A method of producing a laminated molding, such as an air current control valve used in an air conditioner for a vehicle, is made to be united with an facing material having the flexible surface of a basic plate made of resin. When the above laminated molding is produced, a used mold should be split into a stationary mold portion and a movable mold portion. Also, a compression core is provided in the movable mold portion. The facing material is temporarily fixed on a mold-face of the stationary mold portion and a mold-face of the compressive core of the movable mold portion opposite the mold-face of the stationary mold portion, during the aforementioned state, a melting synthetic resin is fed into a mold and then the fed melting synthetic resin is compressed by moving the compression core toward the stationary mold portion. By compressing the compression core, it makes a space providing a larger volume than a molding in the cavity which is being fed with the melting synthetic resin; this allows the melting synthetic resin to be quickly fed under a high injection pressure, whereby each cycle process takes place in a shorter time. Furthermore, after the melting synthetic resin is filled in the cavity, the pressure force exerted on the compression core is capable of being decreased, without the flexible facing material being damaged.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a method of producing a laminated molding united with an facing material on its surface.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, a laminated molding united with a flexible facing material on its surface has been known and used for a car interior ornament such as a sun-visor and a headrest or an air current control valve used in an air conditioner for a vehicle. According to the aforementioned laminated molding, its surface is covered with the facing materials having flexibility, therefore, a nice feel can be afforded when, for example, a hand touches with the surface and further decorativeness can be afforded when fabric is used as the facing material.
Since an increase in the thickness of the facing material enables the facing material to have fine cushioning properties, if the laminated molding is used for a cover of a console-box and so on, noise generating when closing it, vibration in driving and so on can thus be controlled.
Furthermore, since the facing material having the cushioning properties is capable of sealing a gap, using the laminated molding for the air current control valve of the air conditioner for the vehicle, fine sound insulation, sealing state and so on can be afforded to the air current control valve.
Following method can be used for producing the laminated molding.
A. A method of producing to adhere the facing materials with adhesives and so on to the surface of the molding produced by an injection mold, previously.
B. A method of producing by a compress mold which compresses a melting synthetic resin fed into a cavity in a state of clamping between the two facing materials adhered with an impregnated prevention sheet (Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2-25806).
C. A method of producing with the injection mold which the melting synthetic resin controlled relatively at low degree of an injection pressure is fed between the two facing materials after the mold preparing the two facing materials therein is completely closed, and at the same time, the fed melting synthetic resin is cooled and solidified in a low temperature under a retained pressure, relatively (Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 3-60297).
D. A method of producing with an injection compress mold which the melting synthetic resin is fed between the two facing materials before the mold preparing the two facing materials are clamped, and the mold fed completely with the melting synthetic resin is clamped (Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 5-83056).
The aforementioned producing methods A-D have respectively the following disadvantages a-d.
a. Disadvantages are that productivity becomes low by reason of an adhering process taking a long time, because each molding should be adhered with the facing materials one by one, and considering a disadvantage as for degeneration of a work environment, sufficient adhesive strength cannot be obtained by adhering with adhesives.
b. Disadvantages are that cycle time of molding processes for each molding becomes longer, because an extruder nozzle of feeding with the melting synthetic resin into the mold is required to move to and form the inside of the mold, whenever the melting synthetic resin is fed, and since the facing materials should be adhered with an impregnated prevention sheet, this results in an increased production time.
c. Disadvantages are that since the injection pressure is controlled at relatively low degree, it takes a long time to feed with the synthetic resin, whereby cycle time of molding processes becomes longer.
On the other hand, if the injection pressure is controlled at high pressure, the cycle time of the molding process can be shorter. Other disadvantages, whereby the quality of the facing materials become inferior, are produced by the following difficulties.
1 The facing materials are pushed in a horizontal direction, so that the surface of the facing materials wrinkle. PA1 2 When the grained facing materials are used, an uneven pattern grained on the facing materials, result in the disorderly grained pattern. PA1 3 When a fabric sheet is used as the facing materials, filaments on the fabric sheet are lain down, resulting in a rougher surface. PA1 4 When the thick facing materials are used, the facing materials are crushed so that their fine cushion property is lost. PA1 1 Each facing material is affixed to the inside of the mold-face opposite one another in the mold of the opening state. PA1 2 When the mold closes, a movable half-member of the mold stops moving before it reaches a completely closed state with a predetermined interval to secure the compression margin in order not to be reversed and not to be opened any more. PA1 3 The melting synthetic resin is fed into the mold by driving an injection device. PA1 4 Just before or after the finishing feed, a compression process to add the compressive force to the inside of the mold starts to cause the melting synthetic resin in the mold to be filled with spreadability by the compressive force. PA1 5 Just after the resin is filled throughout the mold, the compressive force adding to the mold is decreased. PA1 6 After a surface temperature of the resin is decreased, before the melting synthetic resin is solidified, the compressive force adding the mold is increased again to cause the resin in the mold to maintain its predetermined configuration. PA1 7 After the resin is cooled and solidified, the mold is opened to take out the molding. PA1 8 After finishing the injection, a preparative plasticization is started for the next injection molding. PA1 9 While the mold is almost closed and the facing material is compressed to an extent that the melting synthetic resin is not deformed or not to be spread by compression, the melting synthetic resin starts feeding into the mold. After the melting synthetic resin is filled to an extent that the melting synthetic resin covers at least the hole opened on the outer-face to correspond with the gate, a predetermined compression margin is secured by opening the mold while the feed of the melting synthetic resin is continued as it is, and then the feed of the melting synthetic resin is finished.
d. Disadvantages are that quality of the facing materials become inferior, producing the same difficulty as the aforementioned 1 to 4, because the melting synthetic resin is molded by clamping the mold, so that the large compressive force is required to be continually added to the melting synthetic resin and the facing materials in the mold until a molding process completes, with the result that the facing materials are strongly pressed with the high compressive force.
It is an object of the present invention to provide the method of producing the laminated molding, in which the molding time in a cycle of the process is shorter and further quality of the facing materials is not inferior.


A method of making a stacked microelectronic assembly includes providing a first microelectronic package that includes a first substrate having a first dielectric layer, conductive posts, and conductive traces extending along the surface of the first dielectric layer; providing a second microelectronic package including a second substrate that includes a second dielectric layer; securing a microelectronic element to one of the surfaces of at least one of the first or second substrates; and joining the conductive posts of the first substrate with the fusible masses of the second substrate. The posts may include a plurality of aligned posts which are aligned in a first row extending in a single orthogonal direction along a surface of the first substrate away from a portion of the first substrate that faces a face of the microelectronic element. The aligned posts are disposed beyond one of the edges of the microelectronic element.

Microelectronic devices such as semiconductor chips typically require many input and output connections to other electronic components. The input and output contacts of a semiconductor chip or other comparable device are generally disposed in grid-like patterns that substantially cover a surface of the device (commonly referred to as an "area array") or in elongated rows which may extend parallel to and adjacent each edge of the device's front surface, or in the center of the front surface. Typically, devices such as chips must be physically mounted on a substrate such as a printed circuit board, and the contacts of the device must be electrically connected to electrically conductive features of the circuit board.
Semiconductor chips are commonly provided in packages that facilitate handling of the chip during manufacture and during mounting of the chip on an external substrate such as a circuit board or other circuit panel. For example, many semiconductor chips are provided in packages suitable for surface mounting. Numerous packages of this general type have been proposed for various applications. Most commonly, such packages include a dielectric element, commonly referred to as a "chip carrier" with terminals formed as plated or etched metallic structures on the dielectric. These terminals typically are connected to the contacts of the chip itself by features such as thin traces extending along the chip carrier itself and by fine leads or wires extending between the contacts of the chip and the terminals or traces. In a surface mounting operation, the package is placed onto a circuit board so that each terminal on the package is aligned with a corresponding contact pad on the circuit board. Solder or other bonding material is provided between the terminals and the contact pads. The package can be permanently bonded in place by heating the assembly so as to melt or "reflow" the solder or otherwise activate the bonding material.
Many packages include solder masses in the form of solder balls, typically about 0.1 mm and about 0.8 mm (5 and 30 mils) in diameter, attached to the terminals of the package. A package having an array of solder balls projecting from its bottom surface is commonly referred to as a ball grid array or "BGA" package. Other packages, referred to as land grid array or "LGA" packages are secured to the substrate by thin layers or lands formed from solder. Packages of this type can be quite compact. Certain packages, commonly referred to as "chip scale packages," occupy an area of the circuit board equal to, or only slightly larger than, the area of the device incorporated in the package. This is advantageous in that it reduces the overall size of the assembly and permits the use of short interconnections between various devices on the substrate, which in turn limits signal propagation time between devices and thus facilitates operation of the assembly at high speeds.
Assemblies including packages can suffer from stresses imposed by differential thermal expansion and contraction of the device and the substrate. During operation, as well as during manufacture, a semiconductor chip tends to expand and contract by an amount different from the amount of expansion and contraction of a circuit board. Where the terminals of the package are fixed relative to the chip or other device, such as by using solder, these effects tend to cause the terminals to move relative to the contact pads on the circuit board. This can impose stresses in the solder that connects the terminals to the contact pads on the circuit board. As disclosed in certain preferred embodiments of U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,679,977; 5,148,266; 5,148,265; 5,455,390; and 5,518,964, the disclosures of which are incorporated by reference herein, semiconductor chip packages can have terminals that are movable with respect to the chip or other device incorporated in the package. Such movement can compensate to an appreciable degree for differential expansion and contraction.
Testing of packaged devices poses another formidable problem. In some manufacturing processes, it is necessary to make temporary connections between the terminals of the packaged device and a test fixture, and operate the device through these connections to assure that the device is fully functional. Ordinarily, these temporary connections must be made without bonding the terminals of the package to the test fixture. It is important to assure that all of the terminals are reliably connected to the conductive elements of the test fixture. However, it is difficult to make connections by pressing the package against a simple test fixture such as an ordinary circuit board having planar contact pads. If the terminals of the package are not coplanar, or if the conductive elements of the test fixture are not coplanar, some of the terminals will not contact their respective contact pads on the test fixture. For example, in a BGA package, differences in the diameter of the solder balls attached to the terminals, and non-planarity of the chip carrier, may cause some of the solder balls to lie at different heights.
These problems can be alleviated through the use of specially constructed test fixtures having features arranged to compensate for non-planarity. However, such features add to the cost of the test fixture and, in some cases, introduce some unreliability into the test fixture itself. This is particularly undesirable because the test fixture, and the engagement of the device with the test fixture, should be more reliable than the packaged devices themselves in order to provide a meaningful test. Moreover, devices used for high-frequency operation are typically tested by applying high frequency signals. This requirement imposes constraints on the electrical characteristics of the signal paths in the test fixture, which further complicates construction of the test fixture.
Additionally, when testing packaged devices having solder balls connected with terminals, solder tends to accumulate on those parts of the test fixture that engage the solder balls. This accumulation of solder residue can shorten the life of the test fixture and impair its reliability.
A variety of solutions have been put forth to deal with the aforementioned problems. Certain packages disclosed in the aforementioned patents have terminals that can move with respect to the microelectronic device. Such movement can compensate to some degree for non-planarity of the terminals during testing.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,196,726 and 5,214,308, both issued to Nishiguchi et al., disclose a BGA-type approach in which bump leads on the face of the chip are received in cup-like sockets on the substrate and bonded therein by a low-melting point material. U.S. Pat. No. 4,975,079 issued to Beaman et al. discloses a test socket for chips in which dome-shaped contacts on the test substrate are disposed within conical guides. The chip is forced against the substrate so that the solder balls enter the conical guides and engage the dome-shaped pins on the substrate. Sufficient force is applied so that the dome-shaped pins actually deform the solder balls of the chip.
A further example of a BGA socket may be found in commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 5,802,699, issued Sep. 8, 1998, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference herein. The '699 patent discloses a sheet-like connector having a plurality of holes. Each hole is provided with at least one resilient laminar contact extending inwardly over a hole. The bump leads of a BGA device are advanced into the holes so that the bump leads are engaged with the contacts. The assembly can be tested, and if found acceptable, the bump leads can be permanently bonded to the contacts.
Commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 6,202,297, issued Mar. 20, 2001, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference herein, discloses a connector for microelectronic devices having bump leads and methods for fabricating and using the connector. In one embodiment of the '297 patent, a dielectric substrate has a plurality of posts extending upwardly from a front surface. The posts may be arranged in an array of post groups, with each post group defining a gap therebetween. A generally laminar contact extends from the top of each post. In order to test a device, the bump leads of the device are each inserted within a respective gap thereby engaging the contacts which wipe against the bump lead as it continues to be inserted. Typically, distal portions of the contacts deflect downwardly toward the substrate and outwardly away from the center of the gap as the bump lead is inserted into a gap.
Commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 6,177,636, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference herein, discloses a method and apparatus for providing interconnections between a microelectronic device and a supporting substrate. In one preferred embodiment of the '636 patent, a method of fabricating an interconnection component for a microelectronic device includes providing a flexible chip carrier having first and second surfaces and coupling a conductive sheet to the first surface of the chip carrier. The conductive sheet is then selectively etched to produce a plurality of substantially rigid posts. A compliant layer is provided on the second surface of the support structure and a microelectronic device such as a semiconductor chip is engaged with the compliant layer so that the compliant layer lies between the microelectronic device and the chip carrier, and leaving the posts projecting from the exposed surface of the chip carrier. The posts are electrically connected to the microelectronic device. The posts form projecting package terminals that can be engaged in a socket or solder-bonded to features of a substrate as, for example, a circuit panel. Because the posts are movable with respect to the microelectronic device, such a package substantially accommodates thermal coefficient of expansion mismatches between the device and a supporting substrate when the device is in use. Moreover, the tips of the posts can be coplanar or nearly coplanar.
As disclosed in certain preferred embodiments in co-pending, commonly assigned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/985,126, filed Nov. 10, 2004, entitled "MICRO PIN GRID ARRAY WITH WIPING ACTION", the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated herein by reference, a microelectronic package includes conductive posts that promote wiping action and facilitate engagement of the conductive posts and the contacts. In one preferred embodiment, the tip end or upper extremity of each post may be horizontally offset from the center of the base of that post. Such offset can be used in addition to, or in lieu of, the features discussed above for promoting tilting of the posts. Also, the posts can be provided with features such as sharp edges or asperities for promoting more reliable engagement with contact pads.
As discussed in greater detail in the co-pending, commonly assigned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/014,439, filed Dec. 16, 2004, entitled "MICROELECTRONIC PACKAGES AND METHODS THEREFOR", the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated herein by reference, a support structure may include a plurality of spaced apart support elements and may also include a flexible sheet overlying the support elements. Conductive posts may be offset in horizontal directions from the support elements. The offset between the posts and the support elements allows the posts, and particularly the bases of the posts, to move independently of one another relative to a microelectronic element.
Microelectronic packages having conductive terminals or posts that are able to move independently of one another is also disclosed in greater detail in co-pending, commonly assigned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/985,119, filed on Nov. 10, 2004, entitled "MICRO PIN GRID WITH PIN MOTION ISOLATION", the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated herein by reference.
Microelectronic elements such as semiconductor chips ordinarily are mounted on circuit panels such as circuit boards. For example, a packaged semiconductor chip may have an array of bonding contacts on a bottom surface of the package. Such a package can be mounted to a corresponding array of bonding contacts exposed at a top surface of a circuit board by placing the package on the circuit board with the bottom surface of the package facing downwardly and confronting the top surface of the circuit board, so that each bonding contact on the package is aligned with a corresponding bonding contact on the circuit board. Masses of a conductive bonding material, typically in the form of solder balls, are provided between the bonding contacts of the package and the bonding contacts of the circuit board. In typical surface-mounting techniques, solder balls are placed on the bonding contacts of the package before the package is applied to the circuit board.
Ordinarily, numerous microelectronic elements are mounted side-by-side on the circuit board and interconnected to one another by electrically conductive traces connecting the various bonding contacts. Using this conventional approach, however, the circuit board must have an area at least equal to the aggregate area of all of the microelectronic elements. Moreover, the circuit board must have all of the traces needed to make all of the interconnections between microelectronic elements. In some cases, the circuit board must include many layers of traces to accommodate the required interconnections. This materially increases the cost of the circuit board. Typically, each layer extends throughout the entire area of the circuit board. Stated another way, the number of layers in the entire circuit board is determined by the number of layers required in the area of the circuit board having the most complex, densely packed interconnections. For example, if a particular circuit requires six layers of traces in one small region but only requires four layers in the remainder of the circuit board, the entire circuit board must be fabricated as a six-layer structure.
These difficulties can be alleviated to some degree by connecting related microelectronic elements to one another using an additional circuit panel so as to form a sub-circuit or module, which, in turn, is mounted to the main circuit board. The main circuit board need not include the interconnections made by the circuit panel of the module. It is possible to make such a module in a "stacked" configuration, so that some of the chips or other microelectronic elements in the module are disposed on top of other chips or microelectronic elements in the same module. Thus, the module as a whole can be mounted in an area of the main circuit board less than the aggregate area of the individual microelectronic elements in the module. However, the additional circuit panel and the additional layer of interconnections between this circuit panel and the main circuit board consume additional space. In particular, the additional circuit panel and additional layer of interconnections between the additional circuit panel and the main circuit panel add to the height of the module, i.e., the distance by which the module projects above the top surface of the main circuit board. This is particularly significant where the module is provided in a stacked configuration and where low height is essential, as, for example, in assemblies intended for use in miniaturized cellular telephones and other devices to be worn or carried by the user.
The additional space consumed by mounting pre-packaged semiconductor chips on a separate module circuit panel can be saved by integrating the circuit panel of the module with a part of the package itself, commonly referred to as a package substrate. For example, several bare or unpackaged semiconductor chips can be connected to a common substrate during the chip packaging operation. Packages of this nature can also be made in a stacked arrangement. Such multi-chip packages can include some or all of the interconnections among the various chips in the package and can provide a very compact assembly. The main circuit board can be simpler than that which would be required to mount individual packaged chips in the same circuit. However, this approach requires unique packages for each combination of chips to be included in the package. For example, in the cellular telephone industry, it is a common practice to use the same field programmable gate array ("FPGA") or application specific integrated circuit ("ASIC") with different combinations of static random access memory ("SRAM") and flash memory so as to provide different features in different cellular telephones. This increases the costs associated with producing, handling and stocking the various packages.
Despite all of the above-described advances in the art, still further improvements in making and testing microelectronic packages would be desirable.

Microelectronic assemblies having very fine pitch stacking


A system for supporting and maintaining the upper portion of a building structure in a level condition includes a vertically adjustable load-bearing assembly including a plurality of spaced support jacks supporting the upper portion above a lower portion of the building structure, the support jacks being adjustable vertically in height independent of the other in order to maintain the upper portion in a level condition, and a plurality of level indicators fixed relative to the upper portion that cooperate with each other to indicate whether the upper portion is level. A method of keeping an upper portion of a building structure level includes the steps of installing a vertically adjustable load-bearing assembly including a plurality of spaced support jacks for supporting the upper portion of the building structure above the lower portion thereof with each support jack being adjustable vertically in height independent of the other, fixing a plurality of level indicators relative to the upper portion such that the indicators cooperate with each other to indicate whether the upper portion is level, and adjusting the height of the support jacks until the indicators indicate that the upper portion is level.

Many building structures, particularly residential homes, include an upper portion that overlies and is supported upon a lower portion. The upper portion may include, for example, one or more floors, several load-bearing walls, and a roof. The lower portion is often a foundation that is substantially below ground. Sometimes the foundation is in turn supported upon a plurality of caissons that extend below the foundation. In this situation, the floors, load-bearing walls, roof and foundation can be considered the upper portion of the building structure and the caissons the lower portion.
Regardless of the situation, expansive soils, such as Bentonite, can cause movement of the foundation that in turn can cause the upper portion of the building to tilt. When the upper portion tilts from a level condition, substantial structural damage can occur. For example, tilting of the upper portion can result in rising or falling floors, cracked ceilings and walls, and other damage. Such damage can be avoided by supporting and maintaining the upper portion of the building structure in a level condition.
The upper portion may be maintained in a level condition through the use of support jacks that support the upper portion over the lower portion and which are individually adjustable in height. However, an indication of whether the upper portion is level is necessary in order to determine if the support jacks are properly adjusted. Consequently, a need exists for a system and method for supporting and maintaining the upper portion of a building structure in a level condition that combines adjustable support jacks with indicators that indicate whether the upper portion is level.
While a system and method that meets the above need is sufficient, there are two drawbacks associated with using support jacks to keep the upper portion level. First, if one or more of the support jacks moves in a lateral direction, the effectiveness of the system and method can be compromised. Thus, restricting lateral movement of the support jacks is desirable. Second, because the support jacks apply force to the upper portion at specific locations, the upper portion may sag between the support jacks resulting in the same type of structural damage caused by tilting of the upper portion. Consequently, it is also desirable to rigidify the upper portion to minimize sagging between the support jacks.
One further drawback associated with using support jacks to keep the upper portion level is that the support jacks need to be adjusted as the foundation moves in order to keep the upper portion level. While it is possible to adjust the support jacks by eye, doing so can be cumbersome and difficult, particularly where there are numerous support jacks or the foundation moves often. Also, if the upper portion tilts enough between adjustments, structural damage may result before the upper portion is returned to level. For these reasons, it would be desirable if it were possible to easily adjust, preferably automatically adjust, the height of the support jacks so that the upper portion is easily returned to a level condition or better yet maintained level at all times.

System and method for maintaining a building a structure in a level condition


Predetermined combinatorial libraries of non-peptide compounds are disclosed. Compounds useful for generating such libraries are also disclosed.

Random peptide libraries and protein diversity generated by means of phage display methodology are becoming invaluable for the identification of new small molecule drugs. These approaches that produce a large multiplicity of peptides are encompassed by the term "combinatorial chemistry." Early combinatorial chemistry efforts involved one or more variations on the Merrifield peptide synthesis scheme (R. Merrifield, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 85:2149-54, 1963). This scheme features incremental lengthening of a peptide chain on a solid phase support. Today, commercially available equipment can be used to perform peptide synthesis on solid supports. More specifically, after a first amino acid is attached to a solid support, a series of reactions involving deprotection, attachment of the next amino acid (protected) in the sequence, deprotection of the peptide, and so on, is carried out to generate a synthetic peptide or polypeptide. Peptide combinatorial libraries have been recently reviewed by M. Gallop et al., J. Med. Chem. 37: 1233-51, 1994 and E. Gordon et al., J. Med. Chem. 37: 1386-1401, 1994, for instance.
Large combinatorial libraries (containing millions and even billions of peptides) can now be generated and analyzed. By using standard, solid phase peptide synthesis methods in conjunction with a resin proportioning (split) and mix technique protocol (see, for instance, A. Furuka et al., Abstr. 14th International Congress of Biochemistry, Prague, Czechoslovakia, Vol. 5, p. 47, 1988; A. Furuka et al., Intl. J. Pept. Protein Res. 37:487-93, 1991; K. Lam et al., Nature 354: 82-84, 1991; and R. Houghten et al., Nature 354:84-86, 1991), equimolar mixtures of peptides with one unique sequence per bead can be produced. Deconvolution of these peptide libraries is accomplished by subjecting peptide mixtures (in solution) to bioassays in an iterative fashion (for instance, as described by R. Houghten et al., BioTechniques 13:412-21, 1992). By screening progressively smaller libraries and sub libraries of peptide mixtures, an active sequence(s) can be identified. Alternatively, solid phase-immobilized peptides can be screened using appropriately developed bioassays. Deconvoluted beads displaying a bioactive peptide sequence can then be sequenced using a peptide sequencer (see K. Lam et al., Bioorg. Med. Chem. Lett. 3:419-24, 1993).
There are advantages and disadvantages to each of these processes (i.e., using compounds in solution versus immobilized compounds for bioassay and deconvolution). Compounds in solution offer the following advantages: (1) compounds can be assayed in conjunction with soluble or insoluble receptors, enzymes or cell-based bioassays; (2) the molarity of compounds can be controlled; and (3) deconvolution strategies are readily available. The disadvantages of compounds in solution include: (1) complex mixtures in solution can result in multiple "hits"; (2) many compounds having low activity may be present in the same pool; (3) deconvolution can be elaborate and time-consuming; and (4) total pool concentrations cannot exceed a certain, limiting concentration.
Immobilized or insolubilized (for instance, on beads) compounds provide the following advantages: (1) ease of detection and selection of positive compounds; (2) no cleavage work-up is needed; (3) each bead or matrix unit is associated with a single compound that can be readily identified. The disadvantages of immobilized compounds include: (1) uncertain effects of the solid support on the activity of affixed compounds; (2) potential conformation constraints on the affixed compound and its activity; (3) the compounds are generally small, and naturally would interact with receptors or binding moieties in a small form, not as a small portion of a larger molecular entity; (4) the detection molecule (for instance, a receptor or enzyme in a bioassay format) must be soluble, and may need to be modified, configured or adapted to function appropriately in a solid phase assay format; and (5) membrane-bound detection molecules (such as receptors or in cell-based assays) may not be amenable to a solid phase assay format.
Methods have been developed for synthesis and deconvolution of nucleotide-encoded peptide libraries (N. Needels et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 90:10700-04, 1993; R. Lerner et al., PCT Application WO 93/20242); chemically-tagged peptide libraries (A. Borchardt et al., J. Am. Chem. Soc. 116:373-74, 1994); and peptide-tagged non-sequencible libraries (V. Nikolaiev et al., Pept. Res. 6:161-70, 1993). Also, a multiple use library has been used to screen a G-coupled receptor system (C. Jayawickreme et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 91:1614-18, 1994). Many of these libraries and assays have undergone limited testing and analysis. Thus, to make these libraries generally useful in conjunction with a spectrum of bioassays, especially cell-based and/or membrane-bound receptor assays, considerable improvements in these methods are needed.
To overcome limitations associated with reported peptide libraries, there is a need in the art for alternatives to known, peptide-based combinatorial libraries. The present invention provides such alternatives, as well as other, related advantages.


In a hydraulic control circuit including a solenoid valve, whose change responsiveness in an actual pressure with respect to a change in an instructional pressure deteriorates when the instructional pressure enters a dead band region on a lower pressure side than a dead band threshold, for adjusting a hydraulic pressure supplied to a hydraulic device operated by the hydraulic pressure based on the instructional pressure, the instructional pressure is increased in a stepwise manner to a charge pressure higher than the dead band threshold, when the instructional pressure is set in the dead band region and the instructional pressure increases within the dead band region to such an extent that a speed ratio does not change. Then, a lower limit of the instructional pressure is set to the dead band threshold, and use of the dead band region is prohibited for a certain period of time.

Solenoid valves are used for adjusting hydraulic pressures supplied to hydraulic devices, such as hydraulic pistons, actuators, clutches and brakes, which are operated by the hydraulic pressures, to be instructional pressures. Each of the solenoid valves is supplied with a current corresponding to the instructional pressure, so as to adjust an original pressure supplied from an oil pump or the like, and to supply the hydraulic pressure that is equal to the instructional pressure to the hydraulic device.
However, some solenoid valves have a dead band region, in which an actual pressure is hard to be reduced even though the instructional pressure is reduced, on a low pressure side. When the solenoid valve is controlled in that region, a change in the hydraulic pressure that is supplied to the device operated by the hydraulic pressure is delayed, and thus deterioration in control responsiveness is caused.
For this reason, according to JP2009-14138A, a change in the actual pressure, at the time when the instructional pressure is changed, is examined so as to identify the dead band region of the solenoid valve, and not to use the dead band region.

Hydraulic control circuit and its control method


An engine-starting device for an engine. The device includes a counter that provides a counting value based on an initiation of engine cranking; and a cranking control system that prohibits engine cranking if the counting value of the counter passes a cranking prohibition threshold value.

Some engine-starting devices utilize identification (ID) matching between portable equipment, such as an electronic key, and an electronic key controller located on the vehicle. A push-button switch to start or stop the engine may be operated while carrying the electronic key. When a registered ID, carried on one's person in the electronic key, matches the ID of the electronic key controller, the engine may be cranked to start the engine.


A method and apparatus for discriminating digital data received from a plurality of spatially distinct acoustic sensing nodes of a distributed undersea optical surveillance system. The present invention advantageously employs Code Division Multiplexing (CDM), which is a synchronous variation of Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), to communicate a plurality of digital data bit-streams from the nodes to a common location remote therefrom. The inventive system generates at the remote location a pseudo-random reference signal that functions as a carrier for communicating sensed acoustic data from the nodes to the remote location. Using the known spatial relationship between the nodes and the remote location and the pseudo-random reference signal, the present invention operatively synchronizes correlators at the remote location to receive and differentiate data from the various individual nodes.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to optical telemetry systems and, more particularly, to a method and apparatus for interrogating a distributed undersea optical acoustic surveillance system to discriminate data received from a plurality of spaced apart acoustic sensing nodes.
2. Description of the Related Art
Current undersea acoustic surveillance systems employ complicated data node assemblies to accumulate local acoustic data and time division multiplex (TDM) data onto an optical transmission medium such, for example, as a fiber-optic cable or bundle of cables. Complex circuits including lasers that consume significant amounts of power are required in each sensing node and significantly increase installation and repair costs and adversely affect reliability. In addition, the relatively low data rate of the nodes must typically be raised to a system buss rate which is in the range of 150 Mbps.

Method and apparatus of interrogating a distributed undersea optical surveillance system


In a computer system, even when the virtual storage capacity of pools is increased, it is possible to keep the availability of each pool at least at a desired level. The managing server compares a reference value beforehand stored therein with an evaluation value of availability which represents a degree of resistivity against destruction, the degree being derived by use of physical configuration information which is obtained from the controller and which is associated with the pool; and determines necessity of addition of an element to the pool if the availability evaluation value exceeds the reference value and indicates the addition of the element to the pool to the storage apparatus.

The present invention relates to a computer system including a storage system to which a storage virtualizing technique is applied.
Recently, there has been broadly installed a computer system in which one or more external storage apparatuses are connected to one or more host computers or hosts via a Storage Area Network (SAN) such that the hosts use or share a large-capacity storage apparatus including the external storage apparatuses. Such computer system is advantageous in expandability, that is, a storage resource (e.g., an external storage apparatus) and a computer resource (e.g., a host) can be easily added, deleted, or replaced. A storage apparatus configured in the form of Redundant Arrays of Inexpensive Disks (RAID) is generally used as an external storage apparatus to be connected to the SAN. In this regard, a storage apparatus (also referred to simply as a storage) indicates a large-sized storage apparatus including disk devices and the like.
Recently, in association with expanded and complicated storage environments due to increase in data of firms and companies, there has been increasingly and widely employed "Thin Provisioning" which is a virtualizing technique of a storage system to simplify the operation and management of the storage system and to consolidate the storage environments.
The thin provisioning is a function to provide (present) a host with a thin provisioning volume for which the storage system has not a storage area (not corresponding to an actual area, i.e., an actual physical or logical storage area) to establish a correspondence between the thin provisioning volume and a set of virtual storage areas called a pool. When a host accesses the thin provisioning volume, the storage system allocates an actual storage area to an area of the thin provisioning volume.
For example, JP-A-2005-11316 describes a technique in which when a host carries out an operation to write data in a thin provisioning volume of a storage, an actual storage area is first allocated to an associated area of the thin provisioning volume. U.S. Pat. No. 6,823,442 describes a technique in which a thin provisioning volume to be accessed by a host is disposed in a storage system to allocate a physical storage area to the thin provisioning volume.
Since a plurality of thin provisioning volumes may correspond to one pool, the system is capable of effectively use virtual storage areas of the pool. Specifically, it is possible that the storage system beforehand arranges thin provisioning volumes virtually having a large capacity such that new virtual storage areas are added to the pool depending on the state of utilization of the pool to thereby increase the virtual storage capacity. On this occasion, it is not required in the initial stage to prepare or to arrange all hardware resources or storage media corresponding to the virtual storage areas, but it is only necessary to add such required hardware resources later according to necessity. This leads to, for example, an advantage that inexpensive hardware resources or storage media are later purchased for installation thereof according to necessity.

Managing server, pool adding method and computer system


In an Optical Transport Network (OTN) system, methods and devices are provided for communicating rate-adaptive OTUk frames. One method determines channel statistics for a fiber span connecting a transmitter to a receiver. A client input data rate is determined that is sufficient to meet a minimum communication threshold, and a rate-adaptive OTUk frame format is determined sufficient to carry the client input data rate. The format comprises a set of (n) allocated slots of client input data in a rate-adaptive OTUk frame comprising (m) slots, where (n) is less than or equal to (m). The method then fills the rate-adaptive OTUk frame, including (m−n) unallocated slots, using one of two processes. The first process fills the rate-adaptive OTUk frame with parity bits computed from client input data. The second process fills at least a portion of the rate-adaptive OTUk frame with and dummy bits.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention generally relates to Optical Transport Networks (OTNs) and, more particularly, to a system and method for scaling the total client date rate to match the available optical link capacity.
2. Description of the Related Art
FIG. 3 is a diagram depicting the G.709 OTUk/ODUk/OPUk frame format (prior art). The basic OTN container is an optical channel data unit (ODU) which can have a fixed rate (ODUk with k=0, 1, 2, 3, 4) or a variable rate (ODUflex). The G.709 ODUk frame format is identical for all rates (ITU-T G.709/Y.1331, "Interfaces for the Optical Transport Network (OTN)", February 2012). It can be represented as a structure of four rows and 3824 columns. This structure, in turn, consists of various layers of signaling and overhead attached to a basic optical payload unit (OPU).
The OPU, spanning all four rows and columns 17-3824 is itself a composite of multiple tributary slots, each targeted for a rate of typically 1.25 gigabits per second (Gbps). Thus, the number of slots per frame is Ns=2, 8, 32 and 80 for k=1-4, achieving data rates of 2.5, 10, 40 and 80 Gbit/s respectively. By defining tributary slots, G.709 allows multiplexing of many lower-rate clients into an OTUk pipe. In this case, each client is mapped into this payload area through one of the constant bit rate mapping procedures, e.g. for SONET/SDH or Ethernet PCS, or through generic framing procedure (GFP), e.g. for MPLS packets or Ethernet MAC frames. Time division multiplexing of lower-rate ODUj into higher-rate ODUk (with j<k) is also supported. Each of the lower-rate ODUs is identified by a tributary port number and the appropriate amount of tributary slots is allocated to it.
FIG. 4 is a diagram depicting the position of a tributary slot within an OPUk payload area (prior art). The allocation of slots to sub-containers is signaled as part of the OPUk overhead, which constitutes columns 15 and 16 of the OTN frame structure.
FIG. 5 is a diagram depicting the multiplex structure identifier (MSI) signaled over 256 frames (prior art). Specifically, the multiplex structure is signaled end-to-end using the payload structure identifier (PSI) byte of each OTN frame (row 4, column 15). The signaling is accomplished over a multiframe, comprising 256 consecutive frames. Of the 256-byte PSI received in a multiframe, the MSI field starts at PSI byte 2 and has one byte entry per tributary slot. Each MSI entry indicates if the corresponding tributary slot is allocated to a tributary port or free.
In addition to the OPU payload and the OPUk overhead, the OTN frame also comprises ODUk overhead (rows 2-4, columns 1-14); OTUk overhead (row 1, column 1-14) which also includes frame alignment. In "standard" implementations of OTN, a Reed-Solomon based FEC is computed on the entire ODUk frame to obtain the last 256 columns of the OTUk frame.
FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram depicting a conventional OTN system (prior art). The OTN connects various sites over metro or long haul distances, as shown. The optical fibers running through the network carry many different physical channels, also known as "wavelengths". A physical channel comprises a center wavelength typically in the optical C band, and a bandwidth (50 GHz with the standard ITU grid (ITU-T G.694.1, "Spectral grids for WDM applications", February 2012) or higher in the case of "super channels", see O. Gerstel et al, "Elastic Optical Networking: A New Dawn for the Optical Layer?" IEEE Comm. Magazine, February 2012. As shown in the figure, each site contains a reconfigurable optical add drop multiplexer (ROADM) which "drops" m receive channels {ARi} and "adds" n transmit channels {ATj}. Adjacent sites are connected by a stretch of optical fiber, divided into spans of typically around 100 km each. Each span is terminated using an optical amplifier, denoted R in the figure. These amplifiers, typically Erbium doped fiber amplifiers (EDFA), compensate for fiber attenuation. In addition, span termination may also include optical dispersion compensation.
FIG. 2 is a graph depicting optical signal-to-noise (OSNR) to the number of spans (prior art). A physical channel extends from the allocated transmitter site "T" to the allocated receiver site "R", and may pass through ROADMs at many different intermediate sites. Amplifiers (both for span compensation and in EDFAs) add noise to the optical signal, hence the optical signal-to-noise ratio (OSNR) typically decreases with the distance spanned by the physical channel. The curve shows the available OSNR, with 12.5 dB OSNR being the required value for 100 gigabits per second (Gps).
The OSNR in a physical channel, along with other factors such as non-linearity, polarization mode dispersion, etc., determines the available capacity of the channel, i.e., the maximum spectral efficiency (b/s/Hz) that can be achieved on the channel.
The goal of communication system design is to choose modulation and forward error correction (FEC) schemes to achieve data rates close to channel capacity. The first step towards achieving this goal has been taken, with the use of coherent modulation at the transmitter and advanced signal processing at the receiver (see, for example, Savory et al., "Electronic Compensation of Chromatic Dispersion using a Digital Coherent Receiver", Opt. Express, Vol. 15, No. 5, pp. 2120-2126, March 2007. Current deployments achieve a fixed rate of 100 Gbps over 50 GHz channels using polarization-multiplexed QPSK (ITU-T G.975.1, "Forward Error Correction for High Bit-rate DWDM Submarine Systems," February 2004) (PM-QPSK), at a spectral efficiency of 2 b/s/Hz. Now, PM-QPSK requires an OSNR of around 12.5 dB to operate (more or less depending on the equalization and phase tracking algorithms and the forward error correction FEC used). As seen from FIG. 2, the available OSNR in the link is often greater than the minimum required. Limiting data rate to 100 Gbps in shorter links is clearly a waste of available capacity. To better utilize available channel capacity, next generation deployments target the use of higher order modulation schemes to achieve higher spectral efficiencies for links with high OSNR (see, for instance, D. L. McGhan, W. Leckie, C. Chen, Reconfigurable Coherent Transceivers for Optical Transmission Capacity and Reach Optimization, OW4C.7, OFC 2012).
It would be advantageous if the channel capacity of an OTN link could be more efficiently utilized.

System and method for scaling total client capacity with a standard-compliant optical transport network (OTN)


The present invention relates to steganography and digital watermarking. In one implementation, we provide a method to analyze a digital image to determine whether the digital image will be a suitable host to receive steganographic encoding or digital watermarking. Suitability is determined, at least in part, by analyzing the digital image relative to an expected workflow process through which a watermarked version of the digital image is expected to flow through. Our methods and systems determine whether the digital image forms a suitable host to receive digital watermarking relative to the expected workflow process. If the digital image is not suitable, the digital image is modified to better receive digital watermarking in anticipation of the expected workflow process.

Not all images are suitable to receive digital watermarking. Some images are too light (e.g., "washed out") or have a large percentage of pixels that include high saturation. Other images may be too dark to effectively receive digital watermarking. The present invention provides methods and apparatus to modify an image to better receive digital watermarking. The methods and apparatus can be integrated into image workflows and only modify those images that may be sub par in terms of their ability to receive and hide digital watermarking. One example workflow is image capture for identification documents (e.g., at DMV station or passport application process). Another example is a photography studio during its print (or proofs) process. Of course, these are but a few of the many environments in which our inventive techniques will benefit.
Digital watermarking technology, a form of steganography, encompasses a great variety of techniques by which plural bits of digital data are hidden in some other object, preferably without leaving human-apparent evidence of alteration.
Digital watermarking may be used to modify media content to embed a machine-readable code into the media content. The media may be modified such that the embedded code is imperceptible or nearly imperceptible to the user, yet may be detected through an automated detection process.
There are many processes by which media can be processed to encode a digital watermark. In physical objects, the data may be encoded in the form of surface texturing or printing. Such marking can be detected from optical scan data, e.g., from a scanner or web cam. In electronic objects (e.g., digital audio or imagery—including video), the data may be encoded as slight variations in sample values. Or, if the object is represented in a so-called orthogonal domain (also termed "non-perceptual," e.g., MPEG, DCT, wavelet, etc.), the data may be encoded as slight variations in quantization values or levels. The assignee's U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,122,403 and 6,614,914 are illustrative of certain watermarking technologies. Still further techniques are known to those of ordinary skill in the watermarking art.
Digital watermarking systems typically have two primary components: an embedding component that embeds a watermark in the media content, and a reading component that detects and reads the embedded watermark. The embedding component embeds a watermark pattern by altering data samples of the media content. The reading component analyzes content to detect whether a watermark pattern is present. In applications where the watermark encodes information, the reading component extracts this information from the detected watermark.
One problem that arises in many watermarking applications is that of object corruption. If the object is reproduced, or distorted, in some manner such that the content presented for watermark decoding is not identical to the object as originally watermarked, then the decoding process may be unable to recognize and decode the watermark. To deal with such problems, the watermark can convey a reference signal or "orientation component." The orientation component is of such a character as to permit its detection even in the presence of relatively severe distortion. Once found, the attributes of the distorted reference signal can be used to quantify the content's distortion. Watermark decoding can then proceed—informed by information about the particular distortion present.
The Assignee's U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,614,914 and 6,408,082 detail orientation components, and processing methods, that permit such watermark decoding even in the presence of distortion. In some image watermarking embodiments, an orientation component comprises a constellation of quasi-impulse functions in the Fourier magnitude domain, each with pseudorandom phase. To detect and quantify the distortion, the watermark decoder converts the watermarked image to the Fourier magnitude domain and then performs a log polar resampling of the Fourier magnitude image. A generalized matched filter correlates a known orientation signal with the re-sampled watermarked signal to find the rotation and scale parameters providing the highest correlation. The watermark decoder performs additional correlation operations between the phase information of the known orientation signal and the watermarked signal to determine translation parameters, which identify the origin of the watermark message signal. Having determined the rotation, scale and translation of the watermark signal, the reader then adjusts the image data to compensate for this distortion, and extracts the watermark message signal.
One aspect of the present invention is a method to condition an image prior to receiving steganographic encoding. The process includes receiving an image and subjecting the image to an approximation of an expected workflow process. The subjected image is evaluated to determine whether the image includes characteristics that are conducive to receive steganographic encoding in view of the expected workflow process. If the digital image is not conducive, the image is modified.
Another aspect of the present invention is a method to analyze a digital image to determine whether the digital image will be a suitable host to receive digital watermarking. The method includes processing a digital image in accordance with an approximation of an expected workflow process, and analyzing the processed digital image to determine whether the digital image forms a suitable host to receive digital watermarking. If the digital image is not suitable, the digital image is modified to better receive digital watermark in anticipation of the expected workflow process.
Additional features, aspects and advantages of the present invention will become even more apparent with reference to the following detailed description and accompanying drawings.

Conditioning imagery to better receive steganographic encoding


A unitary rear frame mounting an engine and hydrostatic transmissions to the rear of a ZTR mower is disclosed. The unitary rear frame includes a lower mounting surface supporting the engine, an upper mounting surface above and forward of the lower mounting surface; a wall extending between the upper and lower mounting surfaces; and a pair of integral side panels depending downwardly from the upper mounting surface and extending forwardly of the wall. Each side panel may have a side pocket for mounting a hydrostatic transmission thereto.

Grass mowing machines such as ZTR mowers may have internal combustion engines mounted at the rear of the mower frame or platform behind the operator seat. ZTR mowers also have at least one independently powered drive wheel on each side of a frame. Hydrostatic transmissions transmit power from the engine to each of the left and right drive wheels, either in forward or reverse. The pair of hydrostatic transmissions, or dual hydrostatic transmission, may be driven through a belt and pulley arrangement by the engine crankshaft. The hydrostatic transmission(s) may be mounted to the rear of the vehicle frame adjacent the engine, under and/or behind the operator seat. For example, the hydrostatic transmission(s) may be bolted to mounting plates that are welded to the frame or engine mounting platform. Other rear mounted components, such as a roll over protection system ("ROPS"), also may be welded or attached with bolts to brackets fastened to the frame behind the operator seat.
The mounting plates and structures used for mounting the engine and other components to the rear of the mower frame are labor intensive to weld, fabricate and inspect due to the high number of parts that go into the assembly. They require a large number of welds to securely connect together the engine platform, supporting panels, and brackets. It would be desirable to simplify the mounting structures for the engine and hydrostatic transmission(s) on the rear of a ZTR mower. It would be desirable to provide a low cost mounting structure for the engine and hydrostatic transmission on a ZTR mower. It would be desirable to reduce the amount of labor to mount an engine, hydrostatic transmission and other components on the rear of a ZTR mower.

Unitary rear frame for mounting engine, hydrostatic transmission, and other components to mower


A customizable carrying case (20) for a portable electronic device has a shell (22) and a strand (36). Shell (22) has a first attachment area (50) and a second attachment area (52) to which a first end (44) and a second end (46) of strand (36) is attached. First end (44) and second end (46) of strand (36) can be detached from first attachment area (50) and a second attachment area (52), permitting a user to interchange more than one strand (36) with shell (22), as a user desires. Static first attachment area (50) and a second attachment area (52) ensures that the portable electronic deviceremains facing a direction that user desires.

Cases used to protect and carry objects have been in existence for many years. These have been designed to be carried in ways to permit the user to keep their hands free for other tasks. The designs used range from shoulder straps and belts to armbands and the like, each providing the user the ability to efficiently carry their device while still permitting the user to keep their hands free.
Electronic devices are not only becoming more portable, but also much more integrated. Whereas previously an individual may have carried a music player, phone, and other communication device, most people can now be found carrying a single device that incorporates many, if not all, of these functions. With this increased functionality has come a greater dependency upon these devices and the need for immediate access to them.
There are varied methods of carrying these electronic devices, ranging from placing them in a pocket or purse, to various belt clips, and even the option to wear these devices around the neck. While many still place their devices in purses or pockets, or even hold them in their hand, these methods of carrying the devices increase the chances of damage to the face or body or the device. Belt or waist clips provide an ease of access for the user while keeping their hands free, however, there is a greater difficulty in the use of the device, as the devices are tucked away from sight, at the user's waist, inside a pouch or holster.
There are methods of carrying these electronic devices around one's neck, all of which provide a level of use that permits the user to ensure that the devices are readily available, however the lack of customizability of these cases limit the user in the type and form that they can use to carry their electronic device around their neck.
The lack of customizability extends to limiting the methods in which the user may hold or secure the portable electronic device to their person. Where current carrying cases have defined locations at one end of the carrying case, permitting a user to carry a portable electronic device in only one orientation, new portable electronic devices have functionality that permits the user to change views based upon the orientation of the device with respect to the ground. Thus, the user would find it desirable to determine the orientation which is most functional to them, and ensure that they may carry the device in an easily visible location in the said orientation.

Customizable carrier for a portable electronic device


A process for the production of coated substrates comprising the successive steps of:                a) applying a coating composition A′ onto one side A″ of a metal sheet to form a coating layer A which is electrically insulating when cured and applying a coating composition B′ onto the opposite side of the metal sheet to form coating layer B which is electrically conductive when cured, wherein each of the coating compositions A′ and B′ are applied by coil coating,        b) curing the two coating layers A and B,        c) removing and shaping sheet metal parts provided with the cured coating layer A on one side A″ and with the cured coating layer B on the other side B″,        d) optionally, assembling the coated shaped sheet metal parts to form a construction with outwardly directed sides A″ and        e) electrodepositing an electrodeposition (ED) coating layer onto the electrically conductive surfaces and curing of the ED coating layer.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a process for the production of coated substrates and to the coated substrates.
2. Description of the Prior Art
WO 98/23390 discloses a coating process in which a primer, which is electrically conductive when baked, is coil coated onto both sides of a metal sheet and is baked and sheet metal parts are then stamped out of the sheets coated in this way and are shaped by deep-drawing. These coated sheet metal parts may then be assembled to form a construction, for example, a motor vehicle body. After shaping and optionally assembly, a base coat/clear coat two-layer coating is applied, either the base coat or, if an intermediate coat is applied before application of the base coat, the intermediate coat is applied by electrodeposition, (ED coating). An essential feature is that the primer applied by the coil coating process is applied sufficiently thinly to have sufficient electrical conductivity for subsequent ED coating and/or the coil coating composition contains components which impart electrical conductivity.
In the past, a coating process, which became known as the "reverse process", was used, wherein initially a primer surfacer layer was spray-applied directly to the metal outer skin of a car body and baked. Then, an ED coating primer was applied to the metal surfaces inside the car body, which had remained uncoated, and baked (see G. Fettis, Automotive paints and coatings, Verlag Chemie, Weinheim, 1995, pages 61-63).

Process for the production of coated substrates


A x-ray diagnostic apparatus and methods perform Real-Time Digital Radiography with particular application in dental x-ray imaging modalities, such as Orthopantomography, Scannography, Linear Tomography and Cephalography, by using a versatile and robotized mechanical structure, featuring projection movements in the required a real range and automatic adaptation of the same mechanical structure to serve the various x-ray imaging modalities foreseen.

Orthopantomography, Scannography, Linear Tomography and Cephalography are complementary radiographic techniques, often combined in a single equipment, of widespread use in dental radiology to obtain respectively a comprehensive survey of the maxillo-facial complex, tomographic views of selected anatomical districts under transversal or axial projections, and cranial views under multiple projections, supporting the diagnosis in the dental prevention, restoration and follow up.
Orthopantomography aims to produce a radiographic image of a curved plane approximating the patient jaws, with blurring of the anatomical structures laying outside a narrow layer around the predesignated curved plane, by using the relative movement of the radiographic film versus the rotation of the x-ray source to generate the layer forming effect.
Scannography has a layer forming process similar to Orthopantomography, where the object is typically laying on a flat plane. It is practically used to produce axial or transverse views of specific anatomical districts, such as the jaw, the joints and the sinus.
Linear Tomography is an alternative technique, using the classic linear tomographic layer forming projection. It is practically used to produce axial or transverse views of specific anatomical districts in the jaw.
Cephalography is a stationary radiographic technique, aiming to produce radiographic images of the cranial complex under various projections, with minimum magnification and geometrical distortion.
For all the indicated radiographic modalities the real-time digital x-ray image acquisition is nowadays a more and more demanded feature. It provides instant image acquisition with reduced x-ray dosage, by taking advantage of the improved performances and reduced costs provided by the modern image imager technology. It also allows safer and cleaner operation, by removal of the film processing and related chemicals.
Both in conventional and digital modality, performing the radiographic techniques above typically requires a mechanical structure capable of performing orbital movements around the patient with simultaneous translation of the rotational centre.
A first difference is that in conventional Panoramic Radiography and Scannography the x-ray film is simultaneously translated at a speed such to obtain the blurring of the anatomical structures laying outside of the plane of interest, while in real time digital applications the x-ray film is replaced by the x-ray imager and special electronic techniques are used to produce the same blurring effect.
A second difference is that in conventional Cephalography and Linear Tomography a stationary x-ray film is used, while in real-time digital applications the stationary x-ray film can be replaced by a stationary x-ray imager.
Alternatively, to significantly reduce the system cost, a linearly shaped x-ray imager will be preferably used, and the image acquisition will be performed by using a horizontal or vertical scanning technique.
Another important difference is that, due to the high cost of the x-ray imager, in real-time digital applications it will be very desirable to have an apparatus and method to relocate the x-ray imager, either manually or automatically, from the Panoramic to the Cephalographic position.
The fundamental concept on which this invention is based was described in prior art application (U.S. Pat. No. 4,985,907), where the roto-translatory system is disclosed realized by two independent translations movements in a plane and one independent rotation movement about an axis perpendicular to that plane. The present invention further expands this concept, by disclosing the new apparatuses and methods required for the real-time digital implementation of the indicated radiographic modalities.
Other prior art (U.S. Pat. No. 4,741,007) describes apparatus and methods in which the roto-translatory movement is realised by means of two pivot shafts placed at a constant distance from each other, using a guide groove and an active actuator.
Further prior art (U.S. Pat. No. 5,012,501) describes apparatus and methods in which a variety of orbital movements is produced by using a first drive for the rotational movement, a second drive for the linear translation of the rotation centre, and a selector for selecting the direction of the linear motion.
More recent prior art (WO 99/17659) describes apparatus and methods in which pivot shafts connecting multiple body parts are driven by active actuators in a SCARA arrangement, allowing a variety of projection movements as required for various dental x-ray imaging modalities.
The concept of the three independent roto-translatory movements disclosed in prior art (U.S. Pat. No. 4,985,907) has proven its flexibility in producing multiple orbital projections by simple adjustment of the software programming data, and can be advantageously used for the generation of the orbital movements required for Orthopantomography, Scannography, and Linear Tomography, both in Conventional and Real-Time Digital Radiography.
The main difference will be that in Real-Time Digital Radiography the film cassette with its independent drive is removed, and is replaced by the x-ray imager having an active area of a size equivalent to the x-ray field at the film plane as used in Conventional Radiography.
However, it will be the purpose of this invention to further exploit the basic concept in order to implement the following desirable features:                Perform Real-Time Digital Cephalography by means of horizontal, vertical or rotatory scanning movements, allowing at the same time ergonomic and reproducible immobilisation of the patient by suitable positioning system.        Perform automatic relocation of the x-ray imager between the Panoramic and Cephalographic positions, in order to allow use of the same imager in both imaging modalities.

Real-time digital X-ray imaging apparatus


A new protective table cover for preventing injuries caused by sharp corners and edges of coffee and end tables. The inventive device includes a cover member dimensioned for covering a top of a table. The cover member has a peripheral channel secured around an outer periphery thereof. The peripheral channel hangs over a peripheral edge of the top of the table. The peripheral channel has a supplemental peripheral flap extending outwardly from a lower edge of the peripheral channel. The supplemental peripheral flap has an elastic band secured therein for securement to an underside of the top of the table. A padded strip is disposed within the peripheral channel and extends an entire distance therearound.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to cover guards and more particularly pertains to a new protective table cover for preventing injuries caused by sharp corners and edges of coffee and end tables.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The use of cover guards is known in the prior art. More specifically, cover guards heretofore devised and utilized are known to consist basically of familiar, expected and obvious structural configurations, notwithstanding the myriad of designs encompassed by the crowded prior art which have been developed for the fulfillment of countless objectives and requirements.
Known prior art cover guards include U.S. Pat. No. 4,582,739 to Givens; U.S. Pat. No. 4,817,902 to Mason; U.S. Pat. No. 3,960,354 to Simikoski; U.S. Pat. No. Des. 207,680 to Pratt; U.S. Pat. No. 3,093,924 to Pompa; WO 96/37127 to Chasan et al.; and EP 0 317 027 A1 to Sluiter.
While these devices fulfill their respective, particular objectives and requirements, the aforementioned patents do not disclose a new protective table cover. The inventive device includes a cover member dimensioned for covering a top of a table. The cover member has a peripheral channel secured around an outer periphery thereof. The peripheral channel hangs over a peripheral edge of the top of the table. The peripheral channel has a supplemental peripheral flap extending outwardly from a lower edge of the peripheral channel. The supplemental peripheral flap has an elastic band secured therein for securement to an underside of the top of the table. A padded strip is disposed within the peripheral channel and extends an entire distance therearound.
In these respects, the protective table cover according to the present invention substantially departs from the conventional concepts and designs of the prior art, and in so doing provides an apparatus primarily developed for the purpose of preventing injuries caused by sharp corners and edges of coffee and end tables.


A stripping apparatus for stripping metal film from a metallized plastic film is provided. In accordance with one aspect of the invention, a rod is utilized for providing an anode or cathode charge, with the rod movable in a direction perpendicular to the direction of movement of the metallized plastic film. As a result, any remnants which may accumulate on the rod from a previous stripping operation do not adversely affect subsequent stripping operations. Further, a pressing roller is provided which is downstream of both of an anode/cathode roller and the cathode/anode rod. In another embodiment, a plurality of anode-cathode pairs are provided which are rotatably mounted. When one of the anode-cathode pairs is performing a stripping operation, another of the anode-cathode pairs can be cleaned by a brush or grinding device, such that a newly cleaned anode-cathode pair can be presented for each stripping operation.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a stripping apparatus for stripping a metal film from a metallized plastic film.
A metallized plastic film for a condensor is prepared by vacuum vapor deposition of a metal film, such as aluminum, onto one side of an extremely thin plastic film. In a condensor using such a metallized plastic film, when wound the cut ends of metal film wound one upon another often contact to cause a short-circuit. In order to prevent such a short-circuit it is necessary to partially strip the deposited metal film from the plastic film. In such a metallized plastic film, the beginning part of the winding is stripped and also, as shown in FIG. 1, a fixed length of metal film at regular intervals is stripped according to volume and pressure conditions (in the FIGURE, 01 is a metal film and 02 shows a stripped part).
2. DISCUSSION OF THE BACKGROUND
The prior stripping apparatus for stripping a metal film is, as shown in FIG. 2, constituted by providing electricity supplying rollers 4 and 5 between roll I and winding roll 2 on the metal film side of a metallized plastic film 3. Further, winding rolls 7 and 9 are provided for winding aluminum foil through the supplying rollers 4 and 5, respectively, with rolls 6 and 8 feeding aluminum foil and connecting supplying rollers 4 and 5 to a cathode (or anode) and an anode (or cathode), respectively.
When contacting supplying rollers 4 and 5 with the metallized plastic film 3 running from roll 1 to winding roll 2, and charging the cathode voltage (or anode voltage) and anode voltage (or cathode voltage) to the supplying rollers 4 and 5, respectively, only for a period of charging, the metal of the metal film is liquefied due to the current load. As a result, the vacuum vapor deposited face between the plastic film and the metal film is broken due to the elevated temperature, such that the metal film is stripped. The stripped metal film is transferred onto an aluminum foil on the supplying roller 5 to be wound upon winding roll 9.
The prior apparatus must be large in scale as a result of the equipment required for the stripping apparatus. In addition, the aluminum foils transferring the metal film thereon and wound upon the roll 9 and onto the roll 7 through the supplying roller 4 can only be scrapped and therefore are a large burden on the cost in the winding step. Further, there are many problems in that the remnants of stripped metal film accumulate at a point of contact of the supplying roller with the plastic film, as shown in FIG. 3.

Stripping apparatus of metal film from metallized plastic film


The present invention is a system for providing an output corresponding to he speed of a remote vehicle, comprising: a speed transducer mounted on the vehicle for providing a first output corresponding to the speed of the vehicle; a first data processor operably coupled to receive the first output from the speed transducer means for providing an ASCII coded output; a second data processor operably coupled to receive the ASCII coded output from the first data processor for providing an output transducer control output; and an output transducer operably coupled to receive the control output from the second data processor for providing an output having an amplitude proportional to the speed of the vehicle.

The present invention relates to a system by which a human operator of a remote unmanned vehicle is provided sensory inputs relating to the operating characteristics of the vehicle. More specifically, the present invention provides a system by which the human operator of an unmanned vehicle is able to sense the speed of the moving vehicle without having to read a visual indicator.
The use of remotely operated vehicles in applications such as material and inventory control in manufacturing environments is increasing and becoming ever more sophisticated. Recent advances in technology have brought about an even greater interest for their use in hazardous environments, such as nuclear power plants, underwater search and recovery, fire-fighting, and bomb disposal, to name a few. Often, however, the advantages afforded by removing the operator from a hazardous environment are significantly offset by the difficulties encountered in controlling the remote vehicle. This limits the types of practical applications of remotely controlled robots to those for which the perils associated with direct exposure justify the expense and complexity of the remote system.
A considerable amount of work has been done over the past decade to improve the man-machine interface for teleoperated (remotely controlled) systems in an attempt to achieve a higher operational equivalence ratio. The operational equivalence ratio may be defined as the amount of time it takes to perform a series of tasks, divided by the amount of time it would take an operator to perform the same tasks remotely.
Some recent applications involving remote control systems employ a concept of remote telepresence, which utilizes stereo vision as well as binaural hearing to give the operator a stronger sense of being in the working environment. Head-coupled displays have been employed to further enhance this perception. A pair of high-resolution cameras on a remotely controlled vehicle are positioned in real-time in accordance with the pan and tilt movements of a helmet worn by the operator at the control station. The helmet is equipped with miniature monitors to relay the video from the left and right cameras to the left and right eyes of the operator, thus providing some degree of depth perception.
As the operator turns his head toward elements of interest in the scene being viewed, the remote slave positions the cameras accordingly to achieve the desired input. The 3-D capability thus provided is a decided improvement over monocular vision. However, its negative side effects include extremely high operator fatigue, tendency to induce nausea in some operators, higher bandwidth requirements in the control loop and significantly enhanced system complexity. In most remote systems in use today, the operator's only sense of vehicle speed is derived from the visual display alone and this can lead to problems if the operator is distracted from looking at the display.
A block diagram of a typical commercially available remotely controlled unmanned vehicle, such as the TRC Labmate, or Cybermotion NavMaster, is illustrated in FIG. 1. In this type of system, a human operator controls unmanned vehicle system 10, comprised of different subsystems that include servo-controlled drive module 12, from an operator interface 14 which could be a computer work station 11 that typically includes one or more data input devices such as a keyboard or joystick, and a display such a video monitor, not shown. Control data provided by the operator is received by host computer 16 which transmits operating instructions to drive module 12 through a data link 18 which could be an RF link or a data bus. The operating instructions are received by a remote computer 20 mounted onboard remote vehicle 10. Remote computer 20 coordinates the different systems that may be onboard unmanned vehicle 10, including drive module 12. Data representing the operating characteristics of vehicle 10 is conveyed back to operator interface 14 through remote computer 20 via data link 18, to host computer 16 and is displayed by a video monitor which is part of operator interface 14.
A fundamental consideration in the design of a remotely operated system is the ability of the operator to control the vehicle based on system status feedback received from the vehicle. The primary source of feedback used by an operator when driving a typical remotely operated vehicle is a visual image received from a camera that surveys the vehicle's operating environment. The visual image of the operating environment displayed on the video monitor, however, cannot provide the same degree of depth perception or visual acuity that an operator seated in the vehicle would have, even with the more advanced stereo tele-presence systems. The performance of the vehicle is therefore degraded. Other types of useful feedback information, such as vehicle speed and heading, are typically overlaid on this same video monitor. However, safe operation of the vehicle in such a situation, where the operating characteristics of the vehicle are displayed on a video monitor, requires constant vigilance by the human operator in reading the data display presented on the video monitor. A disadvantage of this type of data presentation is that if the operator should become distracted or fatigued, the safe operation of the vehicle may be compromised.
For example, the operator may attempt to provide a halt instruction to the vehicle, but the instruction may not be faithfully executed for any variety of reasons, which could include the vehicle rolling down a hill in neutral, or a the failure of the vehicle brakes. The actual vehicle speed might be displayed on the video monitor, but the operator may not be expecting the need to pay attention to it. Another foreseeable circumstance in which the operator is not cognizant of the vehicle speed would be if the operator became distracted, or where it was assumed that the intended instruction was fulfilled without confirmation by reading the video display.
Therefore, there is a need for a feedback system which provides non-visual feedback of the actual vehicle speed so that the operator is not required to focus his attention on a dedicated vehicle speed display representation.

Feedback system for remotely operated vehicles

The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Navy


A carbonaceous material for use as an anode material in secondary batteries using non-aqueous solvent comprises a material obtained by calcining a solid, the solid, in turn, being obtained by heating tar and/or pitch with furfural in the presence of an acid catalyst, the use of the resulting anode material imparting to the battery a relatively large capacity while having only a small irreversible capacity loss in the first cycle.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an anode material for non-aqueous lithium secondary batteries having a large capacity and a small irreversible capacity loss, a method for the production thereof, and to batteries using such anode materials.
2. Description of the Related Arts
Non-Aqueous Lithium Secondary Batteries using carbonaceous materials as the anode as lithium secondary batteries have already been put into use because of the advantages of high energy density, small size and weight and the ability to hold a charge for a long period of time. However, the new increase in charge capacity of the anode use carbonaceous materials is inadequate to accommodate the trends in miniaturization of electrical devices and the lengthening of their period of operation without recharging.
Up until now, as the carbonaceous material used in the anodes of lithium ion secondary batteries, non-graphite type carbonaceous material with a capacity of nearly 500 mAh/g, greatly surpassing graphite materials having a capacity of 370 mAh/g have been reported. For example, materials made by calcining the reaction products of pitch or tar type compounds that have been reacted with nitrocompounds (Japanese Laid Open Patent Application Hei4-258479 [1993]), air oxidation and calcination of the reaction products of pitch or tar type compounds that have been reacted with nitric acid (Japanese Laid Open Patent Application Hei7-320740 [1995]), the calcination of palm shell charcoal at reduced pressures (Japanese Laid Open Patent Application Hei8-64207 [1996]), and materials made by improving pitch obtained by such methods as polymerization of conjugated polycyclic hydrocarbons followed by stabilization and calcination (Japanese Laid Open Patent Application Hei10-083814 [1998]), may be mentioned.
However, the materials made to date have had problems in connection with, in particular, charge and discharge efficiencies, economy, and stability of raw materials and the like. Moreover, materials having a high discharge capacity exceeding 600 mAh/g made by calcining coke at low temperatures or a polyacene made by calcining a phenolic resin (Yada et al.: Abstracts of the 34th Battery Symposium in Japan, p 63, 1993) have been discovered, but the excessive size of the irreversible capacity (the difference in charge capacity and discharge capacity in the first cycle) is a problem. In addition, because the discharge potential is high, there is also the problem that, when assembled with the cathode material to make a battery, the average voltage of that battery is low.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,093,216 to Azuma et al. discloses the use of furfural or a copolymer of furfural with another aldehyde, and an anode material is then prepared from that polymer. While a high initial battery capacity may be exhibited, the irreversible capacity loss of this material in the first cycle was observed to be excessive, equaling as much as one-third of total initial capacity.
As explained above, when the lithium secondary batteries using a non-aqueous solvent incorporate as the anode material the carbonaceous materials of the prior art, the capacity that can be obtained as a characteristic of those materials is not adequate. The present invention provides an anode use carbonaceous material that overcomes the difficulties of the prior art, possesses a high capacity of 500 mAh/g or more, reduces the irreversible capacity loss of the anode use carbonaceous material occurring in the first cycle, and when assembled with the cathode material to make a secondary battery, results in a battery with a high average voltage.
The inventors of the present invention, based upon the results of earnest investigations of high capacity carbonaceous material for anode use using tar or pitch as a raw material, have succeeded in discovering that the carbonaceous material prepared by calcining at 800xc2x0 C. or more the solid obtained by heating pitch and/or tar and furfural in the presence of an acid catalyst differs from that made using tar, pitch or furfural alone and thereby have discovered an anode material possessing superior characteristics for a secondary battery using a non-aqueous solution.
That is to say, the present invention relates to a carbonaceous material for use in the anode of a secondary battery using an aqueous solvent characterized by calcining at a temperature of at 800xc2x0 C. or more of a solid obtained by heating tar and/or pitch with furfural in the presence of an acid catalyst and to a method for making an anode material for use in the anodes of secondary batteries using non-aqueous solvents characterized by calcination at a temperature of at 800xc2x0 C. or more of a solid obtained by heating tar and/or pitch with furfural in the presence of an acid catalyst, and to batteries using such anode materials.

Anode material for non-aqueous lithium secondary batteries, a method for the production thereof, and batteries using such anode materials


An image is analyzed to locate an object appearing in the image. A contour of that object is extracted from the image and normalized. Based on the normalized contour, one or more summation invariant values are determined and compared to templates comprising one or more summation invariants for each of one or more target objects. The determined summation invariants for the extracted object are compared to summation invariants for the target objects. When the summation invariants for the extracted object sufficiently match the summation invariants determined from an image of a target object, the extracted object is recognized as that target object. The summation invariants can be semi-local summation invariants determined for each point along the normalized contour, based on a number of points neighboring that point on the normalized contour. The semi-local summation invariants are determined as a function of the x and y coordinates of those points.

1. Field of Invention
This invention relates to recognizing objects appearing within an image.
2. Description of Related Art
Object recognition is important in systems performing object inspection, security and/or authentication functions, among other uses. Object recognition is complicated, in that objects typically have substantially different shapes depending on the angle they are viewed from. For example, as a circle is viewed from increasingly oblique angles, its shape becomes increasingly elliptical. Similarly, a square or rectangle, when viewed from increasingly oblique angles, becomes trapezoidal or rhombic, depending on whether an edge or vertex is closest to the observer. For more complicated objects, such as faces, as the viewing angle becomes more oblique, it is difficult for even a human to discern the basic shape of such objects. For computer-based or automated image inspection and/or analysis systems and methods, extracting and identifying a shape, especially a complicated shape such as a face, viewed at an unknown angle is often impossible.
In particular, computer based and/or automated image analysis systems and methods typically identify objects in an image by matching the extracted or segmented image to an object template, where each different template corresponds to a different physical object. One way to do this matching is by using invariant-based templates and matching techniques. An invariant of an image of an object is a parameter derived from some aspect of the object image whose value does not change as the image of the object changes, i.e., does not vary as the object image varies.
There are several types of image invariants. "Projective invariants of shapes", I. Weiss, Proceedings CVPR '88, 1988, discloses using invariants in computer vision systems. As disclosed in "Invariance-a new framework for vision", D. Forsyth et al., Proceedings, Third International Conference Computer Vision, 1990, algebraic invariants, which are obtained by fitting polynomials to an image of an object and determining the algebraic invariant using the polynomial coefficients, have been applied to recognize industrial objects in an image. However, algebraic invariants suffer from several shortcomings. First, most objects cannot be expressed in terms of simple polynomials. Second, algebraic invariants are a global method. That is, they require, for whatever shape has been used to define the value of the algebraic invariant, that entire shape be available when determining the value of the algebraic invariant from the image data. Thus, they will not work when even a small portion of the defined shape of the object is hidden from view in the image.
Differential invariants, which are also referred to as local invariants in this field and which are obtained by using derivatives to produce invariant features for points on a curve, also suffer from fundamental shortcomings. That is, differential invariants depend on high-order derivatives. Thus, differential invariants are particularly sensitive to noise and round-off error. Various techniques based on semi-differential invariants, "noise-resistant" differential invariants, and others have been introduced to reduce this noise sensitivity. Similarly, various techniques based on integral invariants have been developed to overcome the limitations of differential invariants.

Systems and methods for recognizing objects in an image


A media compatible microsensor structure (11) for sensing an environmental condition in a harsh media includes an inorganic protective film (17) covering portions of the structure that will be exposed to the harsh media. In one embodiment, the microsensor structure (11) includes a microsensor package (12), a microsensor device (16) bonded to the microsensor package (12), a leadframe (13), a connective wire (14) connecting the microsensor device (16) to the leadframe (13), and an inorganic protective film (17) formed on all or portion of the exposed surfaces of the structure.

This invention relates, in general, to microsensor devices, and in particular, to structures and methods for protecting microsensor devices exposed to harsh environments.
Microsensor devices are well known and have become key elements in process control and analytical measurement systems. Microsensor devices are used in many applications including industrial monitoring, factory automation, the automotive industry, transportation, telecommunications, computers and robotics, environmental monitoring, health care, and household appliances. Increasingly, microsensor devices are called upon to function reliably in harsh media including strong chemicals (e.g., polar and non-polar solvents, acid solutions, and alkaline solutions), extreme temperatures, and extreme pressures. Unless properly protected, these harsh environments can degrade or destroy microsensor performance.
Typically, in harsh media pressure sensor applications, the microsensor device is isolated from the harsh media using metal diaphragm/silicone oil transfer media techniques. This approach has several disadvantages including high cost, lower sensitivity, and impaired performance over temperature extremes. Other approaches include coating the pressure sensor device and the package containing the device with a conformal organic coating such as a polyparaxylylene coating (e.g., Parylene.RTM.). This approach has a disadvantage because organic coatings are limited as to the media conditions (e.g., composition, time, temperature extremes, pressure extremes) that a manufacturer can expose them to without damaging the underlying microsensor device.
As is readily apparent, structures and methods are needed for protecting microsensor devices from harsh media that can withstand a wide variety of media conditions, that are cost effective, and that have improved reliability.

Media compatible microsensor structure and methods of manufacturing and using the same