A portable outdoor cooker for cooking foods is provided. The cooker comprises a substantially circular heat transfer plate, a plurality of individually controllable burners disposed beneath the heat transfer plate, and a frame assembly for supporting the heat transfer plate and burners above the ground and in relation to one another. The heat transfer plate has a center and a perimeter, and includes a cooking surface. The plurality of burners includes an inner burner and an outer burner, the outer burner being positioned adjacent the perimeter of the heat transfer plate and the inner burner being positioned closer to the center of the heat transfer plate than the outer burner such that the cooking surface can be made hotter adjacent the perimeter of the heat transfer plate than adjacent the center of the heat transfer plate.

The invention relates to a portable cooker for cooking and heating foods. More particularly, the invention is directed to a cooker with a burner arrangement that offers improved temperature control across the cooking surface.
Many types of portable outdoor cookers or stoves are available. The most common variety provides an open grill located over a heat source such as charcoal or gas burners. One problem with this type of outdoor cooker is that the juices from the cooking food fall on the heating elements, causing the flames to flare up and associated uneven heating. This can dry out and sometimes burn the food and can be dangerous.
It is also known to provide a solid griddle surface on a cooker for preparing food. However, known griddle designs have several potential drawbacks. First, when using a griddle, foods tend to set in their own juices during cooking. In some cases this can result in food that is overly greasy. Second, known griddle cooker designs tend to concentrate heat underneath the center of the griddle, and not to allow the temperature of the outer edges of the griddle to be adjusted relative to the center of the griddle. Thus, these designs are limited for use in simultaneously cooking different foods at different, controlled temperatures.
One type of cooking surface, known as a Mongolian grill, overcomes some of the limitations of both the open grill and the solid griddle. A Mongolian grill has a solid, slightly convex cooking surface that causes the juice to run off the surface rather than fall onto the heating element. Unfortunately, these cooking surfaces have only been available for use in permanent installations. These expensive iron grills are about 50 inches in diameter and are very large and heavy units which are not portable (i.e., moved from place to place easily by one person). Because of the size, cost and design of these cookers they cannot be used as a portable outdoor cooker.
The present invention provides a portable outdoor cooker for cooking foods. The cooker comprises a substantially circular heat transfer plate, a plurality of individually controllable burners disposed beneath the heat transfer plate, and a frame assembly for supporting the heat transfer plate and burners above the ground and in relation to one another. The heat transfer plate has a center and a perimeter, and includes a cooking surface. The plurality of burners includes an inner burner and an outer burner, the outer burner being positioned adjacent the perimeter of the heat transfer plate and the inner burner being positioned closer to the center of the heat transfer plate than the outer burner such that the cooking surface can be made hotter adjacent the perimeter of the heat transfer plate than adjacent the center of the heat transfer plate.


A method of making an article comprises a heat cured composition with at least one foil or sheet applied on one face of the cured composition. The article may be an electrode. The composition may comprise titanium suboxide.

Patent application, PCT/GB02/00230, published under no. WO 02/058174 on 25 July 2002, describes and claims an electrode for a battery, the electrode comprising a shaped substantially pore-free body of hardened resin and having electrical paths defined by contacting conductive particles. It is intended that by this reference the entire disclosure of this application is incorporated herein. In one embodiment the electrode is in flat form, i.e. a plate. Various methods of manufacture are disclosed, including manufacture by pressing a heat-curing or thermosetting composition in a heated mould. In one disclosed method, thin metallic foils are placed in the pressing moulds, the composition added, and a top foil applied, the mould is then closed and pressure is applied. The formed part is then ejected.
In order to maximise the rate at which such parts can be formed, it is preferred to have the mould tool operating at a high temperature to reduce the cure time. When raised to high temperatures the viscosity of the resin/hardener composition decreases in a few seconds and the composition commences to gel within a few more seconds.
Hence a rapid and convenient way of introducing the metallic foils and composition to the mould cavity is required.
It is one object of this invention to provide a method for delivering a composition to the mould cavity such that the mould can be closed quickly in order to minimise and prevent problems arising from premature curing in a high temperature mould. Another object of this invention relates to removing the formed article quickly to maximise the availability and productivity of the press.


Disclosed is a micropatch antenna comprising a radiating element and a ground plane separated by an air gap. Small size, light weight, wide bandwidth, and wide directional pattern are achieved without the introduction of a high-permittivity dielectric substrate. Capacitive elements are configured along the perimeter of at least one of the radiating element and ground plane. Capacitive elements may comprise extended continuous structures or a series of localized structures. The geometry of the radiating element, ground plane, and capacitive elements may be varied to suit specific applications, such as linearly-polarized or circularly-polarized electromagnetic radiation.

The present invention relates generally to antennas, and more particularly to patch antennas with capacitive elements.
Patch antennas are widely deployed in many devices, such as global positioning system receivers and cellular telephones, because they are small and lightweight. The basic elements of a conventional patch antenna are a flat radiating patch and a flat ground plane separated by a dielectric medium. One type of patch antenna, referred to as a microstrip antenna, may be manufactured by lithographic processes, such as those used for the fabrication of printed circuit boards. These manufacturing processes permit economical, high-volume production. More complex geometries, such as used for phased-array antennas, may also be readily manufactured.
In a common design for microstrip antennas, the ground plane and the radiating patch are fabricated from metal films deposited on or plated on a dielectric substrate. In many applications, it is desirable to have a patch antenna with a wide directional pattern and a wide operating frequency bandwidth. In the design of a microstrip antenna, there are dependencies between mechanical and electromagnetic parameters. The directional pattern increases as the size of the patch decreases. The length of a microstrip patch is equal to one-half the wavelength of the electromagnetic wave propagating in the dielectric substrate. The length of a microstrip patch may be reduced by using dielectrics with high permittivity. For antennas operating in the radiofrequency and microwave bands, however, dielectrics with high permittivities also have high densities, resulting in increased weight of the antenna. Similarly, the operating frequency bandwidth may be increased by increasing the thickness of the dielectric substrate, which again results in additional weight.
There have been various proposed designs for reducing the size and weight of patch antennas. For example, M. K. Fries and R. Vahldieck (Small microstrip patch antenna using slow-wave structure, 2000 IEEE International Antennas and Propagation Symposium Digest, vol. 2, pp. 770-773, July 2000) reported a microstrip patch antenna in which miniaturization is achieved by using a slow-wave circuit and a structure in the form of cross-shaped slots in the radiating patch and ground plane. Such an antenna has a simple design and light weight, but the presence of slots prevents the installation of a printed circuit board with a low-noise amplifier on the antenna, a common design architecture. What are needed are patch antennas with small size, light weight, wide directional pattern, and wide operating frequency bandwidth. Patch antennas which permit the ready integration of auxiliary electronic assemblies, such as low-noise amplifiers, are further advantageous.


The central region of a leadframe (101, 201, 301, 401, 501, 601, 701, 801, 901, 1001, 1101, 1201), is selectively etched to leave upright portions (104, 204, 304, 404, 504, 604, 704, 804, 904, 1004, 1104, 1204). Subsequently, during the packaging process, an integrated circuit (3) is located on the central region of the leadframe, and wires (107) are formed between the upright portions of the leadframe and contacts (5) of the integrated circuit (3), which are to be grounded. Subsequently, the wires and upright portions of the leadframe are encased in resin (116). Since the upright portions of the leadframe are encased in resin, the resin (116) is mechanically locked to the leadframe. Furthermore, any delamination that occurs between the resin (116) and the leadframe cannot propagate easily up the sides of the upright portions as far as the wires (107), so the wires (107) are unlikely to be torn from the upright portions (104, 204, 304, 404, 504, 604, 704, 804, 904, 1004, 1104, 1204). Any adhesive that leaks from under the integrated circuit (3) when the integrated circuit (3) is mounted on the leadframe, is most unlikely to cover any part of the upper surface of the upright portions.

The term "integrated circuits" in this document refers to dies, usually consisting substantially of a semiconductor material, and having electrical contacts formed on their upper surfaces. During a packaging process, the dies are embedded in a resin body from which electrically conductive leads extend.
A known packaging method is illustrated in FIG. 1, which consists of FIGS. 1a and 1b. FIG. 1a is a top view of a central portion 1 of a leadframe, while FIG. 1b is a cross-sectional view along the line A-A. The central portion 1 of the leadframe is made of a conductive material. For example, it may be a copper plate. The leadframe includes further portions (not shown) outside the region 1, including leads. An integrated circuit 3 is adhered on a "die pad" area within the portion 1. The integrated circuit 3 includes electrical contacts on its upper surface. Certain of these electrical contacts of the chip are bonded by wire bonds (not shown) to respective contacts on the leads of the leadframe. However, certain of the contacts 5 of the integrated circuit 3 are to be connected to ground. To do this, the central portion 1 of the leadframe is connected to ground (not shown), and wire bonds 7 are formed between contacts 5 and respective contacts on the copper 1. In general, it is found that the adhesion of the wire bonds 7 with the copper 1 is not adequate, and therefore silver regions 9 are plated in the locations of the copper 1 where the wire bonds 7 terminate. Subsequently, the integrated circuit 3, wire bonds 7 and silver plated regions 9 are encased in resin. During the same resin molding process, the wire bonds (not shown) between the integrated circuit 3 and the leads (not shown) are encased in a resin body.
This process suffers from a number of problems. A first is that, in subsequent use of the device, the resin body may delaminate from the portion 1 of the leadframe. This delamination propagates rapidly across the surface of the portion 1, and can cause the wires 7 to be torn from the silver plating 9.
A second problem is that, when the integrated circuit 3 is adhered to the portion 1 of the leadframe, the adhesive may leak from beneath the integrated circuit 3 and cover some of the regions of the silver plating 9. In this case, it may be impossible to form reliable wire bonds 7 to the regions of the silver plating 9.
A third problem is that, since the regions of silver plating 9 are arranged to coincide with locations of the contacts 5 on the integrated circuit 3, the silver plated leadframe must be designed using knowledge of the integrated circuit 3. In other words, different designs of leadframes are required for packaging different integrated circuits. This reduces the flexibility of the packaging process. This problem is addressed by a second known packaging process shown in FIGS. 2a and 2b. Elements in these figures that correspond to those of FIG. 1 are shown by the same reference numerals. The process differs from that of FIG. 1 only in that regions 9 are replaced by a ring 11 of silver plating along the external periphery of the portion 1 of the leadframe. The wire bonds 7 of FIG. 1 are replaced-by wire bonds 13 between the contacts 5 and the ring 11. Thus, a wide variety of different types of integrated circuit 3 can be packaged with the same type of leadframe. Unfortunately, this arrangement suffers from the problem that the ring 11 must be along the external periphery of the portion 1 of the leadframe in order for the die pad area to be able to accommodate integrated circuits of varying size. So, when the integrated circuit 3 is relatively small, the wires 13 must be much longer than the wires 7 in the arrangement of FIG. 1. Furthermore, the resin's adhesion to silver tends to be less than adhesion to copper, so the arrangement of FIG. 2, in which a larger surface of the portion 1 of the leadframe is covered by silver plating 11, suffers from a higher risk of delamination between the resin and the leadframe.

Chip support of a leadframe for an integrated circuit package


Permeability prediction systems and methods using quadratic discriminant analysis are presented. At least one disclosed method embodiment includes: acquiring formation property measurements at a plurality of positions along at least one borehole in a study area; identifying clusters in a plurality of points representing the formation property measurements at the plurality of postions; and determining a system permeability value for each cluster. Quadratic Discriminant Analysis (“QDA”) is used to associate one the clusters with each position along the one or more boreholes, thereby determining a system permeability prediction for each position. The total system permeability can then be predicted by aggregating the system permeability predictions.

Modern oil field operators demand a great quantity of information relating to the parameters and conditions encountered downhole. Among the types of information most sought is permeability, i.e., the ability of a given fluid (usually oil, water, gas, etc.) to flow through a given geologic formation. More particularly, operators desire knowledge of system permeability, i.e., the permeability of a given reservoir in situ, with the comparative stress and fracture conditions. System permeability provides a measure of the interconnectedness of the available porosity, and it is a function of fluid type, pore size and distribution, flow direction, grain size & sorting, shale content, non-connecting vugs, and fractures. It is an essential flow parameter for the characterization and production of the given reservoir. The oil and gas industry places great value on the accuracy of system permeability estimates, as they play an important role in overall reservoir management and development; i.e. economic feasibility determinations, reserve estimates, well spacing, reservoir characterization & simulation, completion designs, and secondary recovery projects.
Most commonly, the permeability of a reservoir is determined from rock samples & core analysis. However, such measurements typically occur under surface conditions, and the resulting permeability measurements are generally an order of magnitude higher than the in-situ "system permeability". Less commonly, pressure transient analysis (e.g., drill stem testing, well shut-in testing, and diagnostic fracture injection testing ("DFIT")) may be used to obtain permeability measurements suitable for stimulation design and reservoir simulation. Such permeability measures are performed over selected well intervals and hence may be poorly suited for a total system permeability prediction. Some researchers have proposed the use of empirical, statistical, and neural network techniques to predict formation permeability from wireline logs. However, while these techniques are effective for predicting core permeability, they do not solve for the system permeability existing in the reservoir under stress conditions.
While the invention is susceptible to various alternative forms, equivalents, and modifications, specific embodiments thereof are shown by way of example in the drawings and will herein be described in detail. It should be understood, however, that the drawings and detailed description thereto do not limit the disclosure, but on the contrary, they provide the foundation for one of ordinary skill to discern the alternative forms, equivalents, and modifications that are encompassed with the described embodiments by the scope of the appended claims.


A system may include: a crude oil desalter; one or more sample points fluidically coupled to the crude oil desalter; and one or more fluid characterization units coupled to each of the one or more sample points, the one or more fluid characterization units being operable to measure at least one of density or flow rate of fluid from the sample points.

Crude oils are typically emulsions of water in oil with dissolved species present in the water. Salt in crude oil is usually dissolved in connate water that is associated with the production of crude oil. Pipeline grade crude oil often contains a fraction of water with dissolved salts as well as crystalline salts therein that may cause problems in downstream refinery processes. Dissolved and crystalline salts may cause corrosion in downstream units, promote the hydrolysis of water to hydrogen chloride, promote fouling, promote plugging, cause catalyst degradation, and cause other process upsets. Crude oil entering a refinery typically passes through several treatment units to remove water, sludge, and other impurities before the oil is passed to distillation processes.
Crude oil from a tank farm may be treated by a desalter before entering the main refining processes. The desalting process generally involves diluting the incoming crude oil with a relatively salt free water source thereby lowering the salt concentration of the oil-water mixture. The oil-water mixture may contain a water phase an oil phase with emulsified water entrained therein. The oil-water mixture may be allowed to separate in a settling vessel and the resultant water may be drawn off and sent to wastewater treatment. The oil separated in the desalter may be sent to atmospheric distillation, for example. Oftentimes an electric field is induced in the oil-water mixture through an electric grid positioned within the settling vessel to promote coalescence of entrained water. The electrical field imposes an electrical charge on the water droplets entrained in the bulk crude oil phase. The water droplets may coalesce into larger droplets, which can settle by gravity to the bulk liquid water phase.
Crude oils often contain natural emulsifiers that may lead to a relatively stable emulsion that may be difficult to break due to kinetic stability. Thermal methods, mechanical methods, and electrical methods may not be sufficient to separate the entrained water to the degree required for refinery purposes. As such, a demulsifier may be added to the oil-water mixture before or during the oil-water mixture is introduces into the desalter to promote destabilization of the emulsion. The addition of demulsifier is often a manual operation made by adjusting a valve or regulating pump speed to control the flow rate of demulsifier added to the oil-water mixture. When too little demulsifier is added, the emulsion level in the desalter unit may increase causing oil under carry to wastewater treatment and/or water over carry to downstream processing units. When too much demulsifier is added, there may be an unnecessary increase in operating costs. During upset and excursion events operators typically increase the concentration of demulsifier to reduce or prevent over carry and under carry. However, the increased concentration is often kept for longer than necessary which may increase operational costs. As the desalter unit is of a fixed volume and the feed points, discharge points, and electric grid location are static, the desalting process is often optimized around level control. However, the level of the oil-water interface does not exist as a distinct point where oil and water stratify into distinct phases. Rather, there is a transition zone where the volume percentages of oil and water continuously change through the transition zone.
Conventional level controls have often assumed that there is a stratified layer of oil and water and ignored the role of the transition zone in the desalting process. There have been some improvements in internal level control system which utilize guided wave radar and sonar to detect emulsion level and concentrations of oil and water along the height of the desalter unit, however these methods have not taken samples directly from the settling vessel. Optical methods have also been used in the past. Optical methods rely on the disparate absorption of energy of water and oil to determine the ratio of oil to water from samples taken at various heights along the desalter. In optical methods, a sample is drawn from a point on the desalter and passed through an optical transmission section of pipe and the transmittance is correlated to a volume fraction of oil or water. The optical transmission section may be a material transparent to the wavelength of incident light such as plastic or glass. While optical methods may give more accurate assessments of emulsion level, there may be distinct disadvantages to optical methods of measuring emulsion level. For example, the transmittance may be affected by oil deposits in the optical transmission section which may affect the accuracy of the reading. Furthermore, the optical transmission section may require cleaning and other maintenance.


A method for determining a deterioration state in a suspension member arrangement having a suspension member including a plurality of electrically conductive cords includes the steps of: counting a number of bending cycles applied to the suspension member; measuring an electrical characteristic of the suspension member upon applying an electrical voltage to at least one of the cords; performing at least one of (a) determining a critical deterioration state upon monitoring both the bending cycles number and the electrical characteristic, and (b) determining an unexpected deterioration state based on deriving a current actual deterioration state of the suspension member based on the electrical characteristic and assuming a currently expected deterioration state based on the bending cycles number and comparing the current actual deterioration state with the currently expected deterioration state; initiating a defined procedure upon determining at least one of the critical deterioration state and the unexpected deterioration state.

Elevators typically comprise a car and, optionally, a counterweight which may be displaced for example within an elevator shaft to different levels in order to transport persons or items for example to various floors within a building. In a common type of elevator, the car and/or the counterweight are supported by a suspension member arrangement comprising one or more suspension members. Suspension members are sometimes also referred to as suspension traction members or suspension traction media (STM). A suspension member may be a member which may carry heavy loads in a tension direction and which may be bent in a direction transverse to the tension direction. For example, a suspension member may be a rope or a belt. Typically, suspension members comprise a plurality of cords. The cords may be made for example with a metal such as steel.
During operation of the elevator, suspension members have to carry high loads and are typically repeatedly bent when running along for example a traction sheave, a pulley, a deflection sheave or other types of sheaves. Accordingly, substantial stress is applied to the suspension member arrangement during operation.
However, as elevators may typically be used by people for transportation along very significant heights, very high security requirements have to be fulfilled. For example, it has to be safeguarded that the suspension member arrangement can always guarantee safe support of the car and/or the counterweight. For such purposes, safety regulations rule that any substantial deterioration of an initial load bearing capacity of a suspension member arrangement can be detected such that for example counter-measures such as replacing a faulty suspension member from the suspension member arrangement may be initiated.
Generally, a load bearing capacity of a suspension member may be specified when designing the suspension member and may then be physically tested upon completion of the fabrication of the suspension member. Physical tests may comprise for example tensile loading of the suspension member and measuring the suspension member's reaction to an application of high tensile forces.
However, during actual operation of the elevator, it may be difficult or even impossible to perform such physical tests. With conventional steel ropes serving as suspension members, visual checking of a rope condition has been possible. However, in modern suspension members, load bearing cords are typically enclosed in a coating or matrix and are therefore not visible from outside. Therefore, alternative approaches for determining a load bearing capacity in a suspension member arrangement or determining parameters related thereto have been developed.
For example, elevator load bearing member wear and failure detection has been described in EP 1 730 066 B1. A method and apparatus for detecting elevator rope degradation using electrical resistance is described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,123,030 B2. Electrical signal application strategies for monitoring a condition of an elevator load bearing member are described in US 2011/0284331 A1 and U.S. Pat. No. 8,424,653 B2. Electrical signal application strategies for monitoring a condition of an elevator load bearing member are described in US 2008/0223668 A1 and U.S. Pat. No. 8,011,479 B2. A simplified resistance based belt type suspension inspection is disclosed in US 2013/0207668 A1. An elevator system belt type suspension having connecting devices attached thereto is described in WO 2011/098847 A1. A method for detection of wear or failure in a load bearing member of an elevator is described in WO 2013/135285 A1. Electrical signal application strategies for monitoring a condition of an elevator load bearing member are described in EP 1 732 837 B1. "Health Monitoring for Coated Steel Belts in an Elevator System" have been described in a research article of Huaming Lei et al. in the Journal of Sensors, Volume 2012, Article ID 750261, 5 pages, doi: 10.1155/2012/750261. WO 2013/119,203 A1 discloses wear detection for a coated belt or rope, but does not consider bending cycles as such or a measurement thereof. The disclosure of all these documents shall be incorporated herein by reference.
Further alternative approaches for detecting a deterioration state in a suspension member arrangement have been proposed by the applicant of the present application in earlier patent applications U.S. 62/199,375, U.S. Ser. No. 14/814,558, EP 16 155 357 A1 and EP 16 155 358 A1, all of which shall also be incorporated herein by reference. In these specific approaches, while electrical characteristics of suspension members and the cords comprised therein are determined, it is not necessary to specifically measure any electrical resistances in the cords or any magnitude of electrical currents through the cords but, instead, it may be enabled to obtain information about the electrical characteristics of the suspension member by correlating for example various electrical measurements and interpreting results from such relative correlation. In other words, in these approaches it may not be necessary to have any detailed knowledge about absolute resistance values or current values but it may be sufficient to correlate various electrical measurements in order to obtain valuable information about electrical characteristics in the suspension member which allow determining information about the deterioration state of such suspension member.
In another alternative approach, a deterioration state of a suspension member is not detected by measuring any physical parameters of the suspension member itself but, instead, it is assumed that the suspension member deteriorates over time mainly due to wear occurring as a result of bending the suspension member. Such approach is for example described in WO 2010/007112 A1, the disclosure of which shall be incorporated herein by reference.
There may be a need for an alternative method and device for determining a deterioration state in a suspension member arrangement for an elevator. Particularly, there may be a need for such method and device which enable fulfilling high safety requirements, simple implementation and/or low cost.

Method and device for determining a deterioration state in a suspension member for an elevator


Multipolar, multi-lumen, virtual-electrode catheters having at least one surface electrode, and methods for treatment (e.g., treatment of cardiac arrhythmias) with such catheters are disclosed. The catheters have at least two internal lumens, and at least one internal, flexible electrode rides in each internal lumen. The flexible electrodes carry treatment energy (e.g., radiofrequency energy). The energy exits the catheters via at least one exit feature (e.g., slots, portholes, or micro-pores). The methods for treatment include operating the catheters in different modes depending upon location and type of treatment to be performed. The treatment energy delivered by one of the internal, flexible electrodes may be directed to the other internal, flexible electrode; or the energy delivered by one or both of the internal, flexible electrodes may be directed to one or more surface electrodes. The delivered energy establishes at least one electric field, and possibly one or more lesions, in the tissue.

a. Field of the Invention
The instant invention is directed toward virtual-electrode catheters and to methods for using such virtual-electrode catheters. More specifically, it relates to multipolar, multi-lumen virtual-electrode catheters having at least two internal electrodes and at least one surface electrode, and to methods of using these catheters for treatment of cardiac arrhythmias via, for example, radiofrequency (RF) ablation.
b. Background Art
Conventional catheter techniques of RF ablation for treating cardiac arrhythmias use RF electrodes in a unipolar mode. In this mode, only the active RF electrodes are placed at the site of the ablation. The dispersive electrodes are placed at locations remote from the ablation site, typically on the skin of the patient.
In the unipolar mode, the RF current decreases as 1/r2, and the RF energy decreases as 1/r4, where "r" is the radial distance from an active electrode of a catheter. Because tissue ablation is caused by RF energy deposition into the tissue, the depth of the ablation is limited to a narrow rim around the catheter electrode. Increased lesion depth, therefore, requires high power. High power, however, causes rapid temperature increases and potential "hot-spots" at the electrode-tissue interface.
The virtual electrode technique mitigates this problem of temperature increases at the electrode-tissue interface by using cooled conductive fluid flowing onto the tissue surface. The fluid flow rate necessary to provide adequate surface cooling depends upon the RF power being delivered. The higher the power, the higher the flow rate that is necessary. To create lesions 3-4 mm deep using existing devices may require 50 watts for 60 seconds and a fluid flow rate of 72 ml per minute. For a full-circumferential lesion, these same existing devices require a minimum of two separate procedures at these settings. The minimum RF energy delivered during the 120 seconds total duration is, therefore, 6000 Joules; and the total volume of fluid delivered is over 140 ml. By contrast, for a typical pulmonary vein of 22 mm diameter, a lesion size of 60 mm×3 mm×3 mm obtained with a temperature rise of 50° C. requires a total energy of only about 120 Joules. This means that only 2% of the applied RF energy is used to create the lesion. The remaining 98% of the applied energy is lost to heating other substances such as the infused fluid, the catheter body, surrounding tissue, blood, and other tissue fluids. Existing techniques can be, therefore, highly inefficient.

Multipolar, multi-lumen, virtual-electrode catheter with at least one surface electrode and method for ablation

St. Jude Medical, Atrial Fibrillation Division, Inc.


A system and method for performing an optical tracking operation computes a translated movement value of a displacement values using a relationship between a reference displacement value derived using a reference surface and a corresponding displacement value using a target surface. The displacement value is produced using image correlation by optically sensing the target surface. The translated movement value is used for the optical tracking operation.

Optical navigation systems detect relative movements between the optical navigation systems and navigation surfaces to perform tracking operations. An optical navigation system uses a light source to generate illumination light on a navigation surface and an image sensor to successively capture frames of image data of the navigation surface using reflected illumination light. The optical navigation system compares the successive frames of image data and estimates the relative movements between the optical navigation system and the navigation surface based on the comparison between the current frame of image data and a previous frame of image data. The optical navigation system is able to track the relative movements between the optical navigation system and the navigation surface by continuously capturing and comparing frames of image data. Optical navigation systems are commonly used in optical computer mice to track the movements of the mice relative to the navigation surfaces on which the mice are manually manipulated.
Recently, there is a growing interest in using optical navigation systems to perform tracking operations, which have traditionally used encoders. As an example, optical navigation systems can be used in mobile robotic devices to optically track the movements of the mobile robotic devices. As another example, optical navigation systems can be used in printers to optically track the movements of sheets of paper. Unlike encoders, optical navigation systems do not have moving components that can breakdown and cause the optical navigation systems to malfunction. Furthermore, optical navigation systems do not suffer from erroneous readings due to slippage between the optical navigation systems and the navigation surface. However, conventional optical navigation systems do not perform uniformly on different surfaces, and thus, have accuracy issues when used on different surfaces.
Thus, there is a need for a system and method for performing an optical tracking operation with accuracy.

System and method for performing an optical tracking operation using relative referencing

Avago Technologies ECBU IP (Singapore) Pte. Ltd.


A corrosion resistant, neutron absorbing, austenitic alloy powder is disclosed having the following composition in weight percent.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to neutron absorbing alloys, and in particular to an iron base alloy and an article of manufacture made from said alloy that can be processed to provide a unique combination of mechanical properties, corrosion resistance, and thermal neutron absorbability.
2. Description of the Related Art
Boron-containing stainless steels are used by the nuclear power industry for the storage, transportation, and control of radioactive materials. The suitability of this type of material in those applications is related to the increased thermal neutron absorption capability provided by the addition of boron, specifically the B10 isotope, to the base material. An example of such a material is a modified Type 304 stainless steel sold under the registered trademark MICRO-MELT® NEUTROSORB PLUS® and described and claimed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,891,080 and 5,017,437. Boron may be present in that material as natural boron, which contains approximately 18.3 weight percent B10 isotope (the balance being the B11 isotope), enriched boron, or a combination thereof. Applications for the known material in the nuclear power industry include wet spent fuel storage racks, baskets for spent fuel dry storage transportation casks, reactor control rods, burnable poison, and neutron shielding plates. The rising costs associated with natural gas and petroleum as well as the environmental issues surrounding the use of coal in the generation of electricity have sparked a renewed interest world-wide in the use of nuclear power to augment the use of fossil fuels to generate electric power. The waste products generated by current and future nuclear power plants will need to be stored either on-site or at regional or national repositories. The benefit provided by boron to the nuclear power industry is related to its effect of increasing a material's thermal neutron absorption cross-section. Higher boron loads or the use of alternative neutron absorbers by themselves or when coupled with boron could provide a technical and marketing advantage for many articles used in these applications.
Boron is the traditional standard bearer for neutron absorption in containment materials. Although boron has only the sixth largest thermal neutron cross-section of all naturally occurring materials, its low atomic mass makes it the second most effective alloying addition on a weight percent basis. All of the neutron absorption capabilities of boron are derived from the B10 isotope. However, B10 enriched boron is generally cost prohibitive for use in commercial alloy systems, and as such, natural boron is normally used. Boron has little or no solubility in stainless steel or nickel-based alloys. Instead, it generally forms borides that are enriched with Cr, Mo and Fe. For example, in the MICRO-MELT NEUTROSORB PLUS alloy an M2B phase forms with a composition of about 46% Cr, 40% Fe, 3.5% Mn, 1.0% Ni and 9.5% B.
Boron additions to austenitic stainless steels result in improved neutron absorption characteristics, increased hardness, yield strength and tensile strength, but reduced tensile ductility, impact toughness, and corrosion resistance. The reduced corrosion resistance results from a depletion of matrix Cr as a result of the formation of the Cr-rich M2B phase. Typically, boron-containing stainless steels have not been used as structural components in the United States because of the toughness and ductility limitations that are usually associated with the use of boron additions in conventionally processed alloys. Through the use of alloy modifications and powder metallurgy processing, MICRO-MELT NEUTROSORB PLUS alloys minimize the reductions in corrosion resistance, ductility, and impact toughness that are associated with the addition of boron to conventional Type 304 stainless steel. The MICRO-MELT® NEUTROSORB PLUS® alloys contain up to 2.25% B and are covered by ASTM A887 Grade "A", while conventionally processed materials are covered by ASTM A887 Grade "B". Some steel producers will not sell cast and wrought borated stainless steels with B contents higher than about 1.85%. This is related to the fact that there are significant processing issues with conventional cast and wrought borated stainless steels containing more than this amount of B. Such processing issues include cracking and tearing of the alloy material when it is mechanically hot worked. The powder metallurgy (P/M) borated stainless steels sold under the MICRO-MELT NEUTROSORB PLUS and MICRO-MELT NEUTROSORB trademarks offer the opportunity to provide customers with a higher neutron absorption capability as a result of the reduced segregation associated with P/M produced material. However, there is a limit of nominally 3.5% boron that can be added to NEUTROSORB PLUS alloys and still have a processable alloy (i.e., one that can be hot worked into plate or bar). In addition, if the amount of B can be reduced through the use of a second and stronger neutron attenuating material, then a higher B equivalency (BEq) can be obtained in P/M processed alloys.
The NEUTROSORB PLUS alloys contain enriched B10 or enriched B10 plus natural B to obtain BEq values higher than what would be attainable by using only natural B. Enriched B10 is, however, very expensive (on the order of $1600/lb), which makes using it not cost effective in many applications. Use of a non-enriched element that has a higher BEq than natural B and that is significantly less expensive than enriched B10 would be preferred.

Processable high thermal neutron absorbing Fe-base alloy powder

Abstract: C0.08 max.Mnup to 3Siup to 2P0.05 max.S0.03 max.Cr17-27Ni11-20Mo + (W/1.92)  up to 5.2BEq0.78-13.0O 0.1 max.N  up to 0.2Yless than 0.005

Abstract: The alloy contains at least about 0.25% B, at least about 0.05% Gd, and the balance of the alloy composition is iron and usual impurities. BEq is defined as % B+4.35×(% Gd). An article of manufacture made from consolidated alloy powder is also disclosed which is characterized by a plurality of boride and gadolinide particles dispersed within a matrix. The boride and gadolinide particles are predominantly M2B, M3B2, M3X, and M5X in form, where X is gadolinium or a combination of gadolinium and boron and M is one or more of the elements silicon, chromium, nickel, molybdenum, iron.


Systems and methods for dynamic communication and control of devices associated with a premises are disclosed. The systems and methods may include a device such as a camera that may be configured via configuration service to capture video of a premises and to transmit segments of the captured video having a pre-determined length of time to a video service. The transmission of the video segments may be periodic and may have a frequency of transmission based on parameters provided by the configuration service.

Existing solutions for continuous video recording relating to a premises, such as security video, often consumes significant network (e.g., Wi-Fi) air time and bandwidth due to the continuous transmission of video over the premises network. As an example, such utilization of network resources for continuous transmission of video may cause interruptions in other services using the network, such as video-on-demand (VOD) playback through an online service provider. Additionally, many video recording systems require modification to the captured video format for subsequent playback using a video player on mobile devices and/or set-top boxes. The modification to the video format adds latency to playback, which negatively affects the user experience.


A method and apparatus for coordinating the time at which a mobile station performs searches for alternative systems to which a hard handoff will occur. The mobile station receives a command which instructs the mobile station as to when to tune to alternative frequencies in order to search for indicates of the presence of an alternative system. In another system which includes the present invention, predetermined times are defined with respect to a reference point in time that is common to both the origination base station and a mobile station. The mobile station tunes to alternative frequencies to perform searches only during these predetermined times. In addition, the mobile station coordinates the transmission of reports, which indicate the results of searches for alternative systems such that these reports are only transmitted from the mobile station when the mobile station is tuned to the origination frequency.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to communications systems. More particularly, the present invention relates to a method and apparatus for performing hard handoff between different wireless communication systems.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a code division multiple access (CDMA) spread spectrum communication system, a common frequency band is used for communication with all base stations within that system. An example of such a system is described in the TIA/EIA Interim Standard IS-95-A entitled "Mobile Station-Base Station Compatibility Standard for Dual-Mode Wideband Spread Spectrum Cellular System", incorporated herein by reference. The generation and receipt of CDMA signals is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,901,307 entitled "SPREAD SPECTRUM MULTIPLE ACCESS COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS USING SATELLITE OR TERRESTRIAL REPEATERS" and in U.S. Pat. No. 5,103,459 entitled "SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR GENERATING WAVEFORMS IN A CDMA CELLULAR TELEPHONE SYSTEM" both of which are assigned to the assignees of the present invention and incorporated herein by reference.
Signals occupying the common frequency band are discriminated at the receiving station by using a high rate pseudonoise (PN) code. The PN code modulates signals transmitted from the base stations and the mobile stations. Signals from different base stations can be separately received at the receiving station by discrimination of the unique time offset that is introduced in the PN codes assigned to each base station. The high rate PN modulation also allows the receiving station to receive a signal from a single transmission station where the signal has traveled from the base station to the receiving station over several different distinct propagation paths (commonly referred to as "multipathing"). Demodulation of multipath signals is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,490,165 entitled "DEMODULATION ELEMENT ASSIGNMENT IN A SYSTEM CAPABLE OF RECEIVING MULTIPLE SIGNALS" and in U.S. Pat. No. 5,109,390 entitled "DIVERSITY RECEIVER IN A CDMA CELLULAR TELEPHONE SYSTEM", both of which are assigned to the assignee of the present invention and incorporated herein by reference.
The use by all base stations within a particular system of a common frequency band allows simultaneous communication between a mobile station and more than one base station. This is commonly referred to as "soft handoff". One implementation of a soft handoff method and apparatus is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,101,501 entitled "SOFT HANDOFF IN A CDMA CELLULAR TELEPHONE SYSTEM" and U.S. Pat. No. 5,267,261 entitled "MOBILE STATION ASSISTED SOFT HANDOFF IN A CDMA CELLULAR COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEM", both assigned to the assignee of the present invention and incorporated herein by reference. Similarly, a mobile station can be simultaneously communicating with two sectors of the same base station, known as "softer handoff" as disclosed in U.S. Patent Application entitled "METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PERFORMING HANDOFF BETWEEN SECTORS OF A COMMON BASE STATION", U.S. Pat. No. 5,625,876 issued Apr. 29, 1997, assigned to the assignee of the present invention and incorporated herein by reference. An important feature is that both soft handoffs and softer handoffs make the new connection before breaking the existing one.
If a mobile station travels outside the boundary of the system with which it is currently communicating, it is desirable to maintain the communication link by transferring the call to a neighboring system, if one exists. The neighboring system may use any wireless technology, examples of which are CDMA, NAMPS, advanced mobile phone service (AMPS), time division multiple access (TDMA), or global mobile systems (GSM). If the neighboring system uses CDMA on the same frequency band as the current system, an inter-system soft handoff can be performed. In situations where inter-system soft handoff is not available, the communication link is transferred through a hard handoff where the current connection is broken before a new one is made. Examples of typical hard handoff situations include: (1) the situation in which a mobile station is traveling from region serviced by a CDMA system to a region serviced by a system employing an alternate technology and (2) the situation in which a call is transferred between two CDMA systems which use different frequency bands (inter-frequency hard handoff).
Inter-frequency hard handoffs can also occur between base stations of the same CDMA system. For example, a region of high demand such as a dense urban area may require a greater number of frequencies to service demand than the suburban region surrounding it. It may not be cost effective to deploy all available frequencies throughout the system. A call originating on a frequency deployed only in the high congestion area must be handed off as the user travels to a less congested area. Another example is a system that encounters interference from another service operating on an interfering frequency within the system's boundaries. As users travel into an area suffering from interference from another service, their call may need to be handed off to a different frequency.
Handoffs can be initiated using a variety of techniques. Handoff techniques, including those using signal quality measurements to initiate a handoff, are found in U.S. Patent Application entitled "METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR HANDOFF BETWEEN DIFFERENT CELLULAR COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEMS", now U.S. Pat. No. 5,697,055 issued Dec. 9, 1997, assigned to the assignee of the present invention and incorporated herein by reference. Further disclosure of handoffs, including measurement of round-trip signal delay to initiate handoff, is disclosed in U.S. Patent Application entitled "METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR HARD HANDOFF IN A CDMA SYSTEM", now U.S. Pat. No. 5,848,063 issued Dec. 8, 1998, assigned to the assignee of the present invention and incorporated herein by reference. Handoffs from CDMA systems to alternate technology systems are disclosed in U.S. Patent Application entitled "METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR MOBILE UNIT ASSISTED CDMA TO ALTERNATIVE SYSTEM HARD HANDOFF", U.S. Pat. No. 5,594,718, issued Jan. 14, 1997, assigned to the assignee of the present invention and incorporated herein by reference. In the '718 patent, pilot beacons are placed at the boundaries of the system. These beacons are transmitted within the frequency band that is being monitored by the mobile that approaches, allowing the mobile to monitor the pilot beacon without retuning to another frequency band. When a mobile station reports these pilot beacons to the base station, the base station knows that the mobile station is approaching the boundary, and in response, prepares for the possibility of an intersystem hard handoff.
When a system has determined that a call should be transferred to another system via hard handoff, a message is sent to the mobile station directing it to do so along with parameters that enable the mobile station to connect with the destination system. The system from which the mobile station is departing has only estimates of the mobile station's actual location and environment, so the parameters sent to the mobile station are not guaranteed to be accurate. For example, with beacon aided handoff, the measurement of the pilot beacon's signal strength can be a valid trigger for the handoff. However, those base stations in the destination system that can effectively communicate with the mobile station are not necessarily known. However, those base stations with which the mobile has effectively communicated and which are considered to be good candidates based upon additional criteria are maintained in a list within the mobile station. Inclusion in the list is based upon allocation of forward link resources by the base station in question. Allocation of forward link resources by all possible candidate base stations is wasteful of system resources and reduces available system capacity, since only a relatively few candidates are typically required.
One method for increasing the probability of successfully completing a hard handoff is disclosed in U.S. Patent Application entitled "METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PERFORMING MOBILE ASSISTED HARD HANDOFF BETWEEN COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS", U.S. Pat. No. 5,999,816 issued Dec. 7, 1999, assigned to the assignee of the present invention and incorporated herein by reference. In most current systems, the mobile station has only one radio frequency (RF) front end circuit. Therefore, only one frequency band can be received at a time. Therefore, in order for the mobile station to communicate with the destination system, contact with the origination system must cease. In the '746 application, mobile stations tune temporarily to the frequency of the hard handoff destination system and search for available pilot signals (hereafter referred to simply as "pilots") on that frequency, for inclusion of the associated base stations in the active set. After the searching task is completed, the mobile station will retune to the original frequency to resume current communications. While tuned to an alternate frequency, any frames of data generated by the mobile station or transmitted by the base station will be corrupted. Typically, the base station will provide only a subset of the possible offsets (commonly referred to as an "enable list") for the mobile station to search.
A method for minimizing the duration of the search is disclosed in a U.S. Patent Application entitled "METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PERFORMING MOBILE STATION ASSISTED HARD HANDOFF USING OFF LINE SEARCHING", U.S. Pat. No. 6,134,440, issued Oct. 17, 2000. In this application, which is assigned to the assignee of the present invention and which is incorporated herein by reference, the receiver stores information received on the frequency band used by a potential hard handoff candidate base station. This information is not processed until after the receiver is tuned back to the frequency band used by the origination base station. By storing the information for processing after the receiver has retuned to the frequency used by the origination base station, the receiver can be tuned to the frequency of the origination base station more of the time. Thus, less information is lost. Nonetheless, when the origination base station is transmitted at relatively high data rates, information will be lost. When such information is lost, the base station must retransmit the information, or the receiver must make due without that information. Accordingly, there is a need for a method and apparatus that further reduces the amount of information that is lost while tuning to alternate frequencies, such as when attempting to identify potential hard handoff candidates.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Method and apparatus for coordinating transmission of short messages with hard handoff searches in a wireless communications system


A parts tray for use in the area of an opened engine compartment of a motor vehicle, especially a passenger car, for holding working materials, especially for inspection, maintenance and repair work. When in use the support frame of the parts tray is positioned on the opened engine compartment such that at least one transverse bar extends with its longitudinal extension transversely or perpendicularly to the vehicle axis above the opened engine compartment. On the transverse bar there is at least one receiver or tray. Tools, measuring instruments, printed instructions, drawings, spare parts, etc. can be held by the tray. Several trays may be provided. The support frame has a transverse bar or crosspiece which has a bead-like depression on its periphery in the longitudinal direction. On the bottom of the tray there is then at least one bearing piece with which the tray can be placed on the transverse bar, such that a projection provided on the bearing piece, or elsewhere on the tray, fits into the longitudinal groove of the transverse bar and thus prevents the tray on the transverse bar from tipping.

In repair and maintenance work on motor vehicles, especially passenger cars, in the area of the engine compartment it is common that during this work the aids used, such as tools, measuring instruments, descriptions, plans, spare parts which have been replaced or which are to be replaced, etc. are temporarily placed on the motor or other surface of the engine compartment. This is on the one hand extremely dangerous, since aids forgotten in the engine compartment (for example, tools) can lead to serious damage under certain circumstances, furthermore, by placing aids in the engine compartment there is also the danger that they will fall onto inaccessible or poorly accessible engine locations, necessitating additional time-consuming and expensive work to retrieve them. Furthermore, visible damage cannot be precluded, especially damage to painted or otherwise enhanced surfaces, which is not acceptable in expensive motor vehicles and which dictates time-consuming and costly repairs or improvements.

Parts tray for use in an opened engine compartment


An adaptable connector, a non-standard PCIe module, and a computer readable medium are disclosed. The adaptable connector for a PCIe interface allows for multiple standard PCIe modules and non-standard PCIe modules at different times An external I/O port has a set of non-PCIe I/O signal lanes coupled to the adaptable connector in lieu of a set of root port host PCIe signal lanes when a non-standard PCIe module is mated to the adaptable connector.

As computer devices shrink in size the amount of case area for I/O ports also decreases. This decrease is similar for handhelds, notebooks, desktops, servers. However, to have models of a computer device appeal to diverse users with different desires, a model of a computer device should have multiple configurations available.

Adaptable connector with external I/O port

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


A method for fabricating a double-sided capacitor is disclosed, which includes: etching trenches having depths not reaching an intermediate insulating layer and trench structures having depths exceeding the intermediate insulating layer on both sides of a silicon-on-insulator (SOI) substrate; and sequentially depositing an insulating dielectric film and a conductive material on surfaces of the trenches and the trenches, then removing insulating material at a bottom of the trenches and the trenches are filled with the conductive material to form conductive channels. The upper conductive channel of the SOI substrate is insulated from an upper layer and is electrically connected to a lower layer; and the lower conductive channel is insulated from the lower layer and is electrically connected to the upper layer.

In recent years, as an IC module in various types of electronic devices has been increasingly integrated and has continuously developed towards multifunction, high frequency, low power consumption and miniaturization, an electromagnetic environment in a circuit has become more and more complicated. To ensure a normal operation of the circuit, a passive component (a capacitor, an inductor, or the like) is required to filter electromagnetic noise and stabilize a working voltage. Under this background, there is a huge demand for capacitors with small size, high capacity, high precision and high reliability in the market.
A multi-layer ceramic capacitor (MLCC) is a mainstream patch capacitor product in the current market. However, due to its technical characteristics, costs of fabricating an ultra-micro and ultra-thin MLCC are extremely high and only a few companies masters the fabricating technology.
Since the 1990s, a 3D silicon-based capacitor based on a semiconductor wafer processing technology has attracted extensive research interest. Fabricating such capacitor requires first etching a 3D structure on a high-resistivity silicon substrate to increase a surface area, and then sequentially fabricating a lower electrode, a dielectric layer and an upper electrode of the capacitor on a surface of the 3D structure.
There are several directions to increase a capacitance density of the 3D silicon-based capacitor as follows: first, an etching process is improved, the surface area is further increased by fabricating a 3D structure with a higher aspect ratio, however, process difficulty of depositing a conductive material and a dielectric material in a structure with a higher aspect ratio is correspondingly increased; second, a dielectric thickness is reduced or a high-k dielectric material is used, however, the former is not conducive to controlling the leakage current of the device, and the latter is still in a research stage and a related process is not yet mature; and third, two or more capacitors are fabricated in a deep hole or trench by stacking multiple layers of dielectric and conductive materials using an existing mature material and process system, and finally a plurality of capacitors in the longitudinal direction are connected in parallel through electrode interconnection so as to achieve a purpose of multiplying the capacitance density. However, fabricating a multilayer capacitor has numerous steps and a complex process flow, and is costly.

Double-sided capacitor and method for fabricating the same


A system and method suppresses chattering events in a storage system by determining a suppression level based upon a rate of growth of log files. An event management system of the storage system calculates a histogram and a set of statistics including a mean and standard deviation associated with non-chattering events. A cutoff point is determined for the non-chattering events and is utilized for each received event to determine if the received event is a chattering event. Events determined to be a chattering event are suppressed according to a predefined suppression rate.

A storage system typically comprises one or more storage devices into which information may be entered, and from which information may be obtained, as desired. The storage system includes a storage operating system that functionally organizes the system by, inter alia, invoking storage operations in support of a storage service implemented by the system. The storage system may be implemented in accordance with a variety of storage architectures including, but not limited to, a network-attached storage environment, a storage area network and a disk assembly directly attached to a client or host computer. The storage devices are typically disk drives organized as a disk array, wherein the term "disk" commonly describes a self-contained rotating magnetic media storage device. The term disk in this context is synonymous with hard disk drive (HDD) or direct access storage device (DASD).
The storage operating system of the storage system may implement a high-level module, such as a file system, to logically organize the information stored on volumes as a hierarchical structure of data containers, such as files and logical units. For example, each "on-disk" file may be implemented as set of data structures, i.e., disk blocks, configured to store information, such as the actual data for the file. These data blocks are organized within a volume block number (vbn) space that is maintained by the file system. The file system may also assign each data block in the file a corresponding "file offset" or file block number (fbn). The file system typically assigns sequences of fbns on a per-file basis, whereas vbns are assigned over a larger volume address space. The file system organizes the data blocks within the vbn space as a "logical volume"; each logical volume may be, although is not necessarily, associated with its own file system.
A known type of file system is a write-anywhere file system that does not overwrite data on disks. If a data block is retrieved (read) from disk into a memory of the storage system and "dirtied" (i.e., updated or modified) with new data, the data block is thereafter stored (written) to a new location on disk to optimize write performance. A write-anywhere file system may initially assume an optimal layout such that the data is substantially contiguously arranged on disks. The optimal disk layout results in efficient access operations, particularly for sequential read operations, directed to the disks. An example of a write-anywhere file system that is configured to operate on a storage system is the Write Anywhere File Layout (WAFL®) file system available from Network Appliance, Inc., Sunnyvale, Calif.
The storage system may be further configured to operate according to a client/server model of information delivery to thereby allow many clients to access data containers stored on the system. In this model, the client may comprise an application, such as a database application, executing on a computer that "connects" to the storage system over a computer network, such as a point-to-point link, shared local area network (LAN), wide area network (WAN), or virtual private network (VPN) implemented over a public network such as the Internet. Each client may request the services of the storage system by issuing file-based and block-based protocol messages (in the form of packets) to the system over the network.
Many storage systems include an event monitoring system (EMS) that conveys appropriate system information and event notifications to system administrator and/or other interested parties, such as a vendor's customer support staff. As events occur within a storage system, the EMS logs the events in one or more event log files, which may then be utilized by the system administrator and/or customer support engineer to identify the cause of problems or to optimize system performance. A noted problem of such logging systems is that, the occurrence of events in the storage system typically generates a large volume of event messages that may be logged, some of which may be unimportant to the administrator using the system. As the number of unimportant messages that are logged increases, the size of the log files increases, which forces the administrator to sort through potentially thousands or tens of thousands of superfluous messages to find relevant log entries. Additionally, the storage space available for log files in the storage system may be limited. As such, as the number of messages being logged increases, the probability that the size of the log files exceed the space available increases. Furthermore, the log files may often be transmitted to a vendor for analysis after error conditions develop. Accordingly, as the size of the log files increase, there is a concomitant increase in transmission times and storage space requirements.
Certain event notification messages occur so frequently that they are deemed to be "chatter" and repeated logging of their occurrences wastes log space and complicates the administrator's ability to find relevant log information. Conventional UNIX-based event notification systems use a syslog program as an EMS perform limited suppression of such chatter messages. In such a conventional EMS, an event message is only suppressed if the same message occurs twice in a row; that is, if a chatter message is received twice in a row, only one instance is logged. However, if any message is received between the two chatter messages, then both chatter messages are logged. It is thus possible to have a situation where a plurality of chatter messages is intermingled with other messages such that no suppression occurs. Therefore, it is desirous to identify and suppress chatter messages to thereby limit the rate of growth of an event log file in a storage system.

System and method for histogram based chatter suppression


Disclosed is a process for the production of chemical intermediates by the cross dimerization of two compounds containing carbon-carbon double bonds, wherein said process is catalyzed by a nickel II catalyst which is a complex with .eta..sup.3 carbon-based allyl or substituted allyl, trisubstituted phosphine, and a weakly coordinating ligand. This catalyst may be used to selectively cross-dimerizes ethylene and methyl acrylate to give methyl 4-pentenoate, a nylon 6,6 intermediate.

This invention concerns a process for the production of valuable chemical intermediates by the cross dimerization of two compounds containing carbon-carbon double bonds. Specifically provided is a process for the production of methyl 4-pentenoate (M4P).
It is generally known to use nickel catalysts in the dimerization, oligomerization, and polymerization of olefins.
The present invention, however, provides a novel process which is a highly selective route to methyl 4-pentenoate, an intermediate in the manufacture of adipic acid, via cross-dimerization. Adipic acid is one of the starting materials in the manufacture of nylon 6,6.
G. Wilke et al., Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. Engl. (1988), 27, 185, report the polymerization of ethylene to linear polyethylene by a nickel catalyst.
G. Wilke et al., Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. Engl. (1988), 27, 185, present a general review on Ni-catalyzed dimerization, oligomerization and polymerization of olefins.
G. Wilke et al., Angew. Chem. Int Ed. Engl. (1966), 5, 151, and 897, and Angew. Chem., Int. Ed. Engl. (1966), 5, 582, disclose general procedures for preparing allyl-nickel-halide and allyl-nickel-methyl complexes. No detailed experimental procedures were reported.
Laufenberg (U.S. Pat. No. 5,324,847) discloses methods of preparing ethylene adducts of polyunsaturated 18-22 carbon fatty acids or alkyl esters in the presence of Ru, Rh, Pd, Ir, and Pt-containing catalysts.
Drent (U.S. Pat. No. 4,692,548) discloses methods of reacting acrylate esters and ethene using Ru or Pd compounds along with Ag or Cu salts.


According to an aspect of the present invention, the camera body can switch the present version, which is an original version, to specifications of an older version. Thus, even if the present versions of the camera body and the interchangeable lens doe not have compatibility, if an old version has compatibility, a minimum operation can be ensured by the specifications of the old version without updating the firmware, although the functions may have possibility of being restricted.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a camera system, camera body, and interchangeable lens and, in particular, an interchangeable lens camera system with a camera body (camera body) and an interchangeable lens attachable to and detachable from the camera body, the camera body, and the interchangeable lens.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, interchangeable lens cameras where an interchangeable lens is attachable to and detachable from a camera body (hereinafter referred to as a body) have been known, and those where communications and the like are performed between the body and the interchangeable lens have also been known. In the cameras of these types, by engaging a lens mount on an interchangeable lens side with a body mount on a body side, the interchangeable lens is mechanically mounted on the body and also electrically connected thereto and, with the interchangeable lens mounted on the body, a camera system operating similarly to an integrated camera is constructed.
Also, in a known camera system where communications are performed between the body and the interchangeable lens, the interchangeable lens has stored therein information about its optical specifications and electrical specifications as lens information. In this camera system, the body obtains the lens information from the interchangeable lens mounted on the body, thereby appropriately performing optical adjustment regarding focus, zoom, iris, and others, image processing, etc., conforming to the optical specifications and electrical specifications of the interchangeable lens.
Furthermore, a camera system has been known where the body and the interchangeable lens are configured to each operate according to firmware incorporated therein and the version of the firmware is updated to add a new function, improve the operation, rectify a fault, etc.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2010-204430 discloses a camera system as described above. According to this, it is disclosed that, when the version of firmware of the camera body and the version of firmware of the interchangeable lens mounted on the camera body are incompatible with each other, the version of the firmware of the body or the interchangeable lens is updated to a version compatible with that of the other firmware, thereby allowing an operation in combination of the body and the interchangeable lens.


A method of production of a circuit board utilizing electroplating which prevents signal reflection and noise due to unnecessary parts in the circuit patterns when electroplating to form circuit patterns on the board to thereby improve the electrical properties and realize higher density layout of the circuit patterns, including the steps of forming a first electroless plating layer and an overlying first plating resist on a metal foil-clad insulating board, feeding power to the first electroless plating layer to form a first electroplating layer over the first electroless plating layer in resist openings; removing the first plating resist; removing the exposed first electroless plating layer and metal foil to expose the insulating board; forming a second electroless plating layer over the exposed parts of the board and the circuit patterns; forming a second plating resist over that; removing the second electroless plating layer at the resist openings; feeding power to the second electroless plating layer under the second plating resist to form a second electroplating layer over the circuit patterns in the resist openings; removing the second plating resist; and removing the exposed second electroless plating layer.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of production of a circuit board used for a semiconductor device etc., more particularly relates to a method of production of a circuit board not requiring power feed plating interconnects when producing a circuit board utilizing electroplating.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the past, when producing circuit boards used for semiconductor devices, for example, a large board 1 comprised of a glass prepreg or other resin as shown in FIG. 1A was prepared, this large board 1 was formed with circuit patterns 5 corresponding to a plurality of circuit boards 3 in a matrix, then this was cut along predetermined cutting lines 7 so as to obtain the individual circuit boards 3.
In particular, when using the subtractive method (tenting method) to form circuit patterns on the large board 1, since the bonding pads and other main parts of the circuit patterns 5 are electroplated for nickel plating or gold plating, power feed plating interconnects 9 for short-circuiting between circuit patterns are provided outside of the circuit boards 3 obtained by the cutting. Note that FIG. 1B shows enlarged parts of the circuit patterns 5 and plating interconnects 9 shown in FIG. 1A, wherein 11 shows bonding pads and 13 shows through holes.
When electroplating, the large board 1 is immersed in a plating solution (not shown) and plating interconnects 9 at the outer circumference of the large board 1 are connected to plating electrodes (not shown) so as to feed power to the circuit patterns 5 and electroplate the necessary locations of the circuit patterns 5 with nickel or gold.
After the electroplating, the large board 1 is cut at the inside parts of the plating interconnects 9 (parts along cutting lines 7 shown by broken lines) to obtain the individual circuit boards 3. For this reason, the circuit patterns 5 of the circuit boards 3 have parts 15 required only for connection to the plating interconnects 9 and not required for transmission of electric signals etc. from the through holes 13 to the outer edges of the circuit boards 3.
As such a circuit board 3, there is one used for a semiconductor device called a BGA (Ball Grid Array). In FIGS. 2A to 2K, a method of production of a circuit board obtained by the conventional subtractive method, in particular a circuit board 3 used for a BGA, will be explained step by step. Further, a BGA using a circuit board 3 produced in this way is shown in FIG. 3A. Note that the drawings of FIGS. 2A to 2K show a method of production of a circuit pattern of the sectional part shown by X in FIG. 3A (circuit pattern formation method).
In FIG. 2A, first a large double-sided copper-clad multilayer board 10 comprised of a resin board (glass prepreg) 1 clad with copper foil 17, 17 on its two surfaces is prepared. This double-sided copper-clad multilayer board 10 is formed on its surfaces with a plurality of circuit boards 3 as shown in FIG. 1A.
In FIG. 2B, a drill (not shown) is used to form through holes 13 at required locations.
In FIG. 2C, the entire surface including the inside walls of the through holes 13 is given a copper or other electroless plating 19.
In FIG. 2D, power is fed from the electroless plating layer 19 to give the electroless plating layer 19 a copper or other electroplating 21. Due to this, a plating thickness required for formation of the circuit patterns is formed.
In FIG. 2E, the electroplating layer 21 is coated with a film-like etching resist called a "dry film resist". This is exposed and developed to form resist patterns 23 corresponding to predetermined circuit patterns.
In FIG. 2F, the resist patterns 23 are used as masks for etching so as to remove parts of the copper electroplating layer 21, copper electroless plating layer 19, and copper foil 17 exposed from the resist patterns 23 and unnecessary for formation of circuit patterns and thereby form the circuit patterns 5.
In FIG. 2G, the resist patterns 23 are removed. Due to this, the circuit patterns 5 are exposed. The circuit patterns 5 are connected through connection parts 5c to the plating interconnects 9 formed simultaneously with the circuit patterns 5 and are short-circuited from each other as shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B. Note that these plating interconnects 9, as shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B, are formed on the large resin board 1 in frame shapes outside of cutting lines 7 for obtaining the plurality of circuit boards 3 and before cutting are connected to all of the circuit patterns 5 of the circuit boards 3.
Next, in FIG. 2H, a solder resist is coated by printing and exposed and developed to form solder resist patterns 25. At this time, the solder resist patterns 25 are formed so that the bonding pads 11 of the circuit patterns 5, the external connection pads (parts for connection with solder balls) 31, and other required locations are exposed.
In FIG. 2I, power is fed from the plating interconnects 9 (FIGS. 1A and 1B) to give the wire bonding pads 11 and external connection pads 31 nickel electroplating 27, then gold electroplating 29. Note that FIG. 2J is a view seen from above FIG. 3B (however, solder resist patterns 25 not shown). As illustrated, at the time of nickel/gold (Ni/Au) electroplating, the circuit patterns 5 are short-circuited by the plating interconnects 9.
In FIG. 2K, the large board 1 is cut along the cutting lines 7 shown by FIGS. 2I and 2J to obtain the individual circuit boards 3.
After this, a semiconductor chip 33 is mounted on each of the circuit boards 3, bonding wires 35 are used to connect the semiconductor chip 33 and wire bonding pads 11, a resin 37 is used to seal them, then solder balls 39 are joined to thereby obtain a semiconductor device (BGA) as shown in FIG. 3A. FIG. 3B is a view of the part of the circuit board shown by X in FIG. 3A seen from above (state with sealing resin 37 and solder resist patterns 25 removed). The semiconductor chip 33 may otherwise be mounted on each of the circuit boards 3 by flip chip bonding, where the circuit boards 3 have pads to be connected to bumps of the semiconductor chip 33. The circuit board 3 may be any of BGA (ball grid array), LGA (lad grid array) and PGA (pin grid array). An LGA has pads functioning as an external connection terminal in themselves. A PGA has pins which, instead of solder balls, are connected to external connection pads.
If using a circuit board 3 shown in FIG. 3A produced by the above conventional subtractive method, as shown in FIG. 3B, the circuit pattern 5 is formed with unnecessary parts (parts 5c connecting to plating interconnects) extending from the parts of the through holes 13 to the outer edges 7a of the cut circuit board 3. These unnecessary parts 5c cause signal reflection and noise and degrade the electrical properties of the semiconductor device. Further, if providing such plating interconnects 9 and connecting parts 5c, the layout of the circuit patterns 5 is restricted by the amount of the plating interconnects 9 and connecting parts 5c, so higher density of the circuit patterns 5 is inhibited.
Note that as prior art relating to the present invention, there is Japanese Patent Publication (A) No. 2000-114412. This discloses improving the bonding between the circuit patterns and board, enabling finer circuit patterns, and improving the bonding between the solder resist and conductor parts by using a copper layer formed on the board surface as a power feed layer for electroplating and by etching the copper layer using resist patterns as masks so as to form circuit patterns.

Method of production of circuit board utilizing electroplating


A fuel tester is provided, which may be used to test for the presence of a contaminant such as water in a sample of fuel. In one embodiment, the fuel tester is a tube with a receiving end configured to attach to a sample container. The sample container holds a sample of fuel obtained from a device such as an aircraft. The fuel tester also includes a light source, e.g. a light emitting diode that is positioned in the tube to emit light on the sample of fuel in the sample container. If water is present in the sample of fuel, the water will form a separate layer from the fuel. The water layer will appear as a lighter shade of color and the fuel layer will appear as a darker shade of color on visual inspection by a user. The non-uniformity in color of the sample will alert the user that water is present in the fuel sample.

For the maintenance of fueled devices such as aircraft, and the safety of passengers and flight crew, it is known to periodically test for the presence of contaminants in a fuel line. One such contaminant is water that may have entered the fuel line and contaminated the fuel.
Often aircraft have a quick-release or other type of valve, positioned on the underside of one or both wings or on another location of the aircraft, from which a sample of fuel from the fuel tank or fuel line may be collected. A fuel sample may be collected in a vessel, such as a clear plastic body, and then tested for the presence of contaminants such as water. One form of testing includes using a float with a density greater than fuel but less than water. The float is placed in a collection vessel and a sample of fuel is collected in the vessel. If there is water present in the fuel, the water will form a separate phase or layer at the bottom of the vessel. The fuel will form a layer above the water in the vessel. The float will sit at the interface between the water and fuel thereby indicating to the user that water is present in the fuel sample, and thus the fuel line or tank may be contaminated.
Another form of testing for the presence of contaminants in a sample of fuel uses a filter element. The filter element typically is positioned in a vessel, such as a clear cylinder, thereby dividing the vessel into an upper chamber and a lower chamber. A sample of fuel is collected in the upper chamber. The filter element may be formed of a selectively-permeable material which blocks the flow of one or more contaminants, e.g. a hydrophobic material that blocks water, and is permeable only to fuel. In that example, the fuel will pass through the filter element into the lower chamber and any contaminant present in the sample will remain in the upper chamber thereby visually alerting the user to the presence of the contaminant.
Testing for the presence of contaminants such as water in a fuel sample can be time consuming. Further, convenient testing or inspection of fuel samples should be available immediately on taking the sample, regardless of the surrounding conditions. While instruments have been developed to detect water in a fuel sample, there remains a need to determine quickly and accurately whether such contaminants are present in a fuel sample in any environment.


A method of coloring hair in which there is applied to the hair a hair coloring preparation consisting essentially of a water based organic solvent free mixture of 0.01 to 10.0 percent by weight of a temporary dye color which is a water soluble acid dye, 0.1 to 10.0 percent by weight of a quaternary ammonium functional silane, the remainder of the mixture being water. The mixture is combed through the hair and the hair is allowed to dry without rinsing.

This invention is directed to a hair coloring method in which a temporary dye color is applied to the hair in combination with a quaternary ammonium functional silane. The inclusion of the quaternary ammonium functional silane with the temporary dye color has been found to eliminate the tendency of the temporary dye color to rub off in the presence of moisture, while allowing its removal by shampooing.
Hair colorants are divided into three basic categories. These catagories are permanent, semi-permanent, and temporary. The categories are characterized by the durability of the color imparted to the hair and the type of dye employed.
Temporary hair colorants provide a color that is removable in a single shampooing. The color attained with a temporary hair colorant represents only a temporary change of the natural hair color. Typically, they are employed in order to impart a nuance or enliven the natural hair color, to shade or renew a permanent or semi-permanent color, or to remove the yellow tinge of graying hair. High molecular weight dyes are used which deposit on the surface of the hair fiber rather than penetrating into the hair cortex. Water soluble acid dyes are representative of the class of temporary hair colorants.
While temporary hair colorants provide convenience and color flexibility for the consumer and may be easily removed from the hair by shampooing, they suffer from the disadvantage that often they may be easily removed by contact with moisture in the form of high humidity conditions, precipitation, and perspiration. This results in an undesirable tendency of the temporary hair colorant to stain the skin, clothing, and bed linens.
These disadvantages of temporary dye colorants have been overcome with the present invention in which such anionic acidic chromophores are applied to the hair in combination with certain quaternary ammonium functional silanes. The benefits derived are that the undesirable staining tendency of the temporary dye colorant is eliminated, while at the same time its desirable capability of removal by shampooing is maintained.

Method of coloring hair with water soluble acid dyes


A handling device for electronic chip components includes an indexing table having a plurality of cavities for holding electronic chip components therein and a circulatory feeder for supplying the electronic chip components to the indexing table. One or more cavities are simultaneously disposed at a location which comes close to the circulatory feeder and, by performing a suction operation in the cavities, the electronic chip components are directly put into the cavities, without moving the electronic chip components along the main surface of the indexing table.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a handling device for electronic chip components and a handling method for electronic chip components.
2. Description of the Related Art
A device for measuring electrical characteristics of electronic chip components such as chip capacitors, etc., and for screening conforming and nonconforming electronic chip components based on the measurements is described in PCT Japanese Translation Patent Publication No. 2000-501174.
As shown in FIG. 23, such a device 101 contains a test plate 102 in which a plurality of holes (cavities) 103 is arranged along concentric circles for accommodating electronic chip components. A reduced pressure from a reduced pressure source is applied to each cavity 103 of the test plate 102 and, because of the suction generated by the reduced pressure, each cavity 103 sucks and holds a electronic chip component. Furthermore, the test plate 102 is inclined so as to put the electronic chip components into the cavities 103, as is described later.
When a plurality of electronic chip components in a hopper 122 drops by their own weight onto the test plate 102 rotating clockwise, through a supplying tray 118 as a feeder, the electronic chip components move by rolling along the loading guide plates of a loading frame 104. When the electronic chip components are put into empty cavities 103 of the test plate 102, the electronic chip components are held in the cavities 103 because of the suction generated by the reduced pressure.
However, in the device 101 described in PCT Japanese Translation Patent Publication No. 2000-501174, since the electronic chip components are put into the cavities 103 by making the electronic chip components move by rolling on the test plate 102, a large area for putting the electronic components into the cavities 103 is required. Therefore, no large measurement area is available on the test plate 102 and, as a result, it is difficult to perform measurements quickly.
Furthermore, in the device 101 in PCT Japanese Translation Patent Publication No. 2000-501174, since it is required to make electronic chip components drop by their own weight, when the size and weight of the electronic components increase, the impact force of the drop increases and there is a risk that the corner portions of the electronic components may be chipped.
Furthermore, in general feeders for electronic chip components, it is required to perfectly align electronic chip components and move the electronic components to the cavities. Accordingly, in the related feeders for electronic chip components, since a system for screening electronic chip components depending on the length direction (L direction), the width direction (W direction), and the thickness direction (T direction) is contained, the feeder is easily blocked with electronic components and the rate of operation of the device is low.

Handling device for electronic chip components and handling method for electronic chip components