A valve control is configured for use with control valves and other flow controls. The valve control leverages a simplified structure to avoid problems with manufacture and reduce costs. This structure includes a support unit that compresses parts of a valve housing together. Inside of the valve housing, the structure incorporates diaphragms that cause a pair of balanced valves to move in response to changes in pressure of fluid in a conduit. For industrial application, the valve control finds use to maintain pressure of natural gas in pipelines downstream from a control valve.

Many industries employ flow controls to regulate flow of fluids. Hydrocarbon facilities and utilities, for example, use control valves to manage flow of oil and gas through pipes and pipelines that make up process lines and distribution networks. The control valves may include a valve that couples in-line with the conduits. An actuator often accompanies the valve. This actuator provides force necessary to move components that restrict or permit flow through the valve. In many cases, various instruments are often necessary to operate the actuator. These instruments may include valve controls (or valve regulators or "regulator pilots") that couple with both the actuator and the adjacent pipe. These devices are useful to sense and maintain pressure of fluid in the conduit downstream of the valve.


A set of similar interconnectable flexible toy construction blocks. Each block has three different attachment surfaces. Posts on a top surface connect within rims on a bottom surface for vertical stacking of the blocks. A projection on a front end connects within a complementally shaped receiver on a rear end for horizontal connecting of the blocks. An interior of the projection is complementally shaped to the posts on the top surface, allowing the front end of one block to connect to the top surface of another block. Each block has two directions of flexibility. Horizontal flexibility is provided by dividing the block into separate segments divided by gaps. Each gap is spanned by a thin web. The gaps can change shape when bending forces are applied, causing the block to flex horizontally. Vertical flexibility is provided by hollowing out each segment of the block through one surface, preferably the bottom. The walls of the segments can flex towards each other or away from each other when bending forces are applied, causing the block to flex vertically.

Sets of building blocks of various shapes and with various methods of interconnection are well known in the art. Some basic building blocks are of very simple construction and are interconnectable in a multitude of different ways. Other building blocks are more specialized and are designed to allow creation of a more limited variety of structures.
One property surprisingly rare among basic building blocks is flexibility. A few blocks have flexible connections between other similar blocks, but such blocks cannot actually flex integrally when standing alone. The blocks of the instant invention exhibit integral flexibility without having to first be connected to other blocks.
Many toys known in the art exhibit flexibility, but these toys do not provide the creative medium provided by basic, interconnectable building blocks. The blocks of this invention combine flexibility with connectability and simplicity, enabling the child-user to create structures so that the child can also enjoy the attractiveness inherent in flexible toys.
The following patents reflect the state of the art of which applicant is aware. These patents are included herewith to discharge applicant's acknowledged duty to disclose relevant prior art. It is stipulated, however, that none of these references teach singly nor render obvious when considered in any conceivable combination the nexus of the instant invention as disclosed in greater detail hereinafter and as particularly claimed.
______________________________________ INVENTOR PAT. NO. ISSUE DATE ______________________________________ Schmetzer 171,533 December 28, 1875 Lewis 1,405,851 February 7, 1922 Hultman 1,554,095 September 15, 1925 Andre 2,649,803 August 25, 1953 McKee 2,708,329 May 17, 1955 Aureillan BR740,951 November 23, 1955 Zimmerman 2,776,521 January 8, 1957 Grutta 2,972,833 February 28, 1961 Christiansen 3,005,282 October 24, 1961 Amsler 3,032,919 May 8, 1962 Christiansen 3,162,973 December 29, 1964 Wright, et al. 3,224,135 December 21, 1965 Christiansen 3,242,610 March 29, 1966 Stubbmann 3,392,480 July 16, 1968 Playcraft Toys, Inc. BR1,167,678 October 22, 1969 Sloop et al. 3,496,670 February 24, 1970 Shackelton BR1,212,537 November 18, 1970 Huebl 3,603,025 September 7, 1971 Zimmerman 3,604,145 September 14, 1971 Schmidt 3,699,709 October 24, 1972 Nagasaka 3,740,895 June 26, 1973 Bakker DT2,429,491 January 16, 1975 Lange 3,867,784 February 25, 1975 Retzler & Knight BR1,382,134 January 29, 1975 Crawley 3,894,354 July 15, 1975 Fabre 3,895,456 July 22, 1975 Much 3,975,858 August 24, 1976 Harvey 4,055,019 October 25, 1977 Osterried 4,080,742 March 28, 1978 Hake 4,090,322 May 23, 1978 Kristiansen 4,185,410 January 29, 1980 Knudsen 4,214,403 July 29, 1980 Mayr 4,253,268 March 3, 1981 Davis 4,257,207 March 24, 1981 Xanthopoulos, et al. 4,270,303 June 2, 1981 Bersani FR2534-484-A April 20, 1984 Inskip EP-109-181-A May 23, 1984 Lyman 4,606,732 August 19, 1986 Yoke 4,642,064 February 10, 1987 Ziegler 4,731,041 March 15, 1988 Lyman 4,764,144 August 16, 1988 Lyman 4,789,369 December 6, 1988 Svagerko 4,792,319 December 20, 1988 Heiremans EP-89/00069 January 12, 1989 Blickle 4,932,916 June 12, 1990 ______________________________________
The patent to Wright teaches the use of a rigid building block set whose block elements can be interconnected using flexible hitches. The Wright patent also has wheels connectable to the blocks. The invention of the instant application is distinguishable over Wright in that the present invention features internally and integrally formed flexible blocks. Furthermore, the instant blocks have, inter alia, top and bottom attachment surfaces, allowing much more freedom in creating unique structures than do the blocks of the Wright patent.
The patent to Lyman (U.S. Pat. No. 4,606,732), the instant inventor, and dated Aug. 19, 1986, teaches the use of a block having top and bottom attachment surfaces and front and rear attachments that flexibly interconnect. However, this Lyman patent has rigid blocks unlike the invention of this application. The present invention is further distinguishable from the Lyman patent of 1986 in that it is internally flexible about plural axes, rather than the single axis of flexibility exhibited by the combination of separate blocks shown in this patent.
The Zimmerman patent teaches the use of flexible strips and not blocks like the present invention. The Zimmerman patent also merely teaches but one mode of interconnection while the invention of this application has plural modes of interconnection. Thus, the present invention is clearly distinguishable from the patent to Zimmerman.
The remaining prior art listed generally above, but not specifically distinguished from the invention of this application, diverge more starkly from the present invention than those specifically distinguished above.


Drift values of exposure position of an electron beam are obtained through detection of a reference mark on a sample stage and a drift characteristic formula which expresses the exposure positions of the electron beam is corrected by using a plurality of the drift values. The electron beam is controlled to expose some lithographic pattern by estimating the exposure position in real time at which the electron beam is irradiated at the estimated exposure position based on the drift characteristic formula without detecting the reference mark, and further to expose other lithographic pattern by calculating the exposure position based on the drift characteristic formula by detecting the reference mark. The measuring of the drift which takes much time are partly taken place at few limitted positions and the correction of the exposure positions is effectively in a short time.

The present invention relates to an electron beam lithography apparatus capable of accurately and efficiently correcting the drift of the electron-beam applying position.
The general electron beam lithography apparatus has a problem that a drawing position error occurs because an electron beam applied to a projection mask for light exposure or a circuit pattern on a silicon wafer drifts from a predetermined drawing position due to external fluctuation factors including the ambient temperature of an apparatus, atmospheric pressure, and external magnetic field such as earth magnetism, or internal fluctuation factors including electrification due to contamination in an electron beam column and fluctuation of deflection control system characteristics.
To solve the above problem, conventionally, a reference mark set on a sample stage is detected by the electron beam, the electron-beam deflecting signal value at the detection of the reference mark is compared with the preset standard signal value to obtain the difference between the values (deflection error or position error), and thereby, the drawing position error is corrected.
Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 63-308317(1988) discloses that, in order to further improve the above problem, an estimated curve of position drift is generated by using data for the deflection error (position drift) in drawing of several times in the past and thereby, the drift for the next-time drawing is estimated to previously correct the sample stage position, and moreover, the position drift is regularly measured in drawing to further correct the previously-corrected sample stage position each time.


A musical baby bottle is provided with an omnidirectional, gravity-operated switching mechanism for turning a musical player on and off, depending upon the orientation of the bottle. The infant nursing bottle of the invention employs a liquid container and a base containing the electrical switching mechanism releaseably attached to the bottom of the liquid container, such as by a threaded connection. A hollow cavity is defined within the structure of the base. The cavity has an inclined floor that slopes from the periphery of the cavity toward the axial center of the base. A detent recess is located at the axial center of the base and an electrical switch having a switch actuator is located at the detent. A sphere within the cavity rolls by gravity across the inclined surface of the cavity floor. The sphere lodges in the detent when the base and liquid container supported upon the base are oriented vertically upright, as when placed upon a horizontal surface. When the base and liquid container are tilted, as when feeding a baby the sphere dislodges from the detent thereby closing a circuit from a battery to the music player to play a lullaby or other calming music.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a baby bottle containing a music player that is operated by omnidirectional tilting of the bottle from vertical alignment.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Baby bottles have been in continuous use for many, many years for nursing and feeding liquids to infant children. Conventional baby bottles are formed as elongated, tubular containers of glass or plastic having a closed bottom end and an open mouth at the opposite, top end. Rubber nipples are releaseably secured to the open, top ends of conventional bottles by means of annular plastic collars which provide a liquid-tight seal at the mouth of the bottle. Conventional infant feeding bottles of this type may be cylindrical in cross-sectional shape, but are sometimes formed with a polygonal outer cross-sectional configuration.
Infant children are often quite temperamental during feeding. The distress of many infants during feeding may be relieved by playing soothing music to the infant. In many cases music relaxes and calms the child so that the infant is able to take nourishment by sucking liquid from the bottle through the nipple without agitation.
The soothing and calming effect of music has been used to advantage in a wide variety of children's products. Stuffed animals, mobiles, and dolls have all been manufactured with internal music boxes designed to capture and hold the attention of infant children and newborn babies.
Various liquid containers for feeding infants have been devised that contain music players for providing soothing music to calm a distressed infant. Prior systems of this type are described, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,678,093; 4,898,060; 4,944,704; and 5,664,745. Most of these prior art devices are dependent upon manual operation to close an electrical connection to a music player to turn the music player on or off. Some of these prior art devices are actuated by a switch that closes when the infant feeding bottle is lifted from a supporting surface.
Only one of the use prior art devices, specifically that described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,678,093, involves an electrical switching system that is actuated by tilting of the bottle. However, this system employs a plurality of mercury switches. While the switches are alternatively closed by tilting the bottle in certain directions, this system does not provide for omnidirectional operation. Furthermore, this system carries with it the risk of exposure to mercury, which represents a serious hazzard to the health of the infant and others.


A microphone package is integrated with a built-in speaker driver. A microphone application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) and the speaker driver can be directly coupled to an external application processor, eliminating a need for a codec and thus, reducing the size, cost, and/or complexity of a device. In one aspect, the speaker driver and the microphone ASIC are implemented as separate dice mounted on the package substrate. In another aspect, the speaker driver and the microphone ASIC are implemented as stacked die on the package substrate. In yet another aspect, the speaker driver and the microphone ASIC are implemented as a single die on the package substrate.

A microphone is a device that converts acoustic signals (e.g., sound waves) to electrical signals that can be transmitted, processed and/or amplified to facilitate presentation of the audio (e.g., transmission of the audio, via electronic signals, to another electronic device for presentation and/or further processing). There are different types of microphones that can be used for a variety of types of applications and/or in a variety of types of electronic devices. Microphones can be used as a stand-alone device, for example, by singers while singing on stage or speakers while giving speeches. Microphones also can be employed in electronic devices, such as, for example, telephones (e.g., mobile phones, landline phones), computers, electronic pads or tablets, electronic games, or audio and/or video recording devices, to facilitate receiving and processing voice or other audio sounds. Recently the use of microphones in wearable devices, such as, smart watches, activity trackers and/or Bluetooth® accessories is gaining popularity.
Conventional wearable devices primarily utilize microphones to receive and/or record audio input (e.g., voice commands) from a user. Typically, the microphones provide a digital audio output that is further processed by an application processor. Since the audio input is not transmitted to a speaker, the need for utilization of an audio codec (coder-decoder) or other device can be eliminated. Accordingly, the size of the microphone package can be kept small so as to make the wearable device lightweight and compact. However, user demand for applications that can present audio outputs (e.g., via a speaker) is in conflict with the desire to provide lightweight and compact wearable devices.


Methods of modifying fibers, such as glass fibers, are disclosed. The modified fibers can be used, for example, in a lead acid battery.

Batteries are commonly used as energy sources. Typically, a battery includes a negative electrode (anode) and a positive electrode (cathode). The anode and cathode are often disposed in an electrolytic solution. During discharge of a battery, a chemical reaction can occur that oxidizes an active anode material and reduces an active cathode material. During the reaction, electrons flow from the anode to the cathode, and ions in the electrolytic solution flow between the anode and the cathode. Certain batteries can be recharged by running the chemical reaction in reverse.
One type of battery is a lead acid battery. In a lead acid battery, lead is usually an active anode material, and lead dioxide is usually an active cathode material. Generally, lead acid batteries also contain sulfuric acid, which serves as an electrolyte and participates in the chemical reaction. A typical discharge reaction for a lead acid battery reaction is:Anode: Pb(s)+HSO4−(aq)→PbSO4(s)+H++2e−Cathode: PbO2(s)+3H+(aq)+HSO4−(aq)+2e−→PbSO4(s)+2H2ONet: Pb(s)+PbO2(s)+2H+(aq)+2HSO4−(aq)→2PbSO4(s)+2H2O

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


A new cultivar of DIGITALIS plant named “WALDIGONE” that is characterized by short, upright, multi-stemmed habit, dense and bushy plant form and flowers which are colored yellow with tinges of orange and red and whose lower lip petal projects approximately 6 mm beyond the other petals. In combination these traits set ‘WALDIGONE’ apart from all other existing varieties of DIGITALIS known to the inventor.

The present Invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Digitalis plant, commonly known as foxglove and botanically known as Digitalis obscura×Digitalis ambigua, and hereinafter referred to by the cultivar name 'WALDIGONE'.
'WALDIGONE' is a product of a planned breeding program conducted by the Inventor in Walberton, Sussex, United Kingdom. The objective of the breeding program was to create free-flowering new Digitalis cultivars with numerous flowers with attractive coloration.
'WALDIGONE' originated from a cross-pollination made by the Inventor in 2001 of the species Digitalis obscura as the female, or seed, parent and Digitalis ambigua as the male, or pollen, parent. 'WALDIGONE' was discovered and selected by the Inventor in 2003 as a single flowering plant in a controlled environment in Walberton, Sussex, United Kingdom.
Plants of 'WALDIGONE' can be compared to the female parent, Digitalis obscura as follows: Compared to plants of the female parent, Digitalis obscura, plants of 'WALDIGONE' have broader leaves, and flowers which are more yellow in color.
Plants of 'WALDIGONE' can be compared to the male parent, Digitalis ambigua, as having narrower and more glabrous leaves and flowers which are more orange in color.
Plants of ' WALDIGONE' can be compared to plants of the Digitalis cultivar 'Spice Island' (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 17,849) as follows: Plants of 'WALDIGONE' differ primarily from plants of 'Spice Island' in being less tall and quicker to come into flower. In addition, flowers of 'Spice Island' have much longer sepals and more projecting lower lips than flowers of WALDIGONE.
Asexual reproduction of 'WALDIGONE' was first accomplished by the inventor in 2003, using the method of tissue culture. Since that time, the distinguishing features of 'WALDIGONE' have been found to be are stable and to reproduce true to type in successive generations of asexual reproduction.


A high-frequency magnetic material is provided and includes: an oxide phase including: a first oxide of a first element being at least one selected from the group consisting of Mg, Al, Si, Ca, Zr, Ti, Hf, Zn, Mn, a rare-earth element, Ba, and Sr, and a second oxide of a second element being at least one selected from the group consisting of Li, Na, K, Rb, Cs, Be, Mg, Ca, Sr, Ba, and Zn, the first oxide and at least a part of the second oxide being formed into a solid solution; and magnetic metal particles including at least one of Fe and Co and having a particle size of 1 to 100 nm, the magnetic metal particles being deposited on a surface and inside of the oxide phase, the magnetic metal particles occupying 50% of a volume of the high-frequency magnetic material exclusive of a void.

i) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a high-frequency magnetic material exhibiting a high magnetic permeability at high frequencies, and to a method for producing the material. More particularly, the present invention relates to a high-frequency magnetic material which is useful at high frequencies ranging from 10 MHz to several tens of gigahertz, and to a method for producing the material.
ii) Related Art
A magnetic material is recently applied to an inductor, electromagnetic wave absorber, magnetic ink, and the like, and the importance of the magnetic material is increasing. In connection with a magnetic material used in these applications, a real part (μ′) of a magnetic permeability or an imaginary part (μ″) of the magnetic permeability is utilized. For instance, a high μ′ (or low μ″) is utilized for an inductor, and a high μ″ is utilized for an electromagnetic wave absorber. Therefore, when a magnetic material is actually used as a component, μ′ and μ″ must be controlled in accordance with an operating frequency band of an electronic device. In recent years, since the operating frequency band of the electronic device has become higher, a strong demand exists for a technique for producing a material whose μ′ and μ″ can be controlled at high frequencies.
Ferrite and an amorphous alloy are principally used as a magnetic material for an inductor employed at high frequencies of 1 MHz or more. These magnetic materials do not induce a loss (low μ″) at frequencies of 1 MHz to 10 MHz and exhibit a high μ′ and a superior magnetic characteristic. However, the real part μ′ of magnetic permeability of these magnetic materials decreases at higher frequencies of 10 MHz or more, and sufficient characteristics are not necessarily acquired.
For these reasons, development of an inductor utilizing a thin-film technique, such as sputtering or plating has been performed actively. However, the thin-film technique, such as sputtering, requires a large-size facility and precise control of a film thickness, or the like. Therefore, the thin-film technique is not well sufficient in terms of cost and yield. Further, an inductor manufactured by the thin-film technique lacks long hours of thermal stability of a magnetic characteristic at high temperatures and high humidity.
On the other hand, the electromagnetic wave absorber absorbs noise by means of utilization of high μ″, thereby preventing occurrence of failures in electronic equipment. The electronic equipment includes a semiconductor element, such as an IC chip, or various types of communications equipment. Such electronic equipment includes various devices; for example, a device used at a frequency range of one megahertz to several gigahertz or a device used at high frequencies of several tens of gigahertz or more. Recently, the number of pieces of electronic equipment used at high frequency ranges of 1 GHz or more particularly tends to increase. An electromagnetic wave absorber of electronic equipment used at high frequencies has hitherto been manufactured by means of a binder molding technique for mixing ferrite particles, carbonyl iron particles, FeAlSi flakes, FeCrAl flakes, or the like, with a resin. However, these materials exhibit extremely-low μ′ and μ″ at high frequencies of 1 GHz or more, and a sufficient characteristic has not been acquired.
A material synthesized by means of a mechanical alloying technique, or the like, lacks long hours of thermal stability, and provides low yield.
A high-frequency magnetic material containing irreducible metal oxide and magnetic metal particles deposited on the surface and inside of the oxide has been known (JP-A-2004-281846). Moreover, there has been known a technique for producing a composite oxide sintered body by means of causing irreducible metal oxide, a magnetic metal oxide, and an oxide-based sintering aids to react with one another and reducing the composite oxide sintered body, thereby producing composite oxide with metal particles (Japanese Patent No. 3776839).

High-frequency magnetic material comprising an oxide phase and method for producing the same


A system for removal of background from projected digital radiograph images utilizes statistical methods to identify background pixel candidates and probable background edges of a PDRI. Thresholds for evaluating the probable background edges are determined utilizing statistical results and a reliable estimation of background removal is performed.

Projection radiography accounts for over 60% of procedures in diagnostic radiology. As digital imaging becomes more important in daily radiology practice, the need for converting images from projection radiography to digital format becomes apparent. Currently four digital methods are being used: digital fluorography (DF), film digitization, and computed radiography, and direct digital radiography. Digital fluorography uses a vidicon camera to capture X-ray images and convert them to digital images through a frame grabber. One type of film digitizer uses a laser beam to convert the optical densities on film to a digital image. Computed radiography (CR) aims to replace screen/film analog radiographs with direct digital images. The imaging plate (IP) used in CR is based on the principle of laser-stimulable phosphor technology. Direct digital radiography is a recently developed direct digital capturing method which converts the attenuated x-rays directly from solid state detectors to digital signals. During the past ten years, CR has been gradually replacing the screen/film system.
Under normal operating conditions, images obtained by projection radiography contain unexposed areas due to X-ray collimation: for example, areas outside the circle of the imaging field in DF and areas outside the collimator of CR for skeletal and pediatric radiology. In digital images, unexposed areas appearing white on a display monitor will be called background in this context. FIG. 7 is a pediatric CR image with white background as seen on a monitor. Background removal in this context means that the brightness of the background is converted from white to black.
There are four major advantages gained by performing background removal in digital projection radiography. First, background removal immediately provides lossless data compression, an important cost-effective parameter in digital radiography when dealing with large-size images. Second, a background-removed image has better image visual quality for the following reason. Diagnosis from radiography is the result of information processing based on observation with the eye. Since the contrast sensitivity of the eye is proportional to the Weber ratio DB/B, where B is brightness of the background, and DB is brightness difference between the region of interest in the image and the background, removing or decreasing the unwanted background in projection radiography images makes these images more easily readable and greatly improves their diagnostic effects. Third, once the background in a CR image is removed, a more representative lookup table pertinent to only the range of gray scales in the image and not the background can be assigned to the image. Thus, it can improve the perception of the images. Fourth, background removal is a crucial pre-processing step in computer-aided-diagnosis (CAD). A background-removed image can improve the diagnostic accuracy of CAD algorithms, as the cost functions in the algorithms can be assigned to the image only rather than to the image and its background combined.
In the cases of DF and the film digitizer, the background removal procedure is straightforward. In the former, since the size of the image field is a predetermined parameter, the background can be removed by converting every pixel outside the diameter of the image field to black. In the latter, since the digital image is obtained in a two-step procedure (first a film is obtained and then the film is digitized), the boundaries between the background and the exposed area can be determined interactively by the user, and the corner points may be input during the digitizing step.
In the case of CR, background removal is a more complex procedure since it has to be done automatically during image acquisition or preprocessing time. Automatic removal of CR background is difficult, because the removal algorithm has to recognize different body part contours as well as various collimator sizes and shapes. Since the background distribution in CR images is complex and the removal is an irreversible procedure, it is difficult to achieve a high successful ratio of full background removal and yet ensure that no valid information in the image is removed. Full background removal in this context means that no more background is left in the processed image. Some methods developed to remove the background of CR images can only achieve 42% background removal.
Usually, the background in CR images is created due to the X-ray collimator. FIG. 14 shows the X-ray imaging procedure of a pediatric patient. Most collimators may be considered as attenuators of X-rays. Depending on the sensitivity of the imaging plate (IP) to x-rays and the thickness of the collimator used, the background may not be of uniform intensity due to various body parts covered by the collimator. First, let us ignore the anatomical information in the CR background and assume that the X-ray beam is a point source as shown in FIG. 15A. Then the intensity distribution, I, is spherical function and can be described by: EQU I=a cos.sup.2 .theta./r.sup.2 ( 1)
where "r" is distance between the source and IP center, ".theta." is the angle between the pixel under consideration and the center line in the plane defined by the pixel under consideration and the center line, and "a" is a constant, as shown in FIG. 15A. The intensity distribution of uniform latent image stored in IP is shown in FIG. 15B. After laser scanning the IP, the optical image generated from the latent image is converted to a digital image and the intensity distribution is shown in FIG. 15C.

Automatic background recognition and removal (ABRR) in projection digital radiographic images (PDRI)

The Regents of the University of California


A method of testing a functional unit includes an optical sensor system (28) for detecting an optical signal from at least a part of a moving material web (14), a data processing system (36) for valuating the optical signals, and a display (38) displaying a state of the material web (14) and arranged in a sensitive range (30) of the sensor system (28).

The invention relates to a method for testing a functional unit, comprising an optical sensor system for detecting an optical signal from at least a part of a moving material web, and a data processing system for evaluating the optical signal.
The functional unit may for example be a web guide control device in a rotary printing press.
DE 10 2008 059 584 A1 describes a web guide control device which serves for controlling the register of a print substrate web in a rotary printing press. The optical system may be formed by a camera, e.g. a line camera, which captures the entire width of the running material web at a predetermined measurement position. In particular, the sensor system serves for detecting the position of the left and right edges of the material web, so that possible positional deviations of the material web can be recognised and corrected by means of corresponding actuation commands for an actor system, if necessary.
Functional units having a camera which serves for example for web monitoring, web inspection and/or automatic error detection may also be employed on running material webs in rotary printing presses. Then, the recording cycle of the camera is synchronised with the repeat of the printed images on the print substrate web, so that a stationary image is obtained in accordance with the stroboscopic principle.
Before the camera systems are installed in the printing press, they have to be subjected to thorough testing, including in particular long-term tests which check not only the recording properties of the camera and the function of post-processing software but also the synchronisation of the image recordal with the repeat. To that end, it is known to mount the camera in front of the peripheral surface of a rotating cylinder on which, for simulating a running material web, a substrate is applied that carries only a single print format and extends essentially over the entire periphery of the cylinder, so that, over the duration of the test, the camera records the same image again in each revolution of the cylinder.

Method for testing a functional unit for use on a moving material web


A device for antenna units consisting of one or several radiation elements for transmission and reception, respectively, of electromagnetic signals, and a ground plane arranged at a distance from said radiation element. The device includes several cooling flanges, which present edge portions facing the radiation elements, and extend at a predetermined distance to said radiation element. The edge portions are arranged at a chosen relative distance so that said edge portions together define said ground plane.

In the construction of antennas with ground planes, the distance between the radiation elements of the antenna and the ground plane is decisive for the degree of amplification of the antenna and the bandwidth. In many cases antennas are integrated with a support structure which also carries electronics having a high power consumption and thereby gives off heat energy which has to be conducted away. Incident solar radiation also creates heat in the support structure which has to be conducted away. The space between the radiation elements and the ground plane is thereby a space which is in itself well-suited for a through-flow of cooling air. However, the distance is generally too small for allowing sufficient air-flow and at the same time fulfilling the requirements of the antenna's electrical characteristics.
If the distance between the radiation elements and the ground plane increases, the operating efficiency of the antenna is reduced, i.e. the functioning of the antenna is reduced.


A self propelled industrial machine includes a self propelled vehicle body, a transmission installed in the self propelled vehicle body, an operator presence detection switch and a control unit. The operator presence detection switch is provided to generate an operator presence or absence signal relating to an operator on a seat arranged on the self propelled vehicle body. The control unit is provided to set the transmission to a neutral state in response to the operator absence signal.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a control system of a self propelled industrial machine like a forklift.
2. Description of the Related Art
A self propelled industrial machine such as a forklift and a truck crane works to lift or move an object. Such a self propelled industrial machine is different from an automobile, and severe conditions are required in driving operations. In the self propelled industrial machine, it is required that an operator carries out a machine work control operation and a running control operation, while confirming the loaded object, a road and a working place, and a running state of the industrial machine. Thus, control operations other than the running control operation are required in consideration of conditions such as an operator posture of the operator.
A self propelled vehicle body of the self propelled industrial machine does not have a cover in any portion other than a driving seat, and the operator sometimes stands up from the seat and moreover leaves the seat to check a working environment or a machine element.
A conventional safety mechanism to protect the operator who leaves the driving seat is known in Japanese Laid Open Patent Application (JP-A-Heisei 64-13398). In this conventional example, a seat switch is arranged in the seat in a forklift, and the drive state of a motor is controlled based on the seat switch.
As conventional running control techniques, an electric control system is known in which solenoids are operated in accordance with electric switches to control a drive section. In addition, a mechanical control system is known in which a control valve is controlled through the drive of a hydraulic pressure unit which is mechanically connected with a lever handle. In the self propelled industrial machine, it is required to cope with any trouble of the electric control system. Also, in the self propelled industrial machine, the operator is required to carry out various machine control operations. Therefore, automation of the running control and safety control are especially required.
Also, in the self propelled industrial machine, a phenomenon known as creep occurs, in which a part of the engine torque is transferred to a transmission so that the self propelled industrial machine runs when a forward direction movement switch is in a neutral position in an idling state.
A conventional running control technique for restraining the creep phenomenon is known in Japanese Laid Open Patent Application (JP-P2002-181186A). In this conventional example, a neutral control section carries out a neutral control to keep a friction coupling element to a sliding state when an automatic transmission is in a running range and a predetermined condition is satisfied. When the neutral state is cancelled through generation of the velocity of a car, the neutral control section prohibits the neutral control until an acceleration pedal is footed.
Also, a running control technique for restraining the creep phenomenon in relation with vehicle velocity is known in Japanese Laid Open Patent Application (JP-A-Heisei 11-193866). In the conventional example, a neutral control unit sets an automatic transmission to a neutral state when predetermined conditions are satisfied even if the shift range of the automatic transmission is in a forward direction running range. The conditions are as follows: (a) an acceleration opening is smaller than a predetermined value, (b) a brake is footed, (c) a downshift is carried out, and (d) a velocity is smaller than a predetermined velocity. When all the conditions are satisfied, the automatic transmission is set to the neutral state.

Control system of self propelled industrial machine


The present invention concerns a method and apparatus for providing a dual level wordline clamp for use in a memory array. During a write operation, the clamp is at a level that ensures that a proper write margin is maintained. During a read operation, the clamp produces a lower level that reduces the overall current consumption of the circuit. During a write operation, the clamp also reduces the overall current consumption of the circuit. The present invention does not require complex reference circuits and, as a result, presents a minimal impact on die size.

Wordline clamps may reduce memory cell currents. FIG. 1 illustrates a circuit 10 implementing a conventional wordline clamp in a programmable logic device (PLD). The circuit 10 contains a transistor 12, a transistor 14, a transistor 16, a transistor 18 and a transistor 20. The transistor 12 has a source that receives an input signal I0 and a gate that receives a select signal SEL0. The drain of the transistor 12 is coupled to the gates of the transistors 14 and 16. Transistors 14 and 16 form a conventional inverting buffer. A signal ENABLE is presented to the gate of the transistor 18. The source of the transistor 14 is connected to a power supply voltage. The source of the transistor 14 and the drain of the transistor 16 are coupled together and the corresponding node between them is coupled to the source of the transistor 20. The source of the transistor 16 is coupled to the drain of the transistor 18. The source of the transistor 18 is coupled to ground. The drain of the transistor 20 presents an output signal ITB. The gate of the transistor 20 receives a reference voltage ITREF.
The input signal 10 is modulated at the output ITB by a reference voltage signal ITREF connected to the gate of the transistor 20. The transistor 20 is generally a high voltage NMOS pass gate. The output ITB can only rise to a threshold voltage below the gate voltage of the transistor 20. The gate voltage is generated by a complex reference circuit which acts to optimize operation(s) over process, temperature and voltage variations. However, the reference circuit adds complexity to the circuit. It is thus generally desirable to provide a relatively simple circuit, such as a voltage clamp, to control the output of a wordline in a memory circuit, and particularly a static random access memory (SRAM)circuit.

Dual level wordline clamp for reduced memory cell current


Described herein is an SiC-reinforced aluminum alloy composite material of the type having silicon carbide uniformly dispersed in an aluminum alloy matrix containing magnesium as a strengthening element, characterized in that the composite material contains Al4C3 in an amount smaller than 0.5 wt % and residual oxygen in an amount smaller than 0.4 wt %, and has a modulus of elasticity higher than 9000 kgf/mm.sup.2.

Because of excellent properties in specific strength, specific modulus of elasticity, fatigue strength and resistance to abrasive wear, the ceramic-reinforced Al alloy composite material, a product formed by integrally compounding a lightweight metal Al alloy with ceramics, has been drawing keen attention as a material for structural members of aerospace crafts, automobiles and office automation appliances or as a material for sports equipments.
The ceramic-reinforced Al alloy composite material is produced by a process of mixing Al alloy powder with reinforcing ceramic whisker or particles, preforming the powder mixture by hot pressing or hot isostatic pressing (HIP) and sintering the resulting shape or billet under pressure. In this instance, the properties of the product composite material are largely influenced by the dispersibility of the ceramic in the powder mixture, and therefore it is an important technical point to mix Al alloy powder uniformly with ceramic. The technology in this regard is important especially in a case where the ceramic is in the form of whiskers which easily get entangled. In an attempt to overcome this problem, Applicants proposed in their Japanese Laid-Open Patent Applications 62-89801 and 60-251922 a method of mixing the two materials uniformly by applying ultrasonic vibrations to whisker in an organic solvent, adding Al alloy powder with stirring, filtering by suction the resulting slurry of powder mixture, and removing the organic solvent by vacuum-drying the cake.
As the matrix, an Mg-containing Al alloy with age-strengthening property is generally used.
Although the above-described mixing means has made it possible to produce composite material of uniform properties, the art has not yet arrived at a stage where it can fully respond to the demands for further improvements in strength and modulus of elasticity.


A seal construction for a pump of a small watercraft of the water jet propulsion type, the watercraft including a hull and a pump casing. A pumping passage for water jet propulsion is formed by the pump casing and a portion of the hull. The seal construction includes a flange formed on the pump casing, the flange having walls, and an elastic seal member liquid-tightly surrounding the periphery of the flange. The seal member has an outer periphery in liquid-tight contact with the inner surface of the hull portion where the pump is mounted. The flange and the seal member have parts for immovably engaging with each other.

The present invention relates to a construction for mounting a pump on a small watercraft of the water jet propulsion type.
A prior art watercraft of this type is exemplified in FIG. 1 of U.S. Pat. No. 4,541,808, and includes a pump duct 6 connected to the wall of a recess 3 in the hull, the connection being exposed to the air in the recess 3 around the duct. If the connection does not form a good liquid-tight seal, when the watercraft is gliding on the water and has a shallow draft, air may be sucked through the connection and into the pump and cause the impeller 4 to idle. This, of course, lowers the pump performance.
The connection may be sealed with a flowable fluid packing, which solidifies in a predetermined time but still remains elastic. However, such packing is sticky and therefore makes the assembly of the parts difficult. It takes skill to apply the fluid packing with a predetermined and uniform thickness to the connecting surfaces. Also, it takes time and requires an additional process step to apply a fluid packing when the pump is assembled, and to replace the packing when the pump is overhauled.
FIG. 6 of the accompanying drawings shows other prior art constructions, wherein, instead of fluid packing, a rubber seal member S is interposed on the front end E of the pump casing, which is the connecting part. However, because the member S and part E do not have stable shapes and means for locating the member S in place on the part E, the seal member may not be located precisely in place when the assembly is completed, so that the seal is not completely liquid-tight.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a construction for mounting a pump on a small watercraft of the water jet propulsion type, wherein the pump can be mounted with a seal member in a liquid-tight connection easily, quickly and reliably without skill, and wherein the seal member can be used again when the pump is overhauled.

Seal construction for a pump of a small watercraft


A method for fabricating a T-shaped gate electrode of a high speed semiconductor device such as HEMTs which is applied to high speed logic circuit including low-noise receivers and power amplifiers having a frequency of X-band or more respectively, and MMICs having a frequency of millimeter wave band. Such devices require a short gate length and a large sectional area of the gate pattern. The conventional photolithography techniques are in need of the resolution for fabricating a fine line width. Therefore, electron-beam lithography is most widely used. But, it is difficult to enhance throughput in manufacturing semiconductor devices because a lot of exposure time is required in the methods using electron beams. In the present invention, a silicon oxide film or a silicon nitride film is deposited on a mono-layered resist pattern. A dummy pattern corresponding to a leg of the gate is formed using the silicon oxide film or the silicon nitride film. A leg of the gate electrode is formed at the portion of the dummy pattern. According to the present invention, a step for improving the resolution is not required, and a gate electrode having a very fine line width of a few hundreds .ANG. can be obtained by regulating the thickness of the silicon nitride film.

Generally, high electron mobility transistor (HEMT) is used in integrated circuits having almost all of the frequencies of X-band or more including low-noise receivers and power amplifiers having a frequency of X-band or more respectively, monolithic microwave integrated circuits (MMICs) having a frequency of millimeter wave band, and the like. Preferably, high speed devices such as HEMT transistors should have a short gate length and a large sectional area so as to improve noise characteristics by decreasing the gate resistance. In order to meet the requirements as above, gate electrodes having a T-shaped section is used. But, the conventional photolithography methods are in need of the resolution for fabricating a fine line width below 0.25 .mu.m of the gate channel. Therefore, electron-beam lithography is most widely used for fabricating the T-shaped gate.
FIGS. 1A to 1G are cross sections illustrating process steps in a method of fabricating a semiconductor device using the electron-beam lithography technique.
First, as illustrated in FIG. 1A, an ohmic layer 1 such as AuGe/Ni/Au and a first metal layer 3 such as Ti/Pt/Au are formed on a GaAs substrate 1. As illustrated in FIG. 1B, a first resist 4 having a very low sensitivity to electron beams, for example PMMA, is coated on the resultant structure and baking process is performed. Then, as shown in FIG. 1C, a second resist 5 having a very high sensitivity to electron beams is coated on the resultant structure and baking process is performed. And, a third resist 6 is coated. Here, the sensitivity to electron beam of the third resist 6 is higher than that of the first resist 4 and lower than that of the second resist 5. Then, baking process is performed. As illustrated in FIG. 1D, exposure to electron beams and development are performed sequentially so as to leave the resists having a suitable shape for T-shaped gate as shown in FIG. 1E. As shown in FIG. 1F, a gate metal layer 7 such as Ti/Pt/Au is deposited. If the resist is stripped, the upper metal layer is lifted off thereby forming a T-shaped gate electrode as shown in FIG. 1G.
In the conventional method employing electron beam irradiation, high resolution (0.10 .mu.m or less) is obtained, but it is difficult to enhance throughput in manufacturing semiconductor devices because a lot of exposure time is required.
Recently, studies of forming techniques for a T-shaped gate pattern using photolithography techniques are actively underway. And, photolithography techniques for realizing a fine line width is under development by using KrF excimer laser steppers and modified masks such as phase shift masks for improving resolution. But, the above techniques utilize a double layer resist structure or tri-layer resist structure as in the electron beam lithography process, and use a double exposure process and a double lithography process. Therefore, the above techniques have the problems of occurrence of misalignment due to the double lithography process and generation of inter-layer remaining materials derived from the resist hardening process which is an indispensable process to the above techniques. As a result, the characteristics of devices are deteriorated and the process reproducibility can be disturbed.

Fabrication method of T-shaped gate electrode in semiconductor device

Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute


Embodiments of the present invention relate to an RRU device and an assembly thereof. The RRU device includes: an enclosure, where the enclosure includes a front-end plate and a back-end plate that are respectively set on two lengthwise ends of the enclosure, multiple parallel spaced heat sinks are set on two widthwise sides of the enclosure and between the front-end plate and the back-end plate, and the front-end plate and the back-end plate extend along a widthwise direction of the enclosure by a length which is greater than a length by which the heat sinks extend; and a joint part set on the enclosure, where the joint part is used to fasten two side-by-side radio remote unit devices together.

An RRU is a module capable of conversion between a radio frequency signal and a digital signal in a radio base station. To reduce loss of the radio frequency signal transmitted on a cable (from or to an antenna), the RRU needs to be installed as close to the antenna as possible, and is generally installed on the top of a transmitting tower or a building.
Because the frequency of radio frequency signals processed by an RRU varies, RRUs of different bands exist. Under the current technical conditions, an RRU generally supports one band. Currently, most radio communication operators generally own multiple bands. Under the multi-band circumstances, an operator has to deploy multiple RRUs to provide multi-band communication services. Generally, an RRU is installed in a chassis. Therefore, multiple chassis are needed in order to install multiple RRUs. The operator generally rents a tower for installing a chassis and the RRU in it, and the tower owner generally collects a rent according to the number of chassis. Therefore, installation of multiple chassis brings huge operation costs.
A common solution is to install multiple RRUs in a large chassis to make up a large RRU that supports multiple bands. In such a solution, a chassis is installed first, and then RRUs of different bands are installed in the chassis. However, the solution is costly because the number of RRUs installed in a chassis varies depending on different circumstances. If uniform chassis are applied to facilitate manufacturing, the space in some chassis will be idle.

Radio remote unit device and assembly thereof


A diabetes therapy device is disclosed herein, which includes a profile memory storing a parameter profile and a dedicated reference time mark. The parameter profile defines at least one parameter that is associated with insulin administration as a function of time for a generally circadian chronobiological cycle. The reference time mark indicates the beginning of the circadian chronobiological cycle and initializes a running time. Insulin amounts to be administered are determined as a function of the running time in accordance with a current matching of the parameter profile. A modified matching based on the reference time mark and an upcoming trigger time is computed and is time-shifted from the current matching, wherein the modified matching is applied by making the modified matching the current matching, such that future insulin amounts to be administered are determined in accordance with the modified matching.

Diabetes therapy devices form a basis for therapy of Diabetes Mellitus. In particular, miniaturized insulin pumps are used in the CSII (Continuous Subcutaneous Insulin Infusion) therapy. Such an insulin pump is disclosed, for example, in WO 2003053498 A2, to which reference is made for the general design and features of insulin pumps.
Besides insulin pumps, syringes or pen-like injection devices may also be used as diabetes therapy devices for the self-administration of insulin. Other diabetes therapy devices are diabetes management devices. These look similar to a cell phone or a Personal Digital Assistant and may be used for calculating insulin amounts and for diary-keeping purposes.
In comparison to alternative therapy forms with one or multiple daily insulin injections, CSII therapy is generally superior with respect to the resulting therapy quality. This is mainly caused by the fact that in CSII therapy, an insulin pump administers a so-called "basal" insulin rate autonomously in a quasi-continuous way night and day, thus meeting the diabetic's time-of-day dependent basal insulin demand. The basal insulin demand is the diabetic's insulin demand for maintaining the body metabolism according to a generally circadian chronobiological cycle, independent of food intake. The required basal infusion rate according to the circadian basal insulin demand as well as other parameters that may be stored in the parameter profile are inherent for a specific diabetic, and are generally independent of the occurrence of further therapy-related events, such as food-intake. Those other parameters may show some long-term variation and may require modification from time to time, typically every few years, or at a general change of the diabetics overall daily routines and lifestyle.
In addition to the basal insulin demand, bolus insulin is required by a diabetic to compensate for carbohydrate intake and other exceptional conditions. These additional insulin boli can be infused by an insulin pump on demand.
Therefore, devices that store an adjustable infusion rate profile as a function of the time of day may result in therapy quality that is not satisfying in some cases, resulting in long-term complications as well as potentially dangerous short-term excursions of the diabetic's blood glucose level. Particularly, such devices may not be suitable for diabetics who have a variable personal lifestyle and variations in their daily routine.

Diabetes therapy device enabling shifting of parameter profiles


An optical head is adapted to form an electrostatic latent image on an image carrier. A transparent substrate has a first face adapted to oppose the image carrier and a second face opposing the first face. An organic EL photo emitter is disposed so as to oppose the second face of the substrate. In the photo emitter, a light emitting layer is adapted to emit light irradiating the image carrier to form the electrostatic latent image. An electrode layer is laminated on the light emitting layer. A reflection reducer eliminates stray light generated when the light emitted from the light emitting layer is reflected by at least the electrode layer.

The present invention relates to an optical head and an image forming apparatus incorporating the same.
Generally, a toner image forming device of an electrophotographic system comprises: a photosensitive body as an image carrier having a photosensitive layer on an outer peripheral surface thereof; a charger that uniformly charges the outer peripheral surface of the photosensitive body with electricity; an exposer for selectively exposing the outer peripheral surface, which is uniformly charged with electricity by the charger, to form an electrostatic latent image; and a developing device that applies toner serving as a developer to the electrostatic latent image formed by the exposer to make the latent image a visible image (toner image).
An image forming apparatus of a tandem type that forms a color image includes one of an intermediate transfer belt type, in which the toner image forming device described above are arranged in plural (for example, four) for an intermediate transfer belt, toner images formed on the photosensitive body by the single color toner image forming device are sequentially transferred to the intermediate transfer belt, and toner images of plural colors (for example, yellow, cyan, magenta, black) are overlapped together on the intermediate transfer belt to obtain a full color image on the intermediate transfer belt.
In the image forming apparatus of a tandem type, an optical head provided with a LED array or an organic EL element array is sometimes used as exposer. For example, Japanese Patent Publication No. 11-138899A discloses a light emitting diode array, in which light emitting diodes are mounted on a single chip.
An explanation will be given to an example of an optical head, in which an organic EL element is used for a light source and an image is formed on an image carrier by a rod lens array optical system. FIG. 6 shows such an optical head (image writer) 23 in a direction that the image carrier moves. A rod lens array 65 in which gradient index rod lenses 81 are arrayed is mounted to an opaque housing 60. An photo emitter array 61 is mounted so as to face a back face of the rod lens array 65 in the housing 60.
An opaque cover 66 shields the photo emitter array 61 in the housing from a back face side of the housing 60. The reference numeral 63 denotes a photo emitter (organic EL element), and 64 a cover glass. A plate spring 67 pushes the cover 66 against the back face of the housing 60 to close an interior of the housing 60 in a light-tight manner. The housing 60 covers a periphery of a glass substrate 62 but opens a side thereof facing an image carrier 20. Thus light outgoing from the photo emitter 63 is projected onto the image carrier 20 through the rod lens 81.
In the optical head shown in FIG. 6, a ghost light spot 93 is sometimes formed on the image carrier 20. The reason for this will be described below. When the photo emitter 63 is to be formed, an anode and a cathode are used. Since the cathode is formed from aluminum or the like, it serves as a mirror to reflect stray light in the grass substrate 62. Therefore, reflected light 95 transmits through the rod lens 81 whereby the ghost light spot 93 is formed on the image carrier 20.
FIG. 7 shows the image carrier 20 by seeing through the rod lens array 65. In this figure, the reference numerals 91, 92 denote exposure spots formed on the image carrier 20 by the photo emitter 63, CL denotes a center line of rod lens array 65, and 93, 94 denote ghost light spots. The ghost light spots include a large ghost light spot 93 formed to be concentric with the respective rod lenses 81, and a small ghost light spot 94 formed in the vicinity of the border between adjacent rod lenses 81. Such ghost light spots 93, 94 are formed on the image carrier 20 whereby there is caused a problem that image unevenness is formed to deteriorate the quality of image formation.

Optical head and image forming apparatus incorporating the same


The present invention may include apparatus and methods for playing a pool game with currency collection and dispensing for tallying betting and paying winnings. A pool table may have six pockets that may be connected to channels structured to channel a ball entering a pocket to move to a ball holding element. A detection channel may be disposed intermediate the channels and the ball holding element. A detector may be disposed with the detection channel with the detector in communication with a controller device. A currency element may be disposed with the controller device to collect currency and to dispense currency as communicated by the controller device. Each of a plurality of balls may have an embedded electronic target device by the detector. A display may be in communication with the controller device.

This invention relates to apparatus and methods for playing a game of poker pool with a billiard table that may include wagering or betting on the outcome of a game. The new apparatus and method may use an oblong billiard table with six pockets linked to a ball holding area and having a ball detector, displays and an electronic currency collector-dispenser, controller device.
Apparatus and games for playing poker billiards or pool may be known. However, these apparatus may not have the elements necessary for playing a poker pool game that may include autonomous betting and payout of currency for those participating in a poker pool game. Poker pool tables may have apparatus for identifying balls that have entered pockets in the table and for displaying a value for a ball, but may use a complicated pool game that involves more than the normal 15 object balls normally used to play pool. Pool tables may have coin receiving devices that may be used to activate the electronics of a pool table apparatus; however, these devices may not allow inserting currency during game play to tally betting of players and may not dispense currency to the winners of a poker pool game.


A number of computing devices associated with a particular user have a network capability between them for management and control, said capability to enable these devices, running on different, physically distributed hardware, to interwork securely and privately.

In the current proliferation of Internet Protocol (IP) networking devices and virtual machine devices, there are typically two ways that individual computing devices are located on a network. The first is by means of an IP address, usually conforming to IPv4, but which may also be conforming to IPv6. IPv4 addresses are often assigned within a local numbering plan and utilize network address translation (NAT) in order to communicate via one or more routers over the Internet. NAT addresses are not generally usable for incoming connections from arbitrary Internet locations, and therefore most such devices are not intended to run applications that provide services to other devices via the network protocol. This presents a challenge for devices that require incoming connections.
The second approach is by means of a domain name via a Domain Name System (DNS) such as in the case of an addressable service. Dynamic updates of the DNS (DDNS) are commonly used to support devices with IP addresses that change, but DNS names must resolve to accessible addresses in order to be useful. Most user-specific client devices do not have addressable services, and therefore do not use DNS entries. In addition, solutions such as Dynamic DNS updates are not able to support propagation of rapidly changing addresses and therefore do not offer a reliable method of ensuring connectivity. However, the need for such services is growing with the needs of modern applications, such as gaming, VoIP, and other peer-to-peer applications.
A significant trend is the increasing proliferation of computing devices per user. Users are currently holders and owners of multiple devices, such as smartphones, PCs, laptops, tablet computers, gaming devices and may in future also use many more devices, for example; telepresence devices, medical monitoring devices and personal robotic devices. The depletion of the current IPv4 address space and the complexities associated with Network Address Translation (NAT) require the use of IPv6 to satisfy the addressing needs of large numbers of devices coming on line. However, the move to IPv6 will require significant infrastructure upgrades before this can happen.
Another trend is the growing number of mobile devices that are being used. The proliferation of various personal mobile computing devices presents a challenge for the registration, provisioning and tracking of these devices. For example, this has led to the situation where a mobile device may frequently change its IP address as it relocates. During relocation, the device may have multiple, active IP addresses. This means that an IP address cannot be used as a device identifier, even within a communication session, and such addresses may change unpredictably. Attempts to use additional protocols such as SIP (Session Initiation Protocol) to resolve this issue have also been employed but do not prevent short term communication interruptions.
In order to maintain an addressing identity, a different addressing strategy must be used. One such strategy that is part of mobile IPv6 is to assign a home address to a device and have a home router that is able to track the real device address and route network packets to the device when required. Another applicable technology is the Locator/ID Separation Protocol (LISP) that requires a particular router infrastructure to simplify mobile addressing issues.
Yet another trend is the ease with which cloud-based applications and services can be deployed. It is desirable that users are able to call up applications and services on demand from a wide range of cloud providers and have them included within their own, personal network. Hence the automatic provisioning of virtual machine devices is very desirable, and being able to identify the virtual machine devices by IP address is a significant issue.
Therefore, there is a need for an improved approach to implement network association between devices that are associated with a particular user, to provide management and control over the devices, and to enable these devices to have a special messaging relationship with each other.

Method and system for implementing a user network identity address provisioning server


A verification device operates to evaluate consistency of input values from a client device used by a server to execute a task. In an example the task may be installation of software into the client device, and the consistency evaluation of the input values may involve evaluating whether identifiers used to obtain attribute values of components of the client device for the installation apply to the same client device. To initiate execution of the task, the client device commands a plurality of data source servers to supply the attribute values. The data source servers return response messages defining the attribute values associated with the identifiers supplied by the client device. The client device supplies the response messages to the server for use in the execution of the task. Before executing the task, the server supplies information from the response messages to a verification device, the information defining a combination of the identifiers of the response messages, as the combination of data source servers that have defined attribute values associated with the identifiers. The verification device performing a consistency evaluation on said combination of identifiers, dependent on whether said combination of identifiers is consistent or inconsistent with previously stored combinations of identifiers for said combination of data source servers stored for previously executed tasks and/or whether values of a corresponding further attribute associated with the identifiers in the data source servers in the combination of data source servers are consistent. The server selecting between executing the task or not dependent on a result of the consistency evaluation.

When a device in a network environment executes an application program (app), the app usually relies on services from other devices to perform the program. For example, the other devices may be used to provide attribute values for use in an operation that is associated with the app and/or one or more other devices may perform part or all of the operation. In such a distributed environment errors in the execution can result from inconsistency between the actions of the different devices.
For example, installation of software or hardware in a device may require information attributes that identify communication protocols, channels and other parameters of components that will cooperate with the newly installed hardware or software in relation to the device. The hardware or software may need to use the value of such information attributes to cooperate with the components during its operation. Inconsistent values can result in malfunctioning. For a lean component, the value of such an information attribute may be supplied by a supporting server, based on an identification of the component. However, identification errors may cause errors in the operation of the installed software or hardware.
A distributed data processing system is considered wherein a first device (e.g. a server that controls the update) executes a program in interaction with other devices that supply attribute values of objects for use in the execution of the program. Herein the other devices supply the attribute values associated with identifiers to identify aspects of an object. In such a system it is a source of malfunction when wrong identifiers are used.
It would be desirable to detect whether a wrong identifier is used in association with an attribute value in such a distributed data processing system. Unfortunately, identifier errors are hard to detect in a distributed data processing system. Mere differences between the identifiers used for values of different attributes needed for executing a single task for an object need not imply that an identifier is erroneous. Different identifiers may need to be used in association with the same object in the interaction with different supplying devices (e.g. when for a single object, like a device wherein an update must be installed, different identifiers are needed to retrieve attribute values of the same object from different supplying devices, or when identifiers of different components of the same object need to be used to retrieve values of different attributes).

Data verification in a distributed data processing system


A system for mounting a seat to the front of a gaming machine. A base platform is provided that has a front edge. At least one hole is disposed in the base platform proximate its front edge. A seat is attached to the base platform utilizing a vertical column. The vertical column is adjustable in height between a fully extended position and a fully retracted position. The vertical column holds the seat in a position facing the gaming machine. However, when the vertical column is in its fully retracted position, the seat can be turned ninety degrees to facilitate a person entering or exiting the seat. A locking mechanism joins the base platform to the gaming machine. Authorized personnel can only open the locking mechanism.

1. Field of the Invention
In general, the present invention relates to chairs that are placed in front of gaming machines, such as slot machines and video games. More particularly, the present invention relates to the structure of chairs and the anchoring systems used to mount the chairs.
2. Prior Art Description
Most all casinos have gaming machines in the form of slot machines, video poker machines and the like. In order to make such games more enjoyable to play, casinos most often provide chairs in front of many of the gaming machines. Casinos speculate that a person will remain at a gaming machine longer, and spend more money, if they are comfortable while playing the gaming machine. As a consequence, casinos spend a lot of money and effort in designing and installing seating for the gaming machines.
Placing a chair in front of a gaming machine seems simple, but it has many complications. If a chair is not anchored, it can be moved by patrons. Accordingly, some gaming machines will not have chairs available to those who want to play those gaming machines. Furthermore, unanchored chair are a tripping hazard to people walking around a crowded casino floor. This is especially true if a chair has been moved into a walkway. Additionally, unanchored chairs can be easily tipped over, and therefore present a danger to both the patrons seated in the chairs and the patrons surrounding the chairs.
It is for these reasons that many casinos elect to use anchored chairs rather than unanchored chairs. Anchored chairs are set into fixed positions in front of the gaming machines. In this manner, the chairs cannot be moved or tipped over. However, placing a chair in a fixed position in front of a gaming machine presents other problems for a casino.
Casinos often rearrange the positions of the gaming machines on the casino floor in order to make room for new games or just to provide variety. If a chair is affixed to the floor in front of a gaming machine, the chair must be removed when the gaming machine is moved. The chair must then be reaffixed to the floor in front of the new position of the gaming machine. This dramatically increases the cost and labor involved with moving a gaming machine.
Furthermore, many gaming machines have access doors through which the gaming machine is serviced and through which money is collected. Often the access doors are on the front of the gaming machine. If a chair is set into place directly in front of a gaming machine, access to the doors is restricted. The gaming machines, therefore, must be pulled away from the anchored chair in order to be emptied or serviced.
Recognizing the problems of mounting chairs to the casino floor in front of gaming machines, casinos have begun to use systems that mount chairs directly to the gaming machine, rather than the casino floor. In this manner, the chair can be moved with the gaming machine. In such systems, the chair can be selectively removed from the gaming machine when the gaming machine needs to be emptied or serviced, thereby eliminating the inconveniences of floor mounted chairs. Such gaming machine mounted chair systems are exemplified by U.S. Pat. No. 5,791,731 to Infanti, the current applicant, entitled Adjustable Game Stool Assembly With Flat Base.
In such prior art systems, a platform is provided on the floor in front of the gaming machine. The chair sits upon the platform. One end of the platform attaches to the gaming machine at floor level. The platform connects to the gaming machine using a manually operated locking mechanism. However, the locking mechanism is exposed. Consequently, the locking mechanism can be either accidentally or intentional opened by a patron sitting at the gaming machine. Furthermore, the locking mechanism is exposed to spilled drinks, dirt, debris and innumerable foot kicks that can damage the locking mechanism and make it hard to operate.
A need therefore exists for an improved chair assembly that interconnects with a casino gaming machine but does so in a manner that protects the locking mechanism from patrons and the environment of the casino. This need is met by the present invention as described and claimed below.
Another problem associated with providing an anchored chair to a gaming machine is one of positioning the chair. People come in all shapes and sizes. It is difficult to provide a chair in one fixed position that is ergonomically comfortable to a majority of people. If a chair is too close to a gaming machine, large patrons cannot sit in the seat. If a chair is placed too far from a gaming machine, small patrons cannot comfortably reach the gaming machine.
In the prior art, there are systems that enable the height and incline of gaming machine chairs to be adjusted. Such prior art systems are exemplified by some of the applicant's prior patents, which include U.S. Pat. No. 5,678,886 to Infanti, entitled Adjustable Game Stool Assembly and U.S. Pat. No. 5,522,641 to Infanti, entitled Adjustable Game Stool Assembly. However, these prior art systems do not address the problem of how to have an anchored chair that is both accessible by large patrons and close enough to the gaming machine for smaller patrons.
A need therefore also exists for a gaming machine chair that is close enough to a gaming machine to be comfortable for smaller patrons, yet provides enough room for a larger patron to comfortably access the chair. This need is also met by the present invention as described and claimed below.


A method of manufacturing an integrated circuit (IC) chip is provided. The method includes the following steps. First, a substrate is provided. The substrate is divided into an internal region and an external region by a die seal ring region. A number of circuit units are then formed in the internal region on the substrate. Thereafter, a dielectric layer is formed over the substrate, interconnects are formed in the dielectric layer within the internal region, and a number of bonding pad structures are formed in the dielectric layer within the external region. Finally, a cutting process is performed along a number of scribed lines on the substrate to form a number of chips. The bonding pad structures are exposed at the sides of each chip.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an integrated circuit (IC) device, chip, and method of fabricating the same; in particularly to an integrated circuit device and an IC chip with bonding pad structures at side, and method of fabricating the same.
2. Description of Related Art
Bonding pads are essential elements of bonding the integrated circuit (IC) chips with package substrates. The conventional bonding pads are formed on a front surface of the substrate. In general, the bonding pads are formed while the upmost metal layer of interconnects are formed. In addition, after the bonding pads are formed and before the packaging process is performed, the substrate will be covered by a passivation layer so as to resist the moisture. Accordingly, the passivation layer will be removed afterwards to form bonding pad openings, and the bonding pads are then exposed.
However, since the conventional bonding pads are formed in an region within a die seal ring region on the front surface of the substrate and occupy a larger space, so that the package structure is oversized. The trend of pursuing slightness, thinness, shortness, and small volume is not then followed.
On the other hand, given that the bonding pad openings are formed, and other elements, for example, color filters and micro lenses of a CMOS image sensor (CIS) are then constructed on the substrate, the bonding pads will be corroded by a developer and result in the formation of pittings during the process of constructing the elements, so that the function of the bonding pads is affected. Furthermore, the formation of the bonding pad openings may also bring about an uneven coating of a photoresist layer in the successive process of patterning filters, impairing the optical characteristics.

Method of fabricating intergrated circuit chip


A multimedia data distribution system is provided. The multimedia data distribution system comprises a multimedia controller and at least a distribution zone. A distribution zone has a zone hub and zero to finite number of zone media player. The zone hub receives multimedia data from a multimedia content source through an out-of-zone data path and then synchronously redistributes multimedia contents to rest of zone media players via in-zone data paths. A multimedia controller utilizes out-of-zone control path to transmit control message to a zone hub, which in turn relays the control messages to addressed zone media player(s) via in-zone control paths. The zone hub of a distribution zone receives status updates from individual zone media players via in-zone status update paths, aggregates them, and then relays to the multimedia controller via the out-of-zone status update path. While out-of-zone data, control, and status update paths are setting up based on Wi-Fi connections to an infrastructure AP or a Hotspot, all of the in-zone paths are established on Wi-Fi Direct peer-to-peer connections.

1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a wireless multimedia data distribution system and an operating method of the distribution system. More particularly, the present invention relates to a multimedia data distribution system and an operating method of the multimedia data distribution system.
2. Description of Related Art
Wireless Fidelity (Wi-Fi) is a popular wireless networking technology that allows electronic devices to exchange data wirelessly (using radio waves) through either an infrastructure Access Point (AP) or peer-to-peer connections over a local area network while enabling high-speed Internet connections. In an infrastructure AP based Wi-Fi multimedia data distribution system, all multimedia devices must be connected to an infrastructure AP. The source device first transmits multimedia contents to the infrastructure AP it is associated with, and the infrastructure AP in turn redirects the multimedia content to the intended destination device(s).
Therefore, for a conventional Wi-Fi data distribution system to operate, each of the devices needs to have a public IP address and a Wi-Fi infrastructure AP must be presented in the system. In other words, a Wi-Fi infrastructure AP based multimedia data distribution system will not be able to function when Wi-Fi infrastructure AP is absent.

Multimedia data distribution system and operating method thereof