A thermal printhead spring mount is provided, wherein a spring engages a printhead carrier at two points along the width of the carrier, the points being equidistant from the center of the carrier. A cam engages the center of the spring and selectively biases the spring against the carrier. The spring transfers equal force to the two points, creating a balanced carrier. By releasing cam force from the spring, through simple rotation, tension is relieved in the spring.

When using a thermal printhead, the problems associated with mounting the printhead to ensure even printing across the full row of printing elements are well known. As used herein, the phrase "even printing" means that each printing element will produce a substantially equally dark dot when fully energized. The aforesaid known problems are especially troublesome in the case of wide printheads, i.e., on the order of 10 inches. Such printheads are desirable, however, as they can print all the characters of an entire line of an ordinary 81/2.times.11 or A4 sheet of paper simultaneously. Uneven force of the printhead against the print-receiving medium can create varying contrast with light or dark zones within the printed line.
When the thickness of a print-receiving medium, such as heat-sensitive paper, is uneven, the printhead mounting arrangement also must be able to compensate for the variations in paper thickness while maintaining even printing.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,855,756 discloses an apparatus comprising a combination of two springs, sliding frames and a computer-controlled cam. The printhead in this apparatus is mounted on a holder that is pivoted on a shaft and supported by a C-shaped spring. The C-shaped spring biases the holder to a position parallel to a print-receiving medium. When an uneven medium is placed under the printhead, the C-shaped spring deforms irregularly. This may lead to uneven pressure on the medium. Thus, this apparatus, while perhaps compensating for some variations in thickness, is complex and would require extensive disassembly for maintenance and repair.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,235,555 discloses a printer having multiple printheads wherein each printhead is balanced by applying pressure at one central point. The head is otherwise connected at two nearby points by a resilient bracket, with deformation of the bracket allowing for minor variations in the paper. Again, however, the system involves several small printheads, movable brackets, arms, cams, springs and levers, which make it very complex to produce and difficult to repair and maintain.
Thus, it is an object of the invention to provide an improved printhead mount that causes the force between the printhead and the print-receiving medium to be substantially equal along the width of the printhead.
It is another object of the invention to provide a printhead mount that can compensate for variations in the thickness of a print-receiving medium, even where such variations occur across the width of the medium.
It is another object of the invention to provide a printhead mount that meets the foregoing objects, yet is easily engaged and released, allowing for simple maintenance and repair.
It is still another object of the invention to provide a printhead mount that is economical, both in the number and cost of the component parts, and is simple to manufacture.


A cutting tool holder for a machining center has a body and a fastening device. The fastening device is mounted in the body and has a base, at least two positioning elements and a locking element. The base has an annular wall, a through hole and at least two positioning holes. The through hole is formed through the base. The at least two positioning holes are formed in the annular wall and correspond to the through hole. The at least two positioning elements are located in the at least two positioning holes and engage an annular recess of a seat for a cutting tool to securely yet releasably retain the seat in the base. The locking element is mounted around the base to keep the at least two positioning elements from escaping the at least two positioning holes.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a cutting tool holder, especially to a cutting tool holder for a machining center.
2. Description of the Prior Arts
A machining center is a kind of machine that can perform cutting, drilling, boring, scraping steps etc. With reference to FIG. 7, a machining center comprises a circular tool rack (50). The circular tool rack (50) has multiple first conventional cutting tool holders (51). The cutting tool holders (51) are mounted around the circular tool rack (50). When the circular tool rack (50) is rotated, the location of the cutting tool holders (51) is accordingly changed. With further reference to FIG. 8, each cutting tool holder (51) has a conical bore (511), a proximal end, a wall, a through hole (510), four screw holes (512) and four fastening devices (55). The through hole (510) is in communication with the conical bore (511) and extends to the proximal end of the cutting tool holder (51). A diameter of the conical bore at a distal end of the tool holder (51) is larger than a diameter of the through hole (510) in the proximal end. The screw holes (512) are formed through the wall, are near the proximal end of the cutting holder (51) and perpendicularly correspond to the through hole (510). The fastening devices (55) are respectively mounted in the screw holes (512) and each has a ball bearing (551), a spring (552) and a screw bolt (553). The ball bearing (551) is mounted in the screw hole (512) and protrudes to the through hole (511). The spring (552) is mounted in the screw hole (512) and presses against the ball bearing (551). The screw bolt (553) is mounted in the screw hole (512) to keep the spring (552) and the ball bearing (551) from escaping the screw hole (512). A cutting tool (61) is mounted on a seat (60). The seat (60) has a proximal end, a distal end and an annular recess (601). A diameter of the proximal end of the seat (60) is larger than a diameter of the distal end of the seat (60). The annular recess (601) is formed around the seat (60) near the distal end. The seat (60) is inserted in the through hole (511) and the annular recess (601) receives the ball bearings (551). Because the springs (552) press against the ball bearings (551), the fastening device (55) can securely retain the seat (60).
With further reference to FIG. 9, a different kind of cutting tool holder (51′) is needed to correspond to the different kind of seat (60′). If the annular recess (601) is formed on the seat (60′) at a different location, the location of the screw holes (512) on the holder (51′) has to be changed. However, drilling the screw holes (512) through the wall and forming the thread are difficult operations.
With reference to FIGS. 10 and 11, a second conventional cutting tool holder (70) comprises a through hole (71) and a fastening device (80). The through hole (71) is formed through the cutting tool holder (70). The fastening device (80) is mounted in the through hole (71) and has a central hole, four conical holes (81), four ball bearings (82) and four springs (83). The conical holes (81) are formed through the fastening device (80) and correspond to the central hole. The ball bearings (82) are respectively mounted in the conical holes (81). The springs (83) are respectively mounted in the conical holes (81) and press against the ball bearings (82). Although the fastening device (80) of the second conventional cutting tool holder (70) does not require the thread, the second conventional cutting holder (70) still has numerous shortcomings. Because the springs (83) easily escape from the holes (81), it is difficult for the fastening device (80) to be mounted in and dismounted from the through hole (71) of the cutting tool holder (70). The ball bearings (82) and the springs (83) are easily lost when changing the fastening device (80).
To overcome the shortcomings, the present invention provides a cutting tool holder for a machining center to mitigate or obviate the aforementioned problems.

Cutting tool holder for a machining center


A method for manufacturing the surgical device for removing a foreign object from a body and a retrieval basket of the device are described. The retrieval basket is adapted for entrapping and retaining the object located in the body. The basket comprises a structure having a proximal end and a distal end. The structure is formed by a plurality of filaments fabricated from a single or several wires. The filaments extend from the proximal end towards the distal end, and are bound together to define a plurality of strands. The strands ramify at corresponding branching points into loops having various shapes and sizes. At least a part of the loops are overlapped and/or interlaced so as to define a net, and thereby impart structural rigidity and dilatation ability to the basket when opened. The method of manufacturing the retrieval basket includes selecting at least one wire; weaving the basket from the wire by overlapping and/or interlacing the filaments so that to form a net at least in the vicinity of the distal end; and binding the filaments for forming a shape of the retrieval basket.

One type of a widely used surgical device is a tool for retrieving foreign material from various sites along the urinary tract of a patient's body. Examples of the foreign material include calculi of different sizes and characteristics.
Referring to FIG. 1, a schematic view, partially in a longitudinal cross-section of the distal end of an example of a conventional surgical retrieval tool is illustrated. The surgical retrieval tool 10 or so-called surgical extractor, generally comprises a flexible tubular catheter 11 formed as a tubular sheath adapted to penetrate the body passages to reach the location where the object (not shown) to be evacuated is located. A manipulation rod or cable 12 is located within the catheter 11, which can be manipulated from the outside at the catheter's proximal end. The rod 12 is coupled to a basket 13 capable to be deployed within the sheath. The basket 13 consists of flexible filaments 14 and, for example, can be made of either stainless steel or any other material capable to provide the basket with elasticity. According to the example shown in FIG. 1, the filaments 14 are bound together in the vicinity of a basket proximal end to form strands 19 as well as at a basket distal end to form a tip 15. The basket 13 is usually connected to the manipulation rod 12 via a sleeve connector 17 bounding the strands and filaments together.
One of the drawbacks of the conventional surgical extractor is associated with the discrepancy of the inner diameter of the catheter 11, the diameter of the manipulating rod 12 and the diameter of the connector 17. Due to this discrepancy, an air gap 18 between the inner wall of the catheter 11 and the rod 12 significantly affects deformation properties of the catheter and the ability of the catheter to bend without destruction on large angles.
Depending on the manipulation, the basket 13 may either retract inside the sheath to allow penetration of the catheter via a passage or protract from the catheter. In the protracted position, the filaments open due to the elasticity of their material and form a cage to thus allow entering the object inside the basket 13 through the open spaces 16 left between its adjacent filaments. Further retraction of the basket inside the sheath results in the cage collapsing and entrapping the object in the basket. Removal of the catheter will enable the whole device to be removed from the body organ together with the object immobilized within the basket.
During an operation, the surgeon moves the catheter behind the object to be extracted, and then protracts the basket from the catheter. Once the basket is protracted it opens (due to its resiliency) and is ready for receiving the object to be entrapped therein. The surgeon pulls the catheter together with the basket until it entraps the object, and thus extracts the entrapped object from the body.
It can be easily appreciated that the particular design of the basket is crucial for entrapping and reliably retaining the object during evacuation. Examples of various types of such retrieval baskets are described in the following documents: U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,943,626; 3,137,298; 3,472,230; 4,299,225; 4,347,846; 4,590,938; 4,633,871; 4,611,594; 4,790,812; 5,057,114; 5,496,330; 5,064,428; 5,658,296; 6,168,603; 6,183,482 and 6,190,394.
It should be noted that generally all conventional retrieval baskets have certain common characteristics. Thus, each retrieval basket comprises a plurality of filaments and can be collapsible into a compact form. The filaments are formed from wires and can be arranged into either multi-filament strands or spaced single filaments.
There are known the baskets that have relatively few widely spaced multi-filament strands at the proximal basket end, for capturing the object. These baskets may include two or more such multi-filament strands between which the objects can pass for entrapping within the retrieval basket. On the other hand, the filaments are closely spaced in the vicinity of the distal basket end, to provide an enclosure for retaining objects captured within such retrieval baskets. In some retrieval baskets the strands are formed along substantially straight lines when the basket is in compact form; in others, the individual strands extend along a generally helical path.
Forming the conventional baskets generally comprises grouping a plurality of axially extending filaments, strips or wires having shape memory or superelastic properties to extend along the basket axis and bounding them together at distal and proximal basket ends between which each of the wires extend.
In order to increase the number of contacts between the basket and entrapped calculi, additional filaments would be advantageous. However, an inner diameter of the catheter imposes an upper limit on the filament number and their diameter. Thus, for sufficient strength of the basket, the basket design involves a compromise between the number of filaments (needed to retain objects and enable the capture of the objects) and the wire diameter.
It can be appreciated that rigid wire materials can be employed in order to enhance the strength of the basket. However, the utilization of rigid materials can result in a decrease in flexibility that is necessary to provide penetration of the basket in body tracts having small diameters, tortuous pathways and irregular lumens.

Method for manufacturing a surgical device for extracting a foreign object


The invention provides a lighting system (1) comprising at least 16 lighting units (100) arranged in a grid (2) with in at least one direction center-to-center distances (d) between nearest neighbor lighting units (100) in the range of 4-16 mm, wherein each lighting unit (100) comprises a light source (110) and an optical element (20) configured to control a beam shape of light (101) generated by the light source (110), wherein each lighting unit (100) is conjured to generate said light (101) having a luminous flux of at least 100 lm and wherein the lighting system comprises as one luminous surface a plurality of grids (2), wherein between two nearest neighbor grids (2) an intermediate region (300) without a lighting unit (100) is configured, and with in at least one direction a shortest distance (d3) between nearest neighbor grids (2) of at least 35 mm.

The problem of discomfort glare of lamps is known in the art. US2010117100, for instance, describes a light-emitting module which makes it difficult to sense glare and which suppresses the temperature rise of light-emitting diode chips and has a cost advantage. The light-emitting module is provided with a base body formed with a non-metallic member having a thermal conductivity of 1 W/mk or less. In the base body, a plurality of LED chips are spaced 10 to 30 mm apart from each other, and their junction temperature when they are normally lit is preferably set at 90° C. or less. A translucent sealing member covering an area between the adjacent light-emitting diode chips is provided.
US20130107530 discloses a lighting system comprising a plurality of lighting units in a plurality of grids, with a shortest distance between nearest neighbor grids of about 20 mm.


A system and method is disclosed by which the movement of virtual continuous light sources illuminating various objects or persons in a scene, can be simulated over arbitrary paths throughout the captured scene. The simulated movement of each virtual continuous light source through a captured scene can be created using a stationary array of discrete light sources, and for which no physical movement of the array or the discrete light sources is required. The actuation of each of the discrete light sources can be performed sequentially according to a pre-specified sequence by a controller. Control signals for actuating the discrete light sources are synchronized with frames captured by a camera, such that the camera never sees the transitions from illuminating one discrete light source of the array to illuminating another. Thus, with respect to the images of the scene captured by the camera, it appears that a single and continuous light source is moving along a path that is dictated by the configured arrangement of the array, as well as the sequence of illumination for the discrete light sources of the array from frame to frame.

Numerous techniques have been developed to provide special effects in film and captured digital footage and other forms of visual media through the manipulation of physical light sources to alter the manner in which the light from such sources impinge upon various objects or persons in a scene. By altering the position from which the light from a light source is directed upon a subject during filming or digital capture, various desirable artistic effects may be achieved that can enhance viewing enjoyment during playback.
These techniques have often heretofore involved placing continuous light sources on tracks or vehicles, and more recently robotic arms, by their physical location may be altered during filming or digital capture. Known techniques are limited by a number of factors. First, continuous light sources that provide sufficient illumination to achieve are typically in the 10,000 to 20,000 watt range. As such, they are very large and heavy, making it very difficult to move them over any significant distance and with the speed required by high-speed digital cameras employed today.
For example, high-speed filming or digital image capture might be used to capture action that lasts only fractions of a second. Such action is filmed or digitally captured at a frame rate that permits the capture of hundreds to thousands of frames over such a small duration of time, thereby permitting a slow-motion or even "frozen-in-time" presentation of the action during playback at a more typical frame rate. It would be impossible to move a conventional continuous light source around in the fractions of a second that would be required to capture movement of one or more light sources during such a short duration.
Moreover, such techniques are very expensive, cumbersome to coordinate with the filming or digital image capture process, and are limited in their general applicability. For example, it might be desirable to change the shape of the path over which the light source travels from one scene to another, or to create alternate path shapes for a given scene. It might also be useful to move more than one source each over a different path.

System and method for producing virtual light source movement in motion pictures and other media


A display includes a light source, a first color wheel, a second color wheel, an actuator, a controller, and a light modulator. The light source is for providing a light beam. The first color wheel includes plural primary-color filtering areas, and the second color wheel includes plural left or right eye filtering areas. The actuator rotates the first color wheel and the second color wheel. The controller is for controlling the rotations of the first color wheel and the second color wheel, such that the light beam passing through the first color wheel and the second color wheel is filtered to plural left or right eye primary-color light beams with different spectra. The light modulator is for modulating the left or right primary-color light beams and projecting the modulated left or right primary-color light beams onto a screen to display an image.

1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to a display. More particularly, the present invention relates to a stereoscopic display.
2. Description of Related Art
Since the parallax of eyes, a stereoscopic display device, in general, provides two images with slightly difference respectively to left and right eyes of a human to generate a stereoscopic image. According to different methods for providing the stereoscopic image, the general stereoscopic display technologies include polarization 3D technology, anaglyphic 3D technology, active shutter 3D technology, and wavelength multiplexing 3D technology.
The general color display device produces various colors in the color space by mixing the additive primary colors, i.e. red (R), green (G), and blue (B). If the bandwidths of R, G, and B are narrow and the color of R, G, and B are pure, the color space formed by R, G, and B can be larger.
The display device using anaglyphic 3D technology distinguishes images of left eye and right eye by using two colors, such as red and blue. Although the cost is cheaper, the device may have problems due to color cast to bring bad image qualities.
The display device using polarization 3D technology distinguishes images of left eye and right eye by using a set of orthogonal lights with linear polarizations or circular polarizations. The device needs to use with special projection screen in case the polarized lights projected to the projection screen may loss their polarization states and become unpolarized. The unpolarized lights on the projection screen will cause double images on the screen, such that the left eye may receive the right eye image, and the right eye may receive the left eye image.
The display device using active shutter 3D technology blocks the visual fields of left and right eye interlacedly, and controls the output image and input image synchronously through the wireless transmitters, infrared ray for example, at the same time. Therefore, the left and the right eye images are displayed interlacedly to achieve stereoscopy display. However, the device needs expansive purchasing cost and the extra energy, i.e. it needs to be charged, to maintain its normal operation.
The basic conception of the wavelength multiplexing stereoscopic system is to distinguish the left and right eye images with two individual sets of primary colors R1, G1, and B1 and R2, G2, and B2 whose frequencies are different from each other. Therefore, if a user wears special glasses, the left image and the right image can be distinguished, and the user also can see more vivid images due to the wider color space the display supplied. In addition, compared to the polarized state, the frequency of light is not so easy to change which means the wavelength multiplexing stereoscopic system doesn't need a projection screen with specific design. On the other hand, the traditional wavelength multiplexing stereoscopic system may cause unnecessary energy and brightness reductions since it provides the same image data to the left and right eye projection systems during two-dimensional display which still provided by R1, G1, B1 and R2, G2, B2 colors individually.

Display device for three-dimensional display having first and second color wheels


A method for forming an end surface of a heat pipe and the structure thereof are disclosed. Firstly, the mold module is provided for placing the heat pipe therein. The mold module includes a mold chamber to receive the heat pipe. Then, an extruding shaft is pushed forward into the mold chamber from an end of the mold module. Next, the ends of the heat pipe are compressed via the extruding shaft to render the end surface of the heat pipe depressed from outside to inside. Thereby, the heat pipe with a non-protrudent end surface is obtained. As such, the volume occupied by the useless segment of the heat pipe is effectively reduced, or, the heat pipe having a certain length to cooperate with more heat dissipating fins.

The present invention is related to a method for forming an end surface of a heat pipe and the structure thereof, and more particularly, to an end surface of a heat pipe without being protrudent and the method for forming the same that effectively reduces the volume occupied by the useless segment of the heat pipe, or renders the heat pipe having a certain length to cooperate with more heat dissipating fins.
Having the characteristics of high thermal conductivity, fast thermal conduction, light weight, non-movable components and simple structure, heat pipes are able to deliver large amount of heat without consuming electricity, and therefore are commonly used in the market.
FIG. 1 illustrates a conventional heat pipe 1a. The heat pipe 1a has an inside pipe member 10a which is a hollow tube. The pipe member 10a has two ends 11a and 12a which are one-surfaces protrudent outwards. The end 11a is a closing end formed by a shrinking process, while the end 12a is a sealing end. Before the pipe member 10a is completely sealed, the end 12a is at an open state for conveniently placing the wick structure 13a inside the pipe member 10a and go attaching the wick structure 13a to the internal wall. After proper amount of working fluid (not shown) is filled inside and the vacuuming process is performed, the end 12a is sealed through a sealing process by the application of tin or soldering so that a closing point 120a is formed. Therefore, the above-mentioned heat pipe 1a is accomplished.
In the practical implement, the conventional heat pipe 1a usually cooperatively passes through and is connected with a plurality of heat dissipating fins for heat dissipation in order to lower the temperature thereof. As such, the heat pipe 1a can continuously work as the temperature balance is maintained. However, the shrinking structure of the two ends 11a and 12a and the closing point 120a have poor thermal conductivity, where not only have a bad influence for enhancing the efficiency of the thermal conductivity, but also cause the inconvenience of cooperating with the heat dissipating fins thereon owing to the irregular structure of the end surfaces. Besides, the heat pipe with such structure will excessively occupy the internal space of the electronic products, especially the modern electronic products often have a limited internal space and a miniaturization design. As shown in FIG. 1, clearly the heat pipe 1a has a length L much longer than the practical length 1 that the heat dissipating fins can be actually mounted thereon.
Therefore, there exist inconvenience and drawbacks for practically applying the structure of the above-mentioned conventional heat pipe. There is thus a substantial need to provide a method for forming an end surface of a heat pipe that resolves the above drawbacks in the prior art.

Method for forming end surface of heat pipe and structure thereof


An access control mechanism in a network connecting one or more sink devices to a server providing audio/visual data (A/V) in streams. As a sink device requests access, the server measures available bandwidth to the sink device. If the measurement of available bandwidth is completed before the sink device requests a stream of audio/visual data, the measured available bandwidth is used to set transmission parameters of the data stream in accordance with a Quality of Service (QoS) policy. If the measurement is not completed when the data stream is requested, the data stream is nonetheless transmitted. In this scenario, the data stream may be transmitted using parameters computed using a cached measurement of the available bandwidth to the sink device. If no cached measurement is available, the data stream is transmitted with a low priority until a measurement can be made. Once the measurement is available, the transmission parameters of the data stream are re-set. With this access control mechanism, A/V streams may be provided with low latency but with transmission parameters accurately set in accordance with the QoS policy.

Many networks incorporate Quality of Service (QoS) management. QoS management increases the overall experience for users of devices connected to the network by setting transmission parameters associated with specific communications over the network. The user experience may be improved by providing preferential treatment to network communications carrying data most likely to affect a user's experience.
In a network with limited bandwidth, preferential treatment may involve setting transmission characteristics of messages so that the more of the available network bandwidth is allocated to communications carrying information likely to impact the user's experience. Multiple ways are known to operate a network so that bandwidth is preferentially allocated to certain communications.
For example, transmission characteristics may be set by "tagging" packets with a priority indicator. Network devices may preferentially process packets tagged to indicate a higher priority. Alternatively, priority of some communications may be increased by reducing the priority of others. For example, low priority communications involving multiple packets may be "throttled" to reduce the number or rate at which packets are injected onto the network. Throttling may occur at the source of the data or at any device along a route through the network.
Networks that carry audio-visual (A/V) streams present a particularly challenging environment for QoS support because they involve large amounts of data. Consequently, the A/V data streams are likely to consume all available bandwidth of a network and create problems associated with transmission quality.
In addition, quality problems of A/V streams are likely to be perceptible to a user when the A/V data is presented to the user by a "sink device" that receives the data over the network. An A/V signal is represented as a stream of packets. If some of the packets in the stream are lost or delayed in reaching the sink device, the user may notice a "glitch" or otherwise perceive sound or picture problems as the A/V stream is presented to the user.
Various approaches have been used for managing QoS in networks carrying A/V streams. One approach that has been used is to buffer multiple packets of data in an A/V stream at the sink device before starting to present the A/V stream for the user. As the sink device receives packets in the stream, it stores them in a buffer rather than presenting them to a user. Once enough packets are stored in the buffer, the sink device presents the A/V data from the buffer. The advantage of buffering is that, if a packet in the A/V stream is delayed in reaching the sink device, the user will not notice because the sink device will be displaying information from the buffer while waiting for the delayed packet to arrive. A drawback of buffering is that the user may perceive a delay as the buffer is initially being filled. Delays of five seconds or more may be necessary, but such delays are too long to meet the expectations of users, who are accustomed to seeing nearly instantaneous response from televisions, stereos and other devices that display audio/visual information.
Another approach for QoS management involves prioritization of packets associated with some data streams. Priorities have been assigned so that data streams that would otherwise overload the network are given a low priority. Prioritizing in this fashion provides an indirect method of bandwidth allocation.
In some instances, bandwidth may be allocated to an A/V stream more directly. If the bandwidth allocated for a data stream is less than the bandwidth of the data stream, an A/V server may reduce the total amount of data used to represent that signal in order for the A/V stream to fit within the allocated bandwidth. Various techniques are available to reduce the amount of data used to represent an A/V signal, such as reducing the resolution of the signal. Though a user viewing the A/V signal when it is presented by a sink device may experience a decrease in signal quality, the overall user experience of viewing a lower resolution signal may be better than if the signal contains glitches or if the data stream carrying the signal overloads the network so that other data streams are also not communicated reliably.
When either a direct or indirect bandwidth allocation is used, a server may measure available bandwidth before allocating bandwidth to a stream. Multiple techniques are available for bandwidth measurement, such as a Packet Rate Measurement (PRM) or a Packet Gap Measurement (PGM) or a "probe gap" approach.
Regardless of which approach is used, measuring available bandwidth can create a delay before the sink device receives the stream. To reduce this delay, a source of video information may cache transmission parameters used to allocate bandwidth to a particular sink device.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Quality of service support for A/V streams


A packaging substrate includes a first wiring layer, a first dielectric layer formed on the first wiring layer, a second wiring layer formed on the first dielectric layer, and a number of copper pillar bumps. Each copper pillar bump includes a base portion and a protruding portion. The base portion is connected to the first wiring layer, and the protruding portion is formed on the base portion. A size of the protruding portion is less than a size of the base portion, and a size of the copper pillar bump gradually increases from the protruding portion to the base portion.

1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to a packaging substrate and a method for manufacturing the same.
2. Description of Related Art
Packaging substrates generally include a wiring layer, a solder masking layer formed on the wiring layer, and a photo-resisting layer formed on the solder masking layer. A number of first openings is defined in the solder masking layer to expose portions of the wiring layer. The portions of the wiring layer exposed through the first openings serve as contact pads. A number of second openings communicating with the first openings is defined in the photo-resisting layer. A copper layer is plated in each pair of the first opening and the second opening by an electroplating method. The photo-resisting layer is removed from the solder masking layer, and the copper layer plated in each pair of the first opening and the second opening forms a copper portion protruding past the solder masking layer.
As inner diameters of the first opening and the second opening are relatively small, the inner diameter of the second opening is designed to be greater than the inner diameter of the first opening in order to improve an alignment accuracy, which increases an interval between two adjacent copper portions.
Therefore, it is desirable to provide a packaging substrate and a method for manufacturing the same that can overcome the limitations described.

Packaging substrate and method for manufacturing same


A process for regionalization of mining bitumen-containing oil sands ore for extraction and conversion to produce dry bitumen comprises operating multiple separate oil sands ore mining and extraction facilities or in situ thermal recovery facilities, to produce separate bitumen froth streams; operating a regional paraffinic froth treatment (PFT) hub for receiving a portion of each of the separate bitumen froth streams and treating the bitumen froth streams to produce the dry bitumen; optionally providing a portion of the dry bitumen stream to the bitumen upgrading facility and another portion of the dry bitumen stream to a bitumen market pipeline or remote upgrading facility; and optionally comprising regionalization of water distribution where by-product waters are recovered from the PFT hub and the upgrading facilities and distributed to the mining and extraction facilities for use as extraction processing water to produce the bitumen froth streams.

Known oil sands operations have remote mining and extraction complexes which pipeline bitumen froth to a naphthenic froth treatment plant associated with an upgrading complex. The naphtha diluted bitumen produced by naphthenic froth treatment is processed by dedicated upgraders. Such dedicated upgraders have been located in relative proximity to naphthenic froth treatment plants and have been designed and operated for specific input bitumen from froth treatment plant, for instance having specific naphtha/bitumen ratio, water and solids content.
Paraffinic froth treatment plants that have been associated with mining and extraction complexes produce diluted bitumen product which is pipelined to a dedicated upgrader. The recovery and recycling of paraffinic solvent is via interconnecting pipelines which have centered the froth treatment process facility with mining and extraction operations.
The focus of the oil sands industry has been to add to additional plant infrastructure on a per project basis based on existing concepts. Known practices locate froth treatment process facilities adjacent to the mine/extraction facilities and has each facility developed on a stand-alone basis for the specific project which increases costs and environmental impacts on the region, for instance as each project has stand-alone tailings water management.
In addition, paraffinic froth treatment produces a dry bitumen product that has the potential to be marketed by pipeline to remote upgraders.
Furthermore, dedicated froth treatment operations can be hindered or altogether halted when either upstream or downstream process operations stall or are not available.
Safety and worker training is also a challenge in oil sands operations. Different types of operations require different types and levels of safety and training. Man-power has become a significant issue, particularly in the oil sands of northern Alberta. It is difficult to find the workforce with the proper expertise and training for the diverse assortment of operations an integrated oil sands company may require.
The known technologies for mining, extracting, froth treatment and upgrading have several drawbacks, as relates to inflexibility, unreliability and overdependence on upstream and downstream operations.

Process for integration of paraffinic froth treatment hub and a bitumen ore mining and extraction facility


A robotic vacuum cleaner may include a housing, a displaceable bumper, an emitter/detector pair, and at least one divider. The displaceable bumper may be moveably coupled to the housing and may be configured to be displaced along at least one axis. The emitter/detector pair may have an emitter and a detector, wherein the emitter is configured to emit light through at least a portion of the displaceable bumper. The at least one divider may be disposed between the emitter and the detector of the emitter/detector pair.

Surface treatment apparatuses can include robotic cleaners. A robotic cleaner is configured to autonomously travel about a surface while collecting debris left on the surface. A robotic cleaner can be configured to travel along a surface according to a random and/or predetermined path. When traveling along a surface according to the random path, the robotic cleaner may adjust its travel path in response to encountering one or more obstacles. When traveling along a surface according to a predetermined path, the robotic cleaner may have, in prior operations, developed a map of the area to be cleaned and travel about the area according to a predetermined path based on the map. Regardless of whether the robotic cleaner is configured to travel according to a random or predetermined path, the robotic cleaner may be configured to travel in predetermined patterns. For example, a robotic cleaner may be positioned in a location of increased debris and be caused to enter a cleaning pattern that causes the robotic cleaner to remain in the location of increased debris for a predetermined time.


A quantitative refill device is mounted on the top end of an overflow pipe in a water tank of a water saving toilet and comprises a first pipe, a second pipe and a float device. The second pipe defines a second chamber. Initially, water flows to the overflow pipe to create a water closing through a water flow passage between the second pipe and the float pipe, especially a conical passage defined between a conical surface of the second pipe and a conical portion of the float device. Meanwhile, the float device moves upward along with the rise of the water level of the second chamber to close the conical passage. By the time the conical passage is closed, the water closing is formed, and the refilled surplus water will overflow into the water tank, thus creating a quantitative water refilling effect.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a water refilling device for water saving toilets.
2. Description of the Prior Art
For the Liter Per Flush (LPF) of the existing water saving toilet with small/big flush buttons, the proportion between the big flush and small flush is about 6/3 LPF to 6/4 LPF, and during the whole water refill process, water flows through the overflow pipe of the discharge valve of the water tank into the toilet bowl, creating a water closing. When the big flush is activated, the water of the water tank goes down to a level lower than the water level when the small flush button is pushed, hence, it takes a relatively longer time for the water to return to the normal level, namely, the water refilling time is relatively long. If it takes a refilling time T1 to form the water closing after the small flush, the water refilling time for the big flush T2 will be too long and cause excessive refilling, that is to say that the water refilled during the time of T2−T1 is useless and will flow to the waste pipe. Statistic and experiments show that the average amount of water loss is as much as 1.0 to 1.6 L.
The amount of water loss must be reckoned in the total water consumption of the toilet, so some methods are to adjust the water consumption of the big flush of the toilet down by 1.0 to 1.6 L, so that the real water amount of the big flush is less than 5 LPF, and as a result, the performance of the big flush is considerably decreased.
The present invention has arisen to mitigate and/or obviate the afore-described disadvantages.

Water refilling device for water saving toilets


The principal embodiment of the present invention is a preloaded single-use instant camera. The single-use instant camera is provided with user-inaccessible film holding compartment in a sealed light-tight enclosure and a predetermined number of pressure-processable film units stacked in said compartment. The preloaded single-use instant camera is also provided with user operated manual means for sequentially withdrawing the preloaded pressure-processable film units, whereby withdrawal effect processing of said units.

For reasons of economy and convenience, so-called single use, disposable, or throw-away photographic cameras have gained widespread popularity in recent years. See e.g., U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,361,111; 5,339,127; 5,235,364; 4,954,857; 4,855774; 4,833,495; 4,831,398; 4,884,087; and 4,751,536. Such cameras--which are essentially film cassettes provided with inexpensive, unembellished, and/or spartan film exposure and advancing mechanisms--contain a conventional photographic film cartridge, preloaded with standard 35 mm photographic film, and ready for exposure. Following film exposure, the single-use camera is given to a photofinisher who tears and/or breaks open the camera housing, and removes the film cartridge. The film cartridge is then broke open and the exposed filmstrip withdrawn for processing.
While single-use cameras preloaded with standard 35 mm film are--perhaps, on account of their current commercial prominence--readily available and convenient, until the return of the finished prints, the photographer can neither view a captured image, nor ascertain the failure to do so. The photographer must wait.
Self-developing type cameras employing self-developing film have enjoyed widespread commercial success because they allow the user to obtain the instant results of their photographic efforts. While generally dedicated for repeated use, there are continuing efforts to provide the expedience and other numerous benefits of self-developing film in a single-use camera See, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 4,962,398, issued to J. D. Sorg et al. on Oct. 9, 1990, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,518,235, issued to R. K. Reed et al. on May 21, 1985, Reference is also made to commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 5,453,804, issued to James M. Cloherty and Philip R. Norris on Sep. 26, 1995; commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 5,103,249, issued to Lauren Keene on Apr. 7, 1992; commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 3,672,275, issued to Bruce K. Johnson on Jun. 27, 1972; commonly assigned U.S. Pat, No. 2,930,301, issued to Edwin H. Land and Vaito K. Eloranta on Mar. 29, 1960, and commonly assigned U.S. Patent Application Ser. No. 08/549,654, filed by Philip R Norris and Kenneth C. Waterman on Oct. 27, 1995.
Though the approaches described in the commonly assigned patents and application are well suited for the accomplishment of their particular goals, there is a continuing desire to devise other approaches for processing self-developable film in the context of a single-use camera. The desire, however, is frustrated by oftentimes conflicting cost and performance considerations. For any given objective, a sound balance between low cost and good performance is difficult to both identify and to accomplish.


The present invention generally relates to silicone hydrogel contact lenses each inherently having, on lens surfaces, a relatively-high concentration of primary amino groups and to a method for producing the same. The invention is also related to silicone hydrogel contact lens precursors each inherently having, on lens surfaces, a relatively-high concentration of N-Boc-protected primary amino groups which can be easily and conveniently deprotected during lens extraction and/or hydration steps.

A new class of soft contact lenses, water gradient silicone hydrogel contact lenses, have been developed and successfully introduced as daily-disposable contact lenses, DAILIES® TOTAL1® (Alcon) in the market. This new class of silicone hydrogel contact lenses is characterized by having a water-gradient structural configuration, an increase from 33% to over 80% water content from core to surface (see, U.S. Pat. No. 8,480,227). This unique design can deliver a highly-lubricious and extremely-soft, water-rich lens surface that in turn provide superior wearing comfort to patients.
Such soft contact lenses can be produced according to a process described in U.S. Pat. No. 8,529,057. This process comprises step of forming an anchoring layer on each contact lens by dipping them in a coating solution of a polyanionic polymer and then a step of covalently attaching a water-soluble highly-branched hydrophilic polymeric material onto the anchoring layer directly in lens packages during autoclave. In order to improve the production efficiency, it would be desirable to eliminate the step for forming an anchor layer in the manufacturing process for producing water gradient contact lenses.
Therefore, there is still a need for a method for producing silicone hydrogel contact lenses inherently having a relatively-high surface concentration of primary amino groups which can be served as reactive anchoring sites for covalently attaching a water-soluble highly-branched hydrophilic polymeric material directly in a lens package during autoclave. There is also a need for a more efficient process for producing water gradient contact lenses.


This invention relates to a solid oxide fuel cell system comprising at least one longitudinally extending tubular solid oxide fuel cell and a longitudinally extending heater mounted in thermal proximity to the fuel cell to provide heat to the fuel cell during start up and during operation as needed. The heater and fuel cell can be encased within a tubular thermal casing; the inside of the casing defines a first reactant chamber for containing a first reactant, such as oxidant. The fuel cell comprises a ceramic solid state electrolyte layer and inner and outer electrode layers concentrically arranged around and sandwiching the electrolyte layer. The outer electrode layer is fluidly communicable with the first reactant, and the inner electrode layer is fluidly isolated from the first reactant and fluidly communicable with a second reactant, such as fuel.

In general, an SOFC comprises a pair of electrodes (anode and cathode) that are separated by a ceramic, solid-phase electrolyte. To achieve adequate ionic conductivity in such a ceramic electrolyte, the SOFC operates at an elevated temperature, typically in the order of between about 700° C. and 1000° C. The material in typical SOFC electrolytes is a fully dense (i.e. non-porous) yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) which is an excellent conductor of negatively charged oxygen (oxide) ions at high temperatures. Typical SOFC anodes are made from a porous nickel/zirconia cermet while typical cathodes are made from magnesium doped lanthanum manganate (LaMnO3), or a strontium doped lanthanum manganate (also known as lanthanum strontium manganate (LSM)). In operation, hydrogen or carbon monoxide (CO) in a fuel stream passing over the anode reacts with oxide ions conducted through the electrolyte to produce water and/or CO2 and electrons. The electrons pass from the anode to outside the fuel cell via an external circuit, through a load on the circuit, and back to the cathode where oxygen from an air stream receives the electrons and is converted into oxide ions which are injected into the electrolyte. The SOFC reactions that occur include:
Anode reaction:H2+O=→H2O+2e−CO+O=→CO2+2e−CH4+4O=→2H2O+CO2+8e−
Cathode reaction:O2+4e−→2O=
Known SOFC designs include planar and tubular fuel cells. Applicant's own PCT application no. PCT/CA01/00634 discloses a method of producing a tubular solid oxide fuel cell by electrophoretic deposition (EPD). The fuel cell comprises multiple concentric layers, namely an inner electrode layer, a middle electrolyte layer, and an outer electrode layer. The inner and outer electrodes may suitably be the anode and cathode respectively, and in such case, fuel may be supplied to the anode by passing through the tube, and air may be supplied to the cathode by passing over the outer surface of the tube. Multiple such fuel cells can be electrically grouped together into stacks to increase power production density.
Because SOFCs can only operate at elevated temperatures, they must be heated before they can generate electricity. During operation, the fuel cells produce electricity and heat. The generated heat can in some instances be used to maintain the fuel cells at their operating temperature; however, in very small scale applications or in other instances, the fuel cells cannot generate enough heat on their own, or there is not enough thermal insulation around the fuel cells to maintain the fuel cells at their operating temperature. In such instances, heat must be provided from an external source. External heating must also be provided at start up, when the fuel cells are not generating any heat.
It is therefore desirable to provide a fuel cell system that can supply sufficient heat to the fuel cells in the system during start up and during operation. In particular, it is desirable to provide a system that can provide such heat in a relatively quick and efficient manner.


The invention relates to a cellular communication network serving mobile terminals or devices and how to optimize the switching between Dual Cell High-Speed Uplink Packet Access [DC-HSUPA] and Single Cell High-Speed Uplink Packet Access [SC-HSUPA] and vice versa. This invention makes the reconfiguration to dual cell or single cell HSUPA depending on the UE power, available capacity in the cells, sufficient data from UE, and UE battery consumption.

Enhanced Dedicated Channel (E-DCH—also known as High-Speed Uplink Packet Access—HSUPA) is a transport uplink channel used in the UMTS technology to improve capacity and data throughput and reduce the delays in dedicated channels in the uplink (UL). The maximum theoretical uplink (UL) data rate that can be achieved using HSUPA is 5.7 Mbps through the use of Quadrature Phase Shift Keying (QPSK) modulation and a 2 ms TTI (Transmission Time Interval) in a unique cell of the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS).
In 3GPP Release 7, the use of 16QAM (Quadrature amplitude modulation) on the E-DCH was introduced, enabling the possibility of doubling the peak rate. And finally, in 3GPP Release 9, the possibility of transmitting on more than one UTRA channel/cell simultaneously was introduced. This enables the possibility of transmitting in two carriers/cells at the same time, so in case of no limit in the User Equipment (UE) power and sufficient data to use up both of the cell resources in the two carriers, the data rate may be doubled in a specific place. This is known as dual cell mode for HSUPA.
Switching from single cell to dual cell mode entails higher power consumption for the UEs due to the higher control plane overhead and also higher user plane throughput. Furthermore, switching from single cell to dual cell mode could sometimes lead to cell overload if not managed properly; in many cases the data rate needed for the UL could be borne by a single cell not requiring any switching to dual cell mode of operation on UL.
The problem is to know when it is more efficient to move to dual cell transmission from single cell transmission, and vice versa and exisiting solutions are static, not dynamic depending on the connections and radio conditions

Method for optimizing signalling load in a cellular communication network


Provided is a packaging substrate with a heat-dissipating structure, including a core layer with a first surface and an opposite second surface having a first metal layer and a second metal layer respectively. Portions of the first metal layer are exposed from a second cavity penetrating the core layer and second metal layer. Portions of the second metal layer are exposed from a first cavity penetrating the core layer and first metal layer. Semiconductor chips each having an active surface with electrode pads thereon and an opposite inactive surface are received in the first and second cavities and attached to the second metal layer and the first metal layer respectively. Conductive vias disposed in build-up circuit structures electrically connect to the electrode pads of the semiconductor chips. A heat-dissipating through hole penetrating the core layer and build-up circuit structures connects the metal layers and contact pads.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to packaging substrate structures, and more particularly, to a packaging substrate having a heat-dissipating structure.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Owing to development of semiconductor packaging technology, semiconductor packages nowadays come in a variety of forms. Known methods for packaging semiconductor devices involve mounting an integrated circuit-laden semiconductor chip on a packaging substrate or a lead frame, electrically connecting the semiconductor chip to the packaging substrate or the lead frame, and encapsulating the packaging substrate with encapsulant. Ball Grid Array (BGA), which represents an advanced semiconductor packaging technology, is characterized by mounting a semiconductor chip on a packaging substrate and implanting a plurality of solder balls aligned in an array on the back of the packaging substrate, thereby increasing I/O connections provided on a carrier for the semiconductor chip per unit area so as to meet the demand for high-integration semiconductor chips. Ball Grid Array features solder balls whereby a BGA package unit is capable of being electrically connected to an external device via the solder balls.
Known semiconductor package structures are packaged in the following ways. Semiconductor chips are attached by inactive surfaces thereof, one by one, to the top surface of a substrate by wire bonding. The alternative, flip-chip packaging, is to implant solder bumps on the electrode pads of active surfaces of the semiconductor chips so as to allow the semiconductor chips to be mounted by the active surfaces on the substrate, and then implant solder balls on the back of the substrate so as to allow the semiconductor chips to be electrically connected to an external device. The prior art achieves a high pin number and yet is flawed by a resultant intricate layout on an unfavorably thick package structure due to limitation of semiconductor chips in surface area and size. Hence, the prior art is hardly conducive to miniaturization and improvement in performance as far as semiconductor chip package structures are concerned.
Given the boom of the electronic industry, the trend of the development of electronic products is toward versatility and high performance. To meet the demand for integration and miniaturization of semiconductor packages, manufacturers have to embed a semiconductor chip in a packaging substrate at the cost of the following drawback. An increasingly great amount of heat is generated by semiconductor chips in operation; procrastinated or inefficient dissipation of heat generated by the semiconductor chips in operation result in deteriorated performance and shortened service life of the semiconductor chips.
FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a conventional package structure for a semiconductor chip embedded in a substrate. As shown in the drawing, a package structure comprises: a heat-dissipating board 12 formed with a cavity 120 therein; a semiconductor chip 13 with an active surface 13a having a plurality of electrode pads 131 formed thereon and an opposite inactive surface 13b, wherein the semiconductor chip 13 is received in the cavity 120 by the inactive surface 13b; a dielectric layer 14 formed on the heat-dissipating board 12 and the active surface 13a of the semiconductor chip 13; and a wiring layer 15 formed on the dielectric layer 14 and electrically connected to electrode pads 131 of the semiconductor chip 13 by conductive vias 151 formed in the dielectric layer 14.
Although the aforesaid drawback of the prior art can be overcome with a solution, namely using a package structure which comprises a semiconductor chip-embedded substrate, the solution brings more problems. Given a significant difference between the heat-dissipating board 12 and the dielectric layer 14 in coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE), variable thermal stress exhibited by individual components, together with unilateral build-up, is likely to cause warpage to the package structure. Uncontrolled warpage may delaminate a package structure or crack a long-compressed semiconductor chip. In this regard, a way to prevent warpage is to thicken a heat-dissipating board so as to counter the thermal stress developed in a substrate due to variation of temperature. However, a thick heat-dissipating board accompanies a thick bulky package structure and incurs process costs.
Accordingly, an issue that prevails in the electronic industry and calls for immediate solution involves providing a packaging substrate structure for elimination of the drawbacks of the prior art, namely warpage, increased thickness and weight, and high costs.

Packaging substrate having heat-dissipating structure

Phoenix Precision Technology Corporation


An intelligence system is provided that is comprised of several basic components: a system for converting incoming unstructured data into a well described normalized form supported by a dedicated ‘mining’ language tied intimately to a system ontology; a system for accessing and manipulating data held in memory or in persistent storage in its normalized binary form; an ‘ontology’ that represents and contains the items and fields necessary for the target system to perform its function; a memory system tied to the ontology; a memory management system for splitting incoming data into those portions to be directed to each container; a query system for querying each container to retrieve portions of composite objects; a UI to display and interact with data within the system; a memory system that forms collections of datums and enables manipulation and exchange of these collections both within the local machine as well as across the network.

For complex systems, such as those designed for multimedia intelligence and knowledge management applications, the current 'control flow' based design methods are totally unsuitable. Once a system is broadened to include acquisition of unstructured, non-tagged, time-variant, multimedia information (much of which is designed specifically to prevent easy capture and normalization by non-recipient systems), a totally different approach is required. In this arena, many entrenched notions of information science and database methodology must be discarded to permit the problem to be addressed. We shall call systems that attempt to address this level of problem, 'Unconstrained Systems' (UCS). An unconstrained system is one in which the source(s) of data have no explicit or implicit knowledge of, or interest in, facilitating the capture and subsequent processing of that data by the system. The most significant challenges that must be resolved with the UCS is based on the following realities:                a) Change is the norm. The incoming data formats and content will change. The needs and requirements of the users of the data will also change. This will be reflected not only in their demands of the UI to the system, but also in the data model and field set that is to be captured and stored by the system.        b) An unconstrained system usually only samples from the flow going through the information pipe. The UCS is neither the source nor the destination for that flow, but simply a monitoring station attached to the pipe capable of selectively extracting data from the pipe as it passes by.        c) In a truly unconstrained system, the information can only be monitored and the system may react to it—it cannot be controlled.
This loss of control over data is one of the most difficult challenges in the prior art. The prior art clearly suggests that software consists of a 'controlling' program that takes in inputs, performs certain predefined computations, and produces outputs. Nearly every installed system in the prior art complies with this approach. Yet it is obvious from the discussion above that this model can only hold true on a very localized level in a UCS. The flow of data through the system is really in control. It is illustrative to note that the only example of a truly massive software environment is the Internet itself. This success was achieved by defining a rigid set of protocols (IP, HTML etc.) and then allowing Darwinian-like and unplanned development of autonomous but compliant systems to develop on top of the substrate. A similar approach is required in the design of unconstrained systems.
In the traditional programming world, a programmer would begin by defining certain key algorithms and then identify all of the key inputs into the system. As such, the person or entity supplying the data is often asked to comply with very specific data input requirements impacting the format, length, field definitions, etc. The problem with this approach, however, is that predicting needed algorithms or approaches that are appropriate to solving the problem of 'understanding the world' is simply too complex. Once again, the conventional approach of defining processing and interface requirements, and then breaking down the problem into successively smaller and smaller sub-problems becomes unworkable. The most basic change that must be made, then, is to create an environment that operates according to data-flow rules, not those of a classic control-flow based system.
In spite of the prevalence of control based programming frameworks, various data-flow based software design and documentation techniques have been in usage for many years. In these techniques, the system design is broken into a number of distinct processes and the data that flows between them. This breakdown closely matches the perceptions of the actual system users/customers and thus is effective in communicating the architecture and requirements. Unfortunately, due to the lack of any suitable data-flow based substrate, even software designs created in this manner are invariably translated back into control-flow methods, or at best to message passing schemes, at implementation time. This translation begins a slippery slope that results in such software being of limited scope and largely inflexible to changes in the nature of the flow. This problem is at the root of why software systems are so expensive to create and maintain.
At the most fundamental operating system scheduling level, we need an environment where the presence of suitable data initiates program execution, not the other way round. More specifically, what is needed is a substrate through which data can flow and within which localized areas of control flow can be triggered by the presence of certain data. Additionally, such a system would ideally facilitate easy incorporation of new plug-in control flow based functions or routines and their interface to data flowing through the data-flow based substrate so that it will be possible for the system to 'evolve'. In essence, the users, knowingly or otherwise, must teach the system how they do what they do as a side effect of expressing their needs to it. No two analysts will agree completely on the meaning of a set of data, nor will they concur on the correct approach to extracting meaning from data in the first place. Because all such perspectives and techniques may have merit, the system must allow all to co-exist side by side, and to contribute, through a formalized substrate and protocol, to the meta-analysis that is the eventual system output.

System and method for managing knowledge


Provided is a robot system. The robot system includes a guide rail, a slider configured to move along the guide rail, a first source disposed the slider to move together with the slider, a rotation arm configured to rotate by the first driving source, and a vehicle service robot installed the rotation arm to move by the rotation arm.

The present invention relates to a robot system and a control method of the same.
Robots are machines that automatically process given tasks or operate with their own capabilities. The application fields of robots are generally classified into industrial robots, medical robots, aerospace robots, and underwater robots. Recently, communication robots that can communicate with humans by voices or gestures have been increasing.
An example of a robot may be used to provide a fueling service or a charging service to a vehicle, and this example is disclosed in Korean Patent Publication No. 10-1410272 (Jun. 23, 2014). Korean Patent Publication No. 10-1410272 (Jun. 23, 2014) discloses an electric vehicle charging robot charging a battery of a parked electric vehicle that is unmannedly driven within a packing area and an electric vehicle charging system including the electric vehicle charging robot.
The electric vehicle charging robot is docked in a charging station to complete charging to a power source unit and then moves to the vehicle to charge the power to the battery of the vehicle. A control unit of the electric vehicle charging robot has built-in program in which an unmanned driving path of the electric vehicle charging robot is set. When the driving of the electric vehicle charging robot along the unmanned driving path is completed, or the power of the power supply unit is less than a predetermined ratio, the program ends vehicle management driving of the electric vehicle charging robot and instructs movement to the charging station.

Robot system and control method of the same


Method and apparatus for the extracorporeal treatment of blood by utilizing a peripherally inserted dual lumen catheter assembly for the continuous removal and return of blood for renal replacement treatment, in particularly, treatment of congestive heart failure and fluid overload by ultrafiltration. A catheter is inserted in a peripheral vein and maneuvered upward through the vascular system to access the reservoir of blood in the large or great veins for continuous blood withdrawal and treatment. Air-tight connectors are incorporated in the catheter assembly to overcome the untoward effects of negative pressure in blood withdrawal.

Renal Replacement Therapy (RRT) is a class of medical treatments that artificially provides functions that would naturally be provided by the kidneys. RRT performs two primary functions: (i) ultrafiltration (removal of water from blood plasma), and (ii) solute clearance (removal of different molecular weight substances from blood plasma). Mechanical RRT generally involves an extracorporeal blood circuit that treats blood that is temporarily removed from and then returned to a patient. Devices used for RRT generally include: an extracorporeal blood circuit that extends from the patient through a filter and back to the patient; a pump acting on the blood circuit tube that moves the blood through the tube and filter; a filter where the blood components are separated and where the solute exchange takes place; and blood access devices. In addition, a mechanical RRT device may include a controller to regulate the pump(s), which in turn control the flow rate of blood and other fluids through the circuit, and detect blockages and leaks in the blood circuit.
In operation, blood from a patient flows through the RRT blood circuit at a flow rate determined by the blood pump speed. As the blood flows through the filter, certain fluids, solutes or both from the blood pass through the filter membrane and are extracted from the blood plasma. The extracted fluids with solutes flow from the filter through a filtrate tube and are temporarily stored in a filtrate bag. The extraction of fluids and/or solutes by the RRT device replaces or supplements the natural functions of the kidneys. Fluids may be injected into the remaining blood plasma which then flows through the blood circuit tube and is infused into the patient.
The filter in an RRT device, also called hemofilter or "dialyzer", can be set up to perform fluid removal, solute clearance, or both. The RRT device may also operate with or without fluid replacement. "Clearance" and "ultrafiltration" are common terms used in RRT. "Clearance" is the term used to describe the net removal of substances, both normal and waste product, from the blood. "Ultrafiltration" is the term used to describe the removal from the blood plasma of plasma water, without significant affect on the concentration of small solutes in the blood plasma. In mechanical terms "Ultrafiltration" is the convective transfer of fluid out of the plasma compartment of a filter through pores in the filter membrane and into a filtrate output compartment of the filter.
Blood filters generally have a blood compartment within input and output ports connected to the blood circuit, a filter membrane, and a filtrate compartment. The membrane separates the blood compartment and the filtrate compartment in the filter. In a filter used primarily for ultrafiltration, the pores of the filter membrane may be hollow fibers having blood passages of approximately 0.2 mm or less in diameter. The filter membrane pass fluids, electrolytes and small and middle sized molecules (typically up to 50,000 Daltons) from the blood plasma. The ultrafiltrate output from the filtration pores is similar to plasma, but without the plasma proteins or blood cells. In an ultrafiltration filter, the concentration of small solutes is the same in the ultrafiltrate as in the plasma, and no clearance or concentration change is obtained of small solutes in the blood plasma that is returned to the patient. However, the ultrafiltration does remove water from the blood and is useful for treating patients suffering from fluid overload. During the ultrafiltration treatment of a fluid overloaded patient the fluid that is mechanically "filtered" or removed from blood is typically immediately replaced by the access fluid that has been stored in the body. As a result the excess fluid or "edema" in the legs, the abdomen and the lungs of the patient is reduced and the patient's condition is relieved.
Dialysis is a different form of RRT. Dialysis is the transfer of small solutes out of a blood plasma compartment of a filter by diffusion across the filter membrane. Dialysis occurs as a result of a concentration gradient across the filter membrane. Diffusion of small solutes occurs from the filter compartment with a higher concentration (typically the blood compartment) to a compartment with lower concentration (typically the dialysate compartment). Since the concentration of solutes in the plasma decreases, clearance is obtained. Fluid removal does not necessarily occur during dialysis.
Ultrafiltration can be combined with dialysis to remove both fluid and small solutes from the blood plasma during RRT. Hemofiltration is the combination of ultrafiltration and fluid replacement. The volume of the replacement fluid is typically much larger than is needed just for fluid control. The replacement fluid generally contains electrolytes, but not other small molecules. There is some clearance because there is a net removal of small solutes due to both replacing fluids without small solutes and ultrafiltration of fluid with small solutes. A primary difference between the ultrafiltration and hemofiltration treatments is that during the former the plasma water removed from blood is replaced by the natural excess fluid internally stored in the patient's body. During the later the replacement solution is supplied by the treatment in a form of an artificial infusion.
Generally, all modes of Renal Replacement Therapy involve the removal of blood (typically venous) from a patient and passing the blood through a hollow fiber filter where there occurs fluid removal and, if desired, a solute removal or exchange. After passing through the filter, the blood is returned to the blood stream of the patient. So-called "batch" type RRT devices extract and return blood through the same single lumen IV catheter or "needle" and blood tube by reversing the direction of the blood pump. More common "continuous" type devices extract and return blood continuously using one double lumen catheter in the same vein or separate catheters in two separate veins. Catheter and needles used in RRT are generally known as "blood access". Some RRT patients have permanently lost their kidney function and need to undergo dialysis several times a week. These patients typically have surgically implanted or modified sites for blood access such as arterial-venous shunts or fistulas.
Congestive Heart Failure (CHF) patients can benefit from fluid removal by ultrafiltration of blood. CHF patients have functional kidneys, but suffer from fluid overload due to CHF. The kidneys of CHF patients are generally healthy but are not fully functioning due to the failing heart and low blood pressure. Because the kidneys are not fully functioning, fluids build up in the patient and the fluid overload contributes to the stress on the already failing heart. The kidneys do produce urine that is usually sufficient for the kidneys to remove toxic solutes.
CHF patients need an RRT treatment that removes excess fluid from the body. These patients typically do not require solute removal or a long-term chronic treatment as in the chronic dialysis patient. The fluid can be removed from the patient relatively quickly and the treatment stopped. The reduction of fluid overload should relieve the stress on the heart sufficiently so that the heart is able to resume adequate perfusion of the kidney. Even if the heart is unable to adequately perfuse the kidney after the fluid overload treatment, the patient often enjoys several days or weeks before the fluid overload condition again becomes sufficiently severe to undergo another ultrafiltration treatment. These CHF patients need a RRT treatment that is simple to establish and safe.
Fluid overload can lead to several painful and dangerous conditions, including excessive fluids in the lungs. If excessive fluid in the lungs is not promptly removed with a diuretic medication, CHF patients are often intubated and placed on a ventilator. If the initial diuretic therapy has little affect, more aggressive treatment with increasingly potent diuretics is needed. In addition, inotropic agents such as dobutamine are administered to increase the pumping function of the heart and raise the blood pressure. Higher blood pressure is expected to assist in the perfusion of the kidneys and make diuretics work. In more recent years, vasodilator therapy became a part of the standard therapy for a severely volume-overloaded, decompensated CHF patient. All the above-mentioned therapies as a rule require admission to an intensive care unit (ICU) of a hospital. Potentially dangerous side affects of drugs and the need for advanced monitoring and intubation are the main reasons for a typical ICU admission. ICU admissions are expensive and require specialized doctor and nurse caregivers.
Previously, standard drug therapy was frequently unable to remove excess fluid rapidly enough to prevent hospitalization. There is a clear and unmet clinical need for a CHF treatment that allows physicians to rapidly, controllably and safely remove a clinically significant amount of fluid from a CHF patient. Such a treatment would potentially reduce the need for excessive hospital admissions and decrease the duration of hospital stays.
Ultrafiltration (one mode of Renal Replacement Therapy) is useful for removal of excess fluid from a patient, especially in CHF patients whose kidneys are not working but are generally healthy. Ultrafiltration has not been used widely in the treatment of patients with CHF, despite its clinical benefits for treating fluid overload. There are several issues that have in the past limited the use of currently available ultrafiltration devices. One of these factors is that prior ultrafiltration devices draw large volumes of blood out of the body and, thus, require so called central venous access. Central venous access implies that a relatively large diameter catheter is placed with its tip in a major vein in the "center" of the patient's body. Typically the central catheter is placed in the superior vena cava or right atrium of the heart of the patient. This procedure requires specialized skill and is also associated with serious complications such as bleeding, perforated lung or heart and infections. As a result, mechanical fluid removal in CHF patients has in the past been performed in the ICU of a hospital where resources, training and adequate nursing monitoring are available.
With the increasing prevalence of decompensated CHF and the increased cost of hospital admission and even more so of an ICU treatment, a strong need has emerged for a new technology that will allow fluid removal in the non critical care setting. This need is for a device and technique that is simple and safe so that it could be used in the outpatient setting, doctor's offices, Emergency Rooms (ER) and general hospital floors. Such treatment would be acceptable if access to venous blood was established via a peripheral vein in the patient's arm or other peripheral vascular site on the patient. An advantage of accessing blood through a peripheral vein in the arm is well recognized. Unlike the central veins, the peripheral veins are close to skin and easier to identify. Physicians and nurses are trained to place needles and catheters in the peripheral veins of an arm. Venopunctures are easy to monitor for infiltration of fluid and thrombosis and the control of infection is simpler than with central catheters. Also, the potential loss of a peripheral vein to thrombosis is less critical.

Method and apparatus for ultrafiltration utilizing a peripheral access dual lumen venous cannula


Wireless mobile devices or user equipments (UEs) may communicate directly with other UEs, e.g., using device-to-device (“D2D”) direct discovery and communication. D2D direct discovery and communication may be used, for example, when UEs communicate with each other while within direct wireless range of each other. Different service types for D2D direct discovery and communication sessions, such as public safety (PS) services, non-PS services, etc., may utilize different data characteristics for the discovery message (e.g., data types and data structures). Data associated with the at least one data frame of a D2D direct discovery transmission can be configured to indicate these different data characteristics.

Wireless mobile devices or user equipments (UEs) may communicate with each other using radio access technologies such as the 3GPP Long Term Evolution ("LTE") Advanced Release 12 (March 2014) (the "LTE-A Standard"), the IEEE 802.16 standard, IEEE Std. 802.16-2009, published May 29, 2009 ("WiMAX"), as well as any other wireless protocols that are designated as 3G, 4G, 5G, and beyond. Some UEs also may be configured to communicate directly with other UEs, e.g., using device-to-device ("D2D") communication. D2D communication may be used, for example, when UEs initiate communication with each other while within direct wireless range of each other. Different service types for D2D communication sessions, such as public safety (PS) services, non-PS services, etc., may utilize different data characteristics (e.g., data types and data structures).

Apparatuses, systems, and methods for differentiation of payload size for D2D discovery


An inkjet printer includes a transfer unit that transfers a paper, a print unit that has three or more nozzle rows aligned along a transfer direction of the paper, and a controller that ejects ink on the paper by controlling the print unit while transferring the paper by controlling the transfer unit. The most-upstream nozzle row of the nozzle row and the most-downstream nozzle row are capable of ejecting ink whose color has a lowest brightness among colors of ink to be used for printing. The controller selects the most-upstream nozzle row or the most-downstream nozzle row as a nozzle row for ejecting the ink whose color has a lowest brightness according to a type of the paper. According to the printer, it becomes possible to restrict contaminations on a printed media while also restricting degradation of print quality.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to an inkjet printer.
2. Background Arts
As one of printing methods, inkjet printing is widely prevalent. In inkjet printing, images are formed by ejecting ink droplets from nozzles of inkjet heads onto a paper (e.g. Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2002-67282).
An advantage of inkjet printing is that it can form images by simple processes, i.e. ejections of ink droplets onto a paper and their permeation into the paper. However, when printing is done with a plain paper having no coating by an inkjet printer, colors of a printed image may become dull and thereby its print quality may degrade due to ink bleed caused by ink permeability through fibers in the paper. On the other hand, when printing is done with a matte paper having a coating for example, degradation of its print quality can be restricted because more ink colorants remain near a surface of the paper than when printing is done with a plain paper.


Disclosed is a method and an apparatus for multiplexing and transmitting/receiving an ACK/NACK resulting from use of a HARQ scheme in an OFDMA system. Frequency and code multiplexing methods are combined with regard to the ACK/NACK to reduce signaling overhead. Frequency multiplexing is conducted by using the MCS level adopted by scheduling channels to improve the ACK/NACK transmitting performance, and code multiplexing is conducted to allocate ACK/NACK resources by using the index of the scheduling channels.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for transmitting/receiving an ACK/NACK according to a method for multiplexing downlink control information and data in an OFDMA (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access) wireless communication system.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the field of mobile communication systems, the OFDM (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing) scheme has recently been studied widely as a scheme useful for high-speed data transmission through wireless channels.
The OFDM scheme employs multi-carriers to transmit data. Particularly, the OFDM is a type of multi-carrier modulation scheme, which converts serially inputted strings of symbols into parallel symbols, modulates the respective parallel symbols into a number of sub-carriers having orthogonality relative to one another, i.e. a number of sub-carrier channels, and transmits them.
FIG. 1 shows the structure of a transmitter of a conventional OFDM system.
Referring to FIG. 1, the OFDM transmitter includes an encoder 101, a modulator 102, a serial/parallel converter 103, an IFFT block 104, a parallel/serial converter 105, and a CP inserter 106.
The encoder 101, also referred to as a channel encoding block, receives a string of information bits as an input and conducts channel encoding. A convolutional encoder, a turbo encoder, or an LDPC (Low Density Parity Check) encoder is conventionally used as the encoder 101.
The modulator 102 conducts modulation, such as QPSK (Quadrature Phase Shift Keying), 8PSK (Phase Shift Keying), 16QAM (Quadrature Amplitude Modulation), 64QAM, 256QAM, etc.
Those skilled in the art can easily understand that, although not shown in FIG. 1, a rate matching block may be added between the encoder 101 and the modulator 102 to conduct repetition, puncturing, etc.
The serial/parallel converter 103 receives the output of the modulator 102 as an input and converts the signal into a parallel signal.
The IFFT (Inverse Fast Fourier Transform) block 104 receives the output of the serial/parallel converter 103 as an input and conducts IFFT operations. The output of the IFFT block 104 is converted by the parallel/serial converter 105.
The CP inserter 106 inserts a CP (Cyclic Prefix) into the output signal of the parallel/serial converter 105.
In order to transmit packets, the Node B of the OFDMA-type communication system allocates a suitable resource to a UE by means of scheduling. Then, the UE transmits/receives data by using the resource and, according to whether or not the data has errors, retransmits an ACK/NACK signal as a response to the data based on an HARQ (Hybrid Automatic Repeat reQuest). Operations for transmitting packet data by the communication system will now be described with reference to FIG. 2.
FIG. 2 shows a procedure for transmitting downlink packet data.
Referring to FIG. 2, the Node B 201 receives UE condition information, particularly power information, or data buffer information from a plurality of UEs, including a UE 202, in step 203. The Node B 201 schedules UEs belonging to the Node B 201 by using information regarding the condition of the UE 202 in step 204. When a downlink transmission to the UE 202 is determined based on the scheduling, the Node B 201 transmits scheduling control information and packet data to the UE 202 in steps 205 and 206. The scheduling control information refers to information regarding control of the packet data, and may include the construction of wireless resources or data used to transmit the packet data, the transmission scheme, the HARQ information, etc. The scheduling control information is transmitted either concurrently with or prior to the transmission of the packet data. After receiving the scheduling control information and the packet data, the UE 202 decodes the received packet data by using the scheduling control information, and determines if the packet data has been successfully received without errors in step 207. If it is determined in step 207 that the packet data has errors, NACK information is transmitted, and, if no errors have occurred, ACK information is transmitted to the Node B 201 by means of ACK/NACK signaling in step 208. After receiving the ACK/NACK, the Node B 201 evaluates the ACK/NACK in step 209. If an ACK has been transmitted, the transmission of packet data is terminated, and if an NACK has been transmitted, the corresponding packet data is retransmitted in step 211. In this case, control information regarding the retransmitted packet data may be transmitted simultaneously. Alternatively, the scheduling control information may be transmitted prior to the retransmitted packet data as in step 210. The retransmitted packet data includes the same information as the packet data transmitted in step 206, but the transmission type may vary depending on the AMC (Adaptive Modulation and Coding) conducted by the Node B 201.
FIG. 3 shows a procedure for transmitting uplink packet data.
Referring to FIG. 3, the Node B 301 receives UE condition information, particularly power information, or data buffer information from a plurality of UEs, including a UE 302, in step 303. The Node B 301 schedules UEs belonging to the Node B 301 by using the UE condition information in step 304. When an uplink transmission to the UE 302 is determined based on the scheduling, the Node B 301 transmits scheduling control information to the UE 302 in steps 305. The scheduling control information refers to information regarding control of uplink packet data, the transmission of which to the UE 302 has been allowed, and may include the construction of wireless resources or data used to transmit the uplink packet data, the transmission scheme, the HARQ information, etc. After receiving the scheduling control information, the UE 302 transmits packet data to the Node B 301 by using the transmission scheme and wireless resources, which have been allocated to it based on the scheduling control information, in step 306. After receiving the packet data, the Node B 301 determines if the packet data has been successfully received without errors in step 307. If it is determined in step 307 that the packet data has errors, NACK information is transmitted, and, if no errors have occurred, ACK information is transmitted to the UE 302 by means of ACK/NACK signaling in step 308. After receiving the ACK/NACK, the UE 302 evaluates the ACK/NACK. If an ACK has been transmitted, the transmission of the packet data is terminated, and if an NACK has been transmitted, a retransmission of the packet data is prepared. The Node B 301 reschedules the retransmission of the packet data in step 309, and transmits scheduling control information for the retransmission to the UE 302 in step 310. After receiving the scheduling control information, the UE 302 retransmits packet data to the Node B 301 in step 311. The retransmitted packet data includes the same information as the packet data transmitted in step 306, but the transmission type may vary depending on the AMC conducted by the Node B 301.
A method for multiplexing the ACK/NACK occurring in the process for transmitting downlink or uplink packet data will now be described. In general, the ACK/NACK includes one-bit information or a small amount of information. Therefore, it is preferred in terms of resource efficiency to transmit the ACK/NACK using the smallest amount of resources. However, the characteristics of OFDM systems require that, in order to improve the frequency diversity effect, the ACK/NACK must be distributed over a wide frequency band and then transmitted so as to guarantee the ACK/NACK performance having a high level of error requirements. In the case of a frequency multiplexing method, which solely transmits a signal regarding one UE by using one frequency resource, many frequency resources must be allocated to a single UE in order to transmit a single ACK/NACK. This degrades the resource efficiency. Therefore, an inter-UE code multiplexing method can be used to transmit the ACK/NACK. According to the code multiplexing method, a plurality of UEs share the same resources, but use different codes so that signals can be differentiated among the UEs. The code multiplexing method ensures that all UEs equally have the frequency diversity effect while maintaining a high level of resource efficiency.
A method for multiplexing the ACK/NACK in the downlink and uplink will be described with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5, respectively.
Referring to FIG. 4, the downlink ACK/NACK is characterized in that a single Node B transmits information regarding a number of UEs as a whole. It is assumed in FIG. 4 that the Node B transmits the ACK/NACK with regard to n UEs. The ACK/NACK signals 401-404, which are to be transmitted to the n UEs from the Node B, pass through a unitary precoder 405 so that they are converted into orthogonal codes and are multiplexed. The output of the unitary precoder 405 is inputted to a resource mapper 406 so that it is mapped to time-frequency resources, which are to be used to transmit the multiplexed ACK/NACK signals, and is transmitted to the n UEs. The shaded portions 408 in FIG. 4 correspond to those of the entire time-frequency resources 407, which are used to transmit the ACK/NACK signals. It is clear from FIG. 4 that, when a plurality of UEs share resources 408 during a downlink ACK/NACK transmission, the resource utilization efficiency improves, and all UEs can have frequency diversity gain.
Referring to FIG. 5, the uplink ACK/NACK is characterized in that a single UE transmits a signal to a single Node B. It is assumed in FIG. 5 that each of n UEs transmits its ACK/NACK to a single Node B. The n UEs encode their ACK/NACK signals 501-503 and transmit them by using the same resources. More particularly, the UE 1 encodes an ACK/NACK 501 with an encoder 504, maps it to a resource 511, which has been selected from the entire time-frequency resources 510 in order to transmit the ACK/NACK, by using a resource mapper 505, and transmits the ACK/NACK to the Node B. The UE 2 encodes an ACK/NACK 502 by an encoder 506, maps it to a resource 511, which has been selected from the entire time-frequency resources 510 in order to transmit the ACK/NACK, by using a resource mapper 507, and transmits the ACK/NACK to the Node B. Similarly, the UE n encodes an ACK/NACK 503 by an encoder 508, maps it to a resource 511, which has been selected from the entire time-frequency resources 510 in order to transmit the ACK/NACK, by using a resource mapper 509, and transmits the ACK/NACK to the Node B. The plurality of ACK/NACKs transmitted by the plurality of UEs in FIG. 5 are code-multiplexed, because they are encoded, mapped to the same resources, and transmitted. It is clear from FIG. 5 that, when a plurality of UEs share resources 511 during an uplink ACK/NACK transmission, the resource utilization efficiency improves, and all UEs can have frequency diversity gain.
The conventional method for code-multiplexing the ACK/NACK, which has been described above, is advantageous in terms of resource efficiency and frequency diversity. However, such code multiplexing often fails to perfectly satisfy the orthogonality in the case of a channel having a high level of channel selectivity. Particularly, when the code of each ACK/NACK has a varying degree of receiving power intensity, an ACK/NACK using a code with low receiving power may have very poor receiving performance due to interference with another ACK/NACK using a code having high receiving power.

Method and apparatus for transmitting/receiving ACK/NACK in mobile communication system