A material composed primarily of coffee grounds, along with other commercial and industrial waste materials, in which the materials are uniformly pulverized, skillfully measured and combined to form a homogeneous particulate waste mixture. The composition is alternately turned and rested in a windrow or like apparatus for several months until natural aerobic thermophilic fermentation causes the material composition to have an overall pH level of 5.0 to 7.0 (with an optimum of 6.0), for the purpose of making the minerals latent in the material composition soluble, conducive to healthy plant life, and therefore useable as a plant growth medium.

The present invention is a material composition related to manufactured potting soils and growth mediums. The invention is a growth medium produced from commercial and industrial waste materials, primarily coffee grounds, whose nutritional value to plants is equal or superior to extant commercial potting soils or naturally occurring top soils.
Composting or otherwise recycling waste materials are disclosed in various patents. Willisch (U.S. Pat. No. 4,146,382), discloses a method and apparatus for composting refuse and sewage sludge. Varro (U.S. Pat. No. 4,050,917) discloses a method of composting waste by controlling aeration, pH, moisture content, and temperature during composting. Shinholster (U.S. Pat. No. 4,369,054) discloses a composition of pulped fibers and slag. Drysdale, et al (U.S. Pat. No. 5,192,354) discloses a soil substitute made by composting shredded treebark with quary stone particles and silica sand particles. Pinckard (U.S. Pat. No. 4,164,405) discloses a method for controlling fungi that utilizes aerobically fermented cotton gin waste produced under particular conditions.
Commercially, coffee grounds are produced by any and all retail establishments who brew and serve coffee. The scale of this waste production is difficult to track, as it is extremely scattered and diverse, but statistics compiled by the National Coffee Association indicate that coffee consumption produces 20 billion pounds of coffee grounds per year. Industrially, coffee grounds are produced on a massive scale through various food production processes, such as the making of coffee-flavored candies, ice creams and beverages. The vast majority of these coffee grounds are indiscriminately mixed with other waste materials, discarded, and inevitably landfilled. Once so corrupted, their use value is lost. A very small percentage of coffee grounds are donated to community gardens, municipalities, or nonprofit environmental groups, all of whom combine the material with other organic wastes for the purpose of composting it into useable soil amendments and ground covers.
Coffee grounds have been used as a plant fertilizer, particularly for plants that prefer a higher acid content in their soil, such as roses, azaleas, rhododendrons, tomatoes, and evergreens. However, such random mixing and composting does provide a sufficient methodology for providing a plant growth medium that allows the most advantageous absorption of coffee grounds"" latent nutrients.
It would be advantageous, therefore, if coffee grounds could be mixed with other components in the proper quantities to capitalize on coffee grounds"" latent nutrients (most notably nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus, the three most critical elements to healthy plant life) so that the grounds could become more useful to plants, which is not often the case with crude methods of adding coffee grounds to soil or compost. Moreover, the bulk of coffee grounds produced annually in the United States remains vastly underutilized, so it would be commercially advantageous to prepare a plant growth medium from such coffee grounds.
It also would be economically and environmentally advantageous to find practical applications for many other commercial and industrial byproducts that formerly have been underutilized if not discarded.
In one embodiment, a material produced from composting components is provided which comprises by weight from about 55 to 85% coffee grounds, from about 2 to 20% gypsum (calcium sulfate), from about 2 to 25% wood fines (preferably untreated sawdust, bark fines, and waste portions of woody plants), from about 0.5 to 5% bone meal and/or fish meal, from about 0.5 to 5% of blood meal or about 0.2 to 2% ammonium sulfate, and from about 0.05 to 0.15% magnesium sulfate (Epsom salts). Preferably, each of the components are pulverized, measured, and then mixed to form a homogeneous mixture. The pH of the material is preferably about 5.0 to 7, and reached this pH when the material is fully fermented.
Another embodiment includes from about 55 to 80% coffee grounds, from about 10 to 20% gypsum (calcium sulfate), and from about 5 to 15% wood fines. In another embodiment, the material comprises from about 55 to 75% coffee grounds, from about 2 to 10% gypsum (calcium sulfate), and from about 10 to 25% wood fines. Each of the components are pulverized, measured, and then mixed to form a homogeneous mixture; wherein the pH level of the material is about 5.0 to 7; and wherein the material is fully fermented.
The invention is also directed to a method comprising mixing the components and fermenting the mixture to form a mixture having a pH level of about 5.0 to 7.0. Preferably the components should be pulverized and measured before mixing and to form a homogeneous mixture.
In a preferred embodiment comprising composted coffee grounds, gypsum (calcium sulfate), wood fines, bone meal and/or fish meal, a nitrogen-providing substance, and magnesium sulfate (Epsom salts), the material contains about 100-199 ppm nitrogen, about 20-200 ppm phosphorus, about 80-500 ppm potassium, about 25-300 ppm calcium, about 10-200 ppm magnesium, about 20-200 ppm sulfur, and more preferably at least one element selected from the group consisting of boron, iron, manganese, zinc, and copper in the following preferred amounts: 0.1-2.5 ppm boron, about 15-40 ppm iron, about 2-40 ppm manganese, about 5-30 ppm zinc, and about 2-30 ppm copper.
In an alternative embodiment, a material of the invention produced from composting components comprises by weight about 55 to 85% coffee grounds, about 0.5 to 5% of a nitrogen-providing substance, about 2 to 20% of a calcium-providing substance, about 0.05 to 0.15% of a magnesium-providing substance, about 0.5 to 5% of a phosphorous-providing substance, and about 2 to 25% of a composting accelerator. Preferably, this medium contains about 100-199 ppm nitrogen, about 20-200 ppm phosphorus, about 80-500 ppm potassium, about 25-300 ppm calcium, about 10-200 ppm magnesium, about 20-200 ppm sulfur, and more preferably about 0.1-2.5 ppm boron, about 15-40 ppm iron, about 2-40 ppm manganese, about 5-30 ppm zinc, and about 2-30 ppm copper. A preferred method of making a plant growth medium comprises providing the nitrogen-providing substance, the calcium-providing substance, the magnesium-providing substance, the phosphorous-providing substance, and the composting accelerator, and composting the mixture with coffee grounds to form the plant growth medium.
These embodiments are described below in more detail.


A thermal transfer recording medium comprising a foundation, and a release layer, a protective layer and a colored ink layer provided on the foundation in this order, the protective layer comprising an acrylic resin and a diallyl phthalate resin.

The present invention relates to a thermal transfer recording medium which has excellent transferability and is capable of producing printed images having good scratch resistance, solvent resistance, and the like.
Conventional thermal transfer recording media for producing printed images having good durability include one having a structure wherein a release layer, a protective layer and a colored ink layer are provided on a foundation in this order and the protective layer is composed of an acrylic resin or the like (JP,A,2-150391, JP,A,5-185754).
The thermal transfer recording medium of the aforesaid structure wherein the protective layer is composed of an acrylic resin or the like provides printed images having high durability. However, the recording medium is poor in transferability, particularly one-dot reproducibility, causing a problem that clear fine lines cannot be obtained in printing bar codes.
In view of the aforesaid problem of the prior art, it is an object of the present invention is to provide a thermal transfer recording medium which has excellent transferability, particularly one-dot reproducibility and is capable of producing printed images having high durability.
This and other objects of the present invention will become apparent from the description hereinafter.


A high-temperature oxide superconductor is provided and comprises oxide crystals oriented in a certain direction, the oxide superconductor being substantially free of or containing a controlled amount of foreign phases, a non-superconducting phase and weak superconducting phase which are harmful for superconducting characteristics in the grains of the crystals and at the grain boundaries between the crystals. The foreign phases, if any, are finely and uniformly dispersed in the grains of the oxide crystals and at the grain boundaries. A wire made from the oxide superconductor, a coil from the wire, and a magnetic field generator from the coil are disclosed, the superconductor wire having only a single layer of oxide crystal grains in the thickness direction.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a high-temperature oxide superconductor exhibiting a superconducting property when cooled with liquid helium or liquid nitrogen, a superconducting wire, a coil using the wire, and a method of producing the wire and coil, more particularly to an oxide superconductor, superconducting wire and coil having a high critical current density even in a high magnetic field.
2. Description of Related Art
Prior art high-temperature oxide superconducting wires are known to have a high critical current density of 1,000 A/m.sup.2 or higher at a liquid nitrogen temperature by flattening the cross-sectional structure through such a pressing technique, such as rolling, as disclosed in Japanese Journal of Applied Physics, 1988, Vol. 27, No. 2, pp. L185 to L187 and Japanese Journal of Applied Physics, 1988, Vol. 27, No. 12, pp. L2345 to L2347.
Furthermore, Japanese Patent KOKAI (Laid-Open) No. 63-252310 discloses a method of producing a homogeneous superconductor composite tape or wire, which comprises plastically forming a composite body comprising a metal sheath and an oxide superconductor, and uniformly heating the oxide superconductor in a furnace, melting part or the whole of the oxide superconductor. In this method, however, the crystal structure of the oxide superconductor is not so changed and the critical current density is not improved in a magnetic field.
The prior art as mentioned above does not take an account of the critical current density in a magnetic field and is accompanied with such a problem that the critical current density is greatly reduced when a small amount of external magnetic field is applied.

Oxide superconductor, superconducting wire and coil using the same and method of production thereof


A system and method for the aggregation, standardization and extension of social networking contacts to enhance a television consumer experience are described. An embodiment of a system includes a device connected to one or more devices with social networking technology. The device is accessed by a user to invite one or more contacts to join an aggregated social network via an aggregated social networking contact list. The aggregated social networking contact list is to include all contacts associated with the one or more social networking technology devices. The device is to receive and store aggregated social network content and to receive main content. The device is to cause the display of the stored aggregated social network content overlayed on the main content via a user interface on a display device. Other embodiments are described and claimed.

Today's homes may have one or more electronic devices that receive, process and/or store content, such as personal computers (PCs), televisions, digital video disk (DVD) players, video cassette recorder (VCR) players, compact disk (CD) players, set-top boxes (STBs), stereo receivers, audio/video receivers (AVRs), media centers, personal video recorders (PVRs), gaming devices, digital camcorders, digital cameras, blackberries, cellular phones, personal digital assistants (PDAs), and so forth. These all may be networked together in such a way to provide a user with a means for entertainment via the entertainment center and a single display device.
At least some of the these electronic devices are adapted to include one or more social networking technologies (e.g., web sharing account technology, buddy lists technology, PC contact list technology or address books via cell phones and blackberries, and so forth). Currently all of the sharing between the electronic devices adapted with social networking technology is a vertical play, meaning it is based on a single service, device or piece of software. For example, the vertical play can consist of a single device (e.g., phone) having lists or a single service (e.g., Yahoo) maintaining contact across multiple devices (e.g., web, mobile phone, etc.). Here, the vertical play is independent of whether it is based on the device or on a service.

Aggregration, standardization and extension of social networking contacts to enhance a television consumer experience


A system comprising a media player configured to play media content, a projector operatively coupled to the media player and comprising a lamp, and a control unit operatively coupled to the media player and the projector is provided. The control unit is configured to determine whether the media content comprises visual content, and the control unit is configured to prevent the lamp from being turned on in response to determining that the media content does not comprise visual content.

Digital projector systems that are configured to display images on a screen typically include a relatively high-power lamp. The lamp serves as a light source that is modulated to project the images onto the screen. Often the lamp is turned on some time before the projector begins displaying images to allow the lamp to reach its full power output. Unfortunately, projector lamps are often expensive and wear out over time. The lifespan of a typically projector lamp may be shortened each time the lamp is turned on. A user of a digital projector may seek to maximum the lifespan of a lamp in a projector.
It would be desirable to be able to minimize the number of times that the lamp of a digital projector is turned on in order to maximum the lifespan of the lamp.

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


A method of testing hearing automatically selects test ear and test frequencies to produce a diagnostic audiogram providing a plurality of quantitative, examiner-independent measures of test reliability. The method automatically presents appropriate masking noise to a non-test ear. In addition, the method alerts an examiner to thresholds that may be inaccurate due to inappropriate masking or subject inconsistency. A software driven system automatically carries out the method on a test subject.

Clinical testing of hearing sensitivity is usually performed by an audiologist using an audiometer that presents puretone stimuli at controlled frequencies and intensities. The test is performed by manually presenting stimuli according to loosely defined rules. Threshold, the lowest intensity of a stimulus that the listener can hear, is determined for each test frequency, also according to loosely defined rules. The method was first described in clinical publications, Hughson W, Westlake H: Manual for program outline for rehabilitation of aural casualties both military and civilians. Trans. Am. Acad. Ophthalmol. Otolaryngol. Suppl. 48, 1-15, 1944; Carhart R, Jerger J F: Preferred method for clinical determination of puretone thresholds. J.Speech Hear. Dis. 24:330-345, 1959, and later incorporated into a national standard. American National Standards Institute. American National Standard Methods for Manual Pure Tone Audiometry, ANSI S3,21-1978. However many aspects of the procedure are not standardized, such as the number of test stimuli, the temporal characteristics of the stimuli, and the rules for the use of contralateral masking noise.
Test results are influenced by a number of uncontrolled procedural and listener factors including the following.
The experience of the examiner
Shortcuts and methodologic biases of the examiner
Intraexaminer procedural variations
Interexaminer procedural variations
Previous experience of the listener
Listener response criterion
As a result of less than ideal methodologic control, the accuracy and test-retest reliability are compromised to an unknown extent. This limits the ability to compare test results across examiners and listeners as well as the ability to track changes in hearing sensitivity.
The present invention provides an Adaptive Method for Testing Auditory Sensitivity (AMTAS) wherein sensitivity of the auditory system is measured in a manner to reduce the problems associated with routine clinical hearing testing. The present invention, which may be used to replace clinical puretone audiometry in the diagnostic hearing evaluation, selects test ear and test frequency, provides contralateral masking when appropriate, and quantitatively assesses test reliability.

Adaptive apparatus and method for testing auditory sensitivity


A method, system and article of manufacture for accessing data in a database independent of the particular manner in which the data is physically represented and for providing an abstract representation of the data in the database. One embodiment provides a method of architecting a logical representation of physical data in a database comprising providing a template data abstraction model defining template logical fields, and providing, on the basis of the template data abstraction model, a logical representation of the physical data, the logical representation defining a plurality of logical fields providing an abstract view of the physical data and adapted for transforming logical fields of abstract queries into a form consistent with the physical data in the database.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to data processing and more particularly to providing an abstract representation for data in a database.
2. Description of the Related Art
Databases are computerized information storage and retrieval systems. A relational database management system is a computer database management system (DBMS) that uses relational techniques for storing and retrieving data. The most prevalent type of database is the relational database, a tabular database in which data is defined so that it can be reorganized and accessed in a number of different ways. A distributed database is one that can be dispersed or replicated among different points in a network. An object-oriented programming database is one that is congruent with the data defined in object classes and subclasses.
Regardless of the particular architecture, in a DBMS, a requesting entity (e.g., an application or the operating system) demands access to a specified database by issuing a database access request. Such requests may include, for instance, simple catalog lookup requests or transactions and combinations of transactions that operate to read, change and add specified records in the database. These requests are made using high-level query languages such as the Structured Query Language (SQL) in the case of a relational database. Illustratively, SQL is used to make interactive queries for getting information from and updating a database such as International Business Machines' (IBM) DB2, Microsoft's SQL Server, and database products from Oracle, Sybase, and Computer Associates. The term "query" denominates a set of commands for retrieving data from a stored database. Queries take the form of a command language that lets programmers and programs select, insert, update, find out the location of data in a database, and so forth.
In commonly assigned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/083,075 (the '075 application), filed Feb. 26, 2002 entitled "Improved Application Flexibility Through Database Schema and Query Abstraction", a framework was disclosed for logically viewing physical data. The framework of the '075 application provided a requesting entity (i.e., an end-user or application) with an abstract representation of physical data. In other words, the framework of the '075 application provided the requesting entity with an abstract data model that logically describes an underlying physical data structure. In this way, the requesting entity is decoupled from the underlying physical data to be accessed. Logical queries based on the framework can be constructed without regard for the makeup of the physical data. Further, changes to the physical data do not necessitate changes to applications accessing the physical data.
In general, when using the framework of the '075 application in a relational database environment, one abstract data model is created for each table in the relational database. Moreover, the task of creating abstract data models is typically performed by an operator or database administrator. Consequently, if the relational database comprises a large number of tables or if a large number of new tables is frequently generated for the database, this task rapidly becomes time-consuming for the operator or database administrator. In addition, in many cases a relational database may contain multiple tables with different table names and storing different physical data, but having the same physical layout or underlying data structure. For instance, assume a company that has a scientific tool that runs an experiment and stores results to a new database table each time the experiment is run. Assume further that the tool runs periodically and produces the same columns of data. In this example, the respective table names and the physical data in each table are the only differences between all generated new database tables, while all of them have similar physical data structures. Typically, for each generated database table a separate logical representation is created. In other words, if the scientific tool runs daily, each day a new logical representation is created for the newly generated database table.
Therefore, there is a need for an improved and more flexible method for architecting abstract representations for physical data in a database.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Singleton abstract model correspondence to multiple physical models

International Business Machines Corporation


A SiGe surface-normal optical path photodetector structure and a method for forming the SiGe optical path normal structure are provided. The method comprises: forming a Si substrate with a surface; forming a Si feature, normal with respect to the Si substrate surface, such as a via, trench, or pillar; depositing SiGe overlying the Si normal feature to a thickness in the range of 5 to 1000 nanometers (nm); and, forming a SiGe optical path normal structure having an optical path length in the range of 0.1 to 10 microns. Typically, the SiGe has a Ge concentration in the range from 5 to 100%. The Ge concentration may be graded to increase with respect to the deposition thickness. For example, the SiGe may have a 20% concentration of Ge at the Si substrate interface, a 30% concentration of Ge at a SiGe film top surface, and a thickness of 400 nm.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention generally relates to integrated circuit (IC) fabrication processes and, more particularly, to a surface-normal infrared optical path structure and corresponding fabrication method.
2. Description of the Related Art
There are many applications for photodetection in the near infrared region (the wavelength between 0.7 micron to 2 microns), such as in fiber-optical communication, security, and thermal imaging. Although III–V compound semiconductors provide superior optical performance over their silicon (Si)-based counterparts, the use of Si is desirable, as the compatibility of Si-based materials with conventional Si-IC technology promises the possibility of cheap, small, and highly integrated optical systems.
Silicon photodiodes are widely used as photodetectors in the visible light wavelengths due to their low dark current and the above-mentioned compatibility with Si IC technologies. Further, silicon-germanium (Si1-xGex) permits the photodetection of light in the 0.8 to 1.6 micron wavelength region.
However, the SiGe alloy has larger lattice constant than the Si lattice, so film thickness is a critical variable in the epitaxial growth of SiGe on Si substrates. While a thick SiGe is desirable for light absorption, too thick of a SiGe film causes a defect generation that is responsible for dark currents. This critical SiGe thickness is dependent upon the Ge concentration and device process temperature. Higher Ge concentrations and higher device process temperatures result in the formation of thinner SiGe film thicknesses. In common practice, the SiGe critical thickness is in the range of a few hundred angstroms, to maximum of a few thousand angstroms. Once the SiGe thickness is grown beyond its critical thickness, lattice defects in SiGe are inevitable. As mentioned above, an IR photo detector built from a SiGe film with lattice defects generates large dark currents and noise.
Quantum efficiency is a measure of the number of electron-hole pairs generated per incident photon, and it is a parameter for photodetector sensitivity. Quantum efficiency is defined as:η=(Ip/q)/(Popt/hν)
where Ip is the current generated by the absorption of incident optical power Popt at the light frequency v.
FIG. 1 is a graph showing the relationship between quantum efficiency and the percentage of Ge in a SiGe film. One of the key factors in determining quantum efficiency is the absorption coefficient, α. Silicon has a cutoff wavelength of about 1.1 microns and is transparent in the wavelength region between 1.3 to 1.6 microns. The SiGe absorption edge shifts to the red with an increasing Ge mole fraction and is shown in FIG. 1. The absorption coefficient of any SiGe alloy is relatively small and the limited thickness dictated by the critical thickness further limits the ability of SiGe films to absorb photons.
As noted above, the major goals of SiGe-based photodetection are high quantum efficiency and the integration of these SiGe photodetectors with the existing Si electronics. One way to increase the optical path, and improve the quantum efficiency, is to form the optical path in the same plane as the SiGe film, along the substrate surface in which the SiGe is deposited. Thus, light propagates parallel to the heterojunction (SiGe/Si) interface. However, this optical path design necessarily limits the design of IR detectors.
It would be advantageous if an efficient SiGe IR photodetector could be fabricated having an optical path that need not be formed in parallel with a Si substrate surface.

Surface-normal optical path structure for infrared photodetection


A process for producing an absorbing polymer structure (Pa) including the steps of obtaining a treated absorbing polymer structure (Pb) by increasing the absorption under load at a load of 0.3 or 0.9 psi (AUL) compared to an untreated absorbing polymer structure (Pu) by a first treatment of an outer region of the untreated absorbing polymer structure (Pu) and reducing the AUL compared to the treated polymer structure (Pb) by a second treatment of an outer region of the treated absorbing polymer structure (Pb). Such absorbing polymer structure (Pa) may be used in a composite and may be used in foams, moulded articles, fibers, sheets, films, cables, sealing materials, liquid-absorbing hygiene articles, carriers for plant growth-regulating and fungal growth-regulating agents, packaging materials and soil additives or building materials.

The present invention relates to a process for the production of an absorbing polymer structure, an absorbing polymer structure obtainable by this process, an absorbing polymer structure, a composite, a process for the production of a composite, a composite obtainable according to this process, foams, moulded articles, fibers, sheets, films, cables, sealing materials, liquid-absorbing hygiene articles, carriers for plant growth-regulating and fungal growth-regulating agents, packaging materials and soil additives or building materials containing these absorbing polymer structures or this composite, as well as the use of this absorbing polymer structure or this composite in foams, moulded articles, fibers, sheets, films, cables, sealing materials, liquid-absorbing hygiene articles, carriers for plant growth-regulating and fungal growth-regulating agents, packaging materials, soil additives or building materials.
Water-absorbing polymers are used in modem cable production in order to protect these cables against the penetration of water and the damage resulting therefrom. Such water damage occurs in particular if the outer sheathing or the structure of the cables is damaged by mechanical action or by excessive bending. The water can penetrate through the openings that are thereby formed and, if no water-absorbing polymer is present, the structure of the cables is permanently affected to such an extent that the functional integrity of the cables is no longer guaranteed. Another possible way in which water can penetrate is if the cables are repeatedly exposed to water vapour, which penetrates through the insulation or the outer sheathing and is then deposited as condensation in the internal structure of the cables. Such condensation leads particularly in the case of electrical cables to the occurrence of leakage currents that adversely affect the functional integrity of the electrical cable or to electrical short circuits that destroy the overall structure of the cables.
In conjunction with the use of water-absorbing polymers in cable manufacture it is preferred that these water-absorbing polymers have good blocking properties in addition to a good gel stability.
Good blocking properties exist when the penetration of a test liquid through the absorbing polymer is as low as possible. Accordingly the good blocking properties mean that the penetrating water can be retained as long as possible in the absorbing polymer and in this way the penetration of the water to the further part of the cable structure is delayed.
Also, these water-absorbing polymers require a high absorbency for penetrating liquids and must swell rapidly in order to fill effectively and completely the cavities in the cable when moisture penetrates. Small, porous particles swell rapidly but are not sufficiently stable. Similarly, although a low crosslinking density leads to a high absorbency, the stability is in turn reduced.
Examples of water-absorbing polymers used up to now include crosslinked, partially neutralized polyacrylates, crosslinked, neutralized graft polymers of acrylic acid on starch, saponified, crosslinked copolymers of vinyl acetate and acrylic acid esters, and neutralized crosslinked copolymers of isobutylene and maleic anhydride.
U.S. Re Pat. No. 32,649 discloses a conventional water-absorbing polymer which, although it exhibits good blocking properties, nevertheless has a gel stability that is not satisfactory for cable manufacture.
DE 40 20 780 furthermore discloses a water-absorbing polymer which, in contrast to the aforementioned conventional water-absorbing polymer, has been modified by a post-crosslinking step following the synthesis of the conventional polymer. Although this post-crosslinked polymer exhibits a gel stability that is acceptable for cable manufacture, nevertheless the blocking properties of this post-crosslinked polymer are not suitable for cable manufacture.
The object of the invention is in general to overcome the disadvantages inherent in the prior art.
A further object according to the invention is to provide a water-absorbing polymer that is suitable for cable manufacture.
In addition another object according to the invention is to provide a water-absorbing polymer that exhibits blocking properties suitable for cable manufacture as well as a stability that is likewise appropriate for cable manufacture.
Yet a further object of the invention is to provide a water-absorbing polymer that is suitable, apart from cable manufacture, also for use in liquid-absorbing hygiene articles such as sanitary towels or diapers.

Absorbing structure having improved blocking properties


A vial and impactor combination for use in a cryogenic mill is disclosed. The impactor includes a steel or similar core, and a surrounding exterior of polycarbonate or similar inert material. The vial is made preferably of polycarbonate with endcaps also made of polycarbonate.

Cryogenic mills are well known in the art and are used in a variety of scientific applications. Such applications include toxicity testing, DNA analysis, etc.
Such cryogenic mills typically operate by placing a sample in a vial, and then submerging the vial in a cooling fluid such as liquid nitrogen. The sample is then made extremely cold, so that it is amenable to be pulverized. The cold also prevents heat buildup which could cause degradation of samples such as RNA in biological tissue. Also included within the vial is a steel impactor for providing an impactor force.
In operation, the impactor is oscillated while kept cool and the impactor repeatedly impacts upon the sample in the vial. This repeated impacting grinds the sample into a powder by essentially pulverizing it. The powder can then be used in a variety of scientific analyses, such as DNA testing, etc.
One problem with the arrangement is that the impactor itself is typically stainless steel. In some applications, data gathered from analyzing the pulverized sample can be corrupted due to the fact that the steel impactor contaminates the composition of the pulverized sample itself. However, as the impactor must be driven most efficiently by an alternating electromagnetic field, and material that is hard enough to grind a very cold sample must be used, it is difficult to overcome both of the above.
Moreover, as the steel impactor is quite hard, the end pieces of the substantially cylindrical vial that are typically impacted by the impactor are also made of steel, as anything softer would likely be destroyed by the impactor.
In view of the above, there exists a need in the art for a vial and associated apparatus for use in a cryogenic mill which overcomes the foregoing issues.


A method and apparatus for synchronizing digital and analog/mixed signal modules in a test site of an open architecture test system is disclosed. Event triggers from digital modules are routed to an ASYNC module, which selectively distributes them to analog/mixed signal modules. When an event occurs, the trigger may activate an analog/mixed signal module to perform a certain operation. The ASYNC module may also receive triggers from the analog/mixed signal modules and selectively distribute them back to the digital modules or analog/mixed signal modules. The digital modules can be programmed to wait for an analog/mixed signal module to complete an operation, as indicated by a trigger received from that analog/mixed signal module, before continuing. Because embodiments of the present invention enable synchronization of digital and analog/mixed signal modules under pattern control, synchronization can be very precise and repeatable as compared to synchronization from a site controller.

A major reason for the high cost of test equipment is the specialized nature of conventional tester architecture. Each tester manufacturer has a number of tester platforms that are not only incompatible across companies, but also incompatible across platforms. Because of these incompatibilities, each tester requires its own specialized hardware and software components that cannot be used on other testers.
Because of the dedicated nature of conventional tester architecture, all hardware and software must remain in a fixed configuration for a given tester. To test an IC, a dedicated test program is developed that uses some or all of the tester capabilities to define the test data, signals, waveforms, and current and voltage levels, as well as to collect the device under test (DUT) response and determine DUT pass/fail.
To increase flexibility and lower the cost of test systems, it would be desirable to connect and use test modules from multiple vendors while testing ICs. However, because of the specialized and proprietary nature of the hardware and software in each vendor's test modules, heretofore it has been difficult or impossible to plug-in and use the test modules from multiple vendors.
In response to this need, an open architecture test system has been developed that allows plug and play of different modules from different vendors. This open architecture test system allows reconfigurability and scalability of the system in terms of number and type of DUTs and test modules.
A block diagram of a high level perspective of an open architecture test system 100 is illustrated in FIG. 1. In FIG. 1, the modules 102 may be functional units such as a digital pincard, and analog card, a device power supply (DPS), or instruments such as a waveform generator. The physical connections to the modules 102 may be obtained through a module connection enabler 104 that includes a switch matrix network 106. The switch matrix network 106 may include logic, traces, and pins. The system controller 108 is typically the point of interaction for a user. The system controller 108 provides a gateway to the site controllers 110 and synchronization of the site controllers 110 in a multi-site/multi-DUT environment. The system controller 108 and multiple site controllers 110 may operate in a master-slave configuration. The system controller 108 controls the overall system operation and determines that functions that a particular site controller 110 should perform. Each site controller 110 is itself sufficient to test a DUT 112. The site controller 110 controls and monitors the operation of various modules 102 within a test site 114. A test site 114 is a collection of modules 102 that service the testing of a single DUT 112. A site controller 110 can control one or multiple test sites 114.
The overall platform consists of a hardware and software framework that provides interfaces through which various hardware and software modules can be employed. The architecture is a modularized system with module control software and a communication library that allows module-to-module, site controller to module, site controller-to-site controller, and system controller to site controller communication.
The open architecture test system allows different vendor hardware and software to be developed, certified and integrated reliably into the test system. The open architecture test system allows deployment of test modules in a plug-and-play manner. Each test module may be replaced with another test module from a different vendor. The only restriction is that each test module must follow the interface requirements of the integrating framework. Thus, vendor hardware could be any functional unit, such as a digital pin card, an analog card, a device power supply (DPS), etc.
Because the timing and interaction of modules in a test site may be critical to performing an accurate test of the DUT, there is a need to provide for the synchronization of the modules testing the corresponding DUT.

Synchronization of modules for analog and mixed signal testing in an open architecture test system


A scent charged aeration capsule assembly emplaced over the effluxive end of a hair blower whereby, during the blower's operation, a selected fragrance may directed into a subject's hair. Alternatively, a hair blower manufactured or modified to comprise a pad emplacement chamber permitting emplacement of a fragrance impregnated pad therein.

1. Field of the Invention
Hair care accessories; pet supplies
2. Description of the Prior Art
Occasionally a descriptive term in this application may be shortened so as to recite only a part rather than the entirety thereof as a matter of convenience or to avoid needless redundancy. In instances in which that is done, applicant intends that the same meaning be afforded each manner of expression. Thus, the term pad compression plate (29) might be used in one instance but in another, if meaning is otherwise clear from context, expression might be shortened to compression plate (29) or merely plate (29). Any of those forms is intended to convey the same meaning.
The term emplace or any of its forms when used in this application means the joining of two objects or parts so as to unite them in a reasonably easily removable way, such as the positioning of a pad (20) within the pad emplacement chamber (3) within a nozzle duct (2), from which it (20) may be removed, discussed ante. The word emplace is also consistent in meaning with the word "detachable" as occasionally used in connection parlance but not in this application, since it is derived from the root attach. The term attach or fasten or any of their forms when so used means that the juncture is of a more or less permanent nature, such as might be accomplished by nails, screws, welds or adhesives. Employment of the words connect or join or any of their forms is intended to include the meaning of both in a more general way.
Certain specific objectives or needs are prevalent in today's world. There is a continuing requirement to remove objectionable odors from the air in many places, public or private. In commercial circles concerning hair care, or even at home, there frequently exists the desire to add a scent to one's hair after cleaning. Such devices are also beneficial for use with pets, particularly dogs, in imparting a fresh scent or disinfectant to its fur.
Yet, a mechanism designed to meet such needs and objectives should not be fraught with the hazard of ignition of the vapor employed. The drying and scenting tools used for such purpose should also be conveniently hand-held in the manner permitted by the common hair blower. To the extent practicable, the fragrance should be confined to its intended target. The sources of fragrance should also be conveniently interchangeable so that the operator may switch from one scent to another to quickly address the wishes of each customer. It would also be environmentally beneficial if the sources of fragrance could be easily disposed of after exhaustion.
In recent decades, devices comprising a source of perfumed or freshened air intended for use in conjunction with a hair or other type of blower have made occasional appearances. U.S. Pat. No. 4,195,416 issued to Hall features means for stowage of a hair blower and air freshener or other desired fragrance inside a bathroom cabinet. The blower is operable by a timer or an operable electric switch outside of the cabinet and vented through the cabinet floor. Perfume or air freshener vapors are drawn from within the cabinet into the blower, thereby allowing the discharge to disperse into the room. U.S. Pat. No. 1,727,212 issued to Martin employs a blower with hollow ring attached to the exterior encasing a wick from which, upon becoming wetted from droplets of perfume, vapors are released and allowed to penetrate through a line of holes leading into the blower's air discharge. U.S. Pat. No. 4,383,377 issued to Crafton illustrates an electric hand blower dryer with a removable exterior compartment in which a deodorizing substance or wick may be emplaced, allowing perfumed or artificially freshened air to be drawn through the blower's discharged air. U.S. Pat. No. 4,523,080 issued to Bolton consists of a hair blower aerosol spray can combination, in which an operator can emplace the spray can into a receptacle carved into the blower with its own spray button linked to the blower's trigger. Depression of the trigger permits injection of the aerosol contents into the subject's hair with the blower's discharged air. U.S. Pat. No. 4,835,879 issued to Egelstad comprises a perfumed or air freshened pad assembly which attaches to the air discharging end of a hair blower.
All of the foregoing feature in common the objective of loading the blower's discharged air with a perfumed scent or a vaporous substance intended for masking or, perhaps, disinfecting, unwanted odors. Martin's efforts produced an early patent, 1929, comprising a device which was meritworthy in adding the vapor downstream from the heating element, thereby likely avoiding the hazard of accidental combustion. However, it appears unwieldy and unsuited for hand held use such as that a hairdresser or beauty operator would prefer. Its wick's placement is relatively permanent and inaccessible for substitution or disposal. The fragrance source is somewhat remote from the airflow, limiting the efficiency of its intended use. Moreover, until the perfume bottle, the source of the vapor, is replaced--an inconvenient task--it is limited to a single fragrance. The Bolton, Hall and Crafton devices draw the vapor into the blower upstream of the heating element and do not, therefore, forestall the potential danger of ignition. Such hazards may be obviated with auxiliary switches but are not fail-safe from human error. Bolton's device also requires modification of the blower and presents the cumbersome assembly of an aerosol can extending outwards from the blower. Hall's and Crafton's amount to fixtures of sorts which do not permit operator hand held use. The airstream is dispersed throughout a room and their devices are not configured to permit convenient focusing upon a subject's hair. The Egelstad device does more than the others to meet the contemplated objectives. As is the case with Martin's, the vapor is added downstream from the heating element. No modification is required to the blower, which is employed in hand-held operation. In comprising a scented pad for a vapor source, it also goes far to meet the need for convenience in use. It fails to meet all of the objectives mentioned supra, however. Experience teaches that heated air has a deleterious effect upon adhesives. Further, in requiring attachment of the pad to the hair blower, particularly in view of the fact that attachment is by adhesion, the objective of convenient interchangeability is absent. Even if a first pad were removed and substituted for with a second one of different fragrance, it would be difficult to return to use of the first because, as common experience dictates, adhesives wear out quickly when reuse is attempted.
Many of the needs or objectives pointed out supra thus far remain only partly addressed in the prior art. Some have not been met at all.

Scent charged aeration capsule assembly for hair blower


A switching device for a portable apparatus, comprises a button disposed in an opening formed in a housing. A spring member, supported by the housing, is integrally connected to a first connecting portion of the button. A stopping claw is connected to a second connecting portion of the button, and can engage with an inner wall of the housing near the peripheral edge of the opening. The switching circuit board is provided in the housing. The switching circuit board is depressed and released through the button. The switching circuit board has a notch in which the stopping claw is inserted when the button is depressed.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an operating button device provided in a housing of a portable apparatus such as a digital camera.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, as an operating button device provided in a housing of a portable apparatus such as a digital camera, there is known a device, in which a button is projected from an opening formed in a housing, so that various operations can be carried out by depressing the button. A switching circuit board is provided under the button, and a projection, being able to come into contact with a switch formed on the switching circuit board, is provided on the rear surface of the button. Thus, by depressing the button, the switch is pressed, so that turning ON and turning OFF operations are performed.
The button is connected to a spring member, and is always urged in a direction in which the button is projected from the opening. A flange is formed over the outer periphery of the button, and is engaged with a peripheral edge of the opening in a non-operating state.
In the conventional operating button device described above, the projection, provided on the rear surface of the button, should be elongated so that the flange is prevented from interfering with the switching circuit board when the button is depressed. Therefore, a space, corresponding to the length of the projection, should be formed between the housing and the switching circuit board, and thus, there is a limit to how thin an operating button device and a housing of a portable apparatus can be.

Operating button device for portable apparatus


A fuel cell system is specially adapted to provide enhanced air purification for stationary and mobile applications. An air purification subsystem may be installed along a cathode flow path to enhance air purification by utilization of fuel cell operating conditions. Synergistic automotive, residential, commercial and agricultural applications are thus provided. Air purification subsystems may include, for example, a multi-purpose platinum-based catalyst configuration adapted to convert carbon monoxide into carbon dioxide and ozone into diatomic oxygen.

This invention relates to integrated power generation and air purification and conditioning systems for stationaryand mobile applications. Specifically, an air purification subsystem may be installed in a fuel cell system across a cathode gas diffusion layer or along a cathode flow path to enhance air purification by utilization of fuel cell operating conditions.
A fuel cell is a device which converts chemical energy of a fuel into electrical energy, typically by oxidizing the fuel. In general a fuel cell includes an anode and a cathode separated by an electrolyte. When fuel is supplied to the anode and oxidant is supplied to the cathode, the cell electrochemically generates a useable electric current which is passed through an external load. The fuel typically supplied is hydrogen and the oxidant typically supplied is oxygen. In such cells, oxygen and hydrogen are combined to form water and to release electrons. The chemical reaction for a fuel cell using hydrogen as the fuel and oxygen as the oxidant is shown in equation (1).
H2+xc2xdO2xe2x86x92H2Oxe2x80x83xe2x80x83(1)
This process occurs through two half-reactions which occur at the electrodes: Anode Reaction
H2xe2x86x922H++2exe2x88x92xe2x80x83xe2x80x83(2)
Cathode Reaction
xc2xdO2+2H++2exe2x88x92xe2x86x92H2Oxe2x80x83xe2x80x83(3)
In the anode half-reaction, hydrogen is consumed at the fuel cell anode releasing protons and electrons as shown in equation (2). The protons are injected into the fuel cell electrolyte and migrate to the cathode. The electrons travel from the fuel cell anode to cathode through an external electrical load. In the cathode half-reaction, oxygen, electrons from the load, and protons from the electrolyte combine to form water as shown in equation (3).
The directional flow of protons, such as from anode to cathode, serves as a basis for labeling an xe2x80x9canodexe2x80x9d side and a xe2x80x9ccathodexe2x80x9d side of the fuel cell.
Fuel cells are classified into several types according to the electrolyte used to accommodate ion transfer during operation. Examples of electrolytes include aqueous potassium hydroxide, concentrated phosphoric acid, fused alkali carbonate, stabilized zirconium oxide, and solid polymers, e.g., a solid polymer ion exchange membrane.
An example of a solid polymer ion exchange membrane is a Proton Exchange Membrane (hereinafter xe2x80x9cPEMxe2x80x9d) which is used in fuel cells to convert the chemical energy of hydrogen and oxygen directly into electrical energy. A PEM is a solid polymer electrolyte which when used in a PEM-type fuel cell permits the passage of protons (i.e.,H+ ions) from the anode side of a fuel cell to the cathode side of the fuel cell while preventing passage of reactant fluids such as hydrogen and oxygen gases.
A PEM-type cell includes an electrode assembly disposed between an anode fluid flow plate and a cathode fluid flow plate. An electrode assembly usually includes five components: two gas diffusion layers; two catalysts; and an electrolyte. The electrolyte is located in the middle of the five-component electrode assembly. On one side of the electrolyte (the anode side) a gas diffusion layer (the anode gas diffusion layer) is disposed adjacent the anode layer, and a catalyst (the anode catalyst) is disposed between the anode gas diffusion layer and the electrolyte. On the other side of the electrolyte (the cathode side), a gas diffusion layer (the cathode gas diffusion layer) is disposed adjacent the cathode layer, and a catalyst (the cathode catalyst) is disposed between the cathode gas diffusion layer and the electrolyte.
Several PEM-type fuel cells may be arranged as a multi-cell assembly or xe2x80x9cstack.xe2x80x9d In a multi-cell stack, multiple single PEM-type cells are connected together in series. The number and arrangement of single cells within a multi-cell assembly are adjusted to increase the overall power output of the fuel cell. Typically, the cells are connected in series with one side of a fluid flow plate acting as the anode for one cell and the other side of the fluid flow plate acting as the cathode for an adjacent cell.
The anode and cathode fluid flow plates are typically made of an electrically conductive material, typically metal or compressed carbon, in various sizes and shapes. Fluid flow plates may act as current collectors, provide electrode support, provide paths for access of the fuels and oxidants to the electrolyte, and provide a path for removal of waste products formed during operation of the cell.
The cell also includes a catalyst, such as platinum on each side of the electrolyte for promoting the chemical reaction(s) that take place in the electrolyte in the fuel cells. The fluid flow plates typically include a fluid flow field of open-faced channels for distributing fluids over the surface of the electrolyte within the cell.
Fluid flow plates may be manufactured using any one of a variety of different processes. For example, one technique for plate construction, referred to as xe2x80x9cmonolithicxe2x80x9d style, includes compressing carbon powder into a coherent mass which is subjected to high temperature processes to bind the carbon particles together, and to convert a portion of the mass into graphite for improved electrical conductivity. The mass is then cut into slices, which are formed into the fluid flow plates. Typically, each fluid flow plate is subjected to a sealing process (e.g., resin impregnation) in order to decrease gas permeation therethrough and reduce the risk of uncontrolled reactions.
Fluid flow plates may also have holes therethrough which when aligned in a stack form fluid manifolds through which fluids are supplied to and evacuated from the stack. Some of the fluid manifolds distribute fuel (such as hydrogen) and oxidant (such as air or oxygen) to, and remove unused fuel and oxidant as well as product water from, the fluid flow fields of the fluid flow plates. Additionally, other fluid manifolds circulate coolant to control the temperature of the stack. For example, a PEM fuel cell stack may be maintained in a temperature range of from 60xc2x0 C. to 200xc2x0 C. The temperature of the anode and cathode exhaust streams may also be within this range as they leave the fuel cell. Cooling mechanisms such as cooling plates are commonly installed within the stack between adjacent single cells to remove heat generated during fuel cell operation.
PEM fuel cell systems using hydrogen as a fuel may include a fuel processing system such as a reformer to produce hydrogen by reacting a hydrocarbon such as natural gas or methanol. Many such fuel processing systems are well known in the art. Where a reformer is used, the reformed fuel gas is referred to as reformate, and may typically contain predominantly hydrogen, carbon dioxide and water. In some cases, reformate may also a relatively small amount of carbon monoxide. Since carbon monoxide, even in trace amounts, acts as a poison to most fuel cell catalysts, for example platinum-based catalysts, methods have been developed to minimize or eliminate carbon monoxide in reformate streams. Such methods include, for example, using a preferential oxidizer system to convert carbon monoxide into non-poisoning carbon dioxide, or optimizing fuel processor operating conditions such as temperature and air flow to minimize the production of carbon monoxide in the reformer.
Typically only a portion of the reactants (e.g., reformate containing hydrogen on the anode side, and air containing oxygen on the cathode side) flowing through a fuel cell will react. For example, the amount of reactants in the anode and cathode streams that are reacted may depend on factors including temperature, pressure, residence time, and catalyst surface area. For this reason, it may be desirable to feed excess reactants to a fuel cell in order to increase the reaction level to a point corresponding to a desired power output of the fuel cell. For example, it may be that 100 standard liters per minute (slm) of hydrogen must be reacted in a fuel cell to achieve a desired power output, but it is determined that 140 slm of hydrogen must be fed to the fuel cell to achieve this reaction of 100 slm of hydrogen. This system may be said to be running at 40% excess hydrogen at the anode inlet. In other terminology, this system may also be characterized as running at a stoichiometry of 1.4. For similar reasons, it may be desirable to supply the cathode side of the fuel cell with an excess of oxidant. The stoichiometry of the anode and cathode flows may be selected independently.
It will thus be appreciated that by reacting hydrogen from the anode stream, the fuel cell provides an anode exhaust stream that is concentrated in its non-hydrogen components. Likewise, by reacting oxygen from the cathode stream, the fuel cell provides a cathode exhaust stream that is concentrated in its non-oxygen components.
In most environments, fuel cell cathode air streams will not contain significant carbon monoxide levels because carbon monoxide is not generally present in fresh atmospheric air. However, in polluted environments, such as might be seen by fuel cells, for example, in or near automotive and commercial environments, the ambient air fed to the fuel cell may contain carbon monoxide as well as other air contaminants such as ozone. Carbon monoxide is a well known poison to humans and animals. Ozone is known to cause a variety of health problems including lung damage. Tropospheric ozone is also known to cause substantial damage to agricultural crops. Various other organic and non-organic pollutants may also be present in such environments, such as those emitted from automotive exhaust and the evaporation of organic solvents.
In general, in one aspect, the invention provides a fuel cell system with an air purification subsystem located along the cathode flow path, wherein the air purification subsystem utilizes heat from the fuel cell to react air pollutants. In this context, the cathode flow path refers to the oxidant flow through the fuel cell system, starting with the oxidant inlet (e.g., an air blower or compressor), and ending with the cathode exhaust as it leaves the fuel cell system. In one possible embodiment, the air purification subsystem may include a multi-purpose catalys bed suitable for converting carbon monoxide into carbon dioxide, and converting ozone into diatomic oxygen. The air purification subsystem may also be effective to oxidize organic pollutants. In other embodiments, the catalyst bed may be selected to abate a specific air pollutant. As examples, suitable catalysts may include precious metals and alloys thereof, being supported by conventional means known in the art such as alumina and zeolite monoliths, and carbon black catalyst support systems. In one possible embodiment, the electrodes of the fuel cell may include a multi-purpose platinum-based catalyst structure and composition that is optimized to provide enhanced air purification in addition to the hydrogen oxidation required to power the fuel cell. In general, the air purification subsystem may be located up or downstream of the fuel cell, or along the cathode flow plates of the fuel cell, or on the fuel cell cathode or cathode side gas diffusion layer.
In another aspect, the invention contemplates systems for providing purified air to an interior air space of a building or a vehicle, as examples, by treating the cathode air flow of a fuel cell system with the catalytic air purification subsystem, and then supplying the interior air space with the cathode exhaust from the fuel cell. The decrease in oxygen in the cathode stream may be referred to as the cathode oxygen depletion. Additional embodiments may include a means for selecting the cathode flow rate of the fuel cell system to control the cathode oxygen depletion of the cathode exhaust. For example, the stoichiometry of the cathode flow may be set to provide a cathode oxygen depletion of less than 10% or less than 5%, as examples. A by-pass may also be provided to control the flow of the cathode exhaust into the interior air space. A heat exchanger may also be provided to control the temperature of the cathode exhaust. A dehumidifier may also be provided to control the humidity of the cathode exhaust.
In another aspect, the air purification subsystem can include a catalyst bed adapted to react carbon monoxide at an operating temperature of the fuel cell system. For example, carbon monoxide may be reacted at a temperature of less than 200xc2x0 C. for certain fuel cell systems, or less than 100xc2x0 C. or less than 80xc2x0 C. for other fuel cell systems. In another aspect, the air purification subsystem can include a catalyst bed adapted to react ozone at such operating temperatures. As an example, for a system adapted to focus on carbon monoxide removal, it may be desirable for the purification subsystem to be located in the cathode flow path at a point upstream from the fuel cell. As another example, for a system adapted to focus on ozone removal, it may be desirable for the purification subsystem to be located in the cathode flow path at a point downstream from the fuel cell.


An invertible side insertion trap is designed to be inserted into an opening in an electrical box and to accommodate at least two different sizes of cable or wire depending on an orientation of the trap. The trap includes a base, a first arm and a second arm. The first arm extends from the base and includes a first mating portion for mating with a first side of the opening in the electrical box. The second arm extends from the base. The arms create a passage having a first width for permitting insertion of a first cable or wire size between the arms when the trap is oriented in a first orientation with the first mating portion aligned with the first side of the opening. The passage has a second width for permitting insertion of a second cable or wire size between the arms when the trap is oriented in a second direction with the first mating portion aligned with a second side of the opening.

The invention relates to securing cables to an electrical box.
When electrical cables are inserted into an electrical box, such as a junction box, metal or plastic traps are used to secure the cables to the box. This prevents longitudinal forces from stressing wire connections in the box and separating the connections.
When a metal trap is used, a pre-punched knockout in the side of the box is removed and the metal trap is inserted in the resulting hole. The trap then is secured in place using a threaded nut in the interior of the box. The electrical cable is then threaded through the trap. Next, the wires of the cable are stripped and any excess cable is backed out of the electrical box. Two screws on the metal trap then are tightened to secure the electrical cable in place. Finally, the wires of the cable are connected and a cover is placed on the electrical box.
When a plastic trap is used, a pre-punched knockout is removed, and the plastic trap is inserted into the hole from which the knockout was removed. The cable then is inserted into the plastic trap. The wires then are stripped and connected. Finally, the cover is placed on the electrical box. Of course, the wires can be stripped before being placed into the plastic trap.
A representative electrical cable in both of these examples is a Romex cable, also known as non-metallic sheathed cable (type NM-B). Such a cable includes multiple conductors and an outer plastic protective sheath.
In both examples, an external trap is positioned in a knockout hole to ensure that the electrical cable remains in place.
In one general aspect, an invertible side insertion trap is designed to be inserted into an opening in an electrical box and to accommodate at least two different sizes of cable or wire depending on an orientation of the trap relative to the opening. The invertible side insertion trap includes a base, a first arm and a second arm. The first arm extends from the base and includes a first mating portion for mating with a first side of the opening in the electrical box. The second arm extends from the base. The arms define a passage having a first width for permitting insertion of a first cable or wire size between the arms when the trap is oriented in a first orientation with the first mating portion aligned with the first side of the opening. The passage has a second width for permitting insertion of a second cable or wire size between the arms when the trap is oriented in a second direction with the first mating portion aligned with a second side of the opening.
Implementations of the invertible side insertion trap may include one or more of the following features. For example, the second arm may include a second mating portion for mating with the second side of the opening in the electrical box. The first mating portion may be configured to mate with the first side of the opening in the electrical box but not to mate with the second side of the opening in the electrical box. The second mating portion may be configured to mate with the second side of the opening in the electrical box but not to mate with the first side of the opening in the electrical box. The first mating portion may include a raised portion that extends from a surface of the first mating portion and the first side of the opening may include a region that is shaped as a negative of the raised portion. The raised portion that extends from the surface of the first mating portion may be configured not to fit within the second side of the opening of the electrical box.
The second mating portion may include a first raised portion extending from a surface of the second mating portion and a second raised portion extending from the surface of the second mating portion, and the second side of the opening may include a region that is shaped as a negative of the raised portion. The first raised portion and the second raised portion that extend from the surface of the second mating portion do not fit within the first side of the opening of the electrical box.
The arms may include teeth that protrude into the first passage and the second passage. The first arm may include a raised portion that extends from one surface of the first arm and the second arm may include a raised portion that extends from an opposite surface of the second arm.
In another general aspect, a system for retaining at least two different sizes of cables or wires in an invertible side insertion trap in an electrical box includes an electrical box and an invertible side insertion trap. The electrical box includes a first wall and a pair of additional walls connected by the first wall, with the first wall including at least one opening. The invertible side insertion trap includes a base and a pair of arms defining a passage. The arms and the opening are configured such that the passage has a first width when a first arm is positioned adjacent a first side of the opening and a second narrow width when the first arm is positioned adjacent a second side of the opening.
In implementations of the system, the invertible side insertion trap can have any of the features of the invertible side insertion trap described above.
The invertible side insertion trap provides considerable advantages. For example, using a single trap, wire and cable of different sizes can be retained in the trap. This reduces the number of parts needed when wiring electrical boxes.
In another general aspect, a side insertion trap for retaining cable or wire includes a base and two arms. The arms extend from the base to define an opening between the arms for permitting insertion of a cable or wire between the arms. A pair of jaws extends from the arms. Each jaw includes at least one tooth oriented in a direction towards the opposite tooth.
Implementations of the side insertion trap may include one or more of the following features. For example, the arms and the jaws may define a passage and the teeth may extend into the passage. Each jaw may extend from the arms at an angle to define a narrowing of the passage. The teeth may have a rectangular shape and define a surface oriented in the direction of the passage. The surface may include at least one protrusion and may include a textured surface. The teeth also may have a rounded or an angled shape.
In another general aspect, an electrical box includes at least one integral side insertion trap for retaining cable or wire. The electrical box includes a first wall including at least one opening and a pair of additional walls connected to the first wall. The integral side trap includes a pair of jaws that extend from the first wall on opposite sides of the opening.
Implementations of the side insertion trap may include one or more of the following features. For example, the jaws may define a passage and teeth may extend into the passage from the jaws. Each jaw may extend from the opening wall at an angle to define a narrowing of the passage. The teeth may have a rectangular configuration and may define a surface oriented in the direction of the passage.
The side insertion trap provides an inexpensive, labor saving, cable fitting for inserting and securing an electrical cable in an electrical box. The cable is laterally retained in the trap by a cover of the electrical box, and can be easily removed upon removal of the cover. Detents may be used to further secure the cable laterally.
By allowing lateral insertion of a wire or cable, the side insertion trap eliminates the need to thread the wire or cable through the trap. This permits insulation to be removed (and connections to be made) prior to insertion of the wire or cable into the trap. This, in turn, eases installation.
Other features and advantages will be apparent from the following description, including the drawings, and from the claims.


In a data compression process such as employed to compress video or other data, it is preferable not to compress the image data representative of the video image in a sequential format, or to take the data from the same area of the image. To equalize the information content of the data prior to compression, the present shuffling/deshuffling technique divides the video image into a multitude of image representing blocks, and selects a predetermined number of the image blocks from different spatial locations in the image, to form a succession of data sets representative of the video image information. That is, the selection of the image representing blocks is such that the information content (complexity) in each data set is similar to the information content in each other data set and further similar to the average information content of the entire video image. Thus, the subsequent quantizing factor used in the compression process will tend to be similar for successive data sets, thereby reducing any distortion introduced by the compression process. The image representing blocks may be formed of sequentially scanned blocks of the video image, or of transform coefficients representing similar blocks of the video image. The shuffled data is deshuffled by the inverse process.

This invention relates to the real-time compression of digital video signals suitable for the transmission of digital data either through a communications channel, or for recording and playback on a magnetic tape recorder or other recording medium. More particularly, the present invention relates to a technique for shuffling of image data to equalize the information content thereof prior to compressing the data into fixed code block lengths, which then may be recorded in, and recovered from, a recording medium.
In general, the goal of data compression is to send digital information from one point to another through a transmission channel using the least transfer of data as is possible. In other words, the object is to eliminate the transmission of as much redundant data as is possible. Video images, by their very nature, contain a great deal of redundancy and thus are good candidates for data compression. It is also well known that on a statistical basis, a straight-forward digital representation of an image necessarily contains redundancy both in a spatial sense and in a temporal sense. By removing a portion of the redundancy from the image data at a transmitter, the amount of data transmitted over a communications channel or recorded on a storage medium may be substantially reduced. The image then may be reconstructed at the receiver or, if recorded, in the recorder playback electronics, by reintroducing the redundancy removed at the transmitter. Incidentally, the expression "image data" as used herein refers to data defining an image to be displayed in a two-dimensional spatial image, which may also take the form of a time varying image composed of multiple frames which are equally spaced in time. The exact form or structure of "image data" can take any of a variety of well-known forms, and in this regard it should be noted that the present invention is broadly applicable to any type of signal representing a two-dimensional space. For example, such a signal might be a moving scene derived from a video camera.
From a very general perspective, there are two classes of data compression: lossless compression and lossy compression. Lossless compression, as the name implies, allows the original data to be exactly reconstructed after being compressed without any loss of information. Whereas, lossy data compression is an irreversible process which introduces some amount of distortion into the compressed data so that the original data cannot be exactly reproduced. In order to obtain large compression factors for images, it is necessary to use lossy compression methods of the type described herein. Lossy compression may be an acceptable alternative as long as the amount and type of distortion produced in the reconstructed image are not objectionable. However, what is deemed "objectionable" in one industry is not so in another. For example, in the professional video industry where the signal-to-noise ratio typically requires 50 decibels (dB) or better, the reconstructed image must be virtually indistinguishable from the original, i.e., any more than 2 or 3 dB of signal impairment is objectionable since it is noticeable to viewers of a video display.
Image compression for use in conjunction with digital video tape recorders has several unique requirements which impose additional constraints on any compression method used. The unusual constraints arise from the typical modes of use of a video tape recorder, and from the fact that the data must be stored for later use rather than immediately transmitted. For example, a tape recorder must allow editing of the recorded information. Practically, this means that the stored data for one field occupy an integral number of tracks on the tape or occupy defined blocks of video data, such as a television field, at predictable locations or tracks on the tape, (especially for editing purposes). This imposes the constraint that a field of data be constant in length. Such a seemingly simple constraint places a severe design requirement on any compression scheme. Because most images statistically are non-stationary (that is, the statistical distribution of the information content varies as a function of position within the image), the obvious solution to compressing a digital signal having varying information content would be to allow the encoded data rate to vary on a frame-by-frame or field-by-field temporal basis according to the information content of the image. But because of editing requirements, the encoded data rate must be fixed rather than variable. In the edit mode, the replacement of recorded information by new information requires that the smallest unit of information to be replaced (in television signals this is a single field) be allotted a fixed data block length in the recorded data format. This allows any unit of a video signal to be replaced with any equally sized unit of a video signal.
Video tape recorders for television broadcast applications must also allow pictures to be reproduced at higher than normal record/playback tape transport speeds (picture in shuttle). At the exceedingly higher playback speeds associated with the picture in shuttle mode, only a fraction of the data on each track is recovered. This requires that the compressed recorded data be stored in small complete data blocks from which a most significant portion of the picture may be recovered even at the higher speed.
To maintain maximum efficiency in recording and to minimize gaps for record over-runs, it is best to use a record format which has a fixed short period related to the original uncompressed information. This simplifies the design of the data deformatter by providing a regular and expected structure for the data stream recovered from tape. This regular structure allows "intelligent" deformatting of the data because certain patterns may be identified as errors and ignored.
Heretofore, various digital video compression studies have focussed on the two-dimensional discrete cosine transform (the DCT) for use as the preferred adaptive coding vehicle, due to its energy compaction properties and relative ease of implementation with digital circuits. (See "Discrete Cosine Transform," IEEE Transaction on Computers, Vol. C-23, Pgs. 90-93, Jan. 1974.) To perform a transformation on a video image, the image is first divided into blocks of pixels (e.g. 16.times.16 or 8.times.8), and then cosine transformed into a set of transform coefficients, each of which represents a scalar weighting parameter (i.e., a coefficient) for a two-dimensional cosine transform function. In the cosine transform domain, the amplitude coefficients are concentrated at the lower frequency terms, with many of the upper frequencies being zero valued. If the coefficients are coarsely quantized into integral values and then Huffman coded, the number of bits needed to represent the image is greatly reduced. A key factor in making this scheme work effectively is the quantizing process. If the quantization is too fine, the data generated by the Huffman coder will exceed the data rate of the channel (or recorder), while too coarse a quantization results in unacceptable distortion/noise.
One technique for determining a suitable quantization parameter for the required data rate simply monitors an output buffer memory and uses a feedback scheme to adjust the quantization level to maintain an equilibrium of data in the buffer. Thus, in a less complex part of an image, less data enters the buffer memory to decrease the contents, while in a more complex part of the image the buffer input data rate increases to increase the buffer content. This method is described in the article, "Scene Adaptive Coder" by Chen et al., appearing in IEEE Transactions on Communications, Vol. Com. 32, No. 3 (March 1984). It is also described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,302,775. However, in recording processes, methods utilizing buffer fullness do not lend themselves to accurate rate control over small amounts of information, and thus do not enable efficient and accurate editing and picture in shuttle. Bit allocation methods as utilized in the past do not produce the quality of images that are desired if a relatively wide range of different images defined by the data are to be reduced.
In some instances, such as the one described immediately above, a threshold level is applied to the transformed data coefficients. That is, all values below a certain threshold are considered to be zero. This thresholding also is often considered to be quantization, and as used herein the terminology applying a "quantization" or quantizing parameter is meant to include applying a threshold level value, a scaling factor or other numerical processing parameter.
It is generally desirable to vary the quantizing parameters to produce the smallest increase in visible distortion of a compressed video image while still providing a desired output data rate. The parameter which may be changed to best advantage changes as the data rate changes, which is a function of the information content of the image. Different sources of data and to a lesser degree different images are optimally quantized by different strategies since the information content thereof changes. The distortion problem is particularly acute in many television applications in which reprocessed image quality is important. It is also necessary in most of such applications that multiple generations of compression, that is, multiple compression/expansion cycles, be made without noticeable degradation.
In order to circumvent the problems created when attempting to compress data such as, for example, video signals to be recorded via video tape recorders, wherein specific units of video data must fit within an allotted recorded data sync block length, the video image data preferably should not be taken sequentially, nor should the data be successively taken from the same area of the image. In such a selection process, the portions of the image with low complexity are finely quantized, whereas the complex portions of the image are coarsely quantized. The resulting picture is very high in quality in low complexity areas and poor in quality in the complex areas.
By way of illustration it is assumed that an image to be compressed and recorded or transmitted, is a scene of a harbor including the relative complexity of boats, people and shops against a background of ocean and a clear blue sky. If data is taken sequentially, the areas of lower complexity such as the sky or ocean can be encoded with fewer bits, while the area of the scene with the boats and people is of greater complexity and requires a greater number of encoding bits to prevent image distortion. If the encoded data is to be fitted into preselected fixed length sync blocks, such as when recording on tape, but the data is taken sequentially, the areas of sky and ocean are allotted the same number of bits per sync block as are the areas of boats and people. However, since the sky or ocean is less complex, only a small fraction of bits in the sync block are needed by the coded transform coefficients to completely encode the information. The remaining bits of the sync block are simply assigned zeros and therefore are wasted. Further along the process of compressing the harbor scene data, the more complex data corresponding to the boats and people are encoded, and now there are insufficient bits available to encode the data without distortion. That is, the number of bits required to properly encode the more complex portions of the image with minimum distortion, will not fit within the space allotted on the tape. Thus, the complex portions of the image must be coarsely quantized to "force" the information to fit within the fixed sync block length. This is true even though the fixed sync block lengths which contain the less complex sky and ocean image data are finely quantized with much wasted space within each block length. It may be seen that this problem of efficiently apportioning bits to image areas of differing complexities is compounded by supplying the data corresponding to the image in sequential order, as is commonly done.
Thus, it may be seen that there are two conflicting requirements when attempting to use data compression techniques in combination with professional video recorders. On the one hand it is desirable from the standpoint of video recorder design to allocate a sync block a fixed segment on the recording medium. On the other hand it is desirable from the standpoint of efficient data compression to allocate a variable output format to provide an image transmission with minimal distortion. Thus, what is desired is a way of achieving these two seemingly conflicting requirements.

Method and apparatus for shuffling image data into statistically averaged data groups and for deshuffling the data


A message device records and plays messages. In a first aspect, actuation is effected by way of a single control. The control generally corresponds to the whole cover. Relatedly, in a second aspect the device is extremely simple and promotes openness communication. The device can be placed or hung almost anywhere to facilitate message leaving and receiving in almost any group or organization. In one embodiment actuation is achieved by pressing on substantially any portion of the cover. In a second embodiment, a rocker configuration is implemented to actuate a record mode by pressing on one end of the cover and a play/listen mode by pressing on an opposite end. The device comprises a base, electrical components, a cover, and in some embodiments, a side wall.

1. Technical Field
This invention generally relates to message recording devices, and more specifically to message recording devices that can easily be used by a large number of people having a broad range of message recording and receiving needs.
2. Background Art
Recording devices of the past include reel to reel tape players, cassette tape players, digital recording devices including CD write devices. These devices of the past include recording devices that are designed specific applications. For example, some telephone answering machines of the past include two cassettes and special buttons for skipping or saving messages. CD writers have a laser for "burning" in the recording. The recording devices that are designed for special applications are often part of a more complex and expensive system such as a computer or telephone. Some of the recording devices of the past have been designed as multipurpose recording devices. However, even the multipurpose devices have special buttons and features for actuating special functions or modes of operation. Even the simplest recording devices of the past are relatively complex and expensive.
Most of the devices of the past function as personal recording devices in which the owner or operator becomes familiar with the buttons, and controls the recording device for the duration of a particular application. Most of these devices requires some familiarizing with the various buttons for recording and playing. Furthermore, identifying or connecting the microphone before recording may be required. Often times the buttons are small or require extra effort to depress or move into a record mode. Occasionally, a user will accidentally place the recorder in a record mode and inadvertently record over something that was intended to be played. Important recorded information can thus inadvertently be lost. In any case special care must be taken to press the correct buttons in order to record or listen, in addition to worrying about the volume control, microphones, and rewind features.
There is a deficiency of simple devices for use by a large number of people for a broad range of purposes. The past devices are also inadequate in providing devices with a small number of controls that are easily manipulated for a small number of basic functions. The devices of the past do not adequately promote open communication via audio messages in a group or organization. The devices of the past are certainly deficient in promoting such communication in a simple and inexpensive way.
Additionally, the devices of the past are deficient in providing a wide variety of supports for supporting the devices in a wide variety of applications and positions.


A sealing structure and a sealing method for an electronic component achieves desired sealing properties and heat resistance. An electronic component element is mounted on a substrate having an electrode pattern disposed thereon, and is sealed by bonding a cap for covering the electronic component element on the substrate. An adhesive structure used to join the cap on the substrate includes a high-glass-transition-point adhesive partially coated on the cap bonded portion of the substrate, and a low-glass-transition-point adhesive coated over an entire periphery of the opening of the cap. The opening of the cap is pressed on a mounting portion of the substrate, and the adhesives are then cured to bond and seal the substrate and the cap.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a sealing structure and a method for sealing an electronic component, and more particularly, to a sealing structure and a method of sealing a surface mount type electronic component.
2. Description of the Related Art
A conventional electronic component known as a surface mount type electronic component, such as a piezoelectric oscillator, a piezoelectric filter, or the like, comprises a substrate having an electrode pattern disposed on an upper surface thereof, a cap and a piezoelectric element disposed in a space defined between the substrate and the cap. An electrode of the piezoelectric element is connected and bonded to the electrode pattern disposed on the substrate via a conductive adhesive. The cap is placed on the substrate to cover the piezoelectric element, and is bonded to the substrate by a sealing adhesive coated on the opening of the cap. The electrode pattern of the substrate extends outwardly from the bonded portion of the cap so that an extended portion of the electrode pattern serves as an external electrode to define a surface mount type electronic component.
In such a surface mount type electronic component, when mounting failure occurs after soldering and packaging with a printed substrate, corrective measures ranging from repair (removal) to re-soldering (manual soldering) are carried out in some cases. In re-soldering, a portion of the electronic component located near the electrode is manually heated by a soldering bit, but heat is transmitted to portions other than the electrode and creates a high-temperature portion. Generally, because a sealing adhesive is required to have flexibility, a resin adhesive having a relatively low glass transition temperature (Tg) is used. Transmission of heat having a temperature higher than the Tg of the sealing adhesive decreases adhesive strength of the sealing adhesive, and thus causes the problem of displacing or even removing the cap if an external force is applied.
To prevent this problem, a method using a sealing adhesive having a high Tg has been considered. However, a very high Tg is required, and such a sealing adhesive cannot provide other required physical properties, e.g., a desired expansion and contraction of a member in a heat shock test, thereby causing a problem of fracture, peeling or cracks. Although a high heat-resistant adhesive such as an inorganic adhesive can be used, such an adhesive cannot form a layer having a sufficient denseness to prevent penetration of a solvent during washing, and cannot provide and ensure good sealing properties.

Sealing structure and method of sealing electronic component


A semiconductor device (101) is provided herein which comprises a substrate (103) comprising germanium. The substrate has source (107) and drain (109) regions defined therein. A barrier layer (111) comprising a first material that has a higher bandgap (Eg) than germanium is disposed at the boundary of at least one of said source and drain regions. At least one of the source and drain regions comprises germanium.

Germanium bulk devices and GeOI ("Germanium-On-Insulator") devices have received much interest in the art as possible replacements for their silicon analogs in some applications, due to the higher electron and hole mobilities in germanium as compared to silicon. For example, it has been shown that germanium-based transistors can exhibit a 400% greater hole mobility, and a 250% greater electron mobility, than silicon-based transistors. This higher mobility offers potential improvements in drive currents that are some 300% greater than the drive currents in comparable silicon devices. In theory, then, it should be possible to make transistors with bulk germanium or GeOI substrates that are much faster than those currently made from bulk silicon or SOI ("Silicon-On-Insulator") substrates. These faster transistors would enable a variety of technologies, such as the high-speed photodetectors, that are likely to be critical components in future on-chip optical interconnects.
Unfortunately, due to the low energy band gap (Eg=0.66 eV) of germanium, germanium-based transistors suffer from excessive diode leakage currents. In addition, due to the high dielectric constant of germanium (ε(Ge)=16), the junction capacitance (Cj) of these devices is high. Consequently, in practice, it is found that the drive current improvements in transistors made from bulk germanium or GeOI substrates is often compromised by high leakage currents and higher junction capacitance than is found in their silicon counterparts. This issue has precluded the use of these devices in high performance and low power applications.
There is thus a need in the art for a method for overcoming the aforementioned limitations. In particular, there is a need in the art for a method for making transistors from bulk germanium or GeOI substrates that exhibit reduced leakage currents and lower junction capacitance, and for devices made in accordance with this method. These and other needs are met by the devices and methodologies described herein.

GeSOI transistor with low junction current and low junction capacitance and method for making the same


A client device platform may provide an emulator with game inputs to advance an emulated game from a first state to a second state. The emulator may record the game inputs. Once the emulation of the game is suspended, the client device platform may deliver a replay request to the emulator. Upon receiving the replay request, the emulator may re-emulate the game inputs that have been stored in the emulator's memory. The re-emulation will produce the replay which may be delivered back to the client device platform. It is emphasized that this abstract is provided to comply with the rules requiring an abstract that will allow a searcher or other reader to quickly ascertain the subject matter of the technical disclosure. It is submitted with the understanding that it will not be used to interpret or limit the scope or meaning of the claims.

When playing video games over a cloud-based network, one of the biggest concerns for game developers is the efficient use of the available network bandwidth. As such, gaming experiences that would otherwise be available during a non-cloud based gaming session may be eliminated in order to conserve the bandwidth. One such gaming experience that requires substantial bandwidth is replay functionality. The gameplay that is traditionally recorded for use in a replay is often stored in large files. This poses several problems. First, the replay must always be recorded since there is a possibility that the game player may want to view a replay at any stage of the game. The large file that is created may consume a substantial portion of available memory on the cloud-based server. In order to keep replay functionality, the length of the replay must be kept short, or there must be a large amount of memory dedicated to the storage of replay information. Second, when the game player requests a replay, the large file must be delivered over the cloud-based network. This service may consume a large portion of the bandwidth and result in poor performance to the game player, and others using the cloud-based network at that time.
Therefore, there is a need in the art for method and apparatus for recording replays of a video game and delivering the replay to the game player, which does not consume a large quantity of memory or bandwidth. It is within this context that aspects of the present disclosure arise.