A system and method for filtering documents to determine section boundaries between dictated and non-dictated text. The system and method identifies portions of a text report that correspond to an original dictation and, correspondingly, those portions that are not part of the original dictation. The system and method include comparing tokenized and normalized forms of the original dictation and the final report, determining mismatches between the two forms, and applying machine-learning techniques to identify document headers, footers, page turns, macros, and lists automatically and accurately.

The present invention relates generally to a system and method for filtering sections of documents for automatic speech recognition processes.
In the process of converting dictated speech files to finished reports, transcriptionists typically transform the original dictation substantially to generate the final report. Transcriptionists may revise the original text stylistically to conform to personal and site standards, to re-order the dictated material, construct lists, invoke text macros to generate tables and other large text sections, and insert document headings. Transcriptionists may also act on specific instructions to correct speech disfluencies such as repeated or fragmentary words.
Additionally, many electronic documentation systems automatically insert document formatting and metadata such as headers, footers, page turns, macros, and default demographic information. Such automatic formatting varies widely from one automatic documentation system to another. Moreover, when using such documentation systems, transcriptionists may actually remove redundant information from the text file, which may have been added by an electronic documentation system.
It has been found that automatically formatted sections are easily and frequently overwritten. Document sections may be improperly filled in or modified, where dictated and transcribed segments may be inserted into macros and tags may be deleted. Consequently, final transcribed text reports often differ substantially from the original recorded dictation.
In many automatic speech recognitions systems however, it is desirable to maintain a close alignment between the dictated audio saved in wave files or other formats and the corresponding transcribed text reports. Such alignment of the wave files and corresponding text is critical for many tasks associated with automatic speech recognition systems. In particular, language model identification (LMID), language model adaptation (LMA), acoustic model adaptation (AMA), automatic error correction, speaker evaluation, report evaluation, and post-processing techniques have been found to benefit from improvements in the alignment of the dictated wave files and the corresponding transcribed text. These processes rely on matches between the originally dictated acoustics and text as what was intended, known as "truth." In most automated environments, "truth" is unavailable, so finished reports are used instead to produce "pseudo-truth."
Such mismatches or misalignments between the original recorded dictation and the final text report have been found to degrade automatic speech recognition processes as described above. It has been found for example that non-filtered non-dictated sections in finished documents negatively and significantly effect LMID, most of the LM and AM augmentation processes, and speaker classification. Bad filtering or a lack of filtering is also a serious problem for automatic rewrite techniques. In this connection, it has been found that LMID is often highly inaccurate when headers and footers are not removed from the documents. For example, radiology reports have been identified as belonging to general medicine or mental health domain. In the same example, with headers and footers filtered out these reports have been recognized properly as radiology domain reports. Overall, it has been found that in some cases there is about 5% absolute accuracy degradation due to the erroneous behavior of LMID.
Unfortunately, the current state of technology does not provide a suitable solution for theses issues. For example, current solutions for these issues include manual rewrites of the documents using post-processing. This, of course, increases time of processing for the finished reports as well as the costs associated therewith.
Another sensitive process is LMA, especially for narrow domains like radiology. LMA is a process that includes adjusting word N-gram counts of the existing LM. The goal of LMA is to make the existing language model reflect better the specific speaking style of the particular user or group of users. Traditionally LMA is performed on text of finished reports which is considered to be the best available approximation of the way users dictate. It has been found that leaving the most likely non-dictated sections of reports in the text submitted for LMA leads to the opposite effect, when the LM counts are skewed and end up being further apart from the targeted individual or group specific dictation style.
As a result, finished reports usually differ substantially from the original dictation and techniques to bring them into closer alignment with the original dictation are needed.
Therefore, there exists a need for an automatic document section filtering technique. It is desirable that such a technique is both accurate and automatic. It is also desirable to have such a technique that does not require intervention by transcriptionists or other staff since this is not only time-consuming and expensive, but frequently performed inaccurately and inconsistently.
There also exists a need for a simple and reliable system and method of automatic document section filtering to identify the most likely non-dictated sections of the medical reports in order to filter them out.
There further exists a need to determine reliable heuristics in order to identify non-dictated sections based on alignment of finished reports against recognition output.
There also exists a need for a system and method of automatic document section filtering to filter sufficient amount of data to train classifiers independent of recognition output capable of identifying non-dictated sections such headers, footers, page turns, and macros based on solely text.
There also exists a need for a system and method of automatic document section filtering that uses trained models to classify document sections for documents that are available only in the text form where recognition output is unavailable.

Systems and methods for filtering dictated and non-dictated sections of documents


An electronic torque wrench or other tool, and a method and a computer program for using the same, are disclosed. The disclosed systems allow a user to operate the tool in either a manual mode or automatic mode. In the manual mode, torque or angle targets are input into the wrench before the torqueing operation, and in the automatic mode, preset torque or angle targets are selected by the user. A user can also lock the tool so only a specific torqueing operation can be used without unlocking the tool. The torque and angle values can be input simultaneously such that a work piece can be torqued to a predetermined torque and angle without separate operations. An indicator can also be implemented that indicates the progress of the torqueing operation.

Electronic torque wrenches are commonly used to apply a desired amount of torque to a work piece, such as a bolt or nut, to ensure proper tightening of the work piece. For example, a mechanic may need to apply 100 ft-lb of torque to separate head bolts of a car. Typically, the mechanic manually sets the torque wrench to the 100 ft-lb setting, which alerts the mechanic when the 100 ft-lb setting is reached for the head bolt that is being worked on. The wrench could also be manually set to alert the user when the work piece is rotated a predetermined angle, for example, 270 degrees. However, often the mechanic miscounts the number of head bolts that were properly tightened or applies the torque wrench to head bolts that have already been tightened, thus leaving some of the head bolts not properly tightened. Moreover, because there is no indication to the mechanic that the desired amount of torque or angular rotation is approaching, the mechanic relies exclusively on the indicator to provide a single indication once 100% of the desired torque is reached, often resulting in over-torque conditions since the mechanic did not realize that the 100% mark was approaching.
Most electronic torque wrenches only include a manual setting, where a user must select a torque or angle setting for each group of work pieces, rather than choosing a preset torque or angle preset into a memory of the torque wrench. The user must therefore input the required torque and/or angular rotation for a desired torqueing operation each time the set of work pieces are acted upon by the tool, thereby introducing the possibility of error through incorrect torque or angle settings input by the user. Some torque wrenches include preset torque and angle targets, but then lack a manual mode and operate only in the preset automatic mode.
Some current torque wrenches also alert the user when the targeted torque is reached within a predetermined tolerance, but such tolerance is not adjustable by the user. More sensitive torqueing operations are therefore subject to the same torqueing tolerances as less sensitive operations. Also, some torque wrenches allow a user to switch between torque measurement and angular measurement modes, to ensure that both the proper amount of torque and amount of angular rotation is applied by the wrench, but these wrenches must be disengaged from the work piece when changing modes, often resulting in inaccurate angular measurements.
There therefore exists a need for a torque application tool that is capable of providing indications to the user when certain levels of the desired amount of torque or angular rotation are reached, thus alerting the user that the desired amount of torque or angular rotation are approaching to lessen the chance of over-torqueing. There also exists a need for a torque application tool that is capable of providing an indication to the user when both the desired torque amount and the desired angular rotation are simultaneously applied to a work piece. There exists a further need for a torque application tool capable of providing an indication to the user when the desired amount of torque is first reached, and then the desired amount of angular rotation is applied to the work piece without removing the tool from the work piece to change from torque measurement to angular measurement modes.


A fabrication method for a sharp tip emitter first includes a trench formed on a semiconductor substrate. Next, an isolating layer is deposited over the substrate by high-density plasma chemical vapor deposition (HDP CVD). A V-shaped groove is naturally formed on the isolating layer around the trench. Next, a silicon layer is formed over the isolating layer and an ion implantation is performed into the silicon layer over the V-shaped groove. Next, a semiconductor layer is formed over the substrate. Next, a high temperature thermal process is performed to drive the implanted ions into the semiconductor layer. Next, the isolating layer is removed so that the silicon layer is separated from the substrate. Then, the tip emitter is formed.

1. Field of the Invention:
This invention relates to a fabrication method for a field emission display (FED) emitter, and more particularly to a fabrication method by photolithography and etching for a FED emitter.
2. Description of Related Art:
Currently, flat panel display technology includes cathode ray tube (CRT), thin film transistor liquid crystal display (TFTLCD), plasma display panel (PDP), and FED, some of which have been successfully applied in the market. The FED is expected to be one of the more strongly competitive displays used in the 21.sup.st century. The FED is composed of a pair of upper and lower plates. A number of spacers are located in between the upper plate and the lower plate. The upper plate, serving as an anode plate, usually is a glass plate coated with a phosphorus material. The lower plate, serving as a cathode plate, is usually a field emission array (FEA), which can emit an electron beam. A gate between the anode plate and the cathode plate regulates the flux of the electron beam. When emitted electrons pass the gate, they are accelerated by the electric field in order to gain enough energy to hit the phosphorus material. A catho-luminescent phenomenon results.
The FEA applied in current FEDs is basically a type of tip emitter or thin film edge emitter. The array is composed of a number of pixels in a matrix structure; each pixel has its own matrix address. Every pixel further includes several hundred spikes or thin film edges. The spike root is about 1 micron and the tip of the spike has a radius of about less than 0.1 micron. The spikes are made of metal, such as molybdenum (Mo), tungsten (W), or platinum (Pt), or a semiconductor material, such as silicon or diamond.
FIGS. 1A-1C are cross sectional views schematically illustrating the fabrication flow of a conventional tip emitter using metal material.
Referring to FIGS. 1A-1C, an oxide layer 102 is formed over a substrate 100, and a photoresist layer 104, with an opening, is formed over the oxide layer 102. A groove 106 corresponding to the opening of the photoresist layer 104 is formed on the oxide layer 102 through isotropic etching. The groove 106 exposes the substrate 100. The isotropic etching includes wet etching using, for example, a HF acid solution. Due to the isotropic etching, the groove 106 has a wider aperture than the opening of the photoresist layer 104 so that the photoresist layer 104 around the opening region overhangs a portion of the groove 106. In this structure, after a metal, such as Mo, W, or Pt, is sputtered on the substrate, a spike 108 with sharp tip is formed on the substrate. This is called a shading effect. After sequentially removing the photoresist 104 and the oxide layer 102, only the spike 108 remains on the substrate 100.
FIGS. 2A-2C are cross sectional views schematically illustrating the fabrication flow of a conventional tip emitter using silicon.
Referring to FIGS. 2A-2C, a photoresist layer 202 with an opening is formed over a silicon substrate 200. Usingi the photoresist layer 202 as an etching mask, the silicon substrate 200 is etched to form a V-shaped groove 204, in which the V-shape is formed due to the properties of the silicon material. After removing the photoresist layer 202, an oxide layer 206 is formed over the substrate. Then, a silicon layer 208 is deposited over the oxide layer 206 which also fills the V-shape groove 204. After removing the oxide layer 206, the silicon layer 208 is separated from the silicon substrate 200. The silicon layer 208 therefore carries a triangle spike 208a, which is conformal with the V-shape groove 204.

Fabrication method for a field emission display emitter


The invention is a system and method for providing optimized accuracy and precision in analog-to-digital conversions of data. In an embodiment of the invention, an A/D converter is configured by setting two separately definable reference voltages that are controlled by a microprocessor. The A/D converter range is as wide as, or slightly greater than, a dynamic range of the analog signal to be converted. The microprocessor adjusts at least one reference voltage. The A/D converter receives analog signals from a sensor. The dynamic range of the signal from the sensor, or the sensor operating conditions, are used to define the reference voltages. The converted data is provided to a data processor at a rate controlled by a clocking signal. In a method according to the invention, the A/D converter is operated using the features described above. The accuracy and the precision of the converted data are thereby optimized.

Analog data by its very nature involves signals having dynamic ranges that change under varying conditions. The process of measuring such analog signals presents at least two problems. One problem is maintaining sufficient range to avoid artificially limiting the apparent dynamic range of the signal (e.g., "clipping"). Another problem is avoiding so large a dynamic range in the detector that the apparent signal uses only a fraction of the available range, thereby diminishing detector precision and sensitivity.
In particular, when the analog signal is to be converted to digital format for subsequent data processing, both problems individually pose significant risks in data analysis. Clipping introduces random and unknowable artifacts beyond the well-known artifacts which are introduced by converting a continuous (analog) signal to a discrete (digital) signal. Loss of sensitivity results in poor signal-to-noise ratio ("SNR") and associated difficulties in data interpretation.
A definition that relates accuracy and precision is given by Weisstein at http://mathworld.wolfram.com/Accuracy.html. The definition states that "the accuracy of a number x is given by the number of significant decimal (or other) digits to the right of the decimal point in x, [while] the precision of x is the total number of significant decimal (or other) digits."
Auto-ranging A/D data converters are known in which the digital output varies in steps, typically differing by one order of magnitude (e.g., using "floating point" amplifiers). In data converters comprising floating point amplifiers, which are exemplified by auto-ranging digital meters that provide absolute measurements, an analog signal is applied to the converter. The signal is measured and a digital signal proportional to the analog signal is generated. The digital signal is displayed in a decimal format, in which the auto-ranging capability changes the display output by one order of magnitude as the analog signal increases or decreases in magnitude, so as to display a substantially constant number of significant digits so long as the signal is within a defined range. In order to increase the apparent sensitivity of the meter, an increase in one decimal digit of output is required (e.g., from a three-and-one-half decimal digit output to a four-and-one-half decimal digit output, for example). However, an increase in a factor of ten in sensitivity requires an increase of four bits of data conversion capability, and the four bits are not optimally utilized in that only 10 of 16 possible values represented by four bits are ever used. There has been appreciable improvement in A/D (and digital-to-analog, or D/A) data conversion technology. However, there remain limits on how many bits of resolution are available in commercially available A/D converters, in particular at a reasonable price.
Various implementations of A/D converters providing automatic changes in range and resolution are described in the prior art. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,815,118, issued Mar. 21, 1989, U.S. Pat. No. 5,363,055, issued Nov. 8, 1994, and U.S. Pat. No. 6,392,584, issued May 21, 2002, each discloses a different approach to scaling the input signal to the A/D converter using an auto-ranging means. International Patent Application No. PCT/US1997/23562, published on Jul. 2, 1998 under International Publication Number WO 98/28853, also discloses an auto-ranging A/D converter in which an input analog signal is measured, and the signal gain is reset to that future signals going into the A/D converter are accommodated.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,329,281, issued Jul. 12, 1994, a circuit is disclosed that provides a "programmable tradeoff between bandwidth and resolution" in an A/D converter circuit. U.S. Pat. No. 5,270,898, issued Dec. 14, 1993, U.S. Pat. No. 5,525,895, issued Jun. 11, 1996, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,751,234, issued May 12, 1998, each discloses a monolithic IC that includes an on-board microprocessor, an A/D converter subsystem, and circuitry to improve the resolution of the A/D converter subsystem, including current and voltage ranging amplifiers for ranging analog input voltage and current signals.
Still another solution is described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,855,589, issued Dec. 17, 1974 to Solender, which discloses the use of a plurality of reference voltages that are generated in equal logarithmic amplitude steps. Solender applies different ones of the logarithmically spaced reference voltages during a measurement of a signal, thereby varying the quantization unit of the measurement during the course of the measurement.
A further solution is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,823,130, issued Apr. 18, 1989 to Wright et al. Wright addresses the problem of reading the position of a butterfly valve, which moves over a range of zero degrees to 90 degrees, thereby controlling a flow of air. Wright discloses a method of extracting N+X bits of resolution from an N-bit A/D converter (where X=0, 1, or 2) in making a measurement of the absolute value of a magnitude M (e.g., an angular displacement) where the resolution changes according to angular ranges. This is a variant on conditioning an input signal by a factor of powers of 2. Wright discloses making a first analog-to-digital conversion of the magnitude M using a reference voltage difference of Vref applied to the reference voltage terminals of an A/D converter, observing a value X representing the number of consecutive zero bits that appear in the most significant bit positions of the converted value, and if X is not zero, reducing Vref by dividing with 2X to produce a new reference voltage difference Vref/2X, applying Vref/2X as the new reference voltage difference, and extracting N+X bits of resolution by performing a second conversion of the magnitude M. However, one shortcoming of this method is the abrupt change in resolution that occurs as the number of bits of precision changes, which occurs in Wright at angles of 22.5 and 45 degrees. For example, according to the disclosure of Wright, the precision of a reading at 22.4 degrees is 10 bits, while the precision of a reading at 22.6 degrees is only 9 bits.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,990,913, issued on Feb. 5, 1991 to Beauducel, describes an A/D system that uses a pre-amplifier to scale an input signal and a variable reference voltage selected from N fixed voltages, the reference voltage being applied to the A/D during conversion of the signal. The result is represented by the output of the A/D and a gain G indicative of the selected reference voltage. As an example, the N fixed reference voltages can be a stabilized voltage divided by a power of 2. The value obtained from the A/D is a mantissa, and the gain G is an exponent whereby the digital value is expressed.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,028,926, issued on Jul. 2, 1991 to Tokuhiro, describes a successive approximation A/D converter that uses a variable reference voltage in order to provide more bits of precision than the A/D converter comprises. Tokuhiro describes a series of reference voltages that differ by powers of 2, which are generated from a single fixed full scale voltage. The use of multiple clock signals to apply the various powers of the reference voltage allow attainment of a number of bits of resolution that is larger than the number of bits provided by the A/D.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,995,032, issued on Nov. 30, 1999 to Gandy, describes an A/D converter that comprises a fixed resistor ladder and a variable voltage element in series with the fixed resistor ladder for biasing the fixed resistor ladder between two voltages, Vtop and Vbottom, so as to control the reference voltages applied to an A/D converter.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,995,036, issued on Nov. 30, 1999 to Nise et al., describes a sigma A/D converter circuit that provides output having a sign bit, mantissa bits, and exponent bits. Nise describes the circuit as a modulator followed by a decimator followed by a normalizer with a programmable gain control feeding signals from the output of the normalizer to the inputs of the modulator and the decimator.
Each of the disclosed circuits provide solutions that have one or more disadvantages, including limited range capability, abrupt changes in sensitivity and/or resolution, and non-optimized resolution and sensitivity. Accordingly, there is a need for an analog-to digital converter that provides auto-ranging capability with optimized least-significant-bit sensitivity and that avoids the disadvantages of the prior art circuits.

Analog-to-digital converter with automatic range and sensitivity adjustment


A method provides a tamper loop status of a radio-frequency transponder to a reader. The transponder communicates with the reader at a first frequency according to a first communication protocol. The transponder includes a first non-volatile memory for storing a first set of data of the first communication protocol. The first memory includes a user memory having two portions and each portion includes a data item specific to a status of the tamper loop. The method is performed by the transponder after receiving a request according to the first protocol to read the user memory and includes generating a logical view of the user memory, the logical view including only one of the two portions that is selected according to a value of a binary parameter representative of a status of the tamper loop. The method also includes providing the logical view to the reader via the first protocol.

RFID transponders may be used in various situations where identification is needed. RFID transponders are classically utilized in consumer products to identify a product among others, and to give information on said product. In addition, RFID transponders may be used to prevent shoplifting and counterfeiting of an original product. In such applications, a RFID transponder may be attached to the product, such as a clothing, a book, an electronic device, etc., in such a way that it cannot be removed without breaking a detection loop of the transponder, generally referred to as tamper loop. One important application area of RFID transponders is the protection of beverage bottles (such as alcohol bottles) or bottles filled with a medical solution. In this case, a transponder may be hidden in the cork of a bottle in such a way that separating the cork from the bottle breaks the tamper loop. Preferably, the design of the tamper loop is such that reconstructing it when it is broken is difficult.
The status of the tamper loop, open/broken or closed/intact is classically provided to a reader or interrogator, for instance a smartphone, by using an application provided by the manufacturer of the product which the transponder is attached to. By way of example, such an application may be based on the near-field communication (NFC) protocol, the status of the tamper loop being embedded in a NDEF message sent, upon interrogation, to the reader. A disadvantage is that this application needs to be regularly updated and maintained in order to follow the latest changes on the server side. Another disadvantage is that different applications might need to be installed on the reader, to check the tamper status of different products.

Method for providing a reader with a tamper loop status of a radio-frequency transponder


A layout structure of an SRAM for reductions in the number of interconnect layers and in the number of connection holes with conventional advantages maintained is disclosed. Contact holes and fields which have been shared between cells vertically adjacent to each other in plan view are divided between the cells. The cells are then positioned in translated relation also in a bit line direction (D1). In a resultant region, first-level polysilicon interconnect layers (1G(G)) for a GND line and first-level polysilicon interconnect layers (1G(W)) for a word line are formed in parallel in a word line direction (D2). Connection holes (GK2, GK1) for connecting gate electrodes of driver transistors (DTr1, DTr2) and fields (FL) are also used for connection holes (GK3) for connecting the fields (FL) and the GND interconnect layers (1G(G)). Further, interconnect layers having a high power supply potential is formed on the interconnect layers (1G(G)).

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a technique for layout of a plurality of cells in a semiconductor memory such as an SRAM (static random access memory).
2. Description of the Background Art
FIGS. 14 and 15 are plan views of a layout structure of a high resistance load SRAM cell. This layout is disclosed in J. R. Pfiester etc., "A symmetric Vss cross-under bitcell technology for 64 Mb SRAMs", IEEE IEDM94, pp.623-626 (1994). As illustrated in FIG. 14, the layout structure comprises fields FLP, gate buried contacts GKP, first-level polysilicon interconnect layers 1GP for a gate, first buried contacts 1BP, and second-level polysilicon interconnect layers 2GP for a GND line. This provides word lines for access transistors ATrP1, ATrP2, gate layers for driver transistors DTrP1, DTrP2, and GND lines. Regions R .alpha. in which the fields FLP and the first-level polysilicon interconnect layers 1GP intersect have a low resistance because of implantation of impurities prior to the formation of the gates.
With reference to FIG. 15, the layout structure further comprises second buried contacts 2B, third-level polysilicon interconnect layers 3GP for a V.sub.CC line, contact holes CHP for contact with a bit line and a bit line, and aluminum layers ALP and ALP for the bit line and the bit line. This provides high-resistance and V.sub.CC lines (which one is produced to depend upon the presence/absence of impurity implantation), and the bit/bit line. The reference character CRP in FIGS. 14 and 15 designates the range of one cell.
The above described layout structure may implement a high resistance load SRAM circuit (FIG. 1) on a semiconductor substrate.
This layout has advantages to be described below because of its good symmetric property.
(1) Vertical or horizontal deviation of patterns significantly influences transistor characteristics. The above described layout, however, include symmetric patterns, permitting accordingly stable cell operation.
(2) The basically linear configuration of the patterns increases process stability since a pattern of a quadrilateral cross-sectional configuration is easy to produce but a pattern of a non-quadrilateral cross-sectional configuration is difficult to produce correctly. The above described layout includes fewer non-quadrilateral patterns.
(3) The longitudinal direction of the word lines 1GP (the gates of the access transistors) is the same as the longitudinal direction of the gates of the driver transistors. That is, both of the word lines 1GP and the gate layers for the driver transistors extend linearly in parallel in the direction of the word lines. This is advantageous in good controllability of the gate length during fabrication and in stable transistor characteristics. When a gate pattern is formed by the photolithographic process, a mask pattern has a rectangular shape, but a resist pattern influenced by light reflected from an underlying field pattern is inevitably rounded and has an unstable shape in actuality. However, the above described layout wherein the gate layers and the word lines 1GP extend linearly in the same direction in parallel to the underlying field pattern may reduce the influence of the rounded resist pattern.
The conventional layout structure illustrated in FIGS. 14 and 15, however, presents drawbacks to be described below.
First, it is necessary for the above-mentioned technique to form on the semiconductor substrate a total of four levels of interconnect layers: three levels of polysilicon interconnect layers and one level of metal interconnect layer, that is, the first-level, second-level, and third-level polysilicon interconnect layers (1GP, 2GP, 3GP), and the aluminum interconnect layers ALP, ALP. This inevitably requires a prolonged process and increased device costs.
The second drawback is that the third-level interconnect layers 3GP for the V.sub.CC line have a non-linear portion as shown in FIG. 15 in the above described layout including a number of linear patterns. The non-linear portion is an angular portion 3GR of the polysilicon interconnect layers 3GP which is enclosed by dotted circle of FIG. 15. Such a configuration creates a mismatch between a resist pattern RP2 and a layout pattern RP1, as schematically illustrated in the plan views of FIGS. 16A and 16B, for example. In the portion 3GR, the resist is not completely removed but remains during the photolithographic process as shown in FIG. 16B, resulting in the rounded configuration of the resist pattern RP2. This significantly decreases the controllability of the high resistance portions 3GP of FIG. 15. Specifically, for layout design, the value of a high resistance to be formed in a linearly extending high resistance portion formation portion 3GHR of the third-level polysilicon interconnect layers 3GP is previously predicted depending upon the number of sheets included in the area of the high resistance portion formation portion 3GHR. Unfortunately, if the rounded corners of the high resistance portion formation portion 3GHR shown in FIG. 16B cause the substantially decreased linear parts of the portion 3GHR, the resistance value of the high resistance portions 3GP is less than the predicted value, and the actual resistance value is not predictable during fabrication. The conventional layout structure still has such a problem to be solved.
The third drawback, as schematically shown in FIG. 17, is that the necessity to set a cover margin A for the second buried contact 2B, a clearance C between the third-level polysilicon interconnect layers 3GP, and a margin D for separation between the third-level polysilicon interconnect layer 3GP and the contact hole CHP decreases the width W of the polysilicon interconnect layer 3GP serving as a V.sub.CC interconnect line. This increases the resistance of the V.sub.CC interconnect line to develop a potential difference, failing to correctly supply a power supply potential V.sub.CC.
The fourth drawback is the increase in the resistance of a GND interconnect layer which should originally have a very low resistance. The gate lines and word lines are made of a composite material, for example, WSi/poly Si for the decrease in resistance thereof. It is a common practice to apply such composition to the GND interconnect layers for the above described purpose. The same is true for the conventional layout. In the conventional layout wherein the second-level interconnect layers 2GP for the GND line are formed above the first-level interconnect layers 1GP, this application produces a greater step of connection holes to increase the depth of the first buried contacts 1BP, resulting in an unignorable level of plug resistance, as will be described in greater detail later.

Layout structure of semiconductor memory with cells positioned in translated relation in first and second directions


Zero-shot content detection includes building/training a semantic space by embedding word-based document descriptions of a plurality of documents into a multi-dimensional space using a semantic embedding technique; detecting a plurality of features in the multimodal content by applying feature detection algorithms to the multimodal content; determining respective word-based concept descriptions for concepts identified in the multimodal content using the detected features; embedding the respective word-based concept descriptions into the semantic space; and in response to a content detection action, (i) embedding/mapping words representative of the content detection action into the semantic space, (ii) automatically determining, without the use of training examples, concepts in the semantic space relevant to the content detection action based on the embedded words, and (iii) identifying portions of the multimodal content responsive to the content detection action based on the concepts in the semantic space determined to be relevant to the content detection action.

Every minute, hundreds of hours of video are uploaded to video archival sites such as YouTube. Developing methods to automatically understand the events captured in such large volume of videos is necessary and meanwhile challenging. One of the important tasks in this direction is event detection in videos. A main objective of this task is to determine the relevance of a video to an event based on the video content (e.g., feeding an animal, birthday party).
Typically, the classification of complex events captured in video by automated computer analysis currently relies on machine-learning-trained classifiers that attempt to recognize such events based on low-level visual features extracted from the video. These classifiers typically must be trained with many labelled video examples for each one of the complex events that is to be detected.

Zero-shot event detection using semantic embedding


A composition, suitable for surgical or dental use, which can expand and/or contract in at least one direction without similar expansion or contraction in another direction, comprises an inner and an outer portion, the portions differing in their expansion properties and/or the extent to which they are prestressed.

GB-A-2139898 describes a deformable polymeric composition which can absorb liquid and thereby expand or contract in one direction without similar expansion or contraction in another direction. In particular, GB-A-2139898 describes an insert plug for dental cavities, which can absorb liquid and thereby expand radially without expanding axially. The material is such that it does not expand isotropically or uniformly (as a percentage of its initial dimensions) in every direction but, instead, has different expansion properties in different directions. Since the composition does not expand axially, it does not load the final cosmetic surface applied to the outer surface of the cavity and, since it expands laterally, it is possible to achieve a good fit by selection out of a relatively small number of inserts, relative to traditional rubber inserts. Other compositions described in GB-A-2139898 are surgical inserts, such as breast implants and nerve approximation sheaths.
GB-A-2340430 describes a dental insert plug of a prestressed hydrophilic material, the material prestressed by the application of pressure in the temperature range of 100 to 160° C.
Although insert plugs such as those described above achieve a relatively good fit, gaps may still remain between the walls of the cavity and the insert plug. Consequently, a sealant must be used to seal these gaps. There still remains the need for compositions whose shape change and/or expansion properties can be accurately controlled and predetermined.

Expandable/contractable composition for surgical or dental use


A parallel input/output combined encoding and syndrome generating system encodes two information symbols per clock cycle, and thereafter, produces two redundancy symbols per clock cycle. For an n-symbol code word with 2k information symbols cnxe2x88x921, to cnxe2x88x922k, the symbols cnxe2x88x921, cnxe2x88x923, cnxe2x88x925 . . . are supplied, in turn, to a first input line while the symbols cnxe2x88x922, cnxe2x88x924, cnxe2x88x926, . . . are supplied, in turn, to a second input line. In a first clock cycle, the symbol cnxe2x88x921 is combined with the contents of the R registers, where R is the number of redundancy symbols, and the contents are multiplied by the respective roots of the generator polynomial. The products then are combined with the paired symbol cnxe2x88x922 and the resulting sums are multiplied also by the roots of the generator polynomial. These products are then summed in a chain of R adders and the respective registers are appropriately updated with the results of the encoding of the two symbols. During the next clock cycle, the next pair of information symbols are encoded, with cnxe2x88x923 supplied to the first input line and cnxe2x88x924 supplied to the second input line, and so forth. During the kth clock cycle, when the last of the pairs of information symbols are being encoded, the system produces the first two redundancy symbols. The first redundancy symbol is the update value for the last register rRxe2x88x921, and the system then manipulates the update value, to produce the second redundancy symbol in the same clock cycle. The pair of redundancy symbols are next fed back to the two input lines and encoded, as discussed above. For decoding, the chain of R feedback adders is broken, and each set of adders and multipliers operates separately to update the associated register with the results of the manipulation of two code word symbols per clock cycle.

The invention relates generally to error correction systems and, more particularly, to systems that use hardware that both encodes the data and produces associated error syndromes.
Encoders for encoding data in accordance with a Reed-Solomon error correction code (xe2x80x9cECCxe2x80x9d) to produce ECC symbols are well known. A conventional encoder that produces xe2x80x9cRxe2x80x9d ECC symbols includes R Galois Field multipliers. The Galois Field multipliers are associated, respectively, with the j roots of the code generator polynomial, g(x). The encoder also includes feedback adders that combine the products associated with a given data symbol with the results of the encoding of the previous data symbol, and j registers that hold the sums produced by the adders. At the end of the encoding, the j registers contain the ECC symbols.
When a data symbol is supplied to the encoder the symbol is combined with the contents of a last register and the result is supplied to the Galois Field multipliers, which simultaneously multiply the results by the roots of g(x). The product produced by a first Galois Field multiplier updates the first register. The products produced by the remaining Galois Field multipliers are combined, respectively, with the contents of the remaining registers and the results are used to update these registers. The last register is thus updated with the sum of (i) the product produced by the last Galois Field multiplier and (ii) the contents of the preceding register. The updated contents of the last register are then combined with the next data symbol, and the result is fed back to the Galois Field multipliers. The remaining feedback adders add the products produced by the multipliers to the results of the encoding of the previous data symbol and supply the sums to update the registers, and so forth. As soon as the last data symbol is encoded, the ECC symbols are read from or clocked out of the R registers and concatenated with the data symbols to produce a data codeword that is transmitted or stored, as appropriate. With such an encoder the latency is the time associated with a single feedback adder, since the adders operate in parallel to produce the updated sums for the registers. Accordingly, the latency is essentially non-existent.
As part of a decoding operation a decoding system manipulates the data symbols of a data code word to produce error syndromes that are then used to locate errors in the data. A conventional error syndrome generator includes R sets of associated update adders, Galois Field multipliers and registers, with each set operating simultaneously and essentially separately to produce the associated error syndrome. Each update adder adds the product produced by the associated Galois Field multiplier to the next data symbol, and updates the associated register with the sum. Each Galois Field multiplier then multiplies the contents of the register by a root of an error syndrome generator polynomial that is associated with the ECC and supplies the product to the associated update adder. The update adder adds the product to the next data symbol, and supplies the sum to the associated register, and so forth. After the last data symbol is supplied to the syndrome generator and added to the products produced by the respective Galois Field multipliers to update the registers, the R registers contain the R error syndromes.
The Galois Field multipliers that are included in the encoder and the syndrome generator are relatively complex components. An article by Gerhard Fettweis and Martin Hassner, A Combined Reed-Solomon Encoder And Syndrome Generator With Small Hardware Complexity, published by IEEE in 1992 describes hardware that uses the same Galois Field multipliers for both the encoding and the syndrome generation. The combined hardware thus uses one-half the number of multipliers that are required for separate encoder and syndrome generator hardware. The article is incorporated herein by reference.
The combined hardware described in the article is depicted in FIG. 1. The hardware includes R sets of associated registers 10, Galois Field multipliers 12, update adders 14 and feedback adders 16. The R registers 10 hold updated sums produced by the R associated update adders 14. Each Galois Field multiplier 12 multiplies the contents of the associated register 10 by a root of the generator polynomial and supplies the product to the associated feedback adder 16. During encoding operations, an associated AND gate 18 passes to the adder 16 the sum produced by the previous feedback adder 16. The adder 16 then adds the propagating sum to the product and passes the result both to the associated update adder 14 and through a next AND gate 18 to the next feedback adder 16. The next feedback adder 16 adds the propagating sum to the product produced by the associated multiplier 12, and the result is supplied to the associated update adder 14 and through the next AND gate 18 to a next feedback adder, and so forth. The feedback adders 16 and associated AND gates 18 thus form a feedback path in which the adders 16 operate as a chain. During syndrome generation operations, the AND gates 18 essentially break the chain of adders by blocking the propagation of a sum from one feedback adder 16 to the next, and the R sets of associated registers 10, multipliers 12 and adders 14 operate separately to produce the R error syndromes.
With the combined hardware there is a latency in the encoding operations that corresponds to the time it takes the propagating sum to pass through the chain of R feedback adders as each symbol is encoded. If the chain of adders is long, it restricts the speed with which the data is encoded by setting a minimum time for a clock cycle, that is, a minimum time for the encoding of each symbol, since in each clock cycle the corresponding propagating sum must pass through the entire chain of R adders.
The invention is a parallel input/output combined encoding and syndrome generating system that encodes two symbols per clock cycle, and thereafter, produces two redundancy symbols per clock cycle. The system thus produces the R redundancy symbols and the R error syndromes in one-half the time of the conventional Fettweis-Hassner hardware.
More specifically, for an n-symbol code word with 2k information symbols cnxe2x88x921, to cnxe2x88x922k, the symbols cnxe2x88x921, cnxe2x88x923, cnxe2x88x925 . . . are supplied, in turn, to a first input line while the symbols cnxe2x88x922, cnxe2x88x924, cnxe2x88x926, . . . are supplied, in turn, to a second input line. In a first clock cycle, the symbol cnxe2x88x921 is combined with the contents of the R registers and multiplied by the roots of the generator polynomial. The respective products then are combined with the paired symbol cnxe2x88x922 and the resulting sums are multiplied also by the roots of the generator polynomial. These products are then summed in the chain of R adders and the registers are appropriately updated with the results of the encoding of the pair of symbols. Accordingly, a sum is propagated along the chain of R adders once to encode the two symbols.
During the next clock cycle, the next pair of information symbols are encoded, with cnxe2x88x923 supplied to the first input line and cnxe2x88x924 supplied to the second input line, and so forth. During the kth clock cycle, when the last of the pairs of information symbols are being encoded, the system produces the first two redundancy symbols. More specifically, the first redundancy symbol is the kth update value for the last register rRxe2x88x921, which is produced by the chain of R adders. The system then manipulates the update value, as discussed in more detail below, to produce the second redundancy symbol in the same clock cycle. During the k+1st clock cycle, the pair of redundancy symbols are fed back to the two input lines and encoded, as discussed above, to produce the next pair of redundancy symbols, and so forth. The system thus produces the R redundancy symbols in                     2                k            +      R        2    =      n    2
clock cycles.
For decoding, the chain of R feedback adders is broken, and each set of adders and multipliers operates separately to update the associated register with the results of the encoding of pairs of code word symbols. The system thus produces the R error syndromes in   n  2
clock cycles.
The gate-count of the parallel input/output system may be reduced, essentially by further manipulating the propagating sum, as discussed in more detail below.

Parallel input output combined system for producing error correction code redundancy symbols and error syndromes


Disclosed is a strength-enhancing apparatus for a metal part comprising a recovery mechanism for sucking powder flow dust generated from glass beads crushed on a surface of a gear in a chamber to recover it together with drainage, wherein the recovery mechanism includes a liquid-spouting means arranged on a ceiling in the chamber, for effecting showering for the whole interior of the chamber. Accordingly, it is possible to reliably recover the mist containing the powder flow dust floating in the chamber, and it is possible to reliably avoid adhesion and accumulation of the powder flow dust.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a strength-enhancing apparatus for a metal part for enhancing the surface strength of the metal part.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, the gear repeatedly receives the load when it is used. Therefore, it is necessary to enhance the fatigue strength of the gear surface. For this purpose, the shot peening has been hitherto widely performed to give the compressive residual stress, for example, by allowing steel balls to make collision against the gear surface.
However, the shot peening is inconvenient in that the gear surface becomes rough, and the surface roughness is deteriorated, because the steel balls are used as the shot material in the shot peening. In view of this point, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 5-21711, a strength-enhancing method for the metal surface is known, in which a metal formed product is subjected to surface hardening, followed by grinding for the metal surface, and then glass beads having a grain diameter of 0.2 mm to 0.6 mm are impelled or projected thereagainst. Accordingly, it is intended to prevent the metal surface from being rough so that the fatigue strength is improved.
However, the conventional technique described above involves the following problems. That is, the given compressive residual stress is lowered, and it is impossible to improve and increase the fatigue strength up to a desired value. Further, the directivity of the projected glass beads is poor. Therefore, the glass beads are scattered in various directions, and consequently the efficiency is extremely lowered.
The present applicant has suggested a strength-enhancing apparatus for a gear which makes it possible to give a sufficient compressive residual stress and obtain a smooth surface over an area ranging from the tooth surface to the tooth root. A patent application has been filed therefor (see Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 9-248761). In this prior art, there are provided a gear-holding mechanism for positioning and holding, in a chamber, a gear after being subjected to a heat treatment, an impelling mechanism for impelling or projecting a spouting stream of glass beads and liquid from a nozzle toward a gear surface, a liquid supply mechanism for supplying the liquid to the impelling mechanism under a pressure, and a glass bead supply mechanism for successively feeding a predetermined amount of the glass beads to the impelling mechanism. Accordingly, the glass beads correctly collide against the gear surface while maintaining the directivity. A desired compressive residual stress is given to the gear surface. Further, a smooth surface is obtained over an area ranging from the tooth surface to the tooth root of the gear surface as the glass beads are crushed.
The glass beads collide against the gear surface as the metal surface, and they are crushed. Therefore, the glass bead dust (hereinafter referred to as "powder flow dust" as well) in a micron order floats in the processing chamber. However, the gear, which is subjected to the treatment, is rotated at a high speed while being installed to a spindle. Therefore, the following problems occur. That is, the minute powder flow dust tends to adhere to the spindle rotating at the high speed. The spindle suffers an inconvenience such as rotation defect.
In view of the above, a structure is usually known and used, in which water is jetted or spouted toward the portion at which the powder flow dust causes adhesion and accumulation in the processing chamber so that the powder flow dust is removed therefrom. However, the mist containing the powder flow dust floats in the processing chamber. Such a structure fails to effectively remove the mist. Therefore, a problem is pointed out in that it is impossible to reliably dissolve the adhesion and accumulation of the powder flow dust.
Further, the powder flow dust as described above tends to leak from the processing chamber to the outside, because the dust is extremely minute. Various problems arise, for example, concerning the maintenance of the apparatus and the environment around the apparatus. Furthermore, a large noise is generated when the spouting stream of the glass beads and the liquid is projected onto the metal surface. A problem is also pointed out concerning the noise control.
In the gear-holding mechanism described above, the gear is installed to the spindle provided for the spindle unit. The gear is rotated integrally with the spindle. However, in the case of such a structure, it is feared that any deflection occurs in the gear during the rotation, for example, when a lengthy gear such as a counter shaft is used. Therefore, the following problem is pointed out. That is, it is impossible to correctly project the spouting stream of the glass beads and the liquid toward the gear surface, and it is difficult to apply the highly accurate strength-enhancing treatment to the gear.
On the other hand, the present applicant has suggested a strength-enhancing apparatus for a gear which makes it possible to give a sufficient compressive residual stress and obtain a smooth surface over an area ranging from the tooth surface to the tooth root, and which makes it possible to reliably remove the minute glass bead dust. A patent application has been filed therefor (see Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 9-248765).
In this prior art, there are provided an impelling mechanism for impelling or projecting, in a chamber, a spouting stream of glass beads and liquid from a nozzle toward a gear surface after being subjected to a heat treatment, and a recovery mechanism for sucking and recovering powder flow dust generated from the glass beads crushed on the gear surface. The recovery mechanism includes a suction port which faces the inside of the chamber and which is arranged in the vicinity of the gear. Accordingly, the glass beads correctly collide against the gear surface while maintaining the directivity. A desired compressive residual stress is given to the gear surface. Further, the minute powder flow dust, which is generated as the glass beads are crushed, is reliably sucked and recovered from the suction port.
The recovery mechanism described above is used such that the mist containing the powder flow dust floating in the chamber is sucked and discarded. However, when the strength-enhancing treatment is continuously performed for the gear, the amount of discarded drainage arrives at a considerable amount. For this reason, it is difficult to reliably remove the powder flow dust from the inside of the chamber. Further, the powder flow dust, which is contained in the drainage, can be used to produce the glass beads. On the other hand, the liquid can be recycled as the washing water to be used in the chamber.

Strength-enhancing apparatus for metal part


A portable communication terminal has two chassis and one of the two chassis includes a receiver for outputting voice and a speaker for informing of an incoming call. The terminal includes a detection section for detecting whether the two chassis are overlapped or not and a control section for controlling an operation of the portable communication terminal. A ringtone volume control unit of the control section controls the volume level of the ringtone according to a detection result of the detection section. The terminal can include an operation detection unit for detecting an operation of the receiver and a device detection unit for detecting whether or not the portable communication terminal is connected to another device.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a portable communication terminal such as a portable telephone set and a personal handyphone system (PHS), and more particularly to a portable communication terminal having a speaker for outputting voice on the phone (hereinafter, referred to as a receiver) and a speaker for outputting a ringtone.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, many portable telephone sets have a camera function and can connect to the Internet. For these reasons, the portable telephone sets are desired to have a large display screen. Folding portable telephone sets and slide-type portable telephone sets can relatively easily have a large display screen arranged therein. In order to arrange a large display screen in a portable telephone set, other components are required to be downsized and the arrangement of the components is restricted. For example, JP 2003-143692 A discloses a portable telephone set in which a receiver and a speaker for outputting a ringtone are integrated. However, in a case where the portable telephone set is capable of informing of an incoming call while the user is on the phone, a loud ringtone is suddenly output to the user's ear.
JP2001-506458A discloses a portable telephone set capable of controlling a ringtone. The portable telephone set includes a speaker which has both functions of outputting a ringtone and outputting voice on the phone, and includes a flip arranged at a front side of the speaker. The portable telephone set suppresses the volume of the speaker to a level suitable for speech on the phone when the flip is opened. JP 08-307488 A discloses a folding portable telephone set having two chassis. The portable telephone set detects an opening operation of the two chassis and suspends or reduces a ringtone.
However, there are cases where the user of a portable telephone set desires to know the presence or absence of an incoming call to the portable telephone set even when the flip is opened or the two chassis are opened. The portable telephone sets disclosed in the known examples mentioned above cannot meet such a user's need.

Portable communication terminal and ringtone volume control method


An organic molecular memory in an embodiment includes a first conducive layer, a second conductive layer, and an organic molecular layer provided between the first conductive layer and the second conductive layer, the organic molecular layer having an organic molecule, the organic molecule having a linker group bonded to the first conductive layer, a π conjugated chain bonded to the linker group, and a phenyl group bonded to the π conjugated chain opposite to the linker group and facing the second conductive layer, the π conjugated chain including electron-accepting groups or electron-donating groups arranged in line asymmetry with respect to a bonding direction of the π conjugated chain, the phenyl group having substituents R0, R1, R2, R3, and R4 as shown in the following formula, the substituent R0 being an electron-accepting group or an electron-donating group.

As mobile devices such as portable electronic devices have become widely used, flash memories have been widely used as large-capacitance inexpensive nonvolatile memories that can hold stored data even when power is off. However, in recent years, the limits in miniaturization of flash memories have come into view, and nonvolatile memories such as a magnetic random access memory (MRAM), a phase change random access memory (PCRAM), a conductive bridging random access memory (CBRAM), and a resistance random access memory (ReRAM) have been developed actively.
For example, when ReRAMs are used, a memory cell array can be configured only by stacking variable resistive elements and rectifying elements, which constitute memory cells, at intersections between word lines and bit lines. This allows the construction of a high-density memory system. Further, when memory cell arrays having such a structure are used, memory cell arrays can be stacked in layers into a three-dimensional structure, thus allowing a higher density.
Generally, for ReRAMs, a metal oxide is used as a variable resistive element, and a PIN diode or the like is used as a rectifying element. In order to achieve a higher density, it is necessary to make a memory cell itself smaller.
As one approach to make a memory cell itself smaller, there is a possible method of using organic molecules for a variable resistive element and a rectifying element. According to this method, an organic molecule itself is small in size, and thus allows an element to be reduced in size.
As for a rectifying element of organic molecules, there is a report on rectification by an element with a molecule D-σ-A, in which insulating covalent bonds bridge an electron-donating group (donor group) D with a small ionization potential and an electron-accepting group (acceptor group) A with a high electron affinity, sandwiched between electrodes. Further, there is a report on rectification by an element with a molecule T-D-π-A, in which a bridging portion is replaced with a short π electron and an insulating alkyl chain T (tail) is bonded to D, sandwiched between electrodes.
A donor group D tends to release an electron, and thus tends to accept a hole but does not accept an electron. Thus, a hole flows from an electrode to D, but an electron does not. On the other hand, an acceptor group A tends to accept an electron but does not tend to release an electron, and does not constitute a hole. Thus, an electron flows from an electrode to A, but a hole does not. Thus, a current flows only in a direction from D to A, developing rectification.
On the other hand, for a variable resistive element of organic molecules, there is a report that a self-assembled monolayer of molecules each having an acceptor nitro group and a donor amino group on a phenylene ethynylene skeleton exhibits a negative differential resistance, and develops a memory property that the ON/OFF ratio (the ratio of a current flowing when the same voltage is applied before switching to that after switching) is 1000 or greater.
As described above, there are some examples of reports on an organic molecule to which a donor or acceptor substituent is attached develops rectification and a memory effect. However, there are points to be kept in mind to design a memory cell.
In a ReRAM, a variable resistive element and a rectifying element are connected in series because of its cell structure. Therefore, when the value of a current flowing through a memory cell is low while a variable resistive element is in a low resistance state, a share of voltage applied to the variable resistance element becomes small, thus resulting in an increase in operating voltage. Therefore, the resistance value of the rectifying element in a forward bias direction needs to be sufficiently smaller than the resistance value of the variable resistive element in the low resistance state.
Further, in order to increase the reliability of a cell when reading a signal, it is more preferable for a variable resistive element to have a larger difference between a resistance value in a low resistance state and that in a high resistance state. In other words, it is preferable that the ON/OFF ratio of a variable resistive element be large.
It is not easy to design a molecular device, taking the above points into account. Further, it is difficult to design a molecular device so that a single organic molecule is provided with both a rectifying property and a memory property, taking the above points into account. Thus, there is a room for improvement in the design of an organic molecule for use in a memory cell.


A microparticulate abrasive composition is comprised of chilsonated granules of a low oil absorption compound selected from the group consisting of sodium tetrapyrophosphate, dicalcium phosphate dihydrate, anhydrous dicalcium phosphate, and mixtures thereof. The abrasive composition is useful as a polishing agent and plaque and tartar removing agent in oral dentifrice compositions such as toothpastes, as well as a soft scrubbing agent for delicate hard surfaces, facial masks, and body soaps.

Many cleaning compounds have been formulated over the years that have incorporated a solid particulate material as an abrasive to aid in the cleaning process whereas the surfactant and solvent components of cleaners chemically interact with the organic deposits that comprise the undesirable stains, film or "dirty" appearance thereon. Abrasives, through forceful agitation, scrub the surface and physically remove the deposits that are difficult to clean chemically. Once physically broken up, the deposits are more susceptible to chemical breakdown by the surfactants, solvents and detergents.
Abrasives have been used for years in household cleaners, hand soaps, denture cleaners and the like. Pharmaceutically acceptable and food grade compounds have also been used in oral compositions to assist in the breakdown and removal of plaque, tartar, and food stains from teeth. U.S. Pat. No. 4,081,526 to Asakawa et. al. discloses and claims a dentifrice composition with increased polishing power for the removal of plaque and tartar using an abrasive comprised of a combination of an alkali metal phosphate and 0.5 wt % to 13.0 wt % of either monomorillonite or hectorite. The monomorillonite fraction consists of silicon dioxide, magnesium oxide, sodium oxide, iron oxide, and disodium oxide while the hectorite fraction is comprised of a mixture of the same components in different percentages. It is alleged that the combination of the abrasive components produces a synergistic effect, not only in the removal of the plaque and tartar from the surface of the tooth but in the prevention of subsequent plaque deposition.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,871,396 to Tsujita et. al. discloses toothpaste formulations wherein water insoluble binders such as colloidal silica, calcium silicate, montmorrillonite, and magnesium hydroxide, among others, are used to prepare microparticulate granules for use as an abrasive on the surface of the tooth. The granules themselves are comprised of dibasic calcium phosphate, sodium metaphosphate, magnesium carbonate, and mixtures thereof. The granules allegedly serve as excellent polishing abrasives on the tooth surface which results in a pleasant mouth feel.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,149,521 to Hirose et. al. discloses a dentifrice composition comprising a breakable granule consisting of a powder material selected from the group consisting of calcium phosphate, sodium metaphosphate, calcium carbonate, aluminosilicate and the like. The powder material is formed into the granule using a binding agent, resin, fat, polymers, or oils. The breakable granule does so when scrubbed against the tooth during brushing and allegedly imparts a smooth, polished organoleptic feeling in the mouth.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,206,010 to Inoue et. al. also discloses toothpaste formulations comprising abrasive microparticulate granules that consist of a water insoluble powder and a water insoluble organic binder. The water insoluble powder is comprised of sodium metaphosphate, calcium pyrophosphate, magnesium silicate and the like. The binders consist of fat and oils, polymers of methacrylic acid esters, vinyl acetate, PVP, thermoplastic resins and the like. Pharmaceutical agents may also be incorporated for a medicinal therapeutic effect. Again, the granules are processed so as to breakdown during brushing and impart a slippery, smooth mouthfeel.
Published PCT Application No. PCT/EP95/03698 to Vernon et. al. discloses toothpaste compositions containing abrasive agglomerates consisting of silicas, aluminas, calcium carbonate, calcium phosphate, hydroxyapatites and dicalcium phosphate, among others. The agglomerates break down with brushing and are designed to impart a sensorially perceived cleaning benefit without the usually affiliated gritty mouthfeel. The agglomerates are free of binding agents but are comprised of at least two of the enumerated materials, each of which are chemically or physically different from the other.
Published PCT Application No. PCT/EP95/03560 to Stanier et. al. also discloses toothpaste compositions comprising granular abrasives to impart a polished, clean mouthfeel to the teeth. The granules are also comprised of at least two different materials, a high structured water insoluble particulate, (i.e., one with a high oil absorption capacity) such as aluminas and expanded perlites with a low to medium structured water insoluble particulate material (low oil absorption capacity) such as amorphous silicas, calcium carbonate, dicalcium phosphate and the like. The particles also break down in the mouth with the application of shear and aid in the removal of tartar and plaque.
None of the prior art compositions afford a granular microparticulate abrasive comprised of only one material without the need for additional binders and/or agglomerating agents. Nor do any of the prior art materials provide a granule whose particle size is readily controlled and variable depending on the application of use.


An absorbent garment includes a moisture impervious outer layer, a nonwoven moisture pervious inner layer having an upper waste receiving surface, and an absorbent layer between said inner and outer layers, each of which layers extends between said front and back edges. The garment further includes a pair of overlay strips applied over the upper waste receiving surface with the opposite ends of the strips superimposed. Each overlay strip typically has one substantially straight longitudinal edge and one longitudinal edge with an inset central portion whereby the strips provide an opening to expose a target region in a central portion of the garment body. This superimposition of the strips also forms a pair of end caps for preventing fluid leakage at the garment body front edge and the garment body back edge. A stretchable material is positioned in a stretched condition along the longitudinal edges to urge the overlay strips into contact with the wearer's body.

The present invention relates generally to a disposable absorbent garment, such as a diaper, and more specifically to an improved garment design and method for producing the same which incorporates overlay strips which define a target region and form end caps.
The manufacture of disposable absorbent garments, such as infant diapers or adult incontinence briefs is well-known in the art. Traditionally, disposable diapers are constructed with a moisture impervious outer or backing layer, a moisture pervious body-contacting inner layer, and a moisture absorbent core layer sandwiched and encased between the inner and outer layers. More recently, elasticized waist bands and elasticized leg openings have been developed to provide a better fit and enhance the containment of bodily exudates.
Though elasticized waist bands and elasticized leg openings have enhanced containment of bodily exudates, they have not been entirely successful in preventing leakage. When a person voids, exudate is released relatively quickly at a localized region of the crotch portion of the disposable garment. This release is relatively fast and can overwhelm the garment's ability to absorb the exudate, possibly resulting in the wicking and overflow of exudate from the garment to clothing contacting the edges of the garment.
Therefore, there is a need to further enhance the containment of bodily exudates. Some disposable garments are presently being produced which include barrier cuffs, standing flaps, end shields, and target areas.
The concept of forming standing leg flaps is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,846,823 to Enloe which discloses diapers with elasticized side pockets. A pair of side pockets or standing flaps are made of water pervious material. The standing flaps extend the length of the garment and are elasticized to urge the standing flaps upward toward the body when the garment is worn. This configuration is described within this reference as slowing the sideways flow of fluidic material and as stopping essentially all the sideways flow of solid material. The Enloe design has several drawbacks. First, there is a lack of end caps. Although standing flaps alone are understood to assist in arresting the sideways flow of exudates, they do not contain the exudate flow towards the front and back waist edges. Also, the Enloe design requires extensive additional manufacturing to form these standing flaps.
The concept of forming end shields to prevent the flow of exudates to the waist end edges is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,753,646 to Enloe. Enloe teaches attaching waist flaps or end shields transversely across the front and back waist end edges of a garment. However, this design is understood to require the attachment of separate transversely extending end pieces as a separate and distinct step in the manufacture of the garment. The added step complicates the manufacturing process.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,738,677 to Foreman discloses an absorbent garment with barrier cuffs along the side edges and waist end edges of the garment. These cuffs have an elastic member along their edges which are described as performing the function of spacing the distal edges of the cuffs away from the liquid receiving surface of the garment when the garment is worn. This approach is also complicated from a manufacturing perspective because of the use of separate pieces for the side cuffs and waist cuffs of the garment.
The concept of forming a target area in an absorbent garment is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,662,877 to Williams which discloses a shaped disposable diaper which has a target area opening formed in a hydrophobic facing sheet. The facing sheet is attached to the upper surface of the garment such that it is in primary contact with the body. The facing sheet contains a substantially oval target opening central to the garment, creating an area or target through which exudate flows to a fibrous absorbent batt or core. The facing sheet contains zones of elastication along only the side margins of the oval opening to apply tensioning forces to the facing sheet and to urge this sheet away from the batt structure at the region adjacent the opening. To practice the Williams patent, the oval opening from the facing sheet is understood to be cut and then discarded or processed as scrap material. Therefore, the manufacturing process is wasteful. Also, Williams provides zones of elastication located only on two opposing sides of the opening. Consequently, areas of the facing sheet at the ends of the opening tend to remain flat against the absorbent core where they do not as readily capture exudate migrating toward the waist end edges of the garment.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,595,441 to Holvoet et al, a strip of liquid impermeable foil is cut in a trapezoidal wave pattern (FIG. 2 or 14) to form two strips. These strips are then shifted longitudinally relative to one another and incorporated into a garment with the deeper cuts in each strip adjacent to one another forming a target at a central area of a diaper and with the shallower cuts of each strip overlapping. A nonwoven material top sheet is then positioned over the top of the foil to complete the garment. The Holvoet et al approach is understood to lack a structure for containing exudates. When a person voids in such a diaper, the excess exudate which cannot be absorbed quickly enough by the absorbent batt will tend to flow over the nonwoven top sheet surface of the garment and outwardly from its edges.
Therefore, a need exists for an improved disposable absorbent garment design, suitable for use on adults, babies or persons of ages therebetween, which can be manufactured efficiently and which is not susceptible to the above and other limitations and disadvantages.

Method of manufacturing an absorbent garment with target region and end caps


An automated review cycle automatically merges changes in a reviewed document into an original document and by provides reviewing tools on a context-sensitive basis. The automated review cycle can operate within the environments of a document management system, a link-based document collaboration system (e.g., common server), or an attachment-based collaboration system. By generating a review cycle identification number (RCID) and by maintaining other information about the review cycle in a configuration file, an original author and a reviewer of a document can be distinguished and can be provided the appropriate prompts and tools to facilitate the document review process.

Document editors permit a document author to create and modify electronic documents such as word processing documents, spreadsheet documents, multimedia presentations, images, and sounds. Oftentimes, the author of a document may want to send the document to one or more reviewers to solicit comment and/or modifications to the document. Electronic mail (email) provides a convenient and commonly used mechanism for sending such documents to reviewers.
One of the most common document collaboration processes is document reviewing. Users typically perform document reviewing by using either an automated document management system or by manually routing copies of a document to potential reviewers.
Generally, a review cycle is considered to be the review process beginning with the author's transmitting a duplicate of an original document (or a link to the original document) to one or more reviewers and ending with the merging of the last reviewer's changes into the original document. The review cycle is typically begun by a trigger. A document author can trigger the beginning of a review cycle by choosing to send the original document to a recipient by email. This command is typically available in the menu structure of most document editors and/or email clients. Typically, the author can choose whether to send the document as an attachment or a link. The review cycle can also be triggered by an author selecting to send an original document for review within the context of a document management system.
Manual document reviewing involves an author's sending to potential reviewers a document either as an attachment to an email or as a link to a document maintained in a shared document location (e.g., on a common server). In the case where the document is sent as an attachment, the reviewer reads and edits the document and then returns the document to the author as an attachment to a reply email. In this case, the author receives an edited document for each reviewer that returns an attachment. The author is required to merge the changes from each of the reviewed documents into the original document and reconcile any conflicting changes.
In the case where the original document (i.e., the document created by the author) is a single document at a location on the server, each reviewer must access the original document and modify it. This reduces the necessity to merge changes into the original document, because the changes are actually made to the original document. However, this process also requires that only one reviewer can work on the document at a time. This review process is often not conducive with the users' need for an efficient and timely review cycle.
In the case where the document is managed within an automated document management system, the document management system will typically permit simultaneous editing of a document within the system, and will perform change merging automatically. However, most users do not employ document management systems as they are expensive and unwieldy for smaller organizations. Moreover, document management systems typically require the installation of a special kind of server.
A document editor may permit a sender to send a file to a recipient as either an attachment to an email note (in conjunction with an email client), or as a "link" to a shared disk location. As used herein, the term "link" refers to a reference, such as a uniform resource locator (URL), which points to the disk location where the file is stored. A link is typically "hot" or "active," such that when the recipient clicks on the link when executing the appropriate application program, the application program will attempt to automatically retrieve the file from its shared disk location.
Document editors typically interact with an email application program in order to create a new email note. The document author may instruct the document editor or the email application program to send a document file to a reviewer by email. The email application program may then create a copy of the document file and attach the copy to the new email note. The sender may then complete the mail note by, for example, indicating the recipient's email address and typing a message into the body of the email note. Thus, a copy of the document file will be sent to the recipient as an attachment to the email file.
Document editors also can typically interact with an email application program to send a link to a document authored in the document editor. The email application program creates a link to the shared document location of the file and inserts the link into the body of a new email note. The desktop application may also insert the link into a "link file" that is sent as an attachment to the new email note. The link file contains the link and not the actual document file that the sender intends for the recipient to access. Again, the sender may complete the email note by, for example, indicating the recipient's email address and typing a message into the body of the email note.
Unfortunately, existing document editors and email application programs do not provide an automated review cycle. That is, the user is required to determine the status of a document in a review cycle. The user must determine whether merging a reviewed document and an original document is appropriate. The user must also determine which reviewing tools to display at that stage of the review cycle and then, the user must manually access those tools.
Therefore, there is a need in the art for a document review system that does not require a specialized server and can support either attachment-based or link-based document collaboration to automate a review cycle by automatically providing reviewing tools in a context-sensitive manner.


The present disclosure relates to a communication method and system for converging a 5th-Generation (5G) communication system for supporting higher data rates beyond a 4th-Generation (4G) system with a technology for Internet of Things (IoT). The present disclosure may be applied to intelligent services based on the 5G communication technology and the IoT-related technology, such as smart home, smart building, smart city, smart car, connected car, health care, digital education, smart retail, security and safety services. The method includes configuring, by a User Equipment (UE) (100), a Protocol Data Unit (PDU) session type as an always-ON type or a normal PDU type. Further, the method includes sending, by the UE (100), a PDU session establishment request message including the PDU session type to be the always-ON type or the normal PDU type to a network (200) during an initial PDU session establishment procedure.

To meet the demand for wireless data traffic having increased since deployment of 4G communication systems, efforts have been made to develop an improved 5G or pre-5G communication system. Therefore, the 5G or pre-5G communication system is also called a 'Beyond 4G Network' or a 'Post LTE System'. The 5G communication system is considered to be implemented in higher frequency (mmWave) bands, e.g., 60 GHz bands, so as to accomplish higher data rates. To decrease propagation loss of the radio waves and increase the transmission distance, the beamforming, massive multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO), Full Dimensional MIMO (FD-MIMO), array antenna, an analog beam forming, large scale antenna techniques are discussed in 5G communication systems. In addition, in 5G communication systems, development for system network improvement is under way based on advanced small cells, cloud Radio Access Networks (RANs), ultra-dense networks, device-to-device (D2D) communication, wireless backhaul, moving network, cooperative communication, Coordinated Multi-Points (CoMP), reception-end interference cancellation and the like. In the 5G system, Hybrid FSK and QAM Modulation (FQAM) and sliding window superposition coding (SWSC) as an advanced coding modulation (ACM), and filter bank multi carrier (FBMC), non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA), and sparse code multiple access (SCMA) as an advanced access technology have been developed.
The Internet, which is a human centered connectivity network where humans generate and consume information, is now evolving to the Internet of Things (IoT) where distributed entities, such as things, exchange and process information without human intervention. The Internet of Everything (IoE), which is a combination of the IoT technology and the Big Data processing technology through connection with a cloud server, has emerged. As technology elements, such as "sensing technology", "wired/wireless communication and network infrastructure", "service interface technology", and "Security technology" have been demanded for IoT implementation, a sensor network, a Machine-to-Machine (M2M) communication, Machine Type Communication (MTC), and so forth have been recently researched. Such an IoT environment may provide intelligent Internet technology services that create a new value to human life by collecting and analyzing data generated among connected things. IoT may be applied to a variety of fields including smart home, smart building, smart city, smart car or connected cars, smart grid, health care, smart appliances and advanced medical services through convergence and combination between existing Information Technology (IT) and various industrial applications.
In line with this, various attempts have been made to apply 5G communication systems to IoT networks. For example, technologies such as a sensor network, Machine Type Communication (MTC), and Machine-to-Machine (M2M) communication may be implemented by beamforming, MIMO, and array antennas. Application of a cloud Radio Access Network (RAN) as the above-described Big Data processing technology may also be considered to be as an example of convergence between the 5G technology and the IoT technology.
Current 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) agreement states that a User Equipment (UE) 100 can support only one service request procedure at a time. This causes an impact when multiple accesses (3GPP access and Non-3GPP access) are involved in the UE 100. Consider an example scenario when a service request procedure is on-going over the 3GPP. At the same time, other access (i.e., Non-3GPP) has data/signaling request to be sent to a network, the UE 100 has to wait to trigger service request over the Non-3GPP until the service request procedure is completed over the 3GPP access which can lead to a significant delay varying between 10 sec to ˜2 min.
There are a lot of existing scenarios which are not been handled properly if the service request procedure is not allowed on the access due to on-going service request procedure on another access. Consider an ideal time for the completion of the service request procedure say is 10 seconds (similar to T3417) considering the message exchanges between the UE 100 and the network entities (including the communication within the network entities) for all existing scenarios.
In an existing scenario, pre-conditions of UE 100 includes 3GPP-5GMM-REGISTERED, 5GMM-CONNECTED mode over 3GPP access and Non-3GPP -5GMM-REGISTERED, 5GMM-CONNECTED mode over the non-3GPP access. As shown in FIG. 1, the Service Request is initiated over the 3GPP. Though, the UE 100 is in registered over the Non-3GPP and has data to send (Non-3GPP Protocol Data Unit (PDU's) also would be activated selectively), cannot initiate the service request until the service request procedure over the 3GPP is completed. However, there would be a delay for the non-3GPP PDU until the service request procedure is completed over the 3GPP assuming no failures or re-tries for 3GPP service request.
As shown in the FIG. 1, at 1, the UE 100 sends the service request over 3GPP to a 5G Core Network (5GC) 200. At 2, NON-3GPP PDU has data to send. At 3, the user plan/DRB established is established between the UE 100 and the 5GC 200 over the 3GPP. At 4, the 5GC 200 sends the service accept message over the 3GPP to the UE 100. At 5, the UE 100 sends the service request over the Non-3GPP to the 5GC 200.
As shown in the FIG. 2, At 1, the UE 100 sends the service request over 3GPP to the 5GC 200. At 2, NON-3GPP PDU has data to send. At 3-At 6, the UE 100 resends the service request over 3GPP to the 5GC 200. At 7, the user plan/DRB established is established between the UE 100 and the 5GC 200 over the 3GPP. At 8, the 5GC 200 sends the service accept message over the 3GPP to the UE 100. At 9, the UE 100 sends the service request over Non-3GPP to the network 200. At 10, UE 100 waits until TX expires (say 1 min) and at 11, the UE 100 sends the service request over Non-3GPP.
In another existing scenario, as shown in the FIG. 2, the service request is initiated for PDU1 over the 3GPP. Simultaneously, the UE 100 has data to send for a PDU2 over non-3GPP. However, due to an (any) abnormal case, the service request procedure completion is getting delayed over the 3GPP. Further, due to already on-going service request procedure over the 3GPP, the UE 100 is unable to send the service request over the Non-3GPP. This scenario leads to a significant delay due to abnormal case in the range of 10 sec to ˜2 min for Non-3GPP PDU2. In general, as per 3GPP specification, timer T3325 value is implementation defined with a minimum of 60 seconds. Hence, the delay can be more than 150 seconds depending on the timer value of T3325 which is chosen by a particular implementation.
In another existing scenarios, the pre-conditions of the UE 100 includes 3GPP -5GMM-REGISTERED, 5GMM-CONNECTED mode over 3GPP access and Non-3GPP-5GMM-REGISTERED, 5GMM-CONNECTED mode over the non-3GPP access. The Service Request is initiated for the PDU1 over 3GPP. Now, Application/Non-3GPP PDU2 mapped to low latency requirements (app which expect low latency) has data to send over 3GPP/Non-3GPP. And, the PDU2 has no uplink (UL) established yet. Until on-going Service request procedure over the 3GPP completes, a new Service Request cannot be triggered for PDU2. This scenario leads to not satisfying 5G requirements for low latency services. In successful case where there are no re-tries for the first service request (SR), it will take a maximum of 10 sec before the UE 100 can request for UL resources for PDU2 over 3GPP/Non-3GPP.
In another existing scenario, pre-conditions of UE 100 includes 3GPP-5GMM-REGISTERED, 5GMM-CONNECTED mode over 3GPP access and Non-3GPP-5GMM-REGISTERED, 5GMM-CONNECTED mode over non-3GPP access. The Service Request is initiated for the PDU1 over 3GPP. Concurrently, the network 200 had downlink (DL) data for other PDU say PDU2 (which is established over N3GPP) for which the network 200 sends a notification to the UE 100 over 3GPP (cross over of the UE initiated SR and network initiated notification message on the 3GPP access). The UE 100 cannot initiate response for the notification for Non-3GPP until the on-going Service request procedure over the 3GPP completes. However, this scenario leads to a delay that can vary from 10 Sec to ˜2 min (abnormal case) due to the current agreement.
In another existing scenario, pre-conditions of the UE 100 includes 3GPP -5GMM-REGISTERED, 5GMM-CONNECTED mode over 3GPP access and Non-3GPP-5GMM-REGISTERED, 5GMM-IDLE mode over non-3GPP access. The Service Request is initiated over 3GPP. Meanwhile, the Non-3GPP Access is in 5GMM-IDLE mode over non-3GPP and has to send Service Request to get into 5GMM-CONNECTED mode as it gained coverage over Non-3GPP access. However, the UE 100 has to wait to send Service Request over Non-3GPP access until Service request procedure completed over 3GPP access. This scenario can occur more frequently because Non-3GPP coverage can easily be lost and regained based on the Non-3GPP access point. Further, there would be a delay that can range from 10 Sec (assuming no failures or re-tries for the Service Request) to ˜2 min (considering abnormal cases) for Non-3GPP.
In another existing scenario, pre-conditions of UE 100 includes 3GPP-5GMM-REGISTERED, 5GMM-CONNECTED mode over 3GPP access and Non-3GPP-5GMM-REGISTERED, 5GMM-CONNECTED mode over non-3GPP access. The Service Request is initiated over 3GPP. This is the first attempt of the procedure. Now Non-3GPP needs to send Service Request for mobile originated (MO) data but has to wait until the Service request procedure completes over 3GPP. However, first attempt of Service Request over 3GPP fails. Now, the problem arises should Service Request be triggered for 3GPP or for Non-3GPP. Further, how to handle the situation in which both the accesses have a condition where it has to trigger Service Request. However, there would be a delay of over 10 Sec to ˜2 min to trigger Service Request over either of the access.
In an existing scenario, pre-conditions of UE 100 includes 3GPP -5GMM-REGISTERED, 5GMM-IDLE over 3GPP and Non-3GPP -5GMM-REGISTERED, 5GMM-CONNECTED over non-3GPP, PDU3 & PDU4 exists with UP established only for PDU3. A mobility registration update procedure is started. The data is generated for PDU1 for 3GPP. Since, the Mobility Registration Update Procedure is on-going, Service Request cannot be sent over 3GPP and is pended until the update procedure is completed. Data is generated for PDU4 of Non-3GPP. What should be the behavior at this point? Can the UE 100 send Service Request over Non-3GPP at this point? After the Mobility Registration Update procedure is successfully completed over 3GPP, then either of the below two cases arise and UE behavior needs to be defined. Case 1: If Service Request is sent over Non-3GPP, then Service Request over 3GPP needs to further wait until Service request procedure over Non-3GPP completes. Case 2: If Service Request is pended, then which Service Request will be processed first 3GPP or Non-3GPP one? However, in either cases, the delay for one Service Request over an access will range from 10 sec to ˜2 min as per the current agreement.
In an existing scenario, pre-conditions of UE 100 includes 3GPP-5GMM-REGISTERED with PLMN 1, 5GMM-CONNECTED mode over 3GPP access and Non-3GPP-5GMM-REGISTERED with PLMN 2, 5GMM-CONNECTED mode over non-3GPP access. The Service Request is initiated over 3GPP (registered with PLMN 1). Though, the UE 100 is in registered state over Non-3GPP (with PLMN 2) and has data to send (Non-3GPP PDU's also would be activated selectively), cannot initiate Service Request until Service request procedure over 3GPP is completed. However, there would be a delay for Non-3GPP PDU until Service request procedure is completed over 3GPP assuming no failures or re-tries for 3GPP Service Request. Delay in this scenario is unnecessary as the UE 100 is registered over different PLMNs.
Thus, it is desired to address the above mentioned disadvantages or other shortcomings or at least provide a useful alternative.

Method and system for handling service request procedure in communication network


A disposable pull-on type wearing article has a front waist region and a rear waist region which are overlapped with each other along side edges thereof and integrated together at sealing spots so as to form lateral waist zones. A surface to come in contact with the wearer's skin in the respective lateral waist zones is provided with cover sheets each bonded to the front and rear waist regions so as to cross a border line between these front and rear waist region. Such an arrangement prevents the sealing spots from coming in contact with the wearer's skin.

The present invention relates to a disposable pull-on type wearing article including a disposable pull-on type diaper as an example.
Disposable pull-on type wearing articles used in the form of the pull-on type diaper or training pants are well known. According to a method and an apparatus for bonding components of a pull-on type wearing article disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 1993-15551, front and rear waist regions can be connected with each other using an ultrasonic sealing apparatus.
According to the invention disclosed in the above publication, when the top- and the backsheets together forming the front and rear waist regions of the wearing article contain a heat-sealable material such as thermoplastic synthetic fibers or a thermoplastic synthetic resin film, the front and rear waist regions may be put flat along opposite side edges of these regions and then treated by an ultrasonic sealing apparatus to connect these front and rear waist regions to each other. Specifically, the sealable material is molten and then solidified to form the sealing spots. However, the heat-sealable material such as the fibers or the film, even if it is intrinsically soft, is converted to a hard blocky structure in each of the sealing spots after molten and then solidified. When the wearing article having such sealing spots is put on the wearer's body with the front and rear waist regions tightened in a waist-surrounding direction, the sealing spots may uncomfortably irritate the wearer's skin from the inside of the wearing article.