An assembly to recover hydrocarbon gas from a seabed comprises one or more self-propelled drilling devices that include hydrocarbon sensors and a sublimation mechanism to induce sublimation of crystallized hydrates into hydrocarbon gases. As the drilling device moves through the wellbore, hydrocarbon deposits are detected and the sublimation mechanism induces sublimation of the deposits to release hydrocarbon gases up through the formation to the seabed. A bladder is positioned atop the wellbore to capture the release hydrocarbon gas and transfer it to a surface vessel for collection.

During conventional subsea drilling operations, hydrocarbon gases are sometimes released from the formation and into the atmosphere. One such example is methane gas, which exists in subsea formations as methane hydrate, a crystallized methane deposit primarily located in vast amounts at shallow depths beneath the ocean floor. In addition, this crystallized methane may cap even larger deposits of gaseous methane.
Recovery of methane hydrates is difficult because it will not flow in the subsurface environment, as it only exists in a solid form. In addition, the methane hydrates may disappear through a phenomenon referred to as "sublimation." Sublimation is the process by which a compound, through alteration of its temperature or pressure, transforms directly from a solid to gas phase, without passing through an intermediate liquid phase. As such, when the delicate pressure or temperature balance of the downhole environment is disturbed, the methane hydrates sublimate, thus escaping up through the formations and seawater, then out into the atmosphere where they only contribute to the controversial greenhouse gas problem. Thus, the traditional way of recovering hydrocarbon deposits through drilling wellbores into the hydrocarbon bearing formations, and letting the hydrocarbons flow into the wellbore and up to surface, is not feasible.
In view of the foregoing, there is a need in the art for cost-effective method by which to recover hydrocarbon gases from the seabed, thereby preventing the release of harmful gases into the atmosphere while also harnessing valuable hydrocarbon for further use.

Assembly and method for subsea hydrocarbon gas recovery


An electronic apparatus and a power controlling method are provided. The electronic apparatus includes: a voice input unit which receives an audio input in a stand-by mode of the electronic apparatus; a voice sensing unit which determines whether the received audio input is a user voice, and if the user voice is input, outputs a power control signal; and a power control voice recognition unit which, if the power control signal is received from the voice recognition unit, turns on and performs voice recognition regarding the input user voice.

1. Field
Apparatuses and methods consistent with exemplary embodiments relate to an electronic apparatus and a method for controlling power, and more particularly, to an electronic apparatus for controlling power of the electronic apparatus using voice recognition and a method for controlling power thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
With the development of electronic technology, methods for controlling an electronic apparatus in various ways have been developed. In a related art, an electronic apparatus has been controlled using buttons on the electronic apparatus or a remote controller which is provided separately from the electronic apparatus.
However, if an electronic apparatus is controlled using buttons on the electronic apparatus or a remote controller which is provided separately from the electronic apparatus as in the related art technology, users have to carry the electronic apparatus or the remote controller frequently, causing inconvenience to the users. In particular, if the users are in a situation where it is difficult to carry the electronic apparatus or the remote controller (for example, if hands are dirty, or if it is hard to locate the remote controller), the users may experience an inconvenience in controlling the electronic apparatus.
Recently, new technologies using voice recognition and motion recognition have been developed to resolve the above-described problems. In particular, a method for controlling an electronic apparatus using voice recognition so as to control the electronic apparatus even though a remote controller is far away has become popular.
However, in the related art technology of controlling power of an electronic apparatus using voice recognition, a voice recognition module of the electronic apparatus should be turned on all the time even in a stand-by mode, wasting considerable amount of power in the stand-by mode.

Electronic device and method for controlling power using voice recognition


A processor is described comprising: an architectural register file implemented as a combination of a register file cache and an architectural register region within a level 1 (L1) data cache, and a data location table (DLT) to store data indicating a location of each architectural register within the register file cache and/or the architectural register region within the L1 data cache.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to the field of computer processors. More particularly, the invention relates to an apparatus and method for memory-mapped register caching.
2. Description of the Related Art
Current throughput processing implementations use highly threaded processor architectures to compensate for memory access and execution latencies. With this approach, each thread has its own set of registers within a dedicated Main Register File (MRF), yielding an enormous register file which consumes a significant amount of power.
In current implementations, the MRF is not directly related to the L1 data cache. Consequently, whenever there is a load operation, data must first be read from the memory subsystem (possibly from the cache) and placed into the MRF, consuming processing cycles and space within the MRF.

Apparatus and method for memory-mapped register caching


The present invention provides a light-emitting element comprising: a carbon layer comprising a graphene; a plurality of fine structures having grown toward the upper side of the carbon layer; a thin film layer for coating the fine structures; and a light-emitting structure layer formed on the thin film layer.

A light-emitting diode (LED) is an example of a light-emitting element. An LED is a device that emits light due to electron-hole pairs near a p-n junction or in an active layer by flowing current through a terminal of a compound semiconductor. Recently, advances in semiconductor technologies have led to rapid progress in producing high-quality LEDs. For example, technologies that implement a blue LED with high brightness by forming a III-V group nitride layer on a sapphire substrate using a metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) method are being commercialized.
As described above, a conventional LED has been manufactured by depositing a compound mainly on a sapphire substrate. However, although a sapphire substrate has an excellent light transmission property and mechanical strength, it also has disadvantages such as low thermal conductivity and difficulty in processing. In addition, a laser lift-off process is required to manufacture a vertical type light-emitting diode.
Graphene may be considered as a candidate material for replacing the sapphire substrate. Graphene is a monolayer of carbon atoms which are connected to form a honeycomb-shaped two-dimensional planar structure. An experimental method for obtaining graphene was first reported in 2004 by Ander K. Geim of Manchester University, who mechanically separated graphene from graphite. Since then, physical and chemical characteristics of graphene have been studied, and in recent years, technology for growing graphene on a large substrate having a size of to about 30 inches using chemical vapor deposition (CVD) has emerged. A material having a layered structure with two or more sheets of graphene is graphite. That is, a single layer separated from graphite is graphene.
Graphene has excellent thermal and electrical conductivity, high chemical/mechanical stability, and high transparency. In addition, graphene has high electron mobility, low resistivity, and a large surface area, and has an advantage over carbon nanotubes on a commercial front. Further, graphene or layer-structured graphite including graphene may be easily separated from an original substrate and transferred to another substrate.
In spite of the above-described merits, there have been limits in using graphene in a semiconductor device. In particular, since the surface of graphene is chemically very stable and non-reactive, it is very difficult to grow a microstructure or thin-film on graphene.

Light-emitting element and method for manufacturing same


A casing packer apparatus includes a mandrel having a mandrel exterior, a longitudinal mandrel bore defined therethrough, and a power port defined in the mandrel communicating the mandrel bore with the mandrel exterior. A packer element is concentrically received about the mandrel. An annular piston is concentrically received about the mandrel and has an annular differential pressure area defined thereon and communicated with the mandrel bore through the power port. The annular piston and packer element are operably associated so that the packer element is set by sliding motion of the piston in response to increased fluid pressure in the mandrel bore. Either a compression set packer element or an inflatable packer element may be utilized.

1. Field Of The Invention
The present invention relates generally to casing packers for use in packing an annulus surrounding a string of casing in a well.
2. Description Of The Prior Art
During the construction of an oil or gas well, a casing string is typically placed within the bore hole and cemented in place in the bore hole. This cementing is often performed in multiple stages. It is often desirable to pack off an annulus surrounding a string of casing. This annulus may either be between the casing string and the bore hole, or between two stages of the casing string, with the lower stage being of smaller diameter than an upper stage.
The packers utilized to perform this task may either be individual casing packers which do not have any cementing valve mechanisms associated therewith, or they may be an integral part of a multi-stage cementing tool which includes both a cementing valve apparatus and a packer apparatus which operate in conjunction with each other.
Examples of such multiple stage cementing tools including inflatable packers include U.S. Pat. No. 4,421,165 to Szarka, U.S. Pat. No. 3,948,322 to Baker, and U.S. Pat. No. 3,524,503 to Baker, all assigned to the assignee of the present invention. Such multiple stage cementing tools are also available with compression set packer elements rather than inflatable packer elements.
The present invention is directed to improvements in individual casing packers, i.e., that is casing packers which are not part of a multi-stage cementing tool and which do not have cementing valve apparatus associated therewith as an integral part of the casing packer apparatus. There may of course be other tools in the casing string which may be other casing packers, individual cementing tools, or multi-stage cementing tools. The present invention, however, is directed to an individual casing packer which operates independently of the operation of such other tools which may be present in the string.
With regard to individual casing packers, there are a number of such tools included in the prior art. One such tool marketed by the assignee of the present invention, Halliburton Company, is known as a Halliburton DV Cementing Collar Assembly. This device includes a mechanical compression set packer which is set after a plug is landed on an annular seat within the tool bore and hydraulic pressure is then applied on top of the plug to slide downward an internal sleeve which is connected to an external sleeve which actually compresses the packer element.
The disadvantage of the existing mechanically operated casing packers is that typically they do not have a full opening therethrough because an annular landing surface must be provided for receipt of a plug completely closing the inner bore of the tool in order to operate the tool. Also, removal of the plug may later be necessary after operation of the tool.
Another type of cementing packer which is presently available is an inflatable packer which utilizes a system of spool valves and check valves to control the flow of high pressure fluid into an inflatable packer element. Examples of this type of casing packer include the Halliburton Casing Inflation Packer available from Halliburton Company of Duncan, Okla., and the Tamcap.TM. Inflatable Cementing Packers available from Tam International of Houston, Tex.
The difficulty encountered with existing inflatable casing packers is due to the complex spool valve and check valve mechanisms which are necessary to control the flow of fluid to the inflatable packer.
Thus, there is a need for a simplified design for casing packers which provides increased economy of construction and improved reliability while eliminating the disadvantages mentioned above.


In a stator shaft in which a shaft member is press-fitted into a press-fit bore of a flange member, first flow passages are formed in the shaft member, and blind bores extending linearly at right angles to a shaft axis from outer circumferential surfaces of the flange member and through the press-fit bore, and communication bores 103 extending linearly from a side surface of the flange member and communicating with free end portions of the blind bores are further formed. Oil passages formed of the parts of the blind bores which extend from the press-fit bore to the free end portions thereof, and communication bores constitute second flow passages, and the shaft member is press-fitted into the press-fit bore with the shaft member positioned so that the portions of the second flow passages which are opened in the press-fit bore, and first flow passages communicate with each other in a mutually opposed state, whereby the first and second flow passages are communicated with each other.

This invention relates to a flow passage structure formed by press-fitting a shaft member into a press-fit bore provided in a flange member so as to be opened at one axial end thereof, and thereby communicating with each of other flow passages formed in the flange member and those formed in the shaft member.
Such a flow passage structure is used for a support flange ember of a fluid joint, and a support flange of a stator member of a torque converter as disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Publication No. 40904/1990. An example of such a related art flow passage structure for a shaft-press-fitted flange member is shown in FIG. 5. This structure is formed by press-fitting a shaft member 210 into a press-fit bore 201 of a flange member 200 so as to communicate an oil passage 221 in a housing 220, to which the flange member 200 is fixed, and radial bores 212, which are formed in the shaft member 210, with each other via an inside-flange flow passage including radial bores 202 and axial bores 203 which are formed in the flange member 200. The inside-shaft radial bores 212 are joined to axially extending inside-shaft bores 211, and these axial bores 211, for example, the interior of a torque converter. This enables the supplying of an oil from the oil passages 221 of the housing 220 to the interior of a torque converter and the discharging of the oil from the latter to the former to be done.
When the flow passage structure is provided in this manner, the flow passage in the flange member 200 is formed by making the radial bores 202 extending from an outer circumferential surface of the flange member therethrough to the press-fit bore 201, and the axial bores 203 extending from a side surface of the flange member so as to communicate with the inside-flange radial bores 202, and closing the radial bores 202 of the flange member at the portions thereof which are on the side of an outer circumferential surface of the flange with plugs 205, and with balls 206 press-fitted into the mentioned portions of the same bores. As is understood from the above, the radial bores 202 in the flow passage structure shown in FIG. 5 are formed from the outer circumferential side of the flange, and it is therefore necessary that the radial bores 202 be closed at the outer circumferential end portions thereof with plugs 205 and press-fit balls 206. This causes a processing cost and a cost of additional parts to increase correspondingly. When the plugs 205 are employed, it is necessary that seal members be used for threaded portions thereof, and, when the press-fit balls 206 are employed, the flange member 200 requires to have a strength high enough to resist a press-fitting force. Furthermore, spaces for press-fitting the balls thereinto and inserting the plugs thereinto are needed, and, when plural radial bores 202 are formed in a certain way of arrangement, the intervals thereof have to be set large.
In view of these problems, a flow passage structure shown in FIG. 6 has also heretofore been devised. A left-hand portion of FIG. 6 shows a second flow passage structure, and a right-hand portion thereof a third flow passage structure. First, in the case of the second flow passage structure shown in the left-hand portion of FIG. 6, a communication bore 231 extending from a side surface of a flange member 230 therethrough diagonally to a press-fit bore 233 is formed, and an oil passage 221 in a housing 220 and a radial bore 212 formed in a shaft member 210 are communicated with each other via this inside-flange communication bore 231. In the case of this flow passage structure, the inside-flange communication bore 231 is formed from the side surface of the flange member 230, so that closing the bore by using a plug and a press-fit ball in an outer circumferential end portion thereof as in the structure of FIG. 5 is not necessary but an axial size A of the flange member 230 increases due to the formation of the diagonal communication bore.
In the case of the third flow passage structure shown in the right-hand portion of FIG. 6, an inside-flange flow passage is provided by forming a radial bore 242 extending from the interior of a press-fit bore 241 of a flange member 240 in the diagonal, radially outward direction, and an axial bore 243 extending from a side surface of the flange member 240 so as to communicate with the inside-flange radial bore 242. In the case of this flow passage structure, closing the bore by using a plug and a press-fit ball in outer circumferential end portions thereof as in the structure of FIG. 5 is not necessary, either. However, since the inside-flange radial bore 242 is formed from the interior of the press-fit bore 241 of the flange member 240, an angle of the inside-flange radial bore 242 is limited depending upon the size of the press-fit bore 241, so that it is difficult to form the bore 242 and reduce the dimensions of the flange member.
The present invention has been made in view of these circumstances, and provides a flow passage structure capable of forming a flow passage in a flange member easily, and a flange member compactly.
According to an aspect of the present invention, the flow passage structure for a shaft-press-fitted flange member (for example, a stator shaft 40 in a mode of embodiment) formed by press-fitting a shaft member into a press-fit bore of a flange member has a shaft member provided with first flow passages (for example, right end portions 106 of oil passages 102 in a mode of embodiment) having openings (for example, right end portions 106 of the oil passages 102 in the mode of embodiment) in an outer circumferential surface of the shaft member; and a flange member provided with blind bores (for example oil passages 101 and oil passages 105 in the mode of embodiment) formed so as to extend linearly at right angles to a shaft axis from outer circumferential surfaces (for example, outer circumferential surfaces 43b, 43c in the mode of embodiment) of the flange member and through the press-fit bore, and stop at free end portions thereof in the interior of the flange member, and communication bores (for example, oil passages 103) extending from a side surface of the flange member in the axial direction and communicating with the portions of the blind bores which extend from the press-fit bore to the free end portions thereof, second flow passages being formed of the portions (for example, the oil passages 101 in the mode of embodiment) of the blind bores which extend from the press-fit bore to the free end portions thereof and the communication bores, the shaft member being positioned so that the portions of the blind bores in the second flow passages which are opened into the press-fit bore and the first flow passages communicate with each other, and press-fitted into the press-fit bore to communicate the first and second flow passages with each other, whereby a flow passage structure is formed.
When a shaft member is press-fitted into a press-fit bore of a flange member in the case of a flow structure of such a construction, free end portions of blind bores and opposite portions (portions between an outer circumferential surface and the press-fit bore) are shut off by a shaft member press-fitted in the press-fit bore, and the free end portions communicate with openings of first flow passages formed in the shaft member. As is understood from the above, in the flow passage structure according to the present invention, only blind bores extending straight from an outer circumferential surface of the flange member in a direction (radial direction and a direction parallel thereto) which is at right angles to a shaft axis, and communication bores extending straight from a side surface of the flange member in the axial direction thereof are formed in the flange member. Namely, the forming of the flow structure can be done easily, and, since a diagonal bore is unnecessary, the flange member can be formed to a compact structure by reducing an axial size thereof.
Further scope of applicability of the present invention will become apparent from the detailed description given hereinafter. However, it should be understood that the detailed description and specific examples, while indicating preferred embodiments of the invention, are given by way of illustration only, since various changes and modifications within the spirit and scope of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from this detailed description.

Flow passage structure for shaft-press-fitted flange members


Disclosed is a micro-plug and socket connector that is suitable for mounting on a printed circuit board and that has a plastic housing including a fastening surface with soldering portions for mounting on the surface of the printed circuit board, a plug receiving opening having an inner contact region for the receiving and contacting a pin contact, and an outer contact terminal. The inner contact region, the outer contact terminal, the soldering portions and the electrically conductive connections provided therebetween are formed of metallized portions on the plastic housing.

A micro-plug and socket connector of this type is used in cases in which a coaxial cable is to be connected to a printed circuit board. Because mobile telephones, for example, are constantly becoming smaller, the size of micro-plug and socket connectors of this type must also be reduced accordingly.
DE 100 51 791 A1 discloses a connector that is configured for use in mobile telephones and comprises a housing with a contact chamber, which is accessible via an opening for plugging in a plug contact. A U-shaped spring clip, between the arms of which the plug contact that is plugged into the plug receiving opening is fixed, is located in the contact chamber. When the plug contact is not plugged in, the free ends of the two arms abut a metallized, and therefore electrically conductive, projection of the housing. When the plug contact is plugged in, the arms of the spring clip are spread sufficiently far apart that the electric contact between the two arms and the conductive projection is separated. The outer contact terminal and the projection of the housing are in the form of metallized plastic material housing parts.
EP 419 938 A2 discloses a surface mountable coaxial plug and socket connector that has a connector housing, which comprises a substantially cube shaped housing part. Two contacts, an inner contact and an outer contact terminal, punched from a metal sheet, are arranged on the connector housing. Both comprise a terminal lug for soldering to a printed circuit board.


A memory device that contains a static RAM memory is provided with data input and data output registers, an address register, and a control register for storing various control signals. The RAM has three principal modes:. a. in a normal mode, all registers are accessible externally so that the memory may fulfill its standard function, PA1 b. in a scan-state, all the cited register constitute a synchronous shift register that may be serially written with a test pattern and serially read with a result pattern; in this way the memory may be subjected to a test according to the scan test principle, PA1 c. in a self test state the communication with the outer world is shut off, the address register counts through successive addresses, the memory is cycled through read-modify or read-modify-read operations, and the data read is conversed to a signature pattern for subsequent scan-out. In this way a quasi stand-alone test facility is realized. Various additional features may be implemented.

The invention relates to a memory device containing a static RAM memory, and thereto connected an address register, a data input register, a control register, all these registers having externally accessible functional interconnections for information communication, said RAM memory furthermore having a functional data output. In particular, such memory should be easily testable. Conventionally, such testing is effected by writing a predetermined data pattern on a predetermined address location. At any later instant the data is read out again. The test proper consists of comparison operations between the data pattern read out and the data that should have been written into that location. If a sufficient number of correct comparisons have been found, the memory is considered as good. Testing of such a memory device as an embedded memory has been described in literature. The following publication is being cited as relevant art: Z Sun et al, Self-testing of embedded RAM's, IEEE 1984 International Test Conference Proceedings, Proceedings pages 148-156, Paper 4.3.

Memory device containing a static ram memory that is adapted for executing a self-test, and integrated circuit containing such a device as an embedded static ram memory


A data communication system for facilitating communication between infrared devices having an initiating optical interface port that includes an IR emitter and an optical sensor. A receiving optical interface port includes an active IR emitter that emits a pulse at a predetermined interval and an optical sensor. A software application causes an Attention Signal to be emitted from the initiating IR emitter where the initiating IR emitter is positioned in detection range of the receiving optical sensor. The receiving optical interface port is controlled by a firmware application. The firmware is designed to discontinue the pulse of the active IR emitter upon detection of the Attention Signal. Once the normal pulse cycle is discontinued, the active IR emitter is then employed for transmitting data signals to the initiating optical interface port, thereby establishing an optical link between the initiating optical interface port and the receiving optical interface port. The normal operations of the IR emitter of the receiving optical interface port remain discontinued until communication between the ports is terminated, allowing data signals to be sent to the initiating optical sensor from the active IR emitter.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the field a data communications between infrared (IR) devices, and more particularly to data communication between a handheld computer having an optical interface port that transmits and receives signals with an optical interface port of an automatically activated fluid dispensing device.
2. Technical Background
Standard IR devices communicate in accordance with the Infrared Data Association Serial Infrared Physical Layer Specification (hereinafter referred to as the Serial Infrared Specification) promulgated by the Infrared Data Association (IrDA). The IrDA is a standard body that publishes specifications containing the criteria by which IR device manufacturers must comply in order to claim IrDA compliance. The Infrared Data Association Serial Infrared Specification is incorporated herein by reference.
The physical layer specification governs point-to-point communication between electronic devices, such as computers and peripherals, using directed half-duplex, serial infrared communication links through free space. The physical elements, including the optical links and active input and output interfaces, are described in the physical layer specification. In order for a device to be IrDA compliant, the device must be designed to meet the specifications as indicated in the physical layer specification.
In particular, the IrDA Physical Layer Specification places constraints on the communication procedure when a device attempts to establish an optical link with a second device. The IrDA Physical Layer Specification sets forth requirements that govern the behavior of a device having a transmitter/detector pair when establishing an optical link. Compliance with the IrDA Physical Layer Specification requires that the device sample its detection range. An IrDA compliant device will not transmit a pulse to another device to request a link until it detects 500 msecs of "media quiet." "Media quiet" means that there is no IR activity detected during the 500 msecs duration.
Once an optical link is established between two devices, IrDA compliance requires that a serial interaction pulse (SIP) be emitted every 500 msecs to quiet other potentially interfering systems. In other words, the 500 msecs "media quiet" requirement will ensure that the potentially interfering device detects an SIP every 500 msecs thereby precluding the device from attempting to establish a connection.
The SIP is required by the Physical Layer Specification to quiet slower systems that might interfere with the optical link established between the transmitter and the receiver. An SIP is a 1.6 microsecond pulse followed by a 7.1 microsecond off time of the transmitter. The SIP simulates a start pulse that requires a potentially interfering system to listen for at least 500 milliseconds prior to establishing an optical link.
In accordance with the Physical Layer Specification, optical sensors are commonly employed with IR transmitters which, together with processing electronics, are used to detect an object in the range of the IR transmitter. An IR pulse is emitted, and if it strikes an object in its range, the pulse is reflected. An IR sensor is placed strategically in order to detect the reflected pulse.
The dichotomous emitter/sensor technology is employed in various applications including automatically activated fluid dispensing devices. Such dispensing systems, such as hand activated water faucets, generally include an infrared emitter that emits a timed pulse. When an object, such as a user's hands, is within the emitter's range, it reflects the pulsed IR beam, and the optical sensor detects the reflected light from the user's hands. In such a system, an IrDA compliant device emits a pulse every 250 milliseconds.
Automatically activated fluid dispensing devices have a myriad of operating pitfalls. For example, devices such as IR controlled faucets require extensive manual servicing and maintenance. Inherently, in an environment such as an office building having numerous floors and numerous faucets in each of the restrooms on each of the floors, servicing and maintenance of the IR controlled devices is often a burdensome and time consuming task. Many simple tasks associated with the maintenance of the faucets, including battery replacement, IR range monitoring, and solenoid malfunction detection, are typically performed per faucet per restroom per floor in an office building. This type of monitoring of malfunctioning units dictates manual interaction with each unit for diagnostics, maintenance, calibration, and servicing.

Data communications system and method for communication between infrared devices


A system and a method for switching call agents in telecommunications relay service includes a TRS server system. The TRS server system includes a voice handler for processing voice data, a text handler for processing text data, and a controller for controlling, establishing, and terminating voice paths and data paths. The voice handler transmits a peer's voice to a first CA such that the first CA transcribes and converts the peer's voice into text data. The text handler receives the text data generated by the first CA. The controller selects a second CA; establishes a voice path and a data path between the second CA and the TRS server system; and terminate the voice path and data path associated with the first CA.

With an increasing number of people who are deaf or hard of hearing (collectively "users"), demand is increasing for telecommunications relay services, including IP-Relay, CTS, and IP-CTS, with human call agents ("CA"s) at caption centers providing transcription service to users. Accordingly, the human CAs are very likely to experience increased tiredness from the extra work burden, which may lead to a lack of concentration when handling large volume of calls and/or providing services—such as Interactive Voice Response (IVR)—to users, the latter of which often involves lengthy calls. As a result, the quality of transcription and overall service may decline.
Furthermore, there is an increased possibility of system errors caused by increased complexity of service equipment. If these errors occur during the service, text data may be lost or duplicated, or the call may be unexpectedly disconnected, all of which degrade service quality and, subsequently, increase user dissatisfaction—especially if users faced long queue times for the IVR service.
In order to deliver a higher quality of service, many caption centers schedule work shifts and distribute calls among a plurality of CAs. Further, when transcription accuracy is not the highest priority, Automatic Speech Recognition ("ASR") using Artificial Intelligence ("AI") technology may be developed and deployed to reduce burden and tiredness experienced by human CAs when their workload becomes overwhelming. Yet in reality, ASR cannot provide service with the quality that satisfies customers' needs. Therefore, it is best to utilize ASR in conjunction with human CAs in the proper ratio.
In some instances, a CA has to be switched to another CA in the middle of a call. For example, the CA needs to leave for personal reasons or because the call extends beyond the end of a shift; technical issues may arise from the CA's end; or the user may request another agent (from a human agent to another human agent, from a human agent to ASR, or from ASR to a human agent). In such cases, however, some text data may be lost or duplicated while the call is being transferred to another CA. Accordingly, the overall service quality may suffer despite having a plurality of CAs assigned to shifts.
Accordingly, there is a need for a system and a method for switching call agents between human CAs or between a human CA and ASR, while the transcribed text data is neither lost nor duplicated. This invention is directed to solve these problems and satisfy the long-felt market need.

System and method for switching call agents in telecommunications relay service


Embodiments of the present invention provide a system for detecting vibrations from a component. The system operates by coupling vibrations from a component to a membrane using a flexible connecting line. The membrane converts the vibrations into acoustic waves that are transmitted through a medium. Finally, a microphone detects the acoustic waves in the medium and converts the acoustic waves into electrical signals.

1. Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the present invention relate to techniques for performing reliability tests on computer systems. More specifically, embodiments of the present invention relate to a method and an apparatus for monitoring vibrations to facilitate reliability studies on a computer system.
2. Related Art
Enterprise computer systems often include a large number of hard disk drives. For example, a single server system can sometimes include as many as 15,000 hard disk drives. Losing the data which is stored on these disk drives can have a devastating effect on an organization. For example, airlines rely on the integrity of data stored in their reservation systems for most of their day-to-day operations, and would essentially cease to function if this data became lost or corrupted. If fault-prone hard disk drives can be identified before they fail, preventative measures can be taken to avoid such failures.
Existing techniques for identifying hard disk drives that are likely to fail have many drawbacks. One technique analyzes internal counter-type variables, such as read retries, write retries, seek errors, dwell time (time between reads/writes) to determine whether a disk drive is likely to fail. Unfortunately, in practice, this technique suffers from a high missed-alarm probability (MAP) of about 50%, and a false-alarm probability (FAP) of about 1%. This high MAP increases the probability of massive data loss, and the FAP causes a large number of drives to be returned for which there is No-Trouble-Found (NTF), resulting in increased warranty costs.
Another technique monitors internal discrete performance metrics within disk drives, for example, by monitoring internal diagnostic counter-type variables called "SMART variables." However, hard disk drive manufacturers are reluctant to add extra diagnostics to monitor these variables, because doing so increases the costs. Furthermore, in practice, this technique fails to identify approximately 50% of imminent hard disk drive failures.
To prevent catastrophic data loss due to hard disk failures, systems often use redundant arrays of inexpensive disks (RAID) to provide fault tolerance. Unfortunately, because the capacity of hard disk drives has increased dramatically in recent years, the time required to rebuild a RAID array after a failure of one of the disks has also increased dramatically. Consequently, the rebuilding process can take many hours to several days, during which time the system is susceptible to a second hard disk drive failure which would cause massive data loss.
During operation, a disk drive produces vibrations (and/or acoustic signatures) which can contain important diagnostic information (e.g., frequency, amplitude, and phase) related to the health of the disk drive. For example, the vibration information for hard disk drives can indicate whether a spindle assembly is failing. Furthermore, vibration signatures are typically unique for different failure modes. For example, ball bearing imperfections have a unique frequency related to the spindle rotational frequency. This vibration information is useful for predicting hard disk drive failures. Hence, accelerometers or microphones can be used to acquire vibration or acoustic signatures from hard disk drives. Unfortunately, accelerometers are too complicated and expensive to deploy across large systems. On the other hand, microphones are cheaper, but they pick up external sounds (e.g., human voices) which are not related to the hard disk drives being monitored, and the recording of these external sounds is highly undesirable for security and privacy reasons.
Hence, what is needed is a method and an apparatus for detecting vibrations without the above-described problems.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Acoustic sensor for proactive fault monitoring in computer systems


A semiconductor module comprises a substrate, a plurality of semiconductor chips mounted on the substrate, a plurality of heat conduction members mounted on the back surfaces of the plurality of semiconductor chips, respectively, and a cooling jacket, on which the plurality of heat conduction members are bonded with heat conductive bonding agent, sealed with the substrate, wherein, in a surface of each of the plurality of heat conduction members adjacent to the cooling jacket and in a surface of the cooling jacket adjacent to the heat conduction members, around a portion corresponding to the back surface of each of the semiconductor chip is formed a portion which has non-affinity for the heat conductive bonding agent. Further, it is preferred that a reservoir having an affinity for the heat conductive bonding agent and serving to receive an excessive bonding agent is formed around each of the non-affinity portions of the plurality of heat conduction members and the cooling jacket.

This invention relates to a semiconductor module having semiconductor chips packaged therein, and more particularly, to a semiconductor module which is suitable for cooling the semiconductor chip in the module.
In order to cool the semiconductor chip mounted on a substrate of the semiconductor module, it is important that the chip is thermally brought into contact with a cooling jacket, preferably, it is desirable that the chip is directly brought into contact with the cooling jacket. However, there is dispersion of height of the chips mounted on the substrate resulting from a wraping of the substrate, dispersion in size of the connecting portions between the chips and the substrate and the like. This makes it hard to bring the chip directly into contact cooling jacket.
An example of a method for making the cooling jacket come into contact with the chips uniformly includes the one disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,561,011. According to this conventional technique, a heat conductive bonding agent is placed between the chips and heat conduction members disposed thereabove (FIG. 1) and the cooling jacket is pressed against the heat conduction members when the bonding agent is being solidified in such a manner that the cooling jacket and the heat conduction members are brought into close contact with each other.
However, when the above conventional method is put into practice, there arise the following problems. In a case in which an amount of supply of the bonding agent is suitable for the higher chip, the bonding agent supplied to the lower chip is allowed to spread over the entire bonding surface since the bonding surface is generally made of a material with high affinity for the bonding agent. As a result, concerning the lower chip, voids are formed in the layer of the bonding agent serving to transfer heat as shown in FIG. 2, with the result that the heat transfer efficiency is deteriorated. Further, in a case in which an amount of supply of the bonding agent is suitable for the lower chip, the bonding agent supplied to the higher chip is excessive, thereby giving rise to a problem that the excess bonding agent is poured out toward the chip connecting portion or torn into drops as shown in FIG. 3 which can cause problems, such as a short circuit. Consequently, it has been required to take measures so as to adjust the amount of supply of the bonding agent for each chip.
An object of the present invention is to provide a semiconductor module of the structure that, even if there is dispersion in height of semiconductor chips mounted on a substrate, necessary portions are filled with a bonding agent without fail while preventing the excess bonding agent from being poured out toward chip connecting portions, and a manufacturing method therefor.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a semiconductor module in which bonding agent filling portions are each filled with a sufficient amount of bonding agent so as to achieve a high heat transfer efficiency while preventing the excess bonding agent from pouring out toward the chip connecting portions to damage the same.
Still another object of the present invention is to easily manufacture a semiconductor module of high heat transfer efficiency by enabling the excess bonding agent to be held automatically in predetermined positions.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a method for manufacturing a semiconductor module which is free from a problem in which the excess bonding agent pours out toward the chip connecting portions and, hence, which can achieve a high heat transfer efficiency.

Bonding structure of thermal conductive members for a multi-chip module


A touch screen panel may include a first sensing electrode that has a recess. The touch screen panel may further include a second sensing electrode that immediately neighbors the first sensing electrode. The touch screen panel may further include a dummy member that is disposed in the recess and is electrically insulated from the first sensing electrode. The touch screen panel may further include a static electricity induction member that is electrically connected to the second sensing electrode. A portion of the static electricity induction member may overlap the dummy member and may be electrically insulated from the dummy member.

1. Field
An aspect of the present invention relates to a touch screen panel.
2. Description of the Related Art
A touch screen panel is an input device that may allow a user to input an instruction by selecting an instruction content displayed on a screen of a display device with a hand or object.
Touch screen panels may include resistive overlay touch screen panels, photosensitive touch screen panels, capacitive touch screen panels, and so on. A capacitive touch screen panel may sense a contact by sensing a change in capacitance formed between a conductive sensing electrode and an adjacent sensing electrode or ground electrode when a hand or object comes in contact with the touch screen panel. In order to accurately decide the contact position on the contact surface, a capacitive touch screen panel may be configured to include first-type sensing electrodes connected along a first direction by first-type connection patterns and to include second-type sensing electrodes connected along a second direction by second-second connection patterns.
The touch screen panel may include static electricity induction patterns for inducing static electricity so as to prevent damage caused by static electricity. For example, an end portion of a static electricity induction pattern may be electrically coupled to a first-type sensing electrode, and another end portion of the static electricity induction pattern may extend toward a second-type sensing electrode. The static electricity induction pattern and the second-type sensing electrode should be electrically insulated from each other.


The invention concerns a controlled pneumatic valve (1), for remote inflating and deflating of a capacity (2), comprising a membrane (17) maintained between a valve body (18), including orifices (24) and a cover (19); and defining with said cover a control chamber (20) and with the body an escape chamber (21), the latter being capable of being connected with the capacity (2) for deflation when the check valve (28) is thrust by levers (32) inverting the direction of movement of the membrane (17) sucked towards the cover (19). By the action of a pressure in the control chamber (20), the membrane (17), bearing a cup (33) with an annular conduit, moves towards the body (18), isolates the escape chamber (21), and opens the check valve (28) by direct thrust to perform inflation. The inventive device is particularly designed to control and adjust tire pressure.

The present invention relates to the technical sector of remote control of inflation and deflation of a capacity from a source of gaseous fluid under relative pressure, and it more particularly relates to the remote control of the inflation pressure of the tires of automobiles and all terrain machines with wheels for industrial, agricultural, civilian or military uses,
In the preferred domains of application above, it is known that it is sometimes useful to be able to remotely control the inflation pressure of the tires of a vehicle, so that it is possible to adapt the supporting ability of these tires as a function of the state of the ground on which the vehicle is moving.
This is the case in particular for all-terrain vehicles which must be able to advance under the best conditions over hard, pebbled, loose ground surfaces capable of alternating, without the driver being obliged to stop in order to manually modify the inflation pressure of the different tires.
It is also the case for agricultural machines such as tractors, towed elements, self-propelled harvesters which, in addition to the problems of advancing in loose ground, must limit the packing of the ground and the formation of ruts in the fields, and handle transports on the road without deterioration of the tires.
These applications are only given as examples because in numerous domains, it also proves useful or even necessary to be able to adapt at a distance the inflation pressure of a certain capacity for containment of a gaseous fluid under relative pressure.
In order to solve this problem above, prior art offers some solutions.
Thus, French patent 9105351 describes a pneumatic valve which has a membrane which moves a cup which has a hole and a seat for a flap, a mobile apparatus of two flaps in opposition, respectively for inflation and outflow, which is sensitive to the position of the membrane, an elastic component which acts on the apparatus in order to maintain the inflation flap in closed position on the seat connected to the membrane, some elastic means associated with the membrane for maintaining the outflow flap in closed position on a seat arranged in the base of the valve, a stop which limits the course of travel of the outfit in opening of the outflow valve. The control of the deflation is ensured by a low positive pressure.
Such a valve partly corresponds to the desired function, but has limitations of use. In effect, the positive control pressure imposes a limit on the minimum pressures which are measurable and prohibits its use for the lowest pressures used on very loose terrain and in particular for agricultural work. Furthermore, its manufacturing which requires a large number of parts is delicate and expensive.
Another known proposal of prior art concerns a controlled pneumatic valve which is described in patent EP-0 296 017, valve which has a membrane connected to a flap automatically controlled and maintained between a half-body and a grooved ring which, with the half-body, delimits a control chamber, and with the grooved ring, delimits an outflow chamber, the latter communicating with a hole which opens in the capacity, the control chamber being subjected to a circuit of pressure-vacuum through a hose, said automatically controlled flap pushing the membrane to close the bore and coaxially incorporating a check valve. Such a valve gives satisfaction but has a certain number of disadvantages.
For example, in case of off-center mounting on the wheel, which is ordinarily imposed by the configuration of the hub, the centrifugal force acts on the ball of the check valve and interferes with closing of this valve at high speed, causing gradual deflation of the tire.
This valve is furthermore difficult to use for agricultural type vehicles with very negative pressures because of the lack of sealing of the check valve, the bearing forces which depend on the pressure held in the capacity not being sufficient to complete the contact between the ball and the seat of the flap.
The present invention aims to solve the problems mentioned previously by providing a simple and inexpensive device which is completely reliable and which can be used in a wide range of pressure and speed.

Controlled pneumatic device for automatic inflating/deflating of a confinement capacity of a gas fluid under relative pressure


A screw tightener using coupled screws comprises: a screw tightener body including a driver bit; a nose portion movable in the axial direction of the driver bit; a spring usually urging the nose portion to move forward from the screw tightener body; a feed wheel rotatably supported by the nose portion, wherein coupled screws supplied to the nose portion are fed in the direction of extension of the driver bit by interlocking the rotation of the feed wheel with the movement of the nose portion to be forced into the screw tightener body; retaining members for mutually retaining the screw tightener body and the nose portion when the indentation force is released after the nose portion is moved to be forced partway into the screw tightener body; and guide groove for preventing the retaining members from retaining when the nose portion is caused by the spring to undergo a reset movement with respect to the screw tightener body after the nose portion is moved to be forced into the screw tightener body by a predetermined movement.

The present invention relates to a screw tightener using coupled screws, and more particularly a mechanism for feeding a screw and reversely extracting coupled screws.
There is a screw tightener of such a type that a feed wheel is supported by a nose portion which is relatively movable to the screw tightener body in order to feed coupled screws supplied to the nose portion by having the rotation of the feed wheel interlocked with the movement of the nose portion to be forced into the screw tightener body. In a case where a worker uses such a screw tightener to screw a face material on a prime material on the ceiling, he would hold one side of the face material with one hand and push up the other side thereof with the tip of the screw tightener held by the other hand. Due to the load of the face material at this time, the nose portion may be forced slightly into the screw tightener body and allow the feed wheel to rotate according to a minute sign (the so-called "clap sign"), so that the screw is pushed out. If it is then attempted to drive in the screw at a predetermined position by separating the screw tightener from the face material, the feed wheel will rotate again when the nose portion is pressed against the face material, thus causing a new screw to be fed. For this reason, the screw initially fed may be wasted and besides the nose portion will be clogged with the two screws introduced into a narrow space.
Moreover, the screw will not sufficiently be driven in and the screw head will also be protruded from the face material if the indentation load applied to the nose portion is released before the screw is sufficiently driven in; consequently, it is required to tighten the screw again. However, the forced-in movement of the nose portion allows the feed wheel to rotate and causes a new screw to be fed. The screw thus needs tightening again after what has newly been fed is removed and there arise the problem of making troublesome the work of removing the screw that has already been fed and the problem of wasting screws.
In a screw tightener of the sort mentioned above, there arises the necessity of reversely extracting coupled screws that have been mounted once therein in such a case that the coupled screw needs replacing in the course of the screw-tightening operation, and a mechanism for reversely extracting coupled screws has been employed accordingly. As disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 100880/1990, a conventional mechanism for reversely extracting coupled screws has been contrived so as to reversely extract a screw by lowering an operative lever in a screw tightener.
However, the operative lever is known to have damaged a sheet of paper covering the surface of, for example, a plasterboard as a material to be screwed down because the lever projecting from the surface of the screw tightener may strike against the material. Moreover, such an operative lever has been disadvantageous in that it is inferior in not only operability but also design as it is left projecting from the screw tightener, thus giving a unfavorable impression.


To suppress a voltage drop of a battery in an idle reduction state, a vehicle includes an idle reduction function of stopping the idling of the engine and restarting the engine when the vehicle starts moving. Then, a steering-by-wire control processing is performed to disengage a clutch and to control driving of turning motors. When the idling of the engine is stopped by the idle reduction function, a disengaged state of the clutch is maintained and the driving of the turning motors is restricted.

JP 2001-173476 A describes an idle reduction technology as a countermeasure against exhaust emissions or for improvement of fuel efficiency, which stops an engine automatically when a vehicle stops and the engine is an idling state, and restarts the engine when the vehicle starts moving.
A steering-by-wire system consumes electric power in turning wheels with a turning motor and in generating a steering reaction force with a reaction force motor. However, an alternator is stopped in an idle reduction state such as the above-mentioned prior art, and thus available electric power for an ordinary engine vehicle other than a hybrid vehicle is limited. Therefore, when the steering-by-wire is performed ordinarily in the idle reduction state, the voltage of the battery may drop, and the other electric system may be affected.

Steering control device and steering control method


A USB storage device having the function of preventing stored software from being deleted by mistake achieved with as simple a structure as possible. In the USB storage device, the storage area is divided into an area in which execution of reading, writing and deleting is allowed and an area in which only execution of reading is allowed. Information to make a USB mass storage class driver recognize these areas as areas corresponding, respectively, to logical unit numbers defined in the SCSI command set of the USB mass storage class driver owned by the host is stored in the USB storage device. The information includes logical unit numbers, formats, writing/deleting allowed/not allowed flag, logical block numbers and physical block numbers. By this, the USB mass storage class driver recognizes the USB storage device as a SCSI device having two logical units.

(i) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a USB storage device for storing information using a semiconductor memory.
(ii) Background Art
These days, attachable and detachable USB storage devices, each of which comprises an installed flash memory and an interface according to the USB (Universal Serial Bus) standard and has a compact configuration by integrating its USB connector portion into the main body, are widely known as described in Publication of Unexamined Japanese Patent Application No. 2000-259275. Such USB storage devices with a compact configuration can be manufactured at a low cost, and are utilized for companies' sales promotion items into which software of commercials and others is written.
Most of these USB storage devices are provided with a physical switch, such as a write protect switch, to prevent the software from being deleted by mistake. By changing the switch, switching between the state in which reading, writing and deleting is possible and the state in which only reading is possible is available. In some cases an inherently unwritable memory, such as a ROM, is used to completely prevent writing and deleting
However, when a ROM or the like is used in a USB storage device to prevent a user from writing information, the USB storage device has only limited applications and thus reduced usability. In other cases, it is impossible to write temporary files or data during execution of the software, which limits the function of the software itself. When a write protect switch as mentioned above is used, the write protect switch is sometimes turned off due to some physical factor unknown to the user, and thereby unintended writing or deleting may be performed.
To solve these problems, technology as described in Publication of Unexamined Japanese Patent Application No. 10-289159 has been devised. According to the technology, a portable-type writable medium has a hybrid configuration by virtually providing an unwritable area and an unreadable area.
When applying the above described technology to a USB storage device, practical working methods may be as the following.
In one working method, a USB storage device is provided with two internal USB storage device units (deleting and writing is restricted in one of the USB storage device units) and a hub connecting these USB storage device units. However, there is a problem that such a USB storage device has a complex configuration as it actually has two USB storage device units therein. There is another problem that when the USB storage device is connected to a host, connecting processing takes time since the host first recognizes the USB storage device as a HUB device and then initializes the same number of mass storage class drivers as the number of internally provided USB storage device units.
In another working method, the number of endpoints in the USB standard is increased. In this case, however, a controller provided in the USB storage device is required to have the same number of FIFO buffers as the number of the endpoints. Although there is a newer controller without multiple FIFO buffers by the technology of using virtual endpoints, all these controllers have complex configurations, and thus lead to an increased manufacturing cost.
An object of the present invention, which has been made to solve the above problems, is to provide a USB storage device which has as simple a structure as possible and achieves the function of preventing stored software from being deleted by mistake.


A thin loudspeaker is provided that produces a superior frequency response and a diffuse acoustical pattern using magnetic drivers, acoustical plates, or a combination of magnetic drivers and acoustical plates. The invention contains a specially designed crossover network and a novel enclosure design. The novel enclosure includes a septum and cross bracing which enables the invention to realize superior performance in a thin loudspeaker design. The invention encompasses methods for improving the performance of an acoustical plate which include (1) placing acoustical plate motor elements on the plate in a manner that avoids rotational, mirror, and translational symmetry, (2) using acoustical plate motor elements of different shapes and sizes to stimulate the plate, and (3) using an acoustical plate that has an asymmetric shape. All of the embodiments of the invention may be covered with a decorative cover and hung on a wall like a picture or used to form a panel in a home entertainment center.

The present invention relates to thin loudspeakers, especially those that use multiple drivers to produce high fidelity sound.
A great deal of research has gone toward developing thin loudspeakers. Thin loudspeakers are in demand because they are less intrusive than conventional loudspeakers and hence can be utilized in a greater variety of ways.
Over the years, the design of thin loudspeakers has evolved. Early thin loudspeakers included a relatively stiff and substantially planar diaphragm mounted in a frame and coupled at its rear surface to a speaker voice coil. The voice coil would press the rear surface of the diaphragm and cause sufficient vibration of the diaphragm to produce sound.
Later thin loudspeakers incorporated piezoelectric elements as the driving elements. One of the first piezoelectric thin loudspeakers consisted of a vibrating film stretched on a frame with a plurality of piezoelectric drivers attached directly to the film. Although the use of piezoelectric driver elements allowed the loudspeakers to become more compact, the frequency responses of such systems were poor.
In order to improve the frequency response of thin loudspeakers, designers began to use different drivers to reproduce different segments of the audible spectrum. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,031,222 entitled Piezoelectric Speaker issued to Takaya discloses a flat panel loudspeaker that utilizes at least two groups of piezoelectric drivers which have different primary resonance frequencies. The primary resonance frequency of one group of piezoelectric drivers has a value between the primary resonance frequency and secondary resonance frequency of the other group. Likewise, U.S. Pat. No. 5,196,755 entitled Piezoelectric Panel Speaker issued to Shields discloses a planar loudspeaker that utilizes an array of piezoelectric elements. By including individual elements in the array with different resonance frequencies, the band of frequencies that can be reproduced is increased.
Despite the advances made in the area of thin loudspeakers, conventional thin loudspeakers still have limitations. None of the patents described above or any other reference disclose a loudspeaker that can provide a superior frequency response in a thin structure.
The present invention provides a thin loudspeaker that produces a superior frequency response and a diffuse acoustical pattern using magnetic drivers, acoustical plates, or a combination of magnetic drivers and acoustical plates. The invention contains a specially designed crossover network and a novel enclosure design. The novel enclosure includes a septum and cross bracing which enables the invention to realize superior performance in a thin loudspeaker design. The invention encompasses methods for improving the performance of an acoustical plate which include (1) placing acoustical plate motor elements on the plate in a manner that avoids rotational, mirror, and translational symmetry, (2) using acoustical plate motor elements of different shapes and sizes to stimulate the plate, and (3) using an acoustical plate that has an asymmetric shape. All of the embodiments of the invention may be covered with a decorative cover and hung on a wall like a picture or used to form a panel in a home entertainment center.
In a preferred embodiment, a plurality of acoustical plate motor elements are attached to an L-shaped acoustical plate secured above at least a portion of the thin loudspeaker""s septum. The acoustical plate motor elements are placed on the acoustical plate in a manner that avoids rotational, mirror, and translational symmetry. A magnetic driver is attached to the septum, and cross bracing connects the septum to the rear wall of the loudspeaker enclosure.
As pointed out in greater detail below, the present invention provides a thin loudspeaker that can reproduce high quality sound over a range of frequencies which was not previously possible in such a structure using a combination of magnetic drivers and acoustical plates.
It is an object of this invention to provide a thin loudspeaker that has the sensitivity of a conventional speaker and a diffuse acoustical radiation pattern.
It is another object of this invention to provide a thin loudspeaker that can efficiently provide a superior frequency response over the audible spectrum.
It is yet another object of this invention to create a thin loudspeaker that can provide superior acoustic performance utilizing either magnetic drivers, acoustical plates, or a combination of magnetic drivers and acoustical plates.


An apparatus may include a touch sensor, a touch region of the touch sensor that is free of sense electrodes, a first peripheral region of the touch sensor and a second peripheral region of the touch senor and the touch region is located between the first peripheral region and the second peripheral region, a first sense electrode is located in the first peripheral region, a second sense electrode is located in the second peripheral region.

Presently, touch pads and touch screens are almost universal with liquid crystal display (LCD) devices. People naturally see an LCD and try to touch the screen when interacting with the device. One problem associated with this expectation is that a full 2D glass or plastic touch panel can be quite expensive which, in turn, can increase the overall price of the LCD device. For example, one may be able to obtain a 3″×3″ LCD panel relatively inexpensively, but to put a transparent touch sensor over top of the LCD to make it active to touch, or otherwise include touch sensing on the LCD device, approximately doubles, or triples, the cost. Accordingly, there is a need to manufacture LCD screens and other touch sensors in more cost-effective ways and potentially open up a number of applications to touch.
Furthermore, many devices that do not include LCD screens often lack touch sensing capability but could benefit from it if economically possible. For example, devices such as battery chargers, thermostats, heaters, fans, vending machines, or the like, where a limited amount of touch sensing (e.g., on/off, speed up/slow down, temperature up/down, select item A or item B, and the like) could benefit from economical touch sensing. Typically, the cost of including capacitive touch sensing is not feasible on such devices.
Other drawbacks, inconveniences, and issues with existing devices and methods also exist.


An apparatus and method develops an electrostatic latent image directly from an imaging member to a final substrate, such as paper or the like. An image development apparatus and method creates a first electrostatic latent image on an imaging member and deposits a toner layer on the imaging member. The image developer then generates a second electrostatic latent image in the toner layer in response to the first electrostatic latent image on the imaging member. The second electrostatic latent image can be generated by either a broad source ion charging device or an air breakdown charging device. Next, the latent image bearing toner layer is selectively separated and developed such that the image areas are developed directly from the imaging member onto a final substrate and the non-image areas remain on the imaging member.

1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates generally to electrostatic latent image development, and more particularly, to an apparatus and method for developing an electrostatic latent image directly from an imaging member to a final substrate, such as paper or the like.
2. Description of Related Art
In a typical electrostatographic printing process, copying and printing are initiated by selectively charging and/or discharging a charge receptive imaging member in accordance with an original input document or an imaging signal, thereby generating an electrostatic latent image on the imaging member. This latent image is subsequently developed into a visible image by a process in which charged developing material is deposited onto the surface of the latent image bearing imaging member. Charged particles in the developing material adhere to image areas of the latent image to form a visible developed image corresponding to the latent image on the imaging member. The developed image is subsequently transferred, either directly or indirectly, from the imaging member to a copy substrate, such as paper or the like, to produce a "hard copy" output document. In a final step, the imaging member is cleaned to remove any charge and/or residual developing material therefrom in preparation for a subsequent image forming cycle.
The developing material typically comprises carrier granules having toner particles adhering triboelectrically thereto, wherein the toner particles are electrostatically attracted from the carrier granules to the latent image areas to create a powder toner image on the imaging member. Alternatively, the developing material may comprise a liquid developing material comprising a carrier liquid having pigmented marking particles (or "toner solids") and charge director materials dispersed and/or dissolved therein, wherein the liquid developing material is applied to the latent image bearing imaging member with the marking particles being attracted to the image areas of the latent image to form a developed liquid image. Regardless of the type of developing material employed, the toner or marking particles of the developing material are uniformly charged and are electrostatically attracted to the latent image.
The above-described electrostatographic printing process is well known and has been implemented in various forms in the marketplace to facilitate, for example, light lens copying of an original document, as well as printing of electronically generated or digitally stored images where the electrostatic latent image is formed via a modulated laser beam. Analogous processes also exist in other electrostatic printing applications such as, for example, ionographic printing and reproduction where charge is deposited in image-wise configuration on a dielectric charge retentive surface (see, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,267,556 and 4,885,220, among numerous other patents and publications), as well as other electrostatic printing systems wherein a charge carrying medium is adapted to carry an electrostatic latent image. It will be understood that the instant invention applies to all various types of electrostatic printing systems and is not intended to be limited by the manner in which the image is formed on the imaging member or the nature of the latent image bearing member itself.
The typical electrostatographic printing process described above includes a development step whereby developing material is physically transported into contact with the imaging member so as to selectively adhere to the latent image areas thereon in an image-wise configuration. Development of the latent image is usually accomplished by electrical attraction of toner or marking particles to the image areas of the latent image. The development process is most effectively accomplished when the particles carry electrical charges opposite in polarity to the latent image charges, with the amount of toner or marking particles attracted to the latent image being proportional to the electrical field associated with the image areas. Some electrostatic imaging systems operate in a manner wherein the latent image includes charged image areas for attracting developer material (referred to as charged area development (CAD), or "write white" systems), while other printing processes operate in a manner such that discharged areas attract developing material (referred to as discharged area development (DAD), or "write black" systems).
U.S. patent applications Ser. No. 08/883,292 (the application Ser. No. '292), filed Jun. 27, 1997, and Ser. No. 08/884,236, (the application Ser. No. '236) filed Jun. 27, 1997, each herein incorporated by reference in its entirety, disclose electrostatographic imaging processes where an electrostatic latent image bearing member having a layer of marking material coated thereon is selectively charged in an image-wise manner to create a secondary latent image corresponding to the electrostatic latent image on the imaging member.
In the incorporated application Ser. No. '292, the image-wise charging is accomplished by a wide beam charge source for introducing free mobile charges, or ions, in the vicinity of the electrostatic latent image coated with the layer of marking material or toner particles. The latent image causes the free mobile ions to flow in an image-wise ion stream corresponding to the latent image. These ions, in turn, are captured by the marking material or toner particles, leading to image-wise charging of the marking material or toner particles with the layer of marking material or toner particles itself becoming the latent image carrier. The latent image carrying toner layer is subsequently developed by selectively separating and transferring image areas of the toner layer to a copy substrate for producing an output document.
In the incorporated application Ser. No. '236, the image-wise charging is accomplished by inducing the ionization of air via a phenomenon known as air breakdown for introducing free mobile ions in the vicinity of the electrostatic latent image coated with the layer of toner particles. The formation of electrostatic charge patterns by electrical discharges involves the phenomena of ionic conduction through gases. It is known that when two conductors are held near each other with a voltage applied between the two, electrical discharge will occur as the voltage is increased to the point of air breakdown. This discharge is usually accompanied by a visible spark. However, when the conductors are very close together (a few thousands of an inch) discharge can take place without sparking and electrical charges will be collected on a receiving surface during discharges. As described above, the latent image causes the free mobile ions to flow in an image-wise ion stream corresponding to the latent image. The ions, in turn, are captured by the marking material in the layer, leading to image-wise charging of the marking layer with the marking material layer itself becoming the latent image carrier. The latent image carrying toner layer is subsequently developed by selectively separating image areas of the toner layer and transferring the separated image to a copy substrate for producing an output document.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,504,138 to Kuehnle et al. discloses a method of developing a latent electrostatic charge image formed on a photoconductor surface. The method includes (1) applying a thin viscous layer of electrically charged toner particles to an applicator roller, preferably by electrically assisted separation thereof from a liquid toner suspension, (2) defining a restricted passage between the applicator roller and the photoconductor surface which approximates the thickness of the viscous layer, and (3) transferring the toner particles from the applicator roller at the photoconductor surface due to the preferential adherence thereof to the photoconductor surface under the dominant influence of the electric field strength of the electrostatic latent image carried by the photoconductive surface. The quantity of toner particles that is transferred is proportional to the relative incremental field strength of the latent electrostatic image. An apparatus for carrying out the method includes an applicator roller mounted for rotation in a container for toner suspension, an electrode arranged adjacent the circumferential surface of the roller to define an electrodeposition chamber therebetween and electrical connections between the roller, the electrode and a voltage source to enable electrolytic separation of toner particles in the chamber, forming a thin highly viscous layer of concentrated toner particles on the roller.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,387,760 to Miyazawa et al. describes a wet development apparatus for use in a recording machine to develop a toner image corresponding to an electrostatic latent image on an electrostatic latent image carrier. The apparatus includes a development roller disposed in contact with or near the electrostatic latent image carrier and an application head for applying a uniform layer of the wet developer to the roller.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,436,706 to Landa et al. discloses an imaging apparatus including a first member having a first surface with a latent electrostatic image formed thereon, wherein the latent electrostatic image includes image regions at a first voltage and background regions at a second voltage. A second member charged to a third voltage between the first and second voltages is also provided, having a second surface adapted for resilient engagement with the first surface. A third member is provided, adapted for resilient contact with the second surface in a transfer region. The imaging apparatus also includes an apparatus for supplying liquid toner to the transfer region thereby forming on the second surface a thin layer of liquid toner containing a relatively high concentration of charged toner particles, as well as an apparatus for developing the latent image by selectively transferring portions of the layer of liquid toner from the second surface to the first surface.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,619,313 to Domoto et al. describes a method and apparatus for simultaneously developing and transferring a liquid toner image. The method includes (1) moving a photoreceptor including a charge bearing surface having a first electrical potential, (2) applying a uniform layer of charge having a second electrical potential onto the charge bearing surface, and (3) dissipating charge, image-wise, from selected portions on the charge bearing surface to form a latent image electrostatically, such that the charge dissipated portions of the charge bearing surface have the first electrical potential of the charge bearing surface. The method also includes moving an intermediate transfer member biased to a third electrical potential that lies between said first and said second potentials, into a nip forming relationship with the moving imaging member to form a process nip. The method further includes introducing charged liquid toner having a fourth electrical potential into the process nip, such that the liquid toner sandwiched within the nip simultaneously develops image portions of the latent image onto the intermediate transfer member, and background portions of the latent image onto the charge bearing surface of the photoreceptor.
The liquid toner image development systems of the prior art that apply a substantially uniform layer of liquid toner to an imaging member do not contemplate developing an image directly onto a substrate at the same station where the image is separated from the imaging member. Rather, these prior art development systems develop and transfer the image from the imaging member to an image separator at a first station and subsequently transfer the image from the image separator to a substrate at a different station.

Apparatus and method for developing an electrostatic latent image directly from an imaging member to a final substrate


The present invention provides an organic nonlinear optical material including an organic compound having nonlinear optical activity dispersed in or bonded to a polymer binder, wherein the material contains a tertiary amine derivative represented by the following formula (1) as the organic compound having nonlinear optical activity, and an organic nonlinear optical element using the same.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a nonlinear optical element that is applicable to a light modulator, an optical switch, an optical integrated circuit, an optical computer, an optical memory, a wavelength conversion element, and a hologram element that are useful in fields such as optical information communication, optical information processing and imaging in which light is used. Furthermore, the invention relates to an organic nonlinear optical material that is necessary to manufacture the nonlinear optical element.
2. Description of the Related Art
Many functional elements such as a wavelength conversion element, a light modulator and an optical switch that are important in fields such as optical information communication, optical information processing and imaging in which light is used are embodied by using a nonlinear optical material, and particularly a secondary nonlinear optical material. Inorganic nonlinear optical materials such as lithium niobate and potassium dihydrogen phosphate have already been put to practical use and widely used as a secondary nonlinear optical material. However, organic nonlinear optical materials having superiority such as a high nonlinear optical performance, low-priced materials, low manufacturing costs, and a high manufacturability have recently received attention, and active research and development aimed at putting such materials to practical use is being carried out.
In order to exhibit a secondary nonlinear optical effect, it is essential that a center of symmetry does not exist in systems in principle, and such systems are roughly divided into systems in which an organic compound having nonlinear optical activity is crystallized into a crystal structure in the absence of a center of symmetry (hereinafter referred to as a 'crystal system'), and systems in which an organic compound having nonlinear optical activity is dispersed in or bonded to a polymer binder and oriented by some means (hereinafter referred to as a 'polymer system').
It has been known that an organic nonlinear optical material in the above-mentioned crystal system is capable of exhibiting very high nonlinear optical performance. However, it is difficult to manufacture a large organic crystal that is necessary to make an element. Moreover, the organic crystal is so fragile that the organic crystal may be damaged in a process of making an element. On the other hand, preferable properties such as film-forming properties and mechanical strength that are useful for making an element are added to an organic nonlinear optical material in the above-mentioned polymer system by a polymer binder. The polymer system has thus been regarded as promising in view of a high potential for practical use.
With regard to an organic nonlinear optical material in the polymer system, it is required that an organic compound (particles) having nonlinear optical activity is uniformly dispersed or bonded without aggregating in a polymer binder and thus rendered optically homogeneous and transparent. In addition, as described above, anisotropy should be added to an organic compound having nonlinear optical activity by orienting the compound by some means in order to develop the secondary nonlinear optical effect of the resultant element. Moreover, the orientation state must be retained with stability over a long period in a temperature and humidity environment under which the element is put in order to utilize the element as a functional element.
Therefore, an organic compound having nonlinear optical activity that is used as an organic nonlinear optical material of the polymer system is required to have a low aggregating property and a superior compatibility with a polymer binder in addition to a high nonlinear optical performance. The organic nonlinear optical material of the polymer system is generally made into an element in the form of a thin film, and a wet coating method is preferably used to form the thin film. Thus, the organic compound having nonlinear optical activity that is used as the organic nonlinear optical material of the polymer system is required to have a high solubility in a solvent forcoating. Meanwhile, a polymer binder needs to have a high glass transition temperature to stably retain the orientation state of the organic compound having nonlinear optical activity that is included in the polymer binder as well as a high film-forming property and mechanical strength.
The organic compound having nonlinear optical activity needs to be oriented as described above so as to exhibit the secondary nonlinear optical activity in the organic nonlinear optical material of the polymer system, and an electric field poling method is generally used as an orienting method therefore. The electric field poling method is an orienting method in which an electric field is applied to a nonlinear optical material and then a nonlinear optically active compound is oriented in the direction of the applied electric field by Coulomb force between a dipole moment of the nonlinear optically active compound and the applied electric field. In the electric field poling method, in addition to the application of an electric field, the organic nonlinear optical material is generally heated to a temperature around a glass transition temperature thereof so as to accelerate molecular motion of the nonlinear optically active compound for supporting of the orientation.
Well-known examples of the organic compound having nonlinear optical activity include tertiary amine derivatives such as Disperse Red 1 (generally abbreviated to DR1) and 4-(dicyanomethylene)-2-methyl-6-(4-dimethylaminostyryl)-4H-pyran (generally abbreviated to DCM) (for example, see Chemistry of Materials, 1999, Vol. 11, pp. 2554 to 2561).
Meanwhile, polymethyl methacrylate (generally abbreviated to PMMA) has been studied the most as the polymer binder. However, the glass transition temperature of PMMA is low (approximately 100° C.), and the orientation state of an organic nonlinear optical material in the polymer system that uses PMMA as the polymer binder gradually relaxes even at room temperature, whereby nonlinear optical performance considerably deteriorates over time. Thus, it has been known that, for this reason, PMMA cannot be used as the material of a practical functional element (for example, see Chemical Reviews, 1994, Vol. 94, No. 1, pp. 31 to 75).
A polymer binder to be used in place of PMMA has been actively searched for in order to solve this problem, and it has been reported that polymers having a higher glass transition temperature than PMMA such as polycarbonate, polyimide and polysulfone are effective (for example, see Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (JP-A) No. 6-202177). However, when such a polymer having a high glass transition temperature is used as a binder, a heating temperature that is required during electric field poling must be increased. Thus, when DR1 or DCM is used as an organic compound having nonlinear optical activity in combination with the high polymer, such a compound sublimates and disappears, or is oxidized.
Further, these polymer binders having a high glass transition temperature do not necessarily have a favorable compatibility with DR1 and DCM. When DR1 or DCM is contained in a system at a high concentration in order to enhance nonlinear optical performance, the DR1 or DCM particles aggregate or crystallize. Moreover, even when DR1 or DCM is contained in a system at a low concentration, the DR1 or DCM particles aggregate or crystallize due to heating or long passage of time.
Therefore, there is a need for an organic nonlinear optical material which includes a specific organic nonlinear optical compound simultaneously having desired properties such as superior nonlinear optical performance, an amorphous property, oxidation resistance and sublimation resistance, which enables effective use of a polymer binder having a high glass transition temperature, and which has both superior nonlinear optical performance and superior stability, and a nonlinear optical element using the same.

Organic nonlinear optical material and nonlinear optical element using the same

Abstract: In the formula, Z1 to Z3 are independently aromatic groups optionally having a substituent; L is a π conjugated group optionally having a substituent; A is a π conjugated electron-attractive group which includes a ring structure optionally having a substituent; m denotes 0 or 1; a π conjugated system denoted by Z3-Lm has, from one terminal thereof to the other terminal, five or more unsaturated bonds which form one conjugated system; and at least two of Z1 to Z3, L and A may be connected so as to form at least one ring structure.


Processes for diagnosing boundary scan observed data produced pursuant to boundary scan testing of interconnected circuit devices having three-state bidirectional scan cells. A first set of observed data is produced by controlling each device individually to drive the I/O pins of the device pursuant to a set of test patterns and to scan out observed values, while the three-state bidirectional scan cells of the other devices that are in the high impedance state. The observed values for each device are diagnosed by a process that analyzes the observed data and refers to a pin connection list to isolate as to the pins of each device stuck-at faults, shorted pin faults, open faults between pins, and hardwire faults. A second set of observed data is produced by controlling each device in turn to be a driving device for driving its I/O pins to a first logical state, while the remaining devices are controlled to have their scan cells in the high impedance state and to scan out the signals observed on their I/O pins. The observed data is compared against expected data, and the observed data that is different from the expected data is diagnosed by a process that refers to a pin connection list and identifies short and open faults between receiving pins and respective driving devices.

The subject invention is directed generally to techniques for analyzing boundary scan test results, and is directed more particularly to fault isolation diagnostic techniques that will detect and isolate stuck-ats, interconnect bridging faults, and interconnect open faults.
Boundary scan testing is commonly utilized to test the interconnections between digital devices that comprise a system, where the interconnected devices can include integrated circuits, application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), hybrids, and circuit boards, for example. For boundary scan test capability, a device includes scan circuits that are capable of isolating device I/O pins from the interior logic of the device and directly accessing such I/O pins, which allows special interconnection test patterns to be applied and observed without interference from the interior logic functions.
Boundary scan test capability is commonly implemented with boundary scan cells respectively associated with those I/O pins for which boundary scan testing capability is being provided, with each boundary scan cell containing a flip-flop. The scan flip-flops are arranged into a register chain that is capable of operation in serial and parallel modes, so that test patterns can be loaded serially, applied in parallel, and test results can be applied and/or read out serially.
For testing, special interconnection test patterns are serially loaded into scan flip-flops for output pins. After a test pattern is loaded, the output scan cells containing the test pattern are switched to drive their associated output pins in accordance with the test pattern. Subsequently, the signals on input pins are stored in associated input scan. The stored inputs are then serially read out to evaluate the test. A further test pattern can be serially loaded into output scan flip-flops while stored inputs are being serially read out.
Boundary scan test patterns are basically designed to achieve the following:
1. To drive each device output to the high state and to the low state at different times. Proper reception at the appropriate inputs verifies continuity. PA1 2. To drive each device output to the state opposite that of all other outputs, for both the low state and the high state. A short circuit between two or more outputs will be indicated by contention between the shorted drivers.
Considerations with known techniques for analyzing boundary scan test data include the necessity of a large number of test patterns and laborious, time consuming analysis of the test data.