A printing device, a production unit and a production method of electronic parts suitable for production of precise electronic parts are provided. A squeegee is attached to a rotating machine, and is autorotated and self-driven, and moreover, a printing pressure is generated in the squeegee, and resin is strongly filled, thereby achieving a print having a precision-shape. Further, with a perforated plate as a boundary, upper and lower chambers are provided so as to control a pressure, thereby performing cutting and dispensing of the resin and achieving a print having a precision-shape. This method is applied to the packaging of electronic parts. A printing device E1 comprises: a roller 3 allowing a peripheral surface 32 to approach one side 21 of a circuit board 2; moving means 4 for horizontally moving the roller 3; rotating means 5 for allowing the moving means 4 to rotate the roller 3; a squeegee 6 rotatably supported along the peripheral surface 32 of the roller 3; and printing pressure generating means 7 for pressing the squeegee 6 to the circuit board 2 by a rotating reactive force of the roller 3.

1. Technical Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a printing device, a production unit, and a production method of electronic parts, which perform a resin encapsulation having a voidless precise shape of the electronic parts, the forming of a solder bump, the hole-plugging of a substrate or dispensing and the like.
2. Description of the Related Art
A conventional technology is disclosed in the following documents. For example, as a conventional packaging technology, it is well known that an integrated circuit formed on a work piece is encapsulated (packaged). While the mainstream of such technology is a transfer molding method, as a method of using a plastic material comprising liquid synthetic resin, a dispenser method and a printing method are generally known. As for the printing method, a method of de-gassing by performing an atmospheric printing and a vacuum differential pressure printing method are commonly known. For a ceramic substrate, the vacuum differential pressure printing method is mainly adopted. With respect to the plastic material substrate, though this method is partially adopted and its usage is gradually growing, because of various problems involved, the method has not yet taken root in the industry. Further, the method is also applied to the CSP production process of a wafer level or its encapsulation. From now onward, since shifting to complexity, three dimensions, or built-in substrates of the electronic parts are promoted, there is a demand for an encapsulation method having a voidless precision-shape.
Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent No 3198273
Patent Document 2: Japanese Patent No 3084440
Patent Document 3: Japanese Patent Application No. 2001-331497 (Laid-oven Publication No. 2003-133739)
Patent Document 4: Japanese Patent No. 3113974
Patent Document 5: Japanese Patent No. 2873501
Patent Document 6: Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 5-90271
Patent Document 7: Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 10-34878
Patent Document 8: Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2001-232758
Patent Document 9: Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2001-232765
Non-Patent Document 1: "Electronic Journal", Apr. 2003, pp. 122-124. "Dump Forming Device for lead-free soldering".
With respect to the solder bump formation, the printing method has recently come to draw attention as against a conventional transfer method. An important technology is how quantitatively a high viscose solder paste is voidlessly filled into a perforated plate having a high aspect ratio by corresponding to a narrow pitching shift, and various techniques have been proposed. With respect to the head of the printing device using an atmospheric printing machine, such a type as performing a printing or being filled by an open type squeegee, an encapsulated type squeegee, a press-fit type squeegee, and a roller press-fit type squeegee is introduced. Further, there is also a method in which a photosensitive dry film is laminated by the bump formation of a wafer so as to form a via, and a solder paste is filled by the printing method, and a bump is formed by reflowing, thereby peeling off a film.
For the hole-plugging of vias and through holes of the printed circuit board and a wafer substrate a conductive paste and a non-conductive paste are used, and there is a hole-plugging method by the atmospheric printing or a vacuum difference pressure printing method using a squeegee. A development which seeks for a simpler and lower cost process by a mass lamination method is under way. In the printing method of the conductive paste, the development of the paste by aiming at improvement of electrical performance and reliability is promoted. Although the vacuum printing method of filling the paste voidlessly and simply into various vias is going into practical use, since there are defects such as the device being on a grand scale, and the productivity thereof being low, the modification thereof is solicited. Further, the plugging of the through hole is performed by using a mask and a jig in such a way that the work piece is positioned and filled with resin, and further, a plug is formed on the upper surface and the lower surface of the work, and then, it is cured, and both surfaces of the work is polished and made flat.
A principle of printing a high viscose resin flatly in a shape having a clearance gap by a squeegee by using a perforated plate is not established. As shown in FIG. 15(A), a resin m having adhered to a squeegee 60 and a work piece 2 has vertically clearance gaps at an opening portion 103 of a perforated plate 1, and a velocity gradient is generated for the movement of the squeegee 60, and the rear resin m is drawn out so as to be printed several tens μ thinner than a prescribed thickness. This is a resin feeding method not influenced by viscosity and clearance gap.
At the end edge of the opening portion 103 of the perforated plate 1, as shown in FIG. 15(B), the resin m pressed by the squeegee 60 is stemmed at the end portion of the opening portion 103, and is further pressurized and released at the passing time of the squeegee 60 so as to be printed several tens μ thicker than a prescribed thickness. This is a method of maintaining a filling pressure of the top end portion of the squeegee unchanged all the time regardless of the shape of the mask and the work piece 2.
The opening portion 103 of the perforated plate 1 shown in FIG. 15 and, though not shown, a printing starting portion of a groove between chips within the opening portion 103 are not capable of achieving a filling pressure of the squeegee 60, and end up being unfilled or cannot print but only thinly, thereby creating a void generating cause. The liquid resin due to the above described three factors is unable to be printed in a precise shape, and though a countermeasure was forcibly taken by futile operations of the shape of the mask and squeegee 60 in addition to a low viscosity of resin by sacrificing the reliability, a basic solution has not been reached. This is a resin feeding method having a strong filling force not affected by the shape of a printing portion.
The high-viscosity resin, which is wire-bonded in high density by encapsulation of BGA and CSP such as a lamination type and the like in a state in which a net is put up and is fed with a filler and the like at a high percentage, can be hardly filled by a squeegee function. Hence, when the resin is printed in the vacuum and is applied with a vacuum differential pressure, though a filling efficiency can be expected to some extent, there exists no mechanism to remove the residual void, and the void is miniaturized and dispersed and remains. Basically, before the differential pressure is applied, it is a necessary condition that the resin fills a cavity and pushes out the air. An extremely thin package has a wire close to its surface, and is short-circuited with the cavity with no differential pressure generated, and is at high risk of generating a void. Further, the packaging three-dimensionally laminated is wire-bonded in high density and moreover is Philip-chipped, and a filling is required even in microgaps, and therefore, a method having a strong filling function and capable of a precise printing is indispensable. Further, with respect to the building of the electronic parts into the substrate, a voidless filling of the liquid resin and a coating of a uniform thickness are required. This is excellent filling and voidless filling methods not affected by viscosity.
In case the vias of the wafer substrate and the laminated substrate are filled with various resins, a strong printing pressure is required, and due to inroad of the squeegee and viscosity of the resins, the resins are scooped out from the vias, and moreover, are contracted by curing. To prevent this from occurring, by using various masks, a precise positioning of the masks is made, and the resin is filled into them and interpolated, but a convex solid plug is formed, and the polishing of such a plug entails great difficulties. This is a hole-plugging method in which a filling is directly made on the work piece 2 without having a perforated plate, a precise positioning device, and a cleaning device at all, and which can cover a concave portion and a shrinkage of the resin voidlessly, and can limit a polishing working process to the minimum possible.
Specifically, a mask is positioned on the upper surface of the work, and at the bottom thereof, a jig to form a plug is positioned, and a printing is performed so that a plug (convex printing) is formed on both sides of the work, and this plug is cured and polished. In this case, the holes having different diameters are separated and printed, and curing-polishing is performed for every hole diameter. Further, because of shifting to the miniaturization and a large scale substrate, the position of the pattern of the mask and the position of the pattern of the work are not matched due to elongation of a mask and elongation of a work caused by polishing, and there are often the cases where the printing is required twice. When the plug is formed, a polishing thereof entails difficulties, and a device is required in which it is difficult to uniformly polish the plug and a copper plating and control the thickness and elongation thereof. When voidlessness is required, it necessitates a printing in the vacuum, and when the mask exists, a device comprising a positioning, a cleaning and the like is required, and such a device becomes large-sized like a plant and expensive, and moreover, becomes low in productivity. Hence, a plugging method of forming a plug voidless without using the jig and the mask, and capable of simultaneously filling the holes of different diameters and limiting the working process to the minimum possible is required.
Solder paste printing methods by the bump formation of the solder according to Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2001-232758 and Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 10-34878 have been proposed. The worst weakness of these methods is that the resin is filled by the rotation of a roller and using a mask, and the residual resin is then removed by a scraper or a blade, and therefore this technique only provides a extremely weak filling force. In this method, a range of a half of a roller 30 contributes to the filling, and the other half interfere with the resin fill. To compensate for this, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2001-232758 performs an application of air presure, but the distance involved is long, and there is a change also in an amount of resin, and high viscose resin does not react uniformly. As a whole, this leads to a considerable large-scale device, and therefore, it is difficult to be applied to a vacuum device.
Further, describing these systems with reference to FIGS. 16(A) and 16(B), the perforated plate (mask) 1 and the roller 30 are adjacent to each other so as to stop and fill a resin m. In case a filling is made into a wide space of the perforated plate 1 or the work 2, the resin m only circulates around the roller 30 as indicated by an arrow mark 30x or an arrow mark 30y, and has an extremely great defect, which does not contribute to the filling.
According to Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2001-232765, the difference between a force for pulling back the resin in by the rear part of the roller and a whole pressurization of the resin m becomes an inner pressure, and when this inner pressure is increased, the resin m cannot be stopped by the scraper, but pushed back and thickly printed. Even when the space to be filled is small, a most part of the resin contributes to the filling, but since the force of pulling back the resin m in the midst of being filled gains in strength, a strong filling cannot be achieved, and there is no way to control a print shape.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 10-34878 has also an advantage of contributing to the force of filling the half of the roller in a small space, but it is weak, and the resin is pulled back by the rear portion of the roller 30, and the pressure between a rear portion blade and the rear portion of the roller 30 is unstable, and is unable to control the print shape. Further, the printing method having the above described blade and scrapper shape has a defect in that, when a printing is directly made on the substrate formed by resist, the resist is broken and peeled off. A method by a perforated plate system in the bump formation in which the rniniaturizations progressed has reached critical limit, and the majority of methods are turning into the system in which a pattern is fortned by resist. There is a demand for a basic factor innovation capable of precisely printing either in flamess or convexity by a strong filling force directly on a work which requires a space by various shapes.
According to Japanese Patent Application Laid Open Publication No. 2001-232758 the periphery of the roller is wrapped by a solid frame, and the replacement of the resin is extremely difficult. This device has to be disassembled and cleaned. In recent years, even the type of solder alone has come to have a great choice. Further, this device is required to be subjected to resin sealing and various types of hole-plugging, but a crucial point of the practical application thereof is whether or not the replacement of the resin can be simply performed with a minimum possible solution. The structure of the device has to be such that a portion which contacts the resin has a squeegee simply removable with a piece of roll left and can be easily cleaned.
Furthermore, since the periphery of the roller is completely sealed, this system takes air even at the boundary between the mask and the scraper. Also according to Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 34878, when the substrate formed with the vias by various methods such as resist and the like is filled with the solder paste, the air inside the vias is taken into the resin, and the resin continues to rotate around the roller, and the solder paste containing large quantities of void accumulated in proportion to the travel distance is fed. Even when the resin is filled, the quantity of solder is reduced, and a precise bump is not produced, and void is also contained inside the solder. Further, the recent solder has become miniaturized in a ball and extremely prone to oxidation, and this creates a great problem for melting of the solder in the subsequent working process.
Further, according to the above described vacuum differential pressure printing method, in the printing process for pressing and filling a plastic material m into the work piece 2, since the plastic material strongly adheres to the work piece 2 and the perforated plate 1, in the process for separating the perforated plated 1 from the work piece 2, it becomes difficult to separate this plastic material. In this way, there arises a problem that the adhering plastic material m hangs down from the perforated plate 1 while adhering to the perforated plate 1 and the shape of an encapsulated portion (package) crumbles.
To be more in detail, as shown in FIG. 17(A), in case a perforated plate printing method is executed by using a high viscose plastic material m such as resin and the like, the plastic material m adheres to the perforated plate 1 and the work piece (circuit board) 2, and when the work piece 2 is separated from the perforated plate 1, the periphery of the encapsulated portion comprising the plastic material m which forms the encapsulated portion is pulled. In this way, the end portion of the encapsulated portion comprising the plastic material m becomes thick, and its vicinity becomes thin, thereby generating an unevenness in thickness. Furthermore, since the plastic material m hung from the perforated plate 1 adheres to the lower surface of the perforated plate 1 due to a reaction of cutting or drops down to the work piece 2, every time this printing method is executed, the cleaning of the perforated plate 1 or the work piece 2 becomes indispensable. Further, this becomes a main cause of varying the quantity of the plastic material m fed to this print.
Further, as shown in FIG. 17(B), to flatten the encapsulated portion having the above described thickness unevenness, though an attempt is made to allow this portion to be left in the atmospheric air for a definite period of time, when the plastic material m becomes a low viscose type in the midst of being cured, there arises a problem that the material m starts flowing out and the shape of the encapsulated portion crumbles. As a countermeasure against this problem, the flowing out of the plastic material m is reduced by a cavity down system or an attempt is made to prepare a dam-shaped gate for regulating the flowing out of the plastic material m by the dispenser and the like, but there arises a problem that the production process thereof is complicated.
In the bump formation of the solder, the viscosity of the solder paste is extremely high, and there are various filling methods proposed. However, because of shifting to a narrow pitch, the aspect ratio becomes large, and a difference between the adhering force of the solder paste filled to the work piece 2 and the adhering force by the area of the side wall becomes small so that a transcription becomes extremely unstable, and there are often the case where the resin comes off from the perforated plate, the case where the resin comes off with a part thereof left, and the case where the resin does not come off at all. These cases are compensated by countermeasures such as the improvement of a shape of the hole of the perforated plate, the improvement of a surface coarseness, and the reduction of a viscosity of the coating of the mold release material. But, it is now required that solder past is not remained in the perforated plate. This is a method of dispensing the solder paste filled in the hole of the perforated plate.
To deal with the miniaturization, though there is a method executed in which a mask is prepared by a resist on the wafer substrate or the resin substrate, and the solder is filled by the atmospheric printing and reflows into the vias so as to remove the resist, when the atmospheric printing is made on blinded vias, the air remains within the interior so that the filling quantities become insufficient. Further, an amount of air proportional to the travel distance is accumulated in a solder during printing so that the quantity of solder becomes insufficient. Moreover, since the squeegee is used, the solder is scooped out by the viscosity of the resin, and is printed in a concave shape so that the quantity of solder becomes insufficient. As a result, there arises a problem of bump accuracy being lowered. Further, this results in the generation of void within the bump. Hence, a method of performing a fixed quantity filling by a voidless solder resin is desired.

Printing device for electronic parts having a roller and a squeegee arrangement


The invention relates to a method and a system for beverage preparation according to a person-specific, individual recipe. The method for preparing a beverage according to an individual recipe takes place by using a preparation device comprising a positioning device for a drinking vessel and a receiving device for an identification feature. The method includes creating an individual recipe, storing the individual recipe in a recipe pool of a data storage unit, whereby the data storage unit can be reached via an EDP network, linking the identification feature to the recipe pool, positioning the drinking vessel into the preparation device, receiving the identification feature, retrieving the recipe pool that is linked to the identification feature, preparing the beverage according to a recipe from the recipe pool, and filling the beverage into the drinking vessel by the preparation device.

A product dispenser comprising a user interface is known from the international patent application WO 2009/032946 A1. Inputs by a consumer can be transmitted to the product dispenser via the user interface, whereby the inputs can also relate to the selection of a product from a predetermined product selection list. The product dispenser can also comprise a reader, by means of which identification information associated with a consumer can be obtained. A beverage preparation according to individual recipe is not possible.
A beverage dispenser is known from the international patent application WO 2014/188389 A1, which fills beverages, which are available in a keg, into a drinking vessel, whereby the beverage dispenser has a reader for a data carrier, on which identification data of a user is stored. When a user identifies himself with a data carrier of this type, the beverage dispenser fills a corresponding amount of a beverage from a keg into a drinking vessel and posts the costs for the beverage on a user account, which is likewise identified via the identification data on the data carrier. A beverage preparation according to individual recipe is not possible.
Coffee machines, which have a storage means, in which a limited number of recipes for coffee creations can be stored, are also known in the prior art. In the case of a fully automatic coffee machine from a known manufacturer, for example personalized, individual presets for four users can be stored. These presets can relate, for example, to the used amount of coffee, the grinding degree, the percentage of milk and milk froth and/or the brewing temperature. A user can retrieve one of the maximally four stored coffee recipes directly at the coffee machine, and can have a corresponding coffee preparation made individually for him. It is thus possible with this machine to store four different, individual recipes for coffee preparations, and to produce a coffee preparation by means of an interaction of the user with the machine, i.e. a selection of a concept. The user thus has to actively make a selection. The user can furthermore retrieve a coffee creation according to his individual recipe only at this machine. When travelling, for example, he can make a coffee creation according to his individual recipe only by manually setting a correspondingly settable device. He has to carry the respective individual recipe with him for this purpose.

Method and system for preparing a beverage


A tuneable film bulk acoustic resonator (FBAR) device. The FBAR device includes a bottom electrode, a top electrode and a piezoelectric layer in between the bottom electrode and the top electrode. The piezoelectric layer has a first overlap with the bottom electrode, where the first overlap is defined by a projection of the piezoelectric layer onto the bottom electrode in a direction substantially perpendicular to a plane of the bottom electrode. The FBAR device also includes a first dielectric layer in between the piezoelectric layer and the bottom electrode and a mechanism for reversibly varying an internal impedance of the device, so as to tune a resonant frequency of the FBAR device.

1. Field
The present invention is related to the field of Micromachined Electro Mechanical Systems (MEMS) and, more particularly to an RF-MEMS film bulk acoustic resonator, a method of making such a resonator and a method of tuning such a resonator.
2. Description of Related Art
Radio Frequency (RF) MEMS devices have a broad range of potential applications in military and commercial wireless communication, navigation and sensor systems. Military applications in the K-W frequency band include RF seekers and ground-based radar systems. Additionally, millimeter wave (MMW) sensors can utilize RF-MEMS devices for components such as antennas (switches and phase shifters), exciters, transmitters, filters and IF/RF receivers.
RF-MEMS devices, though small, can be very complex and may encompass multiple interdependent engineering disciplines. Furthermore, the performance of RF-MEMS devices can be influenced by their environment and packaging. Modeling of these devices is critical to reduce both the time and cost of development of a final RF-MEMS device or integrated RF-MEMS micro-systems.
Film Bulk Acoustic Resonators (FBAR) devices are micromachined frequency control devices that typically operate in the RF frequency range, such as in the range of a few hundred MHz up to tens of GHz. FBARs have received considerable interest in the RF microelectronics industry because of their applications in oscillators and filter design. A particular interest in FBARs has developed in the area of wireless telecommunication systems, such as mobile phones, WLAN or satellite communications. FBARs have already experienced substantial acceptance in the personal communications services (PCS) market.
The working principle of an FBAR is as follows. An alternating voltage is applied over a thin film layer of a piezoelectric material such as AlN or ZnO that is sandwiched between two electrodes, which may be, for example, metal electrodes (see FIG. 1A). This piezoelectric layer expands and contracts as a result of this applied voltage and an acoustic wave is generated. At a certain frequency, the polarization factor of the piezoelectric layer will be in-phase with the applied electric field. The frequency at which this occurs is defined as the resonant frequency of the FBAR. The resonant frequency mainly depends on the thickness of the piezoelectric layer. To reduce acoustic loss and loading effects, the sandwiched structure is normally suspended in air, or is mounted on reflection layers, which reflect back the traveling acoustic wave in the interface. A corresponding electrical configuration (schematic) of a prior art FBAR is shown in FIG. 1B.
FBARs have the advantages of small size and a high quality factor, and can be used to build filters with low insertion loss and steep roll-off/on performance. Insertion loss is an indication of loss in transmission. The steepness of roll-off/on is an indication of how 'sharp' the resonant peak is and is also an indicator of the precision and effectiveness of frequency control. FBARs have the further advantage of having moderate temperature coefficients (TCs) and good power-handling capability. These characteristics make FBARs attractive for a wide range of applications.
Both bulk and surface micromachined FBARs have been realized. Bulk FBARs are described in more detail in S. V. Krishnaswamy et al. "Film Bulk Acoustic Wave Resonator Technology" 1990 IEEE Ultrasonics Symposium, pp 529-536; J. J. Lutsky et al. "A Sealed Cavity TFR Process for RF Bandpass Filters" IEDM'96; K. M. Lakin "Thin Film Resonators and Filters" 1999 IEEE Ultrasonics Symposium pp. 895-906; and Markku Ylilammi et al. "Thin Film Bulk Acoustic Wave Filter", IEEE Transactions on UFFC, Vol. 49. No. 4. April 2002, pp. 535-539. Surface FBARs are described in more detail in R. Lanz et al. "Surface Micromachined BAW Resonators Based on AlN" 2002 IEEE Ultrasonics Symposium, pp. 981-983; and Motoaki Hara et al. "Aluminum Nitride Based Thin Film Bulk Acoustic Resonator Using Germanium Sacrificial Layer Etching" The 12th International Conference on Solid State Sensors, Actuators and Microsystems, Boston, Jun. 8-12, 2003.
The resonant frequency of an FBAR is subject to influence or variation from, for example, electromagnetic interference, temperature changes, aging effects, etc. To compensate for performance drifts of different origins and for in-homogeneity resulting from the fabrication process, a degree of tuning in FBARs is desirable. Different tuning solutions currently exist in the art. However, for various reasons, these tuning solutions produce low Quality factors, are not well integrated with the FBAR device and/or have unacceptable tuning ranges.

Interuniversitair Microelektronica Centrum (IMEC)


An auxiliary bending device for a spring-making machine having a slide includes a supporting frame adapted to be fastened on a slide of a spring-making machine, a driving mechanism fixedly mounted on the supporting frame and provided with a vertical axle, a bending head force-fitted on the vertical axle and provided with at least two upwardly extending pins for bending a spring wire, whereby the process for making springs can be facilitated.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention is related to an auxiliary bending device for a spring-making machine and in particular to one which can facilitate the process for making springs.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It has been found that the spring-making machine disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,947,670 (see FIGS. 1 and 2), owned by the same inventor, includes a panel 100 on which is mounted a chuck 101 and eight sets of tool guiding means 102 on each of which there is a slide 103 for mounting a tool 104. The slide 103 is driven by a feeding mechanism 105. However, it is necessary to use a special tool and take a complicated process for such a spring-making machine to bend a spring wire perpendicular to the panel 100 thereby increasing the manufacturing cost.
Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide an auxiliary bending device for a spring-making machine which can obviate and mitigate the above-mentioned drawbacks.

Auxiliary bending device for a spring-making machine


Short-distance radio communication equipment having a Bluetooth communication feature can maintain a stable reception status by automatically adjusting the reception status of an antenna when the reception status thereof deteriorates.

FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram showing the structure of prior art short-distance radio communication equipment (referred to as radio communication equipment or a main body of radio communication equipment from here on), which is applied to a vehicle-mounted navigation apparatus, for example. In the figure, reference numeral 101 denotes a display for displaying a map screen generated by a navigation apparatus, a TV picture, or the like thereon, reference numeral 102 denotes an operation button for switching among various functions, reference numeral 103 denotes a panel in which the display 101 and the operation button 102 are accommodated, reference numeral 104 denotes an antenna disposed in the radio communication equipment, for sending and receiving electric waves, reference numeral 105 denotes a sending and receiving circuit for encoding and decoding radio signals to be sent and received by way of the antenna 104, reference numeral 106 denotes a microprocessor (abbreviated as a μcomputer from here on) for controlling the radio communication equipment, reference numeral 107 denotes a sound signal processing circuit for processing a sound signal, reference numeral 108 denotes a TV signal processing circuit for processing a TV signal, reference numeral 109 denotes a navigation signal processing circuit for processing a navigation signal, reference numeral 110 denotes a medium drive mechanism for driving a medium (e.g., a DVD-ROM) in which map data for navigation are stored, reference numeral 111 denotes a video signal processing circuit for processing either a map signal from the navigation signal processing circuit 109 or a TV video signal from the TV signal processing circuit 109 based on a control signal from the μcomputer 106, reference numeral 112 denotes a main body of radio communication equipment including the above-mentioned components from the antenna 104 to the video signal processing circuit 111, reference numeral 113 denotes a microphone for collecting sounds so as to generate a sound signal, reference numeral 114 denotes a speaker for reproducing an audio signal or the sound signal, and reference numeral 115 denotes a TV antenna for receiving TV signal electric waves.
Next, a description will be made as to an operation of the prior art main body of radio communication equipment.
FIG. 2 is a flow chart for explaining the operation of the prior art main body of radio communication equipment. In FIGS. 1 and 2, when a user operates the operation button 102, the radio communication equipment searches for the party at the other end of the radio communication connection (in step ST101), and displays the party with which the radio communication equipment can communicate by radio on the display 101 based on the searching result (in step ST102).
When the user then selects the party with which the radio communication equipment will communicate by radio by operating the operation button 102 (in step ST103), the radio communication equipment starts carrying out radio communications with the selected party (in step ST104). When a sound signal generated by the microphone 113 is to be sent out through radio communications, the sound signal is passed through the sound signal processing circuit 107, the μcomputer 106, the sending and receiving circuit 105, and the antenna 104, and is then transmitted to the party at the other end of the radio communication connection. In contrast, a sound signal from the party at the other end of the radio communication connection flows opposite in direction to the travel of the outgoing sound signal from the radio communication equipment and is input to the sound signal processing circuit 107, and a reproduced sound is then output from the speaker 114.
The μcomputer 106 determines whether the user has performed radio communication end operation by pressing the operation button 102 or the sending and receiving circuit has received a radio communication end signal indicating an instruction of ending the communication operation from the party at the other end of the radio communication connection (in step ST105). If YES, the μcomputer 106 ends the radio communication operation.
The TV signal processing circuit 108 processes a TV signal received by the TV antenna 115, and the video signal processing circuit 111 then generates a video signal, which conforms to the display 101, from the processed TV signal from the TV signal processing circuit 108. When the medium drive mechanism 110 reads map data from a medium (e.g., a DVD-ROM), and generates and delivers a map signal for navigation to the navigation signal processing circuit 109, the navigation signal processing circuit 109 processes the map signal and the video signal processing circuit 111 generates a video signal, which conforms to the display 101, from the processed map signal from the navigation signal processing circuit 109.
As previously mentioned, in the prior art short-distance radio communication equipment, the antenna for radio communication is uniquely placed at a position that seems to be a desired one and that is within or outside the equipment regardless of the performance of the party at the other end of the radio communication connection and radio communication environments. A problem encountered with the prior art short-distance radio communication equipment is therefore that when the performance of the party at the other end of the radio communication connection is bad or the radio communication environment is bad, the radio communication environment remains to be bad fixedly and the radio communication equipment cannot maintain the status of radio communication good.
The present invention is proposed to solve the above-mentioned problem, and it is therefore an object of the present invention to provide short-distance radio communication equipment that can notify that the level of received signals from the party at the other end of the radio communication connection is equal to or less than a predetermined value, automatically change the environment specification of an antenna for radio communication, which is disposed within or outside the radio communication equipment, thereby improving the level of received signals from the party at the other end of the radio communication connection and maintaining the status of radio communication good regardless of the performance of the party at the other end of the radio communication connection and the radio communication environment.


A process for the direct polymerization of allyl ethers, crotyl ethers and allyl alcohols is disclosed. The process comprises bringing into reactive proximity an allyl ether, crotyl ether or allyl alcohol compound; a transition metal carbonyl complex catalyst; and a cocatalyst bearing at least one silicon-hydrogen bond. Preferably, the catalyst is a cobalt carbonyl complex, and most preferably, the catalyst is dicobalt octacarbonyl. While virtually any compound bearing at least one silicon-hydrogen bond can be used as cocatalyst, phenylsilane is the most preferred. The process promotes the polymerization of allyl alcohols, mono-, di-, tri-, tetra- and multifunctional allyl and crotyl ether monomers, as well as terminal and pendent allyl and crotyl ether functional groups within oligomers and polymers.

It is well known that allyl and crotyl ethers do not readily undergo either free radical or cationic polymerization and thus, they have only very limited value as monomers for the production of polymers. This is unfortunate since compounds containing allyl or crotyl ether groups are readily prepared, using simple chemistry, and are potentially quite inexpensive.
Motivated by the potential utility of these unsaturated compounds for the production of polymeric products, we have demonstrated that allyl ethers can be isomerized to yield 1-propenyl ethers and that crotyl ethers can be isomerized to give 1-butenyl ethers. The 1-propenyl ethers and 1-butenyl ethers that are the products of these isomerizations can then be made to undergo cationic photopolymerization, but to date, none of the known catalyst systems have been effective for the direct polymerization of allyl or crotyl ethers.
Therefore, there is a need for an efficient and economical process for the direct polymerization of readily prepared and relatively inexpensive allyl and crotyl ethers.

Process for the direct polymerization of allyl ethers, crotyl ethers and allyl alcohols


The subject matter discloses a method for expansion of search queries on large vocabulary continuous speech recognition transcripts comprising: obtaining a textual transcript of audio interaction generated by the large vocabulary continuous speech recognition; generating a topic model from the textual transcripts; said topic model comprises a plurality of topics wherein each topic of the plurality of topics comprises a list of keywords; obtaining a search term; associating a topic from the topic model with the search term; and generating a list of candidate term expansion words by selecting keywords from the list of keywords of the associated topic; said candidate term expansion words are of high probability to be substitution errors of the search term that are generated by the large vocabulary continuous speech recognition.

Many organizations, such as commercial organizations, financial institutions, government agencies or public safety organizations conduct numerous interactions with customers, users, suppliers and the like on a daily basis. Many of these interactions are vocal, or at least comprise a vocal or audio component, for example, voices of participants of a phone call or the audio portion of a video or face-to-face interaction.
Many organizations record some or all of the interactions, whether it is required by law or regulations, for quality assurance or quality management purposes, or for any other reason.
Once the interactions are recorded, the organization may want to extract as much information as possible from the recorded interactions. A common way to extract information from the interactions relates to speech recognition and in particular to searching for particular words uttered by the participants of the interactions. The searched words may be product names, service names, competitor names, competing product names, or the like. The words may be searched on textual transcripts that are generated by applying Large Vocabulary Continuous Speech Recognition (LVCSR) on the vocal interactions. A common metric of the quality performance of an LVCSR system is word error rate (WER). The WER is calculated by comparing between LVCSR transcripts and manual transcripts of a collection of vocal interactions. The WER is defined as the sum of word substitutions, word insertions and word deletions in the LVCSR transcripts, divided by the total number of words in the manual transcripts. The WER of conversational speech transcripts, generated by LVCSR may be as high as 30%-50%. Such high WER significantly lowers the recall of terms (words/phrases) that are searched on the said textual transcripts.
In order to enhance the recall of searched terms over LVCSR transcripts, there is a need in the art for a method and apparatus for expansion of search queries on textual transcripts that are generated by LVCSR.

Method and apparatus for expansion of search queries on large vocabulary continuous speech recognition transcripts


A communication device making a call origination in accordance with a predetermined operation is provided with a one-touch dial storage that stores telephone numbers in association with one-touch dial keys, a telephone directory data storage that stores telephone numbers which are not associated with one-touch dial keys, and a copying system that copies at least the telephone number stored in the one-touch dial storage into the telephone directory data storage.

The present invention relates to a communication device having a one-touch registration memory and a telephone directory data memory.
Conventionally, a communication device having one-touch dials to each of which a telephone number is assigned is known. When the one-touch dial key is operated, a call for the assigned telephone number is made. Specifically, in such a communication device, destination telephone numbers are stored, in a one-touch registration memory, in association with respective one-touch dials, and when one of the one-touch dials is operated by a user, the telephone number corresponding to the operated one-touch dial key is retrieved from the one-touch registration memory and the telephone call is made with respect to the retrieved telephone number. Examples of such a device include a telephone machine and a facsimile machine. Generally, to such one-touch dial keys, the telephone numbers which are more frequently used by the user may be assigned.
An example of a telephone number registering device used in the communication devices as described above is disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Provisional Publication No. HEI4-78849. According to the publication, the telephone number registering device includes a telephone number memory that stores telephone numbers input through ten keys, a data memory that stores destination information including one-touch numbers or speed dial numbers of destinations, and a number registering system that copies the telephone numbers stored in the dial number memory into the data memory. The one-touch number which is not used (i.e., no telephone number is associated with the one-touch number) is searched in the data memory, and the telephone number stored in the dial number memory is copied in the data memory to associate with the unused (unregistered) one-touch dial number or speed dial number so that the telephone number is associated with the one-touch dial number or the speed dial number.
In the conventional telephone number registering device disclosed in the publication, if all the one-touch dial numbers in the data memory are associated with some telephone numbers, and if a new telephone number is to be associated with one of the one-touch dial numbers, one registered telephone number should be deleted.
Further, if a communication device (e.g., telephone or facsimile machine) is configured such that the one-touch numbers are stored separately from the telephone directory data and the telephone numbers associated with the one-touch numbers are not used as the telephone directory data, when the user intends to register one of the telephone numbers stored as the telephone directory data with a one-touch dial number and if all the one-touch dial numbers have been associated with telephone numbers, the user is required to manually register a telephone number assigned to one of the one-touch dial number with the telephone directory data before assigning the new telephone number to the one-touch dial number.


There is provided a universal joint which is a universal joint of a block type in which a bearing cup for supporting a trunnion of a joint cross is integrally formed with a key portion, and the bearing cup is joined to be fixed to a yoke by a bolt in a state of fitting the key portion to a key way of the yoke, in which by forming WC—Ni—Cr thermally-sprayed coatings at both side surfaces of the key portion, corrosion resistance of the key portion is promoted, even when used over a long period of time in a drive system of a rolling mill or the like, a clearance between the key portion and the key way caused by corrosion of the key portion is prevented from being brought about, and a stable performance can be maintained over a long period of time by promoting service life of the bearing and preventing an excessively large bending load from being operated to the bolt.

1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a universal joint, particularly relates to a universal joint suitable for being used for a drive system operated with a high load such as a rolling mill or the like.
2. Background Art
A mechanism of driving, for example, a roll of a rolling mill is provided with a universal joint between a driving motor and the roll. There is known a universal joint of this kind referred to as a block type as shown in a disassembled perspective view of an essential portion thereof in FIG. 3, a sectional view of a trunnion portion orthogonal to an axis thereof in FIG. 4, and a sectional view taken along a line A-A thereof in FIG. 5, respectively (refer to, for example, Patent Reference 1).
The universal joint of the block type adopts a structure in which respective trunnions 11 of a joint cross 1 are supported by bearing cups 3 through rollers 2, and the respective bearing cups 3 are fixed to yokes 4 by bolts 5, respectively. The bearing cup 3 is integrally formed with a key portion 31 projected to a side of the yoke 4 at a joint surface thereof to the yoke 4, and by fitting the key portion 31 to a key way 41 formed at the yoke 4, a torque is transmitted thereby in cooperation with the bolt 5. That is, a rotational power of the yoke 4 on one side is transmitted to the bearing cup 3 through the trunnion 11 of the joint cross 1 as a load at a position indicated by an arrow mark in FIG. 4 and is transmitted to the yoke 4 on other side by an axial force of the bolt 5 and a surface pressure between the key portion 31 and the key way 41. As a material of the bearing cup 3, carburized and quenched steel of, for example, SNCM or the like is used in consideration of a shock resistant load performance as a bearing ring of the bearing.
The universal joint of the block type achieves an advantage that a number of pieces of parts is small and the bearing cup is not creeped in view of a structure thereof in comparison with other type of a universal joint such as around type in which a bearing cup in a cylindrical shape is fixed to a yoke by a member referred to as a bearing holder of a separate member.
Patent Reference: JP-A-2002-181069


A cooking pot lid provides a continuously variable amount of venting (and stirring of ingredients, when desired) and includes a fixed lid component including a plurality of spaced-apart openings, a rotatable shaft disposed through a central aperture of the fixed lid component in a manner such that the rotatable shaft is free to rotate with respect to the fixed lid component; and a rotatable lid component that is attached to the rotatable shaft. The rotatable lid component includes a plurality of spaced-apart fins for alternately covering and exposing the plurality of spaced-apart openings in the fixed lid component to provide the continuously variable venting. Stirring blades may be attached to the rotatable shaft in a manner such that the stirring blades rotate with the shaft.

Often in cooking, especially in cases where dairy products are involved, one is faced with either the choice of leaving a pot open, or covering it with a lid. If you choose to leave the pot open, it takes longer for the pot to heat up and when it finally does, the liquid ingredients (water or milk, for example) tend to evaporate. This evaporation thus causes waste of some of the ingredients, not to mention loss of some of the aroma. Often, in this case, you need to add more of these liquid ingredients to compensate for the loss.
The other choice is to leave the lid on the pot to prevent evaporation of the liquid ingredients, which preserves the steam/heat and allows the food to cook faster. However, this choice also has major drawbacks. For example, if left unattended—even for a short period of time—the pot can heat too quickly and the contents can boil over (i.e., ebullition of the liquid ingredients)—creating a mess on the cooktop and the pan, and perhaps ruining the food in the pot itself or, at the very least, causing loss of some of the food.

Pot lid apparatus including automatic stirrer and vent control


A new user interface and display system for a video display device with a touch screen makes it possible to peek at, that is view briefly, a selected video content while watching other content. During a video peek, video from a second video source will be seen to partially displace and temporarily replace a portion of a video presently being viewed. Selection of the other video sources can be controlled, for example, by swiping with one, two, three or four finger tips and by swiping inwardly from any one of the four edges of a video display. Moreover, the video presently being viewed can be interchanged with the video being peeked at.

The background of the invention relates to the general operation of a touch activatable screen in a video tablet or other display device. The description of a touch activatable screen in a video tablet or other display device found herein can also be found in PCT/US2010/049772. Patents, published applications and articles cited in the initial International Search Report for PCT/US2010/049772, and thus relating to the general operation of a touch activatable screen include: US2009210819A1; US20070013708A1; US20080079972A1; US20090153478A1; US2009019924A1; EP1450277A2; and SHIRAZI J: "Java Performance Tuning—Chapter 4 Object Creation". It should be understood that the elements shown in the figures can be implemented in various forms of hardware, software or combinations thereof. Preferably, these elements are implemented in a combination of hardware and software on one or more appropriately programmed general-purpose devices, which can include a processor, memory and input/output interfaces. Herein, the phrase "coupled" is defined to mean directly connected to or indirectly connected with through one or more intermediate components. Such intermediate components can include both hardware and software based components.
The present description illustrates the principles of the present disclosure. It will thus be appreciated that those skilled in the art will be able to devise various arrangements that, although not explicitly described or shown herein, embody the principles of the disclosure and are included within its spirit and scope.
All examples and conditional language recited herein are intended for educational purposes to aid the reader in understanding the principles of the disclosure and the concepts contributed by the inventor to furthering the art, and are to be construed as being without limitation to such specifically recited examples and conditions.
Moreover, all statements herein reciting principles, aspects, and embodiments of the disclosure, as well as specific examples thereof, are intended to encompass both structural and functional equivalents thereof. Additionally, it is intended that such equivalents include both currently known equivalents as well as equivalents developed in the future, i.e., any elements developed that perform the same function, regardless of structure.
Thus, for example, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the block diagrams presented herein represent conceptual views of illustrative circuitry embodying the principles of the disclosure. Similarly, it will be appreciated that any flow charts, flow diagrams, state transition diagrams, pseudo-code, and the like represent various processes which can be substantially represented in computer readable media and so executed by a computer or processor, whether or not such computer or processor is explicitly shown.
The functions of the various elements shown in the figures can be provided through the use of dedicated hardware as well as hardware capable of executing software in association with appropriate software. When provided by a processor, the functions can be provided by a single dedicated processor, by a single shared processor, or by a plurality of individual processors, some of which can be shared. Moreover, explicit use of the term "processor" or "controller" should not be construed to refer exclusively to hardware capable of executing software, and can implicitly include, without limitation, digital signal processor (DSP) hardware, read only memory (ROM) for storing software, random access memory (RAM), and nonvolatile storage.
Other hardware, conventional and/or custom, can also be included. Similarly, any switches shown in the figures are conceptual only. Their function can be carried out through the operation of program logic, through dedicated logic, through the interaction of program control and dedicated logic, or even manually, the particular technique being selectable by the implementer as more specifically understood from the context.
In the claims hereof, any element expressed as a means for performing a specified function is intended to encompass any way of performing that function including, for example, a) a combination of circuit elements that performs that function or b) software in any form, including, therefore, firmware, microcode or the like, combined with appropriate circuitry for executing that software to perform the function. The disclosure as defined by such claims resides in the fact that the functionalities provided by the various recited means are combined and brought together in the manner which the claims call for. It is thus regarded that any means that can provide those functionalities are equivalent to those shown herein.
The present disclosure provides for a grid display which is a graphical user interface view that enables a user to navigate a set of data elements in two dimensional space (i.e., x and y directions). The gird display can have a two dimensional (2D) pattern, e.g., columns and rows, but can take other forms. Navigation of the grid display can be accomplished using commends, such as gestures, to locate the desired element. An entry in the grid display is tapped or otherwise selected to initiate further action, e.g., executing or playing associated content. This interface mechanism is for use in media applications where items on the gird display can be represented graphically such as by audio album covers or video poster images. The particular embodiments describe an apparatus and method associated with optimizations to the view of a grid display implementation such that the number of display elements is minimized and independent of the number of items in the full dataset. The embodiments also address issues with navigation through the database so that it can be smooth and efficient with respect to the visual perception of the displayed portion. The apparatus and method can be particularly adapted for use in a content distribution network encompassing controlled access to a large database of media content.
Navigation through the user interface of the present disclosure is facilitated by a mechanism to move quickly, simply and accurately across a display, such as a television, monitor, or touch screen. In one embodiment, an input device such as a motion sensing remote controller is provided. In another embodiment, a touch screen or panel remote device is employed having the cursor on a screen essentially tracking the user's finger or fingers as they move across the remote controller's screen. As the user passes over the grid display, the graphic elements representing content in the database move in response to the user's input where certain graphic elements disappear and new graphic elements appear. In the touch screen or panel remote device embodiment, it is to be appreciated that the touch screen or panel remote device can serve as a display device itself or can simply serve as a navigational tool. In a further embodiment, a conventional hand-held remote controller is employed using at least one button or input mechanism disposed on a surface of the remote controller to navigate the grid display.
Initially, systems for delivering various types of content to a user will be described. Subsequently, a method and user interface for searching the content in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure will then be detailed.
Turning now to FIG. 1, a block diagram of an embodiment of a system 100 for delivering content to a home or end user is shown. The content originates from a content source 102, such as a movie studio or production house. The content can be supplied in at least one of two forms. One form can be a broadcast form of content. The broadcast content is provided to the broadcast affiliate manager 104, which is typically a national broadcast service, such as the American Broadcasting Company (ABC), National Broadcasting Company (NBC), Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS), etc. The broadcast affiliate manager can collect and store the content, and can schedule delivery of the content over a deliver network, shown as delivery network 1 (106). Delivery network 1 (106) can include satellite link transmission from a national center to one or more regional or local centers. Delivery network 1 (106) can also include local content delivery using local delivery systems such as over the air broadcast, satellite broadcast, or cable broadcast. The locally delivered content is provided to a receiving device 108 in a user's home, where the content will subsequently be searched by the user. It is to be appreciated that the receiving device 108 can take many forms and can be embodied as a set top box/digital video recorder (DVR), a gateway, a modem, etc. Further, the receiving device 108 can act as entry point, or gateway, for a home network system that includes additional devices configured as either client or peer devices in the home network.
A second form of content is referred to as special content. Special content can include content delivered as premium viewing, pay-per-view, or other content otherwise not provided to the broadcast affiliate manager, e.g., movies, video games or other video elements. In many cases, the special content can be content requested by the user. The special content can be delivered to a content manager 110. The content manager 110 can be a service provider, such as an Internet website, affiliated, for instance, with a content provider, broadcast service, or delivery network service. The content manager 110 can also incorporate Internet content into the delivery system. The content manager 110 can deliver the content to the user's receiving device 108 over a separate delivery network, delivery network 2 (112). Delivery network 2 (112) can include high-speed broadband Internet type communications systems. It is important to note that the content from the broadcast affiliate manager 104 can also be delivered using all or parts of delivery network 2 (112) and content from the content manager 110 can be delivered using all or parts of delivery network 1 (106). In addition, the user can also obtain content directly from the Internet via delivery network 2 (112) without necessarily having the content managed by the content manager 110.
Several adaptations for utilizing the separately delivered content can be possible. In one possible approach, the special content is provided as an augmentation to the broadcast content, providing alternative displays, purchase and merchandising options, enhancement material, etc. In another embodiment, the special content can completely replace some programming content provided as broadcast content. Finally, the special content can be completely separate from the broadcast content, and can simply be a media alternative that the user can choose to utilize. For instance, the special content can be a library of movies that are not yet available as broadcast content.
The receiving device 108 can receive different types of content from one or both of delivery network 1 and delivery network 2. The receiving device 108 processes the content, and provides a separation of the content based on user preferences and commands. The receiving device 108 can also include a storage device, such as a hard drive or optical disk drive, for recording and playing back audio and video content. Further details of the operation of the receiving device 108 and features associated with playing back stored content will be described below in relation to FIG. 2. The processed content is provided to a display device 114. The display device 114 can be a conventional 2-D type display or can alternatively be an advanced 3-D display.
A block diagram of an embodiment of a receiving device 200 is shown in FIG. 2. Receiving device can operate similar to the receiving device 108 described in FIG. 1 and can be included as part of a gateway device, modem, set top box, or other similar communications device. The device 200 shown can also be incorporated into other systems including the display device (114) itself. In either case, several components necessary for complete operation of the system are not shown in the interest of conciseness, as they are well known to those skilled in the art.
In the device 200, the content is received in an input signal receiver 202. The input signal receiver 202 can be one of several known receiver circuits used for receiving, demodulation, and decoding signals provided over one of the several possible networks including over the air, cable, satellite, Ethernet, fiber and phone line networks. The desired input signal can be selected and retrieved in the input signal receiver 202 based on user input provided through a control interface (not shown). The decoded output signal is provided to an input stream processor 204. The input stream processor 204 performs the final signal selection and processing, and includes separation of video content from audio content for the content stream. The audio content is provided to an audio processor 206 for conversion from the received format, such as compressed digital signal, to an analog waveform signal. The analog waveform signal is provided to an audio interface 208 and further to the display device 114 or an audio amplifier (not shown). Alternatively, the audio interface 208 can provide a digital signal to an audio output device or display device using a High-Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI) cable or alternate audio interface such as via a Sony/Philips Digital Interconnect Format (SPDIF). The audio processor 206 also performs any necessary conversion for the storage of the audio signals.
The video output from the input stream processor 204 is provided to a video processor 210. The video signal can be one of several formats. The video processor 210 provides, as necessary a conversion of the video content, based on the input signal format. The video processor 210 also performs any necessary conversion for the storage of the video signals.
A storage device 212 stores audio and video content received at the input. The storage device 212 allows later retrieval and playback of the content under the control of a controller 214 and also based on commands, e.g., navigation instructions such as fast-forward (FF) and rewind (Rew), received from a user interface 216. The storage device 212 can be a hard disk drive, one or more large capacity integrated electronic memories, such as static RAM (SRAM), or dynamic RAM (DRAM), or can be an interchangeable optical disk storage system such as a compact disk (CD) drive or digital video disk (DVD) drive.
The converted video signal, from the video processor 210, either originating from the input or from the storage device 212, is provided to the display interface 218. The display interface 218 further provides the display signal to a display device of the type described above. The display interface 218 can be an analog signal interface such as red-green-blue (RGB) or can be a digital interface such as HDMI. It is to be appreciated that the display interface 218 will generate the various screens for presenting the search results in a three dimensional gird as will be described in more detail below.
The controller 214 is interconnected via a bus to several of the components of the device 200, including the input stream processor 202, audio processor 206, video processor 210, storage device 212, and a user interface 216. The controller 214 manages the conversion process for converting the input stream signal into a signal for storage on the storage device or for display. The controller 214 also manages the retrieval and playback of stored content. Furthermore, as will be described below, the controller 214 performs searching of content and the creation and adjusting of the gird display representing the content, either stored or to be delivered via the delivery networks, described above. The controller 214 is further coupled to control memory 220 (e.g., volatile or non-volatile memory, including RAM, SRAM, DRAM, ROM, programmable ROM (PROM), flash memory, electronically programmable ROM (EPROM), electronically erasable programmable ROM (EEPROM), etc.) for storing information and instruction code for controller 214. Further, the implementation of the memory can include several possible embodiments, such as a single memory device or, alternatively, more than one memory circuit communicatively connected or coupled together to form a shared or common memory. Still further, the memory can be included with other circuitry, such as portions of bus communications circuitry, in a larger circuit.
To operate effectively, the user interface 216 of the present disclosure employs an input device that moves a cursor around the display. To further enhance the user experience and to facilitate the display of, and navigation around, a database such as a movie library, a touch panel device 300 can be interfaced to the receiving device 108, as shown in FIG. 3(a). The touch panel device 300 allows operation of the receiving device or set top box based on hand movements, or gestures, and actions translated through the panel into commands for the set top box. In one embodiment, the touch panel 300 can simply serve as a navigational tool to navigate the gird display. In other embodiments, the touch panel 300 will additionally serve as the display device allowing the user to more directly interact with the navigation through the grid display of content.
Alternatively, a mouse device, a remote control with navigation features, or gesture based remote control can also be used, as will be described below.
The user interface control can be included in the receiving device 200 as part of the user interface 216 or as part of controller 214. The user interface control incorporates features useful for display and navigation through a grid representing content in a database as well for video display of content. The user interface, and more specifically the grid user interface element, is incorporated into a video media player interface that includes scripting or programming capability for manipulation of graphics. The video media player and interface can be implemented in the receiving device 200 using any combination of hardware, software, or firmware. Alternatively, some portion of the control and video display operation can be included in the touch panel device 300 and also can be part of the information transmitted across the home the network.
In another embodiment, the input device is a remote controller, with a form of motion detection, such as a gyroscope or accelerometer, which allows the user to move a cursor freely about a screen or display. An exemplary hand-held angle-sensing remote controller 301 is illustrated in FIG. 3(b). Remote controller 301 includes a thumb button 302, positioned on the top side of controller 301 so as to be selectively activated by a user's thumb. Activation of thumb button 302 will also be referred to as a "click," a command often associated with activation or launch of a selected function. Controller 301 further includes a trigger button 304, positioned on the bottom side of controller 301 so as to be selectively activated by a user's index (or "trigger") finger. Activation of trigger button 304 will also be referred to as a "trigger," and angular movement (i.e. pitch, yaw and/or roll) of the controller 301 while the trigger is depressed will be referred to as a "trigger-drag." A trigger-drag command is often associated with movement of a cursor, virtual cursor or other indication of the user's interactive position on the display, such as a change of state (i.e., a highlighted or outlined cell), and is commonly used to navigate in and select entries from the interactive display. Additionally, a plurality of buttons 306 are provided for entering numbers and/or letters. In one embodiment, the plurality of buttons 306 is configured similar to a telephone-type keypad.
The use of a hand-held angle-sensing remote controller, such as controller 301 described in FIG. 3(b), provides for a number of types of user interaction. When using an angle-sensing controller, changes in yaw map to left-and-right motions, changes in pitch map to up-and-down motions and changes in roll map to rotational motions along a longitudinal axis of the controller. These inputs are used to define gestures and the gestures, in turn, define specific contextual commands. As such, a combination of yaw and pitch can be used to define any 2-dimensional motion, such as a diagonal, and a combination of yaw, pitch and roll can be used to define any 3-dimensional motion, such as a swing. A number of gestures are illustrated in FIG. 3. Gestures are interpreted in context and are identified by defined movements of the controller 301 while the trigger button 304 is held ("trigger-drag" movements).
Bumping 320 is defined by a two-stroke drawing indicating pointing in one direction, either up, down, left or right. The bumping gesture is associated with specific commands in context. For example, in a TimeShifting mode, a left-bump gesture 320 indicates rewinding, and a right-bump gesture indicates fast-forwarding. In other contexts, a bump gesture 320 is interpreted to increment a particular value in the direction designated by the bump. Checking 330 is defined as in drawing a checkmark. It is similar to a downward bump gesture 320. Checking is identified in context to designate a reminder, user tag or to select an item or element. Circling 340 is defined as drawing a circle in either direction. It is possible that both directions could be distinguished. However, to avoid confusion, a circle is identified as a single command regardless of direction. Dragging 350 is defined as an angular movement of the controller (a change in pitch and/or yaw) while holding trigger button 304 (i.e., a "trigger drag"). The dragging gesture 350 is used for navigation, speed, distance, time-shifting, rewinding, and forwarding. Dragging 350 can be used to move a cursor, a virtual cursor, or a change of state, such as highlighting outlining or selecting on the display. Dragging 350 can be in any direction and is generally used to navigate in two dimensions. However, in certain interfaces, it is preferred to modify the response to the dragging command. For example, in some interfaces, operation in one dimension or direction is favored with respect to other dimensions or directions depending upon the position of the virtual cursor or the direction of movement. Nodding 360 is defined by two fast trigger-drag up-and-down vertical movements. Nodding 360 is used to indicate "Yes" or "Accept." X-ing 370 is defined as in drawing the letter "X." X-ing 370 is used for "Delete" or "Block" commands. Wagging 380 is defined by two trigger-drag fast back-and-forth horizontal movements. The wagging gesture 380 is used to indicate "No" or "Cancel."
In addition to traditional controls for video playback, the input device will also include a mechanism to invoke or execute at least three separate options on any element selected on the display or screen. These options will be referred to as "Additional Information", "Play" and "Additional Search". The "Additional Information", function is used to display more information about the currently selected element. The "Play" function, assuming it is available for the selected element, will select that element to be played, which can require a secondary user interface for content purchase, etc. The "Additional Search" function represents the mechanism that allows a user to use any element as a source for an additional advanced search that will generate a whole new content set, updating the entire screen based on criteria defined by the selected element. It is to be appreciated that these three options can be associated with predefined or new gestures, for example, on touch panel 300, or each option can be assigned to a predetermined button, for example, of the plurality of buttons 306 on the remote controller 301.
It is to be appreciated that at least some of the components described above in relation to FIGS. 1-3 will form an apparatus and/or system for generating the user interface.
FIG. 4 illustrates a graphical flowchart for the operation of a user interface related to the display and navigational aspects of the grid display of the present disclosure. Initially, video content 401, from either a broadcast source or the managed special source, can be displayed, in step 402. In step 404, entering the main menu of the interface can be accomplished by tapping, or otherwise, selecting on the video screen. The main menu screen can include a number of user informational elements 403, and can also include a portion of the display still displaying the previous video content 401. The video content can continue to run, or can be placed in pause mode.
Navigation into the content library can include using the search, browse, or recommend button by tapping on or otherwise selecting the desired button. In step 406, selection of the search or recommend button accesses a linear display structure 405 of certain objects within the library or database, and include additional criteria for the search or recommendation feature to restrict the coverage size of the database, including actor, genre, or title criteria. The linear grid 405 can be more useful for these access functions due to the restrictions placed on the access to the library and the reduction in searchable content.
In step 408, selecting the browse function as a navigation tool pulls up a separate two dimensional grid display 407 of content selections. The browse function provides access to the complete library or database and promotes very little restriction in navigation around the database. The grid display 407 and navigation for the library or database will be described in further detail below. An entry or selection of an element from a content display (for instance by tapping on it), after it has been highlighted or enlarged in one of the previous function operations opens a detail screen which provides further detail about the selected content entry, step 410. The detail screen also provides additional options for playing or executing, renting, recording, or buying the content as well as options to return to a previous content navigation function described above.
FIG. 5 illustrates a detail view of an embodiment of the grid display 500 using aspects of the present disclosure. Grid display 500 operates in a manner similar to the operation of grid display 407 described in FIG. 4. The grid display 500 can be displayed on the display device 114 and manipulated or navigated using the touch panel 300 or other navigation device described earlier. The interface screen can also be displayed on the touch panel device 300 as a remote display, allowing the user to more directly interact with the navigation through the grid display of content.
The grid display 500 is made up of several graphical elements 502 arranged in a two dimensional grid. The two dimensional grid can include rows and columns or include some other two dimensional pattern arrangement, such as a radial or elliptical pattern around one or more central points. In one embodiment, all of the element move together as on contiguous unit. Each graphics element 502 represents a single data entry location from the library or database of content, referred to as the model in the control software, which will be described below in relation to FIG. 7. For example, grid display 500 includes graphic elements representing movie posters. Grid displays showing graphic elements representing book covers, album or CD covers, or the like can also be used. The current item 504 is, in this case, highlighted by adjusting the appearance of the item, e.g., enlarging and centering the element in the view area. When an item is highlighted in response to a user input, additional information can be provided with the graphic element related to the specific content associated to the graphic element. Furthermore, the specific content associated with the graphic element can be executed, e.g., a movie to be played, a game to be loaded, a web site to be launched, in response to further user input.
The grid display takes advantage of screen real-estate or display area to provide additional options and context in multiple dimensions. Navigation of the grid display is not constrained to a single, typically horizontal, dimension. Data in the grid, e.g., movie content, audio content, etc., can be either arbitrarily or explicitly organized within the two dimensional space. When explicitly organized, the data or graphic elements 502 are organized according to at least one variable related to the specific content associated to graphic element. For instance, rows can represent alpha-numeric organization while columns can represent genres.
Any element 502 can be made up of images representing specific content, such as a defined frame from a piece of recorded content, an image supplied from the network or by the user, or from a library of generic elements either manually or automatically assigned to the content. Any of these elements can be augmented with text, either overlaid on the element itself or displayed along with it, and/or additional smaller elements to indicate the type of content. For example, elements representing content that is locally stored on the receiving device, such as receiving device 108 described in FIG. 1, can be presented with a small element of a disk drive in the bottom right hand corner of a large image representing the content itself. Elements are configured to be detailed enough for a user to clearly see the type of content they represent. Elements could also be in part or fully dynamically created, such as including elements of content currently playing on a broadcast channel. For example, an element can be dynamically generated (either locally or delivered from the network) of a scene from recently broadcast video, then combined with a logo or some indication of the channel on which it currently being broadcast. This would allow a user to see at a glance, what is on currently on a large number of channels at once.
FIG. 6 illustrates the user operation and navigation for the grid display using aspects of the present disclosure. Interaction with the grid display 600 shown in FIG. 6 is described in connection with the touch panel device 300 shown in FIG. 3(a). Gestures, made by a user's hand, on, or above, the touch or capacitively sensitive panel translate to messages that are communicated to the receiving device 108 via a network, such as a home network, as described in FIG. 1. The messages are translated by a controller in the touch panel device into changes processed by the set top box or receiving device. It is important to note that the messages creating changes can be interpreted by the receiving device 108 in a manner that results in different effects within the physical data structure representing the content library (known as the model) and the display structure (known as the view) portions of the implementation.
As an example, when initiating a drag motion from lower left to upper right on the touch panel, as shown in FIG. 3(a), the elements of grid 600 move such that the item in position B (element 602) moves off screen of the display device toward the upper right and is replaced by the item in position A (element 604), additionally the item in position C (element 606) moves to position A, as shown in FIG. 6. Additionally, movements can be animated on the display for smooth transition. Momentum effects can also be applied to enhance the physics of the view. For example, the rate of speed that the gesture is made can be translated into a distance by which the display is shifted through the grid and/or the grid display.
It is important to note that the touch panel interface is only one of possibly multiple input devices that could be used for input into the apparatus or system. For instance, the use of a hand-held angle-sensing controller, as shown in FIG. 3(b), provides for a number of types of user interaction.
FIG. 7 illustrates a state control diagram for the implementation of a grid display using aspects of the present disclosure. The implementation for the grid display and the interface follows a Model-View-Controller (MVC) coding structure. The Model portion 702, or database library, holds (or provides access to) the entire set of data and also correlates virtual x/y coordinates 704 with specific data items that are arranged in a two dimensional matrix. The Model portion 702 also tracks the currently selected item 706 within the dataset based on virtual coordinates (ideally centering the selected item when generated in the view). The Controller portion 708 converts mouse and other messages 710 (e.g. from a remote input device) into relative x/y coordinate changes that are submitted to the model which in-turn updates its virtual position 704. The View portion 712 subscribes to events from the Model 702 and generates the grid for a display based on updates. The View portion 712 includes position updates and item detail updates.
Additionally, the implementation can include a control interpreter for a remote input device such as a touch panel using gesture interaction. Messages from the remote input device are communicated via interface software and/or hardware to the grid display implementation and are interpreted by the Controller 708 for input into the Model 702.
A method for optimizing the display of the grid display and interface will be described in relation to FIGS. 8-13.
Initially, in step 802, a total number of items in a database of graphic elements are determined. The data or graphic elements are arranged in a two dimensional array which correlates to a two dimensional grid in virtual space. The extent of the virtual space depends on the height and width of the individual grid elements multiplied by the number of rows and columns of data in the data set. Additionally, the dataset need not be arranged symmetrically in the horizontal and vertical dimensions. Each data item in the data set contains at least one of an image, title, rating, and uniform resource locator (URL), and other metadata related to a specific piece of content, in the example described above, a feature film.
FIG. 9 illustrates an embodiment of a data structure 900 using aspects of the present disclosure. Data structure 900 can include an array of a plurality of data elements arranged based on a pattern for display. For example, data structure 900 can include a dataset of 6400 items with the data elements arranged in an array of 80 columns by 80 rows (row and column dimensions need not be identical).
Data structure 900 illustrates the two dimensional indexing for each data element 902 as it relates between the display area on a display and the array. As an exemplary illustration of the embodiment, the virtual dimensions for a grid containing 80×80 elements each with a visual dimension of 150×200 pixels would result in a virtual space of 12,000×16,000 pixels. Rather than load images for all 6400 items in a plane 12,000×16,000 pixels, the method of the present disclosure would generate only a fraction of the total space, i.e., a first subset of graphic elements, step 804. This is accomplished by selecting a "window" into the dataset that constitutes the visible area plus an additional border area to facilitate enough caching to support smooth navigation into adjacent areas of the grid, step 806. FIG. 10 illustrates a single element border 1002 around the visible area 1004. As will be described in more detail below, all elements 1001 within border 1002 are generated but only the elements 1003 within the area 1004 are visible. In cases where it is desirable to catch a full screen's worth of information in any direction, to support a quick gestural move across an entire screen width, the border area 1002 could be increased.
A loading priority for the data (such as images) can be established. The images should be loaded in priority from center outward to the edge of the border 1002. As direction of movement is known image loading priority is weighted to the elements coming into view over those leaving the view. FIG. 10 further illustrates the visible area 1004, the border area 1002 and the non-generated virtual data space 1006. Generated visual elements are labeled AA (element 1001), BA (element 1005), etc. It is to be appreciated that graphic elements, e.g., element 1007, in the virtual data space 1006 are not generated but are designated to a container or placeholder. As element 1007 enters area 1002 in response to a user input, the container will be loaded and the graphic element associated to same will be loaded or generated.
In step 808, a portion of the first subset of graphic elements will be displayed. As shown in FIG. 10, the elements in the visible area 1004 are generated and visible on the display, while the elements in the pre-generated border area 1002 are generated but not visible on the display. In step 810, the position of at least one graphic element in the first subset is adjusted to a point central on the display in response to a user input and a second subset of graphic elements is displayed with the at least one graphic element at the central point, step 812. It is to be appreciated that as the elements are moved, elements in the border area 1002 will appear quickly in the visible area 1004 since there are already generated. For example, if a user selected element CE (37, 25) and dragged the element to the upper left, at least element GC (41, 23) would move into the border area 1002 and out of the visible area. Additionally, at least element AG (35, 27) will move from border area 1002 to visible area 1004, the transition appearing seamless since element AG was already generated and cache in the border area.
Special exceptions can be handled, such as in the case where an edge or corner data is approached. The grid display should be configured to avoid navigating beyond the edge. The terminal position for an edge should ideally be centered in the view (and emphasized as the selected item), as illustrated in FIG. 11. Here, element 1, 1 (element 1101) is centered in the visible area 1004. Even if the user attempts to select element 1, 1 (element 1101) and move in a direction toward the lower right hand corner of the display, the elements will stay in the same position, or be locked. In this manner, the user input will not result in a blank screen.
FIG. 12 is a flow chart of the optimization process for displaying a portion of a larger database or library in a grid display using aspects of the present disclosure. The optimization involves reusing visual elements rather than allocating and de-allocating them as needed. In step 1202, the method starts and proceeds to position an element based on a change, step 1204, i.e., in response to a user input. In step, 1206, it is determined if the element's position exceeds the boundary area 1002. When a display element moves outside the pre-generated border area 1002, the element is moved to the opposite edge of the border area, step 1208. In step 1210, the view element queries the model for data relevant to its new position in virtual space. The virtual space location is determined by the current virtual location offset by the actual display coordinates.
FIG. 13 shows an illustrative embodiment of the movement of the display elements in the grid display following a response to a user input to shift the window of displayed elements with the database or library. The display diagram illustrates how visual elements on the top and right side shift to the bottom and left side to fill in as the grid is moved in a diagonal direction. For example, element IB 1302 on the right shifts its physical position to IB′ 1304 on the left. As part of this transition the visual element queries the model to obtain data relevant to the new virtual position (in the case of IB′ 1304 that would be data element 34, 22). In the case of visual element IA 1306 there are actually two moves, one from right to left resulting in IA′ 1308 and another from the top to the bottom resulting in final location of IA″ 1310. In this manner, when an element moves into the border area 1002, it is moved to another position in the border area so the underlying container or placeholder for the data or graphic element does not need to be unloaded. The container will be re-used but only the graphic element would need to be loaded which is less resource intensive than having to load a new container.
The grid display of the present disclosure can be used to browse multiple hundreds or even thousands of items, e.g., content such as movies. Generating a visual element for each element can be processor intensive. The techniques of the present disclosure provide for minimizing the number of display elements required for generating a grid display view while maintaining the illusion of navigating a larger virtual space of information.
An embodiment of software code that can be used to operate a video display with a touch activatable screen as described above can be found in Provisional Patent Application No. 61/515,578 and in PCT/US2010/049772. The software code represents a means for enabling and implementing the various inventive features taught herein, the aforesaid various inventive features not having been known at the time PCT/US2010/049772 was filed. The software code is exemplary, and it is understood by those skilled in the art that other software code can be developed for implementing the inventive features taught herein. Accordingly, the noted software code is deemed to be understood by those skilled in the art and does not need to be repeated herein.
Described thus far, is an apparatus and method for displaying and navigating through a database or library of elements representing available content. The elements can be image objects such as album covers or movie posters. The structure arranges the objects in a grid display for taking advantage of the two dimensions of a display, i.e., the vertical dimension along with the horizontal dimension, for navigation purposes. The navigation aspects associated with the user interface include gesture based movements translated into display changes for the cover grid. Optimizations to the view of a grid display implementation are described such that the number of display elements is minimized and independent of the number of items in the full dataset and that navigation through the database is smooth and efficient with respect to the visual perception of the displayed portion.
Having described presently preferred embodiments of an apparatus, method and user interface for grid navigation, which are intended to be illustrative and not limiting, it is noted that modifications and variations can be made by persons skilled in the art in light of the above teachings.


Bcl-xL/Bcl-2 binding inhibitors useful in the treatment of unwanted proliferating cells, including cancers and precancers, in subjects in need of such treatment. Also provided are methods of treating a subject having unwanted proliferating cells comprising administering a therapeutically effective amount of a Bcl-xL/Bcl-2 binding inhibitor described herein to a subject in need of such treatment. Also provided are methods of preventing the proliferation of unwanted proliferating cells, such as cancers and precancers, in a subject comprising the step of administering a therapeutically effective amount of a Bcl-xL/Bcl-2 binding inhibitor described herein to a subject at risk of developing a condition characterized by unwanted proliferating cells.

Thiazolidenediones (TZDs), including troglitazone (TG), rosiglitazone (RG), pioglitazone (PG), and ciglitazone (CG), are synthetic ligands of the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ (PPARγ) (1). This family of PPARγ agonists improves insulin sensitivity by increasing transcription of certain insulin-sensitive genes involved in the metabolism and transport of lipids, thus representing a new class of oral antidiabetic agents. More recently, certain TZDs, especially TG and CG, have also been shown to inhibit the proliferation of many cancer cell lines that express high levels of PPARγ, including, but not limited to, those of colon, prostate, breast, and liposarcoma [review: (2)]. As PPARγ-mediated effects of TZDs promote the differentiation of preadipocytes, one school of thought attributes the same mechanism to the terminal differentiation and cell cycle arrest of tumor cells (3). However, the PPARγ-activated target genes that mediate the antiproliferative effects remain elusive, as genomic responses to PPARγ activation in cancer cells are highly complicated (4). Reported causal mechanisms include attenuated expression of protein phosphatase 2A (5), cyclins D1 and E, inflammatory cytokines and transcription factors (2), and increased expression of an array of gene products linked to growth regulation and cell maturation (4). On the other hand, several lines of evidence indicate that the inhibitory effect of TZDs on tumor cell proliferation was independent of PPARγ activation. For example, the antitumor effects appear to be structure-specific irrespective of potency in PPARγ activation, i.e., TG and CG are active while RG and PG are not. Also, there exists a three-orders-of-magnitude discrepancy between the concentration required to produce antitumor effects and that to mediate PPARγ activation. To date, an array of non-PPARγ targets have been implicated in the antitumor activities of TG and/or CG in different cell systems, which include intracellular Ca2+ stores (6), phosphorylating activation of ERKs (extracellular signal-regulated kinases) (7, 8), JNK (c-Jun N-terminal protein kinase), and p38 (9), up-regulation of early growth response-1 (10), p27kip1 (11), p21WAF/CIP1 (12), p53, and Gadd45 (13), and altered expression of Bcl-2 family members (9). However, some of these targets appear to be cell type-specific due to differences in signaling pathways regulating cell growth and survival in different cell systems.
In light of the potential use of TZDs in prostate cancer prevention/treatment (14, 15), signaling mechanisms whereby these PPARγ agonists inhibit the proliferation of prostate cancer cells represent the focus of this investigation. We report here the development of novel TZD derivatives that lack activity in PPARγ activation but retain the ability to induce apoptosis in two prostate cancer cell lines with distinct PPARγ expression status, suggesting that these two pharmacological activities are unrelated. More importantly, we demonstrate that TZD-mediated apoptosis was attributable, in part, to the inhibition of the anti-apoptotic functions of Bcl-xL and Bcl-2 by disrupting the BH3 domain-mediated interactions with pro-apoptotic Bcl-2 members. From a translational perspective, dissociation of these two pharmacological activities, i.e., PPARγ activation and Bcl-xL/Bcl-2 inhibition, provides a molecular basis to use Δ2-TG as a scaffold to generate a novel class of Bcl-xL/Bcl-2 inhibitors. Accordingly, we developed a structurally optimized Δ2-TG derivative (TG-88) with high in vivo potency in inhibiting PC-3 tumor growth.

Small molecule Bcl-xL/Bcl-2 binding inhibitors

The Ohio State University Research Foundation