A rechargeable battery includes an electrode assembly, a first current collecting plate and a second current collecting plate spaced apart from each other and electrically connected to first and second electrode uncoated regions n the electrode assembly, a case receiving the electrode assembly, a cap plate sealing the case, a first electrode terminal and a second electrode terminal extending through the cap plate and electrically connected to the first and second current collecting plates, a first retainer adjacent to the cap plate and coupled to firsts regions of the first and second current collecting plates, and a second retainer coupled to second regions of the first and second current collecting plates or to the first and second electrode uncoated regions, the first and second regions of the first and second current collecting plates being different from each other.

1. Field of the Invention
Embodiments relate to a rechargeable battery.
2. Description of the Related Art
Unlike primary batteries, which cannot be recharged, rechargeable batteries can be repeatedly charged and discharged. Low capacity rechargeable batteries that use single battery cells may be used as power sources for various portable electronic devices, e.g., cellular phones and camcorders. High capacity rechargeable batteries that use tens of battery cells connected to each other in a battery pack may be used as power sources for driving motors, e.g., electric scooters and hybrid electric vehicles (HEV).
Rechargeable batteries may be classified into different types, e.g., cylindrical and prismatic types. A unit battery includes an electrode assembly having positive and negative electrodes and a separator interposed between the positive and negative electrodes, a case for receiving the electrode assembly, and a cap assembly for sealing the case. Positive and negative terminals outwardly extending from the cap assembly are electrically connected to the positive and negative electrodes, respectively.


An internal combustion engine includes: a crankshaft supported via a bearing; a balancer drive gear; a balancer shaft; and a one-way clutch mechanism that transmits to the crankshaft a drive force to start the internal combustion engine. In the internal combustion engine, the bearing includes an oil seal built therein, the oil seal sealing a crank chamber of the crankcase. The one-way clutch mechanism includes a case fixed to the crankshaft and a starter driven gear provided relatively rotatably with respect to the case and driven by the drive force. The starter driven gear includes a thrust bearing portion that abuts on the balancer drive gear in an axial direction of the crankshaft.

A hitherto known internal combustion engine includes a crankshaft supported via a bearing by a crankcase, a balancer drive gear disposed on the crankshaft, a balancer shaft on which a balancer is disposed, a balancer driven gear that is disposed on the balancer shaft and that meshes with the balancer drive gear, and a one-way clutch mechanism that transmits a drive force to start the internal combustion engine to the crankshaft. In the internal combustion engine, the balancer drive gear is disposed on the crankshaft between the bearing and the one-way clutch mechanism (see, for example, Patent Document 1). In the technique disclosed in Patent Document 1, an oil seal that seals a crank chamber is disposed between the bearing and the balancer drive gear.


A method adaptively encodes a video including a sequence of images, where each image is a picture of two fields. Each image is first separated into a top-field and a bottom-field. Motion activity is extracted from the top-field and the bottom-field, and each image is encoded using either frame encoding or field encoding depending on the extracted motion activity.

Video compression enables storing, transmitting, and processing audio-visual information with fewer storage, network, and processor resources. The most widely used video compression standards include MPEG-1 for storage and retrieval of moving pictures, MPEG-2 for digital television, and MPEG-4 and H.263 for low-bit rate video communications, see ISO/IEC 11172-2:1991. "Coding of moving pictures and associated audio for digital storage media at up to about 1.5 Mbps," ISO/IEC 13818-2:1994, "Information technology—generic coding of moving pictures and associated audio," ISO/IEC 14496-2:1999, "Information technology—coding of audio/visual objects," and ITU-T, "Video Coding for Low Bitrate Communication," Recommendation H.263, March 1996.
These standards are relatively low-level specifications that primarily deal with a spatial compression of images or frames, and the spatial and temporal compression of sequences of frames. As a common feature, these standards perform compression on a per image basis. With these standards, one can achieve high compression ratios for a wide range of applications.
Interlaced video is commonly used in scan format television systems. In an interlaced video, each image of the video is divided into a top-field and a bottom-field. The two interlaced fields represent odd- and even-numbered rows or lines of picture elements (pixels) in the image. The two fields are sampled at different times to improve a temporal smoothness of the video during playback. Compared to a progressive video scan format, an interlaced video has different characteristics and provides more encoding options.
As shown in FIG. 1, one 16×16 frame-based macroblock 110 can be partitioned into two 16×8 field-based blocks 111–112. In this way, a discrete cosine transform (DCT) can be applied to either frames or fields of the video. Also, there is a significant flexibility in the way that blocks in the current frame or field are predicted from previous frames or fields. Because these different encoding options provide different compression efficiencies, an adaptive method for selecting a frame encoding mode or a field encoding mode is desirable.
Frame and field encoding tools included in the MPEG-2 standard are described by Puri et al., "Adaptive Frame/Field Motion Compensated Video Coding," Signal Processing: Image Communications, 1993, and Netravali et al., "Digital Pictures: Representation Compression and Standards," Second Edition, Plenum Press, New York, 1995. Adaptive methods for selecting picture level encoding modes are not described in those two references.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,168,357, "Method for a calculation of a decision result for a field/frame data compression method," issued on Dec. 1, 1992 to Kutka, describes a method for deciding a transform type for each 16×16 macroblock of an HDTV video, specifically, the selection between a 16×16 frame block DCT or a 16×8 field block DCT. In that method, differences between pairs of field pixels of two lines of the same field are absolutely summed up to form a field sum. Likewise, differences between pairs of frame pixels of two lines of the frame are absolutely summed up to form a frame sum. The frame sum multiplied by a frame weighting factor is subtracted from the field sum to form a decision result. If the decision result is positive, then the frame is encoded; otherwise, the two fields are encoded separately.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,227,878, "Adaptive coding and decoding of frames and fields of video," issued on Jul. 13, 1993 to Puri et al., describes a video encoding and decoding method. In that method, for frame encoding, four 8×8 luminance subblocks are formed from a macroblock; for field encoding, four 8×8 luminance subblocks are derived from a macroblock by separating the lines of the two fields, such that each subblock contains only lines of one field. If the difference between adjacent scan lines is greater than the differences between alternate odd and even scan lines, then field encoding is selected. Otherwise, frame encoding is selected. An 8×8 DCT is then applied to each frame subblock or field subblock, depending on the mode selected.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,434,622, "Image signal encoding apparatus using adaptive frame/field format compression," issued on Jul. 18, 1995 to Lim, describes a procedure for selecting between frame and field format compression on a block-by-block basis. In that procedure, the selection is based on the number of bits used for each block corresponding to the specified encoding format. The distortion of the corresponding block is not considered. A compression scheme is not provided.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,737,020, "Adaptive field/frame encoding of discrete cosine transform," issued on Apr. 7, 1998 to Hall and et al, describes a method of DCT compression of a digital video image. In that method, the field variance and frame variance are calculated. When the field variance is less than the frame variance, field DCT type compression is performed. Alternatively, when the frame variance is less than the field variance, then a frame DCT compression is performed.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,878,166, "Field frame macroblock encoding decision," issued on Mar. 2, 1999 to Legall, describes a method for making a field frame macroblock encoding decision. The frame based activity of the macroblock is obtained by summing absolute differences of horizontal pixel pairs and absolute differences of vertical pixel pairs. The result is summed over all the blocks in the macroblock. The first and second field-based activity are obtained similarly. The mode with less activity is selected.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,226,327, "Video coding method and apparatus which select between frame-based and field-based predictive modes," issued on May 1, 2001 to Igarashi et al. describes an image as a mosaic of areas. Each area is encoded using either frame-based motion compensation of a previously encoded area, or field-based motion compensation of a previously encoded area, depending on the result that yields the least amount of motion compensation data. Each area is orthogonally transformed using either a frame-based transformation or a field-based transformation, depending on the result that yields the least amount of motion compensation data.
The above cited patents all describe methods in which an adaptive field/frame mode decision is used to improve the compression of the interlaced video signal using macroblock based encoding methods. However, only local image information or the number of the bits needed for the encoding is used to select the DCT type and motion prediction mode of the local macroblock. None of the those methods consider the global content when making encoding decisions.
FIG. 2 shows a well known architecture 200 for encoding a video according to the MPEG-2 encoding standard. A frame of an input video is compared with a previously decoded frame stored in a frame buffer. Motion compensation (MC) and motion estimation (ME) are applied to the previous frame. The prediction error or difference signal is DCT transformed and quantized (Q), and then variable length coded (VLC) to produce an output bitstream.
As shown in FIG. 3 for the MPEG-2 standard mode encoding 300, motion estimation for each frame is encoded by either frame-coding or field-coding modes. With a given frame level mode, there are various associated macroblock modes. FIG. 3 shows the relationship between picture encoding modes, and macroblock encoding modes at the picture level, and the block level.
MPEG-2 video encoders can use either frame-only encoding, where all the frames of a video are encoded as frames, or field-only encoding, where each frame is encoded as two fields, and the two fields of a frame are encoded sequentially. In addition to the picture level selection, a selection procedure at the macroblock level is used to select the best macroblock-coding mode, i.e., intra, DMV, field, frame, 16×8, or skip mode. One important point to make is that the macroblock modes are not optimized unless the frame level decision is optimized.
FIGS. 4A and 4B show how a macroblock for a current (cur) frame can be predicted using a field prediction mode in frame pictures, or a field prediction mode in field pictures, respectively, for I-, P-, and B-fields. The adaptive mode decision based on the options in FIG. 4A is referred to as adaptive field/frame encoding. However, there the encoding is only at the macroblock-level, which is less than optimal due to mode restrictions.
For instance, in that macroblock-based selection, the second I-field can only be encoded with intra mode, and the P-field and B-field can only be predicted from the previous frame. On the other hand, if the frame level mode is field-only, then the second I-field can be encoded with inter mode and predicted from the first I-field; the second P-field can predicted from the first P field, even if field is located in the same frame.
FIG. 5 shows a two pass macroblock frame/field encoding method 500 that solves the problems associated with the encoding according to FIG. 4. That method has been adopted by the Joint Video Team (JVT) reference code, see ISO/IEC JTC1/SC29/WG11 and ITU-T SG16 Q.6, "Adaptive Frame/Field Coding for JVT" in JVT-B071. In that method, the input is first encoded by frame mode. The distortion and bit rate (R/D) are extracted and saved. The frame is then encoded by field mode. The corresponding distortion and bit rate are also recorded. After that, a function (F) compares the costs of the two encoding modes. The mode with smaller cost is then selected to encode the video as output.
The method 500 has several problems. The method requires two-passes and uses a fixed predetermined quantization (Q). Consequently, the JVT standard method requires a significant amount of computation for each frame and is less suitable for encoding a video in real-time.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,466,621, "Video coding method and corresponding video coder," issued on Oct. 15, 2002 to Cougnard, et al. describes a different type of two-pass encoding method 600. The block diagram of that method is shown in FIG. 6. In the first pass, each frame of the input is encoded in parallel paths using the field encoding mode and the frame encoding mode. During the first pass, statistics are extracted in each path, i.e., the number of bits used by each co-positional macroblock in each mode, and the number of field motion compensated macroblocks. The statistics are compared, and a decision to encode the output in either field or frame mode is made. In the second pass, the frame is re-encoded according to the decision and extracted statistics.
The prior art field/frame encoding methods do not address rate control or motion activity. Therefore, there is a need for an adaptive field/frame encoding method with effective rate control considering motion activity.

System and method for adaptive field and frame video encoding using motion activity

Mitsubishi Electric Research Laboratories, Inc.


A dielectric waveguide tube band-pass filter assuming lower characteristic change upon mounting, and having smaller dimensions and lower loss. Conductor layers (2a, 2c) are formed on the top and bottom surfaces of a dielectric substrate (1), wherein the top conductor layer 2a and the bottom conductor layer 2c are connected together through via-holes (3a). The via-holes (3a) are formed in at least two rows along the signal transfer direction. In the dielectric waveguide tube configured by the top and bottom conductor layers (2a, 2c) and the via-holes (3a), via-holes (3b) are arranged in the signal transfer direction at spacing equal to or below ½ of the in-tube wavelength to thereby configure resonators. The dielectric band-pass filter is configured by coupling adjacent resonators together through the via-holes (3b) configuring inductive windows. On the surface of the dielectric substrate (1), a co-planar line (4) including the conductor layer (2) as the ground and the conductor layer (2b) as a signal conductor is configured so as to overstride the inductive windows configured by the via-holes (3a).

Conventional filters used in a high-frequency range include a filter using a ¼-wavelength or ½-wavelength resonator including micro-strip or coplanar line, which is a planar filter expected to have smaller dimensions.
Waveguide tube filters which can be expected to have a lower loss include a dielectric waveguide tube filter, which is smaller in dimensions compared to a rectangular waveguide tube. In the dielectric waveguide tube filter described in Patent Publication JP-A-11-284409, for example, and shown in FIGS. 11A and 11B. the waveguide tube is configured by forming conductor layers 2a and 2c (FIG. 11B ) on the top and bottom surfaces of a dielectric substrate 1, the top conductor layer 2a and the bottom conductor layer 2c are connected together through via-hole arrays 3a, which are formed so that a spacing 1p (FIG 11 A) along the signal transfer direction is equal to or less than ½ of the in-tube wavelength. In addition, via-holes 3b constituting the inductive windows are formed in the waveguide tube thus configured so that the spacings (11, 12, 13 and 14) are equal to or less than ½ of the in-tube wavelength, thereby realizing a filter.
However, in the planar filter, since the electromagnetic wave is concentrated in a narrow area, the loss thereof increases due to the conductor loss or dielectric loss. In addition, since the electromagnetic wave expands outside the dielectric substrate constituting the planar filter, there is a problem in that the filter characteristic is changed due to the influence by a package when it is mounted on the package.
Further, as for the dielectric waveguide tube filter described in JP-A-11-284409, if a filter having a steep out-of-band suppression characteristic is to be achieved therefrom, the filter will have a larger number of stages and thus larger dimensions. Thus, there also arises a problem in that designed characteristics cannot be achieved due to limited manufacturing accuracy.

Dielectric waveguide filter with inductive windows and coplanar line coupling


Three-dimensional structures are provided which improve manufacturing yield for certain structures in semiconductor devices. The three-dimensional structures take into account the interaction between an upper layer and a lower layer where the lower layer has a tendency to form a non-planar surface due to its design. Accordingly, design changes are performed to make structures more likely to function, either by forming a more planar surface on the lower layer or by compensating in the upper layer for the lack of planarity. The changes to improve manufacturing yield are made at the design stage rather than at the fabrication stage.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to semiconductor fabrication, and more particularly to improving manufacturing yield by modifying design data to create three-dimensional structures of robust design.
2. Background Description
The manufacturing yield of a manufacturing process for semiconductor devices may be affected by a variety of factors. For example, the semiconductor fabrication process may produce a defective circuit due to contamination during fabrication. Such contamination may include foreign particles finding their way onto a surface of a circuit under fabrication. Such a foreign particle can interfere with the manufacturing process so that subsequent steps are not properly completed leading to a malfunctioning device. Malfunctions may include, for example, the shorting of wires to one another or a broken wire on a particular layer of the circuit.
Other factors which may negatively impact semiconductor manufacturing yield may include certain aspects of the device's design. For example, where a device's design specifies wires which are narrower than the narrowest wire that the fabrication process can reliably fabricate, the wire may be formed with a gap therein leading to a permanently open circuit. Another example of a design defect includes wires which are too close together. Where a wire is too close to an adjacent wire, there may be bleeding of one wire to the adjacent wire causing electrical contact between the two. Such unwanted electrical contact causes a permanent short in the circuit and prevents the circuit from functioning properly. Ground-rule checking of a semiconductor design should in practice eliminate errors of this kind, but there are situations in which a design rule is waived, meaning that such a violation maybe permitted.
By contrast, certain geometrical configurations of layout elements can obey all design rules and yet still be difficult to manufacture reliably. For example, types of designs which are prone to producing lowered manufacturing yield include designs which align one particular structure on a first layer with a second particular kind of structure on a second layer. Such problematic designs may lead to one structure affecting the formation of the second structure in a negative way.
In other words, in the manufacture of VLSI integrated circuits, certain three-dimensional structures can be difficult to build reliably. For example, structures such as wires at minimum spacing on a metal layer Mx over wide or large wires on the metal layer Mx-1. Note that this minimum spacing value on layer Mx is typically dependent on the width of the Mx wires, so that minimum-width wires require a smaller wire-to-wire spacing value than is required between wires of larger width. Another example of a difficult to manufacture structure includes wires at minimum spacing on Mx over a trench between two wide wires on Mx-1. In particular, during planarization, the polishing of wide wires on Mx-1 causes a local dishing of the surface (so-called "induced topography"). This topographic variation can cause shorting of the minimum-spaced wires in a subsequent metal layer.
It should be noted that traditional design rules do not prohibit the aforementioned problematic structures. Furthermore, routing programs typically do not recognize or try to avoid such interaction of structures from one layer to the next. Also, any cheesing steps to make a more uniform distribution between metal and dielectric on a layer does not necessarily alleviate the topographic problems because the wider wires can fall under the threshold shape width for which cheesing will be applied. It should also be noted that random-defect analysis does not reveal the presence of the problematic metal structures. Rather, such three-dimensional structures cause systematic yield loss, where, regardless of their physical location in the design of the circuit, they are consistently difficult to manufacture. Furthermore, there have been no automated techniques for treating the systematic defects associated with the induced-topography defects.
Accordingly, manufacturing problems can result from certain two-dimensional structures which should be avoided, such as one wire too close to a second wire, as well as certain three-dimensional structures encompassing multiple layers of a device which should also be avoided. For example, where minimum-spaced wires of an upper layer cross over a large wire of a lower layer, the flatness or planarity of the lower layer may be critical for proper small wire formation on the upper layer. Also, it is well known that where there is a relatively large wire formed by, for example, a damascene process in an oxide or other type of insulator, it may be difficult to form a planar surface across the dielectric and wire surface.
For example, in a damascene process, the lack of planarity across the wire and dielectric is caused primarily during the last step of the process which typically includes a chemical/mechanical polishing (CMP) step. Thus, during the CMP process, because there is such a relatively large expanse of metal for the wide or large wire surface compared to the surface area of the surrounding dielectric, the metal may become dished during the polishing process, leading to a non-planar surface.
Additionally, at the boundary between a wide metal line and adjacent dielectric material, the metal may become slightly recessed below the level of the surrounding dielectric. Thus, the dielectric will then protrude slightly above the surface of the metal large wire and lead to the formation of an unwanted trench at the edges of the metal line. The non-planarity of the dished metal line, and/or the trench, will cause, for example, non-planarity in subsequent layers formed above this lower layer. The non-planarity may then lead to metal wires formed on the subsequent layers being improperly formed and shorting to one another.
Traditional methods of mitigating the effects of such non-planar surfaces on a first layer interfering with the proper formation of structures on a subsequent upper layer traditionally focus on fabrication process changes on a single layer with no consideration given to altering the design of a first layer to solve fabrication problems of a second layer. Thus, a two-dimensional approach is traditionally taken. For example, where an unwanted trench is typically formed at the edge of a wide metal wire, the size of the trench is reduced, or the trench is eliminated altogether, by carefully adjusting the parameters of the polishing step of the CMP process. Accordingly, parameters of the polishing step may be adjusted by either altering the composition of the chemicals used during the CMP process or by altering the length of time of the polishing, etc. However, there must be a balance which has to be achieved between over-polishing—which can lead to trench formations and subsequent problems on higher layers—and under-polishing, which additionally causes non-planarity on the lower layer.
Referring to FIG. 1, for example, small metal wires 12 fabricated at, or close to, the minimum spacing possible on an upper layer are shown crossing a wide wire 14 on a lower layer. Thus, minimum-spaced wires 12 are wires which are manufactured near the lower limits of resolution of the manufacturing process. It should be noted that the wide wire 14 could potentially be dished during the CMP step of the damascene-forming process. Accordingly, where the minimum-spaced wires 12 lie above the wide wire 14, the non-planar surface below may inhibit the proper formation of the wires 12.
Referring still to FIG. 1, a dielectric 15 surrounds the wide wire 14. The dielectric 15 is typically an oxide or a nitride type dielectric. The wide wire 14 is typically copper, but may also be constructed from aluminum, as well as other conductors. Likewise, the minimum-spaced wires 12 are typically copper but may also be constructed from aluminum as well as other conductors.
Accordingly, the minimum-spaced wires 12 pass across the top of the wide wire 14 and then pass onto the dielectric 15. Because the damascene process used to form the wide wire 14 typically causes some dishing of the surface of the wide wire 14, the wide wire 14 and surrounding dielectric 15 may not be planar. Consequently, when an adjacent layer is formed on top of the wide wire 14 which includes, for example, minimum-spaced wires 12 imaged in a photolithographic process, the non-planar surface of the lower layer interferes with the material removal through planarization of the subsequent metal layer, resulting in a shorting of the metal material or of the liner material that is deposited between the metal and the dielectric.

Systematic yield in semiconductor manufacture

International Business Machines Corporation


The present invention involves a dart having a dart shaft that can be snap-fit into a corresponding dart barrel. The dart shaft has a cylindrical projection that terminates in a flange having indentations or detents on its peripheral surface. The dart barrel has a recess; flexible elongated arms extending into the recess of the dart barrel, removed from the walls of the dart barrel for clasping the dart shaft. The arms have indents or detents corresponding to the indents or detents of the projection, and the arms flex on and off the cylindrical projection of the dart shaft as the indents and detents are aligned and adjusted. The invention further relates to an adapter that can be used to modify a conventional threaded dart into the snap-fit dart of the present invention.

This invention relates to a dart of the type having a snap-fit, detachable dart shaft and flight assembly.
In the past, darts used in the game of dart-throwing have been made with separable, interconnecting parts. Typically, a dart will comprise a pin or tip, a dart barrel, a dart shaft, and a flight assembly which holds the flights or feathers.
At one end of the dart is the pin or tip. The tip is usually secured to a shaft which, in turn, is secured to the dart barrel; alternatively, the tip may be integrally attached to the dart barrel. The flight assembly is attached to the other end of the dart barrel for balancing the dart and furthering its aerodynamic qualities. The portion of the dart extending from the barrel to the end of the flight assembly may also comprise a separable dart shaft.
Traditionally, the component parts of the dart have been connected together by coactively threaded sections. In particular, the dart barrel typically will have a threaded recess, and the dart shaft for holding the flight assembly or tip will contain a threaded projection which screws into the recess of the dart barrel. The interchangeability of the dart parts allows users to expand on their dart collections and increase their variety of darts without having to buy complete new sets of darts; instead, they can buy the interchangeable dart parts.
However, the act of screwing out one dart part and exchanging it for another can be relatively time-consuming and interfere with the pleasure of the dart-throwing game. For example, users may want to quickly change the flights or flight assemblies used on the darts during the course of a game or in between games. Thus, it is desirable to have dart parts, and particularly dart flight assemblies, that can be easily and quickly snapped together and apart.
Prior art patents show flights that can be detached without the use of threaded sections. For example, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,114,884, entitled DARTS, issued to Tunnicliffe on Sep. 19, 1978, there is shown a dart flight which slide-fits into slits on the end of the dart shaft. Similarly, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,990,705, entitled DART FLIGHTS, issued to Clarke on Nov. 9, 1976, there is shown a flight assembly which is slidably secured to a dart shaft with the use of pins. However, in both those patents, it is the flights themselves that are detachable; the dart shafts to which the flights are attached are screwed into the dart barrel. Additionally, with the inventions shown in these patents, a unique dart shaft designed to accommodate removable flights is required.
Detachable dart shafts, as opposed to dart flights, that can be attached or removed without the use of threaded sections are further shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,324,004, entitled DART ASSEMBLY, issued to Giegerich on Jun. 28, 1994; U.S. Pat. No. 3,995,861, entitled DART FLIGHTS, issued to Clarke on Dec. 7, 1976; and U.S. Pat. No. 3,976,298, entitled DART, issued to Hinchman on Aug. 24, 1976.
More particularly, Giegerich shows a dart assembly that requires the use of a pin to hold the dart flight. The pin is inserted through a hole in both the flight assembly and the dart shaft; prongs extending from the dart shaft are compressed around the pin for insertion into the dart barrel. Since Giegerich requires use of a pin--an additional part--the dart invention of Giegerich is more complicated than the traditional dart. Also, the pin could be dropped, misplaced, or broken, or it could make use of the dart more cumbersome when a user attempts to engage or disengage the parts.
The dart shown in the Clarke '861 patent is more simple as compared with the Giegerich dart. The Clarke dart involves a spigot projecting from the dart barrel and a corresponding socket or recess within the dart shaft holding the flight assembly. The recess has detents for snap-fitting into indentations in the spigot. However, the surface of the spigot of Clarke slides directly over the surface of the recess in the dart barrel; thus, there is little, if any, flexibility in the snap-fit attachment and instead friction could result. Not only would this affect the ease of engaging the parts, but the dart parts and particularly the detents within the socket may become worn as the flight assembly is engaged and disengaged a number of times. The wearing of the detents eventually would adversely affect the integrity of the attachment, resulting in an insecure, wobbly dart, impairing its aerodynamic features.
Lastly, Hinchman shows a dart with detachable parts that disengage on impact such that the flight assembly will fall off the dart when the dart hits the dart board. With the dart of that invention, a user would be required to bend down and pick up the flight assembly from the floor or ground each time a dart is thrown and then re-engage the flight to the dart shaft.
Notably, each of the darts disclosed in the patents discussed above--Giegerich, Clarke, and Hinchman--require the use of specially-designed dart barrels that cannot be used with the traditionally threaded dart. Therefore, with those inventions, users could not expand on their dart collections by buying only dart parts but would be required to purchase a new line of dart barrels.
As the above background reveals, there is a need for a dart having a dart shaft and dart barrel that can be easily and securely snap-fit together which also is simple, involves few parts, and allows for flexibility in the attachment means so friction and wear and tear are minimized. There also is a need for a means of adapting the conventional threaded dart into the snap-fit type so that a user can use snap-fit parts without having to buy complete darts specifically designed for that purpose.


A miniaturized modem system including a modem chip on a board and a DAA chip on another board mounted together so that the boards face one another thereby substantially reducing the size of the system. The arrangement satisfies the requirement of the FCC for maintaining a minimum limit on spacing between the modem section and the DAA section thereby avoiding inadvertently applying voltage surges to the phone line. The modem system is mounted directly on a housing that is a receptacle for a telephone jack thereby further substantially reducing the size of the modem system.

The early phone line was a pair of twisted wires, which was found to be useful and economical for transmitting the analog voice signal from the phone to its destination. These lines continue to be in wide use up to the present time, particularly for transmitting the voice signal from the phone to the local phone office on a "local loop".
With the development of devices that generate digital signals, it became imperative to transmit the data from these devices to other digital devices.
In addition, it is economical to transmit signals from numerous sources simultaneously on one line as the demand for more transmitting capacity has grown.
The technique that has evolved has been to convert the digital signal at each origin of the signal to an analog signal by amplitude, phase or frequency modulation of a carrier wave. Up to twelve such modulated waves may be transmitted simultaneously (stacking) in one phone line
The requirement to convert a digital signal to an analog signal at the source of the signal for transmission over a phone line; and to convert an analog signal from the transmission line to a digital signal for interpretation by a digital device has been the motivation (and evolution) for developing the modem.
A modem is a circuit package connected between an end of a phone line and a source of a digital signal. The modem converts the digital signal to analog form so that the signal can be transmitted by the phone line to an intended receiver of the signal. If the receiver can process only a digital signal, then the signal must first be converted back to digital form by a second modem connected between the receiver and the other end of the phone line.
FIG. 1 (PRIOR ART) is a block diagram of a typical system showing two data terminal equipments (DTE) 10, 12 connected by a telephone line 14 through a pair of modem systems 16, 18. Each DTE, 10, 12, has a UART, shown in FIG. 2 (PRIOR ART)
The data signal is output in parallel from the DTE 10 and converted to a serial signal by the respective UART. UART. The serial signal is input to one modem 16 that converts the serial signal from a digital signal to an analog signal for transmission over the telephone line 14. The analog signal is converted back to a digital signal by the second modem and then converted to the original parallel signal by the second UART 22 for input to the second DTE 24.
The typical telephone line between the DTE and the local telephone office is a twisted pair of wires.
The transmission format of the string of bits and zeroes representing words of data is determined by the DTE and includes "marks" and "spaces". A mark is represented as one level of voltage or current; a space is represented by another level of voltage or current. Marks and spaces are included in the stream of bits and zeroes to mark the timing of the message. The pattern of marks and spaces depends on the mode of the DTE being any one of simplex, (one way), duplex (alternate one way), synchronous (simultaneous two way). The "asynchronous" mode is characterized by marks and spaces that synchronize the signal reception by the receiving DTE with the signal transmission from the sending DTE.
The history of MODEM development has included a number of versions particularly directed toward smaller size with improved convenience.
The first MODEMs were enclosed in housings that were about the size of a cigar box. As fabrication of circuits improved, MODEMs were developed in which all of the components of the MODEM were mounted on a single board and occupied smaller space.
The demand for decreased size of the MODEM is generated by several factors.
One factor is the simple taste of the public for smaller and smaller devices. "A MODEM housing the size of a matchbox is inherently more acceptable to the buying public than a size of a cigar box.
A more urgent factor is the increasing complexity of networks where telephone connections to numerous branches requires that such connections be assembled together in as small a space as possible.
These requirements led to versions of more compact MODEMs that gained wide acceptance in the marketplace.
The current trend in miniaturization by means of very large scale integration (VLSI) has led to the development of single and multiple chip sets of integrated circuits that perform most of the functions required of a modem.
The present approach to modem design is directed toward a specialized chip set provided with all of the required modem functions.
However, in spite of the developments introduced by the most recent MODEMs, there is still a need for a smaller less imposing MODEM. The need is particularly manifested in the desire for tighter clusters of line connectors.
A restraint on the reduction of size of the MODEM is imposed by isolation that is required between components of the MODEM.
UL Standards have been established for limiting the distance between the line components and the MODEM circuit.
This requirement inherently places a restriction on the reduction in size of the modem that can be achieved by applying the present approach to Modem design.


A clamping apparatus for lifting objects includes a frame and two or more clamping arms pivotably supported by the frame for movement into and out of contact with an object to be lifted. An internal support is supported by the frame for reinforcing the inner walls of a cavity in the object to be lifted. The insert may be supported by the frame for vertical movement with respect to the frame so that when the insert is not needed, it can be raised above the object. The insert may passively reinforce a cavity, or it may be equipped with movable reinforcing portions which can be moved into and out of contact with the walls of the cavity which is to be reinforced.

1. Industrial Field of Use
This invention relates to a clamping apparatus for use in lifting objects such as cases of soft drink cans or bottles. More particularly, it relates to a clamping apparatus capable of lifting an entire layer of objects by grasping the sides of the layer.
2. Description of the Related Art
Soft drink cans and bottles are commonly shipped from factories in cases or trays stacked on pallets, which can be lifted with a fork lift. Each pallet supports one or more layers of the cases or trays. Typically, a pallet as shipped from a bottling factory contains a single type of product. However, retailers of soft drinks frequently order less than an entire pallet of a particular type of soft drink. For example, a retailer may desire a half pallet of orange soda, a quarter pallet of grape soda, and a quarter pallet of ginger ale. Therefore, before soft drinks are shipped to a retailer, they may be unloaded by a distributor from pallets containing a single variety and repacked as pallets containing more than one variety of soft drinks.
The process of unloading and reloading pallets of soft drink cases is usually done by hand. This is monotonous and arduous work, and often results in physical injuries to the laborers who do this work. Furthermore, manual transfer of cases between pallets is a slow process, and a typical worker can unload and reload no more than 500 cases of soft drink cans per hour. This same problem exists with many other types of products, such as alcoholic beverages and grocery products, which are shipped from factories in lots too large for a single retailer to use and so are unloaded and reloaded by hand by a distributor to obtain pallets containing a suitable number of goods for shipment to a retailer.
Clamping devices have been developed which can lift one or more entire layers of objects (such as bricks) at a time from a pallet and move the layers to a different pallet. These devices typically have four clamping arms which pivot about horizontal axes to clamp the outer surface of a layer from four directions at once. The clamping arms, with the layer of bricks or other objects held between them, can then be transferred to a new location by a fork lift, a crane, or other lifting mechanism. However, these conventional clamping devices are all designed for lifting layers having specific fixed dimensions and are not suitable for lifting layers of variable dimensions. For example, if a clamping device designed for lifting a perfectly square layer is used to lift an elongated rectangular layer, two of the clamping arms will grasp the layer at a different height from the other two clamping arms.
With some objects, this difference in height may not be a problem. However, with cases of soft drinks, for example, a difference of a few inches between the heights where the clamping arms contact the different sides of the layer can make it impossible for the clamping arms to lift the layer. Accordingly, there is a need for a clamping apparatus which can be used to lift both square objects and elongated rectangular objects while holding all four sides of the objects at substantially the same height.
Sometimes, a layer of objects which is to be lifted contains a cavity at its center. There is also need for a clamping apparatus which can lift such a layer without damage to the objects in the layer.


This relates to one or more integrated photodiodes on a back surface of a PPG device. The one or more integrated photodiodes can reduce the gap between one or more windows and the active area of the photodiode(s) to increase the PPG signal strength without affecting the depth of light penetration into skin tissue. In some examples, the photodiode stackup can contact the surface of the windows. In some examples, the photodiode stackups can exclude a separate substrate. In some examples, the photodiode stackup can be deposited on the inner surface of the windows opposite the outer surface of the device. In some examples, the photodiode stackup can be deposited on the back surface and/or outer surface of the device. In this manner, PPG sensors can be included in the device without the need for extra layers and measurement accuracy can be improved due to lower light loss.

A device can include one or more photodiodes located on a back surface of the device, where the photodiodes can be configured for measuring one or more optical properties. For example, the photodiodes can be used to measure ambient light and/or determine whether the user's wrist is located in close proximity to the device. Another exemplary use for photodiodes can include photoplethysmographic (PPG) sensing. PPG sensing can include measuring optical signals to derive corresponding physiological signals (e.g., a pulse rate). In a basic form, PPG systems can employ a light source or light emitter that injects light into the user's tissue, and a light sensor to receive light that can reflect and/or scatter and can exit the tissue. The received light can include light with an amplitude that is modulated as a result of pulsatile blood flow (i.e., "signal") and parasitic, non-signal light with an amplitude that can be modulated (i.e., "noise" or "artifacts") and/or unmodulated (i.e., DC). However, in some examples, the path length of reflected and/or scattered light received by the light sensor may be long, which can result in a low signal strength and difficulty in accurately determining the user's pulse rate.
One way to increase the signal intensity or signal strength can be to decrease the distance between the light sensor and light emitter. Although the lateral separation between the light sensor and light emitter can be reduced, such change in lateral separation can affect the depth that the light can penetrate into the skin. An alternative way to increase the signal strength without affecting the depth of light penetration may be needed.


Embodiments of the invention relate to an inclinometer for use in tracking movement of a moveable structure such as a solar array. The inclinometer includes a magnetometer for sensing changes in a magnetic field indicative of movement of the movable structure. This movement information is then used to determine a current position/orientation of the moveable structure. In the context of a solar array, this information is used to determine the current position/orientation of the solar array. In some embodiments where the movable structure is a solar array, sun position data either from a database listing sun position information for different times of day or data based on algorithmic calculations may be used to determine a difference between current position of the sun and a current position/orientation of the solar array. The solar array may then repositioned based on this determined difference.

Solar energy conversion systems translate solar radiant energy into a useable form, such as thermal energy or electricity through solar array panels. In one process, the solar radiant energy is converted into thermal energy by focusing the sun's rays on a fluid, which is then used for power generation through the use of steam generation to drive turbines of electrical generators. Alternatively, the solar radiant energy is converted directly into electricity through the use of photovoltaic collection systems. Solar arrays are used for a wide variety of purposes, including as a utility power system, as a power supply for a remote or unmanned site, etc. A solar array's capacity ranges from a few kilowatts to a hundred kilowatts or more, and is capable of being installed wherever there is an area with exposure to the sun for significant portions of the day.
Utility power systems typically include solar arrays that are either direct or concentrating systems. The direct systems receive incident light directly from the sun's radiant energy and generate current. The direct systems typically include large arrays of photovoltaic cells. Conversely, the concentrating systems reflect the sun's incident light and either concentrate it onto an array of photovoltaic cells or heat a fluid that can then be used for power generation.
There are multiple ways of positioning solar arrays to track the sun. Some solar arrays have panels positioned in rows supported on a torque tube that serves as an axis of rotation. A drive system rotates or rocks the rows to keep the panels directed at the sun. Usually, the rows are arranged with their axes disposed in a north-south direction, and the drive system gradually rotates the rows of panels throughout the day from an east-facing direction in the morning to a west-facing direction in the afternoon. The rows of panels are brought back to the east-facing orientation for the next day of operation. Other panels have a two-directional axis of rotation around both the vertical and horizontal axis to allow the panels to rotate and tilt in order to maximize their exposure to the sun's solar radiant energy. A drive system is mounted on the panel axes to position the solar arrays in the proper directions.
In most solar arrays, a tracking system is employed to control the positioning of the concentrators as a function of the diurnal rotation and seasonal changes in orientation of the Earth relative to the sun. To maximize the radiant energy incident on the cells, mirror, lenses, etc., the arrays need to be positioned as accurately as possible toward the sun. For example, positioning the array in concentrator systems is important because the area of sun concentration may have an effective area of less than one percent (1%) of that required for direct systems. For the concentrator systems, an error of only one half degree of arc represents a misaiming of more than one solar diameter, which in some concentrator systems is unacceptable.
Some systems employ a sun sensor to provide feedback regarding positioning of the array relative to the sun. During evening hours or cloudy weather, when available solar energy is diminished, the solar arrays may become misoriented with respect to the sun. In order to conserve energy, the solar arrays are moved as little as possible, because every time the solar arrays are moved even a fraction of an inch, large amounts of power are used. When the sun appears again, the control system must be able to reorient the solar arrays over a wide angular range relative to the axis. Thus, improving the accuracy of the orientation of a solar array relative to the sun can significantly increase the efficiency of photovoltaic cells and/or concentrator systems.
To be practical the array positioning control systems for either direct or concentrator systems should be accurate, but inexpensive to help offset the high costs of solar arrays. This precludes certain designs that otherwise might be attractive. For example, a clock driven system could be employed in which the array is driven by the time of day only. However, such a system could not tolerate slippage in array positioning without resulting in misaiming. Such a non-slip system would require a solar array system rigid enough to withstand the anticipated wind loading. Such rigidity implies a bulky and expensive drive mechanism which makes the system very costly.
For this reason, many of the direct and concentrating control systems include various mechanical inclinometers used to detect positional changes in the movement of the solar array in combination with a sun sensor to detect the position of the sun. Inclinometers are used to detect angular inclination or displacement of the solar arrays. The reference is typically supplied by the gravitational pull of the Earth. The inclinometers that have been used in tracking systems in the past are often expensive, do not have the desired functionality and tolerances across applications, require frequent calibration, and are prone to failures due to the lack of durability, all of which result in increased costs.
There is a need to develop systems and methods to improve the control and tracking systems of various solar arrays, which will, in turn, improve the reliability, cost, and efficiency of the solar arrays.

Inclinometer for a solar array and associated systems, methods, and computer program products


Systems and methods are provided that automatically process a message input, construct an intelligent query based on the processing of the message input, and provide at least one attachable entity according to the processing results and the intelligent query. In some example aspects, a message is received. A natural language processor to determine if the message is requesting content may then process the message. If the message is determined to be requesting content, then candidate sub-queries may be generated to serve as a training set for a query that will be sent to an external search engine to retrieve the attachable entity. The sub-queries may be ranked in order of relevance and performance score. The highest ranked sub-queries may then be used in the actual query that is fired against the external search engine. The external search engine may search local and remote repositories for the top K most relevant attachable entities and present them to a user for attachment in a reply message.

Many email messages consist of requests for content (e.g., a document or a URL). The user who received the request then proceeds to perform the cumbersome process of searching for the known item to attach to her reply. Often, the content that is requested happens to already be present in the mailbox of the user receiving the request for content. Thus, users need to execute mailbox search queries or search or browse other repositories to retrieve the requested content manually before attaching it to their response. Similarly, when creating a new message discussing specific content, e.g., a document, email, or URL, users spend significant time searching for the proper content to attach to the email. These everyday repetitious and inefficient processes consume valuable time and hardware resources.
It is with respect to these and other general considerations that example aspects, systems, and methods are described herein. Also, although relatively specific problems are discussed, it should be understood that the examples should not be limited to solving the specific problems identified in the background.

Intelligent query system for attachments


A method for configuring a first device for a near-field communication with a second device, wherein a peer-to-peer mode is selected if the second device draws the power supply of its circuits from a battery.

1. Technical Field
The present disclosure generally relates to near-field communication systems and, more specifically, to the configuration of near-field communication devices for P2P (peer to peer) transmissions.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
More and more portable devices (smartphones, touch pads, etc.) are equipped with near-field communication devices (NFC).
Most often, such portable devices are capable of operating in two modes, respectively called card mode and reader mode. In card mode, the device operates as a contactless chip card to communicate with a near-field communication terminal (for example, another mobile device operating in reader mode). In reader mode, the device operates as a terminal and is capable of reading contactless cards (or another device operating in card mode), just as an electromagnetic transponder reader.
Electromagnetic transponder systems used in near-field communications are now well known. Their operation is based on the emission of a radio frequency radiation by the terminal or the reader to communicate with, and possibly to remotely supply, a transponder present in the field of the terminal. The transponder, when it is within the terminal range, captures this field and communicates by modulating the load that it forms on this field. A transponder is within the range when it is capable of exploiting the field, and possibly of extracting from this field a power sufficient for the operation of the circuits comprised therein. The terminal and the transponder are generally tuned to a same frequency.
When the device operates in reader mode, it most often has to remotely supply the transponder located within its range and with which it desires to communicate. Now, there exist different natures of transponders, from the simple passive electronic tag to more advanced transponders equipped with microprocessors. A transmission between a reader and a transponder thus generally begins with a search for the type of communication to be established between the two devices, that is, the communication standard to be respected.
The availability of devices capable of communicating in near field provides another possibility of communication, the peer-to-peer file exchange. Such a communication is performed according to an ISO-18092 (or ECMA 340; or NFC-Forum Digital Protocol) standard and is generally called F-type modulation. However, present processes for configuring an NFC device according to the type of modulation according to which it is to communicate may not be capable of detecting a need for a peer-to-peer communication.

Configuration of NFC routers for P2P communication


A thick portion having a first thickness and a thin portion having a second thickness on a base insulating layer are formed on a conductive support substrate. The second thickness is smaller than the first thickness. A boundary surface is formed between an upper surface of the thick portion and an upper surface of the thin portion. A boundary line between the upper surface of the thick portion and the boundary surface extends in a first direction. Write wiring traces and read wiring traces are formed to extend on the thick portion and the thin portion of the base insulating layer. The lateral sides of the write wiring traces and the read wiring traces extend in a second direction that intersects with the first direction, and the second direction forms an angle of not less than 60 degrees and not more than 90 degrees with the first direction.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a suspension board with circuits and a method for manufacturing the suspension board with circuits.
2. Description of Related Art
Actuators are used in drives such as hard disc drives. Such an actuator includes an arm provided rotatably around a rotation shaft, and a suspension board for a magnetic head that is attached to the arm. The suspension board with circuits is a printed circuit board for positioning the magnetic head at a desired track of a magnetic disc.
JP 2012-9111 A describes a flexure that includes a metal substrate for supporting a slider, a base insulating layer formed on the metal substrate, and a wiring formed on the base insulating layer. The wiring is connected to the slider. Signals of recording and reproduction are transmitted to the slider through the wiring.

Suspension board with circuits for accurate posture angle adjustment, and method for manufacturing the same


A system information obtaining method, a UE and a network side device are provided. The method includes: receive first scheduling information of on-demand SI sent by a network side device; obtain the on-demand SI sent by the network side device based on the first scheduling information.

The system information (SI) of a wireless communication system is mainly divided into a master information block (MIB) and a plurality of SI blocks (SIBs). The SI blocks may include SIB1-SIB20. In practical applications, SI is required to be broadcasted in many scenarios. For example, when a UE newly accesses a cell or a broadcast message changes, SI is broadcasted. At present, all SI are broadcasted each time, that is, SI including MIB, SIB1, and SI, where SI includes SIB2-SIB20. Of course, the SI may include more information. Since the SI in the wireless communication system is periodically broadcasted, the content of the SI will be more and more as the service of the wireless communication system is diversified and the terminal type is continuously evolved. The overhead of the SI will be larger and larger. Therefore, there is a problem of excessive overhead of SI in wireless communication systems.

System information obtaining method, user equipment, and network side device

CHINA ACADEMY OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGY


The present invention provides a resin composition made from admixing starting materials comprising: (a) 0 to 90 parts by weight of a polyolefin; (b) 5 to 95 parts by weight of a functional polyolefin; (c) 5 to 40 parts by weight of a polystyrenic; and (d) 0 to 30 parts by weight of an elastomer, where the total amount of components of (a), (b), (c) and (d) in the resin composition is 100 parts by weight. In a further embodiment, component (a) is a non-olefin copolymer and component (c) is high impact polystyrene. The resin compositions are useful as adhesives for metal and polyolefin substrates.

While it is known that acid-modified or anhydride-modified polymers are useful as adhesives for bonding to both metal and polyolefins, there is a need to have adhesives with not only high-bond strength to both metal and polyolefins, but also to activate the bonding at relatively lower temperatures. Conventional and currently commercially available modified polyolefins sacrifice either bonding strength to the metal or to the polyolefin, or do not activate at low temperatures when bonding to metals or polyolefins. Furthermore, adhesive compositions that purport to activate at low temperatures are often very soft and tacky materials such that the handling of these compositions as free films in thermal laminating processes is problematic and may require very costly release films to prevent blocking. Also, most current adhesives tend to significantly lose their bond strength over time after they are put into service. This phenomenon is referred to as "age-down" in the industry.
There are number of patents in the art that disclose adhesive compositions but these prior art patents are not satisfactory in every aspect mentioned in this specification. Examples of these prior art patents include U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,516,583; 4,861,676; 4,861,677; 4,552,819; and 5,965,255.
One example of the prior art is U.S. Pat. No. 5,225,482 issued Jul. 6, 1993 to Nakagawa et al, which discloses an adhesive composition comprising an ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer, a styrene polymer resin, a graft-modified polyethylene, a polystyrene elastomer and an ethylene-α-olefin copolymer. There is no disclosure of the use of high impact polystyrene as the styrene resin in combination with an olefin/non-olefin copolymer.
It has been found that the formulations for the adhesive compositions of the present invention solve many, or all, of these problems. The adhesive compositions of the present invention bond to both metal and polyolefins, activate at relatively lower temperatures and are easily handled as a free or coextruded film not requiring interleafing or a release paper. In addition, it has been found that these adhesive compositions fail 100% cohesively during the peel test. Cohesive failure is a desirable attribute in that it can be an indicator of high bond strength, so much so that the bond strength is greater than the cohesive strength of the adhesive. Cohesive failure also provides a convenient visual test to assure that multi-layer constructions are properly bonded when other testing methods are not readily available. Finally there appears to be a strong correlation between the cohesive failure mode of the adhesive and the retention of bond strength after the product is put into service. Accordingly, the present invention provides adhesive compositions that possess excellent bonding properties to metallic substrates and to a number of polymeric materials resulting in an adhesive layer with high peel strength. The present invention also allows for a relatively lower activation temperature to be used in the manufacture of building panels.
The adhesive compositions of the present invention may be supplied as an adhesive resin in pellet form or as an adhesive film.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Low activation temperature adhesive composition with high peel strength and cohesive failure


The method and system uses ultrasound (US) transducers in contact with an inboard surface underwater portions of marine vessels or structures. By first digitally generating disruptive, multi-frequency, interfering US waveform signals (complex waveforms, typically replicating a Bessel function) and then converting the signals into analog, the transducers generate disruptive, multi-frequency, interfering US waveforms through the underwater portions of the marine vessels and structures which waveforms disrupt unwanted marine growth on the water-side of the vessel or structure. The digital signals, and also the analog signals, are complex waveform signals, typically produced with a Bessel function. The US transducers are either circular membrane transducers or surface transducers. A computer processor coupled to a memory, generates the complex waveform signals fed to the US transducers.

There is a need for an improved method and system to control marine growth on vessel hulls and other surfaces subjected to marine and algae growth in water environments. There is a need to find more efficient and cost-effective ways to prevent barnacle growth on marine vessels than offered by the current technology. Anti-fouling paints control marine growth but are made of toxic materials that are detrimental to the environment. Further this heavy coat of anti-fouling paint adds extra weight to the boat causing more drag which in turn burns more fuel which further deteriorates the environment.
One prior art device, a SOANAR Ultrasonic Antifouling System, produces a repeating single frequency square wave pulse/burst which is produced by the output of a single binary pin of a computer circuit toggling between logical zero and one repeatedly. This prior art system generates an ultrasonic (US) waveform to reduce biofouling with an ultra-sonic speaker, also known as a piezo electric (PE) speaker. The PE speaker produces a high frequency sound which is not audible by humans. The SOANAR prior art device emits a single frequency, ultrasonic sound wave. The US burst can be represented by a square wave output burst. The SOANAR system may use several ultrasonic transducers driven by a single controller. The SOANAR system generates a repeating single frequency square wave pulse or burst.
An investigation of other prior art US cleaning systems, such as for jewelry, revealed that different frequencies have different cleaning effects but still have the same quantitative effect on the dirty surface. Two very different US frequencies result in the same amount of surface cleaning but there is a different amount of cavitation-based bubbles of different sizes. The lower US frequency cleaned the immediate area strongly but didn't cover as much area because of the degradation effect. With a higher frequency, the cavitation bubbles are smaller, but they also cover a larger area resulting in a more even clean than the lower frequency.
Some prior art systems apply multiple US frequencies to the surface to be cleaned by using multiple speakers or transducers, each supplied with a different frequency. While these multi-transducer systems solve the one frequency problem, a problem arises in that each transducer is driven by a different US generator requiring more power. Also, although one transducer can generate a pattern of multiple frequencies, these multiple frequencies are not emitted at the same time by the same transducer.

Method and system for controlling marine growth using complex ultrasonic waveforms


An image sensor having pin photodiodes residing vertically atop underlying CMOS control circuitry. In the preferred technique, pin photodiodes fabricated in amorphous silicon are utilized.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of image sensing and more specifically to a vertically integrated complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) image sensor.
2. Description of the Related Art
Solid state image sensors, which are used in applications such as digital cameras, are currently available in numerous forms. Charge coupled devices (CCD) and CMOS image sensors, for example, are based on a two dimensional array of pixels. Each pixel contains a light sensing device that is capable of converting an optical image into an electronic signal. When photons strike the photoactive region of the array, free charge carriers are generated in an amount that is linearly proportional to the incident photon radiation. The photon generated charge carriers are collected and moved to output circuitry for processing. The pixels are typically disposed in rows and columns to form the array. The number of pixels in the array determines the resolution of the final image produced by the sensors. Arrays of 640xc3x97480 are used for low-cost digital cameras and high-end digital cameras have a resolution of at least 1,000xc3x97800.
Recent developments in electronic imaging have created the need for image sensors with improved performance and additional functions. Some of these applications require a high dynamic range and on-chip signal processing. Conventional CCDs are unable to achieve these goals due to their limited dynamic range, serial readout mode, and pixels that can only perform limited xe2x80x9cintelligentxe2x80x9d operations. Furthermore, the serial read out scheme for CCDs precludes random access to individual pixels, so that the image processing is limited to the entire image.
To overcome the problems inherent in CCDs, laterally integrated CMOS sensors have been developed using CMOS circuitry in each pixel and photodiodes for the light sensing devices. CMOS image sensors have numerous advantages over conventional CCDs. They scale better than CCDs because as the CMOS process technology evolves, more complex circuitry can be added to each pixel. The additional circuitry increases sensitivity and reduces noise, allowing the pixel to shrink while maintaining the same functionality. CMOS sensors also have a cost advantage over CCDs because they can take advantage of the CMOS fabrication process. The cost of CMOS image sensors is further reduced because the CMOS process is much less complex than the CCD process. Since the CMOS process is less complex, the yield of CMOS image sensor is typically higher. This is partially due to the fact that the sensor does not use a serial read out process, so a defect in the chip will only affect a single pixel.
Typical prior art CMOS image sensors in use rely on a lateral integration of the photodetector and the pixel electronics. While laterally integrated CMOS sensors overcome some of the limitations of CCDs, they also suffer from some disadvantages. In a laterally integrated CMOS image sensor, the photodetector and the CMOS circuitry are fabricated next to each other on the silicon substrate. Thus, additional lateral area (xe2x80x9creal estatexe2x80x9d) is required for the lateral integration of the photodetector with the CMOS circuitry. This can reduce the area fill factor and limit the possible resolution. Furthermore, it is difficult to optimize the process technology for both the CMOS transistor and for the photodiode at the same time. So, while the design of fast CMOS circuits demands the use of shallow junctions with very low sheet resistance, this is totally inconsistent with using these junctions as a photodiode. Also, when additional on-chip functions are added to the sensors, either the pixel size will increase to maintain the sensitivity of the sensor or the area required for the photodiode will decrease to maintain the pixel size. If the pixel size increases to maintain the sensitivity, the resolution of the sensor will decrease. If the photodiode area decreases to maintain the pixel size, the sensitivity of the sensor may decrease.
Accordingly, the present invention pertains to the integration of photodetectors with CMOS circuitry.
An image sensor comprising a first conductive layer, which is part of a circuitry of an integrated circuit device. A light sensing device is disposed vertically atop the first conductive layer and the circuitry. The first conductive layer is coupled to one electrical side of the light sensing device. A second conductive layer is disposed above the light sensing device and coupled to an opposite electrical side of the light sensing device. The second conductive layer is coupled to provide a circuit coupling for the circuitry when the light sensing device conducts.

Image sensor using a thin film photodiode above active CMOS circuitry


A filter element comprises a porous body. The porous body is made of bonded matter, including: at least one material for binding lead; and at least a binder having a Melt Flow Rate, MFR, of more than 1 g/10 min. The porous body has a Mean Flow Pore size, MFP, in a range of between 0.1 and 11 μm.

WO 2012/175656 A1 discloses a method and apparatus for use in manufacturing a filter element. The method includes forming a layered structure including forming a first layer comprising particulate matter comprising at least a binder and applying a second layer comprising at least a binder directly onto the first layer on a first side thereof. The layered structure is subjected to at least a heat treatment. The step of subjecting the layered structure to at least a heat treatment includes passing the layered structure through a double-belt press. Typically, the filter elements have a thickness larger than 1 mm, more particularly larger than 5 mm. In general, the thickness will be smaller than 20 mm, in particular smaller than 15 mm. Typically, the average pore size will be larger than 2 μm, in particular larger than 5 μm. The average pore size will be smaller than 50 μm. The particle size of the binder can be of the order of 10 to 1000 μm, for example. The binder is made of a meltable material, in particular a thermoplastic material. The melting point of the binder is at least 50° C., preferably higher than 100° C. The applicant currently markets a disc-shaped filter element manufactured in a similar way to that disclosed in WO 2012/175656 A1, but with a porous body comprising only a single layer. This filter element has a mean flow pore size of between 20 and 35 μm, and is used in filter bottles and jug-based, gravity-driven filtration systems.
WO 2009/140033 A2 discloses a filter medium comprising components:                a) from 55 to 80 percent by weight of activated carbon particles having a particle size distribution with a D50 in a range of from 70 to 130 μm and a D10 in a range of from 25 to 50 μm;        b) from 5 to 20 percent by weight of first catalytic activated carbon particles having a particle size distribution with a D50 in a range of from 20 to 40 μm and a D10 in a range of from 2 to 20 μm; and        c) from 10 to 30 percent by weight of a thermoplastic binder, the thermoplastic binder binding at least the activated carbon particles and the catalytic activated carbon particles into a porous unitary body, wherein the percent by weight of components a)-c) is based upon a total weight of components a)-c). The filter medium is stated to have a relatively high capacity for removal of chloramine simultaneously with other water contaminants. An embodiment further comprises at least one lead removal medium in an amount of up to 20 percent by weight. Useful lead removal media are stated to include, for example, activated alumina (aluminium oxide) and cation exchange resins, as well as ATS (titanium silicate). The porous unitary body may be shaped as a hollow cylinder, thimble or disc. Materials used in the examples include high molecular weight polyethylene powder available as GUR 2126 UHMW PE and high molecular weight polyethylene powder available as GUR 4150-3 UHMW PE. Both have a Melt Flow rate (MFR) measured in accordance with ISO 1133 of less than 0.1 g/10 min, according to the manufacturer's data sheets.
WO 2005/108300 A1 discloses a filter block comprising filter particles having a median particle size of less than about 50 μm and having a particle span of about 1.4 or less. The filter block may comprise filter particles and a binder. At least about 50% by weight of the filter particles are activated carbon particles. An example filter block is made by a compression moulding process, in which about 42 g of carbon is mixed with about 13.2 g of Microthene low-density polyethylene FN 510-00 binder from Equistar Chemicals, Inc. and about 4.8 g of Alusil aluminosilicate powder from Selecto, Inc. A cylinder press is filled with the carbon mix and the cylinder wall is gently tapped to settle the mix. An upper piston is slowly lowered, completely engaged to 0.41 MPa pressure, and held for a few seconds. Then, the pressure is lowered to near zero and the upper piston is slowly retracted. Again, the cylinder is filled with more carbon mix, the cylinder wall is gently tapped and struck off to level the mix, the upper piston is slowly lowered to full engagement, and the pressure is raised to 0.41 MPa. This procedure is repeated one more time to fill the cylinder press completely with carbon mix. After the third fill, the 0.41 MPa pressure is maintained on the upper piston. Cylinder heat controllers are then turned on and the temperature is set to 204° C. A band heater is also turned on and a band heater controller Variac is set to approximately 288° C. The heating cycle lasts for 10 minutes. The filter block is stated to have a permeability of greater than about 3.0*10-9 cm2 and a Filter Viruses Log Removal (F-VLR) of greater than about 99%. According to the manufacturer's current data sheet, Microthene FN51000 has an MFR (in accordance with ASTM D1238) of 5.3 g/10 min. The relatively small particles and high pressure used to produce the filter block will result in very small pores and low porosity, and thus in a relatively high flow resistance. It would appear that the filter blocks are suitable for use only in filtration systems operating at least at mains water pressure.
NSF/ANSI standard 53 for the removal of lead from test water defines a test water composition (at pH 8.5) with the following properties: total lead content: 150 ppb±10% (135-165 ppb); at least 20-40% of the total lead content must be present in particulate form, with particle sizes above 0.1 μm; and at least 20% of the particulate lead must be in the size range of 0.1-1.2 μm.
The standard requires the filtrate to have a lead concentration below 10 ppb. This requirement is relatively hard to meet with a filter element suitable for a gravity-driven filtration system without decreasing the flow rate to impractical levels.
WO 2008/036844 A2 discloses a filter block made from about 40 wt.-% binder (GUR 2122), about 38 wt.-% powdered activated carbon and about 22 wt.-% lead removal (Alusil) media. Activated carbon size distribution such as the following was used: D10 of about 10-30 μm; D50 of about 70-100 μm; and D90 of about 170-200 μm. It is stated that blocks made in the disclosed shape were found to perform effectively in water filtration, including obtaining lead removal results that meet the NSF standard 53 for lead in drinking water, while also achieving a flow rate of 1 litre per 4-7 minutes flow rate of water filtration. In order to form the media components into a solid profile, a mixture of the media components and a binder may be placed in a mould and may be compressed with a piston or weight on the mixture, for example, and heated to make the binder tacky enough to stick to the media particles, thus holding them together in a solid profile when cooled. It is stated that, typically, heating in a 204-260° C. oven for about 30 minutes will effectively heat the mixture to reach the desired amount of binder tackiness. Compression that reduces the volume of the mixture by about 10-20 percent is preferred, but this may vary and extend to a greater range (for example 10-40 percent) or lesser range of compression. According to the manufacturer's current data sheet, GUR 2122 has an MFR (in accordance with ISO 1133) of less than 0.1 g/10 min.
US 2006/0000763 A1 discloses a carbon block filter comprising approximately 20-90 wt.-% activated carbon particles, the activated carbon particles having a mean particle size between approximately 90 and 220 μm; and approximately 5-50 wt.-% polymeric material binder, the binder material interspersed with the activated carbon particles. A first exemplary carbon block filter comprises approximately 65 wt.-% of 80×325 mesh activated carbon, approximately 20 wt.-% ethylene vinyl acetate copolymer binder and approximately 15 wt.-% zeolite. The volume median pore diameter, determined by mercury porosimetry is reported as 12.04 μm. Another exemplary carbon block filter also comprises approximately 65 wt.-% of 80 χ 325 mesh activated carbon, approximately 20 wt.-% Very High Molecular Weight Polyethylene binder and approximately 15 wt.-% zeolite. The volume median pore diameter is reported as being 9.01 μm.
There is a need for a filter element, method of manufacturing it, filtration device and liquid treatment system that provide filter elements having good adsorption, requiring little binder and a low amount of energy to manufacture, and allowing for high flow rates at small pressure differentials.

Filter element, method of producing a filter element, filtration device and liquid treatment system


A dispenser for dispensing paper towelling from a roll. The dispenser has a casing for holding the roll. The casing has an open bottom. A bottom member is mounted on the casing. The bottom member is movable between a closed position where it substantially closes the open bottom of the casing, and defines, with the front of the casing, an outlet for the towelling; and an open position where it allows access into the casing to enable the leading edge of the paper towelling to be grasped should it end up within the casing.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention is directed toward an improved paper towelling dispenser for use in dispensing paper towelling off a roll mounted in the dispenser.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Paper towelling dispensers for dispensing towelling off a roll of paper are well known. These dispensers are normally designed to have a cutting edge at the towelling outlet against which the dispensed towelling is pulled to cut it off from the remainder of the roll. If the cutting off is done properly, the leading edge of the towelling still on the roll will remain accessible for the next user to grasp and pull off the roll. However sometimes the dispensed towelling is torn off the roll within the casing holding the roll, thus making the leading edge inaccessible. The dispenser must therefore be designed with means to rotate the roll and to guide the leading edge of the towelling to a position outside the casing where it is again accessible to a user. Thus the known dispensers are quite complicated in construction, and costly.


Disclosed are an image-forming material having a colored light-sensitive layer which may be divided into a colored layer and a light-sensitive layer on a transparent support, characterized in that a transparent support having an orientation angle in the range of -20.degree. to +20.degree. is selectively used, and a method for forming a transferred image using the same.

This invention relates to an image-forming material and a method for forming a transferred image which are suitable for preparing a color proof, more specifically to an image-forming material and a method for forming a transferred image which can provide an image with less positional displacement when one transferred image is prepared by transferring images formed on a large number of sheets, particularly an image with less doubling in color when a multicolor transferred image is prepared.
As a previous step of final printing in multicolor printing, color correction has been generally conducted by a proof print. A light-sensitive transfer sheet for color correction (a color proofing sheet) can be obtained by exposing an image-forming material through a separation screen film for each color printing, developing the exposed material to form a separation image on a light-sensitive layer, and then transferring this separation image to a desired support. Further, a multicolor image can be obtained by repeating a step of transferring a separation image having different color to the above support.
In the prior art, when a color proof is prepared by using an image-forming material, there have been frequently used a method in which positioning is carried out roughly with eyes. According to this method, skill is required, and also it is difficult to obtain stable precision at all times.
There has been known a method for carrying out positioning with stable precision by using a register pin bar. However, even by using a register pin bar, there involve problems that more or less fluctuation of precision is observed, and doubling in color which can be detected visually occurs in some cases. It has been found that such problems are caused remarkably particularly when an image-forming material having a releasing layer on a support is used.

Image-forming material and method for forming transferred image


A programmable logic device includes a plurality of programmable multi-gigabit transceivers, programmable logic fabric, and a control module. Each of the plurality of programmable multi-gigabit transceivers is individually programmed to a desired transceiving mode of operation in accordance with a plurality of transceiver settings. The programmable logic fabric is operably coupled to the plurality of programmable multi-gigabit transceivers and is configured to process at least a portion of the data being transceived via the multi-gigabit transceivers. The control module is operably coupled to produce the plurality of transceiver settings based on a desired mode of operation for the programmable logic device.

1. Technical Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to general-purpose integrated circuits and more particularly to programmable logic devices.
2. Description of Related Art
Programmable devices are a class of general-purpose integrated circuits that can be configured for a wide variety of applications. Such programmable devices have two basic versions, mask programmable devices, which are programmed only by a manufacturer, and field programmable devices, which are programmable by the end-user. In addition, programmable devices can be further categorized as programmable memory devices or programmable logic devices. Programmable memory devices include programmable ready-only memory (PROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM) and electronically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM). Programmable logic devices include programmable logic array (PLA) devices, programmable array logic (PAL) devices, erasable programmable logic devices (EPLD), and programmable gate arrays (PGA).
Field programmable gate arrays (FPGA) have become very popular for telecommunication applications, Internet applications, switching applications, routing applications, et cetera. Generally, an FPGA includes a programmable logic fabric and a programmable input/output section. The programmable logic fabric may be programmed to perform a wide variety of functions corresponding to the particular end-user applications. The programmable logic fabric may be implemented in a variety of ways. For example, the programmable logic fabric may be implemented in a systematic array configuration, a row base configuration, a sea-of-gates configuration, or a hierarchical programmable logic device configuration.
The programmable input/output section is fabricated on the perimeter of a substrate supporting the FPGA and provides coupling to the pins of the integrated circuit package allowing users access to the programmable logic fabric. Typically, the programmable input/output section includes a number of serial/deserial transceivers to provide access to the programmable logic fabric. Such transceivers include a receiver section that receives incoming serial data and converts it into parallel data and a transmitter section that converts outgoing parallel data into an outgoing serial data stream.
Since FPGA's are used in a wide variety of applications, which are typically governed by one or more standards; the transceivers are programmed, to some degree, to support the appropriate standard. As such, the receiver section is programmed to convert serial data into parallel data and the transmitter section is programmed to convert parallel data into serial data in accordance with the same standard. This, however, provides a limitation in the use of an FPGA in that the transmit path and receive path must be coupled to the same device, or devices that conform to the same standard. Thus, using today's FPGA, if an application requires the FPGA to receive data from one device in accordance with a 1st standard and transmit process data to another device in accordance with a 2nd standard, the FPGA would have to dedicate 2 transceivers: 1 for the receiving of data and the other for the transmitting of data. In this example, the transmitter section of the 1st transceiver is always idle and the receiver section of the 2nd transceiver is always idle. In the heavily competitive integrated circuit market, having die area consumed by unused circuitry is extremely costly.
In addition, the transceivers of an FPGA are programmed in accordance with a particular standard being supported by the FPGA. As such, each of the transceivers is programmed to support the same standard. As such, the devices to which the FPGA is coupled must also conform to the same standard. As such, the flexibility of usage of an FPGA is limited by requiring the environment in which it resides to utilize the same standard.
Further, the transceivers of the I/O section use a different clock domain than the programmable logic fabric. As the speed of the incoming and outgoing serial data increases well into the gigabit-per-second range, the separate clock domains of the input/output section and the programmable logic fabric are presenting synchronization issues between the two sections, resulting in corruption of data.
Therefore, a need exists for a universally programmable FPGA that provides universally programmable transceivers and further provides universal synchronization.

Programmable logic device including programmable multi-gigabit transceivers


In one aspect, a method of performing a wellbore operation is disclosed that in one embodiment may include: deploying a device in the wellbore containing a conductive fluid, wherein the device is configured to disintegrate upon application of electrical current thereto; and applying current to the device in the wellbore using a tool to controllably disintegrate the device. In another aspect, an apparatus for use downhole is provided that in one embodiment may include a device placed at a selected location in a wellbore, wherein the device is made from a material that disintegrates when electric current is induced in to device and a tool placed proximate to the device configured to induce electric current into the device to cause the device to disintegrate.

1. Field of the Disclosure
This disclosure relates generally to members and devices that may be disintegrated or dissolved after installation downhole.
2. Background of the Art
Oil wells (also referred to as wellbores or boreholes) are drilled in subsurface formations. Such wellbores are typically lined with a metallic liner referred to as casing. A production string is installed inside the casing to produce formation fluids (oil and gas) to the surface. Often, elements or devices are placed in the wellbore to perform a function and are removed after such devices have performed their intended functions. Such devices may include, for example, ball/ball seat assemblies, plugs and packers. Another example includes removing a section of the casing to form an opening through which a deviated borehole may be drilled. In some cases, to remove a device from the wellbore, drilling or milling tool is conveyed downhole to disintegrate the device. In other cases, such devices may be formed from a material that will corrode in the downhole environment and will thus disintegrate over a time period. In other cases, the device may be actively dissolved.
The disclosure herein provides devices or articles that may be galvanically removed or galvanically deposited with a metallic material downhole.

Apparatus and method for galvanically removing from or depositing onto a device a metallic material downhole


A pressure detector includes a first board with a first pressure inlet, a first groove, and a first board electrode; a second board with a second pressure inlet, a second groove, and a second board electrode; and a sensing unit arranged therebetween with a diaphragm. The first groove is in communication with the first pressure inlet so as to prevent the formation of a closed space between the first board and the diaphragm when they contact with each other. The second groove is in communication with the second pressure inlet so as to prevent the formation of a closed space between the second board and the diaphragm when they contact each other.

A capacitance pressure detector 100 as shown in FIG. 4 has been known. The pressure detector 100 shown in FIG. 4 includes a first board 120, a second board 130, and a sensing unit 140. The first board 120 includes a first board body 121 shaped in a plate, a first board electrode 122 provided on a surface of the first board body 121 facing the sensing unit 140, and a first pressure inlet 123 penetrating through the first board body 121. The second board 130 includes a second board body 131 shaped in a plate, a second board electrode 132 provided on a surface of the second board body 131 facing the sensing unit 140, and a second pressure inlet 133 penetrating through the second board body 131. The sensing unit 140 includes a plate-shaped diaphragm 141, a first diaphragm electrode 142 provided on a surface of the diaphragm 141 facing the first board body 121, a second diaphragm electrode 143 provided on a surface of the diaphragm 141 facing the second board body 131, and a bonding portion 144 bonded with the first board body 121 and the second board body 131.
As shown in FIG. 5, the diaphragm 141 of the pressure detector 100 is configured to be brought into contact with the first board electrode 122 disposed on the first board body 121 when an excessive pressure or negative pressure is applied on the diaphragm 141, thereby keeping the diaphragm 141 from being damaged by the excessive pressure or negative pressure.
When the diaphragm 141 and the first board electrode 122 of the pressure detector 100 as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 are brought into contact to each other to form a closed space. Subsequently, even when the excessive pressure or negative pressure is released, a pressure difference, which is caused between the closed space and an outside, keeps the diaphragm 141 and the first board electrode 122 to be in tight contact as shown in FIG. 5 and hinders immediate separation, thereby deteriorating responsiveness.
A pressure detector disclosed in Patent Literature 1 (JP 2000-356563 A) is an example of a known technique capable of preventing such deterioration in the responsiveness caused by the tight contact between the diaphragm and the electrode.
The pressure detector disclosed in Patent Literature 1 includes a plurality of pressure inlets in each of the two boards. Accordingly, the closed space is not formed even when the diaphragm and the electrode are brought into contact with each other, so that the pressure difference is not caused to avoid the tight contact between the diaphragm and the electrode, thereby restraining the deterioration in responsiveness.
However, the pressure detector disclosed in Patent Literature 1, which requires the presence of the plurality of pressure inlets in the boards, reduces an effective area of the electrode, failing to achieve maximum detection sensitivity.

Pressure detector with improved deterioration protection