A motor vehicle seat including: a seat frame; a pivotally mounted seat back which, when released, is tiltable forward out of its position of use and toward a seat surface of the seat frame; a longitudinal guide with which the seat frame is displaceable in the longitudinal direction of the seat; a fixing device for fixing a seat frame in a previously adjusted longitudinal position of the seat; a coupling mechanism; and, a memory device by which the seat frame can be automatically held in an adjustable longitudinal position of the seat, which is defined as a memory position. An actuating mechanism is actively connected to a seat back release for the forward tilted seat back and actuates the seat back release when the memory position of the seat frame is reached, thereby enabling the seat back to be tilted into a position of use once again.

The invention refers to a motor vehicle seat. This seat comprises a seat frame, a seating surface provided on the seat frame, and a seat back pivotally mounted to the seat frame which can be tilted in the direction of the seat surface of the seat frame in the released position of a seat back fixing device from its position of use (corresponding to the seat back tilted up) in order to trigger a so-called easy-entry function.
Such seats are used as front seats in motor vehicles whereby the forward tilting of the seat back facilitates the entry of a passenger or the sliding in of an object into the back of the motor vehicle. Entering the vehicle is also made easier, which is of significance in two-door vehicles, in that the seat can be moved forward after tilting the seat back forward. For this, a motor vehicle seat known from WO 00/55002 (see corresponding U.S. Pat. No. 6,631,952) comprises the following:
a seat frame;
a seating surface provided on the seat frame;
a seat back that is pivotally mounted on the seat frame and which can be tilted in the direction of the seating surface;
a longitudinal guide by which the seat frame is displaceable in the longitudinal direction of the seat for the adjustment of the longitudinal seat position,
a fixing device for fixing the seat frame in a previously set longitudinal seat position;
an actuation element for the releasing of the fixing device such that the seat frame is displaceable in the longitudinal direction of the seat;
a coupling mechanism for the coupling of the fixing device with the seat back that acts on the actuation element thus unlocking the fixing device when the seat back is tilted forward in direction of the seat surface;
a memory device by which the seat frame can be stopped in a movement in the longitudinal seat direction at a defined longitudinal seat position, whereby a stop moveable in the longitudinal seat direction engages a counterstop of the memory device;
an adjustment device of the memory device by which the memory position is adjustable by displacing the position of the counterstop in the longitudinal seat direction;
a locking device of the memory device for the locking of a preset memory position; and
switching means with which the locking device can be unlocked in order to set the memory position.
Such a seat provides the possibility to move the seat frame after forward tilting of the seat back in the direction of the seat surface, and thus the entire seat of the vehicle, to the front in order to facilitate the entry of a passenger into the rear of the car (easy-entry function). At the same time, the seat subsequently can be moved very simply back into its original longitudinal seat position if this longitudinal seat position is stored as a memory position in the memory device provided for this. In this case, when the seat is being moved backward, the seat frame is automatically stopped in the memory position, whereby a stop corresponding to the seat frame works in conjunction with a counterstop of the memory device.
In the motor vehicle seat known from WO 00/55002 (see corresponding U.S. Pat. No. 6,631,952), it is furthermore provided that the coupling mechanism that acts on the actuation element of the fixing device and releases it when the seat back is tilted forward in the direction of the seat surface acts on the actuation element only so long as the seat back is tilted forward. By locking the fixing device, the seat frame thus is blockable at any time when the seat back is no longer tilted forward, i.e., has been tilted back again into its use position. This means, in particular, that with the seat back tilted up, the blockability of the seat frame in a current longitudinal seat position is independent from whether the respective longitudinal seat position corresponds to the memory position or not.
The seat frame is defined here as all parts of the supporting seat construction moveable in the longitudinal direction of the seat, i.e., in particular, including those parts of the longitudinal seat guide, such as a seat rail (upper rail), that are moved in the longitudinal direction in an adjustment of the longitudinal seat position.

Easy-entry motor vehicle seat with seat back release upon return to memory position


A process for purifying low-purity metallurgical grade silicon, contains at least one contaminant and obtains a higher-purity solid polycrystalline silicon. The process includes containing a melt of low-purity metallurgical grade silicon in a mold having insulated bottom and side walls, and an open top; solidifying the melt by unidirectional solidification from the open top towards the bottom wall while electromagnetically stirring the melt; controlling a rate of the unidirectional solidification; stopping the unidirectional solidification when the melt has partially solidified to produce an ingot having an exterior shell including the higher-purity solid polycrystalline silicon and a center including an impurity-enriched liquid silicon; and creating an opening in the exterior shell of the ingot to outflow the impurity-enriched liquid silicon and leave the exterior shell which has the higher-purity solid polycrystalline silicon.

There are many and varied applications of silicon (Si), each application with its own particular specifications.
Most of the world production of metallurgical grade silicon goes to the steel and automotive industries, where it is used as a crucial alloy component. Metallurgical grade silicon is a silicon of low purity. Typically, metallurgical grade silicon that is about 98% pure silicon is produced via the reaction between carbon (coal, charcoal, pet coke) and silica (SiO2) at a temperature around 1700° C. in a process known as carbothermal reduction.
A small portion of the metallurgical grade Si is diverted to the semiconductor industry for use in the production of Si wafers, etc. However, the semiconductor industry requires silicon of ultra-high purity, e.g. electronic grade silicon (EG-Si) having approximately a 99.9999999% purity (9N). Metallurgical grade silicon must be purified to produce this electronic grade. However, the purification process is elaborate resulting in the higher cost of electronic grade silicon.
The photovoltaic (PV) industry requires silicon of a relatively high degree of purity for the production of photovoltaic cells, i.e. solar cells. The purity requirements of silicon for best performance in solar cell applications are:                boron (B)<3 ppmw,        phosphorus (P)<10 ppmw,        total metallic impurities<300 ppmw and preferably <150 ppmw.
Although the degree of silicon purity required by the photovoltaic industry is less than that of the semiconductor industry, an intermediate grade of silicon, i.e. solar grade (SoG-Si) silicon, with the necessary low boron and low phosphorus content is not readily commercially available. One current alternative is to use expensive ultra-high purity electronic grade silicon; this yields solar cells with efficiencies close to the theoretical limit but at a prohibitive price. Another alternative is to use less expensive "scrap" or off-specification supply of electronic grade silicon from the semiconductor industry. However, improvements in silicon chip productivity have resulted in a decrease in the "scrap" supply of electronic grade silicon available to the PV industry. Moreover, parallel growth of the semiconductor and photovoltaic industries has also contributed to the general short supply of electronic grade silicon.
Several methods of purifying low-grade silicon, i.e. raw silicon or metallurgical grade silicon, are known in the art.
In US 2005/0074388 it is mentioned that:
"For electronic and photovoltaic applications that require high degrees of purity, the method of producing finished products such as photoelectric cells or solar panels comprises a step to produce pure silicon from a basic material that is a silicon essentially with a low content of boron and phosphorus.
For a long time, declassified products derived from the production of electronic silicon have formed the main source of photovoltaic quality silicon, but this source is insufficient to supply the increasing market demand so that other silicon sources are necessary such as metallurgical silicon produced by carbothermal reduction of silica in a submerged electric arc furnace, for which the quality may be improved using various secondary metallurgy refining treatments, for example, refining with chlorine described in patent EP 0.720.967 (Pechiney Electrometallurgie). Thus, a silicon is produced satisfying specifications for example such as the following (% by weight):
Iron<0.30%;
Calcium<0.10%;
Aluminium<0.30%;
Boron 20 to 50 ppm;
Phosphorus 20 to 100 ppm.
The phosphorus content is very dependent on the reduction agents used. With charcoal, it is easy to obtain silicon with a phosphorus content of about 50 ppm; this type of silicon is used particularly for making silicones. With fossil reduction agents, a silicon with a phosphorus content of less than 25 ppm can be produced, for which the main application is manufacturing of aluminium-silicon alloys. However, the purity level of these two grades is still very different from the purity level required for electronic and photovoltaic applications.
Segregated solidification has been known for a long time, and can lower the contents of many impurity elements in silicon. However, this technique is not efficient in achieving the required boron and phosphorus purity levels, starting from the two grades mentioned above.
Thus, under the pressure of the increasing market demand, a large research effort was undertaken to make a silicon with a low boron and phosphorus content starting from metallurgical silicon, particularly using purification of silicon molten under plasma. These plasma treatment techniques were designed on a laboratory scale and it is difficult to transpose them to industrial scale as a result of technical difficulties encountered in making larger tools."
Also known in the art is U.S. Pat. No. 4,094,731, which discloses a process for producing crystalline silicon having an iron concentration less than about one-twentieth of the iron concentration of the mother liquor. Iron-contaminated silicon is introduced into a mould and the mould walls are maintained at a temperature sufficient to cause silicon crystalline growth. The mother liquor is agitated with a carbon rod stirrer or by bubbling a gas to wash the exposed surfaces of the growing silicon crystals and to prevent the freezing of the top surface of the mother liquor. A hollow crystalline silicon ingot is formed and both the inner zone centrally of the crystalline ingot and the outer zone adjacent to the mould wall are removed leaving an inner zone having an iron concentration less than one-twentieth of the iron concentration of the original mother liquor. However, neither boron nor phosphorous is removed by this process.
Over the past years a lot of effort has been put into the development of a process for making solar grade silicon at a competitive cost and on a large-scale. However, there is still a need for a process for the production of solar grade silicon on a large-scale basis.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Process for the production of medium and high purity silicon from metallurgical grade silicon


A character recognition method that is robust under an unknown illumination condition is provided. An apparatus for realizing such robust character recognition includes plural different binarization, means for synthesizing character sub-image candidates that have been obtained from the binarization units, and means for analyzing character sub-image candidates and for recognizing an image as a character string consisting of character sub-image candidates.

Conventionally, there are many known techniques for converting a document into electronic image data using a scanner and for subsequently recognizing characters in the data. In the implementation of these conventional techniques, it is often the case that the characters are black and the background is white. Moreover, because a scanner is used, the illumination is bright and does not have an unevenness, and, hence, a high-definition image can be obtained. Consequently, pixels constituting characters are likely to be dark, pixels constituting the background are likely to be bright, and the characters and the background can be separated by thresholding.
Recently, there is an emerging technology directed to the recognition of recognizing characters on signboards, indicators, etc. in a scene image captured by a digital camera. In this case, however, the illumination condition is unknown, and the colors of the characters and the background are diversified. Therefore, it is not possible to set a threshold for pixel values used for separating the characters and the background in advance, and the threshold may vary depending on the location. For this reason, separation of the characters from the background has been difficult.
For example, in a technique described a paper by Paul Clark and Majid Mirmehdi, entitled "Location and recovery of text on oriented surfaces," in SPIE conference on Document Recognition and Retrieval VII, pp. 267-277, The International Society for Optical Engineering, January 2000, on the assumption that Text Planes such as sheets of paper, signs, etc., on which characters are printed are rectangles, the Text Plane is detected automatically, and characters are detected. In this detection, the illumination on the Text Plane is assumed to be even. However, in actual practice, the real condition is not as set by the assumption, and there are many cases in which this method fails to produce satisfactory results because of illumination unevenness on the Text Plane.
[Non-Patent Document 1]
Paul Clark and Majid Mirmehdi, "Location and recovery of text on oriented surfaces," in SPIE conference on Document Recognition and Retrieval VII, pp. 267-277, The International Society for Optical Engineering, January 2000.

Method and apparatus for recognition of character string in scene image


Ultra-thin oxide layers are formed utilizing low pressure processing to achieve self-limiting oxidation of substrates and provide ultra-thin oxide. The substrates to be processed can contain an initial dielectric layer such as an oxide layer, an oxynitride layer, a nitride layer, a high-k layer, or alternatively can lack an initial dielectric layer. The processing can be carried out using a batch type process chamber or, alternatively, using a single-wafer process chamber. One embodiment of the invention provides self-limiting oxidation of Si-substrates that results in SiO2 layers with a thickness of about 15 A, where the thickness of the SiO2 layers varies less than about 1 A over the substrates.

Thin oxide (e.g., SiO2) and oxynitride (e.g., SiOxNy) layers are often used as dielectric layers at the Si surface of an integrated circuit. This is in part because of excellent electrical properties of the oxide and oxynitride layers, including high electron mobility and low electron trap densities. Semiconductor transistor technology is currently requiring oxide and oxynitride gate dielectric layers for conventional gate dielectric applications that are less than about 10-15 angstrom (A) thick, or as thin as 5-7 A for use as interface layers with high-dielectric constant materials (also referred to herein as high-k materials).
A native oxide layer that is typically a few angstrom thick, forms easily on clean Si surfaces, even at room temperature and atmospheric pressure. An oxide layer with a desired thickness that is larger than the native oxide thickness, can be grown through the native oxide layer, but usually the thickness uniformity and quality of the oxide layer is poor across the entire Si substrate.
Alternatively, the native oxide (or the chemical oxide) can be removed from Si surface prior to growing a new oxide layer. The native oxide layer can, for example, be removed using liquid baths containing dilute hydrofluoric acid (HF) or by using HF gas phase etching. A new oxide layer can then be re-grown on the clean Si surface by conventional thermal oxidation, but the initial oxidation can proceed quickly and result in poor thickness uniformity and inadequate electrical properties. For ultra-thin (<20 A) oxide layers used in transistor technologies, the leakage current is dominated by the tunneling current.

Formation of ultra-thin oxide layers by self-limiting interfacial oxidation

International Business Machines Corporation


A bone reamer has an ablation device for forming cavities in body tissue, the ablation device is movable with respect to a head of the reamer, and is capable of protruding at least partially beyond a surface of the head. The amount of protrusion the ablation device protrudes beyond the surface of the head has a variable geometry and the geometry is remotely modifiable. More particularly, the amount the ablation device extends beyond the outer surface of a reamer head body can be varied by an actuator located on the reamer outside the body.

The present invention relates to a bone reaming device, and in particular to a bone reaming device having an ablation device with a variable geometry, which geometry is remotely modifiable.
Surgeons are using minimally invasive surgical techniques on an increasing basis for the treatment of a wide variety of medical conditions. Such techniques typically involve the insertion of a surgical device through a natural body orifice or through a relatively small incision using a tube or cannula. In contrast, conventional surgical techniques typically involve a significantly larger incision and are therefore sometimes referred to as open surgery. Thus, as compared with conventional techniques, minimally invasive surgical techniques offer the advantages of minimizing trauma to healthy tissue, minimizing blood loss, reducing the risk of complications such as infection, and reducing recovery time. Further, certain minimally invasive surgical techniques can be performed under local anaesthesia or even, in some cases, without anaesthesia, and therefore enables surgeons to treat patients who would not tolerate the general anaesthesia required by conventional techniques.
Surgical procedures often require the formation of a cavity within either soft or hard tissue, including bone. Tissue cavities are formed for a wide variety of reasons, such as for the removal of diseased tissue, for harvesting tissue in connection with a biopsy or autogenous transplant, and for implant fixation. To achieve the benefits associated with minimally invasive techniques, tissue cavities should be formed by creating only a relatively small access opening in the target tissue. An instrument or device then can be inserted through the opening and used to form a hollow cavity that is significantly larger than the access opening. Depending on the specific application, the shape of the desired cavity can be spherical, hemispherical or cylindrical, or any number of different combinations or variations of such shapes.
A tissue cavitation device and method is, for example, known from US 2002/0183758 A1, describing a percutaneous surgical device and method for creating a cavity within tissue during a minimally invasive procedure. The cavitation device includes a shaft interconnected to a flexible cutting element. The flexible cutting element has a means to move toward a shape suitable for forming a cavity in tissue.
Further, a surgical rotary abrader is known from US 2003/0083681 A1, describing an apparatus for use as a surgical hand piece including a body, a rotatable shaft extending from the body and including a tissue contacting component such as a burr, and an outer tube connected to the body and surrounding at least a portion of the shaft.
However, presently known solutions for a reaming device lack of a capability of tracking particular forms of the cavity to be formed owing to the more or less fixed geometry of the head of such devices.


An electrical grounding device comprises an elongate shaft with plate members projecting radially outward from a lower region of the shaft. The shaft and plate members are made of an electrically-conductive material, and are connected such that an electric current can flow between the plates and the shaft. The device is installed by boring a hole into the earth to a selected depth less than the length of shaft above the plates. The grounding device is inserted into the borehole and driven into the earth below the borehole until the upper end of the shaft projects a desired distance above the adjacent earth surface, leaving the shaft projecting sufficiently to allow connection of grounding cables. The borehole is preferably filled with gravel or other suitable fill material, and water may be added to the fill to enhance electrical conductivity between the device and the earth.

For various well-known reasons, it is commonly necessary to use grounding electrodes to provide permanent electrical connections between metal structures and the earth. The most common type of grounding electrodes are grounding rods, typically 8 to 10 feet long, that are driven completely or almost completely into the earth. Electrical connections are made from the grounding rods to the structures being grounded, using suitable electrical conductors (e.g., grounding cables). Augered grounding rods are commonly used as alternatives to driven grounding rods.
An ideal grounding connection maintains zero voltage regardless of how much electrical current flows into or out of the earth. The quality of a grounding connection may be improved in a number of ways, by, for example:                increasing the surface area of grounding electrode coming into contact with the earth;        increasing the depth to which the grounding rod is driven or augered (in cases where the grounding electrode is a driven or augered grounding rod);        using multiple connected electrodes;        increasing the moisture content of the soil surrounding the electrode(s);        improving the conductive mineral content of the soil; and/or        increasing the earth surface area covered by the grounding system.
To ensure that a sufficient electrical connection from the grounded structure to the earth is achieved, it is commonly required by government regulation and/or industry practice that the electrical resistance between an installed grounding electrode and the earth must be less than 25 ohms, and this typically must be confirmed by testing before the grounding electrode is put into service. The factors influencing the level of electrical resistance developed between a grounding electrode and the earth include soil type and moisture conditions, which can vary over time. Generally speaking, the presence of moisture in the soil will increase electrical conductivity between a grounding electrode and the earth will be greater, resulting in lower electrical resistance (as previously noted).
Driven grounding rods have proven to be effective if properly installed, but proper installation is not always easy or even possible in some types of terrain and soil conditions. For example, if a grounding rod hits a rock while it is being driven into the earth, "mushrooming" can occur at one or both ends of the relatively soft steel rod, due to the increased axial force acting on the rod a result of impacting the rock. It is also known for driven grounding rods to be bent due to hitting underground rocks such that their path through the earth is deflected significantly as the rod-driving process continues. It is even known in such circumstances for grounding rods to be bent and deflected so much that their lower ends emerge above the earth surface a few feet from the insertion point. These and other installation defects and deficiencies can result in excessive resistance begin developed by an installed grounding rod, which may necessitate installation of a second rod bonded to the defectively-installed rod and electrically bonded thereto, in order to result in a satisfactorily-low resistance value for the complete installation.
However, even when soil conditions are readily conducive to grounding rod installation, the presence of buried utilities (e.g., gas lines, electrical power lines, water lines) can give rise to the risk of personal injury and expensive utility repair costs should such buried utilities be contacted or penetrated by grounding rods during the rod installation process. These latter risks can be mitigated or avoided by the use of grounding mats that do not have earth-penetrating elements, but such devices may have less than desired or optimal functional effectiveness, and they typically are not suitable in situations where permanent grounding is required.
Another practical disadvantage of the conventional 8-to-10-foot grounding rod is that a ladder or other means is needed to access the upper end of the rod to initiate the process of driving the rod into the earth. This is a safety concern, as workers have been injured after falling from an unstable ladder or other temporary support means while trying to pound a grounding rod into the earth.


A disk reproducing apparatus accommodating a plurality of disks capable of exchanging disks during reproduction and reducing a manufacture cost. A stocker 21 houses therein a plurality of disk holding units each for holding a disk. First transport means transports the disk holding unit between the outside of an apparatus housing and the stocker 21. Second transport means transports the disk holding unit between the stocker 21 and reproducing means. The stocker 21 is moved up and down to align the position of the disk holding unit with the position of the first or second transport means. The transport means driven later is first accommodated in the stocker under the conditions that disks are pulled out of the stocker by the first and second transport means.

As a conventional disk reproducing apparatus having a disk exchanger, a disk reproducing apparatus such as shown in FIG. 29 is known in which a magazine having disks inserted therein is loaded in the apparatus and a desired disk in the magazine is selected and reproduced. Such a disk reproducing apparatus requires an expensive magazine, posing a problem of high cost of the whole apparatus.
A disk pick-up position storage device for a disk reproducing apparatus using such a magazine, proposed by the present applicant in Japanese Utility Model Application No. 4-55178 (Japanese Utility Model Laid-open Publication No. 6-11154), is shown in FIGS. 30 and 31. This disk pick-up storage device is used for placing a disk at the original position in the magazine after the disk was pulled out of the magazine or the power is turned off after the disk was pulled out of the magazine. In FIG. 30, reference numeral 101 represents a magazine which has shelves for accommodating six disk trays 102, 102, . . . . The magazine 101 accommodates six disk trays on which disks 103 are placed. A case for mounting the magazine 101 and a lock mechanism are mounted on a chassis.
Reference numeral 104 represents a loading tray which is used for placing thereon a disk not accommodated in the magazine 101, can accommodate only one disk, and is transported between the inside of an apparatus housing shown in FIG. 30 and a position protruded from the housing. A loading chassis is constituted of a loading chassis top plate 106a on which a loading chassis left guide 106b and a loading chassis right guide 106c are fixedly mounted. This loading chassis is supported by pantograph mechanisms 107, 107, . . . movably up and down relative to the chassis.
A pin 106d is mounted upright on the loading chassis left guide 106b and engages with a cam groove 108a of a loading chassis lift plate 108 which is supported by a side chassis 105 and is made to become capable of sliding back and forth by an unrepresented gear meshing with a rack 108b. As the loading chassis lift plate 108 moves, the loading chassis moves up and down. The positions of shelves of the magazine 101 and the shelf of the loading tray 104 can be detected by light of a photo interrupter passing through holes 108c, 108c, . . . of the loading chassis lift plate 108.
An upward open recess of a loading arm 109 is fitted in a T-character shaped portion 106f at the bottom of the loading chassis left guide 106b, the loading arm 109 being made to become capable of sliding back and forth along the loading chassis left guide 106b and also to move up and down together with the loading chassis. A rod 110 engaging with a notch of the loading arm 109 is supported by the side chassis 105 and made movable back and forth by an unrepresented drive mechanism.
The loading arm 109 also engages with a notch of the disk tray 102 and driven by the rod 110 back and forth to move the disk tray 102 from the magazine 101 or loading tray 104 into grooves 106g of the loading chassis.
As shown in FIGS. 30 and 31, an engaging piece 111 is supported by the side chassis 105 and is made to become capable of sliding up and down. The engaging piece 111 is energized upward by a coil spring 112. The engaging piece 111 usually abuts against an unrepresented stopper. In this state, recesses 111a, 111a, . . . are at the height positions of the disk trays. The height position of the uppermost disk tray in the magazine 101 corresponds to an upper space of the engaging piece 111 and that of the lowermost disk tray in the loading tray 104 corresponds to a lower space of the engaging piece 111.
A stopper piece 113 is supported by the loading chassis left guide 106b and is made to become capable of sliding. The stopper piece 113 is energized by a coil spring 114 and is usually in tight contact with a step 106h of the loading chassis left guide 106b. In this state, a stopper portion 113a of the stopper piece 113 does not protrude into the recess 111a, and the engaging piece 111 is still even if the loading chassis moves up and down.
As the loading arm 109 moves the disk tray into the loading chassis, the rear end of the loading arm 109 pushes the lower front end (hidden in FIG. 31) of the stopper piece 113 and makes the stopper piece 113 protrude into the recess 111a.
Next, as the loading chassis moves down to a playing position, the loading chassis puts a disk on the disk tray on an unrepresented turntable, and a clamper 106e supported in a floating state by the loading chassis top plate 106a clamps the disk onto the turntable to start playing the disk.
In moving the disk back to the original position after playing, the loading chassis moves up together with the engaging piece 111. At this raised position, a projection 111b of the engaging piece 111 makes a lever 115 rotatively supported by the side chassis 105 rotate in the clockwise direction to activate a microswitch 116 so that a rise end position (a position slightly lower than the position where the disk tray is moved from the magazine into the loading chassis) is detected. However, if the disk in the loading tray 104 is played, since the stopper piece 113a is lower than the engaging piece 111, the engaging piece 111 will not move down even if the stopper piece 113 moves down together with the loading chassis and the microswitch 116 is in the activated state. Therefore, the rise end position of the loading chassis can be detected by an output of the microswitch 116.
Immediately after the rise end position (position at which the microswitch 116 is activated) of the loading chassis is detected, light passing through the hole 108c, 108c, . . . of the loading chassis lift plate 108 is detected by the photo interrupter and the loading chassis lift plate 108 is stopped. When the loading chassis lift plate 108 is stopped, the disk tray in the loading chassis is at the original height position of the magazine. As the loading arm 109 moves, the disk tray is moved back to the original position of the magazine. More specifically, the loading chassis moves up together with the stopper piece 113 and loading arm, and when it comes to the height same as the disk dray 102 in the loading tray, it stops. Then, the loading arm 109 moves the disk tray 102 into the loading chassis. At this time, the stopper portion 113a of the stopper piece 113 enters the recess 111a at the height position same as the engaging piece 111, or moves lower than the engaging piece. In this state, the engaging piece 111 is the highest rise position and the microswitch 116 is in the activated state (on-state).
As the loading chassis lowers together with the engaging piece 111 in order to lower the disk to the playing position, the microswitch 116 turns off. In moving the disk back into the magazine after the reproduction, the loading chassis moves up and the microswitch 116 turns on. At this time, the loading chassis is nearly at the height position before it lowers. Immediately after the microswitch 116 turns on, the photo interrupter detects the hole 108c of the loading chassis lift plate 108 so that the loading chassis stops rising.
If the engaging piece 111 does not lower (when the disk tray 102 in the loading tray 104 is moved into the loading chassis) even if the loading chassis lowers the disk to the reproduction position, the microswitch 116 maintains on. In this case, the loading chassis stops rising at a timing when the photo interrupter first detects the hole 108c of the loading chassis lift plate 108 as the loading chassis moves up.
In playing another disk, the loading chassis is moved up and down in the state that the loading arm 109 moves into the magazine, to engage with the disk tray of the disk next played and pull the disk out of the magazine.
If the microswitch 116 is not in the activated state when the power of the disk reproducing apparatus is turned on, the loading chassis is raised after interrupter detects the hole 108c of the loading chassis lift plate 108. If the photo interrupter does not detect the hole 108c of the loading chassis lift plate 108 even if the microswitch 116 is activated, the loading chassis is raised until the hole 108c is detected. Thereafter, the initial state of the apparatus is recovered by moving the disk dray to the original position in the magazine by moving the loading arm 109.
With this disk reproducing apparatus, the loading arm 109 pulls only one disk out of the magazine. The pull-out position is stored as the position where the stopper piece 113 engages with the recess 111a, 111a, . . . of the engaging piece 111. However, this method of mechanically storing the pull-out position of the disk in the magazine poses a problem of a need of the above-described complicated mechanism.
As another disk reproducing apparatus having a disk exchanger, a disk reproducing apparatus disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication No. 4-38673 is shown in FIG. 32. A stocker shown in FIG. 32 stores a plurality of carriers each capable of placing a disk thereon. The stocker is moved up and down by stocker transport means to a height position allowing a desired carrier to be pulled out by a tray. Specifically, the stocker is moved by a distance corresponding to the number of shelves for housing carriers.
The tray is transported between a load position shown in FIGS. 32(a) and 32(b) and an eject position shown in FIGS. 32(c). The carrier having a desired disk placed thereon is placed on a tray at the load position, and the disk is clamped by clamping means to reproduce the disk as shown in FIG. 32(b). As the tray with the carrier moves from the position shown in FIG. 32(a) to the position shown in FIG. 32(c), the carrier on the tray is exposed to the outside of the apparatus housing. In this state, the disk on the carrier is exchanged or a new disk is placed on the carrier. As the tray with the carrier moves from the position shown in FIG. 32(c) to the position shown in FIG. 32(a) and the carrier on the tray is moved back to the stocker, the disk can be exchanged or a new disk can be added to the apparatus. This disk reproducing apparatus is advantageous over a conventional disk reproducing apparatus with an exchanger in that the disk magazine is not used. The disk magazine is expensive, and if it is dismounted from the apparatus and placed at a different position, it takes some time to locate this disk magazine. This is inconvenient to use.
However, this disk reproducing apparatus disclosed in the above-described Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication No. 4-38673 has only one means for pulling a carrier out of the stocker. Therefore, a disk in the stocker cannot be exchanged during the reproduction when the carrier is at the position of reproducing means.
The invention has been made under the above circumstances. It is an object of the present invention to provide a disk reproducing apparatus capable of housing a disk in a stocker even if the power is turned off while the disk is pulled out of the stocker, without using complicated mechanisms and a battery backed up memory or the like.
It is another object of the present invention to provide means for housing a disk in a stocker without using a battery backed up memory or the like, for a disk reproducing apparatus having first and second disk transport means allowing disks to be exchanged during reproduction.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a disk reproducing apparatus capable of exchanging disks in a stocker even during reproduction of a disk.
A disk reproducing apparatus of this invention comprises: a stocker capable of accommodating a plurality of disks; reproducing means for reproducing a disk; transport means for transporting a disk between the stocker and the outside of an apparatus housing or the reproducing means; position aligning means for aligning relative positions of a disk and the transport means; and control means, wherein if the power of the apparatus is turned on while the transport means transports one disk to the outside of the apparatus housing and another disk to a reproduction position, the control means controls to accommodate the one disk in the stocker and thereafter accommodate the other disk in the stocker.
According to another aspect of the invention, upon a request of transporting another disks to the reproducing means under the conditions that the transport means transports one disks to the outside of the housing, the control means controls to accommodate the one disk at the outside of the housing in the stocker and thereafter transport the other disk to the reproducing means.
According to another aspect of the invention, upon an instruction of accommodating at least one of one disk and another disk in the stocker under the conditions that the transport means transports the one disk to the outside of the housing and the other disk to the reproducing means, the control means controls to first accommodate the disk transported later, into the stocker.


An elevator with an all optical control apparatus having a control unit with a light source, a photodetector, an optical feeding fiber, and an optical feedback fiber. The light source is coupled to the optical feeding fiber and the optical feedback fiber is coupled to the photodetector. The all optical control apparatus further includes a member that can be manually actuated. The member has a fiber input and a fiber output. The fiber input is optically coupled to the optical feeding fiber and the fiber output is optically coupled to the optical feedback fiber. The member, when actuated, influences a light path between the fiber input and the fiber output in a manner that is detectable at the photodetector.

The present invention concerns an elevator having an optical system for initiating or triggering a function, such as a call for an elevator cabin.
In some elevator installations optical fibers are used to transmit information from a machine room control unit to an elevator display device, but these optical fibers have not fully replaced the electrical wiring and power lines required for power supply purposes and for signal transmission. The electrical supply is for example required to drive electronic information processing circuits and devices at the elevator landing area sites. In addition, certain elements at the elevator landing area sites and/or inside the elevator cabin require an electrical power supply. In consequence, the installation of these types of elevator installations is tedious, costly and error prone.
An example of an elevator with fiber-based optical information and power transmission is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,623,869. In this patent, light pulses are transmitted via an optical fiber to a boarding area site where they are converted into electrical energy by means of a photoelectric transducer. Information is transmitted via the same fiber in the form of different pulses. These pulses are forwarded to a beam deflection unit which projects the optical information onto a viewing screen. The beam deflection unit is electro-mechanically operated, that is, it requires electrically powered devices. According to this US patent, electrical energy is converted into optical energy before it is transmitted through the fiber. At the receiving end, the optical energy is converted back into electrical energy, or electrical energy is required to mechanically deflect the optical beam onto the viewing screen. Such a hybrid approach is complex and expensive.
There are other examples of elevator installations that require a conversion from electrical into optical energy and at the receiving end a conversion back into electrical energy. One example is given in the Japanese patent application JP2002348067A.
Yet another approach is addressed in the Japanese patent application JP2002062387A. This Japanese patent application discloses an elevator where a button is illuminated by a lamp that is spaced apart from the button in order to prevent the lamp from being destroyed by vibrations inside the button. The lamp is connected to the button by means of an optical fiber.
All systems and approaches known so far are hybrid systems, where conversions from an electrical to an optical regime and from the optical to the electrical regime are required.
Conventional systems use too much space and are interference prone. Depending on the implementation, special communication protocols are required for communication between the control unit in the elevator's machine room and the panels on the different landing floors. Traveling direction devices and other indicators have the same problem.

Elevator with a control using optical fibers


A method for monitoring communications between a device under test (DUT) and an automated test equipment (ATE) is disclosed. The method comprises programming an interface core and a protocol analyzer module onto a programmable logic device, wherein the programmable logic device is controlled by a system controller and is operable to generate commands and data to test a DUT, wherein the interface core is operable to generate signals to communicate with the DUT using a protocol associated with the DUT. The method also comprises monitoring data and command traffic associated with the protocol in the interface core using the protocol analyzer module and storing results associated with the monitoring in a memory comprised within the protocol analyzer module. The method finally comprises transmitting the results upon request to an application program associated with the protocol analyzer module executing on the system controller.

Automated test equipment (ATE) can be any testing assembly that performs a test on a semiconductor device or electronic assembly. ATE assemblies may be used to execute automated tests that quickly perform measurements and generate test results that can then be analyzed. An ATE assembly may be anything from a computer system coupled to a meter, to a complicated automated test assembly that may include a custom, dedicated computer control system and many different test instruments that are capable of automatically testing electronics parts and/or semiconductor wafer testing, such as system-on-chip (SOC) testing or integrated circuit testing. ATE systems both reduce the amount of time spent on testing devices to ensure that the device functions as designed and serve as a diagnostic tool to determine the presence of faulty components within a given device before it reaches the consumer.
FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram of a conventional automatic test equipment body 100 for testing certain typical DUTs e.g. a semiconductor memory device such as a DRAM. The ATE includes an ATE body 100 with hardware bus adapter sockets 110A-110N. Hardware bus adapter cards 110A-110N specific to a particular communication protocol, e.g. PCIe, USB, SATA, SAS etc., connect to the hardware bus adapter sockets provided on the ATE body and interface with the DUTs via cables specific to the respective protocol. The ATE body 100 also includes a tester processor 101 with an associated memory 108 to control the hardware components built into the ATE body 100 and to generate the commands and data necessary to communicate with the DUTs being tested through the hardware bus adapter cards. The tester processor 101 communicates with the hardware bus adapter cards over system bus 130. The tester processor may be programmed to include certain functional blocks including a pattern generator 102 and a comparator 106. Alternatively, the pattern generator 102 and comparator 106 may be hardware components mounted on an expansion or adapter card that plug into the ATE body 100.
The ATE body 100 tests the electrical functions of the DUTs 112A-112N connected to the ATE body 100 through hardware bus adapters plugged into the hardware bus adapter sockets of the ATE body 100. Accordingly, the tester processor 101 is programmed to communicate the test programs to be executed on the DUTs using the protocol unique to the hardware bus adapters. Meanwhile, the other hardware components built into the ATE body 100 communicate signals with each other and with the DUTs according to test programs operating in the tester processor 101.
The test program run by the tester processor 101 may include a function test which involves writing input signals created by the pattern generator 102 to the DUTs, reading out the written signals from the DUTs and using the comparator 106 to compare the output with the expected patterns. If the output does not match the input, the tester processor 101 will identify the DUT as being defective. For example, if the DUT is a memory device such as a DRAM, the test program will write data generated by the pattern generator 102 to the DUT using a Write Operation, read data from the DRAM using a Read Operation and compare the expected bit pattern with the read pattern using the comparator 106.
In conventional systems, the tester processor 101 needs to contain the functional logic blocks to generate the commands and test patterns used in testing the DUTs, such as the pattern generator 102 and the comparator 106, programmed in software directly on the processor. However, in some instances certain functional blocks such as the comparator 106 may be implemented on a field programmable gate array (FPGA), which is an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) type semiconductor device that can program logic circuits according to a user's demand.
The FPGAs used in conventional systems rely on the tester processor 101 to transfer the commands and test patterns to the FPGA, which the FPGA in turn relays over to the DUTs. Because the tester processor, and not the FPGA, is responsible for generating the commands and test patterns, the number and type of DUTs that can be tested with a given ATE body is limited by the processing capabilities and programming of the tester processor. Where the tester processor generates all the commands and test patterns, bandwidth constraints on the system bus 130 connecting the tester processor to the various hardware components, including any FPGA devices and hardware bus adapter sockets, also places an upper limit on the number of DUTs that can tested simultaneously.
Also, in conventional systems, the communication protocol used to communicate with the DUTs is fixed because the hardware bus adapter cards that plug into the ATE body 100 are single purpose devices that are designed to communicate in only one protocol and cannot be reprogrammed to communicate in a different protocol. For example, an ATE body configured to test PCIe devices will have hardware bus adapter cards plugged into the body that support only the PCIe protocol. In order to test DUTs supporting a different protocol, e.g., Universal Flash Storage (UFS) the user would ordinarily need to replace the PCIe hardware bus adapter cards with bus adapter cards supporting the UFS protocol. Unless the PCIe hardware bus adapter cards are physically substituted with cards supporting the other protocol, such a system can only test DUTs that support the PCIe protocol. Thus, on the test floor, critical time is consumed replacing hardware bus adapter cards when DUTs running a different protocol from the one that the existing adapter cards support need to be tested.
Another drawback of conventional ATE systems relates to the test equipment required to test whether the ATE systems are communicating properly with the DUTs. Typically, ATE is used to test anywhere from one to several hundred devices under the test (DUTs) at the same time. In order to verify that the ATE is communicating properly with the DUTs, workbench equipment such as oscilloscopes and protocol analyzer can be used. These devices are typically bulky, cumbersome and inordinately expensive. Further, they require highly trained engineers to use and to interpret the data. As a result, these devices are not generally suitable for production facilities.
Protocol analyzers, for example, are passive diagnostic tools that collect, organize, and display protocol traffic occurring on a serial link. Protocol analyzers use large amounts of memory to store the traffic, typically many gigabytes. The stored traffic represents one of two forms of data: raw and protocol. In raw mode, the protocol analyzer saves the serial data bit for bit in its memory. In protocol mode, the protocol analyzer first decodes and descrambles the data prior to saving the data to memory. In both cases, the protocol analyzer uses a prohibitively large amount of memory to store all the diagnostic data for an engineer to be able to analyze.
Further, protocol analyzers require an electrical component, such as a probe, to be inserted into the signal path. The probe is able to monitor the signals carrying the protocol without interfering with those signals. The probe directs a copy of those signals to the protocol analyzer without deteriorating the signal itself. The challenge of using a conventional protocol analyzer with certain ATE systems is that the ATE system may be connected to hundreds of devices and may be able to communicate with each of the devices simultaneously. There would be no practical way to physically insert the hundreds of probes into the signal paths and the associated cabling would likely be unmanageable. Also, the cost would be prohibitive. Commercial protocol analyzers are prohibitively expensive and supporting hundreds of such protocol analyzers is simply not feasible in a test environment.
Accordingly, while there may be situations where it may be useful to have standard protocol analyzers, realistically, financial, space and memory constraints may limit the ability to have one. In such cases, lab engineers are not left with many choices for monitoring the signaling and communication link between the ATE and the DUTs.
An additional drawback associated with conventional ATE is that they typically only report pass/fail results or nominal information about the testing results. In other words, the ATE reports whether one or more devices under test (DUTs) passed or failed the respective test being executed with nominal information regarding the pass/fail results. The ATE is not configured to identify root causes of device failure that occur during qualification testing. Typically, the ATE will not have any hardware or software-based tools built into it that would enable engineers to easily diagnose problems with the DUTs.
In a typical testing environment, the engineers operating the ATE will need to identify the cause of failure manually by collecting data logs and performing analysis on the logs. This approach is labor intensive, error prone and not scalable. It may also not yield the desired result since there may not be enough information available to the engineers to determine which data logs to analyze or how to find the root causes of device failure within the data logs. Further, traditional ATE systems do not contain any intelligence built into the hardware that would help engineers capture and automatically interpret and analyze diagnostic information pertaining to the tests.

Integrated protocol analyzer configured within automated test equipment (ate) hardware


A semiconductor device 110 has a plurality of memory cell blocks provided with a plurality of memory cells storing a predetermined amount of data. Each memory cell block has four or more inputs and outputs, and is internally provided with a read address decoder to the memory cell and a sense amplifier for amplifying a voltage in outputting outside. Each memory cell block is structured so as to store a truth table data for outputting a desired logic value in response to a specified address input, thereby operating as a logic circuit. The memory cell has a read word line correspondingly to the read address decoder. In the case when a voltage is applied to the read word line, the data that is held at that time is read from a read data line. The memory cell blocks are connected to each other such that the four or more outputs from one memory cell block are inputted to other four or more memory cell blocks through the sense amplifier.

Conventionally, semiconductor devices such as LSI (Large Scale Integration) have been manufactured through a number of processes, including functional design, logic circuit design, wafer manufacturing, assembly, and so forth. These manufacturing processes have been suitable for mass production of the same product, but have been unsuitable for small-lot production of various products due to the high cost.
Consequently, manufacturing technologies of semiconductor devices such as FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array) have been developed to allow customers to use identical, mass-manufactured semiconductor devices as different products. FPGA refers to a semiconductor device such as a LSI or the like, in which a logic circuit can be programmed after manufacturing.
However, since FPGA is constructed from a variety of components, such as a logic circuit, wirings, and switches, and so forth, there has been a problem in that it requires a multilayer wiring configuration on a semiconductor process, as well as highly-sophisticated manufacturing technology.
As a solution, a new technique that allows a memory to operate as a logic circuit has been developed.
For example, Patent Reference 1 discloses a technique regarding a semiconductor device in which a plurality of memories are connected by wirings and predetermined truth values are written in the memory so as to output predetermined data in response to predetermined address input, thereby operating as a logic circuit.
Meanwhile, Patent Reference 2 discloses a technique regarding a semiconductor device in which truth table data are written in a memory, such as Static Random Access Memory (SRAM) or the like, and an address is taken as input and data as output, thereby operating as a logic circuit.    Patent Reference 1: Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2003-149300    Patent Reference 2: Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2003-224468


An absorbent article is disclosed comprising a central absorbent member, an outer absorbent member, and a central rising member for urging the central absorbent member toward the body of the user when compressed laterally inward by the legs of the user. The article is able to achieve good center-fill performance when in use and maintain excellent body fit. Also disclosed is a lateral wicking barrier for inhibition of wicking from the central regions of the article to an outlying outer absorbent member. The combination of a wicking barrier isolating the central absorbent member from the longitudinal sides of the article and a central rising member urging the central absorbent member toward the body yields an article with excellent absorbency and leakage protection.

To prevent leakage of body exudates from absorbent articles such as feminine care pads or napkins and disposable diapers, it is desirable that the exudates not reach the edges of the absorbent material in the article. A xe2x80x9ccenter fillxe2x80x9d strategy is desirable for leakage control, wherein fluids are preferentially held in a central region of the article. Unfortunately, in traditional absorbent articles, there is generally no barrier to bulk flow or capillary wicking from the target region to the edges of the article, so leaking from the edges of the article is a persistent problem. Thus, in traditional articles, fluid entering the center of the article still has the potential to travel to the sides and leak. Flow from the center to the sides can be especially rapid when the article is compressed, bringing the wet central portion of the article in contact with absorbent material at the sides of the article.
What is needed is an article with good center fill performance that can reduce leakage to the sides of the article. Further, the article should offer excellent body fit through a three-dimensional topography that becomes more pronouncedly three-dimensional when the article is worn and compressed between the legs of the wearer while still maintaining comfort.
It has been discovered that improved body fit and leakage control can be obtained in absorbent articles by providing an absorbent core comprising an outer absorbent member and a central absorbent member operatively associated with a central rising member. The central rising member, described more fully hereafter, is an element which deflects upwards when laterally compressed from the side. The central absorbent member is operatively associated with the central rising member such that the upward deflection of the central rising member also causes the central absorbent member to deflect upward (i.e., toward the source of fluid exudates to be absorbed). In addition, a wicking barrier is incorporated between the outer absorbent member and central absorbent member. The wicking barrier can be an impermeable film or a liquid pervious web offering substantial resistance to wicking and flow.
Desirably, the wicking barrier has a vertical component spanning a vertical distance between the central absorbent member and the outer absorbent member, and also desirably, has a horizontal component spanning a distance on the body-side surface of the outer absorbent member.
The horizontal component or xe2x80x9cledgexe2x80x9d that is part of the wicking barrier in preferred embodiments helps prevent contact between the outer absorbent member and the central absorbent member when the article is bunched together during use. The combination of improved body fit due to the action of the central rising member and the fluid isolation of the central absorbent member by the wicking barrier results in a particularly efficient absorbent article with reduced potential for leakage. The wicking barrier can also help control the geometry of the absorbent article when in use under dynamic conditions, permitting flexure or folding such that the central absorbent member is deflected toward the body. When the outer absorbent member is provided with a central void, as hereinafter described, the wicking barrier desirably lines all or a portion of the walls of the central void.
The ledge can also provide increased stability, strength, and resiliency to an absorbent article. This is particularly so when the ledge is adhesively or otherwise attached to the cover or topsheet of an absorbent article and/or to one or more elements of the absorbent core. A problem in some previous attempts at providing isolated chambers in an absorbent article is that a film or other barrier between adjacent chambers eliminates the fiber-fiber bonding or entanglement between fibers that holds an absorbent core together, resulting in an absorbent core which can come apart in tension or compression or during bending. In preferred embodiments of the present invention, the ledge of the wicking barrier is easily attached to the cover and can further be attached to either or both of the central absorbent member and the outer absorbent member adhesively, by thermal or ultrasonic bonds, or by other attachment means known to one skilled in the art. By geometric considerations alone, a wicking barrier with a ledge can effectively hold the central absorbent member in place between the wicking barrier and the cover when the ledge is attached to the cover or to the surface of the outer absorbent member.
Desirably, the ledge (the horizontal component of the wicking barrier) covers about 30% or more, specifically about 50% or more and most specifically about 80% or more of the body-side surface of the outer absorbent member along the transverse axis of the article, with essentially 100% coverage in the target zone being desirable in many embodiments.
The central absorbent member can be formed from any known absorbent material such as cellulosic fibrous webs and the like. It generally is the primary absorbent component of the article and is at least partially surrounded by an outer absorbent member a width (taken as the total edge-to-edge span in the transverse direction) greater than the width of the central absorbent member.
The outer absorbent member typically serves as a frame or shaping element for the absorbent article, in part by virtue of its ability to remain dry and resilient in use. The outer absorbent member can also serve as a backup absorbent reservoir when the central absorbent member is becoming saturated or threatened with leakage. The outer absorbent member can be both wider and longer than the central absorbent member, and has a central void for receiving at least a portion of the central absorbent member and optionally for receiving the central rising member. In the target zone, folding of the outer absorbent member in use coupled with the upward deflection of the central absorbent member generally results in a W-shaped absorbent article well suited for maintaining good body fit and for absorbing fluids effectively from the body of the wearer.
The central rising member can be operatively associated with the central absorbent member in several ways. The central rising member can be disposed below the central absorbent member, either in direct contact with the central absorbent member or with a wicking barrier or other element disposed therebetween. Alternatively, the central rising member can be a structure embedded within the absorbent material of the absorbent core and specifically within the central absorbent member, capable of upwardly deflecting the central absorbent member or at least the absorbent material in the central absorbent member that lies above the central rising member. Also alternatively, the central rising member itself can be an absorbent component of the central absorbent member or can be the major component of the central absorbent member, forming at least the predominant part of the central absorbent member. Thus, the central rising member can rise toward the body in response to lateral compression and then directly absorb body exudates.
Further improvements in body fit and deformation of the article in use can be achieved by adding additional features to the articles of the present invention. For example, improved deformation can also be promoted or assisted by one or more shaping lines and/or one or more crease lines in the absorbent core. A crease line lies away from the longitudinal centerline and promotes downward folding or bending of the article along the crease line (e.g., a valley fold) during lateral compression from the longitudinal sides of the article. A shaping line resides in the central absorbent member and promotes upward folding or bending (e.g., a mountain fold) during lateral compression from the longitudinal sides of the article. A shaping line coupled with at least two crease lines works to establish a W-fold geometry in the article when laterally compressed, offering good control over the upward deflection of a central absorbent member in the absorbent core. Crease lines and shaping lines, as defined therein, will be generally referred to hereafter as xe2x80x9cbending lines.xe2x80x9d
Hence, in one aspect, the invention resides in an absorbent article having two longitudinal sides and a target zone, comprising:
a) a liquid impervious backsheet;
b) a liquid pervious topsheet attached to the backsheet; and
c) an absorbent core positioned between the topsheet and the backsheet, the absorbent core comprising an outer absorbent member, a central absorbent member operatively associated with a central rising member, and a wicking barrier disposed between the outer absorbent member and the central absorbent member, the outer absorbent member having a width in the target zone greater than the width of the central absorbent member in the target zone, whereby lateral compression of the absorbent core from the longitudinal sides causes the central rising member to deflect the central absorbent member away from the backsheet.
In another aspect, the invention resides in an absorbent article having a target zone, a longitudinal direction, a transverse direction, and a vertical direction substantially normal to both the longitudinal and transverse directions, the absorbent article comprising:
a) an absorbent core having a central absorbent member and an outer shaping member, the outer shaping member defining a central void for receiving at least a portion of the central absorbent member, whereby an interface is defined between the central absorbent member and the outer shaping member, the interface spanning a vertical distance,
b) a wicking barrier disposed along the interface between the central absorbent member and the outer absorbent member; and
c) at least one of a central rising member and a central inflatable member disposed beneath the central absorbent member.
In another aspect, the invention resides in an absorbent article comprising a topsheet, a backsheet joined to the topsheet, an absorbent core disposed between the backsheet and the topsheet, the absorbent core comprising a central absorbent member operatively associated with a central rising member, the central rising member having longitudinal sides and a longitudinally central hinge dividing the central rising member into a first portion and second portion, the article (or more specifically, the absorbent core) further comprising attachment means in cooperative relationship with the central rising member, wherein application of inwardly lateral compressive force to the longitudinal sides of the central rising member causes the central rising member to deflect upward along the longitudinally central hinge, and wherein the attachment means holds the central rising member in an upwardly deflected state when the inwardly lateral compressive force is relaxed.
In the absorbent article of the above embodiment, the central rising member can further comprise a garment-side surface, and the attachment means can comprise a first attachment section on the garment-side surface of the first portion of the central rising member and a second attachment section on the garment-side surface of the second portion of the central rising member, wherein the first attachment section connects to the second attachment section when the garment-side surface of the first portion of the central rising member is brought into contacting relationship with the garment-side surface of the second portion of the central rising member. The attachment means can comprise a mechanical attachment means such as a hook and loop system disposed on the garment-side surface of the central rising member. The attachment means can also be a ratchet-and-prawl analog, wherein the longitudinal sides of the central rising member such as an absorbent web superposed over a narrow pledget engage elevated ratchet-like structures (depressions, elevated barriers, grooves, and the like) on the surface of a resilient wicking barrier, wherein lateral compression of the absorbent web can move the longitudinal sides of the absorbent web closer to the longitudinal centerline, whereupon the longitudinal sides of the absorbent web can then be restrained by the ratchet-like wicking barrier to hold the absorbent web in an upwardly flexed state even after lateral compressive forces are removed or relaxed.
In another aspect, the invention resides in a method for producing an absorbent article having a central absorbent member, the method comprising:
a) preparing an outer absorbent member, wherein the outer absorbent member has a central void;
b) disposing a wicking barrier over the outer absorbent member;
c) disposing a central absorbent member in the central void and over a portion of the wicking barrier;
d) disposing a central rising member beneath the central absorbent member;
e) disposing a backsheet beneath the central rising member and beneath the outer absorbent member;
f) disposing a topsheet above the central absorbent member and the outer absorbent member; and
g) attaching the topsheet to the backsheet.
In yet another aspect, the invention resides in a method for producing an absorbent article having a central absorbent member, the method comprising:
a) preparing an outer absorbent member, wherein the outer absorbent member has a central void;
b) disposing a central rising member in the central void;
c) disposing a layer of a flexible barrier material over the central void; and
d) inserting a section of absorbent material into the central void and over the barrier material to form a central absorbent member, such that a portion of the barrier material separates the central absorbent member from the outer absorbent member along a vertical distance.
The above method may further comprise disposing a backsheet beneath the absorbent core; disposing a topsheet above the absorbent core; and attaching a portion of the topsheet to a portion of the backsheet.
In yet another aspect, the invention resides in a method for producing an absorbent article having a central absorbent member, a garment side, and a body side, the method comprising:
a) providing a section of an absorbent web;
b) slitting the absorbent web longitudinal to form a central strip and two side strips;
c) placing a composite insert beneath the central strip and above the two side strips, the composite insert having a width greater then the width of the central strip, the composite insert comprising a wicking barrier attached to a central rising member, the central rising member being placed beneath the central strip, wherein the central strip, the two side strips, and the composite insert form an absorbent core having a garment side and a body side;
d) joining a backsheet to the garment side of the absorbent core;
e) disposing a topsheet above the absorbent core; and
f) attaching the topsheet to the backsheet.
Possible uses of the present invention include absorbent articles for intake, distribution, and retention of human body fluids. Examples include feminine care pads and related catamenial devices or sanitary napkins, including xe2x80x9cultra-thinxe2x80x9d pads and pantiliners and maxipads. Likewise, the present invention can be applied to diapers, disposable training pants, other disposable garments such as swimming garments, incontinence articles, bed pads, medical absorbents, wound dressings or other absorbent articles. The articles of the present invention provide significant leakage protection, fluid center-fill absorptive performance, and other desirable attributes for absorbent articles.
xe2x80x9cAbsorbency Under Loadxe2x80x9d (AUL) is a measure of the liquid retention capacity of a material under a mechanical load. It is determined by a test which measures the amount in grams of an aqueous solution, containing 0.9 weight percent sodium chloride, a gram of a material can absorb in 1 hour under an applied load or restraining force of about 2 kPa (0.3 pound per square inch).
The AUL apparatus comprises a Demand Absorbency Tester (DAT) as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,147,343, issued Sep. 15, 1992 to Kellenberger, herein incorporated by reference, which is similar to a GATS (Gravimetric Absorbency Test System), available from M/K Systems, Danners, Mass.
As used herein, a material is said to be xe2x80x9cabsorbentxe2x80x9d if it can retain an amount of water equal to at least 100% of its dry weight as measured by the test for Intrinsic Absorbent Capacity given below (i.e., the material has an Intrinsic Absorbent Capacity of at about 1 or greater). Desirably, the absorbent materials used in the absorbent members of the present invention have an Intrinsic Absorbent Capacity of about 2 or greater, more specifically about 4 or greater, more specifically still about 7 or greater, and more specifically still about 10 or greater, with exemplary ranges of from about 3 to about 30 or from about 4 to about 25 or from about 12 to about 40.
As used herein, xe2x80x9cabsorbent capacityxe2x80x9d refers to the total mass of water that a specified quantity of absorbent material can hold, and is simply the Intrinsic Absorbent Capacity multiplied by the dry mass of the absorbent material. Thus 10 g of material having an Intrinsic Absorbent Capacity of 5 has an absorbent capacity of 50 g (or about 50 ml of fluid).
As used herein, xe2x80x9cbulkxe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9cdensity,xe2x80x9d unless otherwise specified, are based on an oven-dry mass of a sample and a thickness measurement made at a load of 0.34 kPa (0.05 psi) with a 7.62-cm (three-inch) diameter circular platen. Thickness measurements of samples are made in a TAPPI-conditioned room (50% relative humidity and 23xc2x0 C.) after conditioning for at least four hours. Samples should be essentially flat and uniform under the area of the contacting platen. Bulk is expressed as volume per mass of fiber in cc/g and density is the inverse, g/cc.
As used herein, the term xe2x80x9ccellulosicxe2x80x9d is meant to include any material having cellulose as a major constituent, and specifically comprising at least 50 percent by weight cellulose or a cellulose derivative. Thus, the term includes cotton, typical wood pulps, nonwoody cellulosic fibers, cellulose acetate, cellulose triacetate, rayon, thermomechanical wood pulp, chemical wood pulp, debonded chemical wood pulp, milkweed, or bacterial cellulose.
As used herein, xe2x80x9cCentral Elevationxe2x80x9d is defined as the height difference between the center of the central absorbent member along the transverse centerline of the article and the average height of the longitudinal sides of the central absorbent member along the transverse centerline of the article at the end of the Vertical Deformation Test hereinafter described. The Central Elevation for absorbent articles of the present invention can be at least about 0.5 cm, specifically at least about 1 cm, and more specifically at least about 1.2 cm and up to about 10 cm. Desirably, an absorbent article of the present invention exhibits an increase in Central Elevation in the crotch region of at least about 20%, and more specifically at least about 50%, relative to the Central Elevation in the crotch region exhibited by an essentially identical absorbent article without a shaping line.
As used herein, the xe2x80x9ccrotch regionxe2x80x9d of an absorbent article refers to the generally central region that will be in contact with the crotch of the user, near the lowermost part of the torso, and resides between the front and rear portions of the article. Typically the crotch region contains the transverse centerline of the article and generally spans approximately 7 to 10 cm in the longitudinal direction.
Many articles of the present invention are intended to be worn in the crotch of a wearer, and thus have crotch regions. However, the present invention can also be applied to other articles such as underarm pads or wound dressings where a crotch region may not exist. In such cases, the article will have a region where fluid intake is intended to occur, termed the xe2x80x9ctarget region.xe2x80x9d The portion of the article including the longitudinal length of the target region and the full transverse width of the article normal to length of the target region is defined herein as the xe2x80x9ctarget zone.xe2x80x9d For articles intended to be worn in the crotch, the terms xe2x80x9ctarget zonexe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9ccrotch regionxe2x80x9d are generally synonymous, whereas xe2x80x9ctarget regionxe2x80x9d generally excludes the portions of the absorbent core near the longitudinal sides since the intended area for fluid intake is generally substantially central in the absorbent article.
As used herein, the term xe2x80x9cextensiblexe2x80x9d refers to articles that can increase in at least one of their dimensions in the x-y plane by at least 10% and desirably at least 20%. The x-y plane is a plane generally parallel to the faces of the article. The term extensible includes articles that are stretchable and elastically stretchable (defined below). In the case of a sanitary napkin comprising an absorbent core, for example, the article and the absorbent core are desirably extensible both in length and width. The absorbent article, however, may only be extensible in one of these directions. Preferably, the article is extensible at least in the longitudinal direction. Examples of extensible materials and articles, and their methods of preparation, are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,611,790, issued Mar. 18, 1997 to Osborn, herein incorporated by reference in its entirety.
As used herein, a bulk material (e.g., the absorbent components of the article or the material providing shape in the outer shaping member) is considered xe2x80x9cflexiblexe2x80x9d if a straight, TAPPI-conditioned (50 percent relative humidity at 23xc2x0 C.) strip of the material 25 cm long with a cross-section of 1 cmxc3x971 cm can be bent 180xc2x0 around a 5-cm diameter rod without breaking and without requiring application of more than 6 Newtons of force to the ends of the strip to cause the bending over a 3-second span of time.
As used herein, the term xe2x80x9cflexure-resistantxe2x80x9d refers to an element which will support a bending moment, in contrast to an element which will support only axial forces. Likewise, as used herein, xe2x80x9cflexure resistancexe2x80x9d is a means of expressing the flexibility of a material or article and is measured according to the Circular Bend Procedure described in detail in U.S. Pat. No. 5,624,423, issued Apr. 29, 1997 to Anjur et al., herein incorporated by reference in its entirety. Flexure resistance is actually a measurement of peak bending stiffness modeled after the ASTM D4032-82 Circular Bend Procedure. The Circular Bend Procedure of Anjur et al. is a simultaneous multidirectional deformation of a material in which one face of a specimen becomes concave and the other face becomes convex. The Circular Bend Procedure gives a force value related to flexure-resistance, simultaneously averaging stiffness in all directions. For comfort, the absorbent article desirably has a flexure-resistance of less than or equal to about 1,500 grams, more specifically about 1000 grams or less, more specifically still about 700 grams or less and most specifically about 600 grams or less. For shaping performance, the central absorbent member as well as the outer absorbent member can have a flexure resistance of at least about 30 grams, more specifically at least about 50 grams, and most specifically at least about 150 grams.
As used herein, xe2x80x9cFree Swell Capacityxe2x80x9d (FS) is the result of a test which measures the amount in grams of an aqueous solution, containing 0.9 weight percent sodium chloride, that a gram of a material can absorb in 1 hour under negligible applied load. The test is done as described above for the AUL test, except that the 100 gm weight used in the AUL test is not placed on the sample.
The Free Swell Capacity of the materials of the present invention can be above 8, more specifically above 10, more specifically above 20, and most specifically above 30 grams/gram.
As used herein, xe2x80x9cFree Swell:AUL Ratioxe2x80x9d is the ratio of Free Swell Capacity to AUL. It will generally be greater than one. The higher the value, the more sensitive the material is to compressive load, meaning that the sample is less able to maintain its potential pore volume and capillary suction potential under load. Desirably, the materials of the present invention have xe2x80x9cFree Swell:AUL Ratioxe2x80x9d of about 4 or less, more specifically about 2 or less, more specifically still about 1.5 or less, and more specifically about 1.3 or less, with an exemplary range of from about 1.2 to about 2.5.
As used herein, xe2x80x9chigh yield pulp fibersxe2x80x9d are those papermaking fibers of pulps produced by pulping processes providing a yield of about 65 percent or greater, more specifically about 75 percent or greater, and still more specifically from about 75 to about 95 percent. Yield is the resulting amount of processed fiber expressed as a percentage of the initial wood mass. High yield pulps include bleached chemithermomechanical pulp (BCTMP), chemithermomechanical pulp (CTMP), pressure/pressure thermomechanical pulp (PTMP), thermomechanical pulp (TMP), thermomechanical chemical pulp (TMCP), high yield sulfite pulps, and high yield Kraft pulps, all of which contain fibers having high levels of lignin.
As used herein, the term xe2x80x9chorizontal,xe2x80x9d refers to directions in the plane of the article that are substantially parallel to the body-side surface of the article, or, equivalently, substantially normal to the vertical direction of the article, and comprises the transverse direction and the longitudinal direction of the article, as well as intermediate directions. The orientation of components in an article, unless otherwise specified, is determined as the article lies substantially flat on a horizontal surface.
As used herein, the term xe2x80x9chydrophobicxe2x80x9d refers to a material having a contact angle of water in air of at least 90 degrees. In contrast, as used herein, the term xe2x80x9chydrophilicxe2x80x9d refers to a material having a contact angle of water in air of less than 90 degrees.
As used herein, xe2x80x9cIntrinsic Absorbent Capacityxe2x80x9d refers to the amount of water that a saturated sample can hold relative to the dry weight of the sample and is reported as a dimensionless number (mass divided by mass). The test is performed according to Federal Government Specification UU-T-595b. It is made by cutting a 10.16 cm long by 10.16 cm wide (4 inch long by 4 inch wide) test sample, weighing it, and then saturating it with water for three minutes by soaking. The sample is then removed from the water and hung by one corner for 30 seconds to allow excess water to be drained off. The sample is then re-weighed, and the difference between the wet and dry weights is the water pickup of the sample expressed in grams per 10.16 cm long by 10.16 cm wide sample. The Intrinsic Absorbent Capacity value is obtained by dividing the total water pick-up by the dry weight of the sample. If the material lacks adequate integrity when wet to perform the test without sample disintegration, the test method may be modified to provide improved integrity to the sample without substantially modifying its absorbent properties. Specifically, the material may be reinforced with up to 6 lines of hot melt adhesive having a diameter of about 1 mm applied to the outer surface of the article to encircle the material with a water-resistant band. The hot melt should be applied to avoid penetration of the adhesive into the body of the material being tested. The corner on which the sample is hung in particular should be reinforced with external hot melt adhesive to increase integrity if the untreated sample cannot be hung for 30 seconds when wet.
xe2x80x9cPapermaking fibers,xe2x80x9d as used herein, include all known cellulosic fibers or fiber mixes comprising cellulosic fibers. Fibers suitable for making the webs of this invention comprise any natural or synthetic cellulosic fibers including, but not limited to nonwoody fibers, such as cotton, abaca, kenaf, sabai grass, flax, esparto grass, straw, jute hemp, bagasse, milkweed floss fibers, and pineapple leaf fibers; and woody fibers such as those obtained from deciduous and coniferous trees, including softwood fibers, such as northern and southern softwood kraft fibers; hardwood fibers, such as eucalyptus, maple, birch, and aspen. Woody fibers can be prepared in high-yield or low-yield forms and can be pulped in any known method, including kraft, sulfite, high-yield pulping methods, and other known pulping methods. Chemically treated natural cellulosic fibers can be used such as mercerized pulps, chemically stiffened or crosslinked fibers, or sulfonated fibers. Suitable papermaking fibers can also include recycled fibers, virgin fibers, or mixes thereof.
As used herein, a xe2x80x9cpledgetxe2x80x9d refers to an absorbent insert within an absorbent core having at least one of a width and a length smaller than the respective width and length of the absorbent core. A pledget is generally used to cause deformation or shaping of an adjoining layer of an absorbent article, and in the present invention, can be of use in shaping a pad or creating a medial hump in the pad for improved fit against the body of the wearer.
The term xe2x80x9csanitary napkinxe2x80x9d, as used herein, refers to an article which is worn by females adjacent to the pudendal region that is intended to absorb and contain the various exudates which are discharged from the body (e.g., blood, menses, and urine). While the present invention is shown and described in the form of a sanitary napkin, it should be understood that the present invention is also applicable to other feminine hygiene or catamenial pads such as panty liners, or other absorbent articles such as diapers or incontinence pads. The term xe2x80x9cfeminine care padxe2x80x9d as used herein is synonymous with sanitary napkin.
The term xe2x80x9cstretchablexe2x80x9d, as used herein, refers to articles that are extensible when stretching forces are applied to the article and offer some resistance to stretching. The terms xe2x80x9celastically stretchablexe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9celastically extensiblexe2x80x9d are intended to be synonymous. These terms, as used herein, mean that when in-plane stretching forces are removed, the article or absorbent fibrous structure will tend to return toward its unextended or unstretched dimensions (or original dimensions). It need not return all the way to its unstretched dimensions, however. It may return to relaxed dimensions between its unstretched dimensions and extended (or stretched dimensions).
As used herein, xe2x80x9cthicknessxe2x80x9d of a fluff pad or other absorbent element refers to thickness measured with a platen-based thickness gauge having a diameter of 7.62 cm at a load of about 0.05 pounds per square inch (psi) [about 35 kilograms per square meter]. The thickness of the central absorbent member or the outer absorbent member or of the absorbent article in general can be from about 2 mm to about 50 mm, more specifically from about 3 mm to about 25 mm, more specifically still from about 3 mm to about 15 mm, and most specifically from about 4 mm to about 10 mm. Ultrathin articles can have a thickness less than about 6 mm.
As used herein, the term xe2x80x9ctransversexe2x80x9d refers to a line, axis, or direction which lies within the plane of the absorbent article and is generally perpendicular to the longitudinal direction. The z-direction is generally orthogonal to both the longitudinal and transverse centerlines. The term xe2x80x9clateralxe2x80x9d refers to substantially in-plane directions having a predominately transverse component. Likewise, xe2x80x9cinwardly lateral compressionxe2x80x9d refers to compression directed from the longitudinal sides of an article toward the longitudinal centerline thereof, applied substantially in the transverse direction.
The degree of elevation of the central absorbent member can be quantified in terms of a Vertical Deformation test. As used herein, xe2x80x9cVertical Deformationxe2x80x9d refers to the height increase experienced by the body-side surface of an absorbent article when the longitudinal sides in the crotch reason are gripped and steadily moved inward toward the longitudinal axis of the article, decreasing the span between the longitudinal sides by 1.5 cm. The Vertical Deformation test apparatus comprises two clamps having a clamp width (longitudinal length of the clamped portion of the edge of the article) of 5 cm. One clamp is stationary and the other is on a track that permits the clamp to slide to increase or decrease the distance between the clamps while keeping the clamp aligned and parallel to the other clamp. The clamps should be tilted downward at an angle of 20 degrees relative to horizontal, such that both outer edges of the absorbent article are slightly elevated relative to the nearest crease line, thus somewhat simulating the positioning of the outward edges of the absorbent article that may be induced by panties with elevated elastic edges in the crotch region. The clamps are 5 cm above the surface of the track, permitting a pad to be suspended in air between the clamps, gripped in the crotch area such that a portion of the longitudinal sides of the absorbent core are held, with the clamps extending inward no more than about 3 mm from the outer edge of the absorbent core. The article should be held substantially taut in the region between the clamps without damaging the article, such that the crotch region is substantially horizontal before lateral compression begins. At a rate of about 0.5 centimeters per second (cm/s), the slideable clamp is moved smoothly toward the fixed clamp by a distance of 50% of the initial width of the article in the crotch region (or less if the article become incompressible such that more than about 5 kg of force is required to further compress the article). The height of the center of the pad or absorbent article is recorded before the clamp is moved and after the clamp is moved, yielding a difference that is reported as the Vertical Deformation. An increase in height is reported as a positive number, while a decrease is reported as a negative number. Desirably, the Vertical Deformation of the absorbent article is at least about 0.5 cm. Specifically, the Vertical Deformation is at least about 1 cm, and more specifically is at least about 1.5 cm and up to about 10 cm. Desirably, an absorbent article of the present invention exhibits an increase in Vertical Deformation in the crotch region of at least about 20%, and more specifically at least about 50%, relative to the Vertical Deformation in the crotch region exhibited by an essentially identical absorbent article without a shaping line.
As used herein, xe2x80x9cWet Bulkxe2x80x9d is based on a caliper measurement of a sample according to the definition of xe2x80x9cbulkxe2x80x9d above (at 0.344 kPa), except that the conditioned sample is uniformly misted with deionized water until the moistened mass of the sample is approximately 250% of the dry mass of the sample (i.e., the added mass of the moisture is 150% of the dry sample weight). If the sample cannot absorb and retain enough moisture from misting to increase the mass by 150%, then the highest level of achievable moisture add-on below 150% but still above 100% moisture add on should be used. The Wet Bulk in cc/g is calculated as the thickness of the substantially planar moistened sample under a load of 0.344 kPa (0.05 psi) divided by the oven-dry sample basis weight. Absorbent materials in the absorbent members of the present invention can have a Wet Bulk of about 4 cc/g or greater, more specifically about 6 cc/g or greater, more specifically still about 10 cc/g or greater, more specifically still about 10 cc/g or greater, and most specifically about 15 cc/g or greater, with an exemplary range of from about 5 cc/g to about 20 cc/g.

Center-fill absorbent article with a wicking barrier and central rising member


A method and system of decoration that includes selecting a particular wall covering pattern, selecting a particular fixture, and continuing the wall covering pattern substantially over the surface of the fixture. The fixture can be an electrical fixture such as a receptacle and/or receptacle cover or switch and/or switch cover or any other type of plate or receptacle. The final arrangement is such that the pattern on the fixture or receptacle almost perfectly matches the wall pattern causing the fixture to become almost invisible.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of wall fixture coverings and more particularly to a matching pattern fixture covering.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It is known in the art to cover walls with wallpaper, fabric or texture or to use marble with a visible pattern. When a wall is covered in this manner, there is a problem of how to choose or match wall fixtures such as switch and AC outlet covers with the pattern.
Prior art methods have simply used a plain plastic or metal plate. These plates make no attempt to match the pattern of the wall. Sometimes these plates are white or brown and sometimes they are brass or silver colored; other times they display some sort of non-matching, stock pattern.
It would be advantageous to have a covers that are designed to match a particular pattern perfectly to the point where they blend into the pattern and almost become invisible.

Matching pattern fixture covering system and method


A fingerprint acquisition apparatus includes a plurality of photoelectric conversion units and a first shading pattern. The first shading pattern includes at least one first shading block including a first opening, and an orthographic projection of the first opening in the first shading block on the base substrate is within an orthographic projection of a target photoelectric conversion unit corresponding to the first shading block on the base substrate.

A fingerprint acquisition apparatus is a device capable of acquiring fingerprint information, and various functions such as security verification can be subsequently implemented based on the acquired fingerprint information.
A fingerprint acquisition apparatus includes a base substrate as well as a light-emitting unit, a prism structure and a fingerprint sensor which are disposed on the base substrate. The light-emitting unit emits light outwards, and the light is reflected to the prism structure when being irradiated on a finger, and then the light is guided to the fingerprint sensor by the prism structure. The prism structure prevents external high-intensity light from being directly irradiated onto the prism structure and causing the prism structure to malfunction, thereby implementing a high-intensity light-resistant function.

Fingerprint acquisition apparatus, display panel and electronic device