A method and system are disclosed for detecting a fatal error condition in a printing device having an intermediate transfer member for facilitating toner transfer, including sensing a reflectance value of the intermediate transfer member at a first predetermined time; comparing the sensed reflectance value at the first period of time to a predetermined threshold; sensing a reflectance value of the intermediate transfer member at a second predetermined time after the predetermined first time; and comparing the sensed reflectance value of the intermediate transfer member at the second period of time to the predetermined threshold. If each of the sensed reflectance value at the first predetermined time and the sensed reflectance value at the second predetermined time is greater than the predetermined threshold, the method includes selectively suspending further printing operations until the imaging device is serviced.

1. Field of the Disclosure
This invention relates to an electrophotographic printer having an imaging device, and, more particularly, to a system and method for diagnosing potentially catastrophic mechanical failures occurring in the imaging device.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a color electrophotographic process, toner is transferred by electrostatic means to an intermediate transfer member (ITM) at each of four or more successive imaging stations, with each imaging station representing a different color plane. Toner is accumulated onto the ITM belt and then transferred onto a media sheet by reversing the electrostatic field. This transfer onto paper is not 100 percent efficient, and some small amount of toner is left on the ITM belt that needs to be removed prior to a subsequent image to be accumulated on the ITM belt.
Second transfer is where the image is transferred from the ITM belt to the sheet of media. At the second transfer, a second transfer roll and a backup roll form a transfer nip. The media of media enters into the second transfer nip between the second transfer roll and the ITM belt. Voltages are applied to the second transfer roll and the backup roll to develop an electric field therebetween. The electric field at second transfer is constructed in a way to pull the toner off of the ITM belt onto the sheet of media. Second transfer is not 100% efficient, so residual toner is left on the ITM belt. The residual toner after second transfer is typically cleaned before a new image is placed on the ITM belt. If the toner is not cleaned off of the belt, the residual toner could contaminate the next media sheet printed.
Following second transfer, a cleaning unit typically employs a blade to scrape residual toner from the ITM belt. The residual toner builds up and is moved away from the blade by an auger into a waste toner box. The waste toner box is periodically replaced by the customer.
Occasionally, a "toner dump" can occur in a printing system. Causes of a toner dump include a bias voltage problem at the developer roll of a developer unit; a seal failure in a toner bottle; a lower seal failure in a developer unit; the photoconductive drum failing; and the ITM belt cleaner unit failing due seal failure or the cleaner blade flipping. Without looking at the printed sheet of media, there is little way to detect the occurrence of a toner dump. The imaging device is blind to this failure mode until a catastrophic mechanical failure occurs that results in a service call. Unfortunately, not only are toner dumps not easily detectible but the causes of a toner dump can quickly result in mechanical failure.
If a toner dump occurs, toner around the auger in the cleaning unit bridges in such a way that toner does not drop down into the waste toner box. As a result of the toner blockage, the torque on the auger may increase as a result but does not cause the auger or belt to stall. The auger eventually builds up enough toner in the end of the cleaning unit to start to buckle the auger. Buckling the auger puts a downward force on the cleaner blade, which causes the blade to flip, the auger to seize, or the cleaning unit to leak. The ITM belt will be destroyed and must be replaced.
The volume in and around the auger of the cleaning unit could be increased to handle the rare occasion when toner is dumped onto the ITM belt, but this requires additional volume in the machine in a location that is typically already cramped for space. With additional volume comes additional cost.
Even if the volume around the auger were increased, the imaging device would still be susceptible to other downstream failure modes that are not as easily remedied. Some of the excess toner on the belt may be transferred to sheets of media. Excessive toner coverage on the media sheets caused by a toner dump may result in failure by the fusing assembly of the imaging device. Poor fuse grade may result in a fuser roll being undesirably wrapped by a sheet of media or toner contaminating media transport guides internal and external the fuser assembly. Both of these result in a fuser replacement or a service call. Additionally, widespread machine contamination resulting from a toner dump may result in replacement of components, assemblies and modules within the imaging device.
In addition, dual component development (DCD) based imaging devices are further complicated by conditions that can relatively quickly lead to mechanical failure within the imaging device. A DCD based imaging device is one in which a development mix contains a portion of polymeric resin based toner and a magnetic carrier. Typically, the magnetic carrier will have a polymeric coating constructed of a triboelectrically different resin than the toner. When the toner is mixed with the carrier, the toner will charge to one polarity, while the carrier coating will charge to the opposite polarity. At that point, the toner will adhere to the oppositely charged carrier bead.
The magnetic carrier is utilized for two purposes. One purpose is to allow for the charging of the toner particles to a range appropriate for toner development, and the second purpose is to allow for the usage of a magnetic roller to transport the toner into the development zone between the magnetic roller and the photoconductor.
The final charge on the toner particles is a function of multiple kinetic and material factors within the development mix. Some of these factors may be, but are not limited to, the material choices for the toner and the carrier coatings, the amount of mix energy utilized to combine the toner and the carrier, and the weight concentration of toner to the carrier in the developer mix. The weight concentration of toner to carrier is commonly referred to as the toner concentration (TC) of the developer mix. If the TC increases, then the available surface area of the carrier per toner particle decreases, reducing the charge of the toner. If the toner concentration increases, then the available surface area of the carrier per toner particle increases, increasing the charge of the toner.
To maintain substantially constant toner charge in a development system, the amount of toner printed out of the developer unit needs to be known and the same amount must be fed back into the development sump of the developer unit to maintain a level of TC within a specific operating range. Any transition to a TC outside of this range could cause irreparable damage to the development mix and potentially the entire imaging system. If the TC gets too high, the toner charge and the carrier charge will both get too low causing "fogging" or "dusting" of the final image with toner and the possibility of bead carry-out (BCO) which is the loss of carriers to the photoconductor. A very low TC could lead to premature aging of the carrier which can also result in low carrier charge leading to BCO. At high levels of BCO, the development sump of the developer unit will become depleted of carriers, significantly reducing the life of the development system. At extremely high levels of BCO, other imaging system components (photoconductors, cleaner blades, transfer belts, etc.) can become irreparably damaged.
Though both undesirable changes in TC should be noticed by the user of the imaging device, thereby providing the user with an opportunity to initiate remedial measures so as to avoid irreparable damage. However, an issue arises when a user sends a very long print job and does not visibly monitor the output. By the time the user of imaging device may notice that the image quality is not acceptable, irreparable damage may have already occurred to the development system and the imaging system as a whole.

Imaging device with diagnostic testing for fatal errors


An advertising system is provided and generally includes a computing device that can receive attribute data from a plurality of information sources for an item. The computing device can determine a first number of sources for which the same attribute value for an attribute of the item is received, and can determine a second number of sources for which any attribute value for the same attribute of the item is received. The computing device can generate an attribute confidence value for the attribute based on the first number of sources and the second number of sources, indicating how likely the attribute value for the attribute is correct. The computing device can determine an item confidence value for the item based on multiple attribute confidence values for the item. Based on the item confidence value, the computing device may provide an attribute error signal indicating an attribute value error.

Online retailers typically provide information on their websites about the products or services they are offering for sale. For example, an online retailer may display on a website an image of a product, along with information about that product. The information may include, for example, a title of the product, a description of the product, the brand of the product, and information on various other attributes of the product (e.g., size, color, product identification number, manufacturers serial number, etc.). Some online retailers may also provide on their websites additional images of the product, and ratings or reviews of the product. An online retailer may receive the information from one or more sources. For example, the information may be received from the manufacturer of a product, a provider of a service, or a third-party that provides information for the product or service. Often times, however, the information may contain inaccuracies. For example, information relating to one or more attributes of an item, such as the brand or manufacturer of the item, may be incorrect. Retailers may nonetheless display the incorrect attribute information on their websites. As such, there are opportunities to address inaccuracies with advertisement information provided on a retailer's website.

Method and apparatus for advertisement information error detection and correction


A display panel and a driving method are provided. The pixel driver circuit includes a drive transistor, at least two data write modules, and a light emission control module. The at least two data write modules are configured to provide data signals for the drive transistor in a time-sharing manner, and the light emission control module is connected in series respectively with the drive transistor and the light-emitting element and is configured to control whether a drive current flows through the light-emitting element.

An organic light-emitting display device has advantages such as self-luminescence, a low drive voltage, high luminescence efficiency, a fast response speed, lightness and thinness, and a high contrast ratio. Such devices are considered to be the next generation of the most promising display device.
The pixels in an organic light-emitting display device include a pixel driver circuit. A drive transistor in the pixel driver circuit can generate a drive current, and a light-emitting element responds to the drive current and then emits light. However, due to the limitation of the scan pulse width of the gate driver circuit, the data write stage of the pixel driver circuit is too short, resulting in undercharging of the gate of the drive transistor of the pixel driver circuit and causing a large luminous brightness in the initial stage of light emission. Especially at low gray scales, undercharging of the drive transistor in the pixel driver circuit can cause human eyes to perceive flicker.

Wuhan Tianma Micro-Electronics Co., Ltd.


A method of making a steering hand wheel for a motor vehicle having a metal spider, a molded plastic rim, and a plurality of molded plastic spokes integral with the rim and mechanically interlocked with the spider. The method according to this invention includes the steps of extruding a billet having a cross sectional shape matching the profile of the spider, forming the spider by cutting off a flat section of the extruded billet from an end thereof, and insert molding a plastic rim and a plurality of integral plastic spokes around the spider. Each of the plastic spokes has an inboard end molded around a corresponding one of a plurality of spoke bases on the spider with a plurality of integral plastic pins captured in respective ones of a plurality of perforations in the spoke bases to mechanically interlock the spider and the molded plastic spokes.

Most motor vehicles are manually steered by an operator through application of steering effort to a steering hand wheel rigidly attached to the top of a steering shaft rotatably supported on a steering column of the motor vehicle. The steering hand wheel usually has a rim where the wheel is gripped by the operator, a metal spider where the wheel is attached to the steering shaft, and a plurality of spokes between the rim and the spider. In many applications, a urethane foam cover is molded over the rim, the spokes, and the spider. Typically, the rim is a metal rod shaped into a ring, the spider is made by a die casting process or by metal stamping, and the spokes are welded or clamped to the spider or encapsulated by portions of the spider die cast directly around the spokes. In some prior steering hand wheels, the spokes and/or the spider are shaped to absorb energy by deforming plastically upon impact and converting into work a fraction of the kinetic energy of the impact. In other proposed steering hand wheels, reinforced plastic spokes and a reinforced plastic rim are rigidly connected by various attachment techniques to a die cast or stamped metal spider. A method according to this invention of making a steering hand wheel for a motor vehicle is a novel alternative to the methods referred to above.


A method of processing a plurality of tracks representative of one or more target aircraft in a vicinity of a surveillance aircraft, where each track is generated in response to target reply signals provided by the target aircraft in response to interrogation signals transmitted by the surveillance aircraft, includes eliminating a portion of the plurality of tracks which are duplicate tracks of the same target aircraft. The remaining tracks are maintained and updated in response to the target reply signals provided by the target aircraft. A threat level for each of the remaining tracks is determined and two or more of the remaining tracks which are possibly representative of a same target aircraft are merged resulting in a composite track. The composite track is output to a display device utilizing information from a particular remaining track of the composite track having the greatest threat level to the surveillance aircraft while continuing to maintain and update all the remaining tracks.

The increased demands put on aircraft flight crew as a result of more complex technology, ever increasing aircraft traffic, and increased demands for safety has brought about a requirement for monitoring aircraft traffic in the vicinity of a surveillance aircraft. Such monitoring includes the automatic identification of potential threats to a surveillance aircraft monitoring target aircraft in such vicinity. As a result, target aircraft have transponders which in response to appropriate interrogation signals return reply signals which may provide information with respect to the range, altitude and bearing of the target aircraft. Certain traffic control system transponders, such as the Mode S systems include unique aircraft identifiers so that each target aircraft is interrogated separately and each reply is stamped with the identity of the target aircraft. This significantly simplifies surveillance processing by the surveillance aircraft.
In systems such as an Air Traffic Control Radar Beacon System (ATCRBS), which do not include unique aircraft identification information in replies to interrogation signals, the determination of aircraft tracks representative of target aircraft from replies is more difficult. The information obtained by periodic interrogation of target aircraft during surveillance periods from the replies provided by the target aircraft are subjected to algorithms to provide a target aircraft track. Once the track is identified and initialized, then the track can be updated and monitored to determine if the target aircraft is a threat to the surveillance aircraft.
Track determination is complicated for several reasons, generally involving spurious target replies. For example, with reference to FIG. 1, a surveillance aircraft 10 can transmit an interrogation signal 16 to a target aircraft 12, whereupon a transponder in the target aircraft 12 provides a first reply signal 18. The delay between the transmission of the interrogation signal and the reception of the reply signal provides range information concerning the distance of the surveillance aircraft from the target aircraft. However, the interrogation signal 16 can result in a second reply signal 19 that is reflected from the ground 14. The second reply signal 19, reflected once from the ground 14, is generally referred to as a single reflection multipath reply. Because the length of time for the travel of the second reply signal is longer than the first reply signal 18, the second reply signal 19 can be interpreted as being from a separate target aircraft at a greater range from the surveillance aircraft. A single reflection multipath reply also can be generated from the interrogation signal 17 being reflected off the ground 14 combined with the direct reply 18 to surveillance aircraft 10 from target aircraft 12. Since the path length is the same as the previous case, where the reply is reflected and the interrogation is direct, the range is the same. Similarly, the interrogation signal 17 can reflect off the ground 14, activate the transponder of the target aircraft 12 which provides a reply signal 20 that also reflects off the ground 14. In this instance, since both the interrogation signal 17 and the reply signal 20 are each reflected off the ground 14, this reply is referred to as a double reflection multipath reply. These double reflection multipath replies will be interpreted by the surveillance aircraft 10 as a target aircraft 12 at an even greater range than indicated by the direct or single reflection multipath replies.
In these situations, a single target aircraft is providing the surveillance aircraft 10 with a plurality of target responses during each interrogation. Thus, from a single surveillance period, consisting of multiple interrogations, multiple replies can be received from a single target aircraft. Such multiple replies may result in multiple tracks as shown in FIG. 2, where a direct reply track 101-103, a single reflection multipath track 104-106, and double reflection multipath 107-109 are indicated. Tracks can also be formed on mixtures of reply types, such as for a combination of single and double reflection replies. In addition, tracks can result from false replies due to electromagnetic interference or other effects such as ATCRBS transponder replies from insufficiently suppressing Mode S transponders.
As a result of the number of tracks which can be interpreted from the various replies from the target aircraft 12, a single target aircraft may have multiple tracks associated therewith. Such multiple tracks may be associated with a single ATCRBS transponder equipped target aircraft, however, will not occur with regard to a Mode S transponder equipped target aircraft as the Mode S equipped target aircraft has unique identification which prevent such multiple tracks from occurring. However, Mode S equipped target aircraft sometimes answer interrogations intended for ATCRBS equipped target aircraft and this may lead to ATCRBS replies in addition to the Mode S reply; thus forming duplicate tracks for a single Mode S equipped transponder target aircraft.
The multiple tracks for a single target aircraft may be referred to as split tracks. Such split tracks for a single target aircraft may be the result of multipath false replies. Split tracks may be displayed for an aircraft flight crew by a Traffic Alert and Collision Avoidance System (TCAS). Display symbols representative of target aircraft displayed as a result of one or more tracks of a split track results in excess clutter on the display and may also lead to excess aural messages to the flight crew. Such clutter is most prevalent at low altitudes and during turns when the flight crew workload is greatest. This excess clutter on the TCAS displays results in unnecessary and increased flight crew workload.
The Minimum Operational Performance Standards (MOPS) for Traffic Alert and Collision Avoidance System (TCAS) Airborne Equipment, manual document no. DO-185 by the Radio Technical Commission for Aeronautics (RTCA) which governs the operation of aircraft collision avoidance apparatuses, suggests an algorithm for merging split tracks based on multipath replies, insufficiently suppressed Mode S transponders, false replies, or other replies not accurately representative of target aircraft. This merging (in addition to enhanced merging functions) is performed in the TCAS surveillance functions. However, although some merging can be done in surveillance processes, the criteria need to be conservative so that tracks representative of real target aircraft, as opposed to a track of a split track for a single target aircraft, are not eliminated. If a track of a real target aircraft is eliminated, such target aircraft tracks are no longer tracked or updated. A threat from such an aircraft cannot be immediately introduced to the flight crew by means of the TCAS display. It takes a few seconds to re-acquire a track once it is eliminated and it takes even longer for that track to stabilize. Thus, there is some time delay danger in not adequately monitoring real target aircraft if conservative criteria for track merging in a TCAS surveillance process or collision avoidance system (CAS) process are not utilized. Such loss of track information regarding a real target aircraft which presents a threat to the surveillance aircraft is unacceptable. Therefore, there is a need to provide further TCAS track merging capabilities to remove excess display clutter while maintaining a conservative approach to eliminating tracks which are potentially split tracks based on multipath replies, false replies, etc.

Method of track merging in an aircraft tracking system


A liquid crystal display with high contrast and little color difference between white plain color and black plain color is disclosed, in which in the color layers formed on an optically transparent substrate, the contrasts of red (R), green (G), and blue (B) CRR, CRG, and CRB have a relationship of 16×(CRR/CRG)−3>CRB/CRG>CRR/CRG, and the total contrast CRR, G, B calculated from the contrasts of color layers CRR, CRG, and CRB and the contrast of a polarizing plate CRPOL satisfy a relationship of CRR, G, B/CRPOL>0.11.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a liquid crystal display; more particularly, relates to a color display of a liquid crystal display.
2. Description of Related Art
Nowadays, liquid crystal displays (LCDs) have been increasingly broadly applied in TV sets having the requirements for high contrast, wide viewing angle, and high reproducibility of colors. Technologies such as normal black mode or high-contrasted polarizing plate, or decreasing the depolarizing factors in liquid crystal cells can be adopted for the requirement for high contrast. VA mode or IPS mode with a phase-shift film for optical compensation can be employed for the requirement for wide viewing angle. Improvement on color purity of color filters or optimization of backlight spectrum can be utilized for the requirement for high reproducibility of colors.

Liquid crystal display and method for determining the contrast of a color layer and polarizer plate


This invention relates to a method for inhibiting polymerization of (meth)acrylic acid and its esters using a polymerization inhibitor which comprises at least one reduced halide-content azine dye-based compound. A process for producing reduced halide-content azine dye-based compounds using ion exchange resin technology is also provided.

When (meth)acrylic acid and its esters are prepared by conventional reaction processes, these products are generally present in a mixed product gas exiting the reactors of such processes. Typically, mixed product gases containing (meth)acrylic acid are cooled and contacted with an aqueous stream in an absorption tower, thereby providing a crude product stream which is then purified, often by dehydration in a distillation step, to provide a more concentrated and pure product solution. Mixed product gases containing esters of (meth)acrylic acid are generally non-aqueous streams, often with alcohols as the solvent-carrier, which are also subjected to purification by distillation, which also results in formation of a more concentrated and pure product solution.
Unfortunately, under the high temperature conditions typical of purification by, distillation, (meth)acrylic acid and its esters have a strong tendency to polymerize, creating unwanted polymer solids in the process equipment. It is important to prevent such unwanted polymerization of (meth)acrylic acid and its esters because process equipment may become blocked and clogged with the polymer solids which tends to interfere, sometimes dangerously, with ongoing operation of the purification process. In addition, loss of product yield often results from the polymerization of a portion of the product.
One established method for inhibiting polymerization of (meth)acrylic acid and its esters involves addition of one or more substances, which inhibit such polymerization, to the process streams and process equipment during separation and purification operations. More particularly, polymerization inhibitors that comprise methylene blue (tetramethylthionine chloride), along with one or more other compounds, such as hydroquinone (HQ) and phenothiazine (PTZ), have been found to provide good polymerization inhibiting effects for (meth)acrylic acid and its esters.
For example, such a method was described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,021,310, which teaches the addition of a combination of three substances to a distillation column during separation and purification of a crude aqueous stream containing acrylic acid or its esters. More particularly, the distillation was carried out in the presence of a three-component inhibitor system comprising: (A) at least one compound selected from the group consisting of hydroquinone, hydroquinonemonomethyl ether, cresols, phenols, t-butyl catechol, diphenylamine, phenothiazines and methylene blue; (B) at least one compound selected from the group consisting of copper dimethyldithiocarbamate, copper diethyldithiocarbamate copper dibutyldithiocarbamate and copper salicylate; and (C) molecular oxygen. According to the disclosure of this patent, this method achieved a synergistic polymerization inhibiting effect when the aforesaid compounds were simultaneously present in the distillation of aqueous streams containing acrylic acid and its esters.
However, it has also been learned that the halide (i.e., chloride) anions in methylene blue compound tend to corrode separation and purification process equipment constructed of low nickel content stainless steel, including but not limited to those grades containing less than about 35 weight percent nickel, such as grades 304, 316, and 317L. Although metal alloys and coatings (e.g., glass) that are resistant to chloride corrosion are commercially available, their costs are significantly higher than low nickel content stainless steel and are, therefore, less attractive substitutes for constructing commercial process apparatus. Furthermore, unless specifically removed with the attendant additional costs of such removal, the chloride of methylene blue will continue to cause negative effects in process apparatus downstream of the separation and purification portion, through corrosion and other unwanted interactions with these less expensive materials of construction.
Thus, removal and/or substitution of a substantial portion of the chloride (i.e., halide) anions in methylene blue (a thiazine dye-based compound) would provide reduced halide-content thiazine-based compounds that are suitable for use as polymerization inhibitors having reduced corrosion and other unwanted effects. Similarly, since methylene blue is a member of the class of compounds known as azine dyes, which includes thiazine-, oxazine-, and diazine dye-based compounds, removal and/or substitution of a substantial portion of the halide anions in azine-based compounds would provide various reduced halide-content azine dye-based compounds suitable for use as polymerization inhibitors in processes for separation and purification of (meth)acrylic acid and its esters.
Suitable reduced halide-content azine-based compounds may be available in readily usable form from various commercial sources. For example, 5-amino-4-(diethylamino)benzo[a]-phenoxazinium hydrogen sulfate (Nile Blue A) (which has an oxazine dye-based cation) or 3,7-Diaminophenothizain-5-ium acetate (thionine acetate) (which has a thiazine dye-based cation) are commercially available and suitable inhibitor compounds which would be expected to inhibit polymerization of (meth)acrylic acid and its esters. Since these compounds are of reduced halide-content, they would also be expected to provide polymerization inhibiting effects while reducing corrosion of process equipment compared to compounds containing halides, such as chloride. Furthermore, such inhibitor compounds having azine dye-based cations are suitable for use alone or with other compounds, such as those mentioned above, which also have polymerization inhibiting activity.
It is also desirable to be able to convert halide-containing azine dye-based compounds, such as, for example, tetramethylthionine chloride (methylene blue), into reduced halide-content azine-based compounds suitable for use as polymerization inhibitors, either alone or with other inhibitor compounds. An ion exchange process, wherein the halide anions of such azine dye-based compounds are exchanged for another less-corrosive anion species, would achieve the aforesaid desired conversion. Generally, ion exchange processes exchange one ion in solution for another ion that is bound to a substrate.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,641,016 discloses methods for preparing thionine derivatives using ion exchange processes conducted in solution, which do not involve ion exchange resins and, therefore, require additional drying, filtration, and/or washing steps to remove the solvent and unwanted inorganic alkaline salts from the final thionine derivative products. In particular, Example 13 of U.S. Pat. No. 3,641,016 describes the formation of the hydroxide form of thionine compounds by treatment with a strong base, i.e., potassium hydroxide or sodium hydroxide, in alcoholic solution. The solution is dried by evaporation and the alkaline salt is removed by washing the solids with a small quantity of water, leaving the purified, dry thionine hydroxide product. Example 14 of U.S. Pat. No. 3,641,016 describes the formation of thionine salts having organic and mineral acids (such as acetates, fumarates, halogens, and sulfates) by an ion exchange process wherein the hydroxy groups of the thionine hydroxide compounds, in either aqueous or alcoholic solution, are replaced by the preferred organic or mineral acid anions. Where aqueous solutions are used, the newly formed thionine compound is separated from the solution by filtration and removal of additional organic and inorganic alkaline salts is achieved by washing with a small quantity of water. Where the solution is alcoholic, after the hydroxy groups of the thionine hydroxide compounds are replaced by the preferred organic or mineral acid anions, the solution must be dried, as by evaporation, to collect the solids, which are then washed with a small quantity of water to remove the inorganic alkaline salts. In addition, Example 15 of U.S. Pat. No. 3,641,016 discusses the preparation of thionine derivatives having anions derived from carboxylic acids by an ion exchange in aqueous solution between the thionine chloride, bromide or perchlorate compound and the sodium, potassium or ammonium salt of the desired carboxylic acid. The filtration and washing steps are also required in this process to separate and purify the resulting carboxylic acid form of the thionine compound.
It is also noted that U.S. Pat. No. 6,458,989 discloses the use of sulfonic salts as inhibitors in the production of (meth)acrylic acid and its esters, however, only sulfonic salts of phenothiazine are illustrated in the examples. Furthermore, while phenothianzine is a compound belonging to the class of compounds known as azines, phenothiazine is not an azine dye-based compound, with which the present invention is concerned. See Smith, M. and March, J., March's Advanced Organic Chemistry: Reactions, Mechanisms, and Structure, 5th Ed., 2001, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York, p. 310; and R. Raue in Ullmans Encyclopedia of Industrial Chemistry, 5th Ed., 1985, VCH Deerfield Beach Fla., Vol. A3, p. 213.
Various suitable resin substrates are known in the industry and are conventionally made from polymer material or zeolites. While ion exchange processes, and the ion exchange resins used in such processes, are generally known and developed for application in various fields, there are a number of difficulties encountered with such processes as particularly applied to the conversion of azine dye-based compounds.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,813,974 describes an ion exchange process which reduces the halide (e.g., chloride) content of cationic or basic dyes, such as tetramethylthionine chloride, but the disclosed process is designed to remove only the stoichiometric excess halide anions. Although the use of strongly basic ion exchange resins would be a clear way to remove halide ions associated with the dye molecules, U.S. Pat. No. 4,813,974 warns against the use of strongly basic ion exchange resins due to the resulting high pH which tends, in turn, to render the resulting salt product highly unstable. U.S. Pat. No. 4,813,974 explains how to avoid removing too much halide by matching the total capacity of the ion exchange resin loaded into the reactor with the excess halide content of a single batch of dye being treated, which necessarily results in leaving the stoichiometric halide in the dye. Thus, while U.S. Pat. No. 4,813,974 suggests that all or any portion of the halide anions directly associated with the cation portion of the starting compound may be removed and subsequently replaced with substitute anions, that patent warns that this may be achieved only if the temporary exposure to the resulting higher pH does not adversely affect the cation portion and does not provide any information or guidance as to how to avoid or mitigate such adverse affect. Thus, U.S. Pat. No. 4,813,974 does not explain how to successfully address the difficulties and obstacles of which it warns.
In addition, it has been known in the art that methylene blue is considered to be incompatible with basic conditions (i.e., high pH environments). See The Merck Index, 11th Addition, 1989, Merck & Co., Rahway N.J., p. 954. Furthermore within the dye industry, azine-based dyes, of which methylene blue is a member, are classified as basic dyes (i.e., the chromophore is cationic). See Kirk-Othmer Encyclopedia of Chemical Technology, Vol. 3, 4th addition, 1992, John Wiley & Sons, New York p 814. As indicated in Ullmann's Encyclopedia of Industrial Chemistry, 5th completely revised edition, Volume A9 VCH, Deerfield Beach, Fla., p. 107, members of this class of dyes are generally considered to be sensitive to basic conditions because sodium hydroxide has been reported to change or decolorize solutions of basic dyes (i.e., the cation portion is destroyed). Thus, persons of ordinary skill are dissuaded, by the general knowledge and information in the art, from using ion exchange resins with a high pH environment to synthesize derivatives of azine dye-based compounds, including derivatives having reduced halide content.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, the present invention provides a method of inhibiting polymerization of (meth)acrylic acid and its esters, for example during separation and purification processes, as well as transport and storage, using a polymerization inhibitor which comprises at least one reduced halide-content azine dye-based compound.
The present invention also provides a process for preparing reduced halide-content azine dye-based compounds using ion exchange resin technology, which addresses and overcomes the difficulties of known ion exchange processes discussed above.

Method for inhibiting polymerization of (meth)acrylic acid and its esters using an inhibitor and a process for making a compound useful as such an inhibitor


A fastener and method of manufacturing a threaded fastener with a tool-receiving recess in the fastener head are provided including a gauging indicator for indicating whether the recess is properly formed to meet standards. The gauging indicator is preferably in the form of a protrusion of a predetermined size on the fastener head which changes when the punch forming the recess becomes worn or broken. In this instance, the protrusion will be reduced in size as the material of the protrusion is displaced into the fastener head and other material of the fastener head is pushed into the areas of wear or breakage on the punch. Accordingly, the size of the gauging indicator provides an indication of whether the recess is meeting standards.

When forming with fasteners having a head and threaded shank with a tool-receiving recess in the head of the shank for receiving a screw driver or other driving tool, it is important that the recess-defining walls meets standards so that the driving tool properly fits into the recess and provides a maximum driving or turning torque for turning the threaded fastener. Typically, deviations with respect to the standard configuration of the driving recess are caused by wear or breakage of a portion of the punch. This allows metal to bulge at an area in one of the recess walls where the punch is worn or broken off. That is, during the formation of the recess, a tool is pushed into the metal; and the metal conforms to the shape of the punch including the worn away or broken away cavity areas, forming a bulge of extra metal at the worn away or broken cavity areas which prevents the mating of the driving tool directly and exactly in the fastener recess.
A problem with the detection of such minor bulges occurring almost anywhere within the recess is that the current manner of checking the fastener recess is to merely check the depth. Unless the bulges at the bottom wall of the recess interfere with the full insertion of the depth checking instrument, the bulge will not be detected using current standard measuring devices. Also, sometimes the punch tip may break so that a bulge may appear on the bottom of the wall of the recess; while the maximum depth be engaged is still apparently the full depth and most, or a substantial portion of the recess. Thus, there is a need to detect the punch wear or breakage of the punch during the manufacturing process, and also to detect, by examining the fastener, when the fastener is no longer meeting the standards for its driving recess. There is a need to eliminate and to detect any sloppy fit between the driving tool and the recess-defining walls and to also determine the condition of the punch used in the manufacturing process.


A system and method of managing power in a hybrid vehicle are provided. The system includes an engine, first and second electronic power components, a power storage device, and a controller. The power storage device is configured to supply a power output to the second electronic power component necessary for the second electronic power component to drive a second set of drive wheels, in an electronic all-wheel drive mode. In steep grade environments, the power storage device is depleted at a higher rate, and may require a power input in addition to the power input of a conventional charge to adequately supply the second electronic power component with adequate power. To provide this power, the controller executes a series of control steps to increase a power output of the first electronic power component, by increasing the speed of the engine, thereby providing continuous power to the power storage device.

Some hybrid vehicles use a primary power source for the majority of the vehicle's propulsion needs and supplement that primary power source with an auxiliary power source, as needed. An auxiliary power source can benefit a hybrid vehicle in certain driving conditions, such as scaling large grades, i.e., steep inclines and declines.
In order to utilize the auxiliary power source, the auxiliary power source requires electric power from a power storage device. When climbing a significant grade, the auxiliary power source may diminish the stored charge of the power storage device more quickly, while operating in an electric-only mode or a hybrid mode.

System and method of power management for a hybrid vehicle


An auto focusing camera includes a lens unit (2) including a barrel (20) and a lens (22) received in the barrel, a permanent magnet (3) being fixedly mounted around the barrel of the lens unit and moving with the lens unit when the lens unit undergoes telescopic movement during operation, and a coil seat (6a, 6b) with a coil (5a, 5b) wound thereon arranged at a side of the permanent magnet. An interlocking device (642, 202) is formed on the barrel and the coil seat for guiding the telescopic movement of the lens unit.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a lens drive mechanism of a camera, and more particularly to a lens drive mechanism of a two-step auto-focusing lens.
2. Description of Related Art
Over the years cameras have evolved toward lightweight compactness; however, conventionally an auto focus structure is used for controlling the telescopic movement of a lens of the camera and this occupies space in the camera.
The auto-focus structure of the camera focuses on an object by comparing the desired focus with the image on an image sensor. The image sensor is either a charge coupled device (CCD) sensor or a complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) sensor, and is controlled by a central processing unit (CPU) installed inside the digital camera. In the beginning, the lens moves back and forth around its original position (static position). As the lens moves, the CPU compares the image from the lens with the image in the image sensor. Finally, as the lens moves to the position where the image is the clearest, then the lens stops at the position. In this case, the lens has to be continuously driven back and forth by a motor structure. Generally the motor structure is column-shaped, including coils wound therearound and a permanent magnet being mounted around the lens. During operation of the motor, a current is applied to the coils to establish an alternating magnetic field. The magnetic field of the permanent magnet interacts with the alternating magnetic field of the coils to drive the lens to move. At the moment when the CPU detects a focused image as the lens moves back and forth, a stop signal is simultaneously sent to the motor. Therefore, the lens stops at the best focal position (static position).
However, a narrow gap is usually defined between an outer surface of the lens and an inner surface of the motor, the lens may easily swing and rotate during telescopic movement, which, in most of cases, results in unstable and imprecise movement of the lens of the camera. Such a shortcoming needs to be solved.

Fu Zhun Precision Industry (ShenZhen) Co., Ltd.


A wiring transfer sheet including a carrier base and a wiring layer formed thereon is produced so that an exposed area of a surface of the carrier base on which the wiring layer is formed has a plurality of concavities. By transferring the wiring layer to an electrically insulating substrate with this wiring transfer sheet, convexities which are complementary to the concavities are formed on the electrically insulating substrate. The convexities improve adhesion between a wiring board and a resin stacked thereon. Therefore, the wiring board thus obtained has surface coplanarity suitable for mounting a semiconductor bare chip and an electronic component as a whole, and a microscopical surface structure which adheres to a material stacked thereon.

Recently, a multilayer wiring board on which semiconductor chips such as an LSI and so on can be mounted at a high density has been used not only in the filed of industrial apparatus, but also in the field of household electric appliances, as a result of miniaturization and improvement in performance of electronics devices. For this reason, a cheaper multilayer wiring board is required. Further, the market always requires a multilayer board wherein a plurality of wiring pattern layers with a finer wiring pitch are electrically connected with a higher interconnection reliability.
In order to meet the requirement, a multilayer board wherein an inner via hole connection method is employed for interlay connection instead of a through-hole plating which was mainly employed, has been developed and practically used. According to the inner via hole connection method, interlayer connection between any electrodes of the multilayer print-wiring board can be obtained at any position of a wiring pattern. This multilayer board is called an All Layers Interstitial Via Hole (IVH) structure resin multilayer wiring board (see Japanese Patent Kokai (Laid-Open) Publication No. 6-268345). By employing this multilayer wiring board, it is possible to make a connection only between the desired wiring layers by filling the via hole with a conductive substance. Further, in this multilayer wiring board, it is possible to realize miniaturization of the board size and high density mounting since the inner via hole can be formed just under a component land.
In order to realize an interlayer connection with a higher density, there has been proposed a wiring board wherein two wiring layers formed on both surfaces of an electrically insulating substrate are electrically connected with a conductive paste which is filled in inner via holes, and at least one wiring layer is embedded in an adhesive layer. In addition, a method for producing the wiring board has been proposed, in which the wiring layer is embedded in the adhesive layer by transferring the wiring layer formed on a support base (see Japanese Patent Kokai (Laid-Open) Publication No. 2000-77800). By employing this constitution, a high reliability is obtained even if the size of the inner via hole is small. Further, there has been proposed a transfer medium with a fine wiring pattern which is suitable for producing a high-density multilayer wiring board (see Japanese Patent Publication No. 3172711). A wiring transfer sheet which is suitable for forming a wiring layer is also disclosed in Japanese Patent Kokai (Laid-Open) Publication No. 2000-154354.
The technique of forming the wiring layer with the wiring transfer sheet has been employed in the production of the wiring board as a useful method for forming the wiring. In the following, an example of the method for forming a wiring layer with a wiring transfer sheet is described referring to FIG. 16.
FIGS. 16(a) to (c) shows cross-sectional views illustrating the main steps in a method of forming a wiring layer. FIG. 16(a) shows a state in which wiring transfer sheets 1203 are superposed on both surfaces of an electrically insulating substrate 1204. FIG. 16(b) shows a step of transferring wiring layers 1202 of the wiring transfer sheets 1203 to the electrically insulating substrate 1204. FIG. 16(c) shows a step of removing support bases 1201 so as to obtain a wiring board.
In FIG. 16(a), the wiring transfer sheet 1203 is constituted by the support base 1201 and the wiring layer 1202 which is formed on the support base in a predetermined pattern. The wiring transfer sheet 1203 is produced by laminating a copper foil on an aluminum foil to obtain a composite foil followed by etching the copper foil selectively in a desired pattern, as described in Japanese Patent Publication No. 3172711. An enlarged view of Area A in the vicinity of the wiring layer of this wiring transfer sheet 1203 is shown in FIG. 16(d). As shown in FIG. 16(d), in the wiring transfer sheet, an exposed area of a surface of the support base 1201 (i.e. a surface which contacts the electrically insulating substrate) is flat. This is because the aluminum foil has a flat surface.
In FIG. 16(a), the electrically insulating substrate 1204 (to which the wiring layer is to be transferred) has through holes 1205 which are filled with a conductive paste 1206. A porous substrate which can be compressed, or a three-layer substrate wherein a core film is sandwiched with adhesive layers is used as the electrically insulating substrate 1204. The through holes 1205 are formed by laser processing using a carbon dioxide laser, an excimer laser or a YAG laser. The laser processing is generally employed for forming through holes since it is excellent in productivity.
Next, as shown in FIG. 16(b), the wiring transfer sheet 1203 is adhered to the electrically insulating substrate 1204 by heating and pressurizing, and then the wiring layer 1202 is transferred to and embedded in the electrically insulating substrate 1204. The electrically insulating substrate 1204 contains a thermosetting resin which is cured upon heating and pressurization so as to adhere to the wiring layer. Further, the conductive paste 1206 filled in the through holes 1205 is compressed by embedding the wiring layer 1202. Compression of the conductive paste 1206 makes the density of the conductive particles in the conductive paste high. Thus, the electrical connection between the wiring layers 1202 is ensured.
Next, the support base 1201 is dissolved and removed by etching whereby a wiring board which has wiring layers on both surfaces is obtained as shown in FIG. 16(c). Etching is conducted using as an etchant chemicals which selectively dissolve only the support base 1201 and do not dissolve the wiring 1202. FIGS. 16(e) and (f) show enlarged views of Areas B and C shown in FIG. 16(c), respectively. As shown in FIG. 16(e), an exposed area of a surface of the electrically insulating substrate 1204 becomes flat as a result of transferring the surface shape of the support base 1201. As shown in FIG. 16(f), the surface of the wiring layer 1202 also becomes flat. This is because the face which corresponds to the surface of the wiring layer 1202 reflects the surface shape of the support base 1201 which the wiring layer 1202 has contacted before transferring. A semiconductor bare chip is advantageously mounted on the wiring board having such a flat surface, and thereby an excellent initial mounting characteristic is ensured.
As the flatness of the surface of the wiring board increases, the initial mounting characteristic becomes better, while the adhesiveness of the wiring board to a substance (e.g. a resin) which is laminated on its surface disadvantageously becomes lower. The substances to be laminated on the surface of the wiring board are, for example, a sealing resin which is used upon mounting a semiconductor bare chip, and a solder resist for protecting a solder which is used upon mounting an electrical component. In a case where the adhesion between these materials and the surface of the wiring board is bad, interfacial exfoliation tends to occur due to stress caused by heating or bending. Similarly, when a multilayer wiring board is obtained by laminating another electrically insulating substrate on the double-faced wiring board produced according to the steps shown in FIG. 16, the high flatness of the wiring board lowers the adhesiveness of the electrically insulating substrate to the wiring board, which tends to cause interfacial exfoliation between the electrically insulating substrates and interfacial exfoliation between the insulating substrate and the wiring layer (the copper foil) of the wiring board. In any case, the occurrence of the interfacial exfoliation causes mounting failure or contact failure, so that the property of a product in which the wiring board is incorporated is adversely affected.
As described above, the wiring board obtained by using the conventional wiring transfer sheet has excellent surface flatness, although there is a problem in that it is difficult to ensure the adhesiveness of the wiring board to the resin laminated thereon due to the high surface flatness. The present invention has been made in consideration of these circumstances, and an object thereof is to provide a wiring transfer sheet that enables production of a wiring board which has a surface flatness macroscopically suitable for mounting a semiconductor bare chip or a electronic component thereon, but which also has a surface structure to which a resin to be laminated thereon microscopically adheres well. Further, an object of the present invention is to provide a wiring board which is produced by using the wiring transfer sheet, wherein at least an exposed area of a surface of an electrically insulating substrate has a surface flatness macroscopically suitable for mounting a semiconductor bare chip thereon, while it also has a surface structure to which a resin to be laminated thereon microscopically adheres well.

Wiring transfer sheet and method for producing the same, and wiring board and method for producing the same

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.


An image reading apparatus suitable for use as a facsimile apparatus, a coping apparatus or the like, and a method for detecting open/close of an original feeding unit in the image reading apparatus. The image reading apparatus has an original feeding unit openable and closable for feeding an original set, a light radiating unit for radiating lights on the original fed, an image sensor disposed on a feeding route for detecting an image of the original on the basis of reflected light from the original, a binary information converting unit for converting detecting image information from the image sensor into binary information, and a data processing unit using the binary information from the binary information converting unit as read image information on the occasion of image reading, while using it as information used to detect an open/close state of the original feeding unit on the occasion excepting the image reading, thereby detecting an open/close state of the original feeding unit without causing an increase of the number of parts of the apparatus.

The present invention relates to an image reading apparatus suitable for use as a facsimile apparatus, a copying apparatus or the like, and a method for detecting open/close of an original feeding unit in the image reading apparatus.
An image reading apparatus used to read information drawn on an original as image information (including image information or character information) such as a facsimile, an image scanner or the like has been developed in recent years.
In such image reading apparatus, an original set in, for example, a hopper is drawn out one by one and fed on a feeding route so that image information of the original is read on the feeding route.
If a so-called jam that an original jams on the above-mentioned feeding route or the like occurs, the operator opens an openable and closable lid unit constituting an original feeding unit for feeding the original, thereby removing the original jamming on the feeding route.
In the above-mentioned image reading apparatus, lights are radiated on the original fed on the feeding route to read image information on the basis of reflected lights from the original. Therefore, it is necessary to shield disturbing lights from the outside during an image reading operation. The above-mentioned lid unit is also required to be closed since the disturbing lights prevent image information of the original from being appropriately read if the lid unit is in an open state.
In order to prevent the lid unit from being in an open state during the above-mentioned image reading, a general image reading apparatus is provided with an exclusive microswitch served to detect an open/close state of the lid unit so as to notify the open/close state to the operator.
Such general image reading apparatus has, however, a problem that the number of parts increases so as to cause an increase of unnecessary cost required to constitute the apparatus or complicate a structure of the apparatus since the apparatus has an exclusive microswitch to detect the open/close state of the lid unit.

Image reading apparatus and a method for detecting open/close of an original feeding unit in the image reading apparatus


An EL sheet and a member for lighting a push-button switch capable of emitting light stably and sufficiently for a long period of time without trouble such as non-light emission phenomena and generation of black dot, even if the EL element is subjected to, for example, a drawing process to form into a three dimensional shape, includes a counter electrode layer 15, dielectric layer 14, light-emitting layer 13, and transparent electrode layer 11. An adhesive layer 12 made of adhesive having excellent adhesiveness to the electroconductive polymer is disposed between the transparent electrode layer 11 made of an electroconductive polymer and the light-emitting layer 13. As for the adhesives having excellent adhesiveness, polyester, acrylic, cyanoacrylate, polyolefin, ethylene-vinyl acetate or ethylene ethyl acrylate type adhesive is used. The dielectric layer is made of fluoro type, polyester type or acrylic type resin binder. Furthermore, to improve durability in hot and high humidity environment, a second counter electrode layer 17 and/or a second dielectric layer 17, both having an ion diffusion-preventing function, is/are disposed.

Heretofore, the illuminated-type push-button switch has been utilized for an input unit of a mobile communication device, etc. In the member for lighting a push-button switch of this type for input units, lighting functions which act as illumination function to illuminate a function display portion of the push-button switch at night-time are widely used.
FIG. 2 shows an example of a conventional illuminated-type push-button switch. As shown in FIG. 2, in the conventional push-button switch used for an input unit of a cell phone, etc., a cover base 32, which is formed in one body with a key top portion 31 that constitutes an operation key, and a circuit board 33 are disposed in a face-to-face manner and assembled in a housing of the input unit, so as to realize a switching function of the push-button switch 30. The push-button switch 30 has a display portion 34.
On the circuit board 33, a light source such as LED 35, etc., is provided. Light from the light source or reflected light thereof goes from an underside portion to an upper surface portion of the key top portion 31, so that even at night-time a display of the cell phone can be visually recognized easily.
The applicants of the present application already filed a patent application relating to a push-button switch member whose display portion is illuminated without such trouble as uneven brightness, with smaller power consumption, thinner in thickness and lighter in weight and method for manufacturing the same. It has a built-in EL element made from electroluminescent material. (Japanese patent publication JP-A-2002-367469).
In another prior art, an illuminated type sheet-like key top is disclosed. It comprises a light-transmitting resin film on a body of a key top portion, an organic polymer layer as a transparent electrode layer on a lower surface of the resin film, a compensating electrode layer, a light-emitting layer, a dielectric layer, a counter electrode layer and an insulation layer (Japanese Patent Publication JP-A-2000-285760).
In still another prior art, a push-button switch member for an input unit of cell phone, etc., has an illuminating display portion disposed on an upper surface side of the key top. And an EL sheet having a self-emitting type sheet-like light-emitting portion is used at the display portion. The push-button switch member with such EL sheet can be obtained by forming the EL sheet into a key top shape. The EL sheet has the sheet-like light emitting portion comprising a transparent electrode layer having an electroconductive polymer of a colored layer formed on a transparent insulation film, a light-emitting layer made of inorganic EL, etc., a dielectric layer and a counter electrode layer. All layers are laminated in this order. (Japanese patent publication JP-A-2004-6105).

EL sheet and member for lighting push-button switch


A call conferencing system and method includes a conference call controller and a conference bridge. The conference bridge includes a plurality of conference ports, to which conference participant audio is connected. Connection of conference ports in the bridge, bridges together the audio of the participants, thus forming the conference. The call conferencing system receives the initial scheduling request for the conference call, checks resource availability for the scheduled conference date and time, and reserves the required resources for the conference if they are available. To create the conference, conference call controller causes an operator console to be tied to a conference port on the bridge. Conference call controller originates a call to a conference participant via a conference port and ties the participant to the console via the bridge. The console informs the participant of the conference and the conference call controller connects the participant to the conference.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to call processing systems, and more specifically, to a system and method for providing conference call features.
2. Related Art
Conference call capabilities are widely used in today's business and industry. Such capabilities allow a party to set up a telephone call in which numerous parties can participate in a meeting or conference via telephone. Through the use of conference calling, meetings between various parties at various distant locations are routinely conducted without the need to expend time and money to travel to the meeting location.
In some offices, telephones are provided with the ability to set up a conference call. In such an office, the party setting up the conference calls each of the conference participants, one at a time. As each participant is called, he or she is added to the conference. When all participants have been called, the conference call can begin. In other environments, an operator dedicated to handling conference calling functions is provided to set up the conference call. In such an environment, the operator contacts each conference participant to set up the conference call.


A technique for processing a data stream includes the following steps/operations. A cluster structure representing one or more clusters in the data stream is maintained. A set of projected dimensions is determined for each of the one or more clusters using data points in the cluster structure. Assignments are determined for incoming data points of the data stream to the one or more clusters using distances associated with each set of projected dimensions for each of the one or more clusters. Further, the cluster structure maybe used for classification of data in the data stream.

Techniques for processing data streams have gained importance in recent years because of the great ease with which stream data can be collected. That is, hardware technology advances have made it easy to automatically record data associated with transactions and activities in everyday life. By way of example only, such data may be collected in the context of retail sales applications, multimedia applications, telecommunication applications, etc. It is also known that such data often has a very high dimensionality associated therewith. Data sets which have inherently high dimensionality may include, by way of example only, demographic data sets in which the dimensions comprise information such as the name, age, salary, and numerous other features which characterize a person.
The ubiquitous presence of data streams in a number of practical domains (e.g., retail sales, multimedia, telecommunications, as mentioned by way of example above) has generated much research, particularly, in the areas of clustering and classification of stream data. The clustering problem is especially interesting for the data stream domain because of its application to data summarization and outlier detection. Examples of such research are disclosed in R. Agrawal et al., "Automatic Subspace Clustering of High Dimensional Data for Data Mining Applications," ACM SIGMOD Conference, 1998; C. C. Aggarwal et al, "Fast Algorithms for Projected Clustering," ACM SIGMOD Conference, 1999; C. C. Aggarwal et al., "A Framework for Clustering Evolving Data Streams," VLDB Conference, 2003; and C. C. Aggarwal et al., "A Framework for High Dimensional Projected Clustering of Data Streams," VLDB Conference, 2004, the disclosures of which are incorporated by reference herein.

Method and apparatus for processing data streams

International Business Machines Corporation


A method of making a window assembly having an electrically heated portion includes providing a glass pane having a major surface. An electrically conductive material is disposed over at least a portion of the major surface of the glass pane. One or more wire assemblies are attached to the electrically conductive material. A light curable potting material is disposed over the one or more wire assemblies. The potting material covers a portion of each of the one or more wire assemblies and adheres to a portion of the major surface of the glass pane. The light curable potting material flows over the one or more electrical wire assemblies and the major surface of the glass pane such that in 1 minute or less the light curable potting material has an outer surface that is in a parallel relationship with the major surface of the glass pane. Also, the light curable potting material is dimensionally stable in 5 minutes or less.

The invention relates to a method of making a window assembly. More particularly, the invention relates to a method of making a window assembly having an electrically heated portion and the window assembly made thereby.
Utilizing an electrical system to heat substantially all of the surface area or only selected areas of a vehicle window is known. Typically, the electrical system supplies electricity to the front window (or windshield) and/or the rear window (or backlite) to provide power to heat the windows. One increasingly popular feature for the windshield is a heated area in the lower portion of the windshield where one or more windshield wipers are typically positioned when the wipers are not in operation. Rain, snow, ice, etc. tends to accumulate in the lower portion of the windshield in light of this typical position and so heating of this area is particularly desirable to ensure that the wipers can move freely and operate effectively.
As should be appreciated, the electrical systems utilized to heat the lower portion and/or other portions of the windshield are subject to exposure to potentially damaging environmental constituents such as the aforementioned forms of moisture and extreme temperatures. It is desirable to protect the integrity of these electrical systems and the key components of such systems from such exposure. For example, it is desirable to protect the electrical connections between the components of such systems from exposure to moisture in whatever form.
Known means for protecting the integrity of these electrical systems and the key components thereof have not proven entirely adequate. Additionally, vehicle manufacturers continue to impose more stringent requirements to ensure the reliability of these electrical systems.
Additional challenges to protect the integrity and ensure the reliability of these electrical systems can be encountered when trying to provide a high-volume, low cycle time window manufacturing process.
Thus, it would be desirable to provide a method of making a window assembly having an electrically heated portion that addresses the deficiencies described above. It would also be desirable to provide a window assembly which allows electrical power to be supplied to, for example, a heated portion of the assembly in a reliable manner.

Method of making a window assembly having an electrically heated portion and the window assembly made thereby


A method of forming a crystal semiconductor by depositing on a substrate with a depression a first layer with a higher nucleation density and a smaller mechanical abrasion rate than a second layer deposited on the first layer and forming a nucleation surface by removing a minute portion of the second layer in the area of the depression, thereby uncovering the first layer. The uncovered portion of the first layer is sufficiently minute so as to form only a single nucleus from which a monocrystal is grown by a crystal formation process from the single nucleus. The monocrystal is allowed to grow beyond the area of the depression. An abrasive grain mechanically polishes the grown monocrystal to a level corresponding to the surface of the first layer, thereby flattening the monocrystal.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of forming a crystal semiconductor film. More particularly it relates to a method of forming a crystal semiconductor film, comprising forming a plurality of monocrystals on a deposition surface under control of their location and also under control of the position of grain boundaries and the size of the monocrystals, and then flattening the monocrystals formed.
The present invention can be applied in, for example, crystal semiconductor films utilized for electronic devices such as semiconductor integrated circuits and magnetic circuits, optical devices, magnetic devices, piezoelectric devices or surface acoustic devices and so forth.
2. Related Background Art
In the field of an SOI (silicon on insulation) technique by which a plurality of monocrystals are made to grow on an insulating substrate, a method, for example, is proposed which is based on a selective nucleation depending on the difference in nucleation density between surface materials (T. Yonehara et al. (1987), Extended Abstracts of the 19th SSDM.191). This crystal formation method is described with reference to FIGS. 2A to 2C. First, as shown in FIG. 2A, on a substrate material 201 having a surface 203 with a smaller nucleation density, a region 207 having a surface with a larger nucleation density than the surface 203 is disposed in appropriate diameter and intervals. If a predetermined crystal formation processing is applied to this substrate, a nucleus 209 of a deposit is produced only on the surface of the region 207 and no nucleation takes place on the surface 203 (FIG. 2B). Then, the surface of the region 207 is called a nucleation surface (S.sub.NDL), and the surface 203, a non-nucleation surface (S.sub.NDS). If the nucleus 209 produced on the nucleation surface 207 is further made to grow, it grows to a crystal grain 210 (FIG. 2C), and further grows over the non-nucleation surface 203 beyond the region of the nucleation surface 207. In a short time it comes into contact with a crystal grain 210' having grown from an adjacent nucleation surface 207', and a grain boundary 211 is thus formed. In this conventional crystal formation method, reports have been made on an example in which amorphous Si.sub.3 N.sub.4 is used in the nucleation surface 207, SiO.sub.2 is used in the non-nucleation surface 203, and a plural number of Si monocrystals are formed by CVD (see the above paper); and an example in which SiO.sub.2 is used in the non-nucleation surface 203, Si ions are implanted into the non-nucleation surface 203 by the use of focused ion beams so that a region serving as the nucleation surface 207 is formed, and a plural number of Si monocrystals are formed by CVD (The 35th Applied Physics Related Joint Lecture Meeting, 1988, 28p-M-9).
When, however, plural crystal grains are formed in a lattice dot form by the above crystal formation method in which the monocrystals are formed under control of their location, the following problems may often occur, and hence some difficulties may be caused in the fabrication of semiconductor integrated circuits or other devices.
That is to say, in the above crystal formation method, it is difficult to obtain flat crystals under the present state in the art and a greater part of the resulting crystals is in a mass form. However, in the case when an element is formed, it is very effective to flatten the top of the crystals, from the viewpoints of improving performance of the element, making uniform the characteristics and improving the yield. In addition, if one element is formed on each of these monocrystals and each element is formed separately from each other through an insulating material, a region usually required for the separation of elements can be remarkably reduced and the devices can be more highly integrated. In recent years, it has been found that the performance of an element can be improved when a semiconductor layer on an insulating material is made thinner (International Workshop on Future Electron Devices, 1988). Nonetheless, no satisfactory technique has been established for flattening the crystals.
As methods for obtaining a thin layer with a flat surface, three methods have been hitherto proposed. The first is a method in which the upper part of, for example, an Si layer is oxidized and then removed using an etchant of an acid type (i.e., an oxide layer removing method), the second is a method in which a layer is made thin by reactive ion etching, and the third is a selective mechanochemical abrasive method in which a special chemical polishing solution is mixed and the remarkable difference in abrasion rates between Si and SiO.sub.2 is utilized (i.e., mechanochemical polishing method) (see T. Hamaguchi and N. Endo, Japanese Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 56, No. 11, p.1480; T. Hamaguchi, N. Endo, M. Kimura and A. Ishitani, Japanese Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 23, No. 10, 1984, PD.LO-815; T. Hamaguchi, N. Endo, M. Kimura and M. Nakamae, Proceeding of International Electron Device Meeting, p.688, 1985, Washington D.C., U.S.A.).
The oxide layer removing method must use a process such as high-pressure oxidation so that the rate of oxidation can be accelerated, resulting in a very expensive process. In addition, when the surface of a starting material is irregular, the surface must be flattened by any method before it is oxidized.
Moreover, in the case when grain boundaries or crystals with different orientation are present in the Si layer, there are many problems in achieving uniform and flat oxidation, since the oxidation may be accelerated along the grain boundaries or the rate of oxidation may be anisotropic depending on the crystal orientation.
The second method, the reactive ion etching, requires regulation of etching time to carry out thickness control in order to obtain a thin layer in a desired thickness, and there are many problems in its controllability, reproducibility, uniformity and mass productivity for accurately controlling the crystals to have a film thickness of 1 .mu.m or less. Moreover, what is to be additionally questioned is that ions having energy are made directly incident on the surface of semiconductor crystals. This leaves the problem of damaging the surface layer.
In the last mechanochemical polishing method, when used in usual silicon wafers, polishing is carried out using a polishing solution and a polyurethane cloth. The polishing solution is obtained by suspending abrasive grains called colloidal silica, comprising SiO.sub.2 with a diameter of about 0.01 .mu.m, in a weakly alkaline solution. This is a polishing method in which the physical polishing action attributable to the friction between abrasive grains (SiO.sub.2) and a silicone wafer is combined with the chemical dissolving action of silicon in the weakly alkaline polishing solution because of an increase in temperature during the friction. The mechanochemical polishing is used in a final step when substrates such as silicon wafers are polished, and the surface of the substrate thus polished is a flat, strain-free mirror surface.
A selective polishing technique based on this mechanochemical polishing method employs a weakly alkaline solution as a processing solution, and utilizes the mechanism that the chemical reaction between the solution and a body to be polished differs depending on materials. This method is comprised of the chemical reaction of this solution and a mechanical removing step so that a substance to be formed is rubbed off with a polishing cloth. For example, when Si is etched using ethylenediamine-pyrocatechol, Si(OH).sub.6.sup.2- is formed on the Si surface as a result of redox reaction in the course of ionization of amine, and it produces a chelate with pyrocatechol, which is then dissolved in the solution. It is through the selective polishing that this Si(OH).sub.6.sup.2- is removed from the Si surface by the mechanical action attributable to the fiber of the polishing cloth. In the case when the body to be polished is comprised of SiO.sub.2 regions and Si regions, the effect of rubbing off using the polishing cloth may remarkably decrease if the Si regions surrounded by the SiO.sub.2 regions are abraded to the height of the SiO.sub.2 regions. Thus, the SiO.sub.2 regions are made to serve as a stopper and only the Si regions are flatly polished.
In the above ordinary mechanochemical polishing technique and selective mechanochemical polishing technique, a chemical reaction step is present and hence a remarkable difference in abrasion rate, depending on the crystal orientation of Si, can be observed in both instances.
For example, it is known that in the case of the ordinary mechanochemical polishing technique the (100) face can be processed at a rate which is greater by 10 to 20% than the (111) face, and in the case of the selective mechanochemical polishing technique the (100) face and (110) face can be polished at a rate which is 10 times as fast as the (111) face.
Such dependence of abrasion rates on the face orientation is not a problem in the case of a large-area monocrystalline substrate having perfectly uniform face orientation as in the case of a bulk Si substrate. However in the case of an Si thin layer formed on an amorphous insulating substrate, it is very rare that a layer with perfectly uniform face orientation. In many instances, formed is a thin film is formed, comprised of an aggregate of polycrystal grains with more or less non-uniformity in face orientation or an aggregate of relatively large single crystals in a mosaic form having grain sub-boundaries. In such instances in which the face orientation is not perfectly uniform or grain boundaries, grain sub-boundaries or twin crystal grain boundaries are present, it is very difficult to obtain flat surfaces by the mechanochemical polishing process having a chemical factor, because of its face orientation dependence. In addition, chemical etching is accompanied with acceleration reaction that may take place at a defective region, where the processing preferentially proceeds at the part in which grain boundaries and so forth are present, resulting in further deterioration of surface flatness.
It has recently been sought that a photoelectric transducer be formed on a transparent substrate to make it serve as an image input part of a facsimile, etc. or that an element be formed on a large, inexpensive glass substrate. In particular, if monocrystals are formed on such a substrate in a mutually separate form, it is possible to increase the performance of an element and expand the scope of its utilization because the same characteristics as those of an element on a bulk semiconductor can be exhibited. The above crystal formation method that forms monocrystals under control of their location is a crystal formation method which is very effective also in this respect. When a group of crystals obtained by such a method are flattened, the problems as pointed out in the above have often occurred even with use of the polishing process as described above. Hence, it has been difficult to form a thin layer with greater flatness, with better accuracy (with a film thickness of about 1 .mu.m or less) and also with less non-uniformity.

Method of forming crystal semiconductor film


A windshield wiper apparatus for a vehicle includes a rotatably supported main shaft to which a wiper arm is secured, a main lever secured to the main shaft, a cam member arranged eccentrically about the main shaft, a plate turnably supported on the main lever, a subordinate lever having one end arranged about the cam member and another end connected to the plate, an arm turnably supported on the plate and having a joint to which a wiper drive mechanism is connected, and a turnover spring arranged between the plate and the arm for holding the arm at a predetermined position. If the wiper arm is moved by wind force during operation at high vehicle velocity, this motion is compensated for by adjusting the oscillation sweep of the arm in such a manner that the wiper arm will reverse direction at its normal upper reversal point. The wiper arm is thus prevented from striking the vehicle pillar, without reducing visibility through the windshield.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a wiper apparatus for wiping the windshield of a vehicle.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A known example of a conventional wiper apparatus of this type is disclosed in the specification of Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (KOKAI) No. 63-82860. This conventional wiper apparatus includes a rotatably supported main shaft to which a wiper arm is secured, a lever secured to the main shaft, and a drive mechanism connected to the lever via a rod. The rod is pushed and pulled by operation of the drive mechanism, and the main shaft is rotated via the lever by the pushing and pulling of the rod. As a result, the wiper arm is swept back and forth between upper and lower reversal points to wipe off a windshield.
Ordinarily, the upper reversal point of the wiper arm is set just short of the pillar of the vehicle in order to assure good visibility. With a wiper apparatus of this type, however, considerable wind force acts upon the wiper arm when the apparatus is used at, say, a high vehicle traveling velocity. As a consequence, the wiper arm may overshoot the normal upper reversal point owing to the force of the wind and reverse at a position beyond this point. This can cause the wiper blade to strike the vehicle pillar and sustain damage as a result. There is also the danger that the wiper arm may swing beyond the pillar and operate abnormally.

Wiper apparatus with motor adjustable limit positions


A keypad with a key top (6) according to the present invention is a keypad with a key top (6) manufactured by bonding a keypad (1) made of a thermoplastic elastomer to a key top (5) made of a thermoplastic resin and being molded as a separate member from the keypad (1) with an adhesive (3) made from a reaction curing resin that swells when contacted with an organic solvent. A keypad with a key top (6) can be easily separated into a separate keypad (1) and a separate key top (5) by making this adhesive that bonds the keypad with the key top (6) swell when contacted with an organic solvent. Therefore, this keypad with the key top (6) is excellent in recyclability.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a keypad unit with a key top portion for use in cellular phones, mobile communication devices, remote controls for various household electrical appliances, card remote controls and various keyboards, and also relates to a method of separating a key top portion and a keypad portion from a keypad unit having the key top portion (hereinafter "a keypad with a key top").
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent several years, the demand of terminals such as cellular phones has expanded rapidly, and design variations of push button switches have increased with the expansion. As described in the publication of Japanese Patent No. 2,627,692, a key top and a keypad are separately molded as a separate member, and a keypad with a key top for a push button switch that is formed by making these stick together with an adhesive is becoming the mainstream because of its excellence in both function and design. Silicone rubber is mainly used for the keypad with the key top because silicone rubber is excellent in cold resistance, heat resistance, weather resistance, precision moldability and electric insulation.
However, silicone rubber is a crosslinked polymer, so the recycling of silicone rubber is not easy. The difficulty in recycling has recently become a big issue as understanding of the global environment is more and more significant.
On the other hand, the use of a thermoplastic elastomer as a material for a keypad instead of silicone rubber is extremely effective in recycling. However, because such a keypad is made of a thermoplastic elastomer, and coupled with a key top that is separately molded, deterioration of the quality of a recycled product results from a recycling process. Thus it is required to separate and classify these.
From such points of view, a keypad with a key top that can be easily recycled has been in demand. Also, there is a demand for a method of easily separating a key top and a keypad.

Highly recyclable keypad with a key top and method of separating the same


The present invention provides a light-emitting device, including: a pixel region provided on a substrate and including a blue pixel region, a green pixel region, and a red pixel region which correspond to lights of three primary colors of blue, green and red light, respectively, the pixel region including: a thin-film transistor having a source electrode, a drain electrode, a gate electrode, a gate insulating film, and an active layer; a light-emitting layer; and a lower electrode and a counter electrode for sandwiching the light-emitting layer therebetween, wherein the active layer includes an oxide; the drain electrode is electrically connected with a part of the light-emitting layer; and the thin-film transistor is arranged in a region other than the blue pixel region on the substrate.

The International Publication WO 2005/088726 discloses a technique of using a transparent amorphous oxide semiconductor film containing indium, gallium, zinc, and oxygen as the channel layer (also called active layer) of a thin-film transistor (TFT). The transparent amorphous oxide semiconductor film can be formed at a low temperature and is transparent to visible light, and thereby a flexible transparent TFT can be formed on a substrate such as a plastic plate or a plastic film.
Nature, vol. 432, pp. 488-492 (2004) discloses that a transparent amorphous oxide semiconductor film having a composition ratio of In:Ga:Zn being 1.1:1.1:0.9 according to an X-ray fluorescence method has a transmittance of approximately 80% or more to visible light. It also describes that a transparent TFT can be formed. According to Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-76356, developments are actively made in a TFT using, as the channel layer, a transparent conductive oxide polycrystalline thin-film containing ZnO as a main ingredient.
In recent years, a light-emitting device utilizing organic electroluminescence (EL) has been actively researched and developed. When the organic EL element is applied to a display, active matrix driving is typically performed. For the active matrix driving, a TFT made of amorphous silicon or polycrystalline silicon is normally employed.
There is proposed an active matrix organic EL display for the purpose of providing a high-quality and high-luminance display capable of preventing deterioration of a driving element and also capable of performing television video display. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H09-114398 discloses that an organic EL display using two MOS field effect transistors each of which includes an active layer made of single crystalline silicon obtains high quality and prevents the deterioration of the driving element.
As a result of studies made by the present inventors in order to manufacture a transparent field effect transistor using a transparent amorphous oxide semiconductor film, the present inventors have found a phenomenon in which electric conductivity changes under visible light having a specific wavelength.
In order to examine the phenomenon in details, the present inventors performed experiments for measuring electric conductivity during spectral light irradiation (spectral sensitivity measurement experiments) as described later. As a result, the present inventors have found that the electric conductivity changes (increases) in a short-wavelength range side of visible light because of light absorption (see FIG. 9).
FIG. 9 is a graph showing the plotting of drain currents at every wavelengths of irradiated spectral light at the time of on-operation and at the time of off-operation of a thin-film transistor (TFT) when the TFT is irradiated with every 10 nm at the wavelengths of spectrum of visible light having a constant strength. In the case of irradiation with visible light, the off-current of the TFT is significantly changed at the time of irradiation of light, particularly on a short-wavelength side. This change affects the stable operation of the TFT. That is, the present inventors have found for the first time that, in an actual transparent amorphous oxide which is considered as being transparent to visible light, a change in electric conductivity due to light excitation, that is, the generation of photo carriers actually occurs in a visible light range.
Further, the present inventors have found a problem that, even in a case where a material which is normally considered as being transparent oxide (that is, oxide which does not absorb light) is used for the active layer of the TFT, when the TFT and the light-emitting device are combined with each other for operation, the operation of the TFT becomes unstable because the TFT absorbs a part of short-wavelength light emitted from the light-emitting device.
In order to prevent the light from affecting the characteristics of such element, a light shielding unit such as a light shielding film is normally provided. However, when the light shielding unit is provided, the degree of freedom of design in a device structure significantly reduces which utilizes the transparency of the active layer, that is, the active layer itself of the TFT as a window layer.

Light-emitting device using oxide semiconductor thin-film transistor and image display apparatus using the same


In an image forming apparatus, first in a printing delay process, it is determined whether or not a specific mode is set. When it is determined that a specific mode is set, printing is inhibited until images to be printed are accumulated in a memory, and whether or not originals are mixed originals (of assorted sizes) is detected. If it is determined that originals are mixed ones, start of printing is inhibited. Since printing cannot be executed when a specific mode in which mixed originals cannot be handled is set, an image forming apparatus capable of automatically handling mixed originals can be provided.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus which inputs an image of an original document supplied from an image reader as well as externally connected facsimile device, personal computer, and the like and prints it out, and more particularly relates to an image forming apparatus capable of forming an image in multiple modes.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a general copying machine, when mixed originals are to be copied, the copying operation is started after a user sets if the originals are of assorted sizes in advance, or the copying operation is started after all sizes of the originals are acknowledged by an automatic document feeder placed at the upper part of the copying machine. The mixed originals here refer to originals including at least one original which has a distance measured lengthwise or widthwise which is different from that of other originals.
On the other hand, in a printer and a facsimile device, it is actually impossible to detect whether originals to be printed are mixed or not. However, the printer and facsimile device have a mode which cannot be executed for the mixed originals as described below. In such a case, output is inhibited by application software.
The modes which cannot be executed for the mixed originals are as follows.
Alternate paper feeding: a function equivalent to the sorting function is achieved without a sorting unit (sorter) by changing the direction of discharging sheets of the same size for each batch of sheets to be printed. Generally all original images should have the same size, otherwise the zoom ratio should be changed for images of different sizes, that is, the variable scale magnification should be applied to those images for achieving the alternate paper feeding. In this case, an application which calculates a ratio of the variable scale magnification for each original image size is necessary. The ratio of variable scale magnification should be suitable for designated sheet size.
N in 1: images of a plurality of original documents are placed on one sheet having a certain size by magnifying (generally reducing) images of the same size on a variable scale and arranging the images included in a plurality of pages to be printed. In this mode, it is necessary to have original images of the same size to be printed on one page.
Duplex mode: different images are respectively printed on both sides of a sheet having a certain size. As in the alternate paper feeding, generally original images should have the same size. Otherwise, an application which magnifies original images on a variable scale according to the sheet size is required. PA1 Stapling: one of functions of the sorting unit (sorter, finisher). A plurality of sheets to which sorting or the grouping operation is applied are stapled and finished for each batch of sheets. Generally, in order to enhance alignment of the edge surfaces of sheets after stapling, the sheets are aligned by pressing a member against the edge surfaces of the sheets prior to the stapling operation. The alignment method may depend on the structure of the finishing unit. In order to execute the alignment operation, in at least the direction of discharging sheets or in a direction perpendicular to the discharging direction, or in both directions, the sheets should have the same size. PA1 an input unit which inputs an image of an original, PA1 a memory which stores an image input from the input unit, PA1 a detection unit which detects a size of an input original, PA1 an output unit which outputs an image stored in the memory, PA1 a setting unit which sets a first mode and a second mode for the output unit, and PA1 a controller which controls an operation of the output unit based on a result of the detection by the detection unit and a mode set by the setting unit.
In a conventional image forming apparatus, a user should designate an operation of a printer when mixed originals are to be printed. In the mode which cannot be executed for the mixed originals, a printer is prevented from outputting. Therefore, in order to make prints of mixed originals, intervention by a user is required.

Image forming apparatus capable of handling mixed originals easily