An improved wet etchant process is provided which has greater selectivity than existing hot phosphoric acid etching processes and which maintains a high etch rate in use. The etchant composition includes a second acid having a boiling point higher than that of the phosphoric acid.

The present invention relates to a process for selectively etching silicon nitride in the presence of silicon oxide, and more particularly to a process for effectively and efficiently etching a layer of silicon nitride at a high etch rate and with high selectivity with respect to exposed or underlying layers of silicon oxide, particularly in a multilayer semiconductor wafer structure.
The manufacture of multilayer semiconductor wafer structures typically involves the deposition of multiple layers of different materials and patterned etching of selected areas of one or more of those layers on a semiconductor surface. Patterned etching can be accomplished using either masking techniques or layers of materials which are relatively unaffected by the chosen etchant. Etching techniques may be broadly categorized as either wet or dry, with wet techniques using solutions of chemicals, typically acids, and dry techniques using, for example, gaseous ionic plasmas.
Conventional wet etching techniques for silicon nitride (Si.sub.3 N.sub.4) have utilized hot (approximately 145.degree.-180.degree. C.) phosphoric acid (H.sub.3 PO.sub.4) solutions with water, typically 85% phosphoric acid and 15% water (by volume). As the water vaporizes rapidly at this temperature, the etch is performed in a closed reflux container equipped with a cooled surface to condense the vapors. One problem with hot phosphoric acid etches has been that standard photoresist materials used to mask portions of a surface to be protected from the etchant do not stand up well to the high temperatures and aggressive etch rate (50-100 .ANG./min.). Consequently, a layer of a silicon oxide, such as silicon dioxide (SiO.sub.2), has been used to block the etchant from protected areas on the wafer.
As semiconductor technology has advanced, finer geometry patterns are being used to enable higher density structures to be fabricated. Such finer geometries have created additional problems with hot phosphoric acid etchants for removing silicon nitrides due to insufficient selectivity with respect to silicon oxides. That is, while the hot phosphoric acid etchants will attack silicon nitride and remove it much more rapidly than silicon oxide, the oxide is still attacked as well.
Thus, where a relatively thick layer of silicon nitride must be stripped away in the presence of an area of exposed oxide or a relatively thin layer of an underlying oxide, the potential for there to be a deleterious loss of silicon oxide is significant. Nonuniform layer thicknesses created during deposition steps require that overetching must be employed to ensure complete removal of the nitride.
If an underlying silicon oxide layer is thin and the selectivity of the etchant for nitride over oxide is not sufficiently high, and if the etch must stop in the underlying oxide layer, then overetching of the oxide layer can occur. Additionally, for situations where it is desirable or necessary to maintain as much of the silicon oxide layer as possible, an etchant with a higher selectivity for nitride over oxide than is presently possible with hot phosphoric acid etchants is desirable.
Accordingly, there remains a need in the art for a wet etchant process which effectively and efficiently etches silicon nitride at a high etch rate and with high selectivity with respect to exposed or underlying layers of silicon oxide, particularly in a multilayer semiconductor wafer structure.

Process for selectively etching silicon nitride in the presence of silicon oxide


One embodiment describes an electronic display. The electronic display includes display driver circuitry that display an image frame on the electronic device using a first display pixel and a second display pixel, touch sensing circuitry that detect user interaction with the electronic display, and a timing controller. The timing controller receives image data, in which the image data describes a target grayscale value of the first pixel and the second pixel to display the image frame, instructs the display driver circuitry to display a first portion of the image frame by writing the image data to the first display pixel, instructs the touch sensing circuitry to determine whether a user touch is present on a surface of the electronic display after the first portion of the image frame is displayed, determines grayscale value displayed by the second display pixel to display a previous image frame, and instructs the display driver circuitry to display a second portion of the image frame by writing adjusted image data to the second display pixel when the displayed grayscale value differs from the target grayscale value of the second pixel by more than a threshold amount.

The present disclosure relates generally to electronic displays, and more particularly, to artifact compensation for touch-sensitive electronic displays.
This section is intended to introduce the reader to various aspects of art that may be related to various aspects of the present techniques, which are described and/or claimed below. This discussion is believed to be helpful in providing the reader with background information to facilitate a better understanding of the various aspects of the present disclosure. Accordingly, it should be understood that these statements are to be read in this light, and not as admissions of prior art.
Generally, an electronic display may enable information to be communicated to a user by displaying visual representations of the information, for example, as pictures, text, or videos. More specifically, the visual representations may be displayed as successive static image frames. In some embodiments, each image frame may be displayed by successively writing image data to rows of pixels in the electronic display.
In addition to outputting information, the electronic display may enable the user to communicate information to the electronic display and/or a computing system that includes the electronic display. For example, the electronic display may be a touch-sensitive display, which may detect a user touch on the surface of the electronic display. More specifically, the electronic display may detect occurrence and/or position of the user touch based at least in part on an impedance (e.g., capacitance) change in the electronic display caused by the user touch.
However, at any given time, the electronic display may generally either write image data to the display pixels or check for an impedance change via touch sensing, but not both. Thus, when image data is being written to the pixels, a user touch may be undetected. Similarly, when checking for impedance changes via touch sensing, the electronic display may stop writing image data. As such, in operation, the electronic display may alternate between writing image data to the pixels and checking for a user touch. Moreover, the touch detection accuracy may depend at least in part on frequency the electronic display checks for impedance changes. Punctuating the writing of the image data with a greater number of touch sensing impedance checks, however, could introduce perceivable artifacts.

Dynamic artifact compensation systems and methods


A magnetic memory apparatus including a memory cell region and a peripheral circuitry region mounted on a substrate is provided. The memory cell region includes first wiring, second wiring that three-dimensionally intersects with the first wiring, and a magnetoresistance effect type memory device disposed in an intersecting region of the first and the second wiring for storing and reproducing information of a magnetic spin. The peripheral circuitry region includes first wiring that is in the same wiring layer as that of the first wiring in the memory cell region, and second wiring that is in the same wiring layer as the second wiring in the memory cell, and a magnetic material layer including a high magnetic permeability layer is formed on both side surfaces of the first wiring only within the memory cell region and on a surface opposite to a surface facing the memory device.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a magnetic memory apparatus and a method of manufacturing a magnetic memory apparatus, and, more particularly, to a nonvolatile-type magnetic memory apparatus and a method of manufacturing a magnetic memory apparatus which stores information by utilizing a change in a resistance value depending on spin orientation in a ferromagnetic material, which can be parallel or antiparallel.
2. Description of Related Art
With the rapid prevalence of information communication equipment, in particular, of personal compact equipment such as portable telephones, still more improved performance such as a higher circuit integration, faster speed, lower power consumption and the like is demanded for their memory devices, logic devices and the like for constituting the same. In particular, non-volatile memories are considered to be indispensable devices in the age of "ubiquitous".
Even if a server and a network are interrupted by some failure due to, for example, power exhaustion or a trouble, the non-volatile memory can protect important personal information. Then, further improvement of the non-volatile memory so as to have a higher density and a larger capacity is becoming increasingly important as an alternative technology capable of replacing a hard disk and an optical disk which are essentially impossible to reduce the size thereof further because of the presence of movable parts therein.
Further, although the recent portable telephones are designed to be able to reduce power consumption as small as possible by holding the unnecessary circuit blocks thereof in a standby state, if a non-volatile memory that can function as a high speed network memory and as a large capacity storage memory is realized, wastes in power consumption as well as in memories can be eliminated. Still further, a so-called instant-on function capable of instant activation upon the power switch-on can be implemented if such a high speed, large-capacity non-volatile memory is realized.
As the non-volatile memories, there are cited a flash memory which uses semiconductors, a ferroelectric random access memory (FRAM) which uses ferroelectric materials, or the like. However, the flash memory has a drawback that its speed is low because of its write speed being a μ second order. Further, a large scale integration is difficult because of its complicated structure. Moreover, there is a disadvantage that its access time is slow, approximately in the order of 100 ns. On the other hand, as to the FRAM, some problems are indicated in that in order for it to completely replace the static random access memory (DRAM) or the dynamic random access memory (SRAM), its durability is low because of its rewritable frequency being 1012 to 1014 times. Further, a problem of difficulty in micro fabrication of the ferroelectric capacitor is also indicated.
A non-volatile memory drawing attention recently as having no such drawbacks described above is a magnetic memory referred to as a MRAM (magnetic random access memory) or a MR (magneto resistance) memory, which are drawing attention nowadays as a result of improvements in the characteristics of materials of recent tunneling magnetoresistance devices (hereinafter referred to as TMR: abbreviation of Tunnel Magnetic Resistance). (For example, see Wang et al., "Feasibility of Ultra-Dense Spin-tunneling Random Access Memory" IEEE Transaction on Magnetics 33 [6] (November 1997) p4498–4512)
The MRAM is easy to integrate because of its simple structure, and it is expected to have a large number of rewritable frequencies because of its storage of information being performed by rotation of magnetic moments. Further, as to its access time, a very high speed is expected, and, already, operability at 10 MHz has been reported (for example, see R. Scheuerlein et al, "TA7.2 A 10 ns Read and Write Non-Volatile Memory Array Using a Magnetic Tunnel Junction and FET Switch in each Cell" 2000 IEEE International Solid-State Circuits Conference Digest of Papers (February 2000) p128–129). At present, now a higher power output is obtainable due to a GMR effect, and it has been improved substantially.
Although the MRAM has such advantages that it is easy to realize a high speed and a large scale integration as described above, a write operation thereof is performed by a magnetic field that is generated when a current is passed through a bit line and a writing word line both provided adjacent to a TMR device. A reversing magnetic field necessary for reversal of a memory layer (storage layer) of the TMR device, although it depends on a material, is 1.58 kA/m to 15.8 kA/m (20 Oe to 200 Oe), and a current required at this time becomes several mA to several tens mA. This leads to increased power consumption, often resulting in a lowered service life, heating, and increased power consumption of the device which often become a demerit to semiconductors.
In order to address this problem regarding the increased power consumption, a structure capable of concentrating a magnetic field generated by the current by shielding the circumferences of a writing word line and a bit line (hereinafter referred to as a clad structure) has been proposed (see Japanese Patent Application Publication 2002-246566 (page 4, FIG. 6)).
FIG. 6 shows a schematic view in perspective of a part of a simplified MRAM using the clad structure formed with a magnetic material layer. As shown in FIG. 6, a circumference of a word line 11 is surrounded by a first magnetic material layer 16, except for the surface thereof facing a magnetoresistance-type memory device (for example, TMR device) 13, so as to concentrate a magnetic flux into the memory device 13. Likewise, a circumference of a bit line 12 is surrounded by a second magnetic material layer 17, except for the surface thereof facing the memory device 13, so as to concentrate a magnetic flux thereof into the memory device 13.

Magnetic memory apparatus and method of manufacturing magnetic memory apparatus


An information management system is disclosed that includes a wireless terminal configured to store identification data of the wireless terminal used to identify the wireless terminal in the system; a broadcasting device configured to transmit position data which represents a position at which the device is located for a predetermined area; and a server configured to store position data indicating a position at which the terminal is located. The terminal includes a collection unit configured to collect environmental data which represents a state of an environment around the terminal; a receiving unit configured to receive the position data from the device when the terminal is located in the predetermined area; and a transmission unit configured to transmit, via the device, to the server, the identification of the terminal, the position data received from the device, and the environmental data collected by the collection unit.

1. Field of the Invention
An aspect of this disclosure is related to an information management system, a wireless terminal, and a management method.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, an environment management system is proposed for managing or monitoring an environment by measuring or managing data (e.g. temperature or humidity) about the environment.
Patent Document 1 shows an environment monitoring system which obtains the environmental value measured by some kinds of sensors attached to moving objects. The environment management system may collect, store, manage, and provide the environmental values in some locations without installing fixed sensors, and may monitor the environment while holding the accuracy of the values in a certain level or higher.
However, in the environment management system disclosed in Patent Document 1, a general wireless communication method is expected for communications between the sensors and the monitoring device. Thus, power consumption of the communications for the sensors may be high.
An aspect of this disclosure aims to provide an information management system which may efficiently manage environmental data.

Information management system, wireless terminal, and management method


A titanium-containing structure made of a titanium material includes: a package made of a commercially pure titanium material; and a filler packed into the package, wherein an internal pressure of the package is 10 Pa or less, the pressure being an absolute pressure, and wherein the filler includes at least one selected from titanium sponge, titanium briquette, and titanium scrap, and the filler has the same type of a chemical composition of the commercially pure titanium material. This titanium-containing structure enables production of a titanium product by performing hot working and eliminating the conventional melting step and forging step.

Titanium products are metal materials having excellent corrosion resistance and thus are used, for example, in heat exchangers using sea water and a variety of chemical plants. Also, since they have lower densities than carbon steels and thus have high specific strengths (strength per unit weight), they are frequently used in aircraft airframes. Furthermore, use of a titanium product in land transport equipment such as motor vehicles results in reduced weight of the equipment and therefore is expected to contribute to improved fuel economy.
However, compared with steel products, titanium products are produced through complex and numerous steps. Typical steps include the following.
Smelting step: a step of chlorinating titanium oxide, the raw material, into titanium tetrachloride and then reducing it with magnesium or sodium to produce titanium metal in massive sponge form (hereinafter referred to as titanium sponge).
Melting step: a step of pressing the titanium sponge to form an electrode and melting it in a vacuum arc melting furnace to produce an ingot.
Forging step: a step of hot forging the ingot to produce, for example, a slab (material for hot rolling) or a billet (material for hot extrusion or hot rolling, for example).
Hot working step: a step of heating the slab or billet and hot rolling or hot extruding it to produce a plate or round bar, for example.
Cold working step: a step of additionally cold rolling the plate or round bar to produce a sheet, round bar, or wire, for example.
As described above, titanium products are produced through many steps, and therefore they are very expensive. For this reason, they are seldom utilized in land transport equipment such as motor vehicles. Encouraging the use of titanium products requires an improvement in productivity of the production process. As a technique for addressing the problem, attempts to eliminate some steps in production of titanium products have been made.
Patent Document 1 proposes a method for producing a titanium sheet, the method including shaping a composition containing a titanium powder, a binding agent, a plasticizer, and a solvent into sheet form, and subjecting it to drying, sintering, compaction, and re-sintering. This method can eliminate the ordinary melting, forging, and hot and cold rolling steps.
Patent Document 2 proposes a method for producing a titanium alloy round bar, the method including adding a copper powder, chromium powder, or iron powder to a titanium alloy powder, enclosing it in a capsule made of carbon steel, and subjecting it to heating and hot extrusion. This method can eliminate the ordinary melting and forging steps and therefore reduce the production cost.
Patent Document 3 proposes a method for producing a round bar, the method including charging a titanium sponge powder into a copper capsule, heating it to not greater than 700° C., and subjecting it to warm extrusion. This method can eliminate the ordinary melting and forging steps and therefore reduce the production cost.
Furthermore, the conventionally known pack rolling is a process including covering a less workable core material such as a titanium alloy material with a cover member made of, for example, carbon steel, which is inexpensive and highly workable, and subjecting it to hot rolling. For example, after a release agent is applied to the surfaces of the core material, at least two upper and lower surfaces thereof are covered with cover members or four peripheral surfaces, in addition to the upper and lower surfaces, are covered with cover members, welding is applied to the seams to produce a sealed covered box, and the inside thereof is evacuated and sealed to be subjected to hot rolling.
Patent Document 4 discloses a method for assembling a sealed covered box; Patent Document 5 discloses a method for producing a sealed covered box, the method including sealing (packing) a cover member at a vacuum pressure of not less than 10−3 torr (approximately 0.133 Pa); and Patent Document 6 discloses a method for producing a sealed covered box, the method including covering the material with a carbon steel (cover member) and sealing (packing) it by high energy density welding under a vacuum of not greater than 10−2 torr (about 1.33 Pa).
In each pack rolling described above, the core material, which is the material to be rolled, is covered with a cover member to be subjected to hot rolling, and therefore, the surface of the core material is not brought into direct contact with a cold medium (such as air or a roll) so that the temperature decrease in the core material can be minimized, which makes it possible to produce a sheet even from a less workable core material.
The cover member used is made of a material different from that of the core material, e.g., carbon steel, which has good workability and is inexpensive. The surface of the core material includes a release agent applied thereto so that the cover member can be separated easily from the core material because the cover member is unnecessary after hot rolling.

Titanium-containing structure and titanium product


A modular antenna architecture includes a plurality of joined-together flat, laminate-configured antenna sub-panels, in which RF signal processing (RF amplifier) modules are embedded within a very lightweight, honeycomb-configured support member, upon which respective antenna sub-array and control, power and beam steering signal distribution networks are respectively mounted. The thickness of the honeycomb-configured support member-embedded is sized relative to the lengths of the RF signal processing modules such that input/output ports at opposite ends of the RF modules are substantially coplanar with conductor traces on the front and rear facesheets, so that the RF modules provide the functionality of RF feed-throughs to provide RF signal coupling connections between the rear and front facesheets of the antenna sub-panel.

Modular planar array antenna architectures, such as those intended for spaceborne and airborne applications, are typically comprised of a plurality of mutually adjoining relatively thin, tile or brick-configured, solid metallic (e.g., quarter inch thick aluminum) plates, an individual one of which is diagrammatically shown at 10 in FIG. 1 and a joined-together array of which is shown in plan in FIG. 2. As shown in FIG. 1, a respective plate 10 includes an outer or front surface 11 upon which a plurality of antenna elements 14 are mounted. Signal processing and beam forming circuitry 15 is distributed over and mounted to a rear surface 12 of the plate 10, and is coupled to the antenna elements 14 on the plate's front surface by means of feed-through sections of RF transmission line 13, which pass through bores 16 in the plate 10, proper.
One of the major drawbacks to this solid plate-configured architecture is the substantial weight penalty of using solid metal plate to provide the requisite stiffness and strength. Solid aluminum plate, for example, has a weight density on the order of 170 lb./ft.sup.3. In addition, a substantial amount of rear plate surface real estate and an associated complex component layout are required to support the RF signal processing (amplifier and impedance/phase control) and distribution (beam-forming) circuitry components 15. Further, the need to provide respective impedance-matching transmission line feed elements through bores in the plate 10 for coupling the circuitry components 15 on the rear surface 12 to the antenna elements 14 on the front surface 11 increases the complexity of the overall layout and tile assembly.

Lightweight antenna subpanel having RF amplifier modules embedded in honeycomb support structure between radiation and signal distribution networks


A portable vacuum unit for use with a resealable, evacuable container, comprising a vacuum pump housed within a body, an accumulator removably coupled to the body and in fluid communication with a vacuum port of the body, the accumulator comprising a receptacle, a tip, wherein a first end of the tip is coupled to a first end of the receptacle and in fluid communication therewith, the tip having a shape which facilitates interaction with a valve on the resealable, evacuable container, the tip comprising at least one support structure and a semi-rigid material coupled to a second end of the tip.

Plastic materials have several characteristics that make them advantageous for use in a wide variety of applications. For example, many plastic materials are relatively inert, and can thus be used to store a variety of materials, including foodstuffs. Plastics also have a relatively high strength to weight ratio, can be made opaque or transparent, and can be made water and/or air tight. Because of these characteristics, plastics are used in almost every aspect of modern life.
One such use of plastics is as storage containers, and especially food storage bags. Because plastic is inert, plastic food storage bags can be used to store acidic foods, such as those containing tomato sauces, vinegars, and the like, for extended periods of time without concern that the bag will break down. The food storage bags can also be made essentially transparent, thereby permitting a user to easily see what is stored inside the bag. The high strength to weight ratio also means that the bag can store relatively heavy foods, such as meats, dense vegetables, and the like, without fear of the bag breaking while the bag and its contents are being moved. In addition, given the waterproof nature of such plastic bags, they are ideal for containing both solids and liquids.
One problem with plastic food storage bags is that they trap air inside the bag with the food. Such air provides oxygen, water, and other chemicals needed by bacteria and other microorganisms to facilitate breaking down (i.e. spoiling) of the bag's contents. The air also allows ice crystals to form on the food when the bag is placed in a freezer. Such ice crystals can cause "freezer burn", which is undesirable for consumers.
Some in the prior art, such as the Food Saver line of plastic food storage bags and related equipment distributed by Jarden Corporation of Rye, N.Y., have addressed this by creating a bag whose open end is placed into a specialized apparatus. The apparatus draws the air from the bag though the open end, and then electronically welds the plastic bag closed. Although such a system is advantageous, the bags are essentially one-time-use products, are sometimes awkward to handle, and cannot be resealed.

Portable vacuum pump for use with reclosable, evacuable containers


Aspects of the present disclosure provide an apparatus and methods for detecting and handling a spurious Dedicated Physical Channel (DPCH) of a cell in an active set from a mobile station side. A user equipment determines a signal-to-interference ratio (SIR) for each channel of a plurality of channels associated with cells maintained in an active set. A spurious DPCH has the lowest SIR among the plurality of channels. The user equipment puts the detected spurious DPCH in an exclusion mode in which the spurious DPCH is excluded from at least one of channel decoding or SIRE calculation, while maintaining the cell associated with the spurious DPCH in the active set.

Wireless communication networks are widely deployed to provide various communication services such as telephony, video, data, messaging, broadcasts, and so on. Such networks, which are usually multiple access networks, support communications for multiple users by sharing the available network resources. One example of such a network is the UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access Network (UTRAN). The UTRAN is the radio access network (RAN) defined as a part of the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), a third generation (3G) mobile phone technology supported by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). UMTS, which is the successor to Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) technologies, currently supports various air interface standards, such as Wideband-Code Division Multiple Access (W-CDMA), Time Division-Code Division Multiple Access (TD-CDMA), and Time Division-Synchronous Code Division Multiple Access (TD-SCDMA). UMTS also supports enhanced 3G data communications protocols, such as High Speed Packet Access (HSPA), which provides higher data transfer speeds and capacity to associated UMTS networks.
In soft handover, radio links (e.g., for the Dedicated Physical Channel (DPCH)) are added and removed in a way that a mobile station always keeps at least one radio link to the UTRAN. Soft handover is generally performed by means of macro diversity, which refers to the condition that several radio links are active at the same time. In a UMTS network, soft handover can be used when cells operated on the same frequency are changed. During soft handover, a mobile station is in the overlapping cell coverage area of two sectors or cells belonging to different base stations. Therefore, the communication between the mobile station and the base stations takes place concurrently via two air interface channels from each base station separately.
As the demand for mobile broadband access continues to increase, research and development continue to advance the UMTS technologies not only to meet the growing demand for mobile broadband access, but to advance and enhance the user experience with mobile communications.

Apparatus and methods for detecting and handling spurious dedicated physical control channel in soft handover


Size-adjustable wheel rim protective masks for protecting a wheel rim from overspray during application of tire dressing to the surrounding tire. A generally flat, circular disk is provided having a radial gap, such as a slit, so as to be reconfigurable into a plurality of cone-shaped configurations corresponding in size to a wheel rim to be protected. An adjustment locking mechanism is provided for locking the circular disk into a desired cone shaped configuration. The locking mechanism may comprise mateable male and female snaps, a tab and recess system, a hook and loop system, adhesive tape, a belt and buckle system, a ratchet band and clasp system, or other locking mechanisms known in the art. A pair of finger holes or a handle structure facilitates gripping of the protective mask during use. The disk is preferably made from a water and chemical resistant material such as plastic.

1. The Field of the Invention
The present invention is in the field of protective wheel rim masks used to shield or protect a wheel rim when applying a liquid dressing to a tire. More particularly, the present invention relates to adjustable protective wheel rim masks that can be size customized in order to protect wheels of varying diameter.
2. The Relevant Technology
It is become common practice during detailing of cars, trucks, and other vehicles to beautify the tires by applying a liquid dressing thereto in order to clean, darken and shine the tires, thereby giving the tires a newer, more classy, appearance. In addition to enhancing the appearance of the tires and overall vehicle, the tire dressing can also protect and prolong the life of the tires.
A typical tire dressing comprises a water-in-oil emulsion having a milky appearance and including a special oil-based protectant. One such tire dressing is sold under the trademark ARMORALL(copyright), a trademark of the McKesson Corporation, located in Irvine, Calif.
A popular method for applying tire dressings in liquid form is from a spray bottle. While this application method is efficient in placing a desired quantity of the tire dressing over a broad area in a short period of time, it nevertheless can create a problem of overspray. That is, spraying of the tire often inadvertently results in spraying of the metal wheel rim, thus leaving an undesired oily residue on the tire rim. Because the tire dressing is generally brake dust and road grime, all of which quickly make the wheel rim unsightly. Moreover, the oily tire dressing often becomes gummy and difficult to remove, thus requiring the use of strong detergents and vigorous scrubbing. This, ironically, usually has the effect of stripping off the tire dressing from the tire, thus undermining the whole purpose for applying the tire dressing in the first place.
In order to provide the user with the ability to mask or protect the wheel rim during the application of a tire dressing, several wheel rim covers have been proposed. Wheel rim covers such as those disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,524,972 to Cailor et al. and U.S. Pat. No. 4,811,991 to Marino et al. are hand-held devices that can be held in place over the wheel rim with one hand while the user applies tire dressing to the tire with the other. U.S. Pat. No. 4,874,206 to Sampson, U.S. Pat. No. 5,423,599 to Sherod et al., and U.S. Pat. No. 4,955,670 to Koller disclose wheel rim covers that include attachment means so that such protective covers can be secured to the wheel rim to free up both hands of the user.
Whereas any of the foregoing wheel rim covers may provide adequate protection from tire dressing being applied to the wheel rim, such protective covers are not readily adjustable to fit a plurality of differently sized wheel rims. Whereas U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,524,972, 4,955,670 and 4,874,206 purport to disclose xe2x80x9cadjustablexe2x80x9d wheel rim covers, the so-called xe2x80x9cadjustabilityxe2x80x9d of such wheel rim covers is provided by the requirement that the user cut away a predetermined portion of the outer circumference in order for the wheel cover to xe2x80x9cadjustxe2x80x9d to, and thereby fit, a particular wheel rim size. Unfortunately, such xe2x80x9cadjustmentxe2x80x9d is one way. Once xe2x80x9cadjustedxe2x80x9d to fit a smaller wheel rim, such wheel rim covers cannot later be xe2x80x9cre-adjustedxe2x80x9d so as to fit larger wheel rims. Thus, a person will not be able to repeatedly use such wheel rim covers for differently-sized wheels, thus realistically requiring a person to purchase multiple wheel rim covers, one for each size wheel, if the person owns multiple cars having differing wheel rim sizes. Moreover, trimming away a portion of the wheel rim cover can be tedious, inexact, and result in the formation of sharp or jagged edges.
In order to provide universal xe2x80x9cadjustabilityxe2x80x9d, U.S. Pat. No. 5,785,389 to Bradford discloses a hand held wheel cover that essentially comprises a pie-shaped wedge portion attached to a handle. In use, the Bradford cover is rotated around the edge of the tire rim in order to provide localized protection from tire dressing overspray. However, protecting the rim using the device of Bradford appears to be both cumbersome and inexact, since the user is required to move the pie-shaped wedge portion around the entire 360xc2x0 of the wheel rim. Thus, whatever convenience is provided by the xe2x80x9cadjustabilityxe2x80x9d feature of the Bradford device is offset by the necessity to rotate the Bradford device between each squirt of tire dressing. Thus, the Bradford device does not allow for a single masking step followed by spraying tire dressing on the entire tire, but requires a step-wise application.
In view of the foregoing, it would be an advancement in the art to provide an improved wheel rim protective mask that could be adjusted to protect a plurality of differently-sized wheel rims.
It would be an additional improvement in the art to provide wheel rim protective masks that could be adjusted both upwardly and downwardly in order to provide protection for both larger and smaller rims once the protective mask has been sized to fit an intermediate-sized rim.
It would be a further improvement in the art to provide a wheel rim protective mask that could be readily and repeatedly adjusted to fit a variety of differently-sized wheel rims with a minimum of effort.
Finally, it would be a tremendous improvement in the art to provide a wheel rim protective mask that provided for ease of adjustment but which was capable of covering and masking the entire wheel rim at the same time, and in a single placement step, prior to applying tire dressing to the entire tire.
Such adjustable wheel rim protective covers are disclosed in claims herein.
The present invention relates to adjustable wheel rim masks for protecting a wheel rim during the application of a tire dressing to the surrounding tire. More particularly, the present invention encompasses size-adjustable wheel rim masks that can be adjusted to fit a variety of differently-sized wheel rims with a minimum of effort. Once adjusted to an intermediate wheel rim size, the size adjustable wheel rim masks of the present invention are upwardly and downwardly adjustable to cover larger and smaller wheel rims, respectively.
In order to provide the aforementioned adjustability feature, the wheel rim masks of the present invention preferably comprise a generally circular disk or disk-like sheet made of a sufficiently durable and chemical resistant material so as to provide adequate protection of a wheel rim when a tire dressing is applied to the surrounding tire. The circular disk includes a radial gap, such as a slit, extending from at or near the center point to the outer circumferential edge in order to allow the two adjoining sides of the disk to overlap each other in order to form the disk into a cone or cone-shaped configuration. This has the effect of reducing the effective circumference and diameter of the resulting cone-shaped configuration compared to an original flat configuration. Depending on how far one side of the disk is overlapped over the other, the circumference and diameter of the resulting cone can vary as desired in order to match or correspond to the circumference of a particular wheel rim to be masked.
In order to lock the cone-shaped wheel mask in a desired configuration so as to have a desired circumference and diameter, an adjustment locking means is provided. In a preferred embodiment, the locking means comprises a series of snaps on one side of the radial gap that can mechanically interact with one or more corresponding snaps on the other side of the radial gap so as to xe2x80x9csnapxe2x80x9d, and thereby lock, the cone in a particular configuration. For example, a series of male snaps may advantageously be spaced apart at a predetermined location near the outer circumferential edge of the disk-shaped structure on one side of the radial gap. On the other side of the radial gap a corresponding female snap may be oriented so as to enable the overlapping side of the disk to be locked in place relative to one of the spaced-apart male snaps.
The male snaps are preferably oriented so that selective engagement of the female snap with each of the male snaps yields a series of cone-shaped wheel rim mask configurations corresponding to known wheel rim sizes commonly used on cars, trucks or other vehicles. For example, the female snap might be caused to engage the first male snap closest to the radial gap so as to yield a wheel rim mask configuration corresponding to a 17 inch diameter wheel rim. Likewise, engaging the female snap with the second male snap may advantageously correspond to at 16 inch wheel rim, and so on. Because wheel rims can range anywhere from 13 to 21 inches in diameter for most vehicles, the adjustable wheel rim masks of the present invention may be configured so as to correspond to any or all of the available wheel rim sizes. In most cases, it will be preferable for the wheel rim masks of the present invention to be adjustable to cover at least the most conmmonly sized wheel rims, such as 14 inch, 15 inch, 16 inch and 17 inch wheel rims.
It should be appreciated that the adjustment locking means is not limited to the use of snaps, but may include any known attachment or fastening device known in the art. For example, a tab and recess arrangement can be used to lock the disk-shaped blank into a desired cone-shaped configuration. Due to the generally resilient and spring-like nature of the disk material, once formed into a desired configuration, the disk will tend to flex outwardly in order to urge and maintain the tab and recess in an interlocked orientation. This, in turn, maintains the cone-shaped wheel mask in a desired configuration. As with snaps, a series of holes or recesses can be provided in a spaced apart orientation so that, when interlocked with the tab, the disk will form a cone having a size corresponding to a desired wheel rim size. Alternatively, a series of tabs in a desired spaced-apart orientation may be provided, with a locking hole or recess corresponding thereto.
In another alternative embodiment, a hook and loop locking system (e.g. VELCRO(copyright)) can be used. In a xe2x80x9chook and loopxe2x80x9d locking system, a patch of closely spaced xe2x80x9chooksxe2x80x9d is provided on one surface of the disk on one side of the radial gap, and a corresponding patch of wool-like xe2x80x9cloopsxe2x80x9d is provided on the opposite surface of the disk on the other side of the radial gap. Once the two sides of the disk are caused to overlap so as to form a cone structure, the two sides can be locked into a desired orientation by engaging at least a portion of the hook patch with at least a portion of the loop patch. In contrast to the use of snaps or a tab and recess system, a hook and loop system allows for micro-adjustability of the cone to virtually any size within the range of possible sizes. On the other hand, snaps allow for predetermined cone adjustments in order to provide an exact size each time.
Alternatively, the adjustment locking means may comprise adhesive tape, a belt and buckle arrangement, a ratchet band and clasp arrangement, and the like. In fact, the present invention contemplates the use of virtually any adjustment locking means so long as it is capable of forming a wheel rim mask having a desired size, shape and configuration so as to provide the desired masking of a wheel rim.
In order to provide the user with the ability to grip the wheel rim mask, gripping means are provided, such as a pair of holes through which the user can insert his or her fingers therethrough. Alternatively, a handle or other grip device known in the art may be provided.
Although, it will be preferable in most cases for the circumference of the wheel rim mask to correspond as closely as possible to the circumference of the wheel rim to be masked, it is certainly within the scope of the invention to provide a wheel rim mask that either overlaps or falls short of the wheel rim circumference as desired. Thus, to say that a wheel rim mask is adjusted so as to xe2x80x9ccorrespondxe2x80x9d to a particular size of wheel rim should be understood to mean that the wheel mask can be adjusted to cover any portion of a wheel rim that the user deems to be desirable. Moreover, the term xe2x80x9ccone-shapedxe2x80x9d should not be limited to structures that are precisely xe2x80x9cconesxe2x80x9d in the geometrically rigorous sense, but shall include other cone-like structures or derivatives of cones as well, including but not limited to, frustro-conical structures, warped cones, bell-shaped structures, structures having a parabolic cross-section, and the like. Nevertheless, wheel masks that more closely approximate true cones shall be understood to be the preferred xe2x80x9ccone-shapedxe2x80x9d mask structures according to the invention.
In a preferred embodiment, the wheel rim mask will comprise a solvent-resistant plastic or polymeric material that is capable of being sprayed numerous times with tire dressing without disintegrating or becoming dimensionally unstable. Nevertheless, it is certainly within the scope of the invention to provide a wheel rim mask of virtually any material so long as it is capable of being adjusted to differently sized wheel rims. For example, the wheel rim mask may comprise a single or laminated material comprising virtually any sheet or sheet-like material, such as plastic, paper, paperboard, metal, fabric, and the like.
Therefore, it is an object of the invention to provide an improved wheel rim protective mask that can be adjusted to protect a plurality of differently-sized wheel rims.
It is an additional object of the invention to provide wheel rim protective masks that can be adjusted both upwardly and downwardly in order to provide protection for both larger and smaller rims once the protective mask has been sized to fit an intermediate-sized rim.
It is a further object and feature of the invention to provide a wheel rim protective mask that can be readily and repeatedly adjusted to fit a variety of differently-sized wheel rims with a minimum of effort.
Finally, it is an important object of the invention to provide a wheel rim protective mask that provides for ease of adjustment but which is capable of masking the entire wheel rim at the same time, and in a single placement step prior to applying tire dressing to the entire wheel.
These and other objects and features of the present invention will become more fully apparent from the following description and appended claims, or may be learned by the practice of the invention as set forth hereinafter.


A connecting device, particularly for mutually connecting components of eyeglasses such as temples and a front and/or a lens and a lens and/or an eyewire and an eyewire and/or a temple and a temple. The device is constituted by at least one element which is detachably associable, with an interlocking action, with at least one of the components, in contrast with at least one flexible element, and can be pivoted to the other component. The device is structurally simple, easy and straightforward to assemble, and at the same time allows to achieve, for example, the extrawide opening of the temple at a low cost and without seizing.

The present invention relates to a connecting device particularly for eyeglasses.
Said eyeglasses can be constituted by a front, formed for example monolithically, which forms two eyewires which accommodate lenses and are connected by means of a bridge, said front is associated, at its ends, with hinges which are in turn connected to temples.
As an alternative, eyeglasses are known which are constituted by a front formed by an arched element provided with a single longitudinal seat for the snap insertion of the upper perimetric edge of a single lens or of a pair of lenses if an intermediate bridge for connecting the eyewires is still present.
As regards the hinges, they are usually constituted by two mutually rotatably associated elements whose free ends are associated by pressing or are embedded for example in the temple and in the front.
As an alternative, said two elements are formed or obtained directly at the ends of said temples and said front.
Eyeglasses are also known which have metallic components and in which it is known to perform welds, by applying heat or ultrasound, in order to mutually connect the two elements that constitute the hinge.
If the eyeglasses are made of plastics, it is known to mutually glue the components and it is also known to obtain the hinges from the mold.
Finally, it is also known to mutually connect two components of the hinge by riveting them.
However, manufacturing these conventional eyeglasses entails high production costs due to the processes required, to the particular machines and to the special molds meant to manufacture them.
Another problem that is felt is the provision of, for example, the extrawide opening of the temple and therefore the possibility to arrange said temple temporarily at an angle of more than 90.degree. with respect to the front, so as to adapt to the shape of the temples of the user or allow to put the eyeglasses on optimally.
Italian patent application no. PD93A000244 of Dec. 17, 1993, is known as a partial solution to these drawbacks, which discloses an elastic hinge for eyeglasses of the type which comprises, at the end of a temple, an elongated hollow body with a flat end, said body containing an elastic means which is arranged between the head of a pivot which passes axially through it and a contrast element which is locked in said body, said pivot passing through said contrast element and engaging a first hinge element to which a second hinge element is pivoted which is fixed to the front of the eyeglasses and has a polygonal profile, one side of which rests on the flat end of said hollow body, said hinge being characterized in that said contrast element comprises two diametrically mutually opposite flexible axial tabs, respective external raised portions of which are accommodated in suitable seats of said hollow body in a non-deformed configuration with them after insertion in said hollow body.
This solution, however, has some drawbacks, including structural complexity, a large number of components, the need to assemble said components, and ultimately high manufacturing costs.
Italian patent application no. UD94A000124 of Jul. 14, 1994 is also known which discloses an elastic hinge for connecting an earpiece and a front of eyeglasses; said hinge is essentially constituted by a support and a cover between which a temple and an insert are radially pivoted by means of suitable screws; said insert is then welded to the front.
Coaxially to one of said screws, arranged at right angles to the longitudinal axis of the insert and of the temple, there is a spring, one end of which cooperates with a pusher tooth which protrudes axially with respect to the temple.
This solution, too, has the above mentioned drawbacks.
Italian patent application no. UD93A000251 of Dec. 17, 1993 is also known which discloses a hinge for connecting the earpieces and frames which has pivot means for connection to cam means and in which the earpiece has at least elastic contrast means of the cylinder type as well as seat means.
In said hinge, the characteristic consists of the fact that the cylinder-type elastic contrast means have, in an upward region, an inclined flat profile with a lateral extension shaped like a retention tooth and that the cam means associated with the frames have two inclined-plane faces which are angled with respect to each other and to the plane that contains the longitudinal sliding axis of said cylinder.
This solution, too, has the above mentioned drawbacks, with the addition that the interaction of the cam with the inclined surface entails friction and sliding problems which can cause seizing.

Connecting device, particularly for eyeglasses


A filter element (32) and a filter device (10). The filter element (32) can be arranged in a filter housing (16) of the filter device. The filter element (32) has an annular closed filter medium (34) connected with at least at one end face with an end member (36, 38). An annular anti-drain membrane (44) opens and closes at least one fluid opening (26) of the filter housing (16) and is arranged on the side of the at least one end member (38) that is facing away from the filter element (34). The surface of the contact section (60) of the anti-drain membrane (44) has at least one relief-like adhesion disturbance area (64) for disturbing an adhesion of the anti-drain membrane (44) to the contact section (60).

WO 2009/060072 A1 discloses a filter element for use in a filter housing that can be opened. The filter element has an annular closed filter medium that is connected at the end faces with an upper end disk and a lower end disk. An anti-drain membrane is arranged such at the lower end disk that it covers within the filter housing an inlet opening. In normal operation of the liquid filter, the fluid to be purified flows through the inlet opening and lifts a sealing rim of the anti-drain membrane off the surface of a housing bottom part.

Filter element of a filter device and filter device


An electronic device (100) having a speaker (30) located in a sealed and separate speaker enclosure is described. The electronic device includes a housing (20) having a cavity (22) receiving the speaker with at least one conductive post (342), a circuit board (70), and a cover (60) with at least one through hole (622). The cover is disposed between the housing and the circuit board. One end of the conductive post passes through the through holes and electronically connects the speaker to the circuit board.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electronic device equipped with a speaker.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
With the rapid development of technology, the design of electronic devices such as cellular phones, personal digital assistants (PDAs), and others, is driven by the marketplace to provide increased multimedia functionality. At the same time, consumer and user demands continue to require increased miniaturization of such devices.
To comply with multimedia function requirements, most electronic devices currently include a speaker, the sound quality of which strongly influences marketability.
FIG. 4 shows a typical electronic device including a housing 12, a speaker 14, a gasket 16, and a circuit board 18. The housing 12 defines a substantially rectangular recess 123 therein receiving electronic components. The recess 123 further includes a substantially oval chamber 122 receiving the speaker 14. The speaker 14 includes a diaphragm 142 and a conductive surface 144 opposite to the diaphragm 142. The diaphragm 142 is an outer surface of the speaker 14 for propagating sound. The conductive surface 144 is an internal surface electrically connecting the speaker 14 to the circuit board 18 by two elastic bodies 146.
FIGS. 5 and 6 show the typical electronic device of FIG. 4 with speaker 14 received in the chamber 122. The gasket 16 is on the top of sidewalls of the recess 123. The circuit board 18 compresses the gasket 16 for secure attachment of the circuit board to the substantially rectangular sidewalls of the recess 123. The diaphragm 142 of the speaker 14 is near the bottom of the chamber 122 in which a plurality of vent holes are defined. The elastic bodies 146 are formed by, e.g., punching and bending a sheet of metallic material. As shown in FIG. 6, one end of each elastic body 146 is fixed on the conductive surface 144, and the other resists the circuit board 18 to electrically connect the speaker 14 to the circuit board 18.
However, as electronic components are mainly arranged in a middle portion of the circuit board 18, edges of the circuit board 18 bend slightly upward because of the weight of the electronic components. In this way, spaces 124 between the chamber 122 and the edges of the circuit board 18 result in sound leakage, which interfere with sound dissipating from the vent holes of the chamber 122 and decreases the overall sound quality of the electronic device. One solution to this problem is to provide an airtight chamber for the speaker 14. However, such an airtight chamber can compromise miniaturization of the electronic device.
Further, it is difficult to precisely position the elastic bodies 146 electrically connecting the speaker 14 to the circuit board 18 as shown in FIG. 6 during assembly. Moreover, the circuit board 18 may be damaged by elastic force exerted by the elastic bodies 146.
Therefore, there is room for improvement within the art.


A thin wafer carrying device includes a laminated board made of layers of compound material so that the thin wafer is put on the circular board. The compound material includes reinforcement material and high-polymer resin. A metal film good in electric conductivity is coated to the compound material. The compound material has been used in printed circuit boards. The carrying device includes a plurality of tiny holes and a vacuum system located beneath the circular board. The thin wafer is attracted on the carrying device by the method of vacuum and is convenient to be tested, processed and transported.

A wafer used as a basic material for semi-conductor is proceeded steps of ingot grow, slicing, lapping, cleaning and polishing before it is ready to be used. A series of checking and measuring are taken so that the thin wafer meets the requirements of the customers. Generally, the thickness of a thin wafer is only few mils and fragile. It is not possible to carry the thin wafer by robots or manual to test, ship and/or proceed. The thin wafer is put on a carrying device for convenience of shipping or testing.
As shown in FIG. 1, a thin wafer 90 to be test is put on a carrying device 91 which includes a plurality of tiny holes 92 defined therethrough and a vacuum system 93 is used to suck the air in a chamber 94 in the vacuum system 93 and the tiny holes 92 so as to attract the thin wafer 90 on the carrying device 91. Therefore, a probe 96 of a detection device 95 can lower and access the thin wafer 90 to proceed series of checking processes. The bottom of the thin wafer 90 in contact with the carrying device 91 is ground for convenience of test.
The conventional carrying device 91 is made of silicon carbide which is stiff with high yield strength and flat so that the thin wafer 90 can be snugly attracted on the carrying device 91 without sliding. The thin wafer 90 can be well supported on the carrying device 91 having the tiny holes 92 even if the probe 96 touches the thin wafer 90. Nevertheless, the silicon carbide is expensive and poor of electric conductivity and heat conductivity. Therefore, a circuit without front side ground is impossible to be tested by using silicon carbide.
Referring to FIGS. 2 to 3B, aluminum is used as the carrying device 100 which is less expensive compared with the silicon carbide and includes better heat conductivity and electric conductivity. Although the yield strength of the aluminum carrying device 100 is lower than that of the silicon carbide, it is strong and can be machined to have a smooth surface. However, it is difficult to drill holes in the aluminum carrying device 100 so that the manufacturers set grooves 102 on the surface of the carrying device 100 and the holes 101 are drilled at the cross points of the grooves 102. The vacuum system 93 sucks the air in the holes 101 and grooves 102 to attract the thin wafer. When the probe 96 touch the area of the thin wafer 10 where the grooves 102 or holes 101 are located, the thin wafer 90 tends to be bent due to less support at those positions. Besides, if the sizes of the holes 101 and the grooves 102 are larger than that of the chips of the thin wafer 90, the chip cannot be ground properly.

Device for carrying thin wafers and method of carrying the thin wafers


The present invention provides administration methods for CDPC for treating stroke. CDPC was delivered via ECS at a concentration of 40 mmol/L-60 mmol/L. In a specific embodiment of the present invention, the concentration of CDPC administered is 50 mmol/L, CDPC is delivered at one time, the flow rate of administration is 0.2 μL/min, the volume of CDPC is 1.33 μL/mL of brain tissue, and the CDPC is administered in the caudate nucleus. The method can decrease the concentration of CDPC entering the brain and further decrease the dosage while improving efficacy. Thus, the result is improved and the probability of adverse effects due to the drug is reduced.

Cerebrovascular disease is a group of brain dysfunctions related to disease of the blood vessels supplying the brain. A stroke, or cerebrovascular accident (CVA), is an acute cerebral circulation disorder, which can quickly lead to localized or diffused brain impairment in clinical events. Existing drugs for treating acute cerebral ischemic stroke can be divided into two categories: drugs that improve cerebral blood flow and neuroprotective drugs.
The delivery effectiveness is critical in the treatment of acute ischemic stroke. Neuroprotective drugs have various species. Over the past two decades, many investigators in different countries have spent billions of dollars on the development of neuroprotective drug species according to the mechanism of neuronal damage after cerebral ischemia at a cellular or molecular level. Since the 1950's, CDPC has been researched as a neuroprotective drug. The Takeda pharmaceutical company from Japan first successfully developed Nicholin (citicoline) to cure the disturbance of consciousness. In 2002, Davalos et al. analyzed the effect of oral CDPC treatment of ischemic stroke by evidence based on clinical trials. In 2005, Hurtado and others made a model of focal brain ischemia using adult male Fischer rats, then injected CDPC into the abdominal cavity of the Fischer rats and blocked the middle cerebral artery one hour after the injection. Hurtado's results demonstrate that injecting CDPC with different dosages (e.g., 0.5 g/kg, 1 g/kg and 2 g/kg) can reduce infarct size of the neostriatum. According to the study of Hurtado in 2008, comparing to the control group, 48 hour-brain infarct size can be reduced significantly if 2 g/kg of CDPC are injected into the abdominal cavity of Fischer rats four hours after embolism caused by focal brain ischemia. Clinical research and animal experiments have confirmed that CDPC has a significant neuroprotective function. Mechanistic studies also show that CDPC plays a role in protecting the brain from ischemia and treating injury mainly through stabilizing the cell membrane, suppressing the release of free fatty acid, reducing free radical generation and inhibiting cell apoptosis. The United States is currently conducting Phase III clinical trials for the treatment of stroke by oral administration of CDPC, but the treatment effect is not satisfactory.
It is generally believed that the unsatisfactory result is associated with the blood-brain barrier (BBB) of brain tissue. The BBB protects the brain micro-environment from the outside environment, but at the same time, the BBB also stops most neuroprotective drugs from entering. Cerebrovascular blood volume accounts for only 3% of the brain volume, and in a cerebral ischemic stroke the local blood flow decreases or even stops. Therefore, the conventional oral or intravenous delivery methods may not be able to reach the lesion.
In addition, it is difficult for a CDPC molecule, which has a strong polarity, to permeate the BBB. Increasing the dosage can improve the CDPC concentration in brain tissue, but it may also increase adverse effects of the CDPC.
In 1994, Bobo developed the concept of drug delivery via brain extracellular space (ECS) for treating encephalopathy. His work focused on macromolecular drugs which are driven by pressure, then diffused in the ECS and distributed to the target region of the brain. Currently most of the neuroprotective drugs are small molecule compounds less than 1,000 daltons, which have no successful reports on treating stroke via ECS.

Methods for administration of citicoline in stroke treatment


A photoconductor for use in electrophotographic reproduction devices is disclosed. This photoconductor exhibits reduced room light and cycling fatigue without any corresponding negative impact on the sensitivity of the photoconductor. The photoconductor of the present invention includes specifically defined fluorenyl-azine derivatives in its charge transport layer. These materials have the formula: ##STR1## wherein R.sub.1 and R.sub.2 independently selected from C.sub.1 -C.sub.4 alkyl and phenyl, and R.sub.3 is selected from hydrogen, C.sub.1 -C.sub.4 alkyl, and phenyl.

The present invention is a layered electrophotographic photoconductor, i.e., a photoconductor having a metal ground plane member on which a charge generation layer and a charge transport layer are coated, in that order. Although these layers are generally separate from each other, they may be combined into a single layer, which provides both charge generation and charge transport functions. Such a photoconductor may optionally include a barrier layer located between the metal ground plane member and the charge generation layer, and/or an adhesion-promoting layer located between the barrier (or ground plane member) and charge generation layer, and/or an overcoat layer on the top surface of the charge transport layer.
In electrophotography, a latent image is created on the surface of an insulating, photoconducting material by selectively exposing an area of this surface to light. A difference in electrostatic charge density is created between the areas on the surface exposed and those unexposed to the light. The latent electrostatic image is developed into a visible image by electrostatic toners containing pigment components and thermoplastic components. The toners, which may be liquids or powders, are selectively attracted to the photoconductor surface, either exposed or unexposed to light, depending upon the relative electrostatic charge on the photoconductor surface and the toner. The photoconductor may be either positively or negatively charged, and the toner system similarly may contain negatively- or positively-charged particles.
A sheet of paper or intermediate transfer medium is given an electrostatic charge opposite that of the toner and then passed close to the photoconductor's surface, pulling the toner from the photoconductor surface onto the paper or the transfer medium still in the pattern of the image developed from the photoconductor surface. A set of fuser rolls melts and fixes the toner on the paper, subsequent to direct transfer or indirect transfer when an intermediate transfer medium is used, producing the printed image.
The electrostatic printing process, therefore, comprises an on-going series of steps in which the photoconductor surface is charged and discharged as the printing takes place. It is important to keep the charge voltage on the surface of the photoconductor relatively constant as different pages are printed to make sure that the quality of the images produced is uniform (cycling stability). If the charge/discharge voltage is changed significantly each time the drum is cycled, i.e., if there is fatigue or other significant change in the photoconductor surface, the quality of the pages printed will not be uniform and will not be satisfactory.
Hydrazone derivatives, which have frequently been employed as charge transfer molecules and organic photoconductors for electrophotography, possess interesting photochemical properties which are known to connect closely with the so-called fatigue phenomenon of photoconductors. A good deal of research supports the fact that photoisomerization and photochemical reactions are responsible in large part for the fatigue phenomenon. For example, p-(diethylamino) benzaldehyde diphenyl hydrazone (DEH) undergoes a photochemically-induced unimolecular rearrangement to the indazole derivative, 1-phenyl-3-(4-(diethylamino)-1-phenyl)-1,3-indazole. The following articles give an overview of the mechanism of photo-induced fatigue in electrophotographic conductors: J. Pacansky, et al., Chem. Mater. 4:401(1992); T. Nakazawa, et al, Chem. Lett. 1992, 1125; and E. Matsuda, et al., Chem. Lett. 1992, 1129.
In order to use hydrazones as charge transport molecules for electrophotographic applications, photo-induced fatigue has to be reduced to an acceptable level. There are two major paths to minimize photo-induced chemical changes in hydrazone molecules such that photo-induced fatigue of photoconductors can be improved: (1) introducing appropriate substitution on the hydrazone molecules to increase rigidity such that photo-induced cyclization or isomerization can be hindered; and (2) formulating with additives, e.g., a light absorber, in the charge transport layer to filter away the harmful wavelength light (See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,362,798, Anderson, et al.). The former approach will inevitably increase the cost to produce the molecules as compared with the corresponding unsubstituted hydrazones. Therefore, the approach of current choice is the use of additives, such as Acetosol Yellow, to serve as a light filter. Although this approach is effective in reducing room light fatigue of the photoconductor to a certain degree, it also negatively effects the electrical properties of the photoreceptor by increasing discharge voltage and dark decay.
Azines, which are the product of condensing the remaining NH.sub.2 of a hydrazone with a carbonyl compound, have been disclosed for use in electrophotographic applications, both as transport molecules and as dopants in charge transport layers. Several series of hydrazones and azines are disclosed as charge transport materials in DE3716982, JP62006262 and JP61209456. In addition, some azines have been taught to be used in combination with hydrazones in electrophotographic conductors (see, for example, JP61043752, JP61043753, and JP61043754). It is important to note that these azines are not the fluorenyl-azine derivatives used in the present invention.
Fluorenyl-azines are known in the art. For example, 9-[p-(diethylamino) benzylidenehydrazono)] fluorene has been disclosed in JP57138644 and JP59195659 as a charge transport agent.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,415,640, Goto, et al, issued Nov. 15, 1983, discloses flourenyl-azines of the type utilized in the present development. The materials are disclosed as charge transport materials, not as adjunct materials used together with another charge transport molecule (see, for example, column 6, lines 52-54; column 7, lines 30-32; and column 8, lines 62-68). The use of these fluorenyl-azines as charge transport materials is taught to minimize photoconductor fatigue.
It has now unexpectedly been found that addition to a DEH-containing charge-transport layer of a flourenyl-azine material provides elimination of room light fatigue and cycling fatigue in the resulting photoconductor. For example, a photoconductor containing a DEH-charge transport layer doped with 2-5% azine, exhibits no fatigue after four hours of fluorescent light exposure, while the same photoconductor containing the standard Acetosol Yellow filtering agent exhibits negative fatigue. Increasing the Acetosol Yellow concentration in the charge transport layer, results in negative affects on the sensitivity of the photoconductor and dark decay, while no such effects are observed with the azine material.

Electrophotographic photoconductor containing fluorenyl-azine derivatives as charge transport additives


Low pressure resistance in a radiator for use in the cooling system of an internal combustion engine or other heat exchanger may be overcome in a construction including a core (20) defined by a plurality of elongated spaced, parallel tubes (26) with fins (28) extending between adjacent tubes, and header and tank assemblies (22, 24) at opposite ends of the core and attached thereto to be in fluid communication with the tubes (26). Each header and tank assembly (22, 24) includes an elongated housing (40, 104) including an interior passage (34) of circular cross-section and an external, generally planar surface (48, 98). Elongated recesses (46, 110, 112) are disposed in the exterior of the housing, one to each side of the planar surface (48, 98) and an elongated channel having spaced legs (56) interconnected by a base (54) is fitted to the housing with the base (54) abutted to or adjacent to the planar surface (48, 98) with the legs extending partially about the housing to be received in the recesses (46, 110, 112). Openings (52, 84, 103, 106) establish fluid communication between the passages (34) and the planar surface (48, 98) and a plurality of openings (60) in the base (54) sealingly receive the ends (70) of the tubes (26) in the core (20).

So-called "radiators" are heat exchangers that are used to reject heat from the coolant of an internal combustion engine to the ambient. In a typical case, engine coolant is circulated through coolant passages in the engine block to the so-called liquid side of the radiator where it is cooled and then returned to the engine block. Cooling occurs by forcing ambient air through the radiator core as, for example, by a fan driven either by an electric motor or by a power take-off from the internal combustion engine itself.
In the usual case, the coolant systems are mildly pressurized to, for example, 7-16 psig. As a result, the coolant may heat to a temperature above its boiling point at atmospheric pressure without actually vaporizing. In this way, the wall temperature of the combustion chamber of the internal combustion engine may be maintained at a fairly constant value which is selected to maximize thermal efficiency of the engine while assuring that undue thinning of the lubricant film on relatively moving parts will not occur.
As elementary thermodynamics will demonstrate, the thermal efficiency of an engine increases as its operating temperature is increased. Consequently, it is desirable to raise the operating temperature of the engine as much as possible to maximize efficiency. If, however, the operating temperature is raised to the point where coolant within cooling passages in the engine begins to vaporize, pockets of vapor will develop and because the heat capacity of vapor usually is much less than the heat capacity of the liquid coolant, those parts of the engine contacted by the vapor will heat to undesirably high temperatures while adjacent parts contacted by liquid coolant will not. The resulting "hot spots" are undesirable from two standpoints. First, the "hot spot" may not be able to sustain an adequate lubrication film, resulting in poor lubrication and undue wear. Secondly, the temperature differential between the "hot spot" and other parts of the engine may ultimately result in damage to engine parts as, for example, warpage of reciprocating engine heads. Consequently, if engines are to be operated at higher temperatures, it is necessary that the boiling point of the coolant being employed be raised.
This, of course, can be done by increasing system pressure. For example, an increase in maximum system pressure from approximately 8 psig to 63 psig would increase the boiling point of a coolant such as water some 70 degrees fahrenheit.
At the same time, it becomes necessary to increase the strength of the radiator so that the same may operate at the increased pressure.
The present invention is directed to providing an improved high pressure resistant radiator.

High pressure, long life, aluminum heat exchanger construction


The assembly includes:                a front face;        a structural front portion (4);        a fender front portion (5);        a flexible beam (43); and        a headlight unit fastened to said beam (43).

Such an assembly is described, for example, in Document EP-A-1 232 932.
The structure described in that document makes it possible for the visible outlines of the headlight units to be positioned automatically and permanently relative to the corresponding fender ends and relative to the bumper skin. At the same time, that structure guarantees that the bumper skin is positioned accurately relative to the fender ends.
On certain vehicles, it is chosen for the fender front portions to be made of a plastics material rather than of sheet metal. Such a choice of technology, which offers certain advantages, nevertheless results in the fender front portions undergoing relatively considerable deformation over the life of the vehicle. In certain preferred directions of deformation, such as the longitudinal direction of the fender of the vehicle, such deformation can be of the order of a few millimeters, whereas it is not significant when the fenders are made of metal.
Via the connection existing between the fender front portion and the corresponding beam, such deformation can, after the front portion assembly of the vehicle has been assembled, and during the life of the vehicle, give rise to significant deformation of the beam, and thereby cause uncontrollable misadjustment of the orientation and of the position of the headlight unit supported by the beam.

Motor vehicle front portion assembly provided with improved fastening and position-adjustment means, and a motor vehicle including such an assembly

Abstract: It further comprises:                a centering and guide part (71) fastened to the structural front portion, in a position that can be adjusted, during assembly, along three axes (X, Y, Z);        fastening and centering means (83, 85) for fastening the end (43B) of the beam to said part (71) and for centering it thereon; and        guide means (93, 95) for guiding the fender front portion (5) on said part (71), providing a sliding connection slidable along one of the three axes (X), making relative adjustment movements possible in order to absorb deformation in said fender front portion. The invention is also relates to a motor vehicle including such an assembly.


When a traveling state is in an engagement range of a lock-up clutch, an ECU executes a program including a step of executing slip control if preconditions are satisfied and learning start conditions are satisfied, a step of updating a learning value if an output value is not greater than an FF control value+α or not smaller than the FF control value+β, and a step of engaging the lock-up clutch.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a control apparatus for a vehicle incorporating an automatic transmission including a hydraulic coupling with a lock-up clutch, and particularly to a technique of learning, in controlling engagement force of the lock-up clutch so that a slip amount thereof meets a predetermined slip amount, a control value for obtaining the predetermined slip amount.
2. Description of the Background Art
An automatic transmission for a vehicle is constituted of a hydraulic coupling connected to an output shaft of an engine and a transmission mechanism of gear type or a continuously variable transmission mechanism of belt type or traction type connected to the output shaft of the hydraulic coupling. An example of the hydraulic coupling is a torque converter, which often has a lock-up clutch that enables direct coupling of the input side and the output side of the torque converter. Engagement of the lock-up clutch provides control of directly coupling the input side and the output side of the torque converter, and provides feedback control (slip control) for attaining a prescribed state of the engagement pressure of the lock-up clutch in accordance with the difference between the number of revolutions of the pump on the input side (corresponding to the number of revolutions of the engine) and the number of revolutions of the turbine on the output side to thereby provide control of the slip state of the torque converter.
As such slip control, for example Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 07-035232 discloses a slip control apparatus for a lock-up clutch for a vehicle, wherein appropriate slip control is provided even when an engine output fluctuates due to a change in the outside air pressure or the like. The slip control apparatus includes slip controlling means for determining a control input for the slip control in accordance with values of control parameters from a data map that is preset so that a target slip amount is obtained based on control parameters prescribed with reference to a predetermined standard engine output state, and for controlling the engagement force of the lock-up clutch in accordance with the control input: The slip control apparatus includes learning means for updating the control input of the data map in accordance with the control parameters so that the slip amount of the lock-up clutch meets the target slip amount, output fluctuation detecting means for detecting whether or not an engine output state fluctuates from the standard engine output state, and learning limiting means for prohibiting update of the data map by the learning means when the fluctuation of the engine output state is detected by the output fluctuation detecting means.
According to the slip control apparatus, the control input of the data map is learned corresponding to the control parameters so that the slip amount of the lock-up clutch meets the target slip amount, and the engagement force of the lock-up clutch is controlled in accordance with the learned control input. Accordingly, appropriate slip control can always be provided irrespective of individual differences among engines or changes in the engine output over time. Additionally, since the learning of the control input is prohibited upon detection of the fluctuation in the engine output state from the standard engine output state, erroneous slip control will not be provided when the engine output state returns to the standard engine output state.
However, when an engagement range of the lock-up clutch is increased in order to improve the fuel efficiency, a slip control range is set smaller and the frequency of slip control may be reduced. Hence, there is a problem that the frequency of learning the control value of the engagement force of the lock-up clutch during the slip control is reduced. When the frequency of learning is reduced, the accuracy of the slip control is deteriorated. Thus, hunting where the lock-up clutch repeats engagement and disengagement in the slip control range may occur. Further, the vehicle may be shocked by the hunting.


Two or more microphones are mounted in an environment that contains an equal or lesser number of distinct sound sources. Acoustic energy from each source, with its attendant echoes and reverberation, impinges on each microphone. Using direction-of-arrival information, a first module attempts to extract the original source signals as if the acoustic environment were anechoic. Any residual crosstalk between the channels, which may be caused by echoes and reverberation, is removed by a second module. The first and second modules may be implemented using existing technology.

It is well known that a human being can focus attention on a single source of sound even in an environment that contains many such sources. This phenomenon is often called the "cocktail-party effect."
Considerable effort has been devoted in the prior art to solve the cocktail-party effect, both in physical devices and in computational simulations of such devices. One prior technique is to separate sound based on auditory scene analysis. In this analysis, vigorous use is made of assumptions regarding the nature of the sources present. It is assumed that a sound can be decomposed into small elements such as tones and bursts, which in turn can be grouped according to attributes such as harmonicity and continuity in time. Auditory scene analysis can be performed using information from a single microphone or from several microphones. For an early example of auditory scene analysis, see Weintraub (1984, 1985, 1986). Other prior art work related to sound separation by auditory scene analysis are due to Parsons (1976), von der Malsburg and Schneider (1986), Naylor and Porter (1991), and Mellinger (1991).
Techniques involving auditory scene analysis, although interesting from a scientific point of view as models of human auditory processing, are currently far too computationally demanding and specialized to be considered practical techniques for sound separation until fundamental progress is made.
Other techniques for separating sounds operate by exploiting the spatial separation of their sources. Devices based on this principle vary in complexity. The simplest such devices are microphones that have highly selective, but fixed patterns of sensitivity. A directional microphone, for example, is designed to have maximum sensitivity to sounds emanating from a particular direction, and can therefore be used to enhance one audio source relative to others (see Olson, 1967). Similarly, a close-talking microphone mounted near a speaker's mouth rejects distant sources (see, for example, the Knowles CF 2949 data sheet).
Microphone-array processing techniques related to separating sources by exploiting spatial separation of their sources are also well known and have been of interest for several decades. In one early class of microphone-array techniques, nonlinear processing is employed. In each output stream, some source direction of arrival, a "look direction," is assumed. The microphone signals are delayed to remove differences in time of flight from the look direction. Signals from any direction other than the look direction are thus misaligned in time. The signal in the output stream is formed, in essence, by "gating" sound fragments from the microphones. At any given instant, the output is chosen to be equal to one of the microphone signals. These techniques, exemplified by Kaiser and David (1960), by Mitchell et al. (1971), and by Lyon (1983), perform best when the undesired sources consist predominantly of impulse trains, as is the case with human speech. While these nonlinear techniques can be very computationally efficient and are of scientific interest as models of human cocktail-party processing, they do not have practical or commercial significance because of their inherent inability to bring about full suppression of unwanted sources. This inability originates from the incorrect assumption that at every instant in time, at least one microphone contains only the desired signal.
One widely known class of techniques in the prior art for linear microphone-array processing is often referred to as "classical beamforming" (Flanagan et al., 1985). As with the nonlinear techniques mentioned above, processing begins with the removal of time-of-flight differences among the microphone signals with respect to the look direction. In place of the "gating" scheme, the delayed microphone signals are simply averaged together. Thus, any signal from the look direction is represented in the output with its original power, whereas signals from other directions are relatively attenuated.
Classical beamforming was employed in a patented directional hearing aid invented by Widrow and Brearley (1988). The degree to which a classical beamformer is able to attenuate undesired sources relative to the desired source is limited by (1) the number of microphones in the array, and (2) the spatial extent of the array relative to the longest wavelength of interest present in the undesired sources. In particular, a classical beamformer cannot provide relative attenuation of frequency components whose wavelengths are larger than the array. For example, an array one foot wide cannot greatly attenuate frequency components below approximately 1 kHz.
Also known from the prior art is a class of active-cancellation algorithms, which is related to sound separation. However, it needs a "reference signal," i.e., a signal derived from only of one of the sources. For example, active noise-cancellation techniques (see data sheets for Bose.RTM. Aviation Headset, NCT proACTIVE.RTM. Series, and Sennheiser HDC451 Noiseguard.RTM. Mobile Headphone) reduce the contribution of noise to a mixture by filtering a known signal that contains only the noise, and subtracting it from the mixture. Similarly, echo-cancellation techniques such as those employed in full-duplex modems (Kelly and Logan, 1970; Gritton and Lin, 1984) improve the signal-to-noise ratio of an outgoing signal by removing noise due to echoes from the known incoming signal.
Techniques for active cancellation that do not require a reference signal are called "blind." They are now classified, based on the degree of realism of the underlying assumptions regarding the acoustic processes by which the unwanted signals reach the microphones. To understand the practical significance of this classification, recall a feature common to the principles by which active-cancellation techniques operate: the extent to which a given undesired source can be canceled by subtracting processed microphone signals depends ultimately on the exactness with which copies of the undesired source in the different microphones can be made to match one another. This depends, in turn, on how accurately the signal processing models the acoustic processes by which the unwanted signals reach the microphones.
One class of blind active-cancellation techniques may be called "gain-based": it is presumed that the waveform produced by each source is received by the microphones simultaneously, but with varying relative gains. (Directional microphones must be employed to produce the required differences in gain.) Thus, a gain-based system attempts to cancel copies of an undesired source in different microphone signals by applying relative gains to the microphone signals and subtracting, but never applying time delays or otherwise filtering. Numerous gain-based methods for blind active cancellation have been proposed; see Herault and Jutten (1986), Bhatti and Bibyk (1991), Cohen (1991), Tong et al. (1991), and Molgedey and Schuster (1994).
The assumption of simultaneity is violated when microphones are separated in space. A class of blind active-cancellation techniques that can cope with non-simultaneous mixtures may be called "delay-based": it is assumed that the waveform produced by each source is received by the various microphones with relative time delays, but without any other filtering. (See Morita, 1991 and Bar-Ness, 1993.) Under anechoic conditions, this assumption holds true for a microphone array that consists of omnidirectional microphones. However, this simple model of acoustic propagation from the sources to the microphones is violated when echoes and reverberation are present.
When the signals involved are narrowband, some gain-based techniques for blind active cancellation can be extended to employ complex gain coefficients (see Strube (1981), Cardoso (1989,1991), Lacoume and Ruiz (1992), Comon et al. (1994)) and can therefore accommodate, to a limited degree, time delays due to microphone separation as well as echoes and reverberation. These techniques can be adapted for use with audio signals, which are broadband, if the microphone signals are divided into narrowband components by means of a filter bank. The frequency bands produced by the filter bank can be processed independently, and the results summed (for example, see Strube (1981) or the patent of Comon (1994)). However, they are computationally intensive relative to the present invention because of the duplication of structures across frequency bands, are slow to adapt in changing situations, are prone to statistical error, and are extremely limited in their ability to accommodate echoes and reverberation.
The most realistic active-cancellation techniques currently known are "convolutive": the effect of acoustic propagation from each source to each microphone is modeled as a convolutive filter. These techniques are more realistic than gain-based and delay-based techniques because they explicitly accommodate the effects of inter-microphone separation, echoes and reverberation. They are also more general since, in principle, gains and delays are special cases of convolutive filtering.
Convolutive active-cancellation techniques have recently been described by Jutten et al. (1992), by Van Compernolle and Van Gerven (1992), by Platt and Faggin (1992), and by Dinc and Bar-Ness (1994). While these techniques have been used to separate mixtures constructed by simulation using oversimplified models of room acoustics, to the best of our knowledge none of them has been applied successfully to signals mixed in a real acoustic environment. The simulated mixtures used by Jutten et al., by Platt and Faggin, and by Dinc and Bar-Ness differ from those that would arise in a real room in two respects. First, the convolutive filters used in the simulations are much shorter than those appropriate for modeling room acoustics; they allowed for significant indirect propagation of sound over only one or two feet, compared with tens of feet typical of echoes and reverberation in an office. Second, the mixtures used in the simulations were partially separated to begin with, i.e., the crosstalk between the channels was weak. In practice, the microphone signals must be assumed to contain strong crosstalk unless the microphones are highly directional and the geometry of the sources is constrained.
To overcome some of the limitations of the convolutive active-cancellation techniques named above, the present invention employs a two-stage architecture. Its two-stage architecture is substantially different from other two-stage architectures found in prior art.
A two-stage signal processing architecture is employed in a Griffiths-Jim beamformer (Griffiths and Jim, 1982). The first stage of a Griffiths-Jim beamformer is delay-based: two microphone signals are delayed to remove time-of-flight differences with respect to a given look direction, and in contrast with classical beamforming, these delayed microphone signals are subtracted to create a reference noise signal. In a separate channel, the delayed microphone signals are added, as in classical beamforming, to create a signal in which the desired source is enhanced relative to the noise. Thus, the first stage of a Griffiths-Jim beamformer produces a reference noise signal and a signal that is predominantly desired source. The noise reference is then employed in the second stage, using standard active noise-cancellation techniques, to improve the signal-to-noise ratio in the output.
The Griffiths-Jim beamformer suffers from the flaw that under reverberant conditions, the delay-based first stage cannot construct a reference noise signal devoid of the desired signal, whereas the second stage relies on the purity of that noise reference. If the noise reference is sufficiently contaminated with the desired source, the second stage suppresses the desired source, not the noise (Van Compernolle, 1990). Thus, the Griffiths-Jim beamformer incorrectly suppresses the desired signal under conditions that are normally considered favorable: when the signal-to-noise ratio in the microphones is high.
Another two-stage architecture is described by Najar et al. (1994). Its second stage employs blind convolutive active cancellation. However, its first stage differs significantly from the first stage of the Griffiths-Jim beamformer. It attempts to produce separated outputs by adaptively filtering each microphone signal in its own channel. When the sources are spectrally similar, filters that produce partially separated outputs after the first stage are unlikely to exist.
Thus, it is desirable to provide an architecture for separation of sources that avoids the difficulties exhibited by existing techniques.

Directional acoustic signal processor and method therefor