure for Digital Micromirror Device to Larry J. Hornbeck, which is hereby incorporated by reference.
A representative example of an existing spatial light modulator (SLM) device 300 is depicted in FIG. 3. In FIG. 3, a micromirror array 100 is mounted onto a ceramic base 305, which is further mounted onto a printed circuit board (PCB) or electronic lead package 310. The micromirror array 100 is electrically connected to the ceramic base 3 05 by a series of leads 315. Each of the leads 315 is connected to the micromirror array 100 at bonding pads 320 that are integral to the micromirror array 100. At the other end, the leads 315 are connected to bonding pads 325, which are integral to the ceramic base 305. Each of the bonding pads 325 on the ceramic base 305 is connected to a series of land grid array (LGA) pads on the bottom of the ceramic base 305 through internal interconnect layers that are built into the ceramic base. The LGA pads may then be connected to the PCB 310 via elastomer or C-spring connectors. In order to ensure a reliable electrical connection between the ceramic base 305 and the PCB 310, a mechanical loading must be applied between the ceramic base 305 and the PCB 310. FIG. 3 describes only one representative embodiment for electrically connecting the micromirror array 100. Other suitable arrangements for electrically connecting the micromirror array 100 are well known in the art.
The micromirror array 100 depicted in FIG. 3 is hermetically sealed in the SLM device 300 to prevent the array 100 from becoming damaged. To accomplish this, a seal ring 335 is disposed on the ceramic base 305 so that the micromirror array 100 is surrounded. A window frame 340, which incorporates an optically transparent piece 345, is mounted onto the seal ring 335 to form a seal that encases the micromirror array 100. The window frame 340 comprises a single block of metal or other suitable material that has been formed through forging or CNC machining. The transparent piece 345 is typically a piece of glass, or other optically transmissive material, that is mounted and sealed into the window frame 340. The window frame 340 is mounted onto the seal ring 335 by seam welding or other suitable processes that forms a seal between the seal ring 335 and the frame 340.
A cross-sectional view of the SLM device 300 depicted in FIG. 3 along the axis I-I is depicted in FIG. 4. Many of the same components described above (the micromirror array 100, the ceramic base 305, the electronic lead package 310, the electronic leads 315, bonding pads 320 and 325, the seal ring 335, the window frame 340, and the transparent piece 345) are depicted in FIG. 4. Also depicted is a heat sink 400 that is mounted onto the bottom of the base 305. The heat sink 400 absorbs the heat generated by the micromirror array 100 when it is illuminated with a light source during its operation. Further details of the components and connections of a typical SLM device are described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,936,758 entitled Method of Passivating a Micromechanical Device Within a Hermetic Package to Edward C. Fisher, et al., which is hereby incorporated by reference.
A problem associated with existing SLM devices 300 occurs as the devices are subjected to thermal and mechanical stresses during the mounting and operating processes. For example, as the window frame 340 is seam welded onto the seal ring 335, a great deal of thermal and mechanical stresses are applied to the window frame 340. These stresses can weaken or break the seal between the window piece 345 and the window frame 340. Furthermore, as the SLP device 300 is mounted onto a printed circuit board 310 by applying a mechanical bias between the ceramic base 305 and the PCB 310, mechanical stresses are transferred to the seam weld between the seal ring 335 and the window frame 340 and to the seal between the window frame 340 and the window piece 345. In addition, as the SLM device 300 is illuminated and operated, a large amount of heat is generated by the DMD array 100, the window frame 340, and the window piece 345. This is particularly problematic when the coefficient of thermal expansion of the various components is not matched. This heat can induce mechanical stress on the seams and welds mentioned above. Accordingly, there is a need in the art for a window frame and window piece assembly that can relieve the mechanical stresses that arise during the mounting and operating processes of the SLM device 300.

Stress relieved flat frame for DMD window


A self-contained imaging sheet comprising in order:. (a) a support; PA0 (b) a first layer comprising photosensitive microcapsules having an internal phase, said internal phase comprising an image forming agent and a photosensitive composition which undergoes a physical transformation in response to exposure to actinic radiation; PA0 (c) a second layer comprising a developer material; and preferably PA0 (d) a third layer comprising an adhesive forming component, said self-contained imaging sheet being useful in forming images on plain paper by a process which comprises imagewise exposing said imaging sheet to actinic radiation, forming an image on said developer material, transferring the image bearing developer layer to said plain paper, and separating said imaging sheet from said plain paper, wherein said image bearing developer layer remains adhered to said plain paper and said microcapsule layer remains adhered to said support.

1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a novel self-contained imaging sheet which carries (1) a layer of microcapsules containing a photosensitive composition and an image forming agent and (2) a developer material on the surface of a support. More particularly, it relates to a self-contained imaging sheet wherein the layer of microcapsules is present as a first layer on one surface of the support and the developer material is present as a second layer contiguous with the first layer of microcapsules, and to a process for reproducing images on plain paper using the novel self-contained imaging sheet.
2. Prior Art
U.S. Pat. No. 4,399,209 to The Mead Corporation describes a transfer imaging system wherein an imaging sheet comprising a support and a layer of microcapsules containing a chromogenic material and a photosensitive composition is imagewise exposed to actinic radiation. The exposed sheet is assembled with a developer sheet and the two are passed through a calendar nip whereupon the microcapsules rupture and the contents of the microcapsules are image-wise transferred to the developer sheet where they react and form a colored image.
Typically, the photosensitive composition is a photocurable composition containing an ethylenically unsaturated compound and a photoinitiator. The Chromogenic material is a substantially colorless electron-donating color former, and the developer is an electron-acceptor such as an aromatic carboxylic acid salt which is capable of reacting with the color former and forming a visible dye image. Upon image-wise exposing the imaging sheet to actinic radiation, the internal phase of the microcapsules is hardened in the exposed areas. The internal phase remains liquid in the unexposed areas and may be hardened to an intermediate degree in areas receiving an intermediate level of exposure. Thus, the microcapsules in the unexposed areas are capable of rupturing and releasing the internal phase upon subjecting the exposed imaging sheet to a uniform rupturing force. The microcapsules in the underexposed areas may rupture and release the internal phase to an intermediate degree, however, in the exposed areas, the hardened photosensitive composition prevents the microcapsules from releasing the internal phase. In this manner, the internal phase of the microcapsules is image-wise released and transferred to the developer sheet where the image is formed.
While the transfer imaging system described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,399,209 can be used in numerous formats and applications, the user usually must purchase two coated paper products to reproduce images; namely, the imaging sheet and the developer sheet. This has several disadvantages. If the imaging sheet and the developer sheet are not designed to be used together, image quality may not be up to standard. More importantly, the developer sheet does not have the appearance, tactility, and other physical properties found in office bond paper.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,701,397 to The Mead Corporation relates to a process for forming images on plain paper by image area-wise transfer of a self-contained coating comprising a developer-containing resin and a microencapsulated photosensitive composition containing a color former. The developer-containing resin is provided on an imaging sheet in the same layer as a microencapsulated photosensitive composition or it may be provided as a separate contiguous layer. Images are formed by image-wise exposing the imaging sheet to actinic radiation, assembling the imaging sheet with a sheet of plain paper, heating the assembly, and subjecting the assembly to a uniform rupturing and transfer force. Upon heating and application of the rupture and transfer force, the microcapsules image-wise release the internal phase, the color former reacts with the developer and the image areas become adhered to the plain paper's surface. Upon separating the imaging sheet from the plain paper, the image areas are selectively transferred to the plain paper while the non-image areas remain adhered to the imaging sheet. both color former and developer-containing resin are transferred, as a unit, to the paper sheet.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,751,165 to The Mead Corporation is a continuation-in-part of the above-mentioned U.S. Pat. No. 4,701,397 and relates to the imaging sheet described in the parent case.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,865,938 to Brother relates to photo and pressure recording media which may consist of a self-contained imaging sheet wherein an adhesive member is added to the configuration of the imaging sheet. No consideration is given to placing the developer resin on top of the capsule layers and using modifications of this layer to produce a pressure activated adhesive.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,766,050 to The Mead Corporation relates to a photosensitive material having a support, an opacifying layer, a layer containing microcapsules and a layer of developer material. The layers are positioned such that upon rupturing the microcapsules, the color former diffuses to the developer layer to form an image therein. The final image is viewed against the opacifying agent which provides a white background.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,440,846; 4,508,807 and 4,622,282 and U.K. Pat. Appln. 2 202 641 A all disclose self-contained imaging sheets wherein the developer resin and photosensitive microcapsules are in the same layer or the developer resin is contained between the support and the microcapsule layer.
The inefficient configuration of the layers on the imaging sheet and, more importantly, the need for application of heat to induce adhesion to the paper in the above prior art cause poor image discrimination and clarity. Furthermore, capsule fragments of ruptured microcapsules are inadvertently transferred to the new base together with the developer resin. This is particularly undesirable when preparing OHP transparencies because of haze introduced by light scattering caused by broken and possibly unbroken capsules. Another problem occurs when capsules contain colored species such as dyes, pigments or colored photoinitiators. These capsules must not be transferred because the coloration will interfere with Dmin and other low color density areas in the final print.

Self-contained imaging sheet useful for reproducing images on plain paper and method therefor