A flat heat exchanger fin includes a body having arrays of louver groups formed therein. Each array includes four louver groups. The first and second louver groups are disposed over a respective pipe, with the second louver group disposed behind the first louver group. The third and fourth louver groups are disposed beneath a respective pipe, with the fourth louver group disposed behind the third louver group. Each louver group includes a plurality of louvers which form slits through the body. The slits extend transversely relative to the air flow direction and generally radially with respect to the respective pipe. Each louver group includes a proximate edge facing a respective pipe, and a remote edge facing away from the pipe. The remote edge is spaced from the respective pipe by a substantially constant separation distance. Dew-draining ridges are formed in the fin above, below, in front of, and behind respective pipes.

Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a heat exchanger for an air conditioner, and more particularly to a cooling fin for a heat exchanger which provides an improved heat transfer performance.
A conventional heat exchanger for an air conditioner includes, as shown in FIG. 1, a plurality of flat vertical fins 1 arranged in a parallel relation to each other at predetermined intervals and a plurality of heat exchanging tubes 2 passing horizontally through the fins 1 perpendicular thereto. The air currents flow in the spaces defined between the fins 1 in the direction of the arrow in FIG. 1 and exchange heat with the fluid flowing in the heat exchanging tubes 2.
For a thermal fluid flowing around each flat fin 1, there has been known that the thickness of the thermal boundary layer 3 on both heat transfer surfaces of the fin 1 is gradually thickened in proportion to square root of the distance from the air current inlet end of the fin 1 as shown in FIG. 2. In this regard, the heat transfer rate of the fin 1 is remarkably reduced in proportion to the distance from the air current inlet end. Therefore, the above heat exchanger has a lower heat transfer efficiency.
For the thermal fluid flowing about each heat transfer pipe 102, it has been also known that, when lower velocity air currents flow in the direction of the arrow of FIG. 3, the air currents separate from the outer surface of the pipe 2 at portions spaced apart from the center point of outer surface of the pipe 4 at angles of 70-degree to 80-degree. Therefore, an air dead region 4 is formed behind each tube 2 in a direction of the air flow as shown in the hatched region of FIG. 3. In the air dead region 4, the heat transfer rate of the tube 2 is remarkably reduced so that the heat transfer efficiency of the above heat exchanger becomes worse.
In order to overcome the above problems, there has been proposed another solution as disclosed in Korean Patent Application No. 96-27642 filed on Jul. 9, 1996 by the present applicant. This heat exchanger, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, includes a plurality of heat exchanging tubes 2 which are fitted into the regularly spaced flat fins 1 such that the tubes 2 are perpendicular to the fins 1. The heat exchanger also includes a plurality of angled louver patterns which are formed adjacent the tubes 2 passing through each fin 1. Each louver pattern comprises a pair of louver groups located either above or below one of the tubes 2. A lower louver pattern disposed below a tube 2 comprises a first louver group 20 configured to guide an air current flow in a first direction, and a second louver group 40 which is inclined opposite to the first louver group such that the guided air current is guided in a different direction. An upper louver pattern located above a tube 2 comprises a third louver group 30 and a fourth louver group 50 inclined relative to one another. Each of the louver groups is radially oriented relative to a respective tube 2.
The first and third louver groups 20 and 30 are oriented in mirror image relationship to each other such that the air currents flowing over both surfaces of the flat fin 1 and in the area between adjacent tubes 2 become turbulent and mixed. Further, the second and fourth louver groups 40 and 50 are similarly placed in mirror image relationship to each other such that the air currents which have passed the groups 20 and 30 continue to traverse the remainder of the area between the tubes 2 and become turbulently mixed by the groups 40 and 50, thereby reducing the dead air region.
Each of the louver groups includes louvers 70-75 which are inclined obliquely relative to the plane of the fin, as can be seen in FIG. 5. That is, each of the louvers 71-74 has a left end L projecting past a first surface S1 of the flat fin 1, and a right end R thereof extending past a second surface S2 of the flat fin 1. Each louver provides a slit arranged transversely relative to the air flow. The louvers are formed by way of a cutting and twisting process so as to be integral with the flat fin 1. The fin 1 includes flat, solid portions 60, some of which are round and surround respective tubes 2. For example, one of those round areas occupies a region between upper ends of the louver groups 20, 40 and a lower outer circumference of an adjacent tube 2. The louver groups are radially oriented with respect to respective tubes 2.
The first and second louver groups 20, 40 are arranged symmetrical relative to each other and are separated by a solid portion 60 of the fin. The same is true of the third and fourth groups 30 and 50.
The louvers 70-75 of each group are sequentially arranged relative to one another without any solid fin portion disposed therebetween.
In the drawing, reference numeral 80 denotes beads or ridges which are vertically oriented. Each bead 80 defines a vertical longitudinal axis that perpendicularly intersects the axes of vertically adjacent pipes 2. The beads serve as water guides to drain water, or dew, that condenses on the tubes 2 or fins. The beads also reinforce the fin 1 and enlarge the surface area thereof.
Each bead 80 is located in a solid portion 60 of the fin situated between the first and third groups 20, 30 on the one hand, and the second and fourth groups 40, 50 on the other hand.
The bead projects above the plane of the fin 1 and has a V-shaped cross-section (see FIG. 5).
In the heat exchanger described above, each louver group has a remote edge e facing away from a respective lower group and facing an edge of another louver group and extending parallel with respect to a direction s of the air flow. The air current flowing over those edges e is not well mixed, resulting in the creation of a wider dead air region behind each tube 2, as well as an increase in the pressure drop, thereby reducing the heat transfer efficiency of the heat exchanger.
Furthermore, since the beads are formed only in vertical alignment with the tubes 2, the strength of portions of the fin 1 disposed in front of and behind the tubes 2 is not improved, which greatly lowers the overall strength of the fin 1. In addition, there are insufficient beads to satisfactorily drain all of the dew formed on the surface of the fin 1.


A packet communications network includes a centrally controlled route testing system in which each node includes test results tables containing the results of all path tests originated at that node. A centralized route management facility initiates a path test originating at any node by remotely altering a trigger value in a trigger data object at that node. A general results table contains general test results for an entire path between the local node and a remote node while a detailed test results table contains detailed, hop-by-hop test results for each transmission leg of a multi-leg path. The general results table contains a name trigger field for identifying a point-to-point path to be tested, and a connection trigger field for identifying a link-by-link path to be tested.

In the co-pending application of John G. Stevenson, Ser. No. 08/236,800, filed May 2, 1994, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,566,880 and assigned to applicants' assignee, a system is described in which a path test command is launched in a network, following a path determined in the same way as a normal data transfer from a source to a destination in a so-called connectionless network, that is, in a network in which the transmission path is not predetermined prior to the transmission of data. At each node encountered along the connection path, the path test command initiates a path test identifying that node and the current time. These results of the path test are sent back to the node initiating the path test command. Thus, as the path test command traverses the data path, a sequence of test results flow from each of the nodes encountered along the path back to the originating node. As noted in the aforementioned patent application, these results can be combined at the originating node to determine the response time of the entire path from source to destination, the response time of each leg along this path, and hence the identification of congestion points in the path. If the destination node is never reached, the returned test results serve to identify the first encountered failed transmission leg or node. This testing approach has the advantage of being useful with connectionless networks as well as pre-calculated routing protocol path networks. This testing approach has the disadvantage, however, of requiring each and every resource in the network to be modified so as to be responsive to the path test command.
Another route testing technique is disclosed in T. Hefel et al. application Ser. No. filed 08/500,674, filed Jul. 10, 1995, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,563,875 also assigned to applicants' assignee, in which a source node launches a plurality of wrap around test messages, one for each node in the path between the source node and the destination node. Each message includes a launching time which can be used to determine the round trip transit time to the corresponding intermediate (and destination) node and thus the link delay times. As with the previous application Ser. No. 08/236,800, these times can be used to determine link or node failures, congestion points and route performance. Although this latter test method requires no changes in the network except at the wrap around test source, it has the disadvantage of being useful only with pre-calculated route protocol paths.
Packet switching networks normally have a network supervisor who is responsible for the overall management of the network. In order to manage the route testing function from a central location, it is necessary to initiate, and to ascertain the results of, path tests from a central location. The most common control command mechanism available for managing packet networks is known as the Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP). In the SNMP system, a simple "GET" or "GET.sub.-- NEXT" command is used to obtain a single stored value from a remote node in the packet network. Similarly, a simple "SET" command is used to set a single value in a remote node of the packet network. Unfortunately, this simple command structure does not lend itself well to obtaining the detailed results of the path tests necessary for centralized test management. In the prior art systems utilizing such a limited command structure, it is difficult or impossible to centrally manage the route tests for the entire packet transmission system. Without central management, each node must manage all of the tests originating at that node, requiring duplication of the test management facilities at each of the nodes, thereby increasing the cost and complexity and reducing the throughput of the network.

Management of route testing in packet communications networks


The invention provides methods for diagnosis and monitoring of Rett syndrome and other neurodevelopmental disorders by quantitative analysis of miRNAs in bodily fluids.

Neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs) include pathologies caused by disturbances of the nervous system development. Some of NDDs, such as Rett syndrome, Tourette syndrome and others are rare, but some, for example Autism Spectrum Disorders, are much more common. Early minimally invasive tests for early detection of NDDs are very important for the following reasons. First, although there is no effective treatment for most of NDDs, early symptomatic treatment may significantly improve patient health. Second, due to variability of mutations causing particular NDDs and other factors these disorders are characterized by the wide phenotypical and clinical heterogeneity, and biomarkers capable of predicting disease development and outcome would be very useful. Finally and maybe most importantly, such biomarkers would be extremely helpful on all stages of drug/treatment development, including use of animal models in preclinical studies, patient involvement and stratification for clinical studies and treatment monitoring.
Rett syndrome (RTT) is a monogenic X-linked disorder caused by mutations in MECP2 gene, which encodes the methyl-CpG binding protein 2 (Renieri A et al. Rett syndrome: the complex nature of a monogenic disease. J Mol Med (Berl). 2003; 81(6):346-54). Due to severe encephalopathy caused by a mutation in the single copy of MECP2 male fetuses usually die before birth, so the disease affects females almost exclusively (˜1 in 10,000).
In addition to brain pathology, other organs (e.g., liver, muscle) and metabolic processes (e.g. cholesterol metabolism) are involved in RTT development (Amir, R. E., et al. Rett syndrome is caused by mutations in X-linked MECP2, encoding methyl-CpG-binding protein. Nat Genet., 23, 185-188 (1999); Armstrong D D. Rett syndrome neuropathology review 2000. Brain Dev. 23 Suppl 1, S72-76 (2001); Lyst, M. J., Bird, A. Rett syndrome: a complex disorder with simple roots. Nat. Rev. Genet., 16, 261-275 (2015)).
An advantage of using RTT as an example for developing diagnostic tests for NDDs in general is the existence of several mouse models of RTT (see below). Of course, potential biomarkers should be evolutionary conserved to be applicable for both human and animals.
MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a class of non-coding RNAs whose final product is an approximately 22 nt functional RNA molecule. They play important roles in the regulation of target genes by binding to complementary regions of messenger transcripts to repress their translation or regulate degradation (Griffiths-Jones Nucleic Acids Research. 2006; 34, Database issue: D140-D144; Jin and Xiao, Frontiers in Genetics. 2015; 6:328). Frequently, one miRNA can target multiple mRNAs and one mRNA can be regulated by multiple miRNAs targeting different regions of the 3′UTR. Once bound to an mRNA, miRNA can modulate gene expression and protein production by affecting, e.g., mRNA translation and stability (Baek et al. Nature. 2008; 455:64; Selbach et al. Nature. 2008; 455:58; Ambros. Nature. 2004; 431: 350-355; Bartel. Cell. 2004; 116: 281-297; Cullen. Virus Research. 2004; 102: 3-9; He et al. Nat. Rev. Genet. 2004; 5: 522-531; and Ying et al. Gene. 2004; 342: 25-28). There are other classes of less characterized small RNAs (reviewed in Kim. Mol. Cells. 2005; 19: 1-15).
Many of miRNAs are specific to or over-expressed in certain organs/tissues/cells (see, e.g., Hua et al. BMC Genomics. 2009; 10:214; Liang et al. BMC Genomics. 2007; 8:166; Landgraf et al. Cell. 2007; 129:1401-1414; Lee et al. RNA. 2008; 14:35-42) and in different brain areas, such as hippocampus, midbrain, frontal cortex, pituitary gland, and in different cell types, such as neurons and glial cells (Sempere et al. Genome Biol. 2004; 5: R13; Deo et al. Dev. Din. 2006; 235:2538-2548; Bak et al. RNA. 2008; 14: 432-444; Trivedi and Ramakrishna Int. J. Neurosci. 2009; 119: 1995-2016; Weng et al. Biomed. Res. 2011; 32: 135-141; He et al. Neuron. 2012; 73: 35-48).
Some miRNAs, including those that are cell-specific, are enriched in certain cellular compartments, particularly in axons, dendrites and synapses (see, e.g., Schratt et al. Nature. 2006; 439:283-289; Lugli et al. J. Neurochem. 2008; 106:650-661; Bicker and Schratt. J. Cell. Mol. Med. 2008; 12:1466-1476; Smalheiser and Lugli. Neuromolecular Med. 2009; 11:133-140; Rajasethupathy. Neuron. 2009; 63:714-716; Kye. RNA. 2007; 13:1224-1234; Yu et al. Exp Cell Res. 2008; 314:2618-2633; Cougot et al. J. Neurosci. 2008; 28:13793-13804; Kawahara. Brain Nerve. 2008. 60:1437-1444; Schratt G. Rev Neurosci. 2009; 10:842-849; Pichardo-Casas et al. Brain Research. 2012; 1436:20-33).
Expression and concentrations of miRNAs are regulated by various physiological and pathological signals. Changes in expression of some miRNAs were found in neurons of Parkinson's, Alzheimer's and other neurodegenerative disease patients (Hebert and De Strooper. Trends Neurosci. 2009; 32:199-206; Saba et al. PLoS One. 2008; 3:e3652; Kocerha et al. Neuromolecular Med. 2009; 11:162-172; Sethi and Lukiw. Neurosci Lett. 2009; 459:100-104; Zeng; Mol Pharmacol. 2009; 75:259-264; Cogswell et al. Journal of Alzheimer's disease. 2008; 14: 27-41; Schaefer et al. J. Exp. Med. 2007; 204:1553-1558; Hebert. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA. 2008; 105:6415-6420; Wang et. al.. J. Neurosci. 2008; 28:1213-1223; Nelson et al. Brain Pathol. 2008; 18:130-138; Lukiw. Neuroreport. 2007; 18:297-300) as well as in subjects with NDDs (Im, Kenny. Trends Neurosci. 2012; 35:325-334; Sun, Shi. Exp. Neurol. 2015; 268: 46-53).
For the use of miRNA in diagnostics, it is also important that miRNA secretion varies depending on cellular physiology (Palma et al. Nucleic Acids Res. 2012; 40:9125-9138; Pigati et al. PLoS One. 2010; 5: e13515). In addition to miRNA release into extracellular space and subsequent appearance in the bodily fluids due to cell death, miRNA appear in circulation due to blebbing of apoptotic bodies, budding and shedding of microvesicles, active secretion in the form of exosomes and of miRNA complexes with proteins (AGO2, NPM1 and others) and high density lipoproteins (HDL) (reviews: Sun et al. Clin. Chem. Lab. Med. 2012; 50: 2121-2126; Zandberga et al. Genes Chromosomes Cancer. 2013; 52: 356-369). All these forms of cell-free miRNA are highly stable in the bloodstream and other bodily fluids. The secretion of miRNA is selective and can be significantly changed by various pathological processes. For example, changes in the spectrum of miRNA secreted in exosomes from prion-infected neuronal cells, as compared to uninfected cells, have been demonstrated (Belingham et al. Nucleic Acids Res. 2012; 40: 10937-10949).
Two approaches are widely used for searching miRNA biomarkers of various diseases in bodily fluids:
1. The first approach involves measurement of hundreds of different miRNA in a bodily fluid from patients with a pathology of interest and from control subjects using miRNA array or next generation sequencing (NGS) (Qin et al. Cancer Inform. 2013; 12: 83-101). While this approach allows to analyze a huge numbers of various miRNA, currently the miRNA array-based and sequencing techniques are not sufficiently sensitive to detect many miRNA whose concentration in bodily fluids is relatively low. As a consequence, most of the miRNA detectable in bodily fluids by arrays and NGS are ubiquitous miRNA expressed in all or many tissues, and many of them derive from blood cells (Pritchard et al. Cancer Prev. Res. (Phila). 2012; 5:492-497; Leidner and Thompson. PLoS One. 2013; 8: 57841). The detection of changes in the concentrations of such ubiquitous miRNA in patients with one pathology does not mean that the same miRNA cannot be involved in other diseases of different organs. Many miRNA are associated with a particular pathology type, such as cancer, inflammation, hypoxia, etc., and changes in their concentration in bodily fluids can be associated with diseases of different organs. For example, changes of miR-155 concentrations were found in the bloodstream of patients with breast, esophageal, lung, pancreatic cancers and lymphomas (Blair and Yan. DNA Cell Biol. 2012; 31 Suppl. 1: S49-61; Xie et al. Bioinformatics. 2013; 29: 638-644). Level of miR-21 increases in plasma/serum of patients with osteosarcoma, bladder, esophageal, gastric, lung, breast, colorectal cancers, neck squamous cell carcinoma and other tumors (Blair and Yan. DNA Cell Biol. 2012; 31 Suppl. 1: S49-61; Farazi et al. J. Pathol. 2011; 223: 102-115; Xie et al, Bioinformatics. 2013; 29: 638-644). It follows that the potential biomarkers found by miRNA arrays should be also tested in other pathologies, not only in healthy control subjects.
2. The second approach is based on analysis of disease-specific miRNAs identified by comparison of miRNAs isolated from pathologic and normal tissue, organ or cell type. Here, subsequent to identification of disease-specific miRNAs (e.g., by an array followed by RT-PCR), their presence in bodily fluids is analyzed. In this strategy, since a limited number of circulating miRNAs is tested, the use of individual RT-PCR is possible which allows to increase sensitivity and reproducibility of the analysis. However, in many cases when this method was applied, no correlation was detected between miRNA concentration and pathology-induced changes in the tissue and in bodily fluids (Boeri et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA. 2011; 108: 3713-3718; Cuk et al. Int. J. Cancer. 2013; 132: 1602-1612). This phenomenon can be explained by several factors: (i) if pathology is caused by, or associated with, the change in concentration of a ubiquitous miRNA, the effect of the pathology on the concentration of this miRNA in circulation could be very limited, since only a small fraction of the miRNA in circulation comes from the affected organ or tissue; (ii) changes in miRNA concentration due to pathology development can be accompanied by much more prominent opposite changes in miRNA secretion/excretion, which neutralizes or even overcomes the effect of changed miRNA expression.
While miRNAs are much more stable than larger mRNA or rRNA molecules, many factors, including methods of plasma preparation (time between blood collection and plasma freezing, the number of thawing-freezing cycles, centrifugation speed and so on), miRNA extraction methods, and the presence of qRT-PCR inhibitors can affect the miRNA concentrations measured in a given experiment. Further, many biological factors unrelated to the pathology, e.g. changes in blood-brain barrier permeability and blood supply, can affect the miRNA concentrations in plasma.
Two main approaches are commonly used for miRNA data normalization. The most common one involves the use of the least variable miRNA, such as spiked non-human miRNA (Kroh et al., Methods, 2010, 50, 298-301; Sanders et al., Int. J. Urol. 2012. 19, 1017-1025) or ubiquitous miRNA, whose concentration is minimally changed by a pathology being analyzed, or average of all miRNAs, if hundreds of miRNAs are analyzed by a miRNA array. For example, miR-16 and other small RNAs, such as small nuclear or nucleolar RNAs, were widely used in earlier studies. However, the concentrations of some of these miRNAs in bodily fluids were recently shown to be affected by pathologic processes (Lardizabal et al. PLoS One 2012, 7, e36323; Katsuura et al. Neurosci. Lett. 2012, 516, 79-84). The second approach is based on the experimental search for miRNA pairs, which most effectively differentiate two populations, e.g., pathology versus control (Sheinerman et al. Aging 2012, 4, 590-605).

Methods of using miRNA from bodily fluids for diagnosis and monitoring of neurodevelopmental disorders


A medication compliance system having an output device; and a computer in communication with the output device and having loaded therein a computer program to define a particular logic circuit which generates a graphical user interface with which a user indicates the number of times a particular pharmaceutical is to be taken during a day, and which causes the output device to print a label having data thereon identifying the pharmaceutical, and having a shape thereon representing the number of times a day, or the particular time of day the pharmaceutical is to be taken.

With advancements in medicine and the development of high powered drugs, people are living longer. A major problem confronted by the chronically ill and the elderly, is the successful management of multiple medications. Errors in the time of medication, as well as the number of medications taken is a serious health care issue. Forty percent of people in hospitals are admitted due to drug contraindications. This statistic contributes to both increased health care costs, and to the lowered effectiveness of drugs.
Despite pharmaceutical refinements making fewer drugs necessary on a daily basis for the duration of treatment, the multiple number of medications can be confusing and problematic for patients. Multiple medications may also cause various visual impairments in some patients that hinder interpretation of the instructions provided.
"Homemade" systems become cumbersome and difficult to edit when there are changes or modifications in treatment. Plastic box dispensers are also limiting. They do not accommodate a large number of medications (and require they be in pill form in order to fit into the compartments) and they do not protect those drugs which are sensitive to light or air. Plastic boxes are impractical for inhalants, patches, salves or syrups.
In addition, a federal law is presently in place that requires that printed information regarding side effects and warnings, be provided to patients at the time of filling a prescription.


A differential mechanism for transmitting power from an input to an output includes a case containing a side gear, a locking member rotatably secured to the case and axially displaceable relative to the case. The locking member alternately engages the side gear to limit rotation of the side gear relative to the case, and disengages the side gear to permit rotation of the side gear relative to the case. An electromagnetic coil assembly is supported on the case for movement toward and away from the locking member. A first actuator including an electromagnetic coil is supported on the case for moving the locking member toward engagement with the side gear in response to energizing the coil. A second actuator urges the locking member away from engagement with the side gear.

The present invention relates generally to an apparatus for alternately releasing and holding a side gear of a differential assembly against rotation relative to a case. More particularly, the invention pertains to electromagnetic actuation of a device for releasing and holding the side gear.
It is conventional to employ a hydraulically actuated clutch to permit limited wheel slip at an axle, i.e., to produce a rotational speed difference between the driven wheels. U.S. Pat. No. 4,265,143 discloses a hydraulic limited slip differential mechanism for locking up the differential gear set. A latch mechanism includes a latch member having a pair of latch surfaces, a frame member and a weighted member, which is oppositely disposed from the latch member about the axis of rotation of the gear set. The weighted member moves the latch mechanism, in opposition to the biasing force of a spring, along a straight, generally diametric path, in response to increasing rotational speed of the differential mechanism. This movement causes the latch to disengage the flyweights and prevents rotation of the flyweight. The position and mode of operation of the weighted member is effective to reduce missed engagements of the actuating mechanism.
A purpose of a locking differential is to prevent relative rotation of one driven wheel with respect to another driven wheel. This is usually accomplished by locking one differential side gear to a differential case, thereby preventing rotation of the side gear with respect to the differential case, and preventing relative wheel speed differential on any one axle.
Electronically-actuated locking differentials are well known in the automotive driveline industry. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,083,143 discloses a locking differential mechanism that includes a side gear having a set of teeth, and a locking member, also having a set of teeth for engaging the teeth on the side gear. A ball ramp actuator located adjacent the locking member is integral with an inner actuating plate. An outer actuating plate is located outside the case, and a set of cam balls operable with the actuating plates to cause ramp-up and engagement of the gear. An electromagnetic coil assembly is located adjacent the ball ramp actuator, operates to retard rotation of the outer actuating plate and to produce ramp-up in response to an electrical input signal.
A locking differential can also be used as an inter-wheel differential or as a center differential in 4×4 and AWD vehicles. In this case, the axis of the differential assembly is parallel to the longitudinal axis of the vehicle. The center differential allows drive shaft speed differences between the front and rear axles. But there are some cases where it is desired to lock the front and rear axle drive shafts together such that a single rotation speed is reattained. This condition is known as a locked center differential.

Moving coil electronic locking differential


A tailgate assembly of a truck includes an anchor on the truck and a cable attachable between the tailgate and the anchor. A clip of the cable defines an opening for receiving the anchor. A finger secures the clip to the anchor and is deflectable to allow disconnection of the clip and the anchor. A lock is disposed on the clip and is slidable between a blocking position that prevents deflection of the finger and a releasable position that allows deflection of the finger.

Vehicles, such as pickup trucks, include a box having a bed, opposing longitudinal sidewalls, a headboard, and a tailgate. The tailgate is pivotally attached to the sidewalls and movable between an open position and a closed position. Latches are disposed on an upper portion of the tailgate to hold the tailgate in the closed position, and tension members are connected between the sidewalls and the tailgate to support the tailgate when in the open position. Tailgates are typically removable from the box to increase utility of the pickup truck. This makes it possible for a thief to steal the tailgate by disconnecting the cables and removing the tailgate from the box.
An increased emphasis on fuel efficiency has led to a desire for lightweight vehicle components, such as aluminum-alloy components. Aluminum alloys are typically lighter than steel alloys. Consequently, aluminum alloy tailgates are lighter making them easier to steal.


A method of treating a substrate for immobilizing a biomolecule and substrates produced by the method are disclosed. The method includes contacting at least a portion of a substrate with a reducing agent such as a hydride. Treatment with an appropriate reducing agent substantially eliminates autofluorescence on substrates.

Analysis of the structure, organization and sequence of nucleic acid molecules is important in the prediction, diagnosis and treatment of human disease and in the study of gene discovery, expression and development. One laboratory tool used in the analysis of nucleic acid molecules is the microarray or high density array (HDA), which is a microarray containing a large number of targets per square centimeter of array surface. The microarray provides the framework for immobilization of nucleic acid molecules for analysis on a rapid, large-scale basis. Microarrays generally include a substrate having a large number of positionally distinct nucleic acid targets attached to a surface of the substrate for subsequent hybridization to a nucleic acid target. The key to efficiently immobilizing nucleic acid molecules is the surface chemistry and the surface morphology of the microarrays substrate.
Microarrays have led to advances in biochemistry, chemistry and engineering that have enabled the development of a new gene expression assay. This "chip-based" approach utilizes microscopic arrays of cDNAs printed on glass substrates as high-density hybridization targets. Fluorescent target mixtures derived from total cellular messenger RNA (mRNA) hybridize to cognate elements on the array, allowing accurate measurement of the expression of the corresponding genes. A fundamental requirement for gene expression analysis using microarrays is a sensitive and robust method for detecting the hybridized sample to the target DNA immobilized on the array. When DNA microarrays are used to measure the relative expression of mRNA between two samples (e.g. experimental and control), the targets representing the two samples are each labeled with a different fluorescent dye, mixed and hybridized with the microarray. The ratio of the two dyes, which reflects the level of differential gene expression, is obtained by analyzing the array at the two different wavelengths. Therefore, to a large extent, the microarray performance depends on the optimal and accurate detection of fluorescence emitted by the fluorophores conjugated to the target molecules.
An important element for successful microarray expression analysis is the quality of the substrate onto which hybridization targets are spotted. Poor quality slides result in low nucleic acid binding efficiency, poor spot morphology and fluorescent background that is often both relatively high and non-uniform.
The surface of a substrate used for microarrays also must contain a suitable functional group for attaching target biomolecules such as DNA to the substrate surface. Target biomolecules such as DNA will not attach to a naked glass substrate. There are two general functionalities on glass substrates for attaching DNA to the substrate surface. One is a surface including an aldehyde functionality, which is used to covalently attach amino-modified DNA onto the surface by reaction with free aldehyde groups using Schiff's base chemistry. Another different type of functionalization of a substrate surface involves non-covalent attachment. Amine and lysine coated slides are two examples of many coatings that provide for non-covalent attachment of biomolecules such as DNA to the surface of a substrate. Another example of a coating that provides for noncovalent attachment of biomolecules is a silane coating, such as an amino propyl silane. One shortcoming of substrates including an aldehyde functional group is that the substrates typically must be rinsed with a reducing agent to reduce free aldehydes on the surface of the slide and prevent attachment of target biomolecules to locations on the substrate surface that do not contain biomolecules.
The surfaces of both organic and inorganic substrates can be modified by the deposition of a polymeric monolayer coating or film to construct biomolecular assemblies. In addition, surface modification can also be used to promote adhesion and lubrication, modify the electrical and optical properties of the substrate surface, and create electroactive films suitable for various optical and electronic sensors and devices.
As noted above, compounds with amine functionality have found extensive application in the preparation of surfaces for nucleic acid hybridization. Due to their ability to bond to a substrate with a hydroxide and their ability to bond to nucleic acids with an amine, silane compounds are useful as surface coatings that will effectively immobilize nucleic acids. One example of a silane used for biological assay preparation is gamma amino propyl silane (GAPS), which may be deposited by a variety of methods, including CVD, spin coating, spray coating and dip coating.
Fluorescence detection sensitivity is severely compromised by background signals, which may originate from endogenous sample constituents/surface to which the target is immobilized or from nonspecific hybridization of probes to the target. Generally, the nonspecific signals referred to as background, but not the intrinsic auto-fluorescence, can be eliminated by a high stringency wash of arrays after hybridization. The intrinsic auto-fluorescence of the arrays obscures the sensitivity of gene expression analysis to a large extent by hindering the detectability of the low-level specific fluorescent signals.
Attempts to diminish or eliminate auto-fluorescence by selecting filters that reduce the transmission of emission relative to excitation wavelength or by selecting filters that absorb and emit at longer wavelengths are partially successful, but still have limitations. Although narrowing the fluorescence detection bandwidth increases the resolution, it also compromises the overall fluorescence intensity detected.
While the present invention should not be limited by a particular theory of operation, it is believed that fluorescence is caused by an aptly conjugated electronic system in an organic molecule. There are multiple potential sources of auto-fluorescence. Auto-fluorescence could be due to trace impurities of fluorescent molecules that typically contain single or conjugated pi bonding. In addition, during storage or printing, adsorption and oxidation of some biological or chemical contaminants, could result in the emission of fluorescence.
With so many possible causative agents for autofluorescence, it appears that there are at least three possible ways to circumvent this major problem. A first way is to make an array without any contaminants. However, this is very difficult to achieve. A second way to eliminate autofluorescence is to wash out contaminants after arraying. A drawback of this approach is that this method may take long time and may end up either losing DNA targets partially or incomplete washing off the contaminants. A third way involves the use of relatively simple chemical means. Applicants have discovered a relatively rapid, reproducible and easily applicable method of substantially reducing autofluorescence on slides including a functional group for non-covalent attachment to a biomolecule.
Previous studies with reducing agents to eliminate auto-fluorescence from paraffin embedded tissue sections were found to significantly decrease deceptive false positive fluorescent signals. Hydrides are known to reduce the conjugated system in organic molecules. Sodium borohydride and sodium cyanoborohydride are mild reagents and hydride donors, which are known to reduce double bonds in conjugated systems. They both work well to reduce background signals in tissue section for histochemistry and cytochemistry studies. See, e.g.,
Schnell, S A, Staines, S A and Wessendorf, M W. J., Reduction of lipofuschin like auto-fluorescence in fluorescently labeled tissue, Histochemistry Cytochemistry, 1999. 47 (6), 719–30; Clancy, B and Cauller, L. J. J., Reduction of background auto-fluorescence in brain sections following immersion in sodium borohydride, Neuroscience Methods, 83, 1998. 97–102; Beisker, W Dolberate, F. and Gray J W, An improved immunocytochemical procedure for high sensitivity detection of incorporated bromodeoxyuridine, Cytometry 1987: 8: 235–9; and Willingham M C. J. Histochemistry Cytochemistry, Alternative fixation processing method for preembedding ultrastructural immunocytochemistry of cytoplasmic antigens, 1983: 31–791–889.
Taking into account the wide variety of factors contributing to autofluorescence, techniques for the elimination of autofluorescence in one biological system containing a specific type of organic molecules and chemicals would not be expected work in a system employing different organic molecules and chemicals. Furthermore, methods used in the elimination of autofluorescence problems in bulk tissue samples would not be expected to be useful in the elimination of autofluorescense on substrates used for microarrays. Other researchers have suggested eliminating autofluorescense on slides containing non-covalent attachment functionality through curing by baking at high temperatures. See, e.g., Super Microarray Substrates Handbook, Telechem International, Inc.//arrayit.com, www.arrayit.com, 1999. However, applicants experiments have found that curing of the slides in an oven was largely ineffective in reducing auto-fluorescence.
It would be useful to provide an improved method of treating substrates for immobilization and hybridization of biomolecules such as nucleic acids and oligonucleotides. The method should have the ability to be performed in a reproducible manner. It would also be advantageous to provide a substrate that has uniform surface characteristics and exhibits low background noise or autofluorescence when the substrate is analyzed using fluorescence scanning.

Treatment of substrates for immobilizing biomolecules


Embodiments of the present invention provide a frame sealant and a method of preparing the same. The frame sealant includes 60-70 wt % of a low-viscous epoxy-acrylic photocurable resin, 1-5 wt % of an epoxy resin, 0.5-1 wt % of a photoinitiator, 5-10 wt % of a thermocuring agent, 1-2 wt % of a coupling agent, 5-10 wt % of organic powders, 5-10 wt % of inorganic powders, and 1-5 wt % of porous glass microspheres treated with a safe gas. The method includes: mixing the components of the frame sealant to produce a mixture; compounding the mixture; and debubbling the compounded mixture.

Frame sealant is a key material during cell assembly process of liquid crystal panels. Frame sealant applied onto different sites will produce different effects. As shown in FIG. 1, the reference sign 1 represents edges of the whole glass substrate; 2 represents a substrate peripheral frame sealant (i.e., a frame sealant applied at the periphery of the whole substrate); 2′ represents a sub-substrate peripheral frame sealant (i.e., frame sealants applied at the peripheries of a plurality of small substrates attached to the same substrate) for preventing the edges of substrates and sub-substrates from bending deformation due to the self-weight of glass; 3 represents a primary frame sealant (i.e., a frame sealant applied at the periphery of the liquid crystal) serving as sealing the liquid crystal panels, reducing the contamination of the liquid crystal within the cell caused by external environment, and bonding the color film substrate and the array substrate.
During the cell assembly process, a color substrate (or an array substrate) having a frame sealant applied thereon, together with an array substrate (or a color film substrate) having liquid crystal applied thereon is first subject to cell assembling under vacuum, and then the frame sealant undergoes photo-curing and thermal curing with UV radiation and heating, thereby completing the cell assembling process. Moreover, during the cell assembling under vacuum, it should be ensured that there is only liquid crystal, without any residual gas, present in the sealing space formed by the primary frame sealant. As neither the substrate frame sealant nor the sub-substrate frame sealant has an opening, each of the space between the substrate peripheral frame sealant 2 and the sub-substrate peripheral frame sealant 2′ and the space between the sub-substrate peripheral frame sealant 2′ and the primary sealant 3 are under vacuum. Before the UV radiation and heating, the frame sealant is not yet cured, and the liquid crystal at the inner side of the primary frame sealant applies a certain pressure to the sealant, thereby resulting in that the pressure at the inner side the primary frame sealant is greater than that at the outer side of the primary frame sealant. The pressure difference between both sides will causes many problems, such as, impact of liquid crystal on un-cured frame sealant (briefly referred to as "liquid crystal puncture"), deformation (or even breakdown) of frame sealant, decreasing of the bonding force of frame sealant, and contamination of frame sealant to liquid crystal.
For solving the aforesaid problems caused by the pressure difference between the inner and outer sides of the primary frame sealant, it is conventional means to design openings in the substrate peripheral frame sealant and the sub-substrate peripheral frame sealant, through which external gases enter into all the regions except the inside of the primary frame sealant, so that the pressures inside and outside the primary frame sealant tends to equilibrium, thereby avoiding or alleviating the aforesaid problems of liquid crystal puncture.
However, for preventing the etching solution from entering into the sub-substrates to corrode the substrate during subsequent reduction process, the openings in the substrate peripheral frame sealant and the sub-substrate peripheral frame sealant need to be re-sealed, thereby complicating the process and increasing the cost.

Sealant and method of preparing the same

BEIJING BOE OPTOELECTRONICS TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD.


In the method for creating color patterns for technical applications and visible for the human eye by means of diffraction gratings through light irradiation, diffraction grating arrays are produced directly on a solid body surface in a laser microstructuring process by at least one laser installation in the nanosecond range or in the pico- or femtosecond range, each diffraction grating array being composed of subareas (81) whose longitudinal dimension has a value below the resolving ability of the eye and which contain at least one pixel (81, 82, 83), a pixel being a limited diffraction grating structure for producing a spectral color. The direct application of such color-producing diffraction grating structures to a solid body surface enables a large variety of decorative and authentication possibilities ranging from embossing tools to jewellery.

The production of spectral colors, primary colors, and thence of mixed colors by means of grating structures has been known for a long time. As representative examples thereof, the references WO 2006/066731 A1, WO 98/23979, or EP 0 585 966 A2 may be cited. All these and still other references of the prior art have in common that the grating structures are produced by laser or electron beam lithography in a relatively soft synthetic substrate. These lithographic methods require multiple and partly complex process steps for producing the grating structures that are well known from the literature.
This applies also for the diffraction-based optical grating structure according to the US 2006/0018021 A1 publication, which discloses an elliptical structure.
A number of application fields are known where optical features are used which have to meet high aesthetic requirements, on one hand, and serve for the authentication of goods, on the other hand. A group of such applications are e.g. packaging foils for cigarettes, foods, or pharmaceuticals, these foils generally being embossed by means of embossing rollers; or the surface of a decorative object, e.g. a part of a watch case, a watchglass of glass or sapphire, or a coin may be the object. Particularly in packaging foils, colored patterns might gain increasing significance if the metallised layer were to be further reduced or entirely omitted. With regard to the aforementioned embossing tools or decorative objects, it is a metal surface that is being structured, and in the case of embossing tools, a hard material layer. This is e.g. disclosed in WO 2007/012215 A1 to the applicant of the present invention.

Method and device for producing color pattern by means of diffraction gratings


Disclosed are systems and methods for improving interactions with and between computers in controlling external programs executed by a browser application. The disclosed systems and methods provide systems and methods for automatically identifying an external program in a document definition used in rendering a document display in a user interface of the browser application. In response to detecting inactivity in connection with the document display, the disclosed systems and methods generate a first modified document definition, by modifying the document definition, to suspend execution of the external program in a first modified document display based on the first modified document definition. In response to activity in connection with the first modified document display, the disclosed systems and methods generate a second document definition, by modifying the first document definition, to restore execution of the external program in a second modified document display based on the second modified document definition.

Currently, an application, such as a browser application (or web browser), can execute external code that is not a part of the application. By way of example, a browser application might execute a web document, or component thereof, which is external to the browser application. A browser application executes a document, e.g., a web document, to generate a user interface display in the browser's user interface. In some cases, the web document can include a reference to a second, separate document provided by an entity other than the entity providing the first document. While it is being executed by a computing device, each document executed by the browser application (and the browser application itself) consumes resources, such as central processing unit (CPU) and memory resources, of the computing device.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Automatic browser inactivity detection method and apparatus


Saturated triglycerides which have a big difference in chain length between the longest and the shortest fatty acid chain and which are able, when incorporated in a small amount into a slow crystallizing fat, particularly a low-trans fat, to increase considerably the speed of crystallization.

Triglyceride fats are usually processed in a liquid condition. For the production of spreads, and other W/O emulsions such as margarine, the liquid oils are mixed with an aqueous phase and emulsified until a proper consistency is obtained. For obtaining a proper consistency a part of the liquid fat needs to solidify by crystallization. Depending on the type of fat the crystallization process proceeds more or less quickly. Depending on the speed of crystallization the final firmness of the spread has not yet be attained when it arrives at the packing station. Problems with wrapping are encountered and during subsequent storage and transportation.
Certain types of fat presently used for spread manufacture exhibit slow crystallization behaviour, typically when the content of trans fatty acids is low. The speed of crystallization may be increased by the addition of a relatively small amount of crystallization accelerator. Such crystallization accelerator preferably is also a triglyceride fat but having a different composition. The crystallization accelerators disclosed in for example EP 0 498 487 are PEP triglycerides having saturated (palmitic) 1,3-chains and a 2-trans-unsaturated (elaidic) acyl group.
The use of low-trans or trans-free oils in food preparation have shown a rapid expanse in recent times. Finding a solution for the inherent crystallization problems have become an urgent issue. A need has risen for further crystallization accelerators which are effective but which have the same low trans content as the oils in which they are applied.


An aliphatic polyester film on which an inorganic gas-barrier film is formed by deposition to improve the gas barrier properties of the aliphatic polyester wherein the adhesion between the aliphatic polyester film and the deposited gas-barrier film has been improved. The aliphatic polyester film is biaxially stretched and comprises at least two layers (layers A and B). Each of the layers A and B contain an amorphous polylactic acid resin and a crystalline polylactic acid resin in a predetermined ratio.

Many of conventional plastic products, especially plastic packaging materials, are discarded soon after use. How to dispose of them is therefore becoming a concern today. Typical packaging plastics include polyethylenes, polypropylenes and polyethylene terephthalate (PET). These plastics tend to release large amounts of heat when burned and thus could damage incinerators when burned therein. Polyvinyl chloride, which is still being widely used, cannot be burned due to its self-extinguishing properties. Many of plastic products, including plastics that cannot be burned, are buried today. But due to their chemical and biological stability, they scarcely decompose in the soil, thus shortening the life of burial sites. It is therefore acutely desired to develop materials that are safe, release less heat when burned and can easily decompose in the soil. Studies for this purpose are now being vigorously made by many researchers.
Polylactic acid is one of such materials. That is, the combustion heat of polylactic acid is less than half that of polyethylenes. It is naturally hydrolyzed in the earth or in the water, and is then decomposed by microorganisms into harmless substances. Studies are now being made to form various products such as film sheets and bottles from polylactic acid.
But packaging films simply formed from polylactic acid are usually too low in gas barrier properties to be used e.g. to store foods. In JP patent publication No. 2003-62933A ("JP'933"); JP patent publication No. 2003-64303A ("JP'303"), JP patent publication No. 11-42752A ("JP'752") and JP patent publication No. 2003-145677A ("JP'677"), it is proposed to provide a thin inorganic film on a polylactic acid film by e.g. vapor deposition to impart gas barrier properties to the polylactic acid film.
Any of the above references propose to provide a thin inorganic film on a polylactic acid film by vapor deposition to improve gas barrier properties of the polylactic acid film. Specifically, in JP'933 and JP'303, a thin inorganic deposited film is adhered to a polylactic acid film through an anchor layer. The anchoring agent forming the anchor layer is an aliphatic polyester containing an L-lactic acid residue and a D-lactic acid residue in the ratio of 1-9.
In JP'752, an oxide film is deposited on a resin layer containing as its major component a hydroxycarboxylic acid containing lactic acid in its repeating unit. In JP'677, an anchor layer such as a polyester resin is formed on a biodegradable resin film of the polylactic acid family or the polyester family, and then a metallic layer is deposited thereon.

Aliphatic polyester film and packaging material


Methods and apparatus for performing dual prime motion estimation on video fields or frames of a video signal. A 16.times.16 motion estimator generates a same-parity match vector M.sub.-- SP and an opposite-parity match vector M.sub.-- OP for a current macroblock of a current field using a reference macroblock from each of a previous same-parity and opposite-parity field. A dual prime motion estimator receives the M.sub.-- SP and M.sub.-- OP match vectors for the current macroblock, and generates a base motion vector MV and a delta motion vector DMV for the current macroblock. In a first embodiment, the dual prime motion estimator generates MV and DMV by setting MV equal to M.sub.-- SP and then selecting DMV such that the opposite-parity vector OPV to be computed by a decoder is as close as possible to M.sub.-- OP. In a second embodiment, OPV is set equal to M.sub.-- OP and MV and DMV are selected such that MV is as close as possible to the same-parity match vector M.sub.-- SP. In a third embodiment, the dual prime motion estimator uses error measurements between the current macroblock and the same-parity and opposite-parity macroblocks to determine whether the techniques of the first embodiment or the second embodiment should be applied to the current macroblock.

A video frame sequence may be converted into a compressed digital video bit stream in accordance with the MPEG-2 standard as described in greater detail in ISO/IEC DIS 13818-2, "Generic Coding of Moving Pictures and Associated Audio: Video," which is incorporated by reference herein. A given video frame is made up of a plurality of macroblocks, with each macroblock including one 16.times.16 block of luminance samples and either two 8.times.8 blocks of chroma samples (4:2:0 format) or one 16.times.16 block of chroma samples (4:2:2 format). An interlaced frame includes a top or even field and a bottom or odd field. The top and bottom fields represent alternating scan lines of the interlaced frame and therefore correspond to different instances in time. Each frame may be encoded as a single "frame picture" or a pair of "field pictures." A forward-only predictive (P) field picture may be predicted from the last two reference fields that occur temporally before the P field picture in the video sequence being compressed. These reference fields may be encoded as field pictures or as parts of frame pictures.
Dual prime motion estimation is a video compression technique suitable for use with interlaced P field pictures. The dual prime technique may be used if the P field picture is in a frame that is to be displayed immediately after a reference frame. The reference frame may be an intra-coded (I) or P frame picture or a pair of fields. A given P field picture using dual prime motion estimation is predicted from the two fields that are displayed just before the given P field picture. These two fields are referred to herein as the same-parity or far field and the opposite-parity or near field. For a given macroblock, a video encoder inserts in the compressed bit stream a base motion vector MV with x and y components (MVx, MVy) and a delta motion vector DMV with x and y components (DMVx, DMVy). Both of these motion vectors are in half-pel units, and each x and y component of DMV must be in the set {-1, 0, 1}. A decoder receiving the compressed video bit stream uses the MV and DMV vectors to compute an opposite-parity vector OPV having x and y components (OPVx, OPVy) in accordance with the following equations: EQU OPVx=MVx/2+DMVx Equation (1) EQU OPVy=MVy/2+DMVy+e Equation (2)
where e is equal to -1 if the current field is a top field and +1 if the current field is a bottom field, and the operator "/" as used herein means divide and round toward zero. FIG. 1 shows the generation of the vertical or y component of OPV in accordance with Equation (2) above, with OPVy being formed as the sum of MVy/2, DMVy and e. The MV and OPV vectors are used in conjunction with the above-noted prediction error macroblock to generate macroblocks formed from the far field and near field, respectively. These two macroblocks are then pointwise averaged to form a predicted macroblock for the current field. As with other forms of motion estimation, the decoder adds the predicted macroblock to the macroblock output of an inverse discrete cosine transform (IDCT) circuit to form a reconstructed macroblock for the current field.
An encoder should choose the MV and DMV vectors such that MV and OPV describe well the translation of the current macroblock from the previous same-parity and opposite-parity fields. This will ensure that the predicted macroblock will be a near match of the current macroblock, so only a relatively small number of bits need to be used to encode DCT coefficients that, when added to the predicted macroblock, will give a very good reconstruction of the current macroblock. One approach an encoder may take is to consider pairs of MV and DMV vectors, compute the predicted macroblock that each pair would generate, and choose the pair with the best predicted macroblock. Such an approach is used, for example, in the MPEG-2 Test Model 5. A problem with this approach is that it is "expensive" computationally in that many pairs of vectors generally must be considered (e.g., 9 for each MV) and each comparison requires the pointwise averaging of two macroblocks. A possible alternative approach simplifies the estimation process by selecting DMV as zero or another predetermined value, but can lead to a substantial degradation in decoded video quality.
As is apparent from the above, there is a need for an improved dual prime motion estimation technique which reduces motion vector search requirements and encoder complexity while maintaining a desired level of video quality.

Simplified dual prime video motion estimation


An improved ice penetrating arctic buoy for release from a submarine submerged under a layer of ice includes a Global Positioning System navigational processor receiver and/or a Emergency Position Information Radio Beacon and/or surveillance apparatus, an antenna for transmission and/or reception of appropriate RF frequencies, such as Global Positioning System or other R.F. frequencies found in the environment above the ice or EPIRB R.F. frequencies originating in the buoy into the environment above the ice. Convertor means converts navigational information and/or other information outputted from said Global Positioning System receiver into coded corresponding information and an on board transmitter sends such coded information acoustically or optically and/or electrically to the submarine via an underwater data link.

Arctic submarine communication buoys are known devices designed for use by submarines that are to be deployed in the ice capped Arctic regions. In operation such type of buoy is released from the submarine, is buoyed up against the ice cover, bores a passage through the overlying ice to reach the top side, and thereupon releases various equipment carried in the buoy, the payload, above the ice, such as a radio antenna, that permits the submarine to carry on point-to-point radio communications with communication satellites.
Many techniques are known to penetrate the ice pack and form a passage. One kind is the thermochemical type ice penetrator, which is carried by the buoy. In that type ice penetrator, the thermochemical material undergoes an exothermic reaction with the ice and causes the ice to melt. One reactant of such reaction is water, which is at least partially supplied by the ice as it melts. The second reactant, typically, is an alkali metal or an alloy containing an alkali metal, preferably lithium. Those are known devices.
Although thermochemical type penetrators are relevant in a general sense as a component element to the improved buoys presented herein and as background, the details thereof are not necessary to the understanding of the present invention. An excellent source of more detailed background structure to and applications for buoys incorporating such penetrators is found in the patent to Eninger et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,651,834, granted Mar. 24, 1987, which is assigned to TRW Inc., the assignee of the present application. The entire specification of the Eninger et al patent, for convenience, is incorporated herein by reference.
Modern naval vessels, including submarines, have for some time past been equipped with electronic navigation systems as enables the craft's commander to determine the global position of the craft relative to the global position from the point of departure. Moreover, the recently introduced global positioning system makes use of multiple orbiting satellites to allow one to determine ones global position, latitude, longitude and height as example, with predetermined accuracy using RF signals broadcast from the satellites. With the availability of the foregoing kind of positioning system, the craft's global position may be checked from time to time and the on-board navigation system adjusted, updated, as necessary.
In the open ocean, a submarine is able to erect an antenna with or without surfacing. When the submarine is located under the extensive ice pack of the North or South polar regions, it is often not possible to surface to expose the antenna and the antenna erecting mechanism used in the open ocean appears ineffective in that environment. Inevitably, prior to the present invention, errors as might occur in the electronic navigation system aboard such submarines would accrue during the submarines extended submerged travel under the ice pack. However small those errors may seem in the absolute or commercial sense, cumulatively the errors become unacceptably large to submariners in dark underwater surroundings. The navigational errors could lead to a collision with a charted obstacle and imperil the submarine's crew. The arctic buoys of the present invention allow the navigation systems to avoid that difficulty.
While losses of submarine and crew through equipment failure have been rare, apart from loss in battle during time of war, such losses are not unheard of. The men who share the submarine's berth should have the comfort of knowing that they could be rescued should the submarine fail while submerged. With modern submarine technology permitting extended travel under polar ice, the submariner's normally high morale could be adversly affected in the contemplation of greater personal danger of under ice travel: Should the submarine fail under the ice pack and be unable to surface no one will be able to determine the submarine's whereabouts and mount rescue. The polar ice pack that serves as a perfect hiding place for the submarine could thus also serve as an inescapable trap. The improved buoys of the present invention eliminate those anxieties. In the event of an under-the-ice predicament in which the submarine is disabled, the submariners need no longer be considered unfortunates lost through limitations of technology who must sacrifice their lives.
The technology that cures the foregoing problems offers opportunity for application to ancillary applications, such as surveillance of above-the-ice conditions; an added advantage. While submerged under the ice pack conditions in the environment above the ice pack may be observed.
Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a new method for updating navigational information on board a submerged submarine without requiring the submarine to surface through the ice and to provide a new buoy design for carrying out such method;
A related object is to provide a novel process to permit disabled submarines trapped below the ice to notify others of its position and invite rescue, as well as to guide potential rescuers to its position and to provide a new and inexpensive buoy design for practicing that method; and
A still further object of the invention is to provide a novel apparatus and method to perform above ice surveillance from aboard a submerged submarine.

Arctic submarine buoy and application methods


The present disclosure provides an optical fiber cable. The optical fiber cable includes a buffer tube substantially present along a longitudinal axis. Further, the optical fiber cable includes a first layer. The first layer surrounds the buffer tube. Furthermore, the optical fiber cable includes a second layer. The second layer surrounds the first layer. Moreover, the optical fiber cable includes one or more strength members embedded inside the second layer. Further, the buffer tube encloses a plurality of optical fibers. Moreover, each of the plurality of optical fibers is color coded from a set of standard fiber colors and wherein the set of standard fiber colors comprises twelve colors. The first layer and the second layer provide a kink resistance, a crush resistance and flexibility to the optical fiber cable. Each of the one or more strength members is coated with a layer of ethylene acrylic acid.

In the recent years, optical fiber cables have pushed ahead the industrial sector globally by offering a variety of solutions for enabling a reliable, efficient, lighter, faster and cost effective management of resources. Moreover, the variety of solutions involve a faster telecommunication service, a precise sensing of defects, a medical surgical operation, structural studies in civil engineering, imaging applications, nuclear power research and the like. One of the prime industries which utilize the optical fiber cable is exploration and production industry. The exploration and production industry focuses on exploring and extracting various natural resources including oil, gas, petroleum and the like.
Moreover, the numerous operations in the exploration and production industry critically rely on usage of drilling machines, boring machines, pumping machines, excavators, cranes and trucks due to their nature of the operations. There is a consistent need for continuous monitoring and sensing of various seismic activities taking place in area of operations of the exploration and production industry. Traditionally, the sensing and monitoring is performed by utilizing various sensing applications. The sensing applications employ various sensing systems. This is achieved by installing optical fiber cable across the seismic activity area. An array of acoustic sensors is installed along the length of the optical fiber cables with a separation between each of the acoustic sensors. Furthermore, the acoustic sensors detect and analyze the acoustic waves generated in the optical fiber cable.
Moreover, the efficiency, grade and performance of the results obtained from the optical detectors and the array of acoustic sensors is based on a structure and materials used in manufacturing of the optical fiber cable. Further, the structure and the materials used affects weight, crush resistance, kink diameter, packing efficiency and cost of deploying optical fiber cable in the seismic activity area. Traditionally, the structure of the optical fiber cable is made of a number of layers housing a plurality of optical fibers. The number of layers includes a binder enclosing optical fibers, a buffer coating, strengthening fibers, a cable jacket and one or more strength members.
Several present systems are known in the art which provide the optical fiber cables employed in the exploration and production industry. For example, a dielectric optical fiber with reduced preferential bending is described in one of the prior arts. The optical fiber cable includes one or more tubes with each tube containing a number of optical fibers and a plastic jacket that encloses the tubes. A pair of diametrically opposed rods is partially embedded in the polyethylene jacket. The rods are made from continuous-filament glass fibers embedded in epoxy. The optical fiber cable uses a buffer tube with thixotropic gel filled inside.
Moreover, an optical fiber cable with an interlocking stitch binder is described in another prior art. The optical fiber cable includes a plurality of fibers, binders, a water blocking material and a jacket surrounding the tubes. The binder provides an interlocking stitch formed of one or more yarns to provide improved fiber unit identification. The binder in the above mentioned optical fiber cable is non-helically bounded. In addition, the optical fiber cable utilizes a water blocking material that evidently increases the thickness of the optical fiber cable. In addition, the jacket material is made of poly vinyl chloride or polyethylene. The above mentioned optical fiber cable is inefficient for the seismic activity area.
Going further, the existing optical fiber cables available are inefficient and unreliable when employed in the exploration and production industry. Presently, the optical fiber cable utilizes a wet buffer tube that eventually restrains the acoustic waves required for the sensing applications.
In light of the above stated discussion, there is a need for an optical fiber cable that overcomes the above stated disadvantages.


A resonant armature system (109, 114, 116) for generating a vibrating motion in response to an alternating excitation force includes at least two planar suspension members (109), substantially parallel to each other and separated by a distance. The planar suspension member (109) includes a plurality of independent planar spring members (112) arranged regularly about a central planar region (110) within a planar perimeter region (108). The resonant armature system (109, 114, 116) further includes at least one movable mass (114) positioned between and coupled to the at least two planar suspension members (109) for resonating with the at least two planar suspension members (109) at a fundamental mode resonant frequency.

Vibrators for generating tactile alerts in portable communications receivers are well known. Early devices comprised a motor driven offset mass for generating the tactile alert. Disadvantageously, such devices tended to have short lifetimes due to wear on bearings, commutators, brushes, etc. Also, when the portable communications receiver was worn on a person's body, the motor driven tactile vibrator generated movement not only in a direction useful for producing a tactile response, e.g., normal to the body, but also in other less useful directions, e.g., parallel to the body. As a result, such vibrators disadvantageously consumed large amounts of battery power for the amount of tactile response the vibrators produced.
As an improvement over the motor driven tactile vibrator, a resonant armature tactile vibrator has been developed that uses a movable mass suspended by a single planar spring suspension element and incorporates an axially polarized permanent magnet driven by an electromagnetic means to effect a vibration in a fundamental mode. This conventional resonant armature tactile vibrator overcomes many of the problems of the motor driven tactile vibrator, but has attendant limitations of its own. One such limitation is that, for mechanical clearance reasons during operation, the amount of vibrating mass that can be suspended by the planar spring suspension element for a given device volume is relatively small, thus requiring a relatively large device to produce a sufficiently strong tactile vibration. Another limitation is that the range of possible resonant frequencies is restricted by the thickness and displacement relationships of the single planar spring suspension element.
A further limitation to the performance of the conventional resonant armature tactile vibrator results from a critical coupling of the fundamental mode of vibration to other, spurious modes of vibration. The critical coupling exists because the design using a movable mass suspended by a single planar spring suspension element exhibits a torsional (second mode) resonant frequency that is very close to the resonant frequency of the fundamental mode. The second mode vibration that results from the critical coupling reduces the amplitude of the desired fundamental mode vibration and generates tri-axial stresses in the suspension element, greatly reducing the life cycle yield before failure of the device.
Still another limitation of the conventional resonant armature device is caused by the axial polarization of the permanent magnet interacting with magnetic shielding required around the device for protection of sensitive circuits in portable communications receivers. This interaction further reduces the amplitude of the desired fundamental mode vibration.
Thus, what is needed is a vibrator that retains the advantages of the conventional resonant armature tactile vibrator over the motor driven tactile vibrator, but overcomes the limitations of the conventional resonant armature tactile vibrator. More specifically, a vibrator that provides a greater vibrating mass for producing a greater tactile response within a given device volume is needed. In addition, a vibrator that can be manufactured to operate over a wide range of predetermined resonant frequencies without reducing life cycle yield is desired. Also, a vibrator that can decouple the desired fundamental mode of vibration from energy-robbing, life-cycle-reducing spurious modes of vibration is highly desired. A vibrator that can be magnetically shielded without significant detrimental interaction between the magnetic shield and the vibrating elements is needed.

Stabilized electromagnetic resonant armature tactile vibrator


To generate a fixed frequency offset in a direct conversion receiver (200) a phase ramp representing the frequency offset if generated. This phase ramp is combined with the demodulated phase component of a received signal. A phase wrap detection and compensation circuit (224) is capable of detecting and compensating for phase wrap that occur in the phase ramp by differentiating the input and detecting when a phase wrap is about to occur and causes a switch (316) to flip between two conditions. A first condition couples the phase ramp to the output. A second condition compensates when a wrap around has been detected. As such, a VCO (218) produces a local oscillator having a fixed frequency offset that is immune from locking problems that occur when a phase wrap is introduced.

In Zero Intermediate Frequency (ZIF) and Direct Conversion Receivers, it is desirable to phase-lock (or frequency lock) the Local Oscillator (LO) to the incoming signal. This is because phase-locking will allow the receiver to track the central frequency of the incoming signal and eliminates this reference oscillator error (it constraints the offsets and beat notes caused by frequency offset of LO and incoming signal to a subaudible frequency). The phase-locking used with ZIF receivers needs to include a frequency offset which is used to avoid false carrier or self-quieting problem. Indeed, this slight frequency offset is used by a high pass filter centered very close to DC to allow the desired signal to pass through without the DC components that would otherwise be treated as false carriers. To accomplish this objective of locking with a frequency offset, traditional ZIF receivers use up-conversion mixers to increase the frequency from a baseband to an IF and therefore facilitating the phase locking. As can be appreciated, this up-conversion requires mixers and filters which would add to the cost of the receiver. To overcome this problem, a direct conversion receiver is needed that can phase-lock with an incoming signal with a frequency offset without any up-conversion.

Baseband phase-locked direct conversion receiver with frequency offset


A carrier for a stacked-type semiconductor device includes an accommodating section for accommodating stacked semiconductor devices, guide portions guiding the stacked semiconductor devices, and grooves through which a fluid may flow to the accommodating section and to sides of the stacked semiconductor devices. These grooves facilitate the flow of gas or liquid on the sides of the accommodating sections, and it is thus expected that the flow of hot wind during the reflow process and cleaning liquid during the cleaning process can be facilitated. This improves the production yield and the cleaning effects. Holes for connecting the accommodating section to the outside may be provided at corners of the accommodating section. Gas may be guided from the lower side of the accommodating section, so that heat can be efficiently applied to the semiconductor devices and bonding failures therebetween can be reduced. Further, grooves connecting adjacent holes may be provided for accommodating sections adjacent to each other.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a carrier for semiconductor devices and a method of fabricating stacked-type semiconductor devices.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, portable electronic equipment such as mobile telephones and non-volatile semiconductor memory media such as IC memory cards have been downsized, and there has been increasing demands for reducing the number of parts used in the equipment and media to downsize such equipment and media. Thus, there has been considerable activity in the development of efficiently packaging semiconductor chips, essential elements among the structural components used in the equipment and memory media.
Examples of packages that meet the such demands are a chip scale package (CSP) having a package size substantially equal to that of the semiconductor chip, a multi-chip package (MCP) wherein multiple semiconductor chips are incorporated into a single package, and a package-on-package (POP) in which multiple packages are stacked and combined into a single-piece member.
FIGS. 1(a) and 1(b) show a conventional carrier for stacked-type semiconductor devices (hereinafter simply referred to as a carrier). More specifically, FIG. 1(a) is a side view of a carrier 1, and FIG. 1(b) is a top view thereof. The carrier 1 is used in the process of fabricating stacked-type semiconductor devices. The carrier 1 includes accommodating sections 2 for accommodating semiconductor devices 4, and guides 3 for the semiconductor devices 4. The stacked-type semiconductor devices may be fabricated through a reflow process and a cleaning process. In the reflow process, hot wind is applied to the stacked-type semiconductor devices 4, which are thus heated. The cleaning process may use a liquid for cleaning.
However, the conventional fabrication process for stacked-type semiconductor devices uses solder for stacking the semiconductor devices, and hot wind is needed to melt the solder for bonding during the reflow process. It is also necessary to guide the sides of the stacked semiconductor devices so as to prevent the stacked semiconductor devices from deviating laterally. However, guiding all of the sides of the semiconductor devices may prevent the devices and bonding portions thereof from having a sufficient temperature during reflow with hot wind to adequately melt the solder, and a bonding failure may occur. There is another disadvantage in the cleaning process. When cleaning the bonding portions of the stacked semiconductor devices that are put in liquid, the sides of the semiconductor devices that are all guided prevent liquid from flowing efficiently and effectively, thereby degrading the cleaning effects.

Carrier for stacked type semiconductor device and method of fabricating stacked type semiconductor devices


An exemplary shift register circuit includes a shift register, a first switching circuit and a second switching circuit. The shift register has a start pulse signal input terminal and a start pulse signal output terminal. The first switching circuit includes a first input switch unit and a second output switch unit respectively electrically coupled to the start pulse signal input terminal and the start pulse signal output terminal. The second switching circuit includes a second input switch unit and a first output switch unit respectively electrically coupled to the start pulse signal input terminal and the start pulse signal output terminal. Moreover, on-off states of the first input and first output switch units are opposite to on-off states of the second input and second output switch units. Moreover, a gate driving circuit using the above-mentioned shift register and switching circuits also is provided.

1. Technical Field
The present invention generally relates to display technology fields and, particularly to a shift register circuit and a gate driving circuit.
2. Description of the Related Art
Nowadays, flat display devices such as liquid crystal displays have many advantages of high display quality, small volume, lightweight and wide application range and thus are widely used in consumer electronics products such as mobile phones, laptop computers, desktop computers and televisions, etc. Moreover, the liquid crystal displays have evolved into a mainstream display in place of cathode ray tube (CRT) displays.
In order to make the display products to be more slim and more competitive at the aspect of cost, a gate driver on array (GOA) type gate driving circuit is proposed in the prior art to generate gate pulse signals. The GOA type gate driving circuit generally includes a plurality of cascade-connected shift registers directly fabricated on the substrate for sequentially outputting a plurality of gate pulse signals. The output of each of the shift registers generally also serves as a start pulse signal for next stage shift register.
However, the GOA type gate driving circuit associated with the prior art only can perform single-direction scanning and could not carry out reverse scanning, which results in the gate driving circuit lacks application flexibility.

Shift register circuit and gate driving circuit


An instrument for measuring infants which include a housing that can be slid uniformly in a straight line on a base, a measuring device to record the translational motion, which is connected to a counter that displays the path traveled. The housing also can include a lamp device, in which an electrical light source is installed in such a way that it sends a beam of light, which is focussed, downward at a right angle to the direction of movement of the housing. The electrical light source thus creates a line-shaped light spot.

According to the current state of the art, two persons are necessary to determine the length of an infant. The first person stretches the child out and the second person determines the length of the infant with a measuring tape.
Apart from the fact that two persons are always required for this measuring process, the measurement always presents a problem if the infant is in an incubator and every time the incubator is opened, it represents a significant stress for the child.
With the use of the measuring method described above, it is in fact unavoidable that the incubator has to be completely opened for measuring, since otherwise the measuring tape can not be laid out.

Instrument for measuring the length of infants


An excellent soldering apparatus and manufacturing method of soldered product are provided where a workpiece can be efficiently soldered in a short cycle time. The soldering apparatus includes a thermal radiation heater and two coolers for cooling the workpiece which sandwich the heater therebetween. The coolers are movable between a standby position and a cooling position and form a recessed portion in which the heater is placed. The coolers move to the standby position where the coolers are separated from the workpiece and stand by such that the heater is in a state of protruding from the recessed portion while the heater heats the workpiece. The coolers can move from the standby position to the cooling position to cool the workpiece.

Soldering (a heat treatment of a solder joint portion) is roughly classified into heating (process) and cooling (process). In the related art, as a soldering apparatus and a soldering method, a soldering apparatus and a soldering method in which a heating plate with a built-in thermal conduction heater for heating a workpiece is in contact with a lower entire surface of the workpiece and heats the workpiece, and a cooling stand formed to be contactable and separable with respect to a lower entire surface of the heating plate cools the workpiece through the heating plate have been known (for example, refer to PTL 1).

Soldering apparatus and manufacturing method of soldered product


Systems and methods for increasing an amount of fuel injected into a dedicated exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) cylinder in an engine are disclosed. In one example approach, a method comprises, prior to combustion, injecting a first amount of fuel to a dedicated EGR cylinder, and after combustion and during an expansion and/or exhaust stroke, directly injecting a second amount of fuel to the dedicated EGR cylinder.

Engines may be configured with exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) systems to divert at least some exhaust gas from an engine exhaust passage to an engine intake passage. By controlling EGR to provide a desired engine dilution, engine pumping work, engine knock, as well as NOx emissions may be reduced. For example, at partial throttle operating conditions, providing EGR to the cylinders of the engine allows for the throttle to be opened to a greater extent for the same engine load. By reducing throttling of the engine, pumping losses may be reduced, thus improving fuel efficiency. Further, by providing EGR to the engine, combustion temperatures may be reduced (especially in implementations where EGR is cooled prior to being provided to the cylinders). Cooler combustion temperatures provide engine knock resistance, and thus increase engine thermal efficiency. Further still, EGR reduces a combustion flame temperature that reduces an amount of NOx generated during combustion.
In some approaches, gas exhausted from only one or more of a subset of cylinders may be recirculated to provide EGR to all cylinders of the engine. For example, an EGR conduit may be coupled to an exhaust of a dedicated EGR cylinder so that exhaust from the dedicated cylinder is introduced into the intake manifold of the engine to provide EGR. In this way, a substantially fixed amount of EGR flow may be provided to the engine intake.
In such approaches which use dedicated EGR cylinders to provide EGR to the engine, the inventors herein have recognized that it may be desirable to run the dedicated EGR cylinder rich to increase ignitability of the air, fuel, EGR mixture. The ignitability may be improved due to the presence of hydrogen which is formed in the dedicated cylinder when running rich. Overly increasing the amount of fuel injected into the dedicated cylinder may lead to reduced combustion efficiency and/or increased smoke conditions during engine operation. For example, increasing richness in the EGR cylinder beyond that required for best combustion efficiency may cause smoke formation, and further increasing richness may reduce the ability to ignite the charge. As such, the amount of fuel that can be added to a dedicated EGR cylinder may be limited.
Thus, in one example, some of the above issues may be at least partly addressed by a method comprising, prior to combustion, injecting a first amount of fuel to a dedicated EGR cylinder, e.g., in an amount that provides an optimal combustion efficiency, and after combustion and during an expansion and/or exhaust stroke, directly injecting a second amount of fuel to the dedicated EGR cylinder. The first and second injections may be during a common cylinder combustion cycle, and may be repeatedly performed in successive cycles of the dedicated EGR cylinder.
In this way, an increased amount of fuel may be introduced into the EGR flow while maintaining good combustion with low soot formation. Further, in such an approach, pumping work at part-throttle for the remaining cylinders in the engine may be reduced via fuel evaporation in the dedicated EGR cylinder and fuel injectors in the remaining cylinders may be downsized resulting in cost savings and increased fuel efficiency. Further still, such an approach may be employed during engine cold start conditions while operating the dedicated cylinder in a lean mode when less than full EGR is desired. For example, to help with fuel vaporization, a small amount of fuel could be burned (via a stratified charge injection a during compression stroke of the dedicated EGR cylinder) to heat the air/cylinder and then fuel could be injected later in the cycle to improve evaporation of the fuel. In this way, fuel preparation, e.g., smoke reduction in direct injection applications, during warm-up of the engine may be improved.
It will be understood that the summary above is provided to introduce in simplified form a selection of concepts that are further described in the detailed description, which follows. It is not meant to identify key or essential features of the claimed subject matter, the scope of which is defined by the claims that follow the detailed description. Further, the claimed subject matter is not limited to implementations that solve any disadvantages noted above or in any part of this disclosure.

Dedicated EGR cylinder post combustion injection


Exemplary embodiments of the present invention relate to a method for fixing an image sensor to a beamsplitter. An exemplary method comprises placing a first fixative agent comprising an ultraviolet adhesive between the image sensor and the beamsplitter and positioning the image sensor relative to the beamsplitter. The position of the image sensor is initially fixed relative to the beamsplitter by the first fixative agent. The exemplary method further comprises securing the image sensor to the beamsplitter with a second fixative agent.

High quality digital cameras typically employ multiple image sensors so that a separate image sensor may be used to process data for a red color component, a blue color component and at least one green color component. In such systems, a beamsplitter such as a color separation prism is typically employed to split light received through a lens into the respective red, blue and green color components. Each respective color component is delivered to an image sensor associated with that color component. Accurate positioning of the beamsplitter relative to the individual image sensors is needed to ensure the best picture quality possible. Indeed, accurate positioning of the image sensors relative to the beamsplitter on the sub-micron level is desirable.
Examples of environmental, production and functional factors that may have an impact on the positioning accuracy of an image sensor include temperature, humidity, external forces, internal stress within adhesives, fixation methods or the like. Additional factors that may be relevant when positioning an imager relative to associated optical components include the desire to reduce material costs, the desire to increase the recycle-ability of image sensors, the desirability of good cleaning condition of glass surfaces to increase yield, the displacement of components during fixation or the like.
A known photo-electric conversion device generates electrical signals in response to the light from an optical system including a prism assembly having plural light emitting faces. The prism assembly separates the light from the optical system into plural light components, including plural solid-state sensors adjoining the light emitting faces of the prism assembly. The light emitting faces and image sensors are provided with adhering or metalized areas to fix a first surface of a spacer with glue or solder onto each light emitting face and sensor image. Each spacer has a second metalized surface appropriate for stiffly connecting one solid-state sensor to the prism by soldering or adhering.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,042,913 to Yamamoto discloses an apparatus for firmly mounting solid-state image sensors to an image splitting prism in which a mounting glass block is bonded to an image splitting prism surface or to a glass plate bonded to a prism. A metal film is formed on the glass block, and a preliminary solder layer is formed on the metal film to improve wettability. A gap between the preliminary solder layer and a meltable metal member formed on a caging of a solid-state image sensor is filled with a meltable metal having a predetermined thickness, thus bonding the preliminary solder layer and the meltable metal member. When this construction can be obtained, the total thickness of the metal film can be reduced to 1.mu.m or less.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,340,420 to Ozimek, et al. discloses a method for bonding a color separation filter to an image sensor. The method comprises the steps of dispensing an optical coupling composition on a preselected surface of at least one of the filter and sensor, bonding the filter to the sensor for creating a filter-sensor assembly, by using a predetermined amount of ultraviolet (UV) curable adhesive at an interface of the filter-sensor assembly, and dispensing an epoxy along a periphery of the filter-sensor assembly, thereby encapsulating the optical coupling composition at the interface of the filter-sensor assembly.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,256,118 to Moriarty, et al. discloses a film scanner in which a CCD image sensor is aligned to a film plane scanning aperture and is mounted to the an intervening imaging housing assembly by means of a radiation (UV) curable adhesive of appropriate viscosity. With the sensor positioned within but in spaced apart relationship to a sensor housing segment of the housing assembly, the adhesive is injected through a mounting hole in a wall of the housing segment to adhere to the image sensor. An excess amount of the injected adhesive forms a cap over the mounting hole. The viscosity of the adhesive is selected such as to allow the adhesive to generally maintain its shape in the space between the sensor and the wall of the sensor housing segment. The spacing of the sensor from the sensor housing segment allows six degrees of freedom of movement of the sensor during the alignment operation after which the injected adhesive is curing in situ to form a sensor mount fastener with the sensor is precise alignment with the film plane aperture. The hardened cap over the mounting hole provides a solid mechanical bond of the fastener to the housing segment.
U.S. Patent Publication No. 20050195503 to Chen discloses a digital camera module for a portable electronic device. The digital camera module includes a barrel containing a first lens and a second lens, a holder containing part of the barrel, and an image sensor below the first and second lenses. The first and second lenses are adhered in the barrel by an ultraviolet (UV) adhesive. The UV adhesive is cured between 75.degrees Celsius and 100.degrees Celsius for 20 to 30 minutes, and is volatilized little. The image sensor is packaged with a Ceramic Leaded Chip Carrier. The structure of the digital camera module is intended to effectively protect the first and second lenses thereof from moisture, dampness, and oxidation.
U.S. Patent Publication No. 20020006687 to Lam discloses an IC chip package for an image sensitive, integrated circuit semiconductor die that incorporates all the components typically found in an imaging module of an electronic camera. The IC chip package consists of a plastic substrate base for holding an image sensor die and a separate, plastic upper cover for encapsulating the image sensor die and holding a filter glass, an optical lens, and providing an aperture for the optical lens. The upper cover has a lower shelf for holding the optical lens in alignment with the aperture opening over the image sensor die, and has an upper shelf for holding the filter glass over the optical lens. The lens is attached to the lower shelf using UV cure adhesive, and its focal distance to the image sensor die is determined by first electrically activating the image sensor die, adjusting the lens position to identify the optimal focus sharpness, and then applying UV light to activate the UV cure adhesive and hold the lens in focus.

System and method for fixing an image sensor to a beamsplitter