A dispensing closure, including a horizontal deck, an aperture through the deck, and a collar depending below the aperture in the deck, is snapped over an annular bead on the neck of a molded plastic bottle. A stop wall, comprising a pair of ribs mounted for pivotal movement, is formed in the interior of the body of the closure; a gap is centrally located between the ribs. A radially projecting lug, which is triangular when viewed in side elevation, is formed on the sloping collar of the container; a dovetailed segment is defined at the free end of the lug. The collar on the closure has interrupted beads, so that the dispensing closure is secured to the container by snapping the interrupted beads over the annular bead on the neck of the container. The ribs of the stop wall flex pivotally outwardly when contacting the outer end of the lug. The dispensing closure is rotated relative to the container, in either the clockwise or counterclockwise direction, so that the dovetailed segment of the lug projects into the central aperture in the stop wall; the free ends of the ribs engage the dovetailed segment and lock the closure into proper alignment with the container.

Dispensing closures, including lugs, stops, and the like, for positively aligning the closure relative to a specific location, on a plastic container, such as the front of a bottle, are known. To illustrate, U.S. Pat. No. 5,143,234, granted Sep. 1, 1992 to Richard Lohrman et al, discloses a dispensing closure (20), employing a living, or snap-acting, hinge (26), and utilizing an alignment rib (30) for providing a positive alignment of the thumb recess (14) for facilitating the lifting of a hinged closure lid (24). In the preferred embodiment of FIGS. 1–5, cooperating alignment ribs (30, 48) are located upon the bottle neck and the interior of the closure. The alignment ribs are interrelated in such a manner that when the closure is threaded up the bottle neck, the mating ribs do not contact one another in the first instance, but eventually contact and abut each other after at least one full turn of the closure upon the bottle neck, and before one and one-half full turns of the closure upon the bottle neck, thereby positioning the thumb recess (14) in the center of the bottle face, as shown in FIG. 4. The bottle face contains the brand name of the product, an advertisement for such product, fanciful graphics, etc. so that the proper alignment of the dispensing closure is of commercial significance.
Another positive orientation system for a dispensing closure, with an internally threaded skirt, and a closure, is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,145,080, granted Sep. 8, 1992, to Leo R. Imbery, Jr. The Imbery, Jr. patent discloses a container (30) having a neck (36) defining an opening (38) to the interior of the container, an external screw thread (50), and a protuberance (80). The protuberance has generally opposite abutment surfaces (leading surface 96, and trailing surface 98), and at least one cam surface (106, 110) extending between the abutment surfaces. The closure (32) has a skirt (44) defining an internal screw thread (48) for engaging the external screw thread on the container. The skirt defines a recess (82) for receiving a protuberance (80). The recess is defined at opposite ends by spaced-apart engaging surfaces (121, 122) for confronting the abutment surfaces of the protuberance. The skirt is sufficiently resilient, as shown in FIG. 6, to deform as relative threading engagement is effected between the closure and the container neck to accommodate relative movement of the container neck and closure until the protuberance is received in the recess, as shown in FIG. 5, to prevent relative rotation between the closure and the container.
Another positive orientation system for dispensing closures secured to plastic containers is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,431,381, granted Aug. 13, 2002, to Jeffrey T. Randall. In the preferred embodiment of FIGS. 1–5, Randall discloses a closure (30) having a lug seal (50) that cooperates with a container neck lug (28) formed on a shoulder (27) on an interior surface (25) of the container neck (26). In the alternative embodiment of FIGS. 6–11, Randall discloses a positive orientation system employing at least one neck lug (128) on an end of the container neck (121), and the closure body (132) is provided with at least the closure neck lug (154) extending from the closure neck, and adapted to engage a corresponding one of the at least one (usually two) neck lugs. The engagement of the lugs limits the threaded engagement between the closure and the container during installation of the dispensing closure, but permits unthreading removal of the closure from the container, when necessary or desirable.

Dispensing closure with stop wall for positive alignment on container


A communications interface device is wearable about a user's neck, and can have various audio communications devices—such as cellphones, walkie-talkies, radios, scanners, digital music players, etc.—connected to the interface device to serve as a central communications hub. An audio input microphone is provided on the device to pick up audio messages that the user wishes to deliver, with such messages then being directed to the appropriate connected communications device. Speakers, which preferably extend from the interface device via flexible leads, supply audio from one or more of the connected communications devices to the user's ears. A switch or other selector is provided on the interface device to allow user selection of the communications devices from which the user wishes to receive (and to which the user wishes to send) messages.

It is becoming increasingly popular at sporting events, rallies, concerts, and other gatherings to engage in wireless communications with others, whether these others are present at the gathering or are located elsewhere. As an example, attendees may communicate with other attendees at an event with wireless/cellular telephones, Family Radio Service (FRS) radios or other walkie-talkies, or the like to exchange commentary about the event, and to ask what others are seeing from their respective vantage points. At the same time, many attendees also like to simultaneously use radios, scanners, or the like to monitor simultaneous broadcasts of the event, or to use portable music players (e.g., MP3 players, CD players, etc.) to simultaneously or periodically listen to music. As an example, at NASCAR or other racing events, members of a party will often position themselves about various portions of a track, and will communicate with each other about their observations while simultaneously using scanners to listen to pit crew conversations. While these arrangements can add excitement to an event, they can also be burdensome and inconvenient, since one must simultaneously handle multiple phones, radios, scanners, etc. (as well as the encumbrance of any associated cords/leads), and at the same time one may be carrying an event program, binoculars, food/beverages, or other matter. This often leads to frustration since one simply does not have enough "free hands" to deal with all of these items. Difficulties also arise with communications because of background noise at the event, which can be compounded owing to the use of radios, scanners, etc.
The same problems and frustrations are also often shared by participants in the events themselves. For example, coaches and event coordinators—who usually have a limited view of the overall event—often wish to communicate with others at the event, while at the same time monitoring broadcasts of the event. The need for communications is often particularly acute at events such as long-distance races, golf tournaments, fishing competitions, sailing regattas, and the like, where participants and coordinators may be widely spread out over a large area. Additionally, the participants/coordinators may be involved in activities which require their attention and the full use of their hands, leaving little opportunity to juggle two-way communicators and/or one-way communications receiver devices. The same difficulties are often shared in industry by construction workers, plant maintenance personnel, security personnel, and the like.
Some of these difficulties are alleviated with use of hands-free enhancements for the foregoing communications devices, such as headsets or ear loops which bear speakers for the user's ears, and also bear hands-free microphones (such as clip-on microphones, boom microphones that curve around to the user's mouth, etc.). However, such devices are usually only adapted to connect to a single phone, radio, scanner, music player, or other communications device, and the headsets can sometimes make it difficult to make effective use of a second or subsequent communications device. Additionally, the headsets can be cumbersome, uncomfortable, and/or difficult to use in situations where the user might need to wear a hat, helmet, or other gear for sun or impact protection or for other purposes.
It would therefore be useful to have available some device which allows a user to make effective use of multiple communications devices (such as phones, radios, scanners, music players, etc.), while minimizing the entanglements of multiple cords or other leads, and while allowing a greater degree of hands-free use of the devices.


A pressure activated recharging cooling platform for cooling an object is provided. The cooling platform comprises a temperature regulation layer, a support layer, and a channeled covering layer. The temperature regulation layer is adapted to hold a composition. The temperature regulation layer has a plurality of angled segments, wherein angled segments within a sealed perimeter of the temperature regulation layer are formed by a top side and a bottom side at a predefined distance, and channels, wherein the channels substantially form sides by contacting the top side with the bottom side at a distance lesser than the predefined distance. The support layer is substantially bonded to the bottom side of the temperature regulation layer and is comprised of material sufficiently pliable to deform and sufficiently rigid to withstand collapse in response to the weight of the object. The channeled covering layer encompasses the support and temperature regulation layers.

1) Field of the Invention
The invention relates to temperature controlled platforms, particularly, cooling platforms for animals.
2) Discussion of the Related Art
Pet beds serve as a place to rest or sleep, for pets such as cats and dogs. Many times, depending on the application, these pet beds are directed towards cooling or heating pets. These beds can be used during post-surgery recovery, dysplasia, or post-chemotherapy. Generally, these pet beds aid in the comfort and safety of the pet.
Many pet beds are known to have cooling mechanisms. Some pet beds provide a centralized cooling plate with no mechanism to circulate. These pet beds are electrically connected to a power source. Power sources often times fail, negating the "portable" aspect of a product. Further, such systems require heavy and complex equipment, and are not typically portable or user friendly.
There are other pet beds available which use alternative or "non-electric" means to cool a pet. These pet beds generally use ice packs. However, these ice packs eventually melt and need to be replaced. Accordingly, it is desirable to provide an improved cooling bed for pets.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Pressure activated recharging cooling platform


The invention relates to binoculars and a method for adjusting an interpupillary distance of binoculars, comprising a first housing half having a first eyepiece with a first optical axis, a second housing half having a second eyepiece with a second optical axis, wherein the distance of the first optical axis to the second optical axis defines an interpupillary distance and wherein the first housing half and the second housing half are hingedly connected to each other by means of at least one folding bridge and wherein the folding bridge comprises a first folding bridge portio coupled with the first housing half and a second folding bridge portion coupled with the second housing half and wherein the interpupillary distance may be changed by pivoting the two housing halves and wherein a detection device is formed, by means of which the interpupillary distance may be determined.

The invention relates to binoculars and a method for adjusting an interpupillary distance of binoculars.
Binocular telescopes, which are also referred to as binoculars or field glasses, serve for hands-free observation of distant objects. Such products have been in use for more than a century and are used, for example, for leisure, hunting and military purposes. They usually consist of 2 tubes configured in a mirror-symmetric manner and arranged pivotably against each other around a joint pivot axis, which is also referred to as folding axis. Said tubes consist of a pair of eyepieces on the observer side and a pair of objective lenses on the object side. Usually, these are optical lens systems. Between the eyepiece and objective lens assemblies, an erecting system is arranged, whose construction (e.g. as a lens system, roof edge prism system, Porro prism system or mirror system) determines the essential shape of the binoculars.
For adjusting binoculars to the individual interpupillary distance of a user in order to achieve a pleasant viewing experience, it is known to pivot the two tubes of binoculars around the folding axis.
From EP 2824492 A1, binoculars having a folding bridge for adapting the distance between the eyepieces to the distance between the eyes of the user are known, wherein the folding bridge comprises a joint by means of which the left-hand and the right-hand tubes are pivotably connected to each other for adapting, by means of the pivoting movement of the folding bridge, the distance of the left-hand and the right-hand tubes to the individual distance between the eyes of the user.
U.S. Ser. No. 10/088,648 B2 shows an adjusting device for the interpupillary distance of binoculars, wherein different click positions of the adjusting device are provided for different angles of rotation.
US 2007053056 A1 shows binoculars with image orientation, wherein first and second tubes are configured adjustably relative to one another in order to adjust an interpupillary distance between the eyes of a user. In the binoculars, means are provided whereby adjustment between the first and second tubes can be taken into account when capturing the image so as to reduce the problems caused by the angular adjustment.
When binoculars are stowed or transported, they are usually folded to minimum housing dimensions. The interpupillary distance is thus adjusted to a minimum via a folding axis of a folding bridge and consequently no longer corresponds to the optimal interpupillary distance of the user. If the binoculars are now to be unfolded again for use, the user should to be able to do this quickly and comfortably, and the interpupillary space of the binoculars which is optimal for the user should be achieved again.

Binoculars and method for adjusting an interpupillary distance


A switch mode power converter is provided which includes a switching cell with a supply input, an output and a control input. A summing comparator has first and second differential input pairs and an output. The output is connected to the control input of the switching cell. An oscillator provides a periodic waveform that is applied to a first one of the inputs of the first differential input pair of the summing comparator. An adjustable reference voltage source provides an adjustable reference voltage a predetermined fraction of which is applied to a second one of the inputs of the first differential input pair of the summing comparator. An error amplifier has differential outputs coupled to the second pair of differential inputs of the summing comparator and a differential input pair. A first input of the differential input pair is coupled to the output of the switching cell, and the adjustable reference voltage from the adjustable reference voltage source is applied to a second input of the differential input pair. Thus, the desired DC voltage is scaled to produce a DC reference for the comparator which generates the desired duty cycle for the pulse signal that drives the switching cell, and thus the desired regulated output voltage, with only minor corrections required across the error terminals to correct small parasitic terms.

Typical prior art switch mode power converters have a supply input and an output that provides a regulated supply voltage. U.S. Pat. No. 5,600,234 shows a DC-DC buck converter with a switching cell that transforms an input voltage to a regulated supply voltage lower than the input voltage. The switching cell is controlled by a pulse signal that has a fixed period and a variable duty cycle. The pulse signal is provided by a summing comparator. The summing comparator has a first differential input pair to which a saw-tooth waveform signal is applied that determines the fixed period of the pulse signal. The duty cycle of the pulse signal is set by a first feedback loop that feeds the a fraction of the voltage at the output of the switching cell to an inverting input of the summing comparator, and by a second feedback loop that includes an integrating differential amplifier. While the first feedback loop ensures a fast transient response, it also introduces a DC error. The second feedback loop has a high gain but slow transient response to correct for the DC error and provide a stable steady-state operating point.


The present invention provides an antireflection substance such as an antireflection film having a low moisture-permeable characteristic, high quality and high reliability, and also provides a display apparatus comprising this antireflection substance. The antireflection substance according to the present invention includes an antireflection film formed on a transparent substrate, the antireflection film being composed of a multiple layer in which a first layer serving as an adhesion-improving layer, a second layer serving as a barrier layer against moisture, a third layer, a fourth layer and a fifth layer are laminated in this order, and in which the second layer and the fourth layer are each set to have a refractive index higher than that of the third layer and the fifth layer. The display apparatus according to the present invention comprises this antireflection substance on its display surface.

In such a display apparatus that includes a cathode-ray tube for example, an antireflection film is stuck or its display surface in order to realize a high picture quality by reducing reflections of surroundings, improving the contrast, and so on. The antireflection film is formed on a transparent substrate.
It is well known that the conventional antireflection film is formed of a laminate of silicon oxide and titanium oxide. FIG. 1 shows a conventional typical antireflection film. This antireflection film 1 includes an antireflection subfilm 7 of a four-layer structure formed on one side of a transparent substrate 2 made of a resinous substrate (filmy substance) of, e.g. polyethylene terephthalate (PET) or the like. The antireflection subfilm 7 is formed by laminating successively a first layer of high-refractive-Index titanium oxide (TiO2) film 3, a second layer of low-refractive-index silicon oxide (SiO2) film 4, a third layer of high-refractive-index titanium oxide (TiO2) film 5, and a fourth layer of low-refractive-index silicon oxide (SiO2) film 6. The thickness of the first layer of titanium oxide film 3 is 13 nm; the thickness of the second layer of silicon oxide film 4 is 20 nm; the thickness of the third layer of titanium oxide film 5 is 98 nm; the thickness of the fourth layer of silicon oxide film 6 is 92 nm. Optical characteristics of the antireflection subfilm 7 are such that the average reflectance Rave is 0.28% and the maximum reflectance P is 1.19% (both are values in the range of wavelengths from 450 nm to 650 nm).
The antireflection subfilm 7 can be formed by a film-forming apparatus such as a sputtering system using targets of metal oxide and metal nitride or a reactive sputtering system using metal targets.
When the film-forming apparatus by reactive sputtering is employed, if a speed of forming the silicon oxide film is 60 nm×m/min and a speed of forming the titanium oxide film is 12 nm×m/min, then the number of cathodes (so-called targets) required for obtaining a running speed of 0.5 m/min of the filmy transparent substrate will be 8 pairs. Because of a slow speed of forming the titanium oxide film, it is difficult to obtain the transparent film at a high film-forming speed. Thus, in order to increase the film thickness, the number of targets must be increased as follows:
Details of the number of cathodes are SiO2 (one cathode)/TiO2 (five cathodes)/SiO2 (one cathode)/TiO2 (one cathode).
Incidentally, as described above, although the titanium oxide film and silicon oxide film can be formed using the sputtering by targets of metal oxide and metal nitride or the reactive sputtering by metal targets, a speed of forming the transparent titanium oxide film having a high refractive index is so small between them that productivity of the antireflection subfilm is low. In addition, when forming a film of metal oxide and metal nitride, the reactive sputtering can raise the film-forming speed rather than the sputtering. Therefore, from an industrial viewpoint, an optical design and film structure is desired, which are capable of making a high-refractive-index layer of low film-forming speed as thin as possible.
By the way, a speed of forming a typical titanium oxide film is about 15% of that of a silicon oxide film in case of reactive sputtering of a titanium material. For example, when forming the titanium oxide film while the resinous film forming the substrate is kept running at a speed of 1 m/min, its thickness of 7˜12 nm can be obtained. On this occasion, a speed of forming the titanium oxide film is 7˜10 nm×m/min. On the other hand, the silicon oxide film used as a low-refractive-index layer can provide a film-forming speed of about 45×60 nm by the reactive sputtering. This means that productivity of the antireflection film depends on a thickness of titanium oxide film having a high refractive index and low film-forming speed.
The optical films composing the antireflection film are industrially produced by the above-described reactive sputtering process using metal targets. However, wish this reactive sputtering technique, if gas is gushed out of the substrate, the film-forming becomes unstable. For example, while an amount of produced oxygen when the titanium oxide film is formed is about 10 sccm, if an excessive activated gas is supplied by the gas gushed out of the substrate (so-called outgas), then the film-forming speed and optical constants will change, thus making it difficult to obtain a desired film thickness and optical characteristics. When the resinous substrate is employed for the transparent substrate of antireflection film, plenty of moisture may be spouted during the sputtering. If a residual gas in a film-forming chamber increases due to the gushed gas caused by that moisture, the film-forming speed goes down, making a bad effect on the film-forming.
On the other hand, when, for example, the antireflection subfilm in four layers of silicon oxide film and titanium oxide film is formed on the PET film substrate, the conventional antireflection film itself has a bad permeability against moisture. Consequently, when the antireflection film is stuck on the surface of a CPT panel, the antireflection subfilm or the antireflection film itself deteriorates, exfoliates and falls away under a high-temperature and high-humidity environment.

Display apparatus and antireflection substance


Excess solder is removed from an article such as a circuit substrate or electronic component as is often required after separation of a mounted component from a substrate. A metal foil having a surface with micro-roughness is brought in contact with the solder material and heated to thereby melt the solder, allowing it to flow onto the foil surface. The foil, having the molten solder therein, is then withdrawn.

Removal of solder from a substrate or component is a necessary process that is widely practiced for the repair or rework of electronic assemblies. Electronic components, whether of the surface mount or pin through hole type are usually joined to a supporting substrate with solder joints between individual tabs or pins on the component and corresponding surface pads or holes surrounded by pads on the substrate. When a component or chip is removed from a substrate due to some known or suspected defect in the component or attachment, an excess of solder of random or irregular shape often having a rough surface is left behind on the substrate component attachment pads. Such surfaces are unsuitable for attaching another component or re-attaching the same component without first removing the excess solder to provide a uniform surface on the attachment pads. Components including semiconductor chips may also have excess solder which needs to be removed prior to use or re-use.
Various methods have been developed for removing solder from a substrate or component. For example, vacuum suction has been used to achieve solder removal using apparatus such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,970,234. Use of vacuum suction apparatus is undesirable because it is complicated to make and use, and the results are highly de pendent on operator skill. Furthermore, due to clogging with solder, vacuum suction tips can not be made smaller than about 10 mili-inches in diameter, preventing their use on chip sites and other fine pitch arrays of solder pads.
Another method for solder removal involves apparatus to heat the solder above its melting point and then using a wick to draw the molten solder from the surface of the substrate or component.
Accordingly, a great variety of wicks have been developed. For example, strands of copper coated with solder and braided together to form a wick are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,164,606 while U.S. Pat. No. 4,416,408 describes a wick made from an open mesh of strands. A wick made of a non-metallic material coated with metal and flux is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,323,631.
A wick formed by etching a pattern in a silicon base and then metallizing the pattern is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,065,931. Japanese Patent No. 1-192466 uses a printed circuit board having holes which absorb melted solder by a capillary phenomenon into the holes. Browne and DiNunzio describe using a copper block with cone shaped aligned protrusions to wick solder up into the copper block in IBM Technical Disclosure Bulletin Vol. 27, No. 5, May 1994 p. 35. Caccoma et. al. describe a solder wick ribbon apparatus for solder removal in IBM Technical Disclosure Bulletin Vol. 21, No. 11, April 1979, p. 4482.
Porus metal blocks have also been used for absorbing solder. Methods for making such devices are described in IBM Technical Disclosure Bulletin Vol. 25, No. 5, October 1982, p. 2285 and in U.S. Pat. No. 5,219,520. Once a block becomes filled with solder it must be replaced, making this approach undesirable because the blocks are expensive to manufacture.
Solder material has also been removed by using a jet of hot oil as described in IBM Technical Disclosure Bulletin, Vol. 12, No. 4, September 1968, p. 548 or a stream of hot gas to dislodge excess solder making it part of the jet stream as disclosed in IBM Technical Disclosure Bulletin, Vol. 18, No. 5, October 1975, P. 1384-85. Fluid impingement methods such as these can result in solder residue becoming embedded in the substrate surface due to the high velocity of the stream.
The substrate can be partially or completely immersed in a liquid bath of solder as in IBM Technical Disclosure Bulletin, Vol. 19, No. 7, December 1976, p. 2476 or another fluid as in U.S. Pat. No. 5,620,132. With immersion, solder removal can be enhanced by passing a squeegee over the surface of the substrate after the solder has become melted, or by using an adhesive material to pull the solder away from the substrate after it is raised to its melting point as in U.S. Pat. No. 5,458,281. Immersion methods necessarily require apparatus for containing and heating the fluid and means for removing solder from the container as it accumulates or else periodically replacing the fluid.


The present invention provides a graphics processing unit for rendering objects from a software application executing on a processing unit in which the objects to be rendered are transmitted to the graphics processing unit over a bus as control points of bicubic surfaces. According to the method and system disclosed herein, the graphics processing unit includes a transform unit, a lighting unit, a renderer unit, and a tessellate unit for tessellating both rational and non-rational object surfaces in real-time.

Object models are often stored in computer systems in the form of surfaces. The process of displaying the object (corresponding to the object model) generally requires rendering, which usually refers to mapping the object model onto a two dimensional surface. At least when the surfaces are curved, the surfaces are generally subdivided or decomposed into triangles in the process of rendering the images.
A cubic parametric curve is defined by the positions and tangents at the curve's end points. A Bezier curve, as shown in FIG. 5 for example, is defined by a geometry matrix of four points (P1–P4) that are defined by the intersections of the tangent vectors at the end points of the curve. Changing the locations of the points changes the shape of the curve.
Cubic curves may be generalized to bicubic surfaces by defining cubic equations of two parameters, s and t. In other words, bicubic surfaces are defined as parametric surfaces where the (x,y,z) coordinates in a space called "world coordinates" (WC) of each point of the surface are functions of s and t, defined by a geometry matrix P comprising 16 control points (FIG. 5).
While the parameters s and t describe a closed unidimensional interval (typically the interval [0,1]) the points (x,y,z) describe the surface:
x=f(s,t), y=g(s,t), z=h(s,t) sε[0,1], t ε[0,1], where ε represents an interval between the two coordinates in the parenthesis.
The space determined by s and t, the bidimensional interval [0,1]x[0,1] is called "parameter coordinates" (PC). Textures described in a space called "texture coordinates" (TC) that can be two or even three dimensional are described by sets of points of two ((u,v)) or three coordinates ((u,v,q)). The process of attaching a texture to a surface is called "texture—object association" and consists of associating u, v and q with the parameters s and t via some function:u=a(s,t) v=b(s,t) (and q=c(s,t))
FIGS. 1A and 1B are diagrams illustrating a process for rendering bicubic surfaces. As shown in FIG. 1A, the principle used for rendering such a curved surface 10 is to subdivide it into smaller four sided surfaces or tiles 12 by subdividing the intervals that define the parameters s and t. The subdivision continues until the surfaces resulting from subdivision have a curvature, measured in WC space that is below a predetermined threshold. The subdivision of the intervals defining s and t produces a set of numbers {si} i=1,n and {tj} j=1,m that determine a subdivision of the PC. This subdivision induces a subdivision of the TC, for each pair (si,tj) we obtain a pair (ui,j, vi,j) (or a triplet (ui,j,vi,j, qi,j)). Here ui,j=a(si,tj), vi,j=b(si,tj), qi,j=c(si,tj). For each pair (si,tj) we also obtain a point (called "vertex") in WC, Vi,j (f(si,tj),g(si,tj),h(si,tj)). A special type of texture, called displacement map having the pair (p,r) as coordinates can be used to generate special lighting effects. For each pair (si,tj) we also obtain a pair (pi,j ri,j) that index a displacement value (dxi,j, dyi,j, dzi,j). for the vertex Vi,j.
This process is executed off-line because the subdivision of the surfaces and the measurement of the resulting curvature are very time consuming. As shown in FIG. 1B, when all resulting four sided surfaces (tiles) 12 is below a certain curvature threshold, each such resultant four-sided surface 12 is then divided into two triangles 14 (because they are easily rendered by dedicated hardware) and each triangle surface gets the normal to its surface calculated and each triangle vertex also gets its normal calculated. The normals are used later on for lighting calculations.
Furthermore, each vertex or triangle plane normal needs to be transformed when the surface is transformed in response to a change of view of the surface, a computationally intensive process that may need dedicated hardware. Also, there is no accounting for the fact that the surfaces are actually rendered in a space called "screen coordinates" (SC) after a process called "projection" which distorts such surfaces to the point where we need to take into consideration the curvature in SC, not in WC.
The state of the art in today's hardware architecture for rendering relies overwhelmingly on triangle databases such as meshes, strips, fans. The current state of the art in the computer graphics industry is described in FIG. 2, which shows an architecture of a conventional computer graphics system, including the architecture of a graphics processing unit (GPU). A CPU 1, executes a software application in the form of a game play or a physical or chemical simulation, etc., in which objects to be rendered are represented as triangle meshes in an object database stored in memory. The triangle meshes are transmitted over an accelerated graphics port (AGP) bus 6 to the GPU 5, which is typically part of a display adapter (video card). The AGP bus 6 is a high-speed port that is designed for the display adapter only to provide a direct connection between the card and memory. The GPU 5 includes a transform unit 2, a lighting unit 3 and a renderer unit 4.
The object modeling in the application is executed on parametric surfaces such as nurbs, Bezier, splines, and the surfaces are subdivided or tessellated off-line and stored as triangle vertices in a triangle database by means of commercially available tools, such as the Alias suite. The triangle vertices are then transmitted from the CPU 1 (the triangle server) to the GPU 5 (the rendering engine) at the time for rendering. Previous attempts to execute the tessellation in hardware in real-time have not been successful because of the severe limitations of the implementation so the current state of the art has been off-line tessellation.
Unfortunately, the off-line tessellation produces a fixed triangulation that may exhibit an excessively large number of very small triangles when the object is far away. Triangle rendering in this case is dominated by the processing of vertices (transformation, lighting) and by the triangle setup (the calculation of the color and texture gradients). Since triangles may reduce to a pixel or less, it is obvious that this is an inefficient treatment.
Conversely, when the object is very close to the viewer, the composing triangles may appear very large and the object looses its smoothness appearance, looking more like a polyhedron.
The increase in the scene complexity has pushed up the number of triangles, which has pushed up the demands for higher bus bandwidth. For example, the bus 6 that connects the CPU 1 with the GPU 5 has increased 8× in frequency, from AGP 1× to AGP 8× in the PC space in the last few years. There are physical constraints in terms of signal propagation that preclude the continuation of the frequency increase in bus design.
With the advent of faster arithmetic it has become possible to change the current architecture such that the CPU 1 will serve parametric patches and the renderer 5 will triangulate such patches in real-time. There are very few past attempts of implementing real-time tesselation in hardware. Sun Corporation tried in the mid-80's to implement such a machine. The implementation was based on an architecture described in a paper by Lien, Sheue-Ling, Shantz, Michael, Pratt, Vaughan "Adaptive Forward Differencing for Rendering Curves and Surfaces", Siggraph '87 Proceedings, pp. 111–118 and in a series of associated patents. The implementation was not a technical and commercial success because it made no good use of triangle based rendering, trying instead to render the surfaces pixel by pixel. The idea was to use adaptive forward differencing in interpolating infinitesimally close parallel cubic curves imbedded into the bicubic. The main drawback was that sometimes the curves were too close together, resulting into pixel overstrikes and other times the curves were too far apart, leaving gaps. Another drawback was that the method is slow.
In the early 90's Nvidia Corporation made an attempt to introduce a biquadric based hardware renderer. The attempt was not a technical and commercial success because biquadrics have an insufficient number of degrees of freedom, all the models use bicubics, none of the models uses biquadrics.
More currently, Henry Moreton from Nvidia has resurrected the real-time tesselation unit described in the U.S. Pat. No. 6,597,356 entitled "Integrated Tesselator in a Graphics Processing Unit," issued Jul. 22, 2003. Moreton's invention doesn't directly tesselate patches in real-time, but rather uses triangle meshes pre-tesselated off-line in conjunction with a proprietary stitching method that avoids cracking and popping at the seams between the triangle meshes representing surface patches. His tesselator unit outputs triangle databases to be rendered by the existing components of the 3D graphics hardware.
Accordingly, what is needed is a system and method for performing tessellation in real-time. The present invention addresses such a need.

Bicubic surface real-time tesselation unit


An electrical connector assembly (100) includes an insulative housing (1) with a plurality of terminal passages (12), a plurality of contacts (2) received in the corresponding terminal passages and a PCB (3) electrically connected with the contacts. The PCB has a terminal soldering area (31) and a wire soldering area (32), the terminal soldering area defines a plurality of first conductive pads (311) on a top surface and a bottom surface of the PCB, the first conductive pads are electrically connected with corresponding contacts. The wire soldering area defines a plurality of second conductive pads (321) on the top surface and the bottom surface of the PCB, the second conductive pads are electrically connected with corresponding wires, and the first conductive pads are electrically connected with the second conductive pads, the number of the first conductive pads located on the top surface is different from the second conductive pads on the top surface.

1. Field of the Invention
This application claims priority to prior Chinese patent applications 200920300284.0 and 200920301634.5, the disclosure of which are incorporated herein by reference.
The present invention generally relates to an electrical connector assembly, and more particularly to an electrical connector assembly with improved contact arrangement and metallic shell.
2. Description of Related Art
Developed by Sony, Hitachi, Thomson (RCA), Philips, Matsushita (Panasonic), Toshiba and Silicon Image, the High-Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI) has emerged as the connection standard for HDTV and the consumer electronics market. HDMI is the first digital interface to combine uncompressed high-definition video, multi-channel audio and intelligent format and command data in a single digital interface. An electrical connector assembly in accordance with HDMI standard can be connected with personal computers, set top box, televisions, etc, and used for audio and video signal transmission via a same cable.
According to HDMI transmitting protocol, a C-type HDMI connector comprises nineteen contacts disposed in a distance of 7.2 millimeter, so the distance of the two neighboring contacts is only 0.4 millimeter, and it's difficult to arrange all the contacts on a same plane. Chinese patent No. 2711949Y published to YangLi on Jul. 20, 2005 discloses an electrical connector assembly compatible with A-type HDMI standard, the electrical connector assembly is defined with contacts thereof arranged on different planes of a PCB, then the distance between the two neighboring contacts can be wider for soldering. A A-type HDMI connector and a C-type HDMI connector have the same number of contacts, and the nineteen contacts comprises three channels transmitting Time Minimized Differential Signal (TMDS) and an individual channel transmitting Time Minimized Differential Signal (TMDS), in order to make sure the uniform time sequence of transmission, each TMDS channel includes a pair of differential signal contacts and a grounding contact. However, in YangLi's invention, the four pairs of differential signal contacts are soldered on two different planes of the PCB, thus the cross-talk therebetween may be increased.
U.S. issued No. 7,090,534B2 published to Wu on Jun. 8, 2006 discloses another HDMI connector, the HDMI connector has a shielding member enclosing a housing and a spacer assembled to the housing, the spacer is exposed beyond the shielding member, but the spacer maybe swing before molding a cover thereon, the connection area between other components maybe unstable, and the connecting area of contacts may be affected by EMI.
Correspondingly, it is desired to have an electrical connector assembly with improved contact arrangement and metallic shell to address the problems stated above.

Electrical connector assembly with improved contact arrangement and metallic shell


A method and apparatus for improving the signal-to-noise ratio of low-magnitude input signals that coincide with a noise band of channel noise introduced into the transmission of data across a communication channel. A transmitting and receiving modem establish a communication channel for facilitating the exchange of input signals. The receiving modem evaluates the noise spectrum of the communication channel on a dynamic basis at the commencement of the exchange of information. The transmitting modem suspends transmission while the receiving modem evaluates the noise band and magnitude of the noise information. The channel noise band and levels are transmitted from the receiving modem to the transmitting modem to generate pre-compensation modulation points that have an enhanced magnitude outside the channel noise. The enhanced low-magnitude input signal and all other signals are propagated across the communication channel and exposed to the channel noise. The signal-to-noise ratio of the low-magnitude signal is improved due to the magnitude enhancement of the susceptible signals prior to transmission.

1. The Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to communication systems exchanging data between computers over a communication channel. More particularly, the invention relates to improving signal quality of transmitted signals in a noisy communication channel.
2. Present State of the Art
Digital communicating devices employ modulation techniques for transmitting data between a transmitting device such as a computer and a receiving device which also may take the form of a computer. In order to propagate such data between a transmitting computer and a receiving computer, digital information must be transformed into a propagatable format capable of traversing a communication channel. To conform with such a requirement, a transmitting computer employs a transmitting modem for converting digital data into an analog format capable of propagation across the communication channel. Likewise, a receiving computer employs a receiving modem for capturing or receiving the analog signals and converting them back to a digital format readable by the receiving computer.
As transmitting computers and receiving computers may be remotely located one from another, a variety of communication channels or networks are employed for facilitating the routing of the signals between the computers. In a communication system wherein a network is employed for routing between the transmitting computer and receiving computer, a unique communication channel is formed through which the modulated data is transmitted. Such a communication channel provides a unique conduit having inherent ambient noise therein. Therefore, input signals that are transferred from the transmitting computer to the receiving computer acquire the communication channel noise while passing therethrough.
While dedicated communication channels having an exclusive direct path between the transmitting computer and receiving computer may exhibit similar noise characteristics between successive communication sessions, the channel noise on such a communication channel may vary from session to session depending upon dynamic factors such as adjacent cross-talk, ambient noise exposure levels and electronic component aging associated with the coupled transmitters and receivers. While the dynamic communication channel noise envelope assumes a generally small profile, interconnection of the transmitting computer with the receiving computer through a dynamic switching network such as a public switched telephone network (PSTN) may provide a unique physical path for successive communication channels thereby exhibiting drastically dissimilar channel noise characteristics.
In modern communications systems that employ modems, various modulation techniques have arisen to maximize the data rate between a transmitting modem and a receiving modem. To facilitate the transfer of additional data in such a system, advanced modulation techniques have been employed to maximize the dynamic range of signals through a communication channel. Modern modulation techniques utilize changes in transmit signal magnitudes to designate digital words or patterns of bits. For example, quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) employs both magnitude and phase characteristics of a signal to signify a symbol representing a series of data bits. Therefore, the transfer of signals having a high magnitude level traverse the communication channel with a signal level substantially higher or larger than those signals introduced by the communication channel in the form of channel noise. However, smaller magnitude signals generated by the transmitting modem generally exhibit a magnitude only marginally higher than those magnitudes exhibited by the channel noise. One measure of a signal's quality in a communications system is denoted by a signal-to-noise ratio. Receiving modems rely upon a favorable signal-to-noise ratio for reliably extracting valuable signals from the received composite signal that includes the derogatory effects of channel noise. In many instances, smaller magnitude input signal, may be obscured or incorrectly decoded by the receiving modem due to the marginal difference in signal levels between the low-magnitude input signals and the channel noise as perceived at the receiving modem.
FIG. 1 depicts a prior art approach to equalizing signal levels for evaluation by a receiving modem. In FIG. 1, a transmitting modem 100 generates a series of bands of data represented as input signal 102. Such input signals if pristinely delivered to a receiving modem could be directly interpreted by the receiving modem with unity accuracy. However, as described above, input signal 102 traverses a communication channel before arriving at a receiving modem 108. The traversal of a communication channel 104 combines channel noise 106 with input signal 102. Furthermore, the traversal of input signal 102 through communication channel 104 subjects the various bands to inherently degrading effects which reduce the magnitudes of various bands of the input signal information. As a result, receiving modem 108 receives a received input signal 110 comprised of the degraded input signal mixed with the channel noise. Prior attempts to rectify the composite signal into a more usable and hence reliable form have employed an equalizer 112 for boosting or reduction of the received signal bands to an enhanced magnitude. Such an enhancement procedure is performed by employing a training process upon the initiation of the communication session to determine the derogatory effect of the communication channel on particular bands of information. Such a training process results in an equalization process 114 deriving an equalization curve 116 comprising the boosting or reduction of values used for enhancing the received input signal 110. The equalization process results in an equalized input signal 118 wherein frequency bands received by receiving modem 108 are enhanced prior to the extraction of the signal information from the input signal.
In FIG. 1, equalized input signal 118 depicts the received signal bands in their enhanced state. For example, band 120, 122, 124 and 126 are augmented to approximate the magnitudes exhibited by input signal 102. While such an equalization process provides suitable enhancement for bands having relatively small noise levels, bands coinciding with the channel noise bands do not result in as favorable condition as the other bands having smaller magnitude channel noise components. As depicted in FIG. 1, while band 122 is enhanced to approximate the magnitude of input signal 102 in the corresponding band, the channel noise injected by communication channel 104 is also enhanced as illustrated by enhanced channel noise 128. While the enhancement process improves the magnitude of band 122, the signal-to-noise ratio as evaluated at band 122 has not been improved. Therefore, extraction of the information in band 122 by the receiving modem has not been improved by employing such an equalization process.
Additionally, other prior art approaches to compensating for channel noise have employed a static equalization process wherein a static equalization curve is employed for all communication sessions between a transmitting modem and a receiving modem. While such a static equalization process may marginally suffice for a "standard" communication channel, the dynamic nature of modern communication systems introduce a very dynamic profile of channel noise.
Thus, what is needed is a method and apparatus for improving the signal-to-noise ratio of low-magnitude input signals occurring or coinciding with the channel noise band of a communication channel. Furthermore, what is desired is a method and apparatus for dynamically evaluating the communication noise resident on a communication channel and compensating for such channel noise to improve the signal-to-noise ratio available to a receiving modem in extracting the input signal from the combined input and channel noise signals.

Method and apparatus for improving the signal-to-noise ratio of low-magnitude input signals in modems


A stereoscopic video image pick-up and display system having a stereoscopic video image pick-up device including two video image pick-ups for outputting video information from the pick-ups; a stereoscopic video image display device for displaying different video images; and a medium for transmitting the video image information from the stereoscopic video image pick-up device to the stereoscopic video image display device. The stereoscopic video image pick-up device includes a cross-point measuring device for measuring CP information on the cross-point (CP) of optical axes of pick-ups and outputs information including the CP information and video image information to the medium. The stereoscopic video image display device includes an offset presetting device for offsetting and displaying different video images based upon the video image information, the cross-point information and information on the size of the image which is displayed by the stereoscopic video image display device.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a stereoscopic image pick-up and display system and in particular to a stereoscopic image pick-up and display system which is capable of displaying an appropriate stereoscopic images by changing the stereoscopic degree depending upon the size of a display screen and different stereoscopic image pick-up conditions.
2. Description of the Prior Art
There have heretofore been stereoscopic image pick-up and display systems each comprising a stereoscopic image pick-up device, a stereoscopic image display device which displays the stereoscopic image which has been picked up by the stereoscopic image pick-up device and a medium which are disposed between both devices for transmitting image data and the like.
For example, a stereoscopic image pick-up device which is disclosed in Japanese Published Patent Application JP-A-2001-231055 comprises a image pick-up unit 601 including two CCD cameras 602 and 603 as shown in FIG. 14. Right-eye and left-eye images are picked up by first and second cameras 602, and 603, respectively. At this time, a cross-point (convergence point) CP on the surface of an object (subject) to be picked up S at which optical axes CL1 and CL2 of the first and second cameras 602, and 603, respectively are intersected is formed, so that the stereoscopic images are picked up. A technology has been proposed for determining the distance between the surface of the object and the image pick-up device L (that is, the distance between the pick-up device and CP) based upon the angle of the optical axis and the spacing between two cameras 602 and 603.
Japanese Published Patent Application JP-A-Hei 8-262370 discloses a stereoscopic image display device as shown in FIG. 15, which displays the image which is picked up by the stereoscopic image pick-up device disclosed in the JP-A-2001-231055.
In addition to the stereoscopic display device requiring special glasses, a stereoscopic display device which requires no special glasses and the like has been proposed. In this case, right-eye and left-eye images having a parallax therebetween as stereoscopic information are alternately switched for every image signal (one field) by a liquid crystal device circuit (not shown) and alternate blinking operation of two backlights 705a and 705b is conducted in synchronization with the switched image display on a liquid crystal display unit 704.
When a signal of image for the right-eye is displayed on the liquid crystal display unit 704, one of the backlights 705a is lit in synchronization with an input signal so that light of the backlight is incident upon the right-eye 709a of a viewer (observer). Subsequently, when a signal of the image for the left-eye is displayed on the liquid crystal display unit 704, the other backlight 705b is lit in synchronization with the signal so that light of the backlight is incident upon the left-eye 709b of the viewer. Since one image for right-eye on the liquid crystal display unit can be viewed by only the right-eye of the viewer while one image for left-eye on the liquid crystal display unit can be viewed by only the left-eye of the viewer, both images are merged in the brain of the viewer by the afterimage effect on the retina of the viewer, so that the merged image can be viewed as a stereoscopic image by the three-dimensional perception based upon so-called binocular parallax.
Even when the distance between the pick-up device and CP is measured by the technology of the invention as defined in JP-A-2001-231055 on picking-up the stereoscopic image, the distance between the pick-up device and CP (CP information) is not recorded simultaneously with the stereoscopic image recording. Even if the CP information of the picked-up image is recorded, the CP information is not utilized as a signal for the reference of binocular vision by the technology disclosed in JP-A-Hei 8-262370 when the stereoscopic image is played back.
In particular, when the same content are played back on display devices having different screen sizes, the stereopsis from the screen may vary due to difference in screen size since the amount of the parallax between the right-eye and the left-eye varies, resulting in a problem in that a natural stereoscopic image can not be obtained. Since the stereoscopic image contents for large amusement parks are produced assuming that the display devices have a large size screen on which the contents are displayed, appropriate stereoscopic feeling can not obtained unless the displays have the same screen size. Large size screen provides two strong stereoscopic feeling, making viewers uncomfortable, while small size screen provides less stereoscopic feeling, giving no satisfaction to the viewers.
Since these contents are combinations of various scenes, pick-up conditions, focal-length of the lens of the pick-up unit and the spacing between two pick-up units may not be uniform throughout various contents. If these scenes are simply jointed, different stereoscopic feelings are provided by one content, which provides the viewers with different feeling and physical discomfortability.
Furthermore, the positional relationship between the stereoscopic image pick-up and display device is not necessarily constant and the viewer may not be positioned in the position that is intended by the contents producer. If the viewer is offset from the predetermined viewing position of the stereoscopic display device, he or she is not able to view correct stereoscopic image.
Accordingly, when the stereoscopic video image is produced, the cross-point of the pick-up stereoscopic cameras and the parallax of the computer graphics is adjusted while assuming the size of the display screen on which ultimately the image is displayed. Since the contents which have been produced provide different stereoscopic feeling on the different screens of the stereoscopic image pick-up and display systems, it is necessary to reproduce the stereoscopic video image depending upon the screen size. If the stereoscopic video image is produced by the CG (Computer Graphics), it is necessary to conduct rerendering.
Since there is no way to adjust the parallax which has been determined by the once produced contents when they are played back, the viewer has to adjust the stereoscopic feeling depending upon the distance between the viewing position and the screen.
If the stereoscopic video image is broadcast, there is no way to automatically adjust the stereoscopic feeling of the stereoscopic video image in responsive to an indefinite number of viewers and stereoscopic video image pick-up and display systems having various screen sizes. Therefore, broadcasting of the stereoscopic video images for the indefinite number of viewers is difficult. A technology to adjust the stereoscopic feeling depending upon the screen size is essential for the widespread of the stereoscopic video images.
Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a stereoscopic video image pick-up and display system which is capable of providing the stereoscopic video image having a natural stereopsis even if the video image producing and playback conditions are different.

Stereoscopic image picking up and display system based upon optical axes cross-point information


A touch screen panel includes a sensing electrode area, a pad area, and a peripheral wiring area. The sensing electrode area includes first sensing electrodes and second sensing electrodes on a touch substrate and spaced from each other. The peripheral wiring area connects the sensing electrode area to the pad area. Each of the first sensing electrodes includes a first sensing metal layer on the touch substrate, a sensing insulation layer on the first sensing metal layer, and a second sensing metal layer on the sensing insulation layer and having a mesh structure. The second sensing metal layer is thicker than the first sensing metal layer.

1. Field
One or more embodiments described herein relate to a touch screen panel and a method for fabricating a touch screen panel.
2. Description of the Related Art
A touch screen panel receives an input based on the position of a finger or object contacting a screen. This position corresponds to content displayed on the screen, and an operation is performed relating to this content when contact is made. For example, a touch screen panel may be provided on a front surface of the screen to convert a touch position to an electrical input signal. A touch screen panel may be used with other types of input devices, including but not limited to a keyboard or mouse, for performing various functions.
A variety of touch screen panels have been developed. Examples include a resistance film type, a light-sensing type, and a capacitance type. Among these, the capacitance type touch screen panel converts a touch position to an electrical signal by sensing a change in capacitance between a conductive sensing electrode and a neighboring sensing electrode or a ground electrode when a human hand or an object contacts the touch screen.

Touch screen panel and method for fabricating the same


A method for recording a new object in a catalogue of objects is disclosed. The method enables defining the value of an attribute and comprises: selecting an identifier of the new object; detecting, on a graphic element, the presence of a label representing the attribute; and determining the position of the label with respect to the graphic element, the value of the attribute computed based on said position. The detection includes a ranking of objects already recorded in the catalogue, comprising: determining, for each object already recorded in the catalogue, an index of similarity between a set comprising said attribute value and a set of values of corresponding attributes of said object; ranking the objects already recorded in the catalogue as a function of said indices of similarity; and displaying or updating a list of the objects already recorded in the catalogue as a function of said indices of similarity.

The invention lies in the field of software applications including a graphic interface allowing the administrator of a digital catalogue of objects to easily and quickly specify the attributes of the objects of the catalogue, these objects being able to be subsequently searched for in the catalogue by a user according to their attributes. These objects can be of any type. They can for example be manufactured products, real estate properties, multimedia objects, food products, for example wine, or services.
Many websites allow a user to search a digital catalogue for objects having a certain number of attributes specified by the user. In particular real estate property search sites are known in which the user can enter the property attributes that he wishes to select, for example the presence or otherwise of a swimming-pool or a garage, its surface area, a price range etc. These attributes can be binary (for example presence or otherwise of a swimming-pool) or non-binary (for example a price range, a surface area etc.).
In the current state of the art, these applications generally propose to select and input the different attributes via drop-down menus, input areas, checkboxes etc. This has drawbacks.
Firstly, if the attributes that the object must have are numerous, the selecting and inputting of these different attributes by the user are burdensome as they require numerous operations, in particular numerous mouse clicks (opening of drop-down menus, selecting of an option from a multiple-choice list etc.)
When the attributes are numerous, it is generally necessary to make the application window scroll to input them and it is then impossible to view them simultaneously.
Moreover, the graphic elements allowing the user to input a non-binary attribute, for example a price range, in the form of an input window or a scale for example, take up considerable space on the graphic interface of the application. It is often chosen to show such a graphic element (gauge scale or input area) only for the time taken to input the attribute itself and to hide it when the attribute has been inputted to show only the value of the selected attribute, for example the price range. This mechanism complexifies the user interface and lengthens the time needed to select the different attributes.
Moreover, known applications generally offer a selection mechanism of exclusive, "funnel" type, so that only objects having all the inputted attributes are shown to the user. Consequently, when the search returns few or no results, it is difficult for the user to quickly identify the more distinguishing attributes.
A known solution for solving this problem consists in increasing the number of attributes, but it is satisfactory neither for the end user who is making the searches, nor for the administrator of the object catalogue who has to specify a value for each of the attributes and do so for all the objects of the catalogue.
Search engines are also known in which a user inputs a request, for example in natural language or using keywords. For example a user who wishes to select properties with swimming-pool, garage, of a surface area between 150 m2 and 200 m2 and a price between 700 000 Euros and 800 000 Euros can input into a search engine a request of "house with swimming-pool and garage and surface area between 150 m2 and 200 m2 and a price between 700 000 Euros and 800 000 Euros".
In most search engines, the selection criteria all have the same weight, so that only property items meeting all the criteria are shown to the user. Specifically, conventional search engines do not easily allow a user to rank search criteria by order of priority to respond to a request of the type "house with swimming-pool, of a surface area between 150 m2 and 200 m2, preferably with a price between 700 000 Euros and 800 000 Euros and preferably with garage". It will be understood that the advantage of such a request would be to show to the user the houses with swimming-pool and the desired surface area, but showing him as a priority those houses that include a garage and have a price between 700 000 and 800 000 Euros.
Document US2009/0187554 A1 presents a graphic interface allowing the user to give a priority to the criteria of a search engine. In this document, the user is prompted to position graphic elements representing the search criteria on a target, the criteria placed at the center of the target having a higher priority than those placed at the edge. In the previous example, the user would place at the center of the target the criteria "swimming-pool" and "price" and at the edge the criteria "surface area" and "garage".
Document US2007/288498 A1 presents a graphic interface in the shape of a magnet for the same use, i.e. to rank search criteria according to their priority.
Although such interfaces do indeed make it possible to give a priority to certain search criteria, they do not allow the user to formulate a request specifying different values or intensities, including for search criteria of the same weight. For example the request "very sunny house in a lively neighborhood near the shops", the criteria "sunlight", "liveliness", "distance from shops" all have the same weight but with different ranges of value or intensity, respectively "very high", "high", and "low" to express "very sunny", "lively neighborhood" and "short distance from shops".
Moreover, the search interfaces known to date are of no use to the administrator of the catalogue when he enters the attributes of the objects of the catalogue.
It is therefore usual to develop two human-machine interfaces, a first interface intended for the administrator of the catalogue to allow him to easily specify the attributes of the catalogue objects and a second interface allowing users to search for objects in the catalogue meeting certain criteria.
The invention proposes a new approach to allow:                a user to quickly and easily search for an object in a catalogue of objects,        the administrator of the object catalogue to easily and quickly specify the attributes of the objects of the catalogue.

Method and device for recording a new object in a catalogue


An apparatus that controls a head that reads data from and writes data to a recording medium of which a spinning speed is controlled based on a clock signal includes a clock-error detecting unit that detects an error in the clock signal, and a head-retraction control unit that controls the head in such a way that the head is safely retracted when the error is detected by the clock-error detecting unit.

1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a head control method, a head control apparatus, and a disk-drive apparatus that control a retraction of a head that reads data from or writes data to a recording medium, whose spinning speed is controlled by a clock signal. More particularly, the present invention relates to a head control method, a head control apparatus, and a disk-drive apparatus that control a safe retraction of a data reading/writing head when an error occurs in the clock signal.
2) Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, when writing data to or reading data from a magnetic disk recording medium, such as a hard disk, a data reading/writing head is slightly raised from the surface of the magnetic disk due to a flow of air on the surface of the magnetic disk caused by the rapid spinning of the magnetic disk.
However, if the spinning speed of the magnetic disk slows down when data reading or writing is taking place, the flow of air becomes feeble. The feeble airflow is not enough to sustain the raised position of the head and causes the head to touch or stick fast to the magnetic disk due to suction, damaging the magnetic disk and causing fatal damage to the hard disk apparatus and the data stored in the hard disk apparatus.
A disk-drive apparatus is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. H11-16259 and another in U.S. Pat. No. 6,476,996 which monitors the spinning speed of the magnetic disk and safely retracts the head when any abnormality occurs in the spinning speed.
However, the conventional disk-drive apparatuses disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. H11-16259 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,476,996 measure the spinning speed of the magnetic disk by referring to the cyclic clock signal generated by a clock circuit. However, if an error occurs in the clock signal, it leads to incorrect calculation of the spinning speed, consequently affecting the timely retraction of the head.
An error in the clock signal may occur, for instance, due to the attributes of a phase locked loop (PLL) circuit incorporated in the clock circuit. The PLL circuit is a high impedance analog circuit and is vulnerable to static electricity as compared to circuits using other logic. Consequently, an error of the clock signal can easily occur due to static electricity noise. Thus, when subjected to static electricity noise, the clock circuit generates an erroneous clock signal.
Since the control of the spinning speed of the magnetic disk is performed based on the frequency of the clock signal, an error in the clock signal leads to decreased spinning speed of the magnetic disk, causing the head to touch or stick fast to the magnetic disk due to suction, leading to fatal damage to the hard disk apparatus and the data stored in the hard disk apparatus.
Thus, a technology is needed that enables a safe retraction of the head when an error occurs in the clock signal.

Method and apparatus for head control, and disk-drive apparatus


A power diversion system for a hydraulic dredge diverts any or all available prime mover power to slurry production. An electronic control module (ECM) on the dredge continuously communicates with the prime mover ECM to determine the current available power of the dredge prime mover whether it is an internal combustion engine, electric motor, or other power supply. If the prime mover power supply is not being loaded to capacity the dredge ECM increases the speed of the centrifugal slurry pump to increase production to the point that the least of either the speed that the operator dictates up to 100% of the prime mover power capacity. The system also works in reverse in that if the prime mover is being overloaded, the dredge ECM will automatically reduce pump speed to a predetermined acceptable level.

Hydraulic dredges have many systems that require power. For any application, traditional design dictates that the dredge prime mover must be capable of providing sufficient power to run all systems simultaneously at full capacity. Applications calling for such conditions however occur only rarely. Further, when called for, such conditions are required for only a very small portion of the time spent dredging. Therefore, a considerable amount of standby power is available during a majority of the dredging time. This standby power can be used to increase dredging efficiency.
Previously, attempts to increase dredging efficiency have focused on improving dredge mechanics. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 2,346,180 describes a means for increasing dredge output by providing a suction booster to produce a higher velocity and higher concentration of dredged material in the suction pipe. This system however does not address use of the idle standby power.
Dredging is a costly endeavor. Increasing dredging efficiency saves not only the costs associated with the dredging process, but also saves valuable time. Heretofore, no one has addressed improving the efficiency of the dredging process by utilizing available standby power.
All patents, patent applications, provisional patent applications and publications referred to or cited herein, are incorporated by reference in their entirety to the extent they are not inconsistent with the explicit teachings of the specification.

Power diversion system for a hydraulic dredge


An SOD system (100A) comprises a process block (8) for performing a prescribed processing so as to form an insulating film on a wafer W, a carrier block (7) for transferring the wafer W from the outside into the process block (8), a sub-transfer mechanism (12) for transferring the substrate W between the process block (8) and the carrier block (7), and a main transfer mechanism (15). A process tower (T1) prepared by stacking one upon the other a plurality of process units for performing a series of processing for forming an insulating film on the wafer W is arranged detachable from the process block (8).

In the manufacturing process of a semiconductor device, an SOD (Spin on Dielectric) method is employed as one of the technologies for forming an insulating film (an interlayer insulating film) on a semiconductor wafer. In the SOD method, a coating film, i.e., a film formed by the coating method, is formed on a wafer by a spin coating method, followed by applying a chemical processing or a heat processing or the like to the coating film so as to form an insulating film. To be more specific, the surface of a wafer is coated first with a chemical liquid prepared by dispersing the material for forming the insulating film in a solvent, followed by evaporating the solvent from the coating film so as to dry the coating film. Then, a baking processing is applied to the dried coating film so as to cause a chemical reaction to be brought about by the heating. Finally, the coating film is heated for the curing purpose, thereby obtaining a desired insulating film. Incidentally, depending on the kind of the chemical liquid used, it is necessary to apply an additional processing such as the processing under an ammonia gas atmosphere or a chemical processing such as a solvent exchange processing.
An SOD system 400 shown in FIG. 35 and an SOD system 450 shown in FIG. 36 are known to the art as the SOD system for carrying out the processing described above.
In the SOD system 400 shown in FIG. 35, a carrier 410 housing, for example, 25 wafers is transferred into a carrier stage 411. The wafers within the carrier 410 are taken out by a delivery arm 412 and, then, transferred into a process zone 414 through the delivery section of a shelf unit 413a. A transfer mechanism 415 for transferring the wafer is arranged in the central portion of the process zone 414. Also, a plurality of shelf units, e.g., two shelf units 413b and 423c, and a plurality of coating units 416 for coating the wafer with a chemical liquid are arranged in the vicinity of the transfer mechanism 415. Each of the shelf units 413b and 413c noted above includes a plurality of process units such as heating units for applying a prescribed heat processing to the wafer. The transfer mechanism 415 serves to transfer the wafer into and out of these process units. Incidentally, the heating unit noted above includes, for example, a baking unit for performing a baking processing and a low temperature heating unit for applying a drying processing to the chemical liquid.
It should be noted that various kinds of chemical liquids are used in the SOD method and, thus, the process conditions of the SOD method are rendered slightly different in many cases depending on the kind of the chemical liquid used. For example, the heat processing under a low temperature is required, or it is necessary to carry out the processing under a different processing atmosphere. Such being the situation, it is necessary in some cases to change the specifications of the coating unit and the heating unit depending on the kind of the chemical liquid used. Also, even in the case of using the same chemical liquid, it is necessary in some cases to change the process conditions depending on the desired thickness of the film that is to be formed. In view of the variety of the chemical liquids described above, it is not advisable in terms of the cost and the footprint to newly prepare a system in accordance with the change in process.
Under the circumstances, vigorous research is being conducted by the present inventors in an attempt to develop an SOD system capable of coping with various processes. For example, disclosed in Japanese Patent Disclosure (Kokai) No. 2000-138213 is an SOD system in which a cooling unit, a coating unit, an aging unit, a solvent exchange unit, a curing unit, and a heating unit are arranged in the process section for applying a series of processing to a substrate.
In the SOD system disclosed in the Japanese patent document quoted above, the cooling unit, the aging unit, the curing unit, and the heating unit are stacked one upon the other so as to form a process unit group of a multi-stage structure. On the other hand, the coating unit and the solvent exchange unit are arranged separately from the process unit group.
However, if a plurality of process units are arranged in a dispersed fashion as in the SOD system quoted above, the footprint of the entire SOD system is increased. Also, the transfer efficiency of the wafer within the SOD system is rendered poor so as to lower the through-put. Further, a difficulty is generated in the SOD system quoted above in performing various automatic controls. It should be noted in this connection that the wafer is coated with a chemical liquid in the coating unit and a prescribed heat processing is applied to the coating film in the baking unit, followed by measuring the thickness of the coating film. If various automatic controls are to be performed on the basis of the measured data so as to change the process parameters in the coating unit and the baking unit and to generate an alarm when the thickness of the coating film exceeds a prescribed range, it is difficult to locate the process unit causing the inconvenience. It is also difficult to supervise the entire apparatus. Still further, where a certain process unit is in trouble, it is necessary to stop all the processing in the SOD system for coping with the process unit that is in trouble, with the result that the productivity is lowered.
The SOD system 450 shown in FIG. 36 is described in detail in Japanese Patent Disclosure No. 2003-100621. The SOD system 450 comprises a first process zone 460A. Also, a second process zone 460B and a carrier station 460C are arranged to have the first process zone 460A sandwiched therebetween.
The first process zone 460A includes a plurality of coating units 461 for coating a wafer with a chemical liquid so as to form a coating film. These coating units 461 are stacked one upon the other so as to form a multi-stage structure. In the coating unit 461, a chemical liquid is supplied from a nozzle onto substantially the center of rotation of a wafer held by a spin chuck. In accordance with rotation of the spin chuck, the chemical liquid supplied onto the wafer is spread on the wafer surface so as to form a coating film. The first process zone 460A also includes shelf units 462a and 462b. Each of these shelf units 462a and 462b is of a multi-stage structure including, for example, a temperature control unit for controlling the wafer at a prescribed temperature, a delivery unit, and a low temperature heating unit for heating the wafer having the coating film formed thereon so as to dry the coating film. The process units noted above are stacked one upon the other so as to form each of the shelf units 462a and 462b. The wafer is transferred into and out of each of these process units by a transfer mechanism 463.
The second process zone 460B includes two shelf units 464a and 464b of a heating system. In each of these shelf units 464a and 464b, a baking unit for baking the wafer after the drying processing at a higher temperature and a curing unit for further heating the baked wafer for curing the coating film are stacked one upon the other so as to form a multi-stage structure. The wafer is transferred into and out of the process unit included in each of these shelf units 464a and 464b by a transfer mechanism 465.
The carrier station 460C includes a table section 466 on which is disposed a carrier 470 housing a large number of wafers. The carrier station 460 also includes a delivery arm 467 for transferring the wafer between the carrier 470 and the first process zone 460A.
In the SOD system 450, the coating unit 461 and the temperature control unit are arranged in a process zone differing from that of the baking unit and the curing unit, as in the SOD system 400 shown in FIG. 35. In addition, the coating unit 461 and the temperature control unit are arranged in a dispersed fashion within the same process zone. It follows that the footprint is also increased in the SOD system 450. Also, since the process units are arranged in a dispersed fashion in the SOD system 450, the transfer efficiency of the wafer is made poor so as to lower the through-put.
Further, in the SOD system 450, the plural coating units 461 are stacked one upon the other within the same shelf unit so as to form a multi-stage structure. As a result, a drain pipe 469 for recovering the waste chemical liquid discharged from the coating units 461 includes a horizontal portion as schematically shown in FIG. 37. The waste chemical liquid discharged from the plural coating units 461 fails to flow smoothly within the horizontal portion of the drain pipe 469 and tends to stagnate within the horizontal portion. Since the chemical liquid used in the SOD system tends to be solidified, a serious problem is generated that the horizontal portion of the drain pipe 469 is plugged with the waste chemical liquid.
It should also be noted that, since the coating units 461 are arranged side by side and stacked one upon the other, it is necessary to change the construction of the pipes such as the drain pipe 469 for each of the coating units 461. What should be noted in this connection is that the manufacturing process of the SOD system is made complex by the dispersion of the specification of the piping so as to give rise to the problem that the productivity is lowered.
It should also be noted that a chemical liquid tank for storing the chemical liquid is arranged in a region (not shown) different from the region in which the coating unit 461 is arranged, with the result that the supply path of the chemical liquid is prolonged. A cleaning processing is applied to the coating unit 461 after completion of the processing of a prescribed lot. Since the chemical liquid is not discharged from the nozzle during the cleaning processing of the coating unit 461, the cleaning processing is carried out under the state that the chemical liquid is left to remain within the supply path. When the processing of the succeeding lot is started, a dummy dispensing is carried out such that all the chemical liquid remaining inside the supply path is discharged from the supply nozzle. Therefore, it is necessary to discharge as a waste material a large amount of the chemical liquid remaining inside the supply path, leading to an increased process cost.
Further, in replacing the chemical liquid tank or in replacing, for example, the chemical liquid filter connected to the chemical liquid pipe, bubbles of the chemical liquid are generated within the pipe. Naturally, it is necessary to remove the bubbles before the coating operation for forming a coating film on the substrate surface. A large amount of the chemical liquid must be discarded during the operation for removing the bubbles, if the pipe is long.


An object is to provide an antibacterial keyboard which keeps to be clean and can be prevented from being discolored by growing or grown bacteria. Methyl methacrylate resin as acrylic resin, and a ceramic body as an antibacterial agent prepared by mixing and sintering calcium phosphate and silver metal are used: 0.5% to 2% by weight of the ceramic body prepared by mixing and sintering calcium phosphate and silver metal is blended and uniformly dispersed in the methyl methacrylate resin. The blend is injection molded, to form piano natural key coverings. The piano natural keys covered with such coverings are superior in an antibacterial, keep to be clean and can be prevented from being discolored by growing or grown bacteria.

Conventionally, a piano, an accordion, an organ, an electronic instrument or other keyboard instrument is efficiently manufactured by injection molding acrylic resin or other synthetic resin.
The keyboard instrument is, however, played by a relatively large number of people when it is installed, for example, at school, and bacteria are conveyed from person to person via fingers and thumb. Recently, people increasingly had a liking for cleanliness. Therefore, keyboard instruments have also been demanded to be always clean.
People not only play the keyboard instrument but also own it as a piece of interior decoration. Therefore, the keyboard instrument is demanded to be firmly prevented from being discolored by grown bacterial.


A disk rotor of a vehicle brake with improved efficiency in cooling the disk rotor by a synergy effect that comes from ensuring velocity of airflow flowing between cooling fins, ensuring surface areas of the cooling fins, and generating turbulent flow by second fins. A plurality of cooling fins each extending radially from an inner peripheral edge to an outer peripheral edge of a disk rotor are provided inside the disk rotor at intervals in the circumferential direction. Each of the plurality of the cooling fins includes a radial fin extending radially and a second fin spaced apart from the radial fin in the radial direction.

Ventilated disk rotors including an inner sliding face and an outer sliding face have been known. Specifically, a ventilated disk rotor includes multiple cooling fins arranged at intervals in a circumferential direction and each extending radially and continuously from inner to outer peripheral edges of the disk rotor between the inner sliding face and the outer sliding face thereof, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2008-95941.
This disk rotor is configured to cool itself by taking traveling air from an inner periphery of the disk rotor into a ventilation hole between circumferentially adjacent cooling fins and discharging it from an outer periphery of the disk rotor. However, a need exists for further improving efficiency in cooling the disk rotor, and room has been left for improvement in this respect.


A load control device for controlling the power delivered from a power source to an electrical load includes an antenna and a communication circuit to receive and transmit messages via radio frequency (RF) signals. The communication circuit is coupled to the power source but is capacitively coupled to the antenna. The capacitive coupling is formed through multiple layers of a printed circuit board (PCB) in which each layer includes a conductive trace that neighbors another conductive trace on an adjacent layer. The capacitive coupling provides that the antenna is electrically isolated from the communication circuit which accordingly, provides that the antenna is electrically isolated from the power source.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a load control device for control of the amount of power delivered from an alternating-current (AC) power source to an electrical load, and more particularly, to a load control device having a radio-frequency (RF) communication circuit to receive RF messages wherein the communication circuit includes an antenna which is electrically isolated from the AC power source.
2. Description of the Related Art
Typical load control devices are operable to control the amount of power delivered to an electrical load, such as a lighting load or a motor load, from an alternating-current (AC) power source. Many of these load control devices comprise communication circuits for receiving or transmitting digital messages via a communication link. Such communication links may be wired or wireless (e.g., radio frequency, infrared, etc). In order to receive or transmit digital messages via a wireless radio-frequency (RF) communication link, a load control device requires an antenna. Some antennas may reside fully within an enclosure of the load control device, whereas other antennas may extend fully or partially outside the enclosure. Because load control devices are coupled to the AC power source, an antenna extending outside the enclosure of a load control device should be electrically isolated from the AC power source for safety reasons. The use of isolation transformers or optocouplers are well known techniques that can be used to electrically isolate the AC power source from other elements of a load control device, however such prior art isolation techniques can be costly. Therefore, there exists a need for a load control device having an antenna which is electrically isolated—in a low cost manner—from the AC power source.

Load control device having an electrically isolated antenna


A load zone area of a conveyor system which includes a continuous belt which carries bulk materials such as stone, ore, grain, etc. to a discharge point where the material leaves the belt as the belt wraps around a head pulley and returns along the under side of the conveyor system to a tail pulley which brings the belt back to a point which it can be loaded again. The load zone area typically has multiple support rollers closely spaced together to minimize the effect of the material impacting the belt which deflects the belt downward, thus creating a gap between the belt and the skirt seal causing leakage. The existing rollers normally have three rollers which form a "U" shape trough for the belt the two "wing" rollers are removed from the existing troughing roller assembly and replaced by a steel adapter to which a low friction rail may be attached longitudinally to the direction the belt moves, thus reducing the downward deflection of the belt where the material being loaded on to the belt is impacting the belt, and avoiding the gaps between the belt and the skirt seals.

Prior Art teaches several methods of supporting the conveyor belt as it moves through the load zone and is being loaded, the most common approach is to utilize the same type of supporting rollers used on the rest of the belt except that they are spaced as close together as possible.
Another approach is to entirely replace the support rollers with a slider bed which utilizes low friction slider bars to replace all three of the rollers in a common troughing idler.
Another method of supporting the belt is the subject of the present invention, a combination of standard troughing rollers and a slider bed in which the center roller is retained and the wing or side rollers are replaced with a steel adapter that permits mounting of a low friction bar longitudinally to the direction of belt travel.
Archer U.S. Pat. No. 5,350,053 teaches the use of a replacement kit which utilizes an angle iron with a round pin that engages the slot where the wing roller was removed, to replace the belt support wing rollers. The individual troughing idlers are then tied together with an elongated C-shaped steel rail preferably the full length of the load zone which provides the support for a low friction bar for the belt to slide on. This arrangement can be very damaging to the belt if the relatively thin slider bar wears out and the belt comes into engagement with the elongated steel C-shaped support rail.