An apparatus and method for a precision alignment of parallel fixed and movable platens of a machine, including a laser emitter for transmitting a narrow collimated laser beam having a control surface which is orthogonal to an axis of the laser emitter; a target for receiving the laser beam and producing an output voltage which is proportional to the displacement of the laser beam from the center of the target, and a pair of adapters for rotatably mounting the laser emitter on a fixed platen and the target on a movable platen of a machine. The adapters have control surfaces which are precisely orthogonal to axes of rotation of the emitter and target and a stud for tightly pulling together the orthogonal control surfaces of the emitter and target against the control surfaces of the adapters. Voltages from the target are processed in an electronic console and displayed on a display unit in alphanumeric form.

The operation of machines, such as molding machines and stamping presses, is dependent upon a precision alignment of a movable platen with a stationary platen. Platen misalignment can adversely affect product quality, increase manufacturing costs, increase warranty costs and accelerate machine wear.
Platen misalignment can also require secondary machining operations to meet part tolerances. Where parts are functional, misalignment can result in product recalls and injure a manufacturer's reputation.
Current alignment practices rely on optical and mechanical instruments. Optical instruments, such as telescopes and interferometers are difficult to use, are time consuming and are highly dependent on worker skills. Mechanical instruments, such as dial indicators are time consuming and are affected by mechanical friction, temperature, and calibration errors.
Another deficiency with mechanical instruments is that they are difficult to use with machines having large spans between platens.

Apparatus and method for aligning machine platens


In an auto-lock slide fastener slider, an upper wing of a slider body has front and rear lugs on its upper surface, a through-hole under the front lug, a pair of locking-spring-supporting seats at opposite sides of the through-hole, a locking-pawl-insertion hole under the rear lug, and a cam-receiving recess between the lugs. A pull tab has a cam on an eccentric axle. A locking leaf spring has a streamlined central base, a front end portion at a front end of the base, a locking pawl at a rear end of the base, front and rear openings near the opposite ends of the base, and an oblique engaging strip projecting fra the front end of the base and engageable with the front lug. The spring is placed over the pull tab's cam, which is received in the cam-receiving recess of the upper wing, with the openings being threaded by the lugs and with the front end portion fixed to a guide post of the slider body.

1. Field of the Invention:
This invention relates to an auto-lock slider for use in an ordinary-type slide fastener, and more particularly to an auto-lock slide fastener slider in which a locking pawl of a locking leaf spring is brought into and out of engagement with fastener elements in response to pivotal movement of a pull tab between a horizontal posture and an upright posture.
2. Description of the Related Art:
FIG. 7 of the accompanying drawings shows a conventional auto-lock slide fastener slider of the described type as disclosed in, for example, Japanese Utility Model Publication No. Sho 54-43841. In the conventional slider, a leaf spring 2' has a central base 7' concealing an eccentric axle of a pull tab, a locking pawl at a rear end of the central base 7', and a small-width front end portion 9' downwardly bent centrally from a front end of the central base 7' and fixed to a front surface of a guide post 6' of a slider body 1'. The spring 2' has at opposite sides of the front end portion 9' of the central base 7' a pair of shoulders, which are pivotally movably engages with a pair of sloping spring seats 12' projecting from an upper wing 4' of the slider body 1', and at the rear end of the central base 7' an opening whose edge is engageable with an engaging lug 15' standing on the upper wing 4'. By the action of a cam 29' formed on the axle 10' of the pull tab 3', the locking pawl of the spring 2' is brought into and out of engagement with fastener elements in response to pivotal movement of the pull tab 3' between a horizontal posture and an upright posture.
FIG. 8 shows another conventional auto-lock slide fastener slider as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,031,286. In this conventional slider, a leaf spring 2" has a central base 7" concealing an eccentric axle 10" of a pull tab 3", a locking pawl 8" at a rear end of the central base 7", a small-width front end portion 9" projecting centrally from a front end of the central base 7", a pair of front engaging strips 24" downwardly bent from opposite sides of the front end of the central base 7" and engageable with a pair of front sloping engaging lugs 12" on the upper wing 4", and an opening 26" near the rear end of the central base 7" through which opening 26" a rear engaging lug 15" on the upper wing 4" is loosely threaded. In response to pivotal movement of the pull tab 3" between a horizontal posture and an upright posture, the locking pawl 8" of the spring 2" is brought into and out of engagement with fastener elements.
In the conventional auto-lock slide fastener slider of FIG. 7, partly since the leaf spring 2' on the upper surface of the upper wing 4" is bent, and partly since the spring seats 12' project from the upper surface of the upper wing 4', the upper side of the slider is uneven and hence unsightly in appearance, and also, when the slider is pulled along a pair of rows of fastener elements, the spring seats 12' might strike something nearby and get damaged. Further, since the pull tab 3' is merely placed on the slider body, the total height of the slider is large to make the slider not stylish.
In the conventional auto-lock slide fastener slider of FIG. 8, since the leaf spring 2" is merely placed on the slider body and is supported by its own resilience, the fixing of the leaf spring 2" on the slider body is unstable. Further, since the spring 2" itself is bent at the axle 10" of the pull tab 3" to project from the upper surface of the upper wing 4", the design of the resulting slider is undesirable. And since the pull tab 3" also is merely placed on the slider body, the total height of the slider body is large to make the slider not stylish.


A high forgiveness wood-type golf club head comprises a body and a face. The body comprises a sole that forms a bottom portion of the golf club head, a crown that forms a top portion of the golf club head and a skirt that forms a periphery of the golf club head between the sole and the crown. The face place is positioned at a front portion of the golf club head opposite a rear portion of the golf club head. The body defines an outer periphery having a generally triangular shape in plan.

Golf club head manufacturers and designers are constantly looking for ways to improve golf club head performance, which includes the forgiveness and playability of the golf club head, while having an aesthetic appearance. Generally, "forgiveness" can be defined as the ability of a golf club head to compensate for mishits, i.e., hits resulting from striking the golf ball at a less than an ideal impact location on the golf club head. Similarly, "playability" can be defined generally as the ease in which a golfer having any of various skill levels can use the golf club head for producing quality golf shots.
Golf club head performance can be directly affected by the moments of inertia of the club head. A moment of inertia is the measure of a club head's resistance to twisting upon impact with a golf ball. Generally, the higher the moments of inertia of a golf club head, the less the golf club head twists at impact with a golf ball, particularly during "off-center" impacts with a golf ball. The less a golf club head twists, the greater the forgiveness of the golf club head and the greater the probability of hitting a straight golf shot. In some instances, a golf club head with high moments of inertia may also result in an increased ball speed upon impact with the golf club head, which generally translates into increased golf shot distance.
In general, the moment of inertia of a mass about a given axis is proportional to the square of the distance of the mass away from the axis. In other words, the greater the distance of a mass away from a given axis, the greater the moment of inertia of the mass about the given axis. Accordingly, golf club head designers and manufacturers have sought to increase the moment of inertia about one or more golf club head axes, which are typically axes extending through the golf club head center of gravity, by increasing the distance of the head mass away from the axes of interest.
United States Golf Association (USGA) regulations and constraints on golf club head shapes, sizes and other characteristics tend to limit the moments of inertia achievable by a golf club head. According to the most recent version of the USGA regulations, golf club heads must, inter alia, be generally plain in shape, have a reasonable and traditional head mass between 203 and 213 grams, have envelope dimensions at or below maximum envelope dimensions (maximum height of 2.8 inches, maximum width of 5.0 inches and a maximum depth of 5.0 inches), and have a volume at or below a maximum head volume of 460 cm3. It should be noted that this maximum volume constraint of 460 cm3 is well below the volume of the maximum envelope dimensions.
Often, golf club manufacturers are faced with the choice of increasing one performance characteristic at the expense of another. For example, the shape and size of some conventional golf club heads approach the maximum envelope dimensions in an attempt to increase the moments of inertia of the heads. Such designs, however, most likely require a decrease in the face size, or ball striking surface area, in order to comply with the USGA regulations. As another example, some conventional golf club heads have an increased face size in an attempt to optimize the ball striking surface of the golf club head. Such golf club head designs, however, typically have decreased moments of inertia.
Golf club designers and manufacturers have struggled to design golf club heads having increased moments of inertia while maintaining other desirable golf club head characteristics and abiding by the USGA regulations.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


A structural seat system is provided for an automotive vehicle. In another aspect of the present invention, a structural beam is employed which extends in a cross-vehicle direction spaced above a vehicle floor. A further aspect of the present invention provides a passenger seat with a recessed configuration. Yet another aspect of the present invention uses a structural reinforcement and seat system in a convertible roof vehicle.

The present invention generally relates to automotive vehicles and more particularly to a structural reinforcement and seat system for an automotive vehicle.
Cross-vehicle body stiffness within automotive vehicles is important in reducing torsional twist and vibration of the body, but also improves the ride and handling of the vehicle. This issue is especially important for convertible vehicles where the removal of the traditional fixed roof structure further decreases vehicle stiffness to the point where four door convertible roof vehicles have been essentially impractical to achieve with conventional body structure. Furthermore, U.S. Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard ("FMVSS") 214 relates to side impact collision protection for vehicles. This governmental standard employs a moving barrier, equivalent to a truck bumper, which impacts the vehicle generally at and below a belt-line of the front door and B-pillar. FMVSS 214 puts an added premium on cross-vehicle stiffness.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,694,546 entitled "Motor Car," which issued to Lancia on Dec. 11, 1928, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,788,322 entitled "Body Structure for a Rear Carriage of a Convertible," which issued to Wolf et al. on Aug. 4, 1998, have both attempted to provide some cross-vehicle structure. It is noteworthy, however, that both constructions are attached to a fixed seat back and/or passenger compartment panel. Furthermore, the Lancia construction appears to lack any cross-vehicle structural support that would significantly resist side impacts or torsion, especially for a modern unibody construction vehicle. U.S. Pat. No. 5,954,390, entitled "Vehicle Dynamic Side Impact System" which issued to Kleinhoffer et al. on Sep. 21, 1999, discloses a seat mounting track and seat affixed on top of a beam. This device, however, appears to use an undesirably high seat or ineffectively low beam; moreover, a fixed roof is employed in this patent as an added structural reinforcement.
In accordance with the present invention, a structural seat system is provided for an automotive vehicle. In another aspect of the present invention, a structural beam is employed which extends in a cross-vehicle direction spaced above a vehicle floor. A further aspect of the present invention provides a passenger seat with a recessed configuration. A variety of structural beam-to-seat mounting arrangements and positions are also provided in additional aspects of the present invention. Yet another aspect of the present invention uses a structural reinforcement and seat system in a convertible roof vehicle.
The present invention is advantageous over conventional constructions, in that the present invention significantly improves cross-vehicle resistance to side impact collisions and provides torsional stiffness sufficient for use with a large four door vehicle, such as one having a convertible roof. Spacing the structural beam away from the floor reduces "match boxing" of the vehicle body and more direct side impact resistance as compared to traditional, floor mounted reinforcements. Moreover, the beam-to-pillar mounting structures of the present invention significantly enhance side impact resistance as compared to prior constructions. The seat structure and positioning of the present invention allows for normal reclining and seat movement while still providing a raised structural reinforcement system. Additional features and advantages of the present invention will be shown and described with reference to the following description and appended figures.

Structural seat system for an automotive vehicle


A method of improving the timing performance of a circuit includes the step of producing a first set of timing results from a static timing analyzer operating on a netlist that characterizes a circuit. A critical timing path within the circuit is then identified from the first set of timing results. The critical timing path is then converted into an equivalent schematic circuit representation. A simulation of the equivalent schematic circuit representation on a circuit simulator produces a second set of timing results. Timing discrepancies are then located between the first set of timing results and the second set of timing results. Based upon the timing discrepancies, cells are substituted into the critical timing path to improve the timing performance of the critical timing path.

Very Large Scale Integrated (VLSI) circuits are designed using a variety of Computer Aided Design (CAD) tools. The development of VLSI circuits with CAD tools is often referred to as Electronic Design Automation (EDA). A VLSI circuit can be characterized by a netlist. A netlist is a list of circuit components and interconnections between the circuit components. An EDA tool known as a static timing analyzer is used to verify that the circuit described in the netlist meets timing requirements.
A static timing analyzer accesses circuit timing performance by relying upon timing attributes, as specified in a library of timing models, for individual circuit components in the netlist. The library of timing models includes timing information for each circuit component in the netlist. The timing information includes such information as the input pin capacitance, input-to-output delay, and output drive strengths. Combining this library along with a design netlist, a static timing analyzer generates critical path timing information statically without knowledge of the design's logical functionality.
The timing estimates associated with a static timing analyzer are not as accurate as those provided by a circuit simulator. Circuit simulators such as SPICE or HSPICE can be considered dynamic timing analyzers, although they are used for more than timing analyses. Since a circuit simulator simulates the actual operation of a circuit at the transistor level, it is relatively time consuming to obtain results from a circuit simulator, compared to a static timing analyzer that does not simulate the operation of the component, but uses static timing information for the component.
It would be highly desirable to provide a design tool that verifies the timing information supplied by a static timing analyzer. Preferably, such a tool would utilize a circuit simulator, but not be hampered by the computational expense typically associated with the operation of a circuit simulator. The improved timing information could then be used to refine the circuit design process.

Apparatus and method for verifying the timing performance of critical paths within a circuit using a static timing analyzer and a dynamic timing analyzer


Systems and methodologies are described that facilitate mitigating effect of non-linear distortion from a power amplifier on a spectral mask margin. Power limit indications can be analyzed in scheduling mobile devices. Mobile devices with power limits can be scheduled on inner subbands. The power limits can be based at least in part on power amplifier headroom information. Other mobile devices can employ remaining portions of an allocated spectrum. Further, mobile devices can evaluate and establish a power amplifier backoff based upon the subband scheduling.

I. Field
The following description relates generally to wireless communications, and more particularly subband scheduling and power amplifier backoff.
II. Background
Wireless networking systems have become a prevalent means by which a majority of people worldwide have come to communicate. Wireless communication devices have become smaller and more powerful in order to meet consumer needs and to improve portability and convenience. Consumers have become dependent upon wireless communication devices such as cellular telephones, personal digital assistants (PDAs) and the like, demanding reliable service, expanded areas of coverage and increased functionality.
Generally, a wireless multiple-access communication system may simultaneously support communication for multiple wireless terminals or user devices. Each terminal communicates with one or more access points via transmissions on the forward and reverse links. The forward link (or downlink) refers to the communication link from the access points to the terminals, and the reverse link (or uplink) refers to the communication link from the terminals to the access points.
Wireless systems may be multiple-access systems capable of supporting communication with multiple users by sharing the available system resources (e.g., bandwidth and transmit power). Examples of such multiple-access systems include code division multiple access (CDMA) systems, time division multiple access (TDMA) systems, frequency division multiple access (FDMA) systems, and orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) systems.
Typically, each access point supports terminals located within a specific coverage area referred to as a sector. A sector that supports a specific terminal is referred to as the serving sector. Other sectors, not supporting the specific terminal, are referred to as non-serving sectors. Terminals within a sector can be allocated specific resources to allow simultaneous support of multiple terminals. However, transmissions by terminals in neighboring sectors are not coordinated. Consequently, transmissions by terminals at sector edges can cause interference and degradation of in-sector terminal performance

Dynamic power amplifier backoff using headroom information


Provided is a Ni alloy sputtering target containing Pt in an amount of 5 to 30 at %, and one or more components selected from V, Al, Cr, Ti, Mo, and Si in a total amount of 1 to 5 at %, wherein the remainder is Ni and unavoidable impurities. The present invention is able to increase the low pass-through flux (PTF), which is a drawback of a Ni—Pt alloy having high magnetic permeability, increase the erosion area of the target which tends to be small as a result of the magnetic field lines being locally concentrated on the surface of the target during sputtering, and inhibit the difference between the portion where erosion is selectively advanced and the portion where erosion does not advance as much as the erosion progresses.

In recent years, the use of a NiSi film in the salicide process as the gate electrode material is attracting attention. Compared to cobalt, nickel is characterized in that it is capable of forming a silicide film with less consumption of silicon in the salicide process. NiSi, as with a cobalt silicide film, is characterized in that the increase of fine wire resistance pursuant to the refinement of wiring is unlikely to occur.
In light of the above, nickel is being used instead of cobalt, which is expensive, as the gate electrode material. Nevertheless, NiSi tends to make a phase change to the more stable phase of NiSi2, and there is a problem of the degradation of the boundary roughness and increase in the resistance. And, there are other problems in that the clumping of the film and excessive formation of silicides may occur.
Conventionally, as a technique of using a Ni silicide film or the like, there is technology of capping and annealing a metal compound film made of TiN or the like on a Ni or Co film to prevent the formation of an insulation film as a result of reacting with oxygen upon forming the silicide film. Here, TiN is used to prevent the formation of an irregular insulation film caused by the reaction of oxygen and Ni.
If the irregularities are small, since the length from the NiSi film to the connection of the source/drain diffusion layer will be long, it is said that the junction leak can be suppressed. In addition, TiC, TiW, TiB, WB2, WC, BN, AlN, Mg3N2, CaN, Ge3N4, TaN, TbNi2, VB2, VC, ZrN, ZrB and the like are also disclosed as the cap film (refer to Patent Document 1).
Further, with conventional technology, problems have been indicated in that the NiSi formed on the substrate is easily oxidized among the silicide materials, large irregularities are formed on the boundary area of the NiSi film and the Si substrate, and a junction leak will occur.
Here, a proposal has been made for sputtering a TiN film as a cap film on the Ni film, and subjecting this to heat treatment so as to nitride the surface of the NiSi film. This aims to prevent the NiSi from oxidizing, and suppress the formation of irregularities. Nevertheless, since the nitride film on the NiSi formed by accumulating TiN on Ni is thin, there is a problem in that it is difficult to maintain the barrier properties for a long period of time.
Thus, a proposal has been made of forming the silicide film under a mixed gas (2.5 to 10%) atmosphere with nitrogen gas added thereto so that the roughness of the silicide film will be 40 nm or less, and the grain size will be 200 nm or more. Here, it is desirable to cap one among Ti, W, TiNx and WNx on Ni.
Here, it is also possible to sputter Ni with only argon gas that does not contain nitrogen gas, subsequently sputter the cap film made of TiN, and thereafter inject N ions into the Ni film in order to add N in the Ni film (refer to Patent Document 2).
As conventional technology, a semiconductor device and its manufacturing method are disclosed, and the combination of primary metals of Co, Ni, Pt or Pd and secondary metals of Ti, Zr, Hf, V, Nb, Ta or Cr is described. In the Examples, the Co—Ti combination is used.
Cobalt has a lower capability of reducing the silicon oxide film in comparison to titanium, and the silicide reaction will be inhibited if there is a natural oxide film existing on the silicon substrate or the polysilicon film surface upon accumulating cobalt. The heat resistance properties are inferior to a titanium silicide film, and problems have been indicated in that the heat upon accumulating the silicon oxide film as the interlayer film after the completion of the salicide process causes the clumping of the cobalt disilicide (CoSi2) film and the resistance to increase (refer to Patent Document 3).
Further, as conventional technology, there is disclosure of a "manufacturing method of a semiconductor device", and technology is described where an amorphous alloy layer with a metal selected from a group consisting of titanium, zirconium, tantalum, molybdenum, niobium, hafnium, and tungsten is deposited on a surface as a layer containing cobalt Co or nickel Ni in order to prevent the short-circuit caused by the overgrowth upon forming salicide. Here, although there are Examples that show a cobalt content of 50 to 75 at % and Ni 40/Zr 60, the alloy content is large for achieving an amorphous layer (refer to Patent Document 4).
The disclosed conventional technologies described above relate to the deposition process, and do not relate to a sputtering target. Further, with the conventional high purity nickel, the purity was roughly up to 4N excluding gas components, and the oxygen content was high at roughly 100 ppm. As a result of manufacturing a Ni alloy target based on this kind of conventional nickel, plastic workability was inferior and it was not possible to manufacture a high quality target. Also, there was a problem in that numerous particles were generated during sputtering, and the uniformity was inferior.
In light of the foregoing problems of the gate electrode material, the present Applicant developed a nickel-based sputtering target material doped with titanium or platinum as a particularly superior material, and proposed the inhibition of the phase change to the stable phase of NiSi2 (refer to Patent Document 5, Patent Document 6, Patent Document 7, and Patent Document 8).
Among the foregoing proposals, platinum-doped Ni alloy was the most effective, and had high effect at the time it was proposed. However, in recent years, reduction in the wiring width and increase in the processing temperature are becoming unavoidable, and thermal stability at even higher temperatures is being demanded. The Patent Document 8 improved the foregoing point and comprises the characteristic features of this point, and it can be said that the characteristics and usefulness of the Pt-doped Ni alloy of Patent Document 8 are exceptional.
Meanwhile, a platinum-doped Ni alloy (Ni—Pt alloy) entails the following problems; namely, platinum is expensive, and, when used as a sputtering target, the sputtering characteristics are inferior since it possesses high magnetic permeability. Since a target with magnetic permeability has a low pass-through flux (PTF), magnetic field lines are locally concentrated on the surface of the target during sputtering and the erosion area of the target tends to be small.
Thus, as the erosion progresses, the difference between the portion where erosion is selectively advanced and the portion where erosion does not advance as much will increase. Then, the variance in the thickness of the target will arise. Since the most eroded portion becomes the duration of life of the target, there is a problem in that the usability will considerably deteriorate. Moreover, since the changes in the shape of the eroded portion will become remarkable, there is a possibility that the uniformity of the sputtered film will also be affected. Thus, as a Ni alloy target that is effective in forming a Ni silicide film, demanded is a material with the lowest possible magnetic permeability; that is, with a high pass-through flux (PTF).
Nickel is a typical material with high magnetic permeability, and the magnetic permeability will decrease slightly as a result of adding platinum to nickel. Nevertheless, it cannot be said that this is a material with the lowest possible magnetic permeability and a high pass-through flux (PTF) as the Ni alloy target as described above.
In addition to foregoing Patent Documents 1 to 8, as conventional technology, there are other documents such as the following Patent Documents 9 to 17 which describe technologies based on a Ni alloy. For example, Patent Document 9 describes a Pt—Ni alloy target, Patent Documents 10 to 13 describe a nickel silicide sintered compact target, Patent Document 14 describes a Ni alloy target in which silicon is solutionized, Patent Document 15 describes a Ni—Si alloy target, Patent Document 16 describes a high purity Ni alloy target, and Patent Document 17 describes a Ti—Cu—Ni alloy target, but none of these documents are able to resolve the foregoing problems to obtain a nickel-platinum alloy having superior characteristics.    [Patent Document 1] Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. H7-38104    [Patent Document 2] Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. H9-153616    [Patent Document 3] Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. H11-204791 (U.S. Pat. No. 5,989,988)    [Patent Document 4] Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. H5-94966    [Patent Document 5] Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2003-213405    [Patent Document 6] Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2003-213406    [Patent Document 7] WO2005-083138    [Patent Document 8] Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2009-167530    [Patent Document 9] Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. S63-335563    [Patent Document 10] Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. H8-144053    [Patent Document 11] Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. H8-144054    [Patent Document 12] Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. H8-144055    [Patent Document 13] Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. H8-67972    [Patent Document 14] Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. H10-251848    [Patent Document 15] Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication, Translation of PCT Application No. 2001-523767    [Patent Document 16] Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2003-213407    [Patent Document 17] Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2005-171341

Ni alloy sputtering target, Ni alloy thin film and Ni silicide film


An electrically powered vehicle is provided with a vehicle body having a bottom surface, a battery disposed inside the vehicle body, a power receiving device configured to receive electrical power in a non-contact manner from a power transmission coil of a power transmission device disposed outside the vehicle body when facing the power transmission coil, and an electrical apparatus electrically connected to the power receiving device and the battery for supplying power received from the power receiving device to the battery. The power receiving device includes a power receiving coil disposed on the bottom surface of the vehicle body, and a capacitor disposed inside the vehicle body and electrically connected to the power receiving coil and the electrical apparatus. Thereby, the impact of heat on the capacitor included in the power receiving device can be suppressed.

Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a vehicle, and more particularly relates to a vehicle including a power receiving device configured to receive electrical power in a non-contact manner from a power transmission device.
Description of the Background Art
As disclosed in Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2011-250593, Japanese. Patent Laying-Open No. 2013-154815, Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2013-146154, Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2013-146148, Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2013-110822 and Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2013-126327, in recent years, developments have been progressed on a vehicle including a power receiving device configured to receive electrical power in a non-contact manner from a power transmission device disposed on the ground. The power receiving device disclosed in Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2011-250593 is disposed on a bottom surface of the vehicle. The power receiving device includes a case, a coil and a capacitor. The coil and the capacitor are electrically connected to each other and disposed inside the case.


The invention is an automatic precharge circuit featuring precharge devices each of which is interposed between a high voltage node, connectable to a supply potential, and a serial node. The precharge devices are gated automatically by a primary predecode signal of a decode portion of the row decoder. Power is conserved since the serial nodes are passively pulled to the supply potential through the precharge devices. The invention increases speed and provides error free wordline selection.

A DRAM consists of an arrangement of individual memory cells. Each memory cell comprises a capacitor capable of holding a charge and a field effect transistor, hereinafter referred to as an access transistor, for accessing the capacitor charge. The charge is referred to as a data bit and can be either a high voltage or a low voltage. Therefore, the memory has two states; often thought of as the true logic state and the complementary logic state. There are two options available in a DRAM memory: a bit of data may be stored in a specific cell in the write mode, or a bit of data may be retrieved from a specific cell in the read mode. The data is transmitted on signal lines, also called digit lines, to and from the Input/Output lines, hereinafter known as I/O lines, through field effect transistors used as switching devices and called decode transistors. For each bit of data stored, its true logic state is available at an I/O line and its complementary logic state is available at a line designated I/O*. For purposes of this discussion, I/O and I/O* lines are often referred to as just I/O lines. Thus, each cell has two digit lines, referred to as digit line pairs.
Typically, the memory cells are arranged in an array and each cell has an address identifying its location in the array. The array comprises a configuration of intersecting rows and columns and a memory cell is associated with each intersection. In order to read from or write to a cell, the particular cell in question must be selected, also called addressed. The address for the selected cell is represented by input signals to a row decoder and to a column decoder. The row decoder activates a wordline in response to the row address. The selected wordline activates the access transistor for each of the memory cells in electrical communication with the selected wordline. Next the column decoder activates a column decoder output in response to the column address. The active column decoder output selects the desired digit line pair. For a read operation the selected wordline activates the access transistors for a given row address, and data is latched to the digit line pairs. The column decoder output selects and activates the decode transistors such that the data is transferred from the selected digit line pair to the I/O lines.
The row decoder comprises decode circuitry for determining which wordline is selected for a desired address and for determining which wordlines are non-selected. The row decoder also comprises driver circuitry for driving the selected and the non-selected wordlines to potentials having active and inactive logic states respectively. The active wordline has a potential capable of activating the access transistors in electrical communication with the active wordline and the inactive wordline has a potential capable of deactivating the access transistors in electrical communication with the non-selected wordlines. For this discussion the selected wordline will have a high potential and the non-selected wordlines will have low potentials.
Typically the decode circuitry comprises a primary decoder and a secondary decoder for generating a primary select signal, S.sub.1 *, and at least one secondary select signal, S.sub.2, respectively. The asterisk indicates that the signal is active low. The primary and secondary select signals are used as inputs to a driver portion of the row decoder. The driver portion typically comprises an inverter portion and a latch portion. The primary select signal is typically inverted to the wordline by the inverter portion, and the secondary select signal regulates the switching of the primary select signal to the inverter portion. The latch portion latches a non-selected wordline to the inactive logic state.
Typical decoder circuitries can comprise either MOS decodes utilizing NAND circuitry or NOR circuitry, or tree decode circuitry. FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 are examples of a portion of the NAND, NOR, and tree decode circuitries respectively. The decode circuitries of the row decoder provide predecoded addresses to select the driver portion of the row decoder circuit. MOS decode circuitry provides predecode signals comprising the primary select signal, S.sub.1 *, and the secondary select signal, S.sub.2. Although the specific decode circuitry determining the values of S.sub.1 * and S.sub.2 can vary, the variations are well known in the art. FIGS. 1-3 have been included to provide examples of portions of possible decode circuitries. FIG. 1 is an example of a portion of a CMOS NAND decode circuit wherein each of the secondary select signals, S.sub.2A, S.sub.2B, S.sub.2C and S.sub.2D, is a one of four decode having four phases, and wherein S.sub.1 * (not shown) comes from a one of 64 CMOS NAND decode used to decode 256 wordlines. FIG. 2 is an example of a portion of a CMOS NOR decode circuit wherein each of the primary select signals, S.sub.1A *, S.sub.1B *, S.sub.1C * and S.sub.1D *, is a one of four decode using four phases, and wherein secondary select signal S.sub.2, (not shown), comes from a one of 64 CMOS NOR decode used to decode 256 wordlines.
In the circuits of FIGS. 1 and 2, the secondary select signal controls the activation of a single pass transistor. The decode circuitry may employ the tree decode configuration wherein a plurality of serially connected pass transistors are activated in order to drive the selected wordline to a high logic level. In the example depicted by FIG. 3 predecode address signals activate three serially connected pass transistors. For example if predetermined address signals RA56(0), RA34(0), and RA12(1) are high and the remaining predecode addresses are low, transistors 1,2, and 3 are activated providing an electrical path between points 4 and 5. These decode circuitries are well known to those skilled in the art.
FIG. 4 is a simplified schematic of the driver circuit of the related art. Each wordline in the array has a similar driver circuit. In FIG. 4, a MOS decode has been utilized to provide a primary select signal S.sub.1 * at primary select node 4 and a secondary select signal S.sub.2 at secondary select node 6. The select signals S.sub.1 * and S.sub.2 control the potential of the wordline 8. The primary select signal is transmitted through NMOS transistor 9 and continually gated transistor 10 to an inverter/latch portion 11 when the secondary select signal is high. When select signal S.sub.2 is high, NMOS transistor 9 activates and the select signal on S.sub.1 * is inverted to the wordline 8.
FIG. 5 is a simplified schematic of a portion of the decode circuitry of a typical row decoder of the related art. Primary select signals S.sub.1 * and S.sub.1 '* and secondary select signals S.sub.2 and S.sub.2 ' are generated by decode circuitry (not shown). The purpose of this discussion is to provide an understanding of the final mechanism for activating and deactivating the wordlines and to provide an understanding of the relationship between the select signals and the driver circuit. At the onset of each read or write cycle, all of the wordlines are typically reset to a low potential. In this case, select signals S.sub.1 *, S.sub.1 '*, S.sub.2, and S.sub.2 ' have a high potential which take the potentials of the wordlines 12, 14, 16, and 18 low.
During the selection of a wordline the secondary select signals go low except for the secondary select signal which activates the pass transistor in electrical communication with the selected wordline. All of the primary select signals remain high except for the primary select signal which must be inverted to the selected wordline.
Still referring to FIG. 5, assume the desired address selects wordline 14. In this case select signal S.sub.2 goes low and select signal S.sub.2 ' is high; and select signal S.sub.1 '* goes low, and select signals S.sub.1 * is high. The low select signal S.sub.1 '* is inverted to wordline 14 through activated transistor 22. Although transistors 21 and 23 are deactivated the wordlines 12 and 16 remain at the initial low potential due to a latching of the low potential by the inverter/latch portion 11 of the driver circuits. Wordline 18 is driven low when the high potential of S.sub.1 * is driven through activated transistor 24 and inverted to wordline 18.
FIG. 6 is exemplary of a driver portion of a row decoder circuit wherein the decode portion is implemented with tree decode circuitry having a plurality of pass transistors 25.
Serial nodes 26 and 27 tend to float to unknown potentials between cycles of cell selection. Since it is important to know the potential of serial nodes 26 and 27 the serial nodes 26 and 27 are typically reset to a known potential prior to the selection of the active wordline. During reset transistors 25 are actuated thereby precharging the serial nodes 26 and 27 to a high potential. Initial precharging presents a problem since there is a significant power consumption associated with precharging all of the serial nodes at the onset of each cycle.
In some circuits there have been problems with latch up. Latch up occurs when node 40 in FIGS. 4 and 6 has latched to the high supply potential through a transistor component (not shown) of the driver circuit. Latch up occurs when the potential of node 40 is greater than the supply potential, V.sub.ccp. This can occur during power up when the supply potential is increasing. In order to eliminate latch up, a transistor device 10 is continually gated by a V.sub.ccp supply potential as shown in FIGS. 4 and 6. Transistor device 10 keeps the potential at node 40 less than the supply potential as long as the potentials at nodes 42 and 27 are less than the supply potential. Therefore, as long as the potentials at nodes 42 and 27 are less than V.sub.ccp, the part will not latch up since the n-well of the transistor component of the driver circuit will never be forward biased. The function of the continually gated device will become clear when analyzed with respect to subsequent schematics of the present invention.
V.sub.ccp is a high voltage pump potential typically equal to the supply potential, V.sub.cc, of the memory device plus a threshold voltage, V.sub.t, of the access transistor, V.sub.cc +V.sub.t equals V.sub.ccp. The threshold voltage of the access transistor is the potential that must be overcome in order for the access transistor to conduct current.
In order to conserve power, supply potentials of many memory devices have been decreased from the typical 5 volt V.sub.cc. A low supply voltage of 3.3 volts is increasingly replacing the 5 volt operation. There is a disadvantage associated with the lower supply potentials. Often the potentials driven to a node are marginal. They often do not meet the minimum low potentials for a high logic state. Thus, circuits can experience erroneous outputs potentials. For example, in FIG. 6 when the supply voltage is approximately 3 volts, the select signal on S.sub.1 * may be 3 volts. Considering that the NMOS transistor doesn't pass high potentials with minimal loss, we must expect a threshold voltage drop across the NMOS transistors 25. The input voltage to the inverter/latch 11, FIGS. 4-6, may drop from 3 volts to 2 volts due to the threshold loss. There exists the increased probability that the inverter/latch 11 will see the 2 volts as a low logic state rather than the high logic state desired, or that the threshold voltage loss will be greater thereby decreasing the potential at the input of the inverter/latch. A need therefore exists to provide a row decoder that consistently drives the wordline to the inactive low state for a high primary select signal regardless of the supply potential used. Therefore, memory device circuits need to be redesigned in order to successfully drive wordlines to low logic levels for circuits utilizing supply potentials less than the typical 5 volts.
Further understanding of the DRAM circuitry can be gleaned from the DRAM DATA BOOK, 1992, published by Micron Technology and herein incorporated by reference.

Wordline driver circuit having an automatic precharge circuit


An accumulating conveyor is divided into a plurality of accumulating zones from an infeed end to a discharge end. An accumulation module is associated with each accumulating zone and includes a photo electric sensor, a microprocessor, and input/output connections. Each module is coupled to an actuator that controls the driving of the associated accumulating zone, either engagement or disengagement of the driving force to either move or stop the product thereon. The sensor detects the presence or absence of a product within its zone and communicates the same to the microprocessor. The modules may be set in a singulation mode or a slug mode, the mode determining the throughput of the product within the zone depending on the presence or absence of a product on the upstream and downstream accumulating zone. An enable/disable sleep and jam mode is incorporated into the microprocessor decision process to stop the drive force for the particular zone when no product is forthcoming and to try to dislodge any jammed package from a zone and stop the flow of product upstream thereof. Each accumulation module is in communication with the adjacent accumulation modules both upstream and downstream thereof, where possible, via integral plug-ins to aid in determining whether to move or stop the product depending on the selected modes of operation.

In the automated conveyor art, one type of automatic conveyor system is known as an accumulator conveyor. These types of conveyors are divided into a plurality of zones that extend from an inlet end to a discharge end. The zones are areas of the conveying surface where driving force to move the packages may be applied or removed independently of the other zones of the conveyor. These zones provide each package with its own stopping place. Packages or items are thus accumulated in successive zones for eventual discharge from the conveyor.
Zero pressure accumulation is a method of accumulating one or more items on a conveyor in a manner wherein there is no drive pressure or force trying to move the accumulated item before it is ready to be conveyed into another zone or discharged from the conveyor. Zero pressure accumulation conveyors differ from minimum pressure accumulation conveyors in that with minimum pressure conveyors there is always some drive pressure on the packages, even when the packages are being accumulated. Generally, each zone includes a sensing mechanism to determine whether a package is within its zone and associated logic to activate or deactivate the zone's driving force. Such sensors may be mechanical, or may be photoelectric.
However, while there are known electronic sensing systems such as that shown and described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,060,785 entitled Electrically-Powered Control System For Accumulating Conveyor issued to Garrity on Oct. 29, 1991, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,285,887 entitled Accumulating Conveyor And Control System issued to Hall on Feb. 15, 1994, they are deficient in many respects. Furthermore, these systems are not flexible in terms of options, wiring, or the like.
It is thus an object of the present invention to provide an improved control system for an accumulating conveyor.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a control system for an accumulating conveyor that provides photo-electric sensing at nearly the same cost as conventional mechanical/pneumatic sensing.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a control system for an accumulating conveyor which requires few parts and is simple to wire.
It is further an object of the present invention to provide a control system for an accumulating conveyor that has a higher degree of reliability than conventional mechanical/pneumatic control systems.
It is still further an object of the present invention to provide an accumulating conveyor control system that has several modes of operation, and offers greater flexibility than mechanical and/or pneumatic accumulation logic.

Control system and module for an accumulation conveyor


Various embodiments of systems, components, modules, routines, and processes for luminescence based spectral measurement are described herein. In one embodiment, a method for measuring a scintillation property of a sample includes directing an ionizing radiation toward the sample, thereby inducing the sample to produce an emission. The method also includes acquiring a spectral luminescence of the produced emission by the sample, the spectral luminescence including a plurality of luminescence intensities at corresponding emission wavelengths or frequencies. The scintillation property of the sample may then be determined based on the acquired spectral luminescence.

Photoluminescence tests or scintillation measurements have been used to study potential scintillation materials. During photoluminescence tests, a scintillation material is illuminated by a source light with a predetermined frequency or frequency range. In response, the scintillation material produce a luminescence, which can then be recorded for studying emission efficiency of luminescence centers and spectral ranges of the scintillation material. However, photoluminescence tests do not provide information regarding efficiencies of charge carriers generation, presence of trapping defects, or efficiency of energy transfer from charge carriers to luminescence centers in the scintillation material. On the other hand, scintillation measurements involve coupling a scintillator to a light sensor, (e.g., a photomultiplier tube or photodiode), to measure intensity of luminescence emitted from the scintillation material. Such scintillation measurements do not provide a spectral range or emission efficiency of the scintillation material.


Embodiments of the present invention provide a condenser microphone with a movable lining and a fixed lining. The movable lining and the fixed lining are respectively connected to a power supply and an amplifier. The movable lining includes graphene (G), formed at least as one graphene layer, while the fixed pad is formed as a fixed plate.

A microphone is an electroacoustic transducer changing the sound wave energy into electricity. The conversion of this energy may be performed in different ways (hence the different types of microphones). The microphone is typically the first element of an audio track. Microphones can be classified into different categories based on the following criteria:
the way of processing the membrane vibrations into an electrical signal;
the nature of the sound field effects on the membrane; and
the application itself.
In the first category, the way of processing vibrations of the membrane, the following categories may be further distinguished:                carbon microphone;        piezoelectric microphone;        dynamic microphone;        condenser microphone (electret/large-diaphragm/small-diaphragm/surface); and        experimental microphones.
The condenser microphone was first invented at Bell Labs in 1916. The structure consisted of two electrodes. One of the pads is stationary while the other pad acts as a diaphragm and is exposed to acoustic waves as shown in FIG. 1. Movement of the diaphragm creates a variable component in the DC voltage of the capacitor, which reflects the frequency of the acoustic wave incident on the microphone. For this design to work, the voltage of 48V is necessary (i.e. a phantom and it is provided with a battery or a microphone cable). Depending on whether the polarization requires an external microphone or not, the condenser microphones may be divided into externally polarized condenser microphone and electret microphones. Both types require power, as an integral part of the microphone, such as, for example, a three-microphone amplifier. In the following, the electret microphones and the externally polarized condenser microphones will be describe in detail.
In the case of making high quality recording of voice or sound of the choir (or any other group of people singing), i.e., strings or metal drums, a condenser microphone is used. This may happen for two reasons: these microphones have a generally wider and more even frequency range than dynamic microphones of comparable quality. Additionally, they do have a wider bandwidth and above all, have higher voltage sensitivity. Therefore, because of their sensitivity to loud noises, compared to dynamic microphones, they are used predominantly in the studios.
In the prior art publication CN103557929 (A) a method for making a membrane comprising graphene is disclosed. The produced membrane is then used as an element of the optical fiber system, which represent the acoustic pressure sensors. The publication KR101058475 (B1) discloses a MEMS microphone comprising a graphene diaphragm structure and a method of manufacture of graphene layers on the surface of the fixed electrode covered with polysilicone.


A method and apparatus for screening for reproductive tract inflammation and preeclampsia which utilizes the increase in neutrophil defensins to indicate that a patient is at risk of having reproductive tract inflammation or preeclampsia. The apparatus consists either an ELISA based measurement of defensins levels or a dipstick test that can be administered by the provider or self-administered by the patient.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for screening for reproductive tract inflammation and preeclampsia. More particularly, this invention concerns the method and apparatus for screening for reproductive tract inflammation and preeclampsia which utilize the presence of neutrophil defensins found in bodily fluids and tissues of a patient to indicate that the patient is at risk of having reproductive tract inflammation or preeclampsia.
2. Description of Related Art
Detection of reproductive tract inflammation and preeclampsia may be divided into two categories: diagnosis and screening. Diagnosis is a method of establishing the presence of a particular disease in a patient. Limitations of the current diagnostic methods include the high cost of a medical professional performing an invasive examination to take samples, run tests and analyze results as well as the inefficient utilization of the sensitive, yet expensive, diagnostic tests. For example, when polymerase chain reaction testing and ligase chain reaction testing, two standard diagnostic tests for sexually transmitted diseases, are performed, the medical professional must administer the test which results in an average of ten patients testing negative for every one patient that tests positive.
Optimally, a diagnostic test is employed only after a screening test indicates that the patient is at risk of having a disease in order to eliminate the unnecessary cost of expensive diagnostic tests. Screening is a method of establishing the absence of a particular disease or class of diseases in a patient. When a screening test indicates that a patient does not have a disease, in many cases the need for further diagnostic testing is eliminated. Such screening saves money for patients, health insurance companies and government health programs. In addition, screening provides a way for patients to avoid the discomfort associated with more invasive diagnostic procedures. The following are some of the conventional screening and diagnostic methods used to detect female reproductive tract inflammation and preeclampsia wherein the female reproductive tract inflammation include, but are not limited to, intraamniotic infection, pelvic inflammatory diseases and sexually transmitted diseases such as gonorrhea, chlamydia and trichomoniasis.
Pelvic inflammatory diseases may be caused by anaerobic bacterial infection, allergic reactions or prior infection by a sexually transmitted disease. In general the majority of pelvic inflammatory diseases are not symptomatic and therefore, go undetected. If undetected and untreated, pelvic inflammatory diseases may result in tubal factor infertility. Screening for upper reproductive tract inflammation such as salpingitis, cervicitis, endometritis and oophoritis generally includes a pelvic exam conducted by a physician. If manipulation of the cervix and palpitation of the adnexa produces severe pain during the pelvic exam, the patient is considered to be at risk for pelvic inflammatory disease. A diagnosis of pelvic inflammatory disease may be obtained by performing an endometrial biopsy or operative laparoscopy both of which are highly invasive and uncomfortable procedures conducted by a physician.
Intraamniotic infection is an infection of the amnion or amniotic fluid by any pathogen, and is thought to be a significant cause of idiopathic preterm labor which results in preterm deliveries. Screening for intraamniotic infection involves identifying patients in preterm labor. The standard diagnostic test for intraamniotic infection involves amniocentesis and growing a culture from the extracted amniotic fluid. Because a culture must be grown, diagnosis may take several days and is expensive. Further, diagnosis is often negative in cases where there is significant placental infection or inflammation.
Preeclampsia, an endothelial cell disorder of unknown etiology, occurs in five to seven percent (5-7%) of pregnant women. If undetected and untreated the condition may lead to stillbirth, premature birth, eclampsia or maternal death. The diagnosis of preeclampsia is based on the triad of hypertension, proteinuria and edema. The only known treatment for preeclampsia is delivery of the infant. This is unfortunate because many women with preeclampsia are preterm thereby requiring delivery of a premature infant having the potential for serious neonatal sequelae. Optimally, screening methods to identify those destined to develop preeclampsia would help to study potential treatments aimed at preventing disease manifestations.
The typical screening method for sexually transmitted diseases comprises identifying patients having dysuria and abnormal discharge and the medical practitioner observing whether there is redness, swelling or sores in the genitalia. Additional screening methods include using the leukocyte esterase dipstick or neutrophil quantification on gram chain. Unfortunately these methods have sub-optimal sensitivities and specificities.
Several diagnostic tests for detecting sexually transmitted diseases are readily available in the United States of America and other developed nations. The most accurate diagnostic techniques are polymerase chain reaction and ligase chain reaction which amplify the amount of pathogenic microbial DNA in a patient specimen to detectable levels. Limitations of polymerase chain reaction and ligase chain reaction are the high cost of a medical professional to obtain a specimen from the patient and analyze the results as well as a need for a qualified facility to perform the necessary lab work.
The World Health Organization and some Third World countries use an algorithm comprising a series of questions to screen for sexually transmitted diseases. Because this screening method is based solely on the answers to the questions and not based on a physical assessment of the patient, the degree of error may be high. Further, because of the scarcity of resources in Third World countries, a precise diagnostic test is not performed in cases where the results of the algorithm do not suggest infection thereby missing many patients who truly are infected.
Gonorrhea is caused by the gonococcal bacterium Neisseria gonorrhea. If undetected and untreated, gonorrhea can cause postgonococcal nonspecific urethritis, epididymitis, pelvic inflammatory disease, arthritis and possibly death. One method for diagnosing gonorrhea involves taking a scraping from a patient and performing a Gram-stained smear on the scraping. A culture is required for females because the Gram-stain test for gonorrhea is considered less reliable for females. The disadvantage of this detection method is that it is time consuming and costly because it requires a physician to administer the test.
Chlamydia is caused by the bacterium Chlamydia trachomatous. If undetected and untreated, chlamydia can cause pelvic inflammatory disease, infertility, ectopic pregnancy and chronic pelvic pain. In addition, undetected chlamydia is thought to cause about fifty percent (50%) of the nonspecific sexually transmitted infections, including nongonococcal urethritis and nonspecific urethritis. A standard method for diagnosing chlamydia involves taking a scraping from a patient which in women, is obtained from the endocervix. The specimen is then placed in a sterile nutritive medium and observed under a microscope for signs of microbial growth and the disease organism. Limitations of this diagnostic method include prolonged incubation, cost and sensitivity of only seventy-five percent (75%) to eighty-five percent (85%).
The scraping may also be subject to antigen detection tests, such as direct fluorescent antibody testing (DFA) and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) to detect the pathogenic microbial proteins. However, because these methods depend on the presence of antigen, the scraping must include microbial cellular material. Other antigen detection methods for the diagnosis of chlamydia include serological tests involving either complement fixation or microimmunofluorescence. Though antigen detection tests for chlamydia are easily performed and are less costly than cultures however, they have lower sensitivities than cultures and low positive predictive values in low prevalence populations.
Trichomoniasis is caused by the flagellate protozoan Trichomonas vaginalis. If undetected and untreated trichomoniasis can cause vaginitis, urethritis, cystitis and prostatitis. The current gold standard for the diagnosis of trichomoniasis is culture on a specimen from the posterior fornix. Although highly sensitive, laboratory availability is limited; therefore, wet mount microscopy conducted on a similar specimen from the posterior fornix is most often used to diagnose this condition. The disadvantage of using this diagnostic test to detect trichomoniasis is that it has a sensitivity of only about fifty percent (50%).
Newer techniques for detecting Neisseria gonorrhoea, Chlamydia trachomatous and Trichomonas vaginalis rely on nucleic acid amplification with subsequent detection. These methods are termed polymerase chain reaction and ligase chain reaction and are considered the most accurate diagnostic methods available. Although commercially available for Chlamydia trachomatous they will soon be available for Neisseria gonorrhoea and are under development for Trichomonas vaginalis. One important aspect of these methods is there reliance only on the presence of a small amount of organism and not in the viability of the organism. This makes it possible for the patient to self-collect a specimen such as urine and/or a swab from the vaginal introitus. Further, as viability is not required a patient can collect the sample and may mail it or delivery it to a reference lab with no decrease in testing sensitivity. The major drawback of these testing methods is the increased cost.
Limitations of the above-noted methods of screening and diagnosing female reproductive tract infections and preeclampsia include inaccuracy, invasiveness, delay between the performance of the test and receipt of the results and need for a medical practitioner to perform the screening or diagnostic tests which results in high cost. Nowhere in the related art is there disclosed or suggested a method and an apparatus for screening for female reproductive tract inflammation and preeclampsia which is inexpensive while being accurate. Therefore, there is a definite need for a method and apparatus for screening for female reproductive tract inflammation and preeclampsia which is inexpensive and effective in order that the general population be tested for these diseases resulting in the diseases being accurately and effectively detected and the patient being treated.
Studies have shown that neutrophil defensins are elevated in blood plasma in patients with either bacterial meningitis or septicemia. This type of method is described in greater detail in Journal of Laboratory Clinical Medicine; volume 122 at pp 202-7 (1993). However, the method of detecting female reproductive tract inflammation and preeclampsia disclosed in the present invention which uses the presence of neutrophil defensins found in bodily fluids and tissues such as vaginal fluids or amniotic fluids has never been disclosed or suggested.

Method for screening for reproductive tract inflammation and preeclampsia using neutrophil defensins


An optical transmitter includes a drive laser, a 1×N splitter, and an array of modulators. The 1×N splitter is coupled to split a beam from the drive laser into separated beams, and the modulators modulate the respective beam to represent respective data signals that are transmitted in parallel. Embodiments of the transmitter can provide high data rate communications at low cost by eliminating the need for an array of isolators and eliminating the need for high quality AR coatings. Additionally, an integrated optical circuit containing the modulator array does not require an array of lasers and can be fabricated at higher yields and lower costs.

Some optical communication systems use multiple channels on parallel optical fibers for high bandwidth communications over relatively long distances, e.g., hundreds of meters to several km. A transmitter for such a system can include an optical integrated circuit having one Distributed Feedback (DFB) laser and one Electro-Absorption (EA) modulator per optical signal. In operation, the EA modulators modulate the output beams from respective DFB lasers as needed to represent transmitted data. This EA-DFB configuration, which performs modulation outside the DFB laser, can achieve data rates of 20 Gb/s and higher per optical signal. However, optical integrated circuits containing arrays of DFB laser/EA modulator pairs are complex and difficult to fabricate. As a result, the fabrication process for these systems generally has a low yield of functional integrated circuits.
These communication systems also have a general need to limit or eliminate the downstream reflections returning to the DFB lasers because such reflections can lead to instability in the optical signals output from the DFB lasers, potentially causing transmission errors. As a result, an array of optical isolators may be needed to adequately prevent down-the-line reflections from feeding back into the DFB lasers. Individual optical isolators for each laser increase system cost. Additionally, the output facets of the modulators in the integrated structure may require costly high quality anti-reflective (AR) coatings, e.g., a coating with a reflectivity less than about 10−4 to reduce reflections back into the DFB lasers.
A transmitter or other integrated circuit containing an EA-DFB array also requires drive circuits for the EA-DFB pairs of the array, and the drive currents for these devices significantly contribute to the complexity, power budget, and heating of the integrated circuit. Maintaining adequate DFB performance generally requires that the device temperature be controlled over a relatively small window. In addition, the EA modulators may also provide less than optimal performance at the extremes of the operating temperature of a high power IC. As a result, thermoelectric (TE) coolers, which are relatively inefficient devices that consume additional electrical power, may be needed.
The difficulties in fabricating and operating multiple-channel transmitters for long-distance, high-bandwidth communications make such systems expensive. Alternative high-bandwidth optical communications systems that can be produced in higher yield processes and provide high bandwidth communications over relatively long reaches and at low cost are thus sought.

Parallel channel optical communication using modulator array and shared laser

Avago Technologies Fiber IP (Singapore) Pte. Ltd.


A room comprise of localized region (10) for air conditioning wherein conditioned air or totally fresh air can be directed to certain region of the room. A path of air flow may comprised of a ceiling air collector/distributor (80) joining with a floor air collector/distributor (41) by a duct (18) having the localized air conditioning region (10) link the floor air collector/distributor to the ceiling air collector/distributor to complete the circuit while maintaining the characteristic of air conditioning specific portion of the room only but not the whole room.

Present air conditioning apparatus are designed to heat or cool the air circulated within a room. Where persons are seated at a desk for long periods of time, as may be the case in many commercial offices, the heating or cooling of the air not immediately surrounding the person is both unnecessary and constitutes a waste of energy.


A plasma display apparatus comprises: a plasma display panel including first and second substrates disposed in opposition to one another with a gap formed therebetween; a chassis base disposed on one side of the plasma display panel; and a drive circuit disposed on an opposite side of the chassis base for driving the plasma display panel. The first and second substrates of the plasma display panel form an overlapping region in which the first and second substrates overlie one another, and at least one pair of non-overlapping regions in which the first and second substrates do not overlie one another. The non-overlapping regions are asymmetrically formed about the overlapping region.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a plasma display apparatus and, more particularly, to a plasma display apparatus in which the formation of non-overlapping regions between front and rear substrates of a panel is optimized to realize a more compact overall structure.
2. Description of the Related Art
A plasma display panel (PDP) provided in a plasma display apparatus is a display device that realizes the display of images through excitation of phosphors by plasma discharge. That is, vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) rays emitted from plasma obtained via gas discharge excite phosphor layers, which then emit visible red (R), green (G), and blue (B) light to thereby form images. The PDP has many advantages, including the ability to be made in large screen sizes of 60 inches and greater, a thin profile of 10 cm or less, a wide viewing angle, good color reproduction due to the self-emissive nature of the PDP (as in the case of cathode ray tubes), and high productivity and low manufacturing cost as a result of manufacturing processes that are simpler than those involved with liquid crystal displays. As a result, the PDP is experiencing increasingly widespread use in the home and in industry.
The plasma display apparatus has the following basic structure. A chassis base, which is made of a sturdy material with a high thermal conductivity, such as aluminum, is sandwiched between a PDP and drive circuits. The drive circuits generate signals for operating the PDP. A front cover is mounted on a front surface of the PDP, and a rear cover is mounted on a rear side of the drive circuits, thereby completing fabrication and assembly of the plasma display apparatus.
The PDP is classified as a DC-type device or an AC-type device depending on the drive voltage waveform applied thereto, and is further classified as an opposing discharge-type device or a surface discharge-type device depending on the structure of the discharge cells and the formation of the electrodes in the PDP.
In the AC-type, surface discharge-type PDP, which is the most common configuration, sustain electrodes, scan electrodes and address electrodes interact to effect plasma discharge in the PDP, thereby realizing the display of images. The sustain electrodes and the scan electrodes typically extend to right and left areas of the panel, and are connected to drive circuits provided in the rear of the PDP through an electrical coupling means, such as a flexible printed circuit (FPC). The address electrodes extend to upper and/or lower areas of the PDP, and are connected to drive circuits in a manner similar to connection of the sustain and scan electrodes. Accordingly, terminal sections of all of the electrodes are exposed at edge portions of the PDP so as to allow for connection with FPCs. The front and rear substrates of the PDP, which are sealed in positions opposing one another, are made in different sizes such that non-overlapping regions are formed along edges thereof.
In conventional PDPs, such non-overlapping regions are symmetrically formed such that their widths are identical between the upper and lower areas of the PDP, as well as between the right and left areas of the PDP. In the triode surface discharge PDP, the scan electrodes are individually separated since these electrodes are involved in reset and addressing discharge. In contrast, the terminals of the sustain electrodes are provided in close proximity and are all shorted. Therefore, although the non-overlapping regions must be provided with a substantial width in the areas of the terminals of the scan electrodes, this is not the case with respect to the areas of the terminals of the sustain electrodes.
Furthermore, when single scanning is employed, as opposed to dual scanning wherein the address electrodes extend to both upper and lower areas of the PDP, it is not necessary that non-overlapping regions be provided on the side where the address electrodes do not extend. Thus, such symmetrical formation of the non-overlapping regions results in wasted space when single scanning is employed.


An articulated piece (4) for pivoting a pivotal reflector (2) of a vehicle headlight (1) about a first axis (7) and about a second axis (8) running perpendicular to the first axis, has, at an end facing the reflector, a joint shell (13) that can be connected to a translational-movable spherical head of an adjusting device for causing pivoting movement about the first axis, a snap-on part (11) at an opposite end that can be connected to the reflector, with the articulated piece being structured to be flexible in a plane running crosswise to the second axis.

This invention relates to an articulated piece for pivoting a pivotal reflector of a vehicle headlight about a first axis and about a second axis running perpendicular to the first axis, having, at an end facing away from the reflector, a joint shell that can be connected to a translational-movable spherical head of an adjusting device for pivoting about the first axis, and that can be connected to the reflector at an end opposite the joint shell.
German patent document DE-G 93 12 695.6 discloses a vehicle headlight wherein a reflector can be pivoted about a horizontal axis via an articulated piece. The reflector can also be pivoted about a vertical axis via a second articulated piece. Pivoting the reflector about the horizontal axis serves to regulate a light beam distance of the headlight. To that end, the reflector has a fixed joint at a vertical top, about which the reflector can be pivoted. At a vertical lower position, an end of the articulated piece directed toward the reflector is attached to a back of the reflector, so that its longitudinal axis runs approximately parallel to a longitudinal axis of the vehicle. At an end opposite the reflector, the articulated piece has a joint shell for connecting it to a joint bearing of an adjusting device. The joint bearing is movable in a translational manner by the adjusting device.
When the reflector is installed, the joint shell of the articulated piece is snapped onto a spherical head forming the joint bearing of the adjusting device. When this is done, the articulated piece must withstand relatively high latching, or snapping forces along its longitudinal axis, without buckling sidewardly. The spherical head is moved linearly by the adjusting device, while the joint shell tries to move in a circular path when the reflector is pivoted.
To minimize distortions of the reflector and radial forces of the joint shell acting on the spherical head, the articulated piece is structured to be flexible or elastic in a plane running perpendicular to the horizontal pivot axis. In this way, radial forces acting on the spherical head are decreased perpendicular to the horizontal axis. During pivoting about the second vertical pivoting axis, however, undesirable radial forces acting on the spherical head are created in a plane running perpendicular to the vertical pivoting axis.
It is an object of this invention to improve the prior-art articulated piece in such a way that radial forces occurring at the spherical head are further diminished or eliminated in both planes.


A terminal for a compression connector, a terminal strip of interconnected terminals for compression connectors and a method for inserting a terminal into a compression connector housing. The terminal including a solder portion including an elongate main body extending along a first direction and a solder tail formed at one end of the main body and extending substantially perpendicular to said first direction; and a supporting member attached to the main body of the solder portion and extending substantially in said first direction.

Typically, a compression connector comprises one or more terminals disposed in a connector housing. During assembly of the connector, the terminals are typically inserted into the prefabricated housing. For assembly purposes, the terminal typically has a carrier for handling the terminal. In one design, the carrier is attached to the terminal at a solder tail portion as an extension thereof. The solder tail portion and the carrier are typically disposed at one end of the terminal and extends substantially perpendicular to a main body of the terminal.
After the terminal is inserted into the housing, the carrier is cut away or broken off from the solder tail portion. The solder tail portion may be susceptible to damages in the process of removing the carrier, which may adversely effect the soldering of the solder tail portion to a board on which the connector is mounted.
In another terminal design, the carrier is attached to the terminal at a retention area of the terminal. The retention area is typically disposed at a midpoint along the height of the terminal. In this design, again the carrier is typically arranged substantially perpendicular to the main body of the terminal. The carrier will be cut away or broken off from the retention area after the terminal is inserted into the housing.
For the above-mentioned terminal designs, portions of the terminal are thus at a relatively long distance from a plane of the carrier, in particular when the carrier is attached to the solder tail portion. Those portions of the terminal are therefore susceptible to bending during handling and processing.
These problems are particularly significant when the height of the terminal is large in comparison to a width (or depth) of the terminal, such as tall terminals used to reduce deflection for preventing excessive wiping during compression and to meet a final connector height.
Therefore, there is a need to provide a terminal designed to address at least one of the above-mentioned problems.

Terminal and a method for inserting the terminal into a compression connector housing


Boolean circuits are designed with minimal depth by calculating the depth of an existing circuit. Those subtrees having a non-regular root cell (i.e., cells having other than one child or having a child of a type different from the cell) are balanced by constructing a new subtree. The cells are then iteratively transformed with parent and/or grandparent cells to reduce the depth of the circuit. The transformation may include balancing the subtree to make the parent cell the same type as the selected cell, or by creating a new cell as parent to the selected cell.

One important problem in integrated circuit (IC) design is the minimization of the delay in the circuits. In ICs, Boolean circuits comprise trees to carry out certain Boolean functions. Typically, the Boolean circuits are created from a library of Boolean elements such as two-input AND and OR elements (cells) and NOT (inverter) elements or cells. The delay of Boolean circuits can ordinarily be minimized by minimizing the depth of the Boolean circuit.
The maximal number of cells that lie on any path from any input of a Boolean circuit to the output of the Boolean circuit is called a depth of a Boolean circuit. Each cell along the path adds one to the depth of the circuit. Thus, a tree or subtree having a path containing eight cells has a depth of 8. The delay of a Boolean circuit increases with its depth.
Considerable attention has been given to minimizing depth of Boolean circuits. Much of the attention has been directed at certain classes of Boolean functions (such as comparators, adders, subtractors, multipliers, etc), and to the development of techniques that allow fabricating Boolean circuits with small depth and small number of cells. In the present case, consideration is given to the special classes of Boolean circuits that perform the following functions:f0(x1, x2, . . . , xn)=x1(x2(x3(x4( . . . ))))f1(x1, x2, . . . , xn)=x1(x2(x3(x4( . . . )))).
The above functions are important because they are included in many arithmetic operations, such as addition, subtraction, and comparison. A fast hardware evaluation of these functions has been developed based on the presumption that all inputs x1, x2, . . . , xn of functions f0 and f1 have the same arrival depth when functions f0 and f1 are a part of adders and comparators.
Functions f0 and f1 are used in several methods of synthesis Boolean circuits other than special arithmetical operations, for example a Boolean function y determined by the RTL-Verilog code:                y=0;        if (A1) y=1;        if (A2) y=0;        if (A3) y=1;        if (A4) y=0;        if (A5) y=1;        . . .        if (An) y=0.It is clear that y=ƒ1({tilde under (A)}1, An-1, . . . , A1). Consequently, functions f0 and f1 can be used during the synthesis of Boolean circuits to evaluate Boolean functions determined by some programming languages.
Variables A1, A2, . . . , An can be either single variables or comprehensive expressions that are evaluated by different Boolean circuits. These variables often have the different arrival depths. Because the values of variables A1, A2, . . . , An are evaluated by the different Boolean circuits whose depths are optimized separate from each other, a need exists for a more universal method of rapid reduction of the depth of functions f0 and f1 for various sets of arrival depths of inputs A1, A2, . . . , An.

Optimizing depths of circuits for Boolean functions


An EPB control device controlling an electric actuator driving an EPB, wherein the device performs control to reach a lock position, a release position and a standby position between the lock position and the release position. In the lock position, a friction-applying member is thereby pressed against a friction-applied member by the EPB by actuating the electric actuator and a predetermined braking force is generated. In the release position, the friction-applying member is separated from the friction-applied member when the EPB is not actuated. In the standby position, a transition to the lock position is performed in a shorter time than when the EPB is actuated from the release position by the actuation of the electric actuator. The device controls, when a starting operation to start moving a vehicle is performed, the electric actuator such that the standby position is reached.

In related art, Patent Literature 1 proposes an EPB control device that can secure vehicle safety when stalling of an engine (hereinafter referred to as an engine stall) occurs when a manual transmission vehicle provided with an EPB starts to move on a slope. The EPB control device detects the engine stall, and inhibits the vehicle from rolling back downward with respect to the slope by actuating the EPB when the engine stall is detected.


An electrolytic filter system (16) is disclosed for use in treating fluid provided by a fluid source (12) to a supplied environment (14). The system includes an electrolytic cell (18), whose operation is governed by a control circuit (20) to allow a desired average current to be applied to the cell substantially independent of variations in fluid resistivity, to allow the cell to simultaneously achieve, for example, the desired removal of contaminants, killing of biological materials, and alteration of the fluid's chemical characteristics, and to provide relatively high levels of energy to the fluid quickly and efficiently.

Electrolytic fluid treatment systems are widely used to, for example, remove impurities and contaminants from fluids. In such systems, the fluid to be treated is passed between one or more pairs of electrodes. An electric potential applied to the electrodes establishes an electric current between the electrodes. As a result, impurities in the fluid migrate and adhere to the electrodes, biological materials in the fluid are killed, and the fluid's chemical composition may be altered.
One fluid that is commonly processed by electrolytic fluid treatment systems is water. The electrolytic treatment of water is, however, complicated by the widely varying water characteristics encountered from one water source to another. In that regard, the resistivity of water, which is inversely proportional to conductivity, commonly varies over a range extending from 30 to 1400 ohm-meter. Such resistivity variations may significantly alter the performance of an electrolytic filter system.
More particularly, the interelectrode resistance is dependent upon the resistivity of the water flowing between the electrodes. With a fixed electric potential applied to the electrodes, current flow between the electrodes will vary in inverse proportion to the water's resistance. If water resistivity is relatively high, the current may be too low to achieve the desired treatment of the water. On the other hand, if water resistivity is relatively low, the current may be so high as to damage or otherwise decrease the life of system components.
A variety of different systems have been developed that attempt to accommodate such variations in water resistivity. For example, circuits have been developed to expose water purification and ion generation systems to relatively constant load resistances, regardless of variations in water resistivity. In that regard, U.S. Pat. No. 4,769,119 (Grundler) discloses a water ionizing device that includes several electrodes. If the resistivity of the water being ionized is relatively low, a relatively high resistance is introduced in series with the electrodes. On the other hand, if the water's resistivity is relatively high, a relatively low resistance is introduced in series with the electrodes. In either case, by keeping the system's total resistive load constant, a constant current flow is maintained between the electrodes.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,986,906 (Dadisman) describes another variation of this approach. The Dadisman water purification system includes a constant current control circuit in which changes in water resistance cause opposing changes in the effective resistance of a field-effect transistor (FET) included in the circuit. These changes in FET resistance offset the changes in water resistance, allowing the current to be kept substantially constant.
Unfortunately, the approaches taken by Grundler and Dadisman have certain limitations. In that regard, the Grundler and Dadisman circuits both increase circuit resistance to offset decreases in water resistance. As a result, energy is dissipated in circuit components rather than being used to treat water, making the circuits relatively inefficient. In addition, the Grundler and Dadisman circuits are both relatively complex.
An alternative method of handling variations in water resistivity is to provide an electronic control circuit that allows water purification and ion generation systems to maintain constant current flows, substantially independent of variations in water resistivity. In that regard, U.S. Pat. No. 4,119,520 (Paschakarnis et al.) discloses a water purification unit that includes such a current control circuit. The current to be controlled flows through a resistor, as well as between the electrodes. A differential amplifier and transistor cooperatively control the current by keeping the voltage drop across the resistor equal to the reference potential across a diode. As a result, the current flowing between the electrodes is kept constant.
Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 5,055,170 (Saito) discloses an ionic water generator that accounts for variations in water resistivity. In that regard, the system employs a central processing unit that calculates the appropriate voltage to be applied to the electrodes for the water being processed. This voltage is computed by multiplying some voltage corresponding to the desired ion concentration by a factor equal to the resistance of the water actually being processed divided by the resistance of some reference water.
As will be appreciated, the Paschakarnis et al. and Saito systems exhibit several shortcomings. First, the control circuits of both systems are relatively complex. Because the Paschakarnis et al. circuit introduces an additional resistance into the current path, it is also relatively inefficient. The Saito circuit, in turn, disadvantageously requires reference measurements to be made for subsequent use in controlling the voltage applied to the electrodes.
Another circuit for controlling an ion generator in a water purification system is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,734,176 (Zemba, Jr.). The circuit controls the duty-cycle of energy applied to the generator to achieve the desired level of purification for various applications and water conditions. In that regard, an operator apparently evaluates water conditions and then manually adjusts the control circuit to effect a desired change in duty cycle.
Like the other circuits described above, the Zemba, Jr. arrangement has certain limitations. For example, the ability of the Zemba, Jr. circuit to handle variations in water resistivity is not discussed and is uncertain. Also, because the circuit does not automatically respond to changing water conditions, it may fail to achieve the desired regulation in many instances.
Turning now to another problem experienced in the electrolytic treatment of fluids, conventional electrolytic fluid treatment systems typically do not perform equally well in removing impurities, killing biological materials, and altering the fluid's chemical composition. At best, existing systems achieve one of the desired objectives relatively well, while exhibiting compromised performance with respect to the other objectives. More particularly, most such systems fail even to differentiate between these various objectives, much less achieve them fully and simultaneously.
One final problem encountered in the electrolytic treatment of fluids is the limited ability of conventional systems to provide large quantities of energy to the fluid over brief intervals in an efficient manner. For example, while some systems may be suitable for passing relatively low currents through the fluid during short intervals, they are typically unable to apply higher currents to the fluid. Alternatively, while some systems are able to provide high currents to the fluid quickly, they are relatively inefficient.
In view of these observations, it would be desirable to provide a control circuit suitable for controlling the operation of an electrolytic fluid treatment system substantially independent of variations in the resistivity of fluid treated by the system. It would also be desirable to provide a control circuit that allows several aspects of the system's performance to be optimized, without undue circuit complexity, inefficiency, or operator intervention and that is able to provide relatively large quantities of energy to the fluid quickly and efficiently.

Capacitive discharge control circuit for use with electrolytic fluid treatment systems


A photographing device for photographing a subject is provided. The photographing device includes a face recognition unit recognizing a face included in an image of the subject; a distance calculation unit calculating a distance between each of a plurality of faces when the plurality of faces are recognized by the face recognition unit; and a distance comparison unit comparing the distance calculated by the distance calculation unit with a pre-set reference distance. A of controlling the photographing device is also provided.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a photographing device and a method of controlling the photographing device. More particularly, the present invention relates to a photographing device which photographs a subject, and a method of controlling the photographing device which can easily determine an appropriate distance between each target subject face and can perform photographing.
2. Description of the Related Art
Digital cameras generate an image file by using a photographed image and store the image file in a memory. In this manner, digital cameras do not use a film such as that utilized in analog film cameras. As a result, digital cameras are not so expensive with respect to photographing an image as compared to traditional analog film cameras. In other words, if a digital camera has a memory with a large capacity, then it can photograph and store a large number of images. Also, digital cameras can transmit images stored in a memory to a computer or a web server via a connecting medium or a network so that the computer or the web server can store the images. As a result of such advantages, digital cameras have rapidly become widespread among general users.
General users of digital cameras desire digital cameras to be more convenient to use. They also desire sharper photographed pictures. Research and development with the aim of satisfying such user desires has been actively conducted, resulting in the development of face recognition technology for a portrait picture.
This face recognition technology has been improved to increase face detection techniques and face detection speed. More particularly, this face recognition technology has been developed to improve general face recognition techniques such as a face detection techniques, a search success rate according to left and right angles of a face, the number of searchable faces from among many target subjects, and the like.
Because digital cameras are frequently utilized to photograph human subjects, such face recognition technology can be usefully employed to select and to automatically focus a human subject deemed important to a user from among many human subjects. Conventionally, face recognition technology is utilized to simply select and to automatically focus such an important subject from among a plurality of subjects. For example, face recognition technology has improved in order to focus the functional development of face recognition techniques in ways such as the improvement of rapid subject recognition, development of standards regarding selection of a subject from among various subjects, and the like. According to recent developments, by utilizing face recognition technology, a user can focus a face and simultaneously perform autofocus (AF), auto white balance (AWB), or auto exposure (AE). This enables the user to obtain sharp portrait pictures. Accordingly, there is a current demand for the even further development of various techniques using face recognition technology.

Photographing device including face recognition, distance calculation, and distance comparison units and method of controlling the same


A system and method include a processor and a memory. The memory stores instructions, which when executed by the processor, causes the processor to allocate interactions to a server based on a function of a criteria over time, where the server can only handle a determined number of interactions at a time.

Customer-centric organizations can attempt to seamlessly integrate contact center operations with customer intelligence to ensure a complete and actionable view of the customer. Interactions can be treated as an opportunity to improve the customer experience through superior service, resulting in customer satisfaction, loyalty, and retention. These can lead to increased sales, profits, and success. Enterprise service and marketing applications can allow enterprises to leverage the synergy of the management of customer data and interactions.

System and method for scalable interaction prioritization

GENESYS TELECOMMUNICATIONS LABORATORIES, INC.