An improved night depository for depositing an article through the wall of a building into a safe. The depository includes a casing that is mounted within an opening in the wall and a receptacle pivotally mounted about a horizontal axis within the casing. The receptacle includes a door, two vertical sides, and a floor. One end of a movable wall is pivotably mounted to the outboard end of the receptacle floor. When the receptacle is rotated about the horizontal axis to open the door the unattached end of the movable wall pivots towards the receptacle floor. The receptacle sides are separated from the edges of the movable wall by a clearance that is sufficiently small enough to impede the flow of air about the edges of the movable wall as the movable wall pivots. The air underneath the movable wall escapes through a gap between the unattached end of the movable wall and the door at a rate which cushions the impact of the unattached end against the receptacle floor. The depository also includes an eccentric detent pivotably mounted about a member that extends from the receptacle side wall. The detent travels within a recessed channel between two walls with stationary dogs mounted along one of the walls. When the door is closed, a lip rotates the detent for downward passage through the recessed channel. Any subsequent attempt to open the door causes the detent to jam within the recessed channel to prevent the door from opening.

Night depository boxes and their construction are well known. Such depositories are used for the secure depositing of articles, such as envelopes or money bags, into a vault within a bank without the assistance of an attendant. The article is deposited within a receptacle in the depository when the depository door is opened and the article is ejected from the receptacle into the vault when the door is closed. The depository door and receptacle cooperate to prevent access to the vault when the door is in both its open and closed positions.
When the door of a typical depository is unlocked and pivoted open to deposit the article in the receptacle which pivots with the door, access to the chute remains blocked by the floor of the receptacle and a hinged wall attached thereto. When the door is pivoted shut the hinged wall ejects the article from the receptacle into the vault and moves to a position that separates the receptacle from the vault. The action of the receptacle floor and hinged wall during opening and closing of the door with interlocking ribs prevents a thief from inserting a line and hook into the vault by way of the receptacle to `fish out` the contents of the vault. Thus, a thief cannot gain access to the vault by merely defeating the door lock mechanism since the receptacle and hinged wall cooperate to block access to the vault.
Another feature of the typical depository is a detent mechanism that ensures the depository door is fully closed to eject the article from the receptacle once a deposit has been made and the closing motion has begun. This mechanism prevents someone from prematurely stopping the door closure motion and re-opening the door to remove the article from the receptacle before the hinged wall ejects the article from the receptacle into the vault.
The detent mechanisms previously known usually include springs, ratchet pawls, spring biased levers and other actively engaged mechanical components to stop the reverse motion of the mechanical component, such as a cam or link arm, that controls the motion of the door. Such detent mechanisms are more difficult to produce, sometimes jam since intermeshing mechanical parts are required and are more costly to construct because the mechanism components need careful alignment for reliable and effective operation. What is needed is a simple, yet reliable, door detent mechanism that requires few interacting parts and can be produced inexpensively.
Another problem with known bank depositories having a pivotable wall to eject the contents of the depository into the vault is the noise produced by their operation. The article-ejecting wall is attached, usually by means of a hinge or the like, to the end of the receptacle floor outboard from the door. When the door is closed, the receptacle floor tilts downwardly from the door and the pivotable wall is substantially perpendicular to the floor so the wall substantially covers the opening from the receptacle to the vault. When the hinged wall pivots toward the depository door as the depository door is pivoted open, the unattached end of the wall falls until it impacts the floor or bottom of the depository receptacle with a noticeable bang. This noise can alert a thief hiding out of sight nearby that a deposit is being made so the thief can surprise the depositor and forcibly take the article before the depositor closes the depository door. What is needed, therefore, is the elimination of this noise, which occurs when the pivotable wall impacts the receptacle floor.

After hour depository door securement mechanism


A solar power generation apparatus includes a solar cell panel body formed in a tube shape, and a reflection plate installed such that reflected light is incident to the solar cell panel body, wherein the solar cell panel body can be rotated around a shaft center of the tube shape.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a solar power generation apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
FIG. 7 shows a solar power generation apparatus in the related art disclosed in JP2009-231315A. The solar power generation apparatus includes a solar cell panel body 101 formed in a spherical shape and a curved reflection plate 102, and can receive not only the sunlight which is directly incident to the solar cell panel body but also the sunlight reflected by the reflection plate on the rear surface side of the solar cell panel body.
In solar cell panels of the solar power generation apparatus disclosed in JP2009-231315A, a range to which the sunlight is directly incident easily deteriorates as compared with a range to which the sunlight is not directly incident, thus an efficiency of power generation by direct incidence will be reduced.
In addition, in the solar cell panels of the solar power generation apparatus disclosed in JP2009-231315A, a range which receives the sunlight reflected by the reflection plate is restricted, and thus it cannot be said that the sunlight is sufficiently used.


A method and device for the testing of a radiocommunications network by implementing downline from a first antenna and a second antenna, respectively a first reception line and a second reception line. The first reception line is assigned to the reception of first signals, in a first incoming direction. A second reception line is assigned to the reception of second signals, in a second incoming direction. Each reception line tries to decode the signals that it receives and, if the decoding can be done, it reads an identifier proper to the transmitter, so as to determine firstly which of said first and second signals are interference signals, and, secondly, the incoming direction of interference signals and/or the identifier of interference units. The disclosure also relates to a corresponding base station.

The field of the invention is that of systems of radiocommunications with mobiles.
The invention can be applied especially but not exclusively to radiocommunications systems such as the UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunication System), GSM 900 (Global System for Mobilesxe2x80x94900 MHz), DCS 1800 (Digital Cellular Systemxe2x80x941800 MHz) or PCS 1900 (Personal Communication Systemxe2x80x941900 MHz) type systems.
More specifically, the present invention relates to a method for the testing of a radiocommunications network that consists in detecting and elucidating the nature of the interference between at least two transmitters, namely one the one hand a mobile station emitting useful signals towards a base station and, on the other hand, at least one interference unit sending interference signals also towards the base station.
It may be recalled that a radiocommunications system generally comprises a plurality of base stations, each carrying out the radio coverage of a distinct geographical cell.
Hereinafter in the present description, the term  less than  less than interference unit greater than  greater than  (with respect to a given mobile station) is understood to mean any type of device that is sending a base station, with which a given mobile station is communicating., signals having at least certain characteristics that are identical or similar to those of the signals coming from the given mobile station.
Depending on the system, the mobile station is sometimes called a radiocommunications terminal, a portable radiotelephone, a portable telephone or again a mobile radiocommunications terminal. With a view to simplification, only one expression,  less than  less than mobile station greater than  greater than  will be used hereinafter in this patent document.
It will be recalled that a mobile station is a piece of physical equipment used by a user of a network of the radiocommunications system to obtain access, through a base station, to the telecommunications services on offer.
It will also be recalled that a base station covers a given geographical zone (or cell) in which a plurality of mobile stations, with which the base station can exchange signals, may move about. Conventionally, a base station comprises at least one antenna designed to receive and/or transmit signals from and/or to a plurality of mobile stations.
The signals exchanged between a mobile station and the base station may be subject to interference that could generate a partial or even total loss of the information conveyed. It may be recalled that interference phenomena are caused especially when signals having identical or similar characteristics are brought into play in the same propagation medium. The expression  less than  less than identical or similar greater than  greater than  characteristics is understood to mean one and the same frequency, one and the same code or one and the same time interval depending on whether the type of multiplexing used is the Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA), Coded Division Multiple Access (CDMA) or Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) type of multiplexing. In other words, the interference phenomena are due to the presence of at least one interference unit sending signals (called  less than  less than interference greater than  greater than  signals) which disturb the signals (called  less than  less than useful greater than  greater than  signals) sent by a mobile station. It will be understood therefore that such disturbances may generate crucial problems in terms of quality of reception and exploitation of the signals sent by a mobile station and intended for a base station.
Now, it is not possible, in the prior art, to detect the presence of an interference unit or units. It will be understood, however, that in order to reduce or even eliminate the interference due to one or more interference units, it is necessary to know about their existence and, if necessary, their nature, in order to take appropriate measures in order to try and eliminate them.
The present invention is designed especially to overcome this drawback of the prior art.
More specifically, one of the goals of the present invention is to provide a method for the testing of a radiocommunications network enabling the detection of the presence of at least one interference unit.
It is an additional goal of the invention to provide a method of this kind making it possible to determine the possible nature of the interference unit or units.
Another goal of the invention is to provide a method of this kind that can be implemented without any modification of the signals exchanged between a mobile station and a base station.
Another goal of the invention is to provide a method of this kind that can be implemented without any hardware modification of the existing mobile stations or, as the case may be, of the base stations.
Another goal of the invention is to provide a device enabling the implementing of a method such as this for the testing of a radiocommunications network.
These different goals as well as others that shall appear hereinafter are achieved according to the invention by means of a method for the testing of a radiocommunications network consisting in detecting and elucidating the nature of the interference between at least two transmitters, namely on the one hand a mobile station sending useful signals towards a base station and, on the other hand, at least one interference unit sending interference signals also towards said base station, the method comprising the following steps:
downline from a first antenna, a first reception line is implemented and, downline from at least one second antenna, at least one second reception line is implemented distinct from said first reception line, each antenna comprising an array of radiating elements distributed in a matrix arrangement on a support;
said first reception line is assigned to the reception of first signals, in a first incoming direction;
said at least one second reception line is assigned to the reception of second signals, in at least one second incoming direction;
each reception line tries to decode the signals that it receives and, if the decoding can be done, it reads an identifier that is conveyed by the signals and is proper to the transmitter that has sent them, so as to determine firstly which of said first and second signals are said interference signals and, secondly, at least one of the pieces of information belonging to the group comprising:
the incoming direction of said interference signals
the identifier, if any, of said at least one interference unit sending said interference signals.
The general principle of the invention relies therefore on the simultaneous focusing of several RF reception radiating beams (one per antenna) respectively on different sources of signals (namely, a source of useful signals and one or more sources, if any, of interference signals. Thus, at least one reception line is allocated to the processing of possible interference signals.
In this way, it is possible not only to know if one or more interference units are present but also to locate their angular position and find out their nature as the case may be.
It must be noted that the terms  less than  less than first antenna greater than  greater than  and  less than  less than second antenna greater than  greater than  (known as a  less than  less than smart antenna greater than  greater than ) have been used to simplify the understanding of the invention. It is clear, however, that it is not obligatory that there should be as many antennas as there are reception lines. In other words, the first and second antennas may constitute a single antenna.
It is also possible to plan that at least certain radiating elements of one and the same support should be shared by several antennas.
Advantageously, said incoming direction is expressed as a function of at least one of the angles belonging to the group comprising:
the azimuth;
the elevation angle.
It is recalled that an antenna associated with a reception line forms an RF reception radiating beam that may be oriented in elevation angle (namely the angle formed between the line connecting the mobile station to the antenna and the horizontal plane containing the support of the antenna) and/or the azimuth, (namely the angle formed between the line referenced in the horizontal plane containing the support of the antenna and the projection, in a direction perpendicular to this horizontal plane, of the line connecting the antenna to the mobile station).
Preferably, said at least one interference unit belongs to the group comprising:
the mobile stations of said radiocommunications network
the base stations of said radiocommunications network
the transmitters not belonging to said radiocommunications network
It will be noted that the nature of the interference unit or units may be unspecified, and may especially correspond to that of one or more interference units that are unrelated to any radiocommunications network.
In a particular embodiment of the invention, said method furthermore comprises a step for the display of at least one of the pieces of information belonging to the group comprising:
the identifier or absence of identifier of said at least one interference unit;
the incoming direction of the interference signals.
It will be noted that when an interference unit proves to be a mobile station or a base station of the radiocommunications network, the method of the invention constitutes a technique for detecting the imperfections of the radiocommunications network concerned. Indeed, this reflects a poor management of the distribution of the resources such as a double allocation of one and the same resource. This is the case, for example, when there are two neighboring (or relatively close) base stations both using at least one communications parameter that is the same, for example a frequency, a code, a time interval, etc., each to communicate with a separate mobile station.
Preferably, said base station and said mobile station are included in a cellular radiocommunications system belonging to the group comprising:
UMTS type systems
GSM 900 type systems
DCS 1800 type systems
PCS 1900 type systems
It is clear however, that this list is not exhaustive.
The invention also relates to a device for the testing of a radiocommunications network designed to implement the method described here above. According to the invention, said device comprises:
a first antenna and a second antenna each comprising an array of radiating elements distributed in a matrix arrangement on a support;
downline from said first antenna, a first reception line comprising first reception means and, downline from said at least one second antenna, at least one second reception line distinct from said first reception line and comprising second reception means;
means for assigning said first reception line to the reception of first signals, in a first incoming direction;
means for assigning said at least one second reception line to the reception of second signals, in at least one second incoming direction;
means for decoding the signals received by each of said reception lines;
reading means placed downline from said decoding means so as to read an identifier conveyed by the signals and proper to the transmitter that has sent them;
decision-making means making it possible, as a function of output signals from said decoding and reading means, to determine firstly which of said first and second signals are said interference signals and, secondly, at least one of the pieces of information belonging to the group comprising:
the incoming direction of said interference signals
the identifier, if any, of said at least one interference unit sending said interference signals.
It will be recalled however that, according to one alternative embodiment of the invention, it is possible to provide for a single antenna supplying the different reception lines of the signals (useful signals and one or more sources of interference signals). In this case, it will be understood that the first and second antennas constitute one and only one antenna.
The invention also relates to a base station that makes it possible to detect and elucidate the nature of the interference phenomena between at least two transmitters, namely, on the one hand, a mobile station sending useful signals to said base station and, on the other hand, at least one interference unit sending interference signals also to said base station. According to the invention, said base station comprises the above-described device for testing a radiocommunications network.
It will be noted that certain elements (such as the first antenna and the first reception line) of the testing device are elements already included in the base station to enable it to communicate with the mobile stations. In this case, there is a high degree of synergy and the cost of the testing device is thus limited solely to the elements not already included in the base station.

Method for testing a radiocommunications network, corresponding device and base station


A method for adapting the periodicity of polling for pending service requests, by polling system devices for pending service requests, recording whether or not there was a pending service request and, based on accumulated data, determining whether or not the system devices are idle. Based on this determination, the system may elect to enter a power conservation mode until device activity is signaled, or an adjustable period of time elapses. The adaptation mechanism may alter the periodicity of the timer interrupt, disable or enable device interrupts, and modify variables used to determine system idleness (including minimum latency and minimum idleness thresholds). In this manner, the system can conserve power while maintaining system performance and responsiveness.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to computer systems, particularly to the handling of device requests, and more particularly to a method and system which handle these requests through adaptive polling in a way that maintains performance and responsiveness while conserving power consumption.
2. Description of the Related Art
A generalized client-server computing network 2 is shown in FIG. 1. Network 2 has several servers 4, 6, 8 and 9, which are interconnected, either directly to each other or indirectly through one of the other servers. Each server is essentially a stand-alone computer system (having one or more processors, memory devices, and communications devices), but has been adapted (programmed) for one primary purpose, that of providing information to individual users at workstation clients 10. Clients 10 can also be stand-alone computer systems (like personal computers, or PCs), or "dumber" systems adapted for limited use with network 2 (like network computers, or NCs). As used herein, "PC" generally refers to any multi-purpose computer adapted for use by a single individual, regardless of the manufacturer, hardware platform, operating system, etc. A single, physical computer can act as both a server and a client, although this implementation occurs infrequently.
The information provided by a server can be in the form of programs that run locally on a given client 10, or in the form of data such as files used by other programs. Users can also communicate with each other in real-time as well as by delayed file delivery, i.e., users connected to the same server can all communicate with each other without the need for the network 2, and users at different servers, such as servers 4 and 6, can communicate with each other via network 2. The network can be local in nature (i.e., a LAN), or can be further connected to other systems (not shown) as indicated with servers 8 and 9. The construction of network 2 is also generally applicable to the Internet.
Traditionally, general-purpose systems have been characterized by their performance. Roughly, a given system is evaluated based on the rate at which it handles specific operations. Examples include transactions-per-second, Web request-per second, and the like. Recently, power consumption has gained importance due to commercial, national and environmental concerns. It is estimated that computing systems consume about one tenth of the power generated in North America. Therefore, there is an increasing demand for power-efficient computing systems that do not compromise performance.
A general-purpose computer system (client, server or dumb device) comprises a processor, main memory and a number of devices. Several buses typically connect these components according to some well-known protocol. An example of such protocols is the Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI). On typical general-purpose computer systems a processor handles each peripheral device request as a result of an interrupt, which originates at a device. Upon each interrupt, a context switch occurs in the processor, during which the processor state is saved to main memory and a new state is initialized to process the device request. Each such context switch incurs an excessive overhead due to the state transfers and the destructive effects on various memory caches and the resulting perturbation to the locality of memory references. Modern processors in particular have become more sensitive to this kind of overhead because of the growing gap between the processor speed and the memory access time. It is therefore detrimental to performance if a high-rate of interrupts is generated from the system devices.
Polling is an alternative method to interrupts by which the processor (CPU) may process device requests. A CPU may, for example, poll a network device to determine if there are any packets to be processed. Network appliances, including software-based switches, firewalls, proxy servers, and even first-tier web servers are increasingly making use of polled input/output (I/O) to actively coalesce interrupts, and increase overall system performance by reducing the latencies involved with context switching during interrupt handling. Polling is inefficient due to the unnecessary and continuous checking of device status when the rate of device activities such as network traffic is not relatively high. Additionally, polling is detrimental to power consumption since it occurs constantly, whether there is work to do or not, preventing the system from ever entering a "sleep" state where appropriate instructions can be issued to conserve power spent by the CPU. Thus, polling can invalidate the most fundamental power conservation strategies.
In light of the foregoing, it would be desirable to devise an improved method for managing device service requests which increases the overall system performance and responsiveness, while conserving power and enabling sophisticated power management mechanisms.

International Business Machines Corporation


An adjustable desk platform can include: an upper platform defining a substantially planar work surface; a base located beneath the upper platform, the base defining a bottom surface without legs that is adapted to sit on an existing desk; first and second sets of arms coupling the upper platform to the base, wherein the first and second sets of arms are adapted for movement of the upper platform substantially in parallel with the base between a fully raised position and a fully lowered position; and a user-operable locking mechanism associated with the upper platform, the locking mechanism adapted to releasably lock the upper platform in the fully raised position, and in at least one intermediate position between the fully raised position and the fully lowered position. Other features and embodiments are discussed.

Sitting for long periods of time during the work day is generally not good for one's health and wellness. Medical studies show that sitting increases the rate of all-cause mortality, especially from cardiovascular disease, diabetes and obesity, for example. People who sit for most of the day are 50 percent more likely to die of heart attacks. Even if you exercise, the longer you sit the greater the chances you will die. Sitting shuts down the circulation of the fat-absorbing enzyme lipase, while standing up engages muscles and promotes the distribution of lipase, which prompts the body to process fat and cholesterol, independent of the amount of time spent exercising.
There are desks available to be used while standing, and even desks adapted for use while a user is on a treadmill. However, standing for very long periods of time to work is more tiring, dramatically increases the risks of carotid atherosclerosis because of the additional load on the circulatory system, and increases the risks of varicose veins.
Taking regular breaks from sitting for prolonged periods of time can have several positive outcomes. For example, standing can provide more energy during the work day. In addition, because standing burns more calories than sitting, standing can also result in weight loss without changes in diet or exercise. It is also harder to become more tired or lose focus when standing.
Because regular breaks from sitting are beneficial, and because many people during the work day want to remain productive while taking breaks from sitting, and because everyone will sit and stand for different lengths of time at different times during the day, there exists a need to create a work environment that is ergonomic for someone standing as well as sitting, and allows the transition to be easy, quick, and simple.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


A tomato pigment is obtained by centrifuging a treated mass of tomato, collecting the liquid portion thereof, passing it through a microfilter, recovering the retentate, preferably mixing this retentate with an organic solvent with stirring, and removing the extraction fractionated organic solvent.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for collecting a tomato pigment. More particularly, it relates to a method for collecting, at high efficiency and by simple means, a tomato pigment useful as a natural coloring matter for foods or as a natural pigment for cosmetics such as rouge, said pigment having high stability against oxidation, lightening, heating and storage, and containing a lycopene complex or a purified product thereof having an average particle diameter of 0.2-10 .mu.m.
2. Description of the Related Art
There have been known techniques for obtaining a deep red-tinged tomato concentrate by mashing tomato, decomposing it with a plant tissue maceration enzyme, passing the resulting mass through an ultrafiltration membrance having a cut-off molecular weight of 120,000-200,000, and obtaining the tomato concentrate from the membrane-retentate (JP-B 59-35580).
A method is also known in which an alkali is added to mashed tomato to separate a carotenoid complex from the vital tissues, with the unnecessary matters such as skins, seeds, fibers, etc., being removed from the separated solution, then an acid is added thereto to have the carotenoid pigment fractionally precipitated, the precipitate being then collected with its pH adjusted close to neutrality or slightly alkalinity and concentrated, followed by addition of an acid to make the product acidic, and then common salt is further added to thereby obtain carotenoid to be used for red coloring of foods (JP-B 55-1311). There is further known a technique for separating lycopene from a pulp fraction as a tomato oleoresin (WO 95/16363). However, since lycopene in the form of oleoresin is an oil, it is required, in use thereof, to make a choice over whether it is left as an oil or mixed with an emulsifier, so that the scope of its use, especially in aqueous foods, is limited.
The tomato concentrates contain richly such insoluble solid matters as pulp, polysaccharides and proteins and such soluble matters as sugars, acids and aromatic substances, and carry heavily a flavor peculiar to tomato, so that they have a disadvantage in that the scope of its use as a pigment is limited, and also the lycopene content is low.
Said carotenoid for food coloration, although characteristically high in lycopene content, requires use of an alkali and an acid in preparation thereof and necessitates a very complicated production process, and further, since the products containing carotenoid have a salty taste, its use in foods and cosmetics as a pigment is necessarily restricted.

Method for collecting tomato pigment and its application


A signalling system for a washing device having at least one rack for holding articles during the washing of same and a door for gaining access to the articles. The signalling system includes a container which collects wash and/or rinse water and a floatable indicator which moves in relation to fluid filling the container. The indicator displays signals to the user of the washer to convey to the user whether the contents of the washer have been washed or are waiting to be washed.

The automatic dishwasher is widely used in homes and restaurants to clean and sanitize articles, for example tableware, dishes, flatware, pots, pans, etc. A dishwasher contains movable racks disposed in a cavity accessed via a watertight latchable door. A typical automatic dishwasher has two racks, each of which can move in and out of the cavity to facilitate unloading clean dishes from the racks and in loading soiled dishes in the racks. In use, the user opens the door, places the articles on the racks, adds detergent, latches the door, and initiates a cleaning cycle. The washer washes the articles with soapy water or other cleansing liquid, rinses the articles, optionally dries the articles and then holds them in the racks until removed. With the time pressures of modern society, the user of the automatic washer does not stand by for the dishwasher to complete it's cycle of washing and drying. Rather, the user attends to other matters while the articles are being washed. Indeed, it may be many hours (or even days) before the user returns to the dishwasher and opens the door. At that time the user may have forgotten that the articles inside are clean. Thus, the user (or another person) may mistakenly add newly soiled dishes to those that are clean and will realize, too late, that the dishes in the washer were clean. Now, the entire load of articles should be washed again to ensure that they are all clean. This results in aggravation, lost time and additional expense in hot water and soap. For the foregoing reasons there is a need for an easy-to-use signalling device to convey the wash status of articles disposed within a dishwasher.

Device for a washing apparatus which informs whether the contents are cleaned or soiled


A technique for predictive streaming involves receiving a request for a block associated with a streaming application and serving data associated with the block. A block request database is checked to predict what block is likely to be requested next based upon prior block request data. The predicted block may be identified when serving the data associated with the requested block. A system developed according to the technique includes a streaming server, a block request database, and a prediction engine that uses the block request database to predict block requests. The streaming server provides data associated with the predicted block request.

Software streaming involves downloading small pieces of files as the pieces are needed by the program being streamed. These small pieces may be referred to as blocks. A streaming client sends requests for blocks as they are needed up to a streaming server, which sends back streaming data that is associated with the requested block. Sending a request and receiving the streaming data may cause delays that can slow down the streamed program.
There are many problems associated with streaming software that it would be advantageous to negate, work around, or reduce. For example, predicting blocks for streaming has not been satisfactorily addressed.

System and method for predictive streaming


Certain example embodiments relate to light emitting diode (e.g., OLED and/or PLED) inclusive devices, and/or methods of making the same. Certain example embodiments incorporate an optical out-coupling layer stack (OCLS) structure that includes a vacuum deposited index matching layer (imL) provided over an organo-metallic scattering matrix layer. The imL may be a silicon-inclusive layer and may include, for example, vacuum deposited SiOxNy. The OCLS including scattering micro-particles, the imL, and the anode may be designed such that the device extraction efficiency is significantly improved, e.g., by efficiently coupling the light generated in the organic layers of the devices and extracted through the glass substrate. In certain example embodiments, the refractive index of the ITO, SiOxNy index matching layer, OCLS scattering layer and the glass substrate may be provided in decreasing order.

An organic light emitting diode (OLED) is a light-emitting diode (LED) in which the emissive electroluminescent layer is a film of organic compounds that emit light in response to an electric current. This layer of organic semiconductor material is situated between two electrodes in some cases. Generally, for example, at least one of these electrodes is transparent. OLEDs (based on polymers and/or evaporable small molecules) sometimes are used in television screens; computer monitors; small or portable system screens such as those found on mobile phones and PDAs; and/or the like. OLEDs may also sometimes be used in light sources for space illumination and in large-area light-emitting elements. OLED devices are described in, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,663,311; 7,663,312; 7,662,663; 7,659,661; 7,629,741; and 7,601,436, the entire contents of each of which are hereby incorporated herein by reference.
A typical OLED comprises two organic layers—namely, electron and hole transport layers—that are embedded between two electrodes. The top electrode typically is a metallic mirror with high reflectivity. The anode is typically a transparent conductive layer supported by a glass substrate. The top electrode generally is the cathode, and the bottom electrode generally is the anode. Indium tin oxide (ITO) often is used for the anode.
FIG. 1 is an example cross-sectional view of an OLED. The glass substrate 102 supports a transparent anode layer 104. The hole transmitting layer 106 may be a carbon nanotube (CNT) based layer in some cases, provided that it is doped with the proper dopants. Conventional electron transporting and emitting and cathode layers 108 and 110 also may be provided.
When a voltage is applied to the electrodes, the charges start moving in the device under the influence of the electric field. Electrons leave the cathode, and holes move from the anode in opposite direction. The recombination of these charges leads to the creation of photons with frequencies given by the energy gap (E=hν) between the LUMO and HOMO levels of the emitting molecules, meaning that the electrical power applied to the electrodes is transformed into light. Different materials and/or dopants may be used to generate different colors, with the colors being combinable to achieve yet additional colors.
The technology has desirable attributes such as large viewing angle, fast response time, high contrast, and a Lambertian profile.
Although significant progress has been made on the electronic quality of the emissive and charge carrier layers, a significant portion of the light emitted is trapped by both the ITO coating on the glass and the underlying glass substrate, e.g., as wave-guiding modes promoted by interference effects. Because of this inefficiency, some of these devices are driven at higher current densities than what normally would be required. This unfortunately has a negative influence on their lifetimes. Even under these non-nominal driving conditions, the luminous efficiency of OLEDs can be significantly below that of fluorescent lamps.
Indeed, it unfortunately is typical for only 20-30% of the photons generated in an OLED on a planar substrate to be extracted into the air. Because of the refractive mismatch between the active OLED layer (where the refractive index is about 1.75 @ 550 nm) and the ITO anode (where the refractive index is about 2.0 @ 550 nm), most of the light is trapped in the device because of total internal reflection, and only a small fraction enters the glass substrate and is actually emitted into the air to serve useful functions.
It would be desirable to improve the light output of an OLED device, e.g., through a light out-coupling strategy. Doing so could improve the lifetime and/or overall luminous efficiency of the device. Several techniques have been proposed to improve the light efficiency, but these methods unfortunately do not meet the practical requirements of manufacturability.
As alluded to above, there have been several attempts to improve techniques for light extraction efficiency. For example, an attempt has been made to increase the extraction from the substrate into the air by way of adding micro-refractive or diffractive structures (e.g., arrays of micro-lenses or pyramids, scattering layers, etc.) to the substrate surface. Depending on the reflectance of the OLED stack, the extraction from the substrate into the air can be increased considerably, typically up to 30%. Unfortunately, however, these structures tend to be quite fragile.
Another attempt relates to monochromatic light emitting devices. In such devices, the angular distribution of the light emitted into the substrate depends on the layer thicknesses of the OLED stack (e.g., by virtue of the micro-cavity effect). By proper design, the amount of light in the escape cone of the substrate can be increased and external efficiencies of up to 40% can be reached at the design wavelength.
Still another approach involves harnessing the "organic modes" that represent about 50% of the generated photons by the introduction of ordered or random scattering structures into the OLED stack. There is a drawback, however, in terms of a possible negative influence on the electrical performance, inasmuch as the anode would be rough, and localized current hot spots that are detrimental to device performance can develop.
A persistent challenge involves attempts at matching the refractive index of the glass substrate and the organic layers so that the organic modes are turned into substrate modes. The amount of light extracted into the substrate can indeed be increased by a factor of 2-3, at least theoretically.
Provided that the OLED has a highly reflective cathode and is thick enough, 80% of the photons generated inside the OLED can be extracted into a high index substrate. However, the remaining issue is still then to out-couple this light into air without reverting back to one of the above-described strategies.
FIG. 2 shows different major light modes in connection with a schematic view of an OLED device. The dashed line in FIG. 2 shows an escape cone. As can be seen, the major modes include a light in air mode (A), which is the fraction of the light that actually emits in the air; a light in substrate mode (B), which is the fraction of the light that is travelling and trapped in the transparent glass substrate; and a light trapped in the organic layers and/or the ITO mode (C), which is the fraction of the light travelling inside and trapped in the organic layers and the high index ITO anode. It will be appreciated that there may be more "B-modes" where the glass is thicker and/or more absorptive. It also is noted that there is another component related to Plasmon losses in the cathode, although this is not depicted in the FIG. 2 schematic view. That is, in a surface Plasmon mode, light is trapped at the organic cathode reflector interface (which oftentimes is an organic to aluminum interface). The failure modes are typical for a bottom emitting OLED device, where light is emitted through the glass substrate.
In view of the foregoing, it will be appreciated that there is a need in the art for techniques for improving the light emitting efficiencies of OLED devices.
One aspect of certain example embodiments relates to a light out-coupling layer stack (OCLS) on a substrate (e.g., on a glass substrate), with a view towards reducing wave-guiding modes.
Another aspect of certain example embodiments relates to scalable techniques for achieving higher luminous efficiency in OLEDs.
Another aspect of certain example embodiments relates to an OCLS structure that includes a vacuum deposited index matching layer (imL) provided over an organo-metallic scattering matrix layer. In certain example embodiments, the imL may be a silicon-inclusive layer and may comprise, for example, silicon oxide, silicon nitride, and/or silicon oxynitride. The imL may be oxygen graded, and thus index graded, in certain example embodiments.
Still another example embodiment relates to an integrated anode glass plate for an OLED or other device. The integrated anode glass plate may include, for example, a soda lime based glass substrate, an OCLS, and an anode comprising ITO or the like. The OCLS may be structured as set forth as noted in the previous paragraph, in certain example instances.
In certain example embodiments, a method of making a coated article is provided. A base scattering matrix layer is wet applied, directly or indirectly, on a glass substrate, e.g., with a precursor for the base scattering matrix layer including an organo-metallic chelate of a high index material and siloxane solvent. The wet applied base scattering matrix layer is cured. A silicon-inclusive index matching layer (e.g., of or including SiOxNy) is vacuum coated, directly or indirectly, on the cured base scattering matrix layer. An anodic layer (e.g., of or including ITO) is vacuum coated, directly or indirectly, on the index matching layer. The cured base scattering matrix layer has a refractive index of 1.55-1.75 (e.g., 1.6-1.7), the index matching layer has a refractive index of 1.7-1.9, and the anodic layer has a refractive index of 1.9-2.1. According to certain example embodiments, the glass substrate may have a refractive index of less than 1.6.
According to certain example embodiments, an additional planarizing layer, a layer comprising GLB may be disposed on the base scattering matrix layer, with the index matching layer being disposed directly over and contacting the layer comprising GLB.
In certain example embodiments, a method of making an electronic device is provided. A coated article (e.g., an integrated anode plate) made according to the example methods herein is provided. The anodic layer is patterned. A hole transport layer, an emitting layer, and a reflective cathodic layer, in that order, are disposed on the patterned anodic layer, in making the electronic device.
The emitting layer may be an electronic transport and emitting layer, and the electronic device may be an OLED-based device, in certain example embodiments. In other example embodiments, the electronic device may be a PLED-based device.
In certain example embodiments, a coated article is provided. The coated article may comprise: a glass substrate; a base scattering matrix layer that is wet applied, directly or indirectly, on the glass substrate, with the base scattering matrix layer including an isotropic layer matrix including an organo-metallic chelate hybrid matrix with scatterers dispersed therein; a silicon-inclusive index matching layer that is sputter-deposited, directly or indirectly, on the base scattering matrix layer; and a transparent conductive coating (TCC) that is sputter-deposited, directly or indirectly, on the index matching layer. The base scattering matrix layer has a refractive index of 1.6-1.7, the index matching layer has a refractive index of 1.7-1.9, and the TCC has a refractive index of 1.9-2.1.
According to certain example embodiments, the cured base scattering matrix layer may be about 3-20 (e.g., more preferably 3-10, and sometimes 5) microns thick and/or may have an average surface roughness (Ra) less than 4 nm. It is noted that the thickness may be increased to a point up until a point where it cracks.
In certain example embodiments, an electronic device is provided. The electronic device may comprise a glass substrate; a base scattering matrix layer that is wet applied, directly or indirectly, on the glass substrate, with the base scattering matrix layer having a thickness of about 3-20 (e.g., 5) microns when cured and including an isotropic layer matrix including an organo-metallic chelate hybrid matrix with high refractive index light scatterers dispersed therein; a silicon-inclusive index matching layer that is sputter-deposited, directly or indirectly, on the base scattering matrix layer; and a first transparent conductive coating (TCC) that is sputter-deposited on the index matching layer. Refractive indices of the glass substrate, the base scattering matrix layer, the index matching layer, and the first TCC may increase with each layer, moving away from the glass substrate. A hole transport layer, an emitting layer, and a reflective second TCC (e.g., a cathode) may be disposed, in that order, over the first TCC.
According to certain example embodiments, the index matching layer may comprise silicon oxynitride and optionally may be at least 200 nm thick, the first TCC may be anodic and optionally may comprise ITC), and the second TCC may be cathodic and may comprise Al, Ag, Pd, Cu, and/or the like, or a combination thereof.
These and other embodiments, features, aspect, and advantages may be combined in any suitable combination or sub-combination to produce yet further embodiments.

Coated article and/or device with optical out-coupling layer stack (OCLS) including vacuum deposited index match layer over scattering matrix, and/or associated methods


Disclosed herein are single use indicators and methods for employing the same. Such indicators and their uses are directed towards identifying the discharge status of single procedure devices, which are typically, but not limited to, medical devices.

The following description is provided to assist the understanding of the reader. None of the information provided or references cited is admitted to be prior art.
On a global scale, health care-associated infections, i.e., nosocomial infections, impact hundreds of millions of patients annually, which consequently imparts a considerable mortality rate. To this end, of every one-hundred hospitalized patients at any given time, seven in developed countries, and ten in developing countries, will acquire at least one nosocomial infection. See World Health Organization Patient Safety, "Health Care-Associated Infections: Fact Sheet," 2011.
Albeit endemic to all health care environments, nosocomial infections are nevertheless markedly higher in low and middle-income countries compared to higher income nations, and more specifically in neonatal patients and those requiring intensive care. See id. And, while urinary tract infection is the most frequent health care-associated infection in high-income countries, surgical site infection is the leading infection in settings with limited resources, affecting up to one-third of operated patients in those countries. Notwithstanding the demographic character of these hospital acquired afflictions, nosocomial illnesses beget a substantial economic burden that requires further attention.
Accordingly, there has been a gradual shift in recent years from reusable instruments that potentially harbor infectious pathogens, i.e., to the extent that sterilization procedures break-down or are inadequate, to single procedure medical instruments which theoretically possess a decreased risk of transmitting nosocomial pathogens. The potential for reuse of single procedure devices, however, cannot be ignored. Whether by mistake, misuse, or reprocessing, circumstances remain in which single procedure devices are employed beyond their intended lifecycle.
To a large extent, such hazardous recycling of single procedure devices would be curtailed by implementing a system in which one or more single-use indications conspicuously identify when a device is at its end-of-use. By possessing a distinct indication—that a single procedure device has been discharged—the risk of mistakenly recirculating such a device back into the operating room can be greatly reduced. Hence, there is a current need to address the foregoing issues by developing low cost, biocompatible, single-use medical device indicators that are readily ascertainable to health care personnel. See, e.g., Schultz, J. B., "Disposables in the O.R. 'Cover Story: Disposables, ECA Medical Instruments,'" (2013).


A color filter substrate and applications thereof are disclosed. The color filter substrate comprises a transparent substrate, a light-shade layer, a color filter layer and an electrode layer. The light-shade layer and the color filter layer are disposed on the transparent substrate. The electrode layer is formed on the light-shade layer and the color filter layer, wherein the electrode layer comprises at least one first electrode region, at least one second electrode region, at least one slit and at least one connecting portion. The first electrode region and the second electrode region are separated by the slit. The connecting portion is connected between the first electrode region and the second electrode region. The color filter substrate is applicable to a liquid crystal display panel and a liquid crystal display (LCD) apparatus.

Liquid crystal displays (LCD) have been widely applied in electrical products due to the rapid progress of optical and semiconductor technologies. With their advantages of high image quality, compact size, light weight, low driving voltage, low power consumption and various applications, LCDs have been introduced into portable computers, mobile phones, personal digital assistants and color televisions and are becoming the mainstream display apparatus.
The LCD needs a color filter (CF) disposed therein to be colorful. A liquid crystal panel of the LCD can change the voltage to control the orientation of liquid crystal molecules in a liquid crystal layer. The liquid crystal molecules in the liquid crystal layer can switch the light provided from a backlight module to pass through or not. The light from the backlight module passes through the color filter to form colorful light. Currently, the CF substrate in the LCD includes a black matrix on a transparent substrate, a color filter film with red, green and blue colors formed in the black matrix and an ITO electrode on the color filter film.
Since the LCD has a major disadvantage of its narrow viewing angle, several techniques for increasing the view angle have been developed. Among the techniques, the ITO electrode of the CF substrate is patterned to form a plurality of electrode regions, thereby forming the multi-domain electric field to control the orientation of liquid crystal molecules and to increase the view angle.
Refer to FIG. 1A and FIG. 1B. FIG. 1A is a partial top view showing a conventional ITO electrode on a substrate, and FIG. 1B is a cross-sectional view along the cross-sectional line A-A′ shown in FIG. 1A. However, when the ITO electrode 910 is patterned to form on a substrate 930 with a certain stereo-structure 920, such as the color filter film, there may be an undercut structure formed at the edge of the stereo-structure 920, and thus the ITO electrode 910 cuts off at the edge of the stereo-structure 920. Therefore, a portion of the ITO electrode 910 may not be conductive, and the liquid crystal panel of the LCD cannot form the multi-domain electric field to control the orientation of liquid crystal molecules.

Color filter film substrate and application thereof


A sputtering apparatus for forming a film by a physical gas-phase growth on a substrate having a irregular or flat shape is provided including three or more axes for independently varying a relative positional relationship between a substrate and a cathode in the course of film formation.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a sputtering apparatus and a sputtering method for obtaining a uniform film and desired film thickness characteristics in a film formation on a substrate with surface irregularities, mounted on a substrate holder, and more particularly to a film forming apparatus and a film forming method for forming a uniform film with a desired film thickness distribution such as a multi-layered antireflection film or a multi-layered film mirror or an X-ray reflecting multi-layered film, on a substrate such as a large-aperture lens.
2. Description of the Related Art
A magnetron sputtering apparatus of parallel flat plate type, employed already widely, is an apparatus in which a target constituting a material of a thin film and a substrate mounted on a substrate holder are positioned in a mutually opposed manner in a vacuum chamber, and a plasma is generated to sputter the target whereby particles sputtered out are deposited on the substrate to form a thin film thereon, and has features simpler than other methods and capable of a high-speed film formation, a large-area film formation and a longer target life.
In relation to such sputtering apparatus, a sputtering in the field of optical films has been recently investigated, and, particularly in a semiconductor exposure apparatus such as a stepper, together with an improvement toward a higher NA for improving the exposure performance, there are requested an increase in the lens aperture, an improvement in inclined incident characteristics for a ray entering the lens, and, an inclined film of a large diameter and a high precision (for improving the inclined incident characteristics) in an X-ray (EUV) exposure apparatus of next generation.
In a multi-layered X-ray mirror of molybdenum (Mo) and silicon (Si) for an X-ray wavelength of 13.4 nm, the reflection characteristics are lowered depending on an incident angle of the incident X-ray entering the mirror surface, because of an extremely narrow bandwidth of the reflection characteristics. As a countermeasure, a method of forming reflecting mirror characteristics, matching the incident X-ray angle within the plane of the X-ray mirror, is being adopted. It is therefore necessary to highly precisely control the film thickness distribution of molybdenum (Mo) and silicon (Si) within the mirror plane.
For controlling the film thickness distribution, Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. H10-30170 discloses a method of employing a shield mask and controlling a shape of such shield mask and a moving speed distribution thereof, thereby controlling the film thickness distribution.
Also Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. H9-213634 discloses a method of film formation under a movement of the substrate in an X or XY direction parallel to an evaporation source.
Also U.S. Pat. No. 6,010,600 proposes an inclined film formation by a revolution speed control when a substrate, executing a revolving motion and a rotating motion, passes over a target.
However, optical elements employed in an exposure apparatus, etc. are designed for increasingly shorter wavelengths and in various shapes such as an aspherical surface, an arbitrarily curved surface and a parabolic surface. For this reason, a film thickness control of a higher precision than in the prior technology is being requested.
For realizing an optical element requiring such highly precise film thickness control, the following film forming apparatus and film forming method are indispensable:                (1) Ability for film thickness distribution control for various irregular shapes;        (2) Adaptability to plural targets (showing different film thickness distributions by a difference in an emission angle distribution of a material);        (3) A film formed by an inclined entry of sputtering particles has a low film density, thus showing a change in the refractive index and a change in the optical characteristics by a moisture adsorption. Therefore the film forming apparatus should minimize an inclined entry component of the sputtering particles;        (4) A load lock type film formation should be possible in order to minimize particle generation, and influence of residual gas, particularly water;        (5) The film forming apparatus should not introduce a complex moving mechanism into the vacuum chamber.
In the aforementioned method of employing a shield mask and controlling the shape of the shield mask and a moving speed distribution thereof, thereby controlling the film thickness distribution (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H10-30170), it is difficult to meet the above requirements (1) and (2) with a mask of a single shape, there is required an operation of replacing the mask by opening the vacuum chamber to the air. The opening of the vacuum chamber to the air causes water in the air to be adsorbed in a film deposited in the vacuum chamber, thereby increasing a stress in the film and inducing a peeling thereof, thus resulting in an influence corresponding to (4). Also the shield mask, positioned in the vicinity of the substrate between the target and the substrate, undesirably becomes a source of particles.
The method of employing a shield mask and controlling the shape of the shield mask and a moving speed distribution thereof, thereby controlling the film thickness distribution, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. H10-30170, can only deposit a rotationally symmetrical film but cannot be adapted to a film of other configurations.
The inclined film formation by a revolution speed control when a revolving and rotating substrate passes over a target, as proposed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,010,600, can only deposit a rotationally symmetrical film.
The method of film formation under a movement of the substrate in an X or XY direction parallel to an evaporation source, disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. H9-213634, in a film formation of a peripheral portion of a substrate having a large curvature in an irregularity and/or a complex shape, brings about a large inclined entry component of the sputtering particles entering the substrate, thereby resulting in a film of a low film density and causing a shift in the characteristics. Further, a complex moving mechanism is undesirably required in the vacuum apparatus.


A method and an apparatus for controlling compensated buffer circuits. In one embodiment, a compensation buffer control circuit includes a compensation unit with a compensation signal memory location such as a compensation register. The compensation unit is configured to produce a local compensation control signal to control a compensated buffer circuit. The compensation signal memory location is configured to selectively receive and store and the local compensation control signal generated by the compensation unit. The contents of the compensation signal memory location may be read, which allows for the external reading of the local compensation signal generated by the compensation unit. In addition, an external write of an external compensation control signal may be performed to the compensation signal memory location such that the output of the compensation unit can be overridden. A compensated buffer circuit is coupled to selectively receive either the local compensation control signal or the external compensation control signal.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to integrated circuit technology and, more specifically, the present invention relates to compensated integrated circuit buffers.
2. Description of the Related Art
To achieve high performances in modern integrated circuits, it is often necessary to utilize high speed buffer circuits such as for example input/output buffers. Integrated circuits generally interface with the high speed busses with input/output buffers. As integrated circuit technology continue to advance, the frequencies at which the integrated circuits operate increase accordingly. It has been a considerable challenge for circuit designers to design busses that are able to match the speed performance of the core speed of modern central processing units (CPUs). One reason for the difficulty of continuously increasing bus speeds to match the continuously increasing CPU core speeds is that input/output buffers coupled to the busses must often operate across a wide variety of operating conditions. For instance, the performance of an input/output buffer changes with respect to conditions such as process, voltage and temperature.
The use of impedance compensated input/output buffers have provided one prior art solution to the problems associated with the changes in operating conditions such as process, voltage and temperature. Impedance compensated input/output buffers address the problems associated with varying conditions by providing mechanisms to help maintain the optimum characteristics of input/output buffer drivers over a wide range of operating conditions.
FIG. 1 is an illustration of a prior art impedance compensated input/output buffer 101 that employs digital impedance compensation, which relies basically on the same principles as an analog-to-digital converter. In this scheme, input/output buffer 101 includes compensation devices, which are shown as a plurality of transistors 107A-C coupled in parallel between an output pin 113 and ground. Compensation unit 121 generates digital information via signals 111A-C, which indicate the number of parallel coupled transistors 107A-C in every buffer that should be activated at a given time to compensate for varying operating conditions.
For example, under slow operating conditions, which include low voltage, high temperature and slow process corner, many transistors 107A-C may need to be activated to pole the voltage at the output pin 113 to ground. In contrast, under faster operating conditions, fewer parallel coupled transistors 107A-C may need to be switched on for similar performance.
Although prior art input/output buffer 101 has the ability to compensate for varying operating conditions, one limitation of input/output buffer 101 is that it is difficult to verify the proper functionality of compensation unit 121 and parallel coupled transistors 109A-C since the parallel coupled transistors 109A-C create logic redundancies. Specifically, transistors 109A-C are coupled and parallel between node 119 and ground. For optimum performance, it is desired that all transistors 109A-C are completely functional. There is the possibility that in a testing environment, one or more of the parallel coupled devices 109A-C may not function properly due to a defect, but the remaining devices could still function properly. A tester (not shown) coupled to output pin 113 and node 119 would be unable to detect a defective device based on logic levels or simple timing. As a consequence, the defective device may not be detected in a testing environment but could, however, cause input/output buffer 101 to fail in a system environment.
Another limitation of compensation unit 121 is that if it is desired to deliberately adjust the control signals 111A-C to adjust the characteristics of compensated input/output buffer 101, it is generally necessary to precisely adjust or vary the resistance of resistor R1 or reference voltage V.sub.REF 117. It is appreciated that the need to carefully and precisely adjust the resistance of resistor R1 or the value of reference voltage V.sub.REF 117 may be a relatively difficult and tedious task for an integrated circuit designer that desires to adjust the control signals 111A-C generated by compensation unit 121.
Therefore, what is desired is a method and an apparatus for controlling a compensated buffer. Such a method and apparatus would provide improved control of the compensation unit output signals without the need of precisely adjusting or varying the reference resistor or voltage values coupled to the compensation units. Such a method and apparatus would also provide enhanced observability of a compensation unit of a compensated buffer to facilitate the testing of the logic redundancies created by the parallel coupled nature of the devices of compensated input/output buffers.

Method and apparatus for controlling compensated buffers


An electronic component includes plural elements, a pair of terminal sections provided to each one of the elements, and a packaging material covering the elements and parts of the terminal sections. A non-conductive shielding section is provided between the terminal sections led outside the packaging material. The presence of the shielding section allows the electronic component to downsize the electronic apparatus, embody a greater density in mounting, and eliminate adverse influence to the apparatus for achieving higher performance as well as improving the durability.

Electronic apparatuses such as a modem or a power supply circuit are formed of a large number of electronic components. For instance, capacitors are often used for noise reduction or cutting a dc component.
Electronic apparatuses have been downsized and reduced their cost according to the market request, so that electronic components to be used in such apparatuses have also encountered the requests of substantial downsizing and cost reduction. Further, surface mount devices are often demanded because the automated mounting can reduce the mounting cost and save the mounting area. In parallel with the request of downsizing, contradictory requests have risen such as more sophistication, narrower dispersion of characteristics, and longer durability. In addition to the foregoing requests, LSIs equipped with multi-pins and signal lines handle more numbers of bits, so that plural electronic components should be mounted in a smaller area where narrower pitches of lines are routed, namely, a higher mounting density is needed. Many of the modems among others have a set of two lines, i.e. one for data input and the other for data output, so that two electronic components must be mounted one the lines.
However, downsizing and sophistication are the two contradictory goals, so that achievement of one goal has rejected the other goal. For instance, it has been proposed that an electronic component be packaged into a mold by packaging material such as resin in order to narrow the dispersion of performance or characteristics, or to improve the durability. However, in the case of mounting plural electronic components, since each component is molded by the covering material, the apparatus becomes bulky. Besides, since the molded component has greater dimensions, a greater space between signal lines is needed, so that the signal lines must be routed. Those reasons cause problems such as, the printed circuit board becomes bulky, line-radiation occurs, a signal delays due to the routing. As a result, the performance of the apparatus is degraded.
On the contrary, in the case of closely mounting bare electronic components, i.e. components without packaging into a mold, in order to achieve downsize and a high density mounting, problems also occur such as short between the components or cross-talk of signals due to electric field coupling. Those problems cause the electronic apparatuses to malfunction.
To overcome the forgoing problems, plural elements are packaged into molds and they are to be downsized, which results in narrower intervals between the elements, and terminals led outside the molds have an extremely narrow space therebetween, so that electrical insulating resistance between the terminals is lowered and leakage current is produced. As a result, the electronic component is damaged, which causes the apparatus to malfunction.
In the case of capacitive elements such as capacitors, electric field coupling occurs between the adjacent capacitors, and cross talk tends to occur easily, which causes noises. Those problems are critical for printed circuit boards of electronic apparatuses, many of which are equipped with a pair of lines for data input and data output.
In the case of packaging plural elements into one pack by a packaging material, the packaging material tends not to fill enough between the elements, so that a withstanding voltage between the elements lowers. When this package including plural elements undergoes a heat-cycle test, its durability becomes a problem. To overcome those problems causing lower performance, wider intervals between the elements must be reserved, which however inhibits electronic apparatuses from being downsized.

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.


Methods, electronic devices, and computer readable media for application function (AF) protocol data unit (PDU) session management and subscription procedures. A method for a method for PDU session management includes initiating a PDU session for an application function (AF) within an application server (AS) that is not part of a cellular network and sending configuration information to a network exposer function (NEF) to communicate directly with a network function (NF) of the cellular network to provide services for the PDU session. The method additionally includes receiving authorization from the NEF and communicating directly with the cellular network NF to provide the PDU services during the PDU session.

5th generation (5G) mobile communications, initial commercialization of which is expected around 2020, is recently gathering increased momentum with all the worldwide technical activities on the various candidate technologies from industry and academia. The candidate enablers for the 5G mobile communications include massive antenna technologies, from legacy cellular frequency bands up to high frequencies, to provide beamforming gain and support increased capacity, new waveform (e.g., a new radio access technology (RAT)) to flexibly accommodate various services/applications with different requirements, new multiple access schemes to support massive connections, and so on. Existing cellular networks were not designed for supporting Internet of Things (IoT). LTE has been designed from grounds up to provide efficient mobile broadband data communications. One of the important requirement supported LTE, UMTS/HSPA and GSM/GPRS is to support full mobility. Due to this requirement, the mobile is required to be paged in larger location area anytime it goes to idle mode and receives terminating packets from the network. Next generation wireless standards (e.g., 3GPP SA2) started working on the architecture standards. User management is a critical piece of this work. This includes how user plane is selected by the control plane, how it is managed throughout the session, impact on the user plane when multiple user planes are used for the same session etc. It includes details involving creation, modification and release of the user plane.

AF influenced PDU session management and subscription procedures


Provided herein is a method of processing an electronic device including operating a processing chamber at a first temperature while a workpiece is being processed and removing the workpiece and a carrier holding the workpiece from the processing chamber while decreasing the temperature within the processing chamber to a second temperature significantly lower than the first temperature. The method also includes increasing the temperature within the processing chamber to a third temperature significantly greater than the second temperature and significantly less than the first temperature while the processing chamber has no workpiece or carrier within.

1. Field of the Disclosure
The following application is directed to a method of operating a processing chamber used to form electronic devices, and particularly directed to a method of reducing outgassing of harmful contaminants within the processing chamber.
2. Description of the Related Art
Typically, when operating a processing chamber, such as a deposition chamber, gases are provided within the chamber to initiate a reaction, such that a particular product of that reaction is deposited on workpieces within the processing chamber. During processing, the temperature within the chamber is controlled such that a proper environment exists for the reaction and the formation of the product. FIG. 1 illustrates a typical thermal processing plot of temperature versus time providing a known method of operating a processing chamber used in forming electronic devices. In particular, FIG. 1 illustrates particular regions designated by dashed lines indicating time periods for conducting certain operations. Typically, the process is initiated within region 101, wherein workpieces are loaded into the processing chamber. After loading the workpieces within region 101, the temperature within the processing chamber is increased within region 103 to a suitable deposition temperature (TD). When the processing chamber reaches the deposition temperature, and reacted to form a chemical product that is deposited as a layer of material on the workpieces.
After completing the deposition process within region 105, the temperature within the processing chamber is reduced as illustrated within region 107, and can be held for a period as illustrated in region 109 to allow the workpieces to cool. After cooling, the workpieces are removed and the process is reinitiated as illustrated in region 111, wherein workpieces are placed inside the processing chamber at the same temperature at which the workpieces were removed within region 109. The remainder of the process is then repeated, including increasing the temperature to a deposition temperature and then reducing the temperature to pull the processed workpieces out and load a new batch of workpieces, as illustrated in regions 111, 113, 115, 117, and 119.
During processing, other chemical products (i.e., byproducts) can be formed within the processing chamber. These byproducts can be generally damaging to components within the processing chamber and the workpieces. The production of these harmful byproducts increases the cost of running the equipment, reduces production, and increases defects on the workpieces.
Skilled artisans appreciate that elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements in the figures may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help to improve understanding of embodiments of the invention.

Method of operating a processing chamber used in forming electronic devices


A snowmobile (20) having an engine (34) with an air charging system (70). The air charging system (70) is connected to an intercooler assembly (57), which includes a heat exchanger (56) mounted adjacent to an intercooler opening (48) in the track tunnel (36). A snow retention area (54) is located above the heat exchanger (56) allowing for snow/ice to be thrown from a snowmobile drive track (38) and build up on top of the heat exchanger (56), allowing the snow/ice to absorb heat from intercooler assembly (57).

The present invention relates to snowmobiles, and more particularly to snowmobiles with engines having air chargers such as exhaust-driven (turbo) or mechanical superchargers.
Conventionally, snowmobiles have been made small and light weight, yet have relatively powerful engines in order to appeal to the typical snowmobile driver. Because of the small size, the packaging of the components in a snowmobile is critical. However, due to its sporting nature, it is also desirable to have a snowmobile that is powered by an engine that is not only efficient and light weight, but also generates significant power for its size. So, traditionally, two cycle engines have been used to power snowmobiles. These engines have the advantage that they are powerful, yet relatively light weight and compact. One particular disadvantage to the two cycle engine is its emissions—it generally exhausts more hydrocarbons and other pollutants than an equivalent four cycle engine due to cylinder charging inefficiencies and the combustion of lubricating oil, among other things. Also, the two cycle engine tends to operate at a relatively high noise level. With concern for the environment and increasing strict emissions requirements being instituted by governments, it is increasingly desirable to use four cycle engines with snowmobiles.
But a naturally aspirated four cycle engine generally produces less specific output per liter of engine displacement than does a two cycle engine. It is not practical to merely increase the engine size due to the size and weight limitations present in packaging an engine in a snowmobile. Furthermore, the typical transmission employed in a snowmobile limits the upper end of the RPM range for the engine. To increase the output of a particular four cycle engine, then, one may wish to employ an air charging system, such as a turbocharger (exhaust driven compressor) or a supercharger (mechanically driven compressor). However, a conventional air charger will require the use of a higher grade of gasoline in order to avoid detonation and pre-ignition problems (i.e. engine knock), which can over time significantly reduce the useful life of an engine. This higher grade of gasoline is not always available to a snowmobile driver along the various trails that he may travel.
Thus, it is desirable to have a snowmobile that is powered by a four cycle engine which overcomes the drawbacks of limited engine output, while still remaining relatively small and light weight. In particular, it is desirable to have an air charging system that maximizes the engine output while not requiring a premium grade of gasoline.

Intercooler system and method for a snowmobile with a supercharged engine


A document printer/copier comprises a pair of drum-support members for rotatably supporting an image-recording drum and, optionally, an intermediate image-transfer drum. At least one of such drum-support members is adapted to be decoupled from the drum(s) it supports and be moved to a position within the machine frame in which it does interfere with the replacement of the drum(s)""s outer layer. Preferably, such member comprises a selectively energizable clamp which, when energized, clamps onto an axle bearing of a drum and thereby supports the drum for rotation. When de-energized, the clamp releases the drum bearing, enabling the drum-support member to be slid axially along the drum axis to a position spaced from the drum axle, and thereafter pivoted to a position spaced from the drum axis where it does not interfere with drum servicing and/or replacement.

Reference is made to the commonly assigned U.S. Patent Applications, the respective disclosures of which being incorporated herein by reference:
(1) U.S. application Ser. No. 09/474,352, filed on Dec. 29, 1999 and entitled xe2x80x9cApparatus for Positioning Work Stations in a Document Printer/Copierxe2x80x9d.
(2) U.S. application Ser. No. 09/574,054, filed concurrently herewith and entitled xe2x80x9cPin Mount for Optical Writer/Recording Element in a Document Printer/Copierxe2x80x9d.
(3) U.S. application Ser. No. 09/574,275, filed concurrently herewith and entitled xe2x80x9cCantilever Drum Mount for Document Printer/Copierxe2x80x9d.
(4) U.S. application Ser. No. 09/574,447, filed concurrently herewith and entitled xe2x80x9cImage Transfer Drum for Document Printer/Copierxe2x80x9d.
The present invention relates to field of document printing and copying. More particularly, it relates to improvements in methods and apparatus for precisely positioning the various work-stations of a document printer/copier, e.g., an electrophotographic printer, relative to (i) the photosensitive surface of an image-recording drum on which toner images are formed, and, optionally, (ii) the non-stick (abhesive) surface of an intermediate image-transfer drum to which toner images are transferred from the image-recording drum before being ultimately transferred to an image-receiver sheet.
Automated electrophotographic copiers and printers have been known for nearly fifty years. Copiers and printers differ only from an input standpoint, copiers being adapted to receive hard copy input, whereas printers are adapted to receive an input in electronic form, e.g., from a computer terminal. Both carry out the basic electrophotographic imaging process of uniformly charging a photoconductive layer with electrostatic charge, imagewise exposing the charged layer to radiation adapted to discharge the layer, thereby leaving behind a latent charge image, and applying pigmented electroscopic particles (toner) to the charge image to render it visible. Most often, the toner image so formed is transferred to a receiver sheet whereupon the toner image is permanentized by heat and/or pressure. Optionally, for example, to extend the lifetime of the photoconductive recording element, the toner image formed on the image-recording drum is transferred to an intermediate transfer drum or the like before it is again transferred to the receiver sheet. In the case of full color copying and printing, multiple color-separated toner images (e.g., cyan, magenta, yellow and black) are produced by the above process and transferred in registration to a receiver sheet.
Since the inception of electrophotographic printers/copiers, the xe2x80x9choly grailxe2x80x9d for many manufacturers has been to produce images of photographic quality, both monochromatic and full color. As will be appreciated, the quality of a full color image is determined not only by the respective qualities of each of the color-separated toner images formed on the photoconductive recording element(s), but also by the degree with which such images can be transferred from the recording element(s) and brought into perfect registration on the image receiver sheet. Such image quality of the color-separated images and the registration thereof, in turn, depend in large part upon the precision with which the various work-stations or subsystems that carry out the electrophotographic process can be physically placed relative on the surface of the recording element. Thus, various schemes have been proposed and used in the past that address this technical problem.
While focusing on image-quality and registration issues, printer manufacturers are ever mindful of lowering manufacturing and service costs. Thus, substantial efforts have been made to simplify service and maintenance procedures so that the need for service calls by highly trained technicians and specialists can be minimized. Ideally, for example, all of the major workstations of the printer, e.g. the charging, exposure, development, transfer and cleaning stations, as well as the recording element itself, should be replaceable by the end user or customer with no sacrifice being made to the ultimate image quality. Even where the services of a trained technician are required, the time to implement such replacements should be minimal. The achievement of this goal not only requires that each of the printer work-stations be modularized so as effect a xe2x80x9cplug and playxe2x80x9d concept, but also requires that a very precise and highly reliable work station-registration scheme be designed so that each work station, upon being removed from the printer frame for servicing and/or replacement, can be returned to within a few microns of its nominal position. In the case of high quality color printing, the respective placements of the printer workstations is particularly critical and skilled servicing personnel are usually required to make the major sub-system changes. Obviously, the need for service assistance should be minimized.
In the above-referenced U.S. application Ser. No. 09/474,352, a work station registration scheme for an electrophotographic printer is disclosed in which a plurality of dowel pins on the printer frame serve to locate both a photoconductive drum assembly and an image transfer drum assembly. Each drum assembly comprises a pair of drum-support members, commonly referred to as xe2x80x9cspiders,xe2x80x9d located at opposite ends of the drum. Each spider contains a centrally located bearing for rotatably supporting a drum axle, and a plurality of outwardly extending mechanical fiducials, e.g. bullet-shaped members, which are adapted to mate with complimentary structure, e.g., V-notched blocks, mounted on each work station to precisely locate and space the work-stations relative to the drum""s photoconductive surface. When it comes time to replace the image-recording and/or transfer drums, the work-stations are retracted from their respective positions adjacent the drum surface, thereby providing clearance for drum removal, and the entire drum assembly, including the spider members, are slid axially through an opening in the front wall of the printer frame. The entire drum assembly is then returned to the manufacturer""s facility where the assembly is disassembled and a new drum can be substituted for the worn drum. To install a new drum assembly, the reverse process is carried out, the drum assembly being moved axially inward into the printer frame, until the spiders engage and are seated upon the dowel pins. Thereafter, the workstations are moved toward the drum surface and their respective operative positions. In a similar manner, each of the individual work-stations may be removed from the printer housing, leaving behind, when the drum assembly has been removed, a frame that is totally void of any major components. Only the registration dowel pins remain in the frame, and the entire printer can be reassembled with great precision based on the location of these pins.
While the above-described apparatus fulfills the work station-registration needs for high quality color printing, it may be viewed as a relatively costly and labor-intensive solution. For example, to replace the drum surface, the entire drum assembly, which including the relatively costly drum-support members (spiders) and axles, must be replaced. This requires removal of a relatively heavy subsystem from the printer housing and shipment of such subsystem back to the manufacturing for refurbishing. Since most of the drum assembly components do not require replacement, these components undergo unnecessary shipping and handling during which time they may be damaged or have parts misaligned. This disadvantage is exacerbated by the weight of such components. Ideally, only those components of the drum assemblies that actually need replacement (typically the outermost layer of the drum) should be removed from the printer housing and the remaining components should stay in place for the life of the printer.
In view of the foregoing discussion, an object of this invention is to provide an improved system for precisely and repeatedly positioning the various workstations of an electrophotographic printer relative to an image recording and/or image-transfer drum.
Another object of this invention is to provide an improved document printer/copier in which a work station-registration and drum-support member comprising a drum assembly mounted within a printer/copier frame can be selectively de-coupled from the drum assembly and moved within the printer/copier frame to a location providing service access to the outer surface of an image-recording drum and/or image-transfer drum.
According to one aspect of the invention, a document printer comprises (i) a frame including a front frame plate, (ii) at least one reference pin or the like extending from the front frame plate at a predetermined location, (iii) an image-recording drum having an outer photosensitive surface and front and rear axles extending outwardly from opposing ends of the drum along an intended axis of rotation, (iv) a plurality of work-stations for producing transferable visible images on the drum""s photosensitive surface, and (v) a front drum-support member mounted on the front frame plate and precisely located thereon by the reference pin extending from the front frame plate, such front drum-support member having a set of mechanical fiducials for locating various work-stations relative to the drum surface. According to the invention, the front drum support member has a selectively energizeable clamping mechanism for selectively engaging a bearing on the front drum axle, whereby the front drum-support member can either rotatably support the front drum axle for rotation, or be decoupled therefrom so that the drum can be removed from the printer frame. Preferably, the front drum-support member is movably mounted on the front frame plate for movement between a first position in which its associated clamping mechanism is positioned to engage the bearing on the drum""s front axle, and a standby position in which the front drum-support member is sufficiently spaced from the drum""s front axle to enable servicing of the drum, e.g., to enable replacement of the drum""s outer photosensitive layer. Preferably, the printer of the invention further comprises an intermediate image transfer drum having opposing front and rear axles extending outwardly from opposite ends, and the front drum-support member is further provided with a second selectively energizeable clamp for selectively engaging a bearing on the front axle of the transfer drum. Also preferred is that the printer further comprises a rear drum-support member rigidly mounted on a rear frame plate of the printer frame and precisely located thereon by reference pin extending from the rear frame plate. Wherein this aspect of the present invention employs reference pins, other mechanical reference surfaces are envisioned such as a V-block, a flat surface, or a hole that mates with a member in the drum support member, which can all be used as a reference surface. Such rear drum-support member includes (a) a bearing for rotatably supporting the rear axle of the image-recording drum, and (b) a second set of fiducials that cooperate with the fiducials on the front drum-support member for locating the various work-stations of the printer relative to the drum surface. Preferably, the rear drum-support member comprises a selectively energizeable clamp, which serves to releasably and rotatably support the rear axle of the image-transfer drum.
According to another aspect of the invention, new drum-support members of the above type are provided. Rather than being an integral part of the drum assembly that stay with the drum assembly when it comes time to replace the drum surface, the drum-support members of the invention are adapted to remain in the printer housing while only the outer surfaces of the drum(s) are replaced or serviced. Preferably, the front drum-support member of the invention comprises a selectively energizeable clamp which, when energized, clamps about the outer race of an axle bearing that serves to rotatably mount the image-recording drum. When so clamped, the drum-support members become part of the drum assembly, and a plurality of reference fiducials located at predetermined positions about the periphery of the drum-support member serve to position the various workstations of the printer. When unclamped, the drum-support members are de-coupled from the drum(s). Mounting structure on the front drum-support member enables such member to be (i) slided axially (relative to the drum""s axis of rotation) to suitably displace the member from the drum, and (ii) pivoted to a location laterally spaced from the drum axis. According to a preferred embodiment, the front drum-support member further comprises a bearing for rotatably supporting one end of the image transfer drum in a cantilever fashion and a selectively energizeable clamp which, when energized, clamps about the outer race of an axle bearing serving to rotatably mount an image-transfer drum. Preferably, the rear drum-support member is adapted to be rigidly connected to the rear frame plate of the printer frame.
As indicated above, an advantageous technical effect of the invention is that the most significant technical benefits of the work-station registration scheme disclosed in the above-referenced U.S. application Ser. No. 09/474,352 have been preserved while the cost of implementing such a scheme is minimized by virtue of the fact that the most costly components of the drum assembly (i.e., the drum-support members (xe2x80x9cspidersxe2x80x9d) and drum axles) are never removed from the printer and can remain with the printer throughout its useful life. Another advantage of the invention is that the end user can gain access to the image recording and transfer drums for servicing without having to remove and replace relatively heavy sub-assemblies.
The invention and its advantages will be better understood from the ensuing detailed description of preferred embodiments, reference being made to the accompanying drawings in which like reference characters denote like parts.

Document printer/copier with decoupleable drum-support member


One embodiment of an equalizer circuit has an FIR filter 116 in the asynchronously oversampled domain with a filter coefficient adaptation module that adapts the filter coefficients to the transfer function of a data read channel. Applications include tape drives, drives for optical and magnetic discs as well as receivers. The filter adaptation is performed on the basis of an error signal delivered by a slicer 128 which operates on synchronous samples after timing recovery and sample reconstruction.

The usage of digital signal processing techniques for recovery of digital information from an analogue recording or transmission signal is as such known from the prior art. For example, U.S. patent application 20020122478A1, which is incorporated herein in its entirety, shows a signal-processing circuit and a recording and playback apparatus employing the same. A two-stage equalisation is carried out by using first and second equalisation circuits provided on the upstream and downstream sides from a phase-locked loop circuit.
The first equalisation circuit on the upstream side from the phase-locked loop circuit is composed of a transversal filter, to minimise an equalisation error caused by the first equalisation circuit in order to stabilise the operation of the phase-locked loop circuit. Another signal-processing circuit including an analogue-to-digital converter and a digital phase-locked loop circuit for receiving the output from the analogue-to-digital converter and a recording and playback apparatus using the same are also disclosed, wherein the output from the analogue-to-digital converter is input as the digital signal in the digital phase-locked loop circuit in order to fetch a detection point voltage for stabilisation of the operation of the phase-locked loop circuit.
The digital FIR upstream of the timing recovery block can be adapted gradually and periodically in the over-sampled domain but not in real time. Usage of a synchronous adaptive FIR filter after the timing recovery block in order to adapt the synchronous errors, and then convolving the adapted FIR response with that of the FIR upstream of the timing recovery block to derive a new response for the FIR upstream of the timing recovery block is costly, as two FIR filters are required, and complicated as convolution algorithms are relatively expensive to be part of a feedback loop. Another substantial disadvantage is the required expense in terms of silicon space and the relatively high power consumption and power dissipation.

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.