A method of making a cup that decreases the amount of flash on a bottom surface of the cup is provided. More specifically, a cup is provided that includes a thickened lip around an open surface. The lip also includes a recess for the receipt of excess material generated by the molding process. This excess material, or flashing, is detrimental to the use of cups in cup stacking competitions.

Sport Stacking involves stacking specially designed cups in pre-determined sequences as fast as possible and is often incorporated into school physical education curriculums because it inherently increases student's hand eye coordination and reaction time. In addition to specialized cups, a specialized stacking surface is also usually employed that provides friction to help prevent sliding of the cups. The specialized surface is typically comprised of a neoprene foundation with a polyester fabric bonded to the top surface of the foundation, a composition often employed in the construction of computer mouse pads. Specialized cups are required to practice the sport and the cups must have certain features that allow them to slide easily against one another and against the stacking surface.
More specifically, sport stacking cups exhibit certain properties that are desirable for fast stacking such as smooth top and bottom surfaces wherein the cups can be dragged across the stacking surface without the top or bottom surface of the cup catching on the stacking surface. If a cup catches, drags or is in any way impeded by the stacking surface, the cup stacker will need to apply additional force to pull the cup into position which may slow the stacking process. Further, as one skilled in the art will appreciate, a rough surface may cause a stacked or placed cup to tip.
Cups used for sport stacking are typically injection molded from polymers, i.e. plastics. Injection molding is a popular manufacturing technique for making parts from thermoplastic material. Molten plastic is injected at high pressure into a mold that is inverse of the desired shape. The mold is made of metal, either steel or aluminum, and precision machine to form the features of the desired part. Injection molding is widely used for manufacturing a variety of parts, from the smallest component to the entire body panels of automobiles. It is the most common method of production with some commonly made items including bottle caps and outdoor furniture.
The molds used in injection molding generally include slidingly mated moving elements. During the use, wear between the moving elements create a gap therebetween that is apt to receive molten plastic during the molding process. After the molded part is removed the excess plastic forms unwanted protrusions on the part, typically known as "flash" to those skilled in the art. The occurrence of flash may be reduced by maintaining the mold periodically which involves replacing or refinishing the surfaces of certain parts of the mold but some degree of flash is usually present, even with a properly maintained mold.
In order to provide a stacking cup with smooth surface, the flash must be removed in a post processing application. Since such an operation is often time consuming, labor intensive, and costly, it is desirable to mold parts in such a way that post processing of parts is minimized or eliminated. For example, trimming to remove unwanted flash is not desirable since the labor involved in doing so may make the parts uneconomical to produce and also because under or over trimming a part may result in a reject. Post-molding inspection associated with flash further reduces the cost effectiveness of the manufacturing process.
Molds used for forming a cup are generally comprised of a core, which can be any profile, but often have a conical outer surface that forms the inner surface of the finished cup. The outer surface of the cup is defined by a cavity that is positioned a predetermined distance from the core to define the thickness of the finished cup. During forming, heated polymer is injected into the mold thereby filling the space provided between the core and the cavity. Subsequent to injection, the part is allowed to cool, i.e. cure, so that it can be removed from the mold. During this cooling process, the cup will necessarily contract about the core. Removal of the cup begins with removal of the cavity thereby exposing the outer surface of the cup. A stripper plate, which was previously positioned beneath the cavity, is transitioned relative to the stationary core thereby disengaging the cup from the mold. This movement is a source of the wear and tear on both a stripper plate and the core that potentially causes a gap. The gap, as described above, is very apt to receive material that escapes from the mold thereby creating flash.
As mentioned above, the construction of an injection mold for making a cup is typically such that a moving plate or "stripper" is required for removing the cup from the mold after the polymer is injected therein and cured. Stacking cups often include a thickened lip about their open end, similar to common drinking cups, that strengthens the opened end of the cup ("bottom" as used herein) and provides a detente that engages a lip of an adjacent cup when a plurality of cups are stacked within each other. Given the lip configuration of sport stacking cups, the joint between the stripper and the inner portion of the mold (also known as the "core") is located directly on the bottom of the lip of the cup. To disengage the cup from the core, the stripper plate moves relative to the core, therefore, the joint between the core and the stripper plate is non-static and subject to the wear that is often attributed to flash being present on the bottom surface of the cup. Flash is detrimental to the cups for use in sport stacking because the flash will often catch on the stacking surface. Therefore, a method for eliminating the detrimental effects of flash at this point on the cups is of great advantage in the design of cups for sport stacking. Indeed such a method has been discovered.
Thus it is a long felt need in the field of injection molding of cups to provide a method of reducing flash, specifically flash adjacent to the bottom edge of the cup. The following disclosure describes and improved method of injection molding a cup to be used in cup stack competitions that decreases the amount of flash associated with the bottom lip thereof that would come in contact with the stacking surface.

Method for eliminating detrimental effects of flash on cups used for sport stacking


Systems and methods inputting a plurality of different input documents, automatically identify repeated elements and unique elements within each of the different input documents, and automatically generate templates having the repeated elements and dynamic objects corresponding to the unique elements. The repeated elements are similar for all documents that are represented by a given template, and the unique elements have at least one difference between documents that are represented by the given template. The dynamic objects are placeholders for the unique elements within the templates. The systems and methods automatically store variable data for each of the dynamic objects from the unique elements, output the templates and the variable data, and receive user acceptance and refusal of the templates. The systems and methods automatically learn patterns of acceptable template objects and refuse template objects based on the user acceptance and refusal, and automatically revise the processes for generating the templates.

Embodiments herein generally relate to variable documents and more particularly to automated systems and methods for creating variable documents from static documents.
Variable Data Printing (VDP) is a form of on-demand printing in which dynamic elements such as text, graphics, and images may be changed from one printed piece to the next, without stopping or slowing the printing process, using variable information from a database or external file.
In order to take advantage of variable data printing, a customer may request that a vendor convert static documents to variable data documents. Depending on the complexity of the document, the conversion process can be lengthy, because all dynamic data elements need to be identified (and their variations as well) by a designer or developer. The process of identifying and tagging variable data elements in a document can be time consuming. For example, the conversion of 400 static documents to variable documents can take an individual 100-200 hours to tag, which is a serious impediment to the utilization of variable data printing.

Automatically tagging variable data documents


A gas monitoring device for monitoring gas levels within a chamber is provided. The gas monitoring device includes a housing having a probe with a sensor disposed on the probe. The probe extends through the housing and into a chamber such that the sensor is within the chamber. The housing includes a first passageway disposed about the probe and second passageway disposed about the first passageway. During operation of the gas monitoring device, a temperature adjusting medium enters the second passageway through an inlet of the housing and then enters into the first passageway via the second passageway. As the temperature adjusting medium travels through the first passageway, the temperature adjusting medium adjusts the temperature of the probe. The temperature adjusting medium adjusts the temperature of the probe through thermal conduction. As the temperature of the probe adjusts, the temperature of the sensor also adjusts through thermal conduction.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to gas sensing devices. More specifically, the present invention relates to a gas sensing device for measuring oxygen levels in fuel tanks.
2. Description of Related Art
Since 1959, a number of aircraft fuel tanks have unexpectedly exploded. Typically, the explosions occurred when an unknown ignition source ignited the fuel/vapor mixture in the fuel tank. Fuel/vapor mixtures are created during consumption of fuel within the fuel tank by engines of the aircraft. The consumed fuel leaves a space within the tank which generally fills with atmospheric air containing oxygen. The presence of both a flammable gas and the fuel/vapor mixture within the space creates the potential for an explosion within the fuel tank upon ignition. The industry has responded with various methods and apparatuses, as discussed in Air Safety Week, Vol. 15 No. 16, Apr. 16, 2001, "Fatal Explosion Highlights Hazard of Flammable Vapors in Fuel Tanks."
One prior art method which reduces fuel/vapor combustion includes the elimination of combustible gases from the fuel tank. This prior art method fills space within a fuel tank with an inert gas. The presence of the inert gas within the fuel tank deprives the fuel/vapor mixture of a flammable gas necessary for combustion. Nonetheless, the need to continuously fill the fuel tank with an inert gas and the attendant high costs associated therewith do not make this an attractive alternative for aircraft manufacturers.
A more efficient method in accordance with the prior art includes flooding the tank with inert gas when oxygen levels become high. This method requires continually measuring oxygen levels in a fuel tank. The sensors must stay at a constant temperature level in order to accurately measure oxygen levels. However, temperatures of fuel tanks in vehicles tend to fluctuate depending on the outside temperature. Therefore, the oxygen sensor's temperature must be kept at a constant level in order to allow accurate measurements by the oxygen sensor.
Prior art attempts to keep the temperature of a gas sensor constant include heating the gas sensor with electric resistance heaters when the temperature is low. However, these methods are not suitable for use in fuel tanks, as electrical current applied to the electrical resistance heaters may potentially ignite the fuel/vapor mixture within the tank, again making this an unattractive option for aircraft manufacturers.
Therefore, a need exists for a method and apparatus which maintains a temperature of a gas sensor at a constant level. This new method and apparatus should minimize the introduction of elements which may ignite a fuel/vapor or other hazardous mixture within a fuel tank and/or space.


An inspection system is provided. The system includes a rotating prism having a first end and a second end. The first end receives a first image area, such as a circular view, and rotates about a center point so as to cover a field of view area that is larger than the first image area, such as a larger circle that is defined by the smaller circle of view as it rotates around the center point. The second end remains centered on the center point and provides a viewing area that does not change in dimension. An image data system at the second end of the rotating prism generates image data as the prism rotates so as to generate two or more sets of image data that are contained within the field of view area.

Component inspection systems are known in the art. Such component inspection systems use component image data to perform component inspection. The component image data can be analyzed using a variety of techniques to determine whether the component is acceptable or unacceptable.
One requirement for such component inspection systems is that the pixel density for image data that is used to inspect the component must have a high enough resolution to identify non-conforming conditions. For example, if a potential defect is one micron in diameter, then the pixel resolution must be less than one micron in order to generate image data having a sufficient resolution to identify and analyze the defect. In order to obtain a sufficient level of resolution, it is common to move the camera or component that is being inspected, so as to cover two or more sections of the component. However, moving the component or camera is time consuming, and slows the inspection process.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Rotating prism component inspection system


An active material having a high capacity for negative electrodes of nonaqueous secondary batteries is provided by pyrolysis of a composite resin (A) which has a silanol group and/or a hydrolysable silyl group and which contains a polysiloxane segment (a1) and a polymer segment (a2) other than the polysiloxane segment (a1), and furthermore, a negative electrode using the above active material and a nonaqueous secondary battery including the above negative electrode are also provided. In addition, by pyrolysis of a dispersion liquid obtained from the composite resin (A), silicon particles, and an organic solvent, an active material having a high capacity for negative electrodes of nonaqueous secondary batteries is provided, and furthermore, a negative electrode using the above active material and a nonaqueous secondary battery including the above negative electrode are also provided.

As the present global movement, in consideration of the backgrounds of the Great East Japan Earthquake, social environmental issues, and the like, the way of energy utilization is now to be significantly changed. Concrete movements, such as the promotion of smart grid, and the start of a full amount purchase system of electricity, have occurred, and secondary batteries have been regarded as the most important key device in those movements.
Among various secondary batteries, although a lithium ion battery which can ensure a capacity even by its small size has most drawn attention, problems, such as a short travel distance of automobiles and a short use time of smart phones, may arise, and hence further development of increase in energy density has been pursued.
Among important materials to be developed for the purpose described above, an active material for negative electrodes may be mentioned. Although carbon-based materials, such as natural black lead, synthetic black lead, and graphite, have been currently used as an active material for negative electrodes, in order to increase the energy density as a battery, the carbon-based material has a certain limitation, and hence, a metal alloy-based active material, such as a Si-based or a Sn-based alloy, having a high theoretical capacity has been expected as a negative electrode material for next-generation batteries. However, the volume expansion of the material as described above is large during charge and discharge, and when the material is used as an electrode, for example, peeling of the electrode, collapse thereof, and breakage of an electrically conductive path may occur in some cases. As a result, for example, a life that can satisfy a practical use may not be disadvantageously obtained.
Accordingly, in order to improve the electrically conductive performance and to stabilize the active material itself, a method for compounding a Si metal with SiO, SiO2, and/or carbon has been studied, and a novel active material exhibiting a high performance has been pursued.
For example, metal alloy particles of Si, Sn, Al, Co, and/or the like are compounded with carbon and are used as an electrode material for lithium ion secondary batteries, and several methods for forming the composite materials as described above have been proposed. For example, a method for forming a composite material by mechanically mixing a carbon material and metal alloy particles (for example, see PTL 1), a method for depositing metal nano particles from a liquid phase to a carbon phase by reduction (a plating method or an electroless method) (for example, see NPL 1), and a method for forming a laminate from a nano sheet metal and graphenes (for example, see NPL 2) may be mentioned.
However, in a mechanically mixing method and a reduction deposition method (plating method), since metal particles are liable to physically adhere to a surface of a carbon mother material, an interface adhesion force is relatively low, and the particles are disadvantageously liable to be peeled away from the surface of the mother material. Free particles thus peeled away may be fused together or grown during charge and discharge, so that the battery performance may be degraded in some cases. In addition, as a post treatment performed after pyrolysis, a treatment in consideration of coating characteristics in negative electrode formation and coating film properties is required. In a method for forming a nano sheet laminate, the operation is complicated, and the efficiency is also low; hence, this method may not be advantageously applied to an industrial mass production and the like.

Active material for negative electrodes of nonaqueous secondary batteries, and nonaqueous secondary battery


An apparatus for manufacturing a semiconductor device includes a first affixing mechanism, cutting mechanism, a second affixing mechanism and peeling mechanism. The first affixing mechanism affixes a first holding member to a rear surface of a semiconductor wafer which is opposite to an element forming surface thereof. The cutting mechanism cuts and discretely divides the semiconductor wafer. The second affixing mechanism affixes a second holding member to the element forming surface side of the semiconductor wafer while the first holding member is expanded to widen gaps of semiconductor elements of the discretely divided semiconductor wafer. The peeling mechanism peels the first holding member.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a semiconductor device manufacturing apparatus and semiconductor device manufacturing method for forming semiconductor elements (semiconductor chips) by dividing a semiconductor wafer. More particularly to an affixing technique for adhesive tapes when the semiconductor wafer is divided.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, the process for forming semiconductor elements (semiconductor chips) by dividing a semiconductor wafer is performed according to the steps shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, for example. First, as shown in FIG. 1, an adhesive tape (holding tape) 12 is affixed to the rear surface of a semiconductor wafer 11 on which elements have been formed. The adhesive tape 12 has larger size than the semiconductor wafer 11 and is mounted on a wafer ring 13 so as to be easily handled when it is transferred or mounted on a manufacturing apparatus. Next, the semiconductor wafer 11 is divided into discrete semiconductor elements 11-1, 11-2, 11-3, . . . . In FIG. 1, a diamond blade 14 is used to divide the semiconductor wafer. However, the dividing method is not limited to a mechanically dividing method and can be attained by use of various methods of mechanical grinding and breaking (cleaving), scribing and breaking, application of laser beam, application of laser beam and breaking, and the like.
The semiconductor wafer 11 which is divided into the discrete semiconductor elements 11-1, 11-2, 11-3, . . . is transferred while it is held by the wafer ring 13 and adhesive tape 12 as shown in FIG. 2.
After this, the semiconductor elements 11-1, 11-2, 11-3, . . . are sequentially picked up from the adhesive tape 12 affixed to the rear surface of the semiconductor wafer 11. The picking-up process is performed while the adhesive tape 12 is expanded to widen gaps between the semiconductor elements 11-1, 11-2, 11-3, . . . or the picking-up process is performed without widening the gaps. After the thus picked-up semiconductor element is mounted on a lead frame or TAB tape, it is sealed into a resin or ceramic package to complete a semiconductor device.
When the semiconductor elements are made thin, the adhesive tape is peeled from the rear (or back-side) surface of the semiconductor wafer 11 and an adhesive tape is affixed to the front surface thereof as shown in FIG. 4 after the semiconductor wafer 11 is divided into the discrete semiconductor elements 11-1, 11-2, 11-3, . . . as shown in FIG. 3. The semiconductor wafer 11 which is held by an adhesive tape 15 and wafer ring 16 is transferred to and set on the table of a grinding attachment. Then, as shown in FIG. 5, the rear surface of the semiconductor wafer 11 is ground by use of a grindstone and polished by use of free adhesive grains or partly removed by etching or the like so that the semiconductor wafer will be made thin.
The above conventional manufacturing technique is described in Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 11-40520 and Japanese Patent Specification No. 3024384, for example.
In this example, a case wherein the wafer ring 13 (and 16) is used is explained. However, it is also possible to cut and divide the wafer 11 while the wafer 11 is held only by use of the adhesive tape 12 without using the wafer ring 13 as shown in FIG. 6 and then transfer the wafer with the discrete semiconductor elements 11-1, 11-2, 11-3, . . . affixed to the adhesive tape 12 as shown in FIG. 7. Further, it is possible to grind the rear surface of the semiconductor wafer 11 while the wafer 11 is held only by use of the adhesive tape 15.
In recent years, in order to increase the number of semiconductor elements obtained from each semiconductor wafer, the width of lines at the time of dividing of the semiconductor wafer is made small. Further, it is required to make the thickness of finally obtained semiconductor elements extremely thin, for example, less than 100 μm and it is indispensable to suppress damages occurring when the semiconductor wafer is cut and discretely divided.
However, with the above conventional semiconductor device manufacturing apparatus and semiconductor device manufacturing method, the following problems occur.
First, if the cutting gaps are narrow when the semiconductor wafer is divided into discrete semiconductor elements, the semiconductor elements 11-1, 11-2, 11-3, . . . which are adjacent to one another interfere with one another at the transferring time as shown in FIGS. 8A and 8B. FIG. 8A shows stress applied at the transferring time and FIG. 8B shows an area surrounded by broken lines 18 in FIG. 8A. By the above interference, damages such as chippings 19A and scratches 19B occur on the front surface portion and side surface portion of the semiconductor element 11-1 as shown in FIG. 9. As a result, when a semiconductor device is formed by performing a pick-up process and mounting process after this, chip cracks will occur starting from the chippings 19A or scratches 19B and the semiconductor device will be defective.
Further, as shown in FIG. 10, at the back-side grinding time, discrete semiconductor elements 11-1, 11-2, . . . interfere with one another and damages such as chippings 19A and scratches 19B occur on the side surface portion and rear surface portion of the semiconductor elements 11-1, 11-2, . . . as shown in FIG. 11. Therefore, when a semiconductor device is formed as a product by performing a pick-up process and mounting process, chip cracks are more likely to occur, thereby lowering the quality and lowering the manufacturing yield.
Particularly, if a breaking (cleavage) method is used to divide the semiconductor wafer, substantially no gap is provided between the discrete semiconductor elements 11-1, 11-2, 11-3, . . . , and therefore, the above problem of occurrence of damages such as chippings and scratches due to interference between the semiconductor elements becomes significant.

Semiconductor device manufacturing apparatus and semiconductor device manufacturing method for forming semiconductor chips by dividing semiconductor wafer


A system and method for utilizing face viewpoints of objects in a 3D environment includes three aspects. In a first aspect, the system and method is directed to defining a plurality of optimized viewpoints of an object referred to hereinafter as face viewpoints. In a second aspect a method and system is disclosed that provides for a preferred face viewpoint of the plurality of face viewpoints. Finally, the third aspect provides for a system and method for determining a navigation path to the preferred face viewpoint.

Presently in a computer environment the screen or display on the computer has a plurality of icons and windows thereon. In a typical environment including a window and a pointing device, to access certain information it is important to point to and then click on a particular icon or window. Oftentimes, this type of environment is not efficient unless the user has a specific understanding of the particular nomenclature and syntax of the particular environment of the computer. Hence, a user that is not familiar with that syntax or nomenclature could become easily confused and spend a significant amount of time trying to understand how to navigate and access certain information. This can cause user frustration as well as create considerable inefficiency in the system.
Three dimensional (3D) presentations are known, for example, to be utilized in computer games or virtual reality world environments in a computer system. User interaction with objects in 3D spaces, such as found in computer games and in virtual reality world environments using virtual reality modeling language (VRML) on the Internet, is made difficult by the perspective projection inherent in 3D presentation and because there is no easy way for users to move to a viewpoint that facilitates interactivity with an object of interest. In addition, a computer game is not an environment where useful work is accomplished, such in a business environment. Commonly understood user controls, such as buttons, sliders, and text entry fields cannot be easily used when viewed from an angle. Ease of use and productivity will be crucial aspects of making 3D user environments easy to use and productive.
For example, while navigating in the 3D world the user might find a calculator in the drawer of a desk. Using the calculator at the angle of view in effect when the user discovered it would not be practical due to the angles involved. Moving the viewpoint to be perpendicular to the desk drawer would also not be practical as the user might have to move "into" the drawer to be close enough to see an appropriate level of detail on the calculator. Perpendicular viewing has the additional disadvantage of being disorienting and does not facilitate the gathering and use of multiple objects at the same time in the performance of a single task.
What is needed is a system and method for enhancing the use of certain aspects of a 3-D environment where useful work is done on a computer display, without creating undue complexity. The system should be easy to implement and compatible with existing computer systems. The present invention addresses such a need.

Method and system for providing preferred face views of objects in a three-dimensional (3D) environment in a display in a computer system

International Business Machines Corporation


An information processing apparatus includes: a storage unit which stores person relationship information representing relationships between people as a subject in a storage medium; an acquisition unit which acquires image data generated by imaging people as a subject; a detection unit which detects each person in an image; a specification unit which specifies each person detected from the image by the detection unit; and a determination unit which determines the relationship between multiple people detected from the image. When at least one person from among the people detected from the image is specified and another person is unable to be specified, the specification unit may specify the at least one other person on the basis of the relationship between the multiple people and the person relationship information.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus, an information processing method, and an information processing program. The present invention is ideally applied, for example, to a digital video camera or a printing apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
A known image classification device detects the face portion of a person from each accumulated and stored image, and also extracts the detected face portion as a face image. Further, the image classification device classifies the images by people on the basis of the feature points of the face images.
The image classification device displays a list of face images of individual people in an image reproduction mode, if a desired person is selected as a face image in this state, retrieves images of the desired person in accordance with the selection, and displays a list of images as thumbnails (for example, see JP-A-2008-71112 (pp. 11 to 17, and FIGS. 6 and 7).

Methods and apparatus for acquiring and analyzing image data


A technique for efficiently compressing rendered three-dimensional images in a remote rendering system adds a novel render-assisted prediction function to an existing video compression framework, such as the standard H.264/5 framework. Auxiliary rendering information is separated from rendering information used to describe a reference image by a server system. A client system may alter the auxiliary data and generate a new image based on the reference image and rendered scene information from the auxiliary data without creating additional network bandwidth or server workload.

Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to computer graphics and, more specifically, to render-assisted compression for remote graphics.
Description of the Related Art
Remote rendering is a technique for rendering graphics images on a server and transmitting the images to a client device via an intervening data network. Multiple servers may operate from a controlled machine room environment to provide highly reliable service to many different client devices. Each server may be a relatively high-end computing platform with high-performance CPUs and GPUs, fast access to large arrays of on-line storage, and high-speed local networking to other servers that may be, for example, participants in a distributed application. Each server is typically configured to provide significantly more processing, storage, and internetworking capacity than a typical client device, while each client device is configured to provide networking connectivity, certain graphics functions, and a display system. A client device may be portable or mobile and provide a highly convenient user experience.
In one conventional remote rendering technique, a server renders both a high-quality image and a low-quality image for each frame, and transmits a difference image for the frame. A client device renders just the low-quality image and uses the difference image to reconstruct a high-quality image. In certain scenarios and for certain specific frames, this technique requires less network bandwidth than simply transmitting a conventionally compressed high-quality image. In some scenarios, the client device requires more power to perform image reconstruction on a certain frame than conventional image decompression requires for the same frame. One significant disadvantage of this technique is that little advantage is gained, if any, relative to conventionally compressing and transmitting each frame.
Other techniques involve image warping and spatial and temporal up-sampling of transmitted data. However, these techniques conventionally require explicit application-level control of processing, limiting general applicability.
As the foregoing illustrates, what is needed in the art is an efficient technique for remote rendering.

Render-assisted compression for remote graphics


Embodiments include a generally planar patch substrate having external connection pads on one side, electrical connections connected to the external connection pads and extending through the substrate, and plated contacts formed on the electrical connections and extending beyond the other side of the patch substrate. The external connection pads may be connected to one electrical device using solder bumps or balls, and the plated contacts may be connected to contacts of another electrical device by thermo-compression bonding. Also, a surface of the patch substrate having the plated contacts may be attached to the other electrical device using an electrically insulating adhesive. Moreover, the plated contacts may have a smaller surface area than the external connection pads, so that the other electrical device can also have smaller contacts, leaving more space for electrically conductive traces to the contacts on the surface and within layers of the other electrical device.

1. Field
Electronic device connectors and attachments, and the manufacture and connection thereof.
2. Background
Electronic devices having a field or array of contacts are typically connected to other devices having similar contacts such as a printed circuit board (PCB), "board", or a "motherboard" using molded socket devices, spring clip devices, solder bumps, solder, conductive or nonconductive paste or adhesive, or by other mechanical connector devices or means. One goal of such connector devices or means is generally to provide sufficient physical connection between two devices, such as to resist physical separation of the devices or damage to the devices due to vibration, shock, or thermal factors. Another goal is to cause the fields or arrays of contacts of the devices to individually contact or register with each other, such as to form an electrically conductive connection between the electronics of the devices. In fact, sometimes it is necessary to permanently connect the contacts of a device to another device or board. For example, solder bumps may be used to connect a land grid array (LGA) of a packaging substrate, such as a substrate including a semiconductor active device, processor, or other integrated circuit, to a printed circuit board (PCB), such as a "motherboard" of a computer. The use of solder bump connections typically requires that the packaging substrate and PCB use contacts (or contact pads) having a sufficient surface area, thickness, and spacing therebetween necessary for the solder bumps to form the desired connections between the contacts of the packaging substrate and the contacts of the PBA. Selecting contacts to use may take into consideration the amount of solder and heat necessary to cause the solder bumps to form the desired connections between the contacts of the packaging substrate and the contacts of the PBA. Moreover, selecting contacts to use and wiring or conductive traces to the contacts may take into consideration the amount of solder and heat necessary to cause the solder bumps to form the desired connections between the contacts of the packaging substrate and the contacts of the PBA.


A method, system, and computer program product to generate results for a query to an encrypted database stored on a host are described. The method includes generating indexes from the encrypted database, each index identifying records of the encrypted database associated with a range of data for at least one field stored in the records of the encrypted database, and generating index metadata associated with each index, the index metadata indicating the range of data identified by the associated index. The method also includes generating a sub-query from the query for each field associated with the query and determining a subspace of search within the encrypted database based on sub-query results obtained through the index metadata. The method further includes searching the subspace of the encrypted database to generate the results of the query.

The present invention relates generally to database queries, and more specifically, to queries of encrypted databases.
In many systems including databases of encrypted information such as financial and medical databases, for example, substantial parts of the databases must be decrypted only by secure hardware because of regulatory or other reasons. These encrypted databases are considered host-opaque because even the host that stores the database may not access the database contents. Instead, only one or more secure processors (secure coprocessors) may access the database. In such systems, when the database size exceeds the total capacity of the secure coprocessors, a large latency can result in conducting a traditional search. This can be especially true when data mining encrypted databases because data mining generally involves searching for correlations between different properties of database records.

Scalable precomputation system for host-opaque processing of encrypted databases

International Business Machines Corporation


A phosphor-containing addition-curable silicone resin composition is provided. The composition is capable of forming a cured product which exhibits excellent crack resistance and shock resistance, and minimal surface tackiness. The composition includes (A) an organopolysiloxane including R1SiO1.5 units (T units), R22SiO units (D units), and R3aR4bSiO(4-a-b)/2 units (wherein, R1, R2 and R3 represent a methyl group or the like, R4 represents a vinyl group or allyl group, a represents an integer from 0 to 2, b represents 1 or 2, and a+b is either 2 or 3), in which the number of repetitions of the D units is within a range from 5 to 300; (B) an Si—H-containing polysiloxane including T units, D units, and R3cHdSiO(4-c-d)/2 units (wherein, c represents an integer from 0 to 2, d represents 1 or 2, and c+d is either 2 or 3), in which the number of repetitions of the D units is within a range from 5 to 300, in sufficient quantity that the molar ratio of Si-bonded hydrogen atoms within (B), relative to vinyl groups or allyl groups within (A), is within a range from 0.1 to 4.0; (C) a catalyst; and (D) a phosphor.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an addition-curable silicone resin composition that can be used favorably for sealing LED elements and the like, and relates particularly to a silicone composition that yields a cured product with superior surface tackiness and favorable strength characteristics, and a cured product of such a composition.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Silicone rubber compositions form cured products that exhibit excellent properties of weather resistance and heat resistance and the like, as well as superior rubber-like properties such as hardness and elongation, and they are consequently used in a wide variety of applications, but because they also exhibit surface tackiness, dust adhesion becomes a problem when such silicone rubber compositions are used as coating agents or the like for electrical or electronic components.
Silicone varnishes exhibit no surface tackiness, meaning dust adhesion is unlikely, but a significant problem arises in that because they lack adequate shock resistance, they tend to be prone to cracking, particularly when exposed to thermal shocks.
In addition-curable silicone rubber compositions, the addition of a resin-like organopolysiloxane component to improve the strength of the cured product is a commonly known technique (patent reference 1). However, even in those cases where the strength of the cured product is raised, surface tackiness and dust adhesion remain problems.
Silicone rubbers attract attention as coating materials for sealing or protecting LED elements as they have good light-resistance. In a white LED device a blue light emitting LED element is covered with a silicone resin layer containing a phosphor. The wavelength of blue light emitted from the LED element is shifted to that of pseudo-white light. Such a silicone layer is formed from an addition-curable silicone rubber composition to which a phosphor has been added. Thus, pseudo-white light with excellent color rendering properties can be obtained. However, if settling of the phosphor occurs within the composition, then variations develop in the color rendering. As a countermeasure, a method has been proposed in which a nanosilica is added to prevent this settling from occurring (patent reference 2).
Furthermore, in order to resolve these problems, it is desirable that the material is able to be readily molded using a conventional molding apparatus such as a transfer molding, compression molding, or injection molding apparatus.
As a result, a silicone composition capable of forming a cured product within a package of electrical or electronic components or the like, wherein dust does not adhere to the surface of the cured product, and the cured product exhibits excellent levels of crack resistance and shock resistance, is keenly sought. Furthermore, a composition that is a solid or semisolid at room temperature (namely, 20° C.±10° C.), and is able to be cured using a conventional molding apparatus would be particularly desirable.
Examples of the conventional technology relating to the present invention include the publications below.
[Patent Reference 1] Japanese Laid-open publication (kokai) No. 2001-002922
[Patent Reference 2] Japanese Laid-open publication (kokai) No. 2005-76003

Phosphor-filled curable silicone resin composition and cured product thereof


A medical instrument includes a multilayer wiring board having first, second and third wirings, a fourth wiring formed in a first wiring layer, and a fifth wiring formed in a second wiring layer. A first via conductor electrically connects the third and fifth wirings. A second via conductor electrically connects the fourth and fifth wirings. The medical instrument further includes first and second transistors, a second transistor, and a capacitor mounted on the first wiring layer side of the multilayer wiring board. The drain and source electrodes of the first transistor are electrically connected to the first and second wirings, respectively. The drain electrode of the second transistor is electrically connected to the second wiring. The source electrode of the second transistor is electrically connected to the third wiring. The first and second electrodes of the capacitor are electrically connected to the first and fourth wirings, respectively.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a semiconductor device, a medical instrument, and the like.
2. Related Art
Similar to an ejecting head which is mounted in an ink jet printer, there are many actuators constituted by a capacitive load, such as a piezoelectric element. In order to drive an actuator as a capacitive load, a drive signal having a certain level of power is required. Accordingly, a drive waveform signal as a source of a drive signal is power-amplified to generate a drive signal. When an analog drive waveform signal is power-amplified in an analog form to directly generate an analog drive signal, significant power loss occurs and power efficiency is degraded. Accordingly, technology for power amplification using a so-called class D amplifier has been suggested.
A medical instrument which uses a fluid transport apparatus, in which a plurality of rollers are provided on a concentric circle of a rim portion of a rotor, a tube is mounted such that a fluid flows between the tube and a tube receiving member, and when the rotor rotates, the rollers sequentially press the tube to cause the fluid to flow, is known. A medical instrument which uses a fluid transport apparatus, in which the tube is pressed to cause the fluid to flow using a plurality of pressing elements (for example, piezoelectric elements) instead of a plurality of rollers, or a medical instrument which uses a fluid ejecting apparatus using a piezoelectric element is also known.
For example, when a switching circuit, such as a class D amplifier, is used as a circuit which drives a plurality of piezoelectric elements, in order to suppress ringing of an output voltage, in general, a bypass capacitor is arranged between a power supply potential and a ground potential (for example, JP-A-2011-187809). In an ink jet printer, the occurrence of ringing leads to the occurrence of EMI noise. As a result, the amount of ink to be ejected varies, thereby causing interference with improvement in printing quality. In a medical instrument using a fluid transport apparatus or a fluid ejecting apparatus, the occurrence of ringing leads to the occurrence of EMI noise, causing interference with the operation of the apparatus itself or peripherals. For example, in a medical instrument using a fluid ejecting apparatus, the occurrence of EMI noise with ringing causes variation in the amount of fluid to be ejected.
In order to suppress ringing, it is important to decrease parasitic inductance in a loop having two transistors and a bypass capacitor of a switching circuit. In order to decrease parasitic inductance, it is necessary to decrease the area of a loop having two transistors and a bypass capacitor of a switching circuit. The inter-electrode distance of the capacitor increases with an increase in capacitance of the capacitor, and thus, in the arrangement of the capacitor described in JP-A-2011-187809, an increase in capacitance of the capacitor results in an increase in the area of the loop. For this reason, there is a limitation to suppress ringing, that is, to improve printing quality or to stably transport a fluid.


Lithium cobaltate forming the positive electrode of a lithium secondary battery is subjected together with lithium metal to reducing reaction in molten lithium chloride to produce lithium oxide and to precipitate and separate cobalt or cobalt oxide. The lithium oxide is subjected to electro-deposition in molten lithium chloride contained in a lithium electro-deposition tank provided with an anode and a cathode to recover lithium metal deposited on the cathode.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a valuable metal recycling method and apparatus for recovering valuable metals from an electrode material of a lithium secondary battery.
2. Description of Related Art
The positive electrode of a lithium secondary battery is formed of a lithium-containing transition metal oxide, more specifically, of a composite material containing lithium cobaltate (LiCoO2) comparatively easily produced by synthesis and carbon. The composite material contains Co and Li, which are valuable rare metals. Therefore it is desired to recover Co and Li from the composite material forming the positive electrode of the lithium secondary battery by a recycling process to use the recovered Co and Li for forming electrodes, etc.
A conventional valuable metal recycling method of recovering valuable materials from the material of the positive electrode by a wet process recovers a cobalt compound and the like by a plurality of oxide processing steps.
A recycling process is disclosed in JP-A 10-158751. This known recycling process includes the steps of roasting used lithium secondary batteries, reducing the roasted materials of used lithium secondary batteries with carbon to produce materials that can be easily converted into metal condensates, such as metallic cobalt particles and metallic nickel particles, crushing the roasted materials into particles, sifting the particles to classify the particles into rich particles rich in valuable metals and lean particles lean in valuable metals, mixing the rich particles having a high valuable metal content and a calcium compound to prepare a mixture, melting the mixture by heating at 1500° C. or above, and removing Al from a molten mixture by adding a calcium compound into the molten mixture to obtain valuable metals, such as Co and Li.
A valuable metal recovering process disclosed in JP-A 10-287864 includes the steps of immersing active materials forming the positive electrodes of lithium secondary batteries in a mineral acid, such as sulfuric acid, or a mixed solution of a mineral acid and hydrogen peroxide to produce an eluate, mixing the eluate in a solvent containing a special metal extractant, such as a bis(1,1,3,3-tetra-methylbutyl)phosphoric acid compound for catalytic extraction fractionation, and mixing an extract solution in a mineral acid for back extraction to recover valuable metals.
Those known oxide processing methods include many processes including an acid dissolution process, a solvent extraction process, a deposition process, an acid treatment and a heat treatment and need a longtime to complete the methods. A burning process for removing carbon needs a large quantity of energy and takes a long time on the order of 2 hr. Moreover, the conventional method is unable to recover lithium efficiently. Furthermore, to process an electrode material containing other valuable rare metals, other processing methods suitable for processing such an electrode material are necessary.

Method and apparatus for recycling electrode material of lithium secondary battery

Research Institute of Innovative Technology for the Earth


A device for holding sockets includes a body with two rails formed to two sides thereof and a plurality of connecting members are slidably mounted to the rails. A head member is disengagably engaged to the body so as to attach the device to a user's belt. Each of the connecting members has a socket mounted thereto. The body further has a retaining member formed thereto so that a ratchet tool is removably retained by the retaining member.

Sockets are designed to be attached to ratchet tools to tighten or loosen a bolt or a nut, such sockets have different sizes so as to fit bolts or nuts with different sizes. A user has to carry many sockets if he/she wants to use the ratchet tool, generally, a tool box or socket box is carried with him/her so as to conveniently hold the sockets. Generally a typical tool box is so large that it is inconvenient to be carried and occupies too much space on site.
The present invention intends to provide a simple and compact socket holding device which has a body with two rails formed to two sides thereof so that sockets are slidably mounted to the rails and a head member is conveniently and disengagably engaged to the body so that the device can be clamped to a user's belt. Furthermore, a ratchet tool is removably attached to the body. The device of the present invention therefore mitigates and/or obviates the disadvantages of the conventional tool/socket boxes.


An LED printer capable of avoiding unevenness in the intensity of light depending on positions over all of the illumination areas divided in the direction of main scan, and an image forming apparatus including the LED printer. The LED printer comprises an LED array unit made up of an LED array having a plurality of LED's arrayed to lie in one direction and a focusing device for focusing light from the LED array onto an image carrier of the image forming apparatus, an image data transfer control device for dividing and transferring image data, which has been transferred to it, for each of a plurality of the multiple LED array units arranged in a zigzag pattern in an axial direction of the image carrier, a dividing device for dividing an area of the LED array unit energized to illuminate at a time into plural parts, an LED illumination control device for controlling the intensity of emitted light for each of the areas energized to illuminate at a time, and an LED illumination control device for controlling the intensity of emitted light for each of the LED array units.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an LED (Light Emitting Diode) printer for forming a digital image by writing printing information on a photoconductor as an image carrier, with a light beam from an LED array and also relates to a copier, printer, facsimile apparatus or similar image forming apparatus including the LED printer.
2. Description of the Related Art
There is hitherto known an LED printer wherein a LED head group is constituted by a plurality of LED heads arrayed in the axial direction of a photoconductor as an image carrier of an image forming apparatus. An example of such an LED printer is disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 10-86438. There is also known an LED printer wherein a maximum photoconductive area width in the axial direction of a photoconductor can be subjected to exposure in divisions with a plurality of LED heads. Another example of such an LED printer is disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2001-80118.
More specifically, in the LED printer disclosed in the above-cited Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 10-86438, the LED head group is constituted by a plurality of LED heads arrayed in the axial direction of the photoconductor, and a maximum photoconductive area width in the axial direction of the photoconductor can be subjected to exposure in divisions with each of the LED heads. Furthermore, a plurality of LED heads may be arranged in a zigzag pattern in the axial direction of the photoconductor such that opposite end areas of adjacent exposable regions are overlapped with each other in the axial direction of the photoconductor. In addition, an odd number of three or more LED heads may be arranged in a zigzag pattern such that the number of the LED heads is larger on the upstream side in the rotating direction of the photoconductor than on the downstream side.
On the other hand, in the LED printer disclosed in the above-cited Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2001-80118, the maximum photoconductive area width in the axial direction of the photoconductor can be subjected to exposure in divisions with a plurality of LED heads, and the brightness of light is adjusted for each of the LED heads in an independent manner so as to eliminate unevenness in printing density caused by differences in brightness among the LED heads. Although no suggestion is made of the problem that unevenness in printing density occurs within the LED head among divided illumination areas thereof when an image is printed, it is proposed to eliminate unevenness in the intensity of light within an LED array unit by controlling the intensity of light for each of the divided illumination areas within the LED array unit.
Generally, an LED printer has high reliability because of employing no moving part, such as a polygon mirror used in a laser printer. Also, in the case of a printer requiring an output of a large-sized print, because the LED printer does not need an optical space for scanning a light beam in the direction of main scan, it is just required to dispose an LED head comprising an LED array and an optical element, e.g., a SELFOC lens, thus resulting in a reduction of the overall printer size. In recent years, therefore, LED printers have been widely used as ones substituted for laser printers.
In a laser printer, one light source with an output power of about 10 mW is energized to emit a laser beam that is scanned by a polygon mirror, an fθ lens, etc. On the other hand, in an LED printer, a plurality of LED's are arrayed in the direction of main scan in one-to-one relation to one pixel, and a current of about several to 10 mA is supplied to each of the LED's, thereby causing the LED to emit a light beam. Data transfer and illumination are controlled for each LED.
Accordingly, in a large-sized printer or copier, the number of driver IC's for driving the LED's increases and production yields reduce correspondingly. Another problem is that, because of necessity of improving the accuracy of parts to maintain the accuracy in array of write beams, the part price per piece is much higher in the large-sized printer or copier than in a small-sized printer or copier. For that reason, a printer is also proposed in which a plurality of LED array units each used in a small-sized inexpensive printer or copier are arranged in the direction of main scan so that a large-sized print can be outputted.
In the LED printer disclosed in the above-cited Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 10-86438, two or three LED array units are arranged along the axis of the photoconductor and are subjected to exposure in divisions. The exposure in divisions is usually carried out, for example, by a dynamic method of illuminating LED's to make a scan in the direction of main scan on the dot-by-dot basis, or a static method of illuminating LED's all together or for each of several blocks at a time in the direction of main scan. That known LED printer employs the static method. Further, in that known LED printer, each LED array unit is divided into four parts for individual illuminations, and three LED array units are arranged to lie in one direction. As a whole, therefore, that known LED printer operates in a mode of illumination in 12 divisions.
Although there is no problem when an image is dark, a problem occurs in the case of a light image (low density) in that the image density changes across a boundary between the divided illumination areas. The reason is as follows. When the LED array unit is divided into plural areas, it is unavoidable that illumination areas at opposite ends are narrower in some actual use than inner illumination areas. This causes a difference in voltage drop attributable to, e.g., a difference in impedances of cables extended from a power supply, whereby larger currents are supplied to the illumination areas at the opposite ends and the intensity of light emitted from those illumination areas are relatively increased. In the case of a halftone image, therefore, the illumination areas at the opposite ends provide a higher image density, i.e., a darker image, than the inner illumination areas adjacent to the formers, thus resulting in unevenness in density. Further, a variation among the three LED array units depending on production lots also causes unevenness in the intensity of light in a halftone image.
In other words, unevenness in density occurs not only among the LED array units, but also among the divided illumination areas within one LED array unit. Hence, compensation of the intensity of light for each of the LED array units is not enough to satisfactorily deal with such a problem of unevenness in density.

Led printer and image forming apparatus including the same


A method of producing a magnetic recording medium comprises the steps of heating in vacuum a magnetic recording medium produced by forming a ferromagnetic metal-film-type recording medium onto a non-magnetic substrate and of forming, immediately after heating, a protective layer on the magnetic recording medium by a plasma CVD method. A production apparatus for carrying out this method comprises a feeding apparatus for feeding a magnetic recording medium with a ferromagnetic thin film formed on a non-magnetic substrate, a plasma CVD apparatus, disposed in the path of this feeding apparatus, for forming a protective layer, and a heating apparatus disposed just before this plasma CVD apparatus in the feeding path.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a ferromagnetic metal-film-type recording medium and, more particularly, to a method and apparatus for producing a magnetic recording medium of the type mentioned above, wherein durability of a protective layer which is formed after the formation of a magnetic layer so as to improve the performance thereof in practical use, is remarkably improved, as well as to an apparatus suitable for use in carrying out the method.
2. Description of the Related Art
Ferromagnetic metal-film-type recording media have been known which are produced by forming, through vacuum deposition, sputtering, or ion plating or a like method conducted in a vacuum atmosphere, a film of Co, Ni, Fe, or alloys thereof on a polymeric film such as a polymide film or on a substrate which is made of a non-magnetic metal. In these ferromagnetic metal-film-type magnetic recording media, it is possible to remarkably improve recording density as compared with a conventional application type magnetic recording medium. In order to attain a high recording density, it is an important factor to diminish as much as possible any recording/reproduction detects, as well as to minimize spacing losses due to spacing between a magnetic head and a magnetic recording medium. A magnetic recording medium must also have high durability. In order to meet these requirements, hitherto, it has been known to cover a material layer with a protective layer, and, further to form a lubrication layer. A method is also known in which surface contamination is removed by an argon glow discharge process just before a protective layer is formed. FIG. 5 shows a magnetic recording medium in which a protective layer is formed by a conventional plasma CVD (Chemical Vapor Deposition) method, and a lubrication layer is formed by a wet-application method. Numeral 1 denotes a substrate, 2 denotes a ferromagnetic metal-film-type layer formed by a vacuum deposition method, 3 denotes a back coating layer, 4 denotes a protective layer formed by a plasma CVD method, and 5 denotes a lubrication layer formed by a wet-application method. FIG. 6 shows an example of a method of producing a magnetic recording medium so as to form a protective film (a diamond like carbon film) by a plasma CVD method after an argon glow process is performed for cleaning as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,833,031 . An example of the above-mentioned method and apparatus for producing magnetic recording media will be explained hereinunder with reference to FIGS. 5 and 6. First, a description will be given, with reference to FIG. 6, to an apparatus for forming a protective layer 4 by a plasma CVD method after a conventional argon glow process is performed. Numeral 10a denotes a magnetic recording medium before the formation of a protective layer, which is wound on a supply roller 11. Numerals 12 and 14 denote pass rollers, which rotate in contact with the ferromagnetic thin-film layer 2 on the magnetic recording medium 10. Numeral 13 denotes a main roller which is insulated from the main part of the apparatus and which is capable of feeding the magnetic recording medium 10 in close contact with the ferromagnetic metallic film layer 2 with a predetermined voltage applied therebetween. Numeral 15 denotes a take-up roller, which continuously takes up the magnetic recording medium 10b after formation of a protective layer. Numeral 16 denotes a nozzle for an argon glow-discharge process, 17 denotes an electrode, 18 denotes an argon gas introduction port, 19 denotes a power supply for a glow discharge process. These components 10 to 19 in cooperation constitute an argon glow discharge process unit. Numeral 20 denotes a nozzle for plasma CVD, 21 denotes an electrode, 22 denotes a gas introduction port, 23 denotes a plasma-generating power supply. These components in cooperation constitute a plasma CVD processing unit for forming protective layers. Numeral 24 denotes a bias power supply, which applies a voltage between the main roller 13 and the ferromagnetic thin-film layer 2 of the magnetic recording medium 10. This power supply is disposed outside a vacuum container together with the power supply 19 for glow discharge processing and the plasma-generating power supply 23. Next, a will be described of producing a magnetic recording medium by a conventional CVD method which employs an apparatus constructed as mentioned above. The magnetic recording medium 10a, in the condition before the formation of the protective layer 4 is unwound from the supply roller 11 and is advanced through the bus roller 12. The magnetic recording medium 10a is further continuously fed in close contact with the main roller 13 with a voltage applied between itself and the main roller 13. On the other hand, an argon glow discharge is generated from the nozzle 16 as the result of a supply of argon gas from the argon gas introduction port 18 before the formation of a protective layer. The glow is produced by the electrode 17 for argon glow discharge and the power supply 19. Foreign matter on the surface magnetic layer of the magnetic recording medium 10a is removed. Immediately after this, a plasma ion current is generated as the result of the supply of reactive gas flowing in from the gas introduction port 22 and of a voltage applied from the plasma-generating electrode 21 and the plasma-generating power supply 23, and this current is fed to the plasma nozzle 20. It reaches the ferromagnetic metallic film layer 2 of the magnetic recording medium 10a, and a protective layer 4 is formed. The magnetic recording medium 10b with the protective layer 4 formed thereon is taken up by the take-up roller 15 through the pass roller 14.
However, in the above-mentioned conventional method, not only is the foreign matter on the magnetic layer surface removed in the argon glow discharge process before the formation of the protective layer, but damage is caused to the surface of the magnetic layer by the argon ion current at glow discharge time. This leads to decreased still durability and resistance to corrosion, resulting in unsuitability for practical use. Further, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,013,583, there has been provided a method of forming a Ca.sub.3 O.sub.4 protective film by a vapor deposition method or sputtering method. However, such methods cannot provide a continuous protective film having a thickness of 100 Angstroms so as to improve a corrosion resistance thereof. The vapor deposition method cannot provide an adequate adhesion strength. The sputtering method causes the magnetic layer to be damaged by ionizing the sputter gas, and the protective film includes metallic atoms. As a result, still durability of a video tape recorder is deteriorated by solidification of metal (contained in the protective layer of the tape) on the head of the recorder.

Method for producing magnetic recording medium

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.


An optical element conveying human-discernible information to a user has its brightness modulated to also convey machine-discernible information to an optical detector. A frame section in which a bit of data can be conveyed begins at a falling edge of a preceding frame section corresponding to the brightness of the optical element decreasing to a low level. At a first predetermined point within the frame section, if the bit of data is logic one, the brightness is increased to a high level, corresponding to a rising edge. At a later, second predetermined point within the frame section, if the bit of data is logic zero, the brightness is increased to the high level, corresponding to the rising edge. At the end of the frame section, the brightness is decreased to the low level, corresponding to a falling edge of the frame section.

Optical elements can be employed to convey human-discernible information to users. For example, discrete light-emitting diodes (LEDs) on consumer electronic devices and other types of electronic devices can provide status information to users, such as whether the devices are on, and in what modes they are operating. As another example, flat-panel televisions and displays that include panels of display elements, such as LEDs, organic LEDs (OLEDs), and liquid crystal display (LCD) elements, among others, can appropriately control those elements in unison to display images, such as video, to users.

Modulating brightness of optical element conveying human-discernible information to also convey machine-discernible information

Lenovo Enterprise Solutions (Singapore) PTE. LTD.


A method for abrasive material removal that includes the steps of establishing an optimum force profile relating to the force or contact pressure applied by a processing tool on a workpiece. The actual force generated during the metal removal operation is monitored and compared to the optimum force profile. Based on the comparison of the actual force with the optimum force profile machine parameters are adjusted such that the actual force generated follows the established optimum force profile.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a method and apparatus for finishing a workpiece. More specifically, the method and apparatus measures or monitors various operating parameters occurring during the finishing operation of a workpiece and varies different operating parameters to maintain optimum predetermined or established values.
2. Description of Related Art
Microfinishing is a unique process that removes surface defects caused by previous operations to produce a high quality finish. The process involves utilizing an abrasive fed against the workpiece under a low or constant force. As is known, the abrasive determines the rate or duration of the feed. After the abrasive removes the initial roughness and reaches the solid, base material, material removal rate is reduced and the abrasive becomes dull. This completes the geometry portion of the microfinishing process, as the abrasive no longer removes a measurable amount of the workpiece material. Continued application of the abrasive to the workpiece functions to create the required surface finish.
One of the problems associated with a microfinishing process is maintaining the effectiveness of the abrasive such that it removes the initial roughness and reaches the solid, base material of the workpiece. Depending upon the coarseness of the workpiece and the force applied on the abrasive, for example, abrasive particles located on a microfinishing film, the abrasive may fracture thus reducing the overall effectiveness of the abrasive, in this case the microfinishing film. The fracture rate of the abrasive is a function of the amount of speed and pressure put on the abrasive in relation to the surface texture of the workpiece. If the surface texture of the workpiece is coarse and too much pressure is applied to the abrasive, the abrasive will fracture which correspondingly reduces its ability to cut efficiently during the normal microfinishing cycle.
Accordingly, too much pressure causes the abrasive to fracture and too little pressure increases the overall cycle time of the microfinishing process. Typically, in order to reduce the risk of fracturing and maintaining the effectiveness of the abrasive, the microfinishing operation is based on a fixed cycle time of increased duration. In short, the abrasive is fed slowly against the workpiece at a reduced rate to correspondingly reduce or prevent fracturing of the abrasive.
Various methods for finishing a workpiece are known, see for example U.S. Pat. No. 6,782,760, that discloses a method for finishing a workpiece by controlling the feed of the processing tool based on the contact pressure. Specifically, a processing tool attached to a tool spindle advances at a pre-selected feed rate. A force measuring device measures the contact pressure applied by the processing tool on the workpiece and upon recognition of the initial cut and corresponding initial force, stops the feeding or advancing movement. Upon making initial contact, a controller fixes the rate at which the processing tool advances against the workpiece based on preset or predetermined value. If the measured value of the contact pressure or force is greater than the preset value, advancement of the feeding device used to move the processing tool varies in steps or incrementally. In addition, the initial or nominal force value may be reduced during the finishing process with the feed rate values adjusted by a controller subject to a damping function.
While controlling the feed rate to control the force applied to the processing tool can be very effective in achieving a high quality finish it typically requires starting with a low feed rate and a low force or contact pressure between the processing tool and the workpiece to prevent fracturing of the abrasive on the processing tool due to the condition of the workpiece. This process takes into account the worst-case scenario of the surface texture of the workpiece and builds into the microfinishing operation an increased cycle time to address the worst-case scenario. This equates to a fixed cycle time of somewhat longer duration than is necessary, in that a certain amount of time is used in advancing the processing tool slowly against the workpiece to reduce any undesired premature fracturing of the abrasive particles and consequently reducing their useful life.
From the above, it can be appreciated that a method and apparatus for microfinishing a workpiece that monitors and controls additional variables in the finishing process in addition to the force applied by the processing tool on the workpiece is needed. Such a method could be used to control the processing parameters and thus reduce potential failure or fracturing of the abrasive thereby increasing the useful life of the processing tool and producing a microfinishing apparatus and method that processes the workpiece in the most economical time and efficient manner.


A magnetic element comprises a closed loop of ferromagnetic material having an even number of magnetic domains of opposite sense. The magnetisation within the domains is in a circumferential direction, and the domains have leading and trailing walls extending from the inside to the outside of the loop. The magnetic element has a geometry such that there are at least two stable equilibrium domain configurations in which the domain walls are confined in predetermined portions of the loop and wherein the element is switchable between the stable configurations upon the application of a external magnetic field.

The present invention relates to magnetic elements with stable but switchable domain structures. These elements are useful in array Magnetic Random Access Memories (MRAM) and in hard disk read/write heads.
The use of magnetic structures in magnetic data storage has intensified during the last 10 years. The main application is found in the read head in hard disk drives, which are based on Anisotropic Magneto Resistive (AMR) thin films and on more complex systems utilising Giant Magneto Resistive (GMR), or Tunnel Magneto Resistive (TMR), multilayers. Another newer application is the use of small magnetic elements to store the data in Random Access Memories. The main qualities needed for these applications, apart from a high magneto resistance, are well defined and reproducible magnetic states having a predictable response to an applied magnetic field. In addition, with the increase in speed in microelectronics, the required switching speed between different magnetic states is approaching the GHz range.
The choice of geometry and the equilibrium state of the magnetic element are crucial in achieving this performance. All existing devices in use today are topologically simply connected i.e. disc shaped, square, rectangular or even eye shaped. One problem with these structures is edge effects, defining a multitude of different and complex states with similar energy. This leads to complex switching behaviour. The multitude of states in these structures makes them very sensitive to imperfections, both macroscopic defects, i.e. shape variation, and atomic scale defects resulting from the pattering. It has been shown by Zhu et al. "Journal of Applied Physics," page 6668-6673, Volume 87, Number 9., that a slight variation in the shape of a rectangular element will result in 100% change in the coercive field.
To obtain a better defined state, Zhu et al. proposed to use a connected element in the shape of a ring, for which the vortex state is very stable. Information can be stored as the two opposite vortex states. The switching of these elements is, however, complicated and the magnetic elements pass through a complex intermediate state with a radial magnetisation. This complexity sets a limit on the size of usable structures and the switching speed.
There is therefore a need for non-volatile memory arrays and magnetic read/write heads for devices which have greater speed, reliability and cost effectiveness.

Magnetic element with switchable domain structure

Cambridge University Technical Services Ltd.


Box blank-forming apparatus (60) is provided which includes a feeder assembly (62) and a scoring/slotting assembly (64) each provided with adjustment structure (62a, 64a) to facilitate makeready adjustment of the apparatus (60) between production runs. The feeder assembly (62) preferably includes a reciprocal pusher element (170) operable to successively engage sheets (30) to be formed into box blanks (36). The element (170) is supported by a pair of elongated, threaded, axially rotatable, fore and aft translatable positioning screws (146, 148), so that upon rotation of the screws (146, 148), a reference position of the pusher element (170) may be varied. Adjustment of the assembly (64) is accomplished by means of compensators (292, 294) which are respectively coupled to associated slotter wheel and scoring wheel shafts (288, 286). Operation of the slotter wheel shaft compensator (294) serves to adjust the circumferential positions of the fixed slotter knives (358), whereas operation of the scoring shaft compensator (292) varies the position of the adjustable knives (360) through the medium of transfer gears (384). Servo-sensors (438-442, 446-448 and 270) are used to continuously monitor the lateral and circumferential positions of the scoring/slotting stations (296-304) and a reference position of the pusher element (172), so that precise makeready adjustments can be accomplished.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is broadly concerned with improved apparatus for scoring and slotting of cardboard sheets in order to form box blanks. More particularly, it is concerned with such apparatus which can be readily retrofitted on existing, old style equipment, while also permitting extremely rapid and accurate makeready adjustments of the slotting knives of the apparatus and the sheet feeding assembly thereof.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Box-making plants universally make use of large equipment designed for the high speed fabrication of box blanks from starting cardboard sheets. In general, these machines are operable to individually feed cardboard sheets from a stack thereof into a scoring and slotting assembly wherein the sheets are appropriately scored and slotted to form the side panels and end flaps required for box blanks. The scoring and slotting assembly in turn includes two pairs of side-by-side shafts. One shaft pair carries a plurality of laterally spaced apart scoring wheels and cooperating anvils for forming continuous score lines in the incoming sheets. The adjacent shaft pair carries a similar plurality of adjustable and continuous slotting wheels which form the flap-defining slots in the box blank.
Machines of this character operate with good efficiency once they are properly adjusted, i.e., the fixed and adjustable knives of the slotting wheels are properly positioned relative to each other and in conjunction with the sheet feeding assembly of the machine. However, once a particular production run has been completed, it is often necessary to adjust the lateral and circumferential positions of the scoring/slotting stations and the fixed and adjustable knives thereof. Moreover the initial or zero position of the feeding assembly must be adjusted to accept a different size of starting sheet. Such adjustments have heretofore required the machine operator to manually change the feeder assembly zero position, and to alter the positions of at least the adjustable knives of the slotting wheels. The latter requires that the operator individually change each knife, in the crowded confines of the machine. This is not only time-consuming and difficult, but can lead to inaccuracies if the knives are not precisely repositioned. Indeed, makeready changeovers of this character can often take twenty minutes or more, which represents a significant down time for the equipment, particularly where a number of the changeovers are required on a daily basis.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,090,433 describes a scoring/slotting apparatus provided with dual compensators for facilitating the rapid adjustment of the fixed and movable knives of such apparatus. However, the structural arrangement described in this patent does not lend itself to ready retrofitting of existing equipment. This is a prime deficiency, inasmuch as the box making industry has a substantial investment in its existing equipment, and would be loathe to invest in wholly new scoring/slotting apparatus simply to obtain faster makeready capability.

Adjustable slotter wheel retrofit apparatus for box blank making machines


A vertical height adjustment mechanism for a dish rack includes a slide member fixedly mounted relative to a support member, a housing secured to the dish rack, and a latch member. The housing includes a central guide channel that slidably receives the slide member. The latch member includes a support leg, an actuating arm and an intermediate portion joining the support leg and actuating arm. The sliding element includes an end portion that receives and retains the support leg of the latch when the dish rack is in the raised position.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention pertains to the art of dishwashers and, more particularly, to a vertical height adjuster mechanism for a dishwasher dish rack.
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
A front loading dishwasher typically includes a tub having an open front. The tub defines a washing chamber into which items, such as kitchenware, glassware and the like, are placed to undergo a washing operation. The dishwasher is generally provided with a door, pivotally mounted to the tub, that closes the open front, and upper and lower extensible dish racks for supporting items during the washing operation. Typically, the upper and lower dish racks are separated by a defined vertical spacing that limits the overall size of items that can be placed in the dishwasher.
In order to provide more flexibility to consumers, manufacturers have developed adjustment mechanisms that enable the dish rack to be vertically adjustable. That is, the dish rack can be vertically shifted to increase the defined vertical spacing between the upper and lower dish racks. Typically, the adjustment mechanisms are mounted on opposing sides of the dish rack and connect to extensible support rails that permit the dish rack to move in and out of the washing chamber. In most cases, the adjustment mechanisms have complicated structure including ratchet and pawl elements that make up latch/release and support portions of the adjustment mechanism. Over time, the ratchet and pawls will wear and require service and/or replacement. Furthermore, the complicated structure used in many prior art adjustment mechanisms adds to the overall manufacturing costs in that separate components are required for each side of the dish rack.
In addition to increasing service and manufacturing costs, the latching mechanisms used by prior art adjustment mechanisms can be difficult to operate. Hidden buttons, sticky latches, and the like can make it difficult to transition from one height position to another. In some cases, the adjustment mechanisms are unstable. That is, when in a raised position, the adjustment mechanism creates a moment arm that will limit the size/weight of items placed on the dish rack.
Based on the above, there still exists a need in the art for a vertical height adjustment mechanism for a dishwasher dish rack. More specifically, there exists a need for a vertical height adjustment mechanism that is simple to manufacture, easy to use and provides support in all height positions.

Height adjuster mechanism for a dishwasher dish rack


A method of searching and retrieving ranked points of interest (POIs) within a Polygonal area of interest (AOI) includes defining an AOI. The AOI has a Polygon shape and includes a plurality of points. The method also includes identifying at least one POI within the defined AOI, and organizing the identified POIs in an order of rankings associated with the identified POIs. Then, information related to the identified POIs is requested, and presented in the order of the rankings associated with the respective POIs.

Location-based services, such as computerized searching for information related to places or points of interest (POIs) located within a specific area of interest (AOI) are provided in a number of different industries, including the travel services industry. Conventionally, such services permit a user to search for POIs located within a specified radial distance from a specified geographic point, the radial distance and geographic point defining a circular AOI. For example, a user desiring to search for information related to hotels within the metro-Dallas, Tex. area may request information related to hotels within fifteen miles of Dallas, Tex. (the specification of Dallas, Tex. interpreted as the geometric center point of the city of Dallas, Tex.).
As will be appreciated, however, geographic locations are typically not logically divided into areas that may be easily captured by circular AOIs. In this regard, although a user may specify an area of fifteen miles within Dallas, Tex., the metro-Dallas area may include portions outside of a fifteen mile radius of the center of Dallas. Likewise, portions of the area of fifteen miles within Dallas, Tex. may not be within the metro-Dallas area. Thus, by specifying a radial search of fifteen miles within Dallas, Tex., a user may not receive information related to hotels that are actually within the metro-Dallas area, and/or may receive information related to hotels that are not within the metro-Dallas area.

System, method and computer program product for searching and retrieving ranked points of interest within a polygonal area of interest


Headband for headwear having a crown portion, the headband being attached to and extending around the lower inside edge of the crown portion. The headband is made of fabric or knitted textile as a covering portion with a mesh lining tape inserted on the inside thereof. The covering portion and liner are sewn together, preferably with stretch yarn, in a chain-like pattern to provide excellent expandability without the need for a separate size controller. The mesh lining tape improves the ventilation provided through the headband, while also serving to retain the overall uniform shape of the crown portion of the cap when the cap is removed.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is related to the field of headwear and, more particularly, to a headband with a mesh liner that provides improved elasticity, ventilation and shape-retaining performance to a cap.
2. Description of the Related Art
A baseball style cap generally includes a crown main body having a plurality of fabric panels, a visor portion that is secured to the forward edge of the crown and extends outwardly therefrom, and a headband attached to the lower part of the inside of the crown. A size controller may also be attached to an underside of the rear of the cap for adjusting the size of the cap to fit the wearer's head.
The visor portion typically provides shape retention to the adjacent portion of the crown main body, but the panels in the side and rear portions of the crown main body often droop, lacking sufficient support from the headband to retain a uniform shape around the full circumference of the crown main body. In addition, prior art headbands often fail to provide breathability or adequate elasticity, making the cap uncomfortable for the wearer.
Accordingly, a need exists for a headband to be used in headwear that is able to retain the cap's uniform shape, while providing excellent elasticity and ventilation.

Headband with inserted lining tape for headwear


A quantitative metallographic method to measure skin layer thickness in high pressure die cast aluminum components. Because the faster-cooling skin layer region exhibits a higher volume fraction of eutectic phases than that of a slower-cooling inner region, measurements showing such higher eutectic phases can be used to quantify such layer thickness. An image at various thicknesses of a location of interest in a cast component sample is first obtained using an image analyzer, from which eutectic volume fractions within each of the received images may be determined. Comparisons of the determined volume fractions can be made against a known or predicted quantity for a particular alloy composition, and then correlated to the skin layer thickness via differences between the received or measured quantities and those of the known standard.

This invention is related generally to the quantification of properties in high pressure die cast (HPDC) aluminum alloys, and in particular to an improved quantitative metallographic methodology to accurately measure skin layer thickness in such cast components.
HPDC (also referred to as die casting) is being used extensively in the production of lightweight aluminum alloy components in general, and particularly for automotive components, such as engine blocks and transmission cases, as well as pistons or suspension parts. Low costs for large-scale production, close dimensional tolerances (near-net-shape) and smooth surface finishes are all positive attributes that make HPDC so attractive. Unlike alloys (such as 319 or 356) that are not typically used in HPDC, certain aluminum alloys, such as 380, 383, 390 or the like, are particularly well-suited to HPDC for their cost, strength, fluidity and generally good corrosion resistance qualities.
One disadvantage of the conventional HPDC process is that the parts are not amenable to heat treatment due to the presence of porosity in the casting that arises out of the dynamics peculiar to the HPDC process. As such, HPDC-produced aluminum parts are generally considered as having an outer skin region surrounding an inner region. In such structure, the region typically associated with the skin exhibits a relatively defect-free, dense microstructure, and has better mechanical properties than the region associated with the internal areas, where the voids, porosity and related defects are present. These defects are generally attributable to various factors one of which is shrinkage of the alloy from a low density liquid metal to a high density solid casting during solidification. Another contributing factor is the formation of gases, such as hydrogen or vapors from the decomposition of die wall lubricants, while still another factor is any entrapped air that occurs due to the rapidity with which the die is filled with the molten metal.
Thus, HPDC presents unique design challenges. Despite the location-specific nature of the mechanical properties mentioned above, conventional design approaches assume the presence of uniform microstructure and properties across the entirety of the cast component; much of this is due to the difficulty with which to accurately determine skin layer thickness. Such simplifying assumptions can in turn lead to unrealistic predictions of component structural properties through finite element analysis (FEA) or a related quantitative analysis tool. Inaccurate predictions may be particularly problematic in component failure analyses, as this can lead to either expensive warranty work or inefficient overdesign of the component; in either event, such inaccuracies impact the ability of the component designer to take full advantage of HPDC materials and processes.

Method to determine skin-layer thickness in high pressure die castings


A semiconductor die package including at least two heat sinks. The semiconductor die package includes a first heat sink, a second heat sink coupled to the first heat sink, and a semiconductor die between the first heat sink and the second heat sink. The semiconductor die is electrically coupled to the first heat sink and the second heat sink. The semiconductor die may also be attached to a lead.

Semiconductor die packages are known in the semiconductor industry, but could be improved. For example, electronic devices such as wireless phones and the like are becoming smaller and smaller. It is desirable to make thinner semiconductor die packages so that they can be incorporated into such electronic devices. It would also be desirable to improve upon the heat dissipation properties of conventional semiconductor die packages. Semiconductor die packages including power transistors, for example, generate a significant amount of heat, and the heat needs to be removed. It would also be desirable to provide end users of such semiconductor die packages with various interconnection options.
Embodiments of the invention address these and other problems, individually and collectively.

Semiconductor die package including heat sinks


The present invention discloses a novel nano-composite antibacterial material and a preparation method and an application thereof, and belongs to the technical field of preservative materials. The novel nano-composite antibacterial material disclosed by the present invention is prepared by mixing a dimethylimidazole solution, deionized water and a zinc nitrate solution to prepare a metal-organic framework carrier, compositing with nisin to form a nano antibacterial composite material, separating out from a solution in a precipitate form, centrifuging, removing a supernatant, cleaning and re-suspending with the deionized water. The novel nano-composite antibacterial material prepared by the present invention has an antibacterial effect superior to nisin having a same concentration. The present invention prominently improves an antibacterial activity and thermostability of the nisin under neutral and slightly alkaline conditions, effectively promotes antibacterial property and a usable range of the nisin, and further expands an application field of the metal-organic framework carrier.

Nisin is also referred to as nizyna or is transliterated as Nixin. It is a polypeptide substance generated by streptococcus lactis, consists of 34 amino acid residues and has a molecular weight of about 3500 Da. The nisin may inhibit most gram positive bacteria, has a strong inhibition effect to a spore of Bacillus, and thus is widely applied to food industry as a food antiseptic agent. The nisin is hydrolyzed into amino acid quickly under the action of a physiological pH condition and an α-chymotrypsin of a human body after being eaten. It does not change a normal flora in an intestinal tract of the human body and occur a resistant problem like other antibiotics, and even not occur a crossing resistance with the other antibiotics. The nisin is a natural food preservative with high effectiveness, no toxicity, safety and no side effect. However, the natural nisin has different antibacterial activities under different temperatures and different pH values. The nisin has a good antibacterial effect under a room-temperature acidic condition but the antibacterial effect is greatly reduced under a high-temperature condition. And under an alkaline condition, the antibacterial activity of the nisin is also greatly reduced. Moreover, it is difficult for the natural nisin to keep a long-acting antibacterial activity. All of these defects limit the application of the nisin.
Chinese patent application CN 107668474 A discloses a nisin nanometer particle as well as a preparation method and an application thereof, which improves the activity of the nisin but has short-term antibacterial effect, and unstable antibacterial property under the alkaline condition. Chinese patent application CN 106962498A discloses a nisin/chitosan nano particle antibacterial film, a preparation method and an application. The preparation method is complex, the cost is high, and the technical requirement is high, all of which become non-negligible key points. Chinese patent application CN 107027810A discloses a nisin cyclodextrin inclusion complex and a preparation method thereof, which improves thermostability of the nisin but has an unconspicuous effect under the alkaline condition. Chinese patent CN 103355730 B discloses a nisin composite biological preservative and a preparation method thereof, which uses more additives to improve stability of the nisin but has a complex preparation process due to the more additives. Chinese patent application CN 109453391 A discloses a method for preparing an external application gel from gellan gum and nisin and an application thereof. However, the antibacterial activity is not improved obviously. Chinese patent application CN 109430674 A discloses a preparation method of N-succinyl-chitosan immobilized nisin and purple perilla oil films, which overcomes the defect that the nisin is unstable under a neutral condition. Chinese patent application CN 109452290 A discloses a combined germicide containing benziothiazolinone and nisin and an application, which may be used for preventing some diseases of fruit trees. However, these technologies have various problems of unstable antibacterial activity, complex preparation, high cost and so on.

Nanocomposite bacteriostatic material and a preparation method and an application thereof

Tianjin University of Science and Technology