A method of manufacturing an electrowetting device includes dispensing a first liquid on a surface of a support plate and dispensing a second liquid to adjoin the first liquid. The first liquid is a solution. A first portion of the first liquid transfers into the second liquid to form a first layer of liquid and a second layer of liquid substantially immiscible with the first layer. The first layer comprises a second portion of the first liquid and the second layer comprises the second liquid and the first portion.

In a known electrowetting device, a first layer of liquid and a second layer of liquid immiscible with the first layer are confined between a first support plate and a second support plate. A known method of manufacturing such an electrowetting device involves providing at least one of the layers of liquid in solid form, for example as a solid gel. Then, stimulation is applied to change the solid to a liquid. In such a method, the transition from solid to liquid can be problematic, for example due to volume changes during the transition. This can make accurate dispensing of a liquid for the manufactured device difficult. Further, as a result of the manufacturing process, liquids in the manufactured device include contaminants from the solid, for example gelling agents, which can hinder performance of the device and compromise design freedom when selecting the composition of liquids for the device.
It is desirable to provide an improved method of manufacture of an electrowetting device.

Liquid dispensing method for manufacturing an electrowetting device


A system for performing a surgical procedure includes a source of energy, a surgical instrument, and an impedance matching network. The source of energy is an electrosurgical generator or a microwave generator. The surgical instrument is coupled to the source of energy and receives the energy therefrom. The surgical instrument is adapted to treat tissue with the energy. The impedance matching network is interposed along a path of the energy and matches an input impedance of the source of energy to an output impedance (or thereabouts).

1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to using electromagnetic energy to treat tissue. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to a system and method of matching impedances of an electrosurgical generator and/or a microwave generator.
2. Description of Related Art
Historically, surgery was performed using only mechanical tools, such as mechanical cutting instruments, scalpels, bladed forceps, saws and the like. However, in recent years, technology has improved such that surgeons now frequently use electromagnetic waves to cause a wider variety of surgical effects, e.g., by selectively modifying tissue using electromagnetic energy to produce a specific effect. The characteristics of the electromagnetic energy applied to tissue strongly correlates to the effect that the energy has on the tissue. These characteristics are therefore changed in accordance with the desired tissue effect. Two types of electromagnetic energy that are commonly applied during surgery include electrosurgical energy and microwave energy.
Electrosurgery is surgery using electrosurgical energy. Electrosurgery involves the application of electrosurgical energy (e.g., "RF energy") to cut, dissect, ablate, coagulate, seal tissue, or otherwise treat biological tissue during a surgical procedure. Additionally, certain electrosurgical modes invoke the application of electric spark to biological tissue, for example, human flesh or the tissue of internal organs, without significant cutting. The spark is produced by bursts of radio-frequency electrical energy generated from an appropriate electrosurgical generator. Generally, fulguration is used to coagulate, cut or blend body tissue. Coagulation is defined as a process of desiccating tissue wherein the tissue cells are ruptured and dehydrated/dried. Electrosurgical cutting, on the other hand, includes applying an electrical spark to tissue in order to produce a cutting or dividing effect. Blending includes the function of cutting combined with the production of a hemostasis effect.
Generally, electrosurgery utilizes an electrosurgical generator, an active electrode and a return electrode. The electrosurgical generator generates electrosurgical energy typically above 100 kilohertz to avoid muscle and/or nerve stimulation between the active and return electrodes when applied to tissue. During electrosurgery, current generated by the electrosurgical generator is conducted through the patient's tissue disposed between the two electrodes. The electrosurgical energy is returned to the electrosurgical source via a return electrode pad positioned under a patient (i.e., a monopolar system configuration) or a smaller return electrode positionable in bodily contact with or immediately adjacent to the surgical site (i.e., a bipolar system configuration). The current causes the tissue to heat up as the electromagnetic wave overcomes the tissue's impedance. Although many other variables affect the total heating of the tissue, usually more current density directly correlates to increased heating.
Microwave surgical procedures invoke the application of microwave energy to tissue. Unlike low frequency RF therapy that heats tissue with current, microwave therapy heats tissue within the electromagnetic field delivered by an energy delivery device (e.g., a microwave antenna). Microwave surgical procedures typically utilize a microwave generator and an energy delivery device that delivers the microwave energy to the target tissue. One type of energy delivery device is a coaxial microwave antenna that forms an approximate dipole antenna. Microwave surgical systems involve applying microwave radiation to heat, ablate and/or coagulate tissue. For example, treatment of certain diseases requires destruction of malignant tissue growths (e.g., tumors) or surrounding tissue. It is known that tumor cells denature at elevated temperatures that are slightly lower than temperatures injurious to surrounding healthy cells. Therefore, by applying microwave energy to heat tumor cells to temperatures above 41° C. kills the tumor cells while adjacent healthy cells are maintained at lower temperatures avoiding irreversible cell damage. Another method used to treat diseased tissue is to resect a portion of the diseased organ, tissue or anatomical structure. For example, a liver may contain diseased tissue and healthy tissue. One treatment option is to pre-coagulate and ablate some of the liver tissue to facilitate resection of a portion of the liver including the diseased tissue. Microwave energy can be used during these types of procedures to pre-coagulate tissue prior to resection, to reduce bleeding during resection and to facilitate the actual resection of the tissue.
The microwave energy may be applied via an antenna that can penetrate tissue. There are several types of microwave antennas, such as monopole and dipole antennas. In monopole and dipole antennas, most of the microwave energy radiates perpendicularly away from the axis of the conductor. A monopole antenna includes a single, elongated conductor that transmits the microwave energy. A typical dipole antenna has two elongated conductors parallel to each other and positioned end-to-end relative to one another with an insulator placed therebetween. Each of the conductors is typically about ¼ of the length of the wavelength of the microwave energy making the aggregate length of both conductors about ½ of the wavelength of the microwave energy.
Both sources of energy used during modern surgical procedures share some common characteristics. Microwave and electrosurgical generators both apply electromagnetic energy and include input impedances. Also, each utilizes a surgical instrument that directs the energy to the target tissue. Additionally, while the energy is applied to the tissue, the tissue is affected and its characteristics change as a result of the application of the energy. For example, microwave energy can cause tissue to heat up causing water to boil therein. This reduction in hydration causes the tissue's impedance to increase. Likewise, an electrosurgical instrument can also cause tissue to produce an analogous increase in impedance from dehydration when applying electrosurgical energy thereto.

System and method of matching impedances of an electrosurgical generator and/or a microwave generator


A dynamic random access memory device (10) includes three separate sections--an input/output section (12), a peripheral transistor section (14), and a memory array section (16), all formed on a p- type substrate layer (18). The dynamic random access memory device (10) can employ separate substrate bias voltages for each section. The input/output section (12) has a p- type region (22) that is isolated from the p- type substrate layer (18) by an n- type well region (20). The peripheral transistor section (14) has a p- type region (36) that can be isolated from the p- type substrate layer (18) by an optional n- type well region (40) for those devices which require a different substrate bias voltage between the peripheral transistor section (14) and the memory array section (16).

Dynamic random access memory (DRAM) devices have traditionally employed a substrate bias voltage on the N-channel transistors to improve latch up immunity, cell isolation, and circuit speed. However, for submicron devices, the substrate bias enhances an undesirable short channel effect. This short channel effect produces a large threshold voltage difference between devices of different sizes when the substrate bias voltage is applied. Such a large difference between devices of different sizes make the control of the threshold voltage very difficult.
Attempts to overcome this short channel effect problem include using triple well isolation to allow for different substrate biases to be applied to different parts of the dynamic random access memory. However, the triple well approach uses an unconventional n- type substrate and isolation with various p- type wells. Further, the depth of the p- type wells limit the depth for a trench in the memory array of the DRAM device. Since the trench wall is doped with an N+ conductivity type, any contact of the trench with the n- type substrate will short the trenches together. Therefore, it is desirable to overcome the short channel effect and trench depth problems through a more conventional process.

Multiple substrate bias random access memory device


A method of measuring electrical characteristics of a gate dielectric. The gate dielectric is local annealed by directing a highly localized energy source at the measurement area, such that the measurement area is brought to an annealing temperature while surrounding structures are not significantly heated. While heating the measurement area, a flow of a gas containing a percentage of hydrogen, deuterium, or water vapor at a flow rate is directed to the measurement area. A charge is inducted on the measurement area and the electrical characteristics of the gate dielectric are measured using non contact electrical probing.

With modem integrated circuits operating at ever increasing speeds and at ever decreasing powers, control of the gate stack films has become more important, and more difficult than ever before. As the term is used herein, "integrated circuit" includes devices such as those formed on monolithic semiconducting substrates, such as those formed of group IV materials like silicon or germanium, or group III–V compounds like gallium arsenide, or mixtures of such materials. The term includes all types of devices formed, such as memory and logic, and all designs of such devices, such as MOS and bipolar. The term also comprehends applications such as flat panel displays, solar cells, and charge coupled devices.
Although there are many important electrical characteristics that define the proper behavior of a gate, some of the most critical issues are gate threshold voltage shift and gate leakage. Because the effective oxide thickness of gates is so thin, and the power is so low, gate threshold voltage shifting and high leakage are fatal to the proper operation of the integrated circuit. The electrical characteristics of the gate are predominantly set at a point in time that occurs relatively early in the integrated circuit fabrication process. These steps include preparation of the semiconducting substrate, deposition of the gate insulation layer, and other related, early occurring steps.
Unfortunately, it is much later in the process before the important electrical characteristics that are defined by these processes can be directly measured, such as by contact probing. At that point, however, any problems with the earlier processes that may negatively effect gate electrical properties will have effected a large number of integrated circuits in the fabrication line, potentially resulting in the waste of large numbers of misprocessed or otherwise damaged integrated circuits.
Prior art methods of checking for such problems earlier in the fabrication process include optical inspection for cleanliness and thickness measurement. However, with effective gate oxide thicknesses dropping to such low levels, such relatively crude methods of inspection have proven to be inadequate.
What is needed, therefore, is a system that overcomes problems such as those described above, at least in part.


According to the invention, a method and circuit for measuring a transient of a MOFSET device under measurement of an SOI is provided. The device under measurement is connected from its drain to a measuring circuit having a trip point switching circuit. A supply voltage is applied to the drain through a capacitor connected to ground. When a high to low voltage pulse is applied to the source of the device, the threshold trip point can be determined whereby the dump charge through the transistor device can be determined.

The present invention relates generally to methods of and circuits for measuring a semiconductor-on-insulator (SOI) device transient and more particularly to methods and circuits for measuring the charge dump of an individual transistor in an SOI device.
Traditional semiconductor-on-insulator (SOI) integrated circuits typically have a silicon substrate with a buried oxide (BOX) layer disposed thereon. An active silicon layer is disposed on the opposite side of the BOX layer from the silicon substrate. Within the active silicon layer, active devices, such as transistors, are formed in active regions. The size and placement of the active regions are defined by shallow trench isolation (STI) regions. As a result of this arrangement, the active devices are isolated from the silicon substrate by the BOX layer. In addition, a body region of each SOI transistor does not have body contacts and is therefore floating.
Such SOI structures offer potential advantages over bulk chips for the fabrication of high performance integrated circuits for digital circuitry. Such digital circuitry is typically made from partially-depleted metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistors (MOSFETs). These SOI structures provide a significant gain in performance by having lower parasitic capacitance (due to the insulator layer) and increased drain current due to the floating body charging effects. These performance gains result from: a) no connection being made to the channel region, and b) charging of the floating body providing access toward a majority of carriers which dynamically lowers the threshold voltage and increased drain current. Devices, such as metal oxide silicon field effect transistors (MOSFET), have a number of advantages when formed on SOI wafers versus bulk silicon MOS transistors. These advantages include: reduced source/drain capacitance that results in improved speed performance at higher-operating frequencies; reduced N+ to P+ spacing and thus higher packing density due to ease of isolation; absence of latch-up; lower voltage applications; and higher soft error upset immunity (i.e., the immunity to the effects of alpha particle strikes).
Although there are significant advantages associated with SOI technology, there are some disadvantages as well. For example, there is an inability to reliably measure the SOI transient of a single MOSFET on an SOI substrate so as to better control the performance of a typical million plus (1,000,000+) transistor microprocessor.
In view of the aforementioned disadvantages, there is a need for a method and circuit for measuring the SOI transient of a single MOSFET in an SOI device.
According to the invention, a method is disclosed for measuring a charge dump current of a transistor device. The transistor device, typically a MOSFET on an SOI has a source, a drain, and a gate. The method comprises the steps of a) connecting a measuring circuit to the drain, the measuring circuit having a trip-point switching circuit with its trip point set to an initial trip point voltage that should not cause the switching circuit to trip; b) charging the drain to a supply voltage; c) applying a high-to-low voltage pulse to the source; d) detecting whether or not the trip-point switching circuit has tripped; e) when the switching circuit has not tripped, adjusting the trip point Voltage in increments and repeating steps b, c and d until a threshold trip point is reached where the trip-point switching circuit does trip; and f) recording the threshold trip point whereby the dump charge through the transistor device can be determined.
According to the invention, the method further includes the steps of: h) determining a first charge at the drain at the threshold trip voltage; i) determining a second charge at the drain at the supply voltage; and j) subtracting the first charge from the second charge to determine the total dump charge from the drain to the source.
Further according to the invention, the method includes the step of charging drain to the supply voltage by charging a capacitor connected to the drain and to ground to the supply voltage with a switchable connection.
According to the invention, a system for measuring the charge dump current of a transistor device on an SOI is disclosed. The device has a source, a drain, and a gate all formed on a substrate. The system has a measuring circuit connected to the drain. The measuring circuit includes a capacitor connected between the drain and ground, a switchable connection to apply a supply voltage to the capacitor, and a trip-point switching circuit connected to the drain. Circuit means are provided for setting the trip point of the trip-point switching circuit to an initial trip point voltage that should not cause the switching circuit to trip. A switch device is provided for applying a high-to-low voltage pulse to the source. A buffer and output reading device are provided for detecting whether or not the trip-point switching circuit has tripped. Circuit adjustment structure is provided for adjusting the trip point Voltage in increments until a threshold trip point is reached where the trip-point switching circuit does trip. A recording device is provided to record the threshold trip point whereby the dump charge through the transistor device can be determined.
According to the invention, another embodiment is provided for measuring a charge dump of a transistor device under test, the device under test having a source, a drain, and a gate. The method comprises the steps of: connecting a measuring circuit to the drain, the measuring circuit including a plurality of trip-point switching circuits, each of the switching circuits with their trip point set to an initial trip point voltage different from the other switching circuits; charging the drain to a supply voltage; applying a high-to-low voltage pulse to the source; detecting whether or not each of the trip-point switching circuits has tripped; recording the highest trip point just below when the switching circuit has tripped; recording the lowest trip point just above when the switching circuit has tripped; and estimating the threshold trip point between the highest trip point recorded and the lowest trip point recorded whereby the dump charge through the transistor device can be determined.
Further according to the invention, the method includes the steps of: determining a first charge at the drain at the threshold trip voltage; determining a second charge at the drain at the supply voltage; and subtracting the first charge from the second charge to determine the total dump charge from the drain to the source.
According to the invention, an alternative embodiment of a system for measuring the charge dump current of a transistor device on an SOI is disclosed. As set forth above, the device has a source, a drain, and a gate all formed on a substrate. The system comprises a measuring circuit with a plurality of trip-point switching circuits, each of the switching circuits with their trip point set to an initial trip point voltage different from the other switching circuits. Charging means are provided for charging the drain to a supply voltage. Switch means apply a high-to-low voltage pulse to the source. Circuit means detect whether or not the each of the trip-point switching circuits has tripped. Circuit means record the highest trip point just below when the switching circuit has tripped and the lowest trip point just above when the switching circuit has tripped. Device means estimate the threshold trip point between the highest trip point recorded and the lowest trip point recorded whereby the dump charge through the transistor device can be determined.

Method and circuit for measuring charge dump of an individual transistor in an SOI device


A gate configured to be shipped in a compact disassembled state and assembled in situ into a structurally rigid frame around an area is provided. In one embodiment, the gate includes first and second vertical support posts, a lower horizontal support, a cross-brace, first and second upper vertical posts, a screen, first and second elbow joints, and first and second Tee joints. The elbow joints are configured to couple the vertical support posts to the lower horizontal support. The Tee joints are configured to couple the vertical support posts, the upper vertical posts, and the cross-brace together. The screen is configured to be coupled to the vertical support posts, the upper vertical posts, and the lower horizontal support post. The cross-brace is configured to extend between the first and second vertical support posts at a distance below the upper end of the screen and rearwardly away from the screen.

Unsecured pools present a drowning hazard to unattended children. Accordingly, pools are commonly provided with a fence surrounding the pool to prevent children from inadvertently falling into the pool. Additionally, the fence surrounding the pool is commonly provided with a gate to allow convenient access to and from the pool. Moreover, such gates are commonly provided with locks to prevent children from opening the gate. Conventional gates also may be provided with structural members not present on the remainder of the fence because the gate is subject to additional loading due to the repeated opening and closing of the gate. These additional structural members on conventional gates, however, may be configured such that children can climb over the gate and thereby access the pool. For instance, conventional gates may include structural features, such as rods, poles, or stringers, which permit children to scale the gate and thereby access the pool.
Additionally, conventional pool fences and gates are typically shipped in a fully or partially assembled state in order to ensure the structural integrity and rigidity of the fence and gate upon installation around the pool. Gates, in particular, are typically shipped in an assembled state. However, shipping fences and gates in a partially or fully assembled state requires a large shipping container, which adds significant delivery expense to the fence and gate and limits the type of vehicles which are capable of transporting the fence and gate. An assembled gate will have a width and height that will take considerable clearance for packing and shipping.
As such, there is a need for a fence and gate which are configured to prevent children from climbing the gate and which are configured to be transported in a compact disassembled state and then assembled in situ into a structurally rigid frame around the pool.


A method and apparatus for conducting a pilot signal search in a wireless communications network. The location of a mobile is determined within the network. This location is then used in determining search window sizes and other search parameter information that is used to search all pilot signals identified in a designated pilot signal set. Search window size is also determined based upon the location of the mobile and another component related to multipath effects for a transmitted pilot signal.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to communications. More particularly, the invention concerns a method and apparatus for reducing search times associated with the handoff of a call from one base station to another base station.
2. Description of the Background Art
Wireless communication systems generally comprise, amongst other elements, a wireless unit, commonly referred to as a mobile telephone (mobile), that communicates with one or more base stations when making a call. The mobile communicates with the base stations on one or more channels that are contained within a frequency band assigned to the mobile by a base station controller. A communication from the mobile to a base station is made on what is called the "reverse link," and a communication from the base station to the mobile station is made on the "forward link." During a call, the mobile station is constantly searching for other base stations that the mobile might need to continue the call while the mobile station is moving around.
One important element of a mobile used in such a wireless system is the searcher. The searcher is programmed to search for pilot signals (pilots) transmitted from different bases stations in at least three cases: 1) when a mobile is trying to acquire a base station for communication; 2) in the idle state when the mobile is on the paging or access channels; and 3) in the traffic state where the mobile is in control of the traffic channel. The speed of searching the pilots on the frequency assigned to the mobile and other frequencies determines the search performance of the mobile. In slotted mode, the objective is to search all pilots in the neighbor set before the slot expires. Slotted mode refers to an operation mode of the mobile where the mobile monitors only during selected slots of time. Also, when searching pilots in a "candidate" frequency, the mobile needs to complete its search of all pilots in the candidate set as quickly as possible so that it tunes back to the serving frequency and minimizes the voice degradation caused by searching the candidate frequency. As discussed below, the candidate frequency is a potential handoff frequency, and these searching techniques are used to coordinate handoffs of communications in the wireless communication system.
A. Handoffs
A mobile used in a code-division-multiple-access (CDMA) wireless system supports three types of handoff procedures when the mobile is in control of the traffic channel. The use of CDMA techniques in a multiple access communication system is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,901,307, issued Feb. 13, 1990 and entitled "SPREAD SPECTRUM MULTIPLE ACCESS COMMUNICATION SYSTEM USING SATELLITE OR TERRESTRIAL REPEATERS," assigned to the assignee of the present invention and incorporated by reference herein. The three types of handoffs are:                1. Soft Handoff—A handoff in which the mobile commences communications with a new base station without interrupting communications with the old base station. Soft handoff can only be used between CDMA channels having identical frequency assignments.        2. CDMA to CDMA Hard Handoff—A handoff in which the mobile is transitioned between disjoint sets of base stations, different band classes, different frequency assignments, or different frame offsets.        3. CDMA to Analog Handoff—A handoff in which the mobile is directed from a cdma forward traffic channel to an analog voice channel.To perform soft handoff, the mobile continuously searches for assigned sets of pilots. The term "pilot" refers to a pilot channel identified by a pilot sequence offset and a frequency assignment. A pilot is associated with the forward link traffic channels in the same forward link CDMA channel, or similarly with the reverse link on systems using reverse link pilots. All pilots in a pilot set have the same CDMA frequency assignment. For clarity, pilots are discussed in terms of the forward link only.
The mobile searches for pilots on the current CDMA frequency assignment to detect the presence of CDMA channels and to measure their signal strength. When the mobile detects a pilot of sufficient strength that is not associated with any of the forward link traffic channels already assigned to it, it sends a pilot strength measurement message to the base station with which it is currently communicating. The base station can then assign a forward link traffic channel associated with that pilot to the mobile and direct the mobile to perform a handoff.
The pilot search parameters and the rules for pilot strength measurement message transmission are expressed in terms of the following sets of pilots:                Active Set: The pilots associated with the Forward Link Traffic Channels assigned to the mobile.        Candidate Set: The pilots that are not currently in the Active Set but have been received by the mobile with sufficient strength to indicate that the associated Forward Link Traffic Channels could be successfully demodulated.        Neighbor Set: The pilots that are not currently in the Active Set or the Candidate Set and are likely candidates for handoff.        Remaining Set: The set of all possible pilots in the current system on the current CDMA frequency assignment, excluding the pilots in the Neighbor Set, the Candidate Set, and the Active Set. This set of possible pilots consists of pilots whose pilot PN sequence offset indices are integer multiples of some pilot increment.The base station may direct the mobile to search for pilots on a different CDMA frequency to detect the presence of CDMA channels and to measure their strengths. The mobile reports the results of the search to the base station. Depending upon the pilot strength measurements, the base station can direct the mobile to perform an inter-frequency hard handoff.
The pilot search parameters are expressed in terms of the following sets of pilots:                Candidate Frequency Neighbor Set: A list of pilots on the CDMA Candidate Frequency.        Candidate Frequency Search Set: A subset of the Candidate Frequency Neighbor Set that the base station may direct the mobile to search.
B. Pilot Search
In current systems, the base station sets the search window, that is, the range of PN offsets, in which the mobile is to search for usable multipath components. These multipath components are used by the mobile for demodulation of an associated forward link traffic channel. Search performance criteria, and general wireless system criteria, are defined in standards TIA/EIA-95x and TIA/EIA-98-B, all issued by the Telecommunications Industry Association, and ANSI J-STD-018, issued by the American National Standards Institute, all of which are incorporated by reference herein. These searches are generally governed by the following:                Active Set and Candidate Set: The search procedures for pilots in the active and candidate sets are identical. The search window size for each pilot in the active and candidate sets is the number of PN chips specified in Table 1 corresponding to SRCH_WIN_A. For example, SRCH_WIN_AS=6 corresponds to a 28 PN chip search window or ±14 PN chips around the search window center. The mobile station centers the search window for each pilot of the active and candidate sets around the earliest arriving usable multipath component of the pilot.
TABLE 1SRCH_WIN_ASRCH_WIN_ASRCH_WIN_NSRCH_WIN_NWindowSRCH_WIN_NGHBWindowSRCH_WIN_NGHBSizeR SRCH_WIN_RSizeR SRCH_WIN_R(PNCF_SRCH_WIN_N(PN Chips)CF_SRCH_WIN_NChips)048601698028101003101113041412160520132266281432074015452                Neighbor Set: If a flag for a different neighbor search window is set, the search window size for each pilot in the neighbor set is the number of PN chips specified in Table 1, corresponding to search window size parameter associated with the pilot being searched. If the flag is not set, the search window size for each pilot in the neighbor set is the same and is equal to the number of PN chips specified in Table 1 corresponding to SRCH_WIN_NS. The mobile centers the search window for each pilot in the neighbor set around the pilot's PN sequence offset, using timing defined by the mobile's time reference.        Remaining Set: The search window size for each pilot in the remaining set is the number of PN chips specified in Table 1 corresponding to SRCH_WIN_RS. The mobile centers the search window for each pilot in the remaining set around the pilot's PN sequence offset, using timing defined by the mobile's time reference. The mobile searches for remaining set pilots whose pilot PN sequence offset indices are equal to integer multiples of the pilot increment.        Candidate Frequency Search Set: If the flag for candidate frequency is set, the search window size for each pilot in the candidate frequency search shall be the number of PN chips specified in Table 1, corresponding to SRCH_WIN_NGHBR associated with the pilot being searched. If the flag is not set, the search window size for each pilot in the candidate frequency search set shall be the number of PN chips specified in Table 1 corresponding to CF_SRCH_WIN_N. The mobile centers the search window for each pilot in the Candidate Frequency Search Set around the pilot's PN sequence offset using timing defined by the mobile's time reference.
C. Time to Search
Each phone manufacturer has its own way of implementing a search strategy. In all strategies, the time to search a specific pilot depends on the window size and the hardware of the searcher. Given certain hardware, the time to search a pilot is linearly proportional to the search window size. Reducing the search window size will result in a substantial reduction in searching time. Using current searching procedures, the window sizes are mostly determined by the size of the coverage area of a given cell. A cell is the geographical area covered by a base station for communication with a mobile. Four such cells are shown in FIG. 1. Regardless of the location of the mobile in the serving cell, current search windows are sized to correspond to the worst case scenarios. That is, they are sized to correspond to a mobile located at the greatest distance from the base station but within the cell.
On the paging or traffic channels, the mobile centers its search window for each pilot in the neighbor set around the pilot's PN sequence offset, using timing established by the mobile's time reference. The mobile's time reference is defined as the earliest arrived and usable path. The worst case scenario determines the search window size. For example, FIG. 1 shows four adjacent cells 102, 104, 106, and 108 in a wireless system 100, each having a pilot designated PN1, PN2, PN3, and PN4, respectively. The search window size for pilot PN1 is determined based on a mobile located at point A. However, the same search window is used even if the mobile is at point B. This results in a waste of valuable searcher resources since it does not consider the location of the mobile within cell 104. If the mobile is at point B, the search window should be reduced in size relative to the search window required for a mobile located at point A.
D. Location Methods
Many techniques are being considered to provide for automatic location capability for mobiles. One technique involves measuring the time difference of arrival of signals from a number of cell sites. These signals are "triangulated" to extract location information. This technique requires a high concentration of cell sites and/or an increase in the transmission power of the sites to be effective because typical CDMA systems require each mobile to transmit with only enough signal power to reach the closest cell site. This triangulation requires communication with at least three sites, requiring an increase in the concentration of cell sites or the signal power of each mobile station would have to be increased. Another approach involves the addition of GPS (Global Positioning System) functionality to a mobile. This approach requires a line-of-sight to four satellites, is somewhat slow, but is the most accurate approach for locating a mobile.
A third approach sends aiding information to the mobile indicating in which frequency range the mobile should look for a GPS carrier. Most GPS receivers use what is known as a GPS satellite almanac to minimize a search performed by the receiver in the frequency domain for a signal from a visible satellite. The almanac is a 15,000 bit block of coarse ephemeris and time model data for the entire constellation. The information in the almanac regarding the position of the satellite and the current time of day is approximate only. Without an almanac, the GPS receiver must conduct the widest possible frequency search to acquire a satellite signal. Additional processing is required to attain additional information that will aid in acquiring other satellites. The signal acquisition process can take several minutes due to the large number of frequency bins that need to be searched. Each frequency bin has a center frequency and predefined width. The availability of the almanac reduces the uncertainty in satellite Doppler and therefore the number of bins that must be searched. The satellite almanac can be extracted from the GPS navigation message or sent on the down forward link from the satellite to the mobile as a data or signaling message. On receipt of this information, the mobile performs GPS signal processing to determine its location.
What is needed is a method and apparatus can use the location information for a mobile in conjunction with pilot search techniques to improve the speed by which a mobile can search all pilots on an assigned frequency while the mobile is in control of the traffic channel. The invention should be able to utilize information about the physical location of the mobile to determine the search window size for each pilot in the neighbor and candidate sets.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Method and apparatus for reducing pilot search times utilizing mobile station location information


An implantable therapy lead is disclosed herein. The lead includes an elongated lead body having a suture sleeve. The suture sleeve is supported on the lead body and has each of an outer surface and an inner surface radially inward of the outer surface. The inner surface defines a lumen through which the elongated lead body extends. The suture sleeve further includes a structure projecting radially inward and/or outward from the inner surface. The suture sleeve is compressible from a first state into a second state by applying a constrictive force to the outer surface of the suture sleeve such that, when in the second state, the structure contacts the elongated lead body, at least in part, to resist movement of the elongated lead body relative to the suture sleeve.

An implantable cardiac pulse generator (e.g., pacemaker, implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD), or etc.) is typically electrically coupled to therapy locations in the heart via elongated implantable cardiac leads that can be advanced into the patient's heart. The leads include electrodes to sense electrical activity and deliver therapeutic stimulation to heart tissue.
A suture sleeve is supported on the elongated body of each lead and subcutaneously fixates the lead to body tissue. By anchoring the lead to the patients' body, movement of the lead body can be mitigated thus reducing the prevalence of dislodgements.
In some instances, suture sleeves have been known to slide after being sutured to the body tissue. To help reduce the possibility of slippage, physicians have been known to apply excessive tie-down force to the sutures and, as a result, end up damaging the lead, thereby resulting in electrical noise. Also, in order to re-position the suture sleeve, the suture must be clipped and re-tied which presents an opportunity to damage the lead body from re-tying of the suture as well as potentially clipping the lead outer tubing during removal.
Numerous solutions have been created to address these suture sleeve issues, but none have proven to be cost effective. Accordingly, there is a need in the art for an improved suture sleeve and related methods of use and manufacture.


A laser irradiation device includes a laser generator for patterning and a laser generator for preheating. A laser induced thermal imaging (LITI) method, includes preparing an acceptor substrate, laminating a donor substrate on the acceptor substrate, and irradiating a laser beam onto a predetermined region of the donor substrate and carrying out transfer using a laser irradiation device having a laser generator for patterning and a laser generator for preheating. Advantageously, a laser beam having high intensity generated by the laser generator for patterning is used to prevent the transfer layer from being degraded, and a laser beam generated by the laser generator for preheating is simultaneously used for preheating so that an edge open failure does not occur and the transfer can be readily carried out even in a portion having a step of the acceptor substrate.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a laser irradiation device and a laser induced thermal imaging method, and more particularly, to a laser irradiation device including a laser generator for patterning and a laser generator for preheating, and a laser induced thermal imaging method.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, an organic light emitting diode (OLED) includes an anode electrode, a cathode electrode, and organic layers interposed between the anode and cathode electrodes. Such an OLED is classified into a polymer OLED and a small molecule OLED according to a material of forming the organic layer, in particular, an emission layer.
In order to realize a full color OLED, the emission layer should be patterned, and a method of using a shadow mask is employed in the small molecule OLED and an ink-jet printing or Laser Induced Thermal Imaging (hereinafter, referred to as an LITI) method is employed for patterning the emission layer. Among these methods, the LITI has advantages in that the organic layer can be finely patterned and a large-area and high resolution display can be easily realized. The LITI also has an advantage in that a dry process is used, whereas a wet process is used in the ink-jet printing method.
The LITI is a transfer method using laser, which requires at least a light source, a substrate, and a donor substrate to form the organic layer using the method. A laser beam generated in a laser irradiation device is used as the light source. This is disclosed in Korean Patent Application No. 1998-51844, and U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,998,085, 6,214,520, and 6,114,088.
A conventional laser irradiation device and LITI method include a donor substrate 150 being laminated on an acceptor substrate where predetermined elements are formed. The donor substrate is composed of a base substrate, a light-to-heat conversion layer formed on the base substrate, and a transfer layer formed on the light-to-heat conversion layer.
In this case, a laser beam generated by a laser irradiation device is used as a light source for irradiating light onto the donor substrate.
The laser irradiation device includes a laser generator, a patterned mask, and a projection lens.
The laser generator is used to irradiate the laser beam onto a predetermined region of the base substrate. In this case, the laser beam generated by the laser generator passes through the patterned mask, and the passed laser beam is refracted by the projection lens to be irradiated onto the base substrate. The laser beam is blocked in an unpatterned portion of the mask.
The laser beam irradiated onto the predetermined region of the base substrate is absorbed by the light-to-heat conversion layer to be converted into thermal energy. A gas is generated in the light-to-heat conversion layer by the absorbed thermal energy, which causes the light-to-heat conversion layer to be swollen. The swollen light-to-heat conversion layer causes the transfer layer to be adhered onto the acceptor substrate, and the adhered transfer layer is disconnected from the donor substrate, so that the transfer layer is transferred onto the acceptor substrate.
In this case, when temperature excessively increases due to the delivered thermal energy, the transfer layer may be degraded. A laser beam having high intensity may be used to prevent the transfer layer from being degraded, however, the transfer layer is partially disconnected in a portion having a step formed in the acceptor substrate so that the transfer is not carried out on the portion. This is called an edge open failure or an untransferred failure. This is because the laser beam is irradiated for a short time so that the temperature of the light-to-heat conversion layer does not increase enough to cause the transformation.

Laser irradiation device and laser induced thermal imaging method

Samsung-ro, Giheung-Gu, Yongin-si, Gyeonggi-Do


A drive signal for driving a ink jet recording head as an actuator device indudes an expansion potential for deforming the piezoelectric actuator so as to expand the pressure generating chamber, a contraction potential for deforming the piezoelectric actuator so as to contract the pressure generating chamber, an ejection element for varying a potential of the drive signal from the expansion potential to the contraction potential to eject the ink drop from the nozzle, and a contraction holding element for holding the second potential to keep the contracted state of the pressure generating chamber. A duration of the ejection element is determined so as to match with a natural period of the piezoelectric actuator. A duration of the contraction holding element is determined such that a resulting value by adding the duration of the ejection element and the duration of the contraction holding element is matched with a natural period of the pressure generating chamber.

This invention relates to an actuator device operated by a drive signal, an ink jet recording apparatus typified by an ink jet printer and a recording medium in which a program for driving the same is stored.
An actuator unit operated by a drive signal is utilized in various purposes. For example, as an ink jet recording head, which is one embodiment of such an actuator, used with an ink jet recording apparatus such as an ink jet printer, for example, an ink jet recording head is known wherein a piezoelectric actuator is deformed, thereby expanding or contracting a cavity (pressure generating chamber) for jetting an ink drop through an nozzle orifice.
A recording head of this kind has an extremely high resolution, for example, 720 dpi or 1440 dpi and thus requires very high work accuracy in xcexcm units.
Variations in jetting characteristics of ink drops for each recording head occur because of a shift from the reference length of the free end portion of a piezoelectric actuator caused by an attachment error, work accuracy of the piezoelectric actuator and cavity, and the like. Then, an optimum drive voltage is set for each recording head for correcting variations for making uniform jetting characteristics of ink drops, whereby the recording head quality is stabilized and the yield of the recording heads is improved.
There is disclosed a drive signal generating device for driving an ink jet recording head as one embodiment of the actuator in Japanese Patent No. 2940542. In the device, a drive signal a waveform of which is varied in accordance with ambient temperature is programmably generated to correct variations of the ink drop jetting characteristics of the respective recording heads.
The present invention is provided in view of the above circumstance and it is therefore an object of the present invention is to provide an actuator unit using a suitable drive signal selected flexibly even if the actuator unit has inherent variations of characteristics thereof.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an ink jet recording apparatus incorporating the actuator, the yield of which can be improved.
In order to achieve the above objects, there is provided an ink jet recording apparatus comprising:
a recording head including a piezoelectric actuator for varying the volume of a pressure generating chamber by the deformation thereof to eject an ink drop from a nozzle communicating with the pressure generating chamber;
a drive signal generator for generating a drive signal including:
an expansion potential for deforming the piezoelectric actuator so as to expand the pressure generating chamber;
a contraction potential for deforming the piezoelectric actuator so as to contract the pressure generating chamber;
an ejection element for varying a potential of the drive signal from the expansion potential to the contraction potential to eject the ink drop from the nozzle; and
a contraction holding element for holding the contraction potential to keep the contracted state of the pressure generating chamber,
an ejection period information storage for storing a plurality values of a duration of the ejection element; and
a contraction holding period information storage for storing a plurality values of a duration of the contraction holding element,
wherein the drive signal generator selects one duration of the ejection element and one duration of the contraction holding element respectively from the ejection period information storage and the contraction holding information storage such that the duration of the ejection element is matched with a natural period of the piezoelectric actuator, and a resulting value by adding the duration of the ejection element and the duration of the contraction holding element is matched with a natural period of the pressure generating chamber.
Preferably, the apparatus further comprises:
an ejection period identifier storage for storing ejection period identifiers each of which is associated with the respective values stored in the ejection period information storage; and
a contraction holding period identifier storage for storing contraction holding period identifiers each of which is associated with the respective values stored in the contraction holding period information storage.
Here, the drive signal generator refers to the ejection period identifier and the contraction holding period identifier to determine the application periods of the ejection element and the contraction holding element.
Preferably, the drive signal includes a variable intermediate potential which is between the expansion potential and the contraction potential, and a damping element for varying the potential of the drive signal from the contraction potential to the intermediate potential for restoring the contracted pressure generating chamber to an initial state. The drive signal generator determines a duration of the damping element so as to match with the natural period of the piezoelectric actuator.
Preferably, the apparatus further comprises:
intermediate potential information storage means for storing a plurality values of the intermediate potential.
Here, the drive signal generator selects one potential value from the intermediate potential information storage means in accordance with jetting amount of the ink drop.
Preferably, the apparatus further comprises:
an intermediate potential identifier storage for storing intermediate potential identifiers each of which is associated with the respective values stored in the intermediate potential information storage.
Here, the drive signal generator refers to the intermediate potential identifier to determine the value of the intermediate potential.
Preferably, the drive signal is so arranged as to eject a plurality of ink drops having the same weight successively within the same driving period.
Preferably, the respective potentials and the respective elements in the drive signal is programmably defined.
According to the present invention, there is also provided an ink jet recording apparatus comprising:
a recording head including a piezoelectric actuator for varying the volume of a pressure generating chamber by the deformation thereof to eject an ink drop from a nozzle communicating with the pressure generating chamber; and
a drive signal generator for generating a drive signal including:
an expansion potential for deforming the piezoelectric actuator so as to expand the pressure generating chamber;
a contraction potential for deforming the piezoelectric actuator so as to contract the pressure generating chamber;
an intermediate potential which is between the expansion potential and the contraction potential;
an ejection element for varying a potential of the drive signal from the expansion potential to the contraction potential to eject the ink drop from the nozzle;
a contraction holding element for holding the contraction potential to keep the contracted state of the pressure generating chamber; and
a damping element for varying the potential of the drive signal from the contraction potential to the intermediate potential for restoring the contracted pressure generating chamber to an initial state; and
a characteristic information storage for storing characteristic information of the recording head which is referred by the drive signal generator and reflected to at least one of the expansion potential, the contraction potential, the intermediate potential, the ejection element, the contraction holding element and the damping element to generate the drive signal.
Preferably, the characteristic information includes at least one of a natural period of the piezoelectric actuator, a natural period of the pressure generating chamber and a natural period of meniscus of ink in the nozzle.
Preferably, the respective potentials and the respective elements in the drive signal is programmably defined.
According to the present invention, there is also provided an actuator device comprising:
an actuator;
a drive signal generator for generating a drive signal driving the actuator and including a programmable waveform element; and
a characteristic information storage for storing characteristic information of the actuator which is referred by the drive signal generator and reflected to the waveform element to generate the drive signal.
Preferably, the drive signal is composed of a plurality of waveform elements, and the characteristic information is reflected to at least one of the waveform elements.
Preferably, the characteristic information includes a natural period of contituent elements of the actuator device.
Preferably, the characteristic information includes a natural period of contituent elements of the actuator.
Preferably, the characteristic information includes a natural period of the actuator.
According to the present invention, there is also provided a recording medium for storing a program for driving the actuator device as described above, which is executed by a computer system including at least one computer.
According to the present invention, there is also provided a recording medium for storing a program for driving the ink jet recording apparatus as described above, which is executed by a computer system including at least one computer.

Actuator device and ink jet recording apparatus


Methods for making and compositions comprising hollow silica particle are disclosed, said particles made from a composition comprising a silicon-containing compound selected from the group consisting of tetraalkoxysilanes, trialkyloxysilanes and derivatives thereof, dialkoxysilanes and derivatives thereof, alkoxysilanes and derivatives thereof, silicone oligomers, oligomeric silsesquioxanes and silicone polymers distributed over a polymer template core that is eliminated from the particle. The particles of the present invention have a substantially uniform particle size and exhibit low permeability to liquids.

In the personal care industry, particularly with respect to personal care products for skin, there is a need for ingredients that provide coverage for age spots, blemishes, discolorations, etc., as well as provide a natural look. It is a well known problem that cosmetic products that provide good coverage have a mask-like, unnatural appearance. This is particularly true with titanium dioxide-based materials, the most common type of opacifiers found in cosmetics. Many cosmetic compositions have been reported that provide high coverage with some degree of "naturalness", however none have provided the level of naturalness that is highly desired by consumers without sacrificing the required coverage.
Examples of hollow particles have been previously described. However, previously described materials have significant shortcomings as potential opacifiers in cosmetic formulations. Co- and terpolymer systems made from vinylidene chloride and acrylonitrile, or from vinylidene chloride, acrylonitrile and methylmethacrylate have been reported (e.g. Expancel™). Unfortunately these types of materials are only readily available in particle sizes that exceed the sizes believed necessary to achieve maximum optical performance benefits in cosmetic uses. Styrene/acrylate hollow particles (e.g. Ropaque™, Rohm & Haas) are also known, however these particles do not provide the desired optical benefits in cosmetic formulations.
Hollow particles with polymer shells can be made by creating core/shell particles containing a core with hydrolyzable acid groups and a sheath, or shell, that is permeable to a base. Hollow particles with silica shells synthesized using a layer-by-layer electrostatic deposition technique on a template are also known. In addition, hollow particles have also been synthesized by depositing nanoparticles derived from alkoxysilanes on a template particle, as well as by condensation of sodium silicate on a template particle followed by template removal. However, such particles often show a lack of continuity in the particle surface and thus often exhibit unacceptable shell permeability. Further, none of the known and reported particles have been made according to a method that allows for creation of the particles in a desired, substantially uniform, narrow range with narrow particle size distributions and having acceptable permeability, or they otherwise involve numerous synthetic steps which make their production impractical for use in personal care applications.

Hollow silica particles, compositions comprising them, and methods for making same


A light beam from a light source is formed into an annular beam and an inner wall of a hole in an object is illuminated with the annular beam. The annular beam reflected from the inner wall of the hole is received as an annular image and a diameter of the annular image is measured, from which an inner diameter of the hole can be determined

1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a method and system for measuring an inner diameter of a hole in an object.
2. Description of Related Art
There has been known a non-contact measuring system for measuring the diameter of a hole in an object without contacting the object, wherein an image of the hole is enlarged by such means as a microscope. The distance between the ends of the enlarged image is measured using a measuring machine or an ocular micrometer. Alternatively, the image of the hole is applied to a charge-coupled device (CCD) camera so as to measure the dimension thereof.
These systems can only measure the diameter of the hole at a position near the surface of the object, and not inside the hole at an arbitrary position.
The applicant of the present invention has proposed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 7-260439, a system wherein the diameter can be measured at any arbitrary position. In the system, the inner diameter of the hole is optically measured using the trigonometrical measurement method. Since an optical element must be placed inside the hole, the object to be measured by the system is limited to one having a large diameter. Hence, the system cannot be applied to a hole having a small diameter.
Japanese Laid-Open Patent Applications Nos. 7-27507 and 7-4919 disclose systems where the diameter of a hole having a relatively small diameter can be measured at an arbitrary inner position of the hole. Each of the systems has a laterally movable base, on which is mounted an annular object. On one longitudinal side of the base is placed a projection device for projecting a cross on an inner wall of the hole. On the opposite side of the base, a monitoring device for monitoring the projected image of the cross through an optical system is provided.
In order to measure the diameter in the hole in the object at an arbitrary position, the projection device is operated to form the cross on one side of the inner wall of the hole while monitoring the cross through the monitoring device. Thereafter, the base is moved so that the cross is projected on the opposite wall of the hole. The moved distance of the base is measured, and the inner diameter of the hole is calculated based on the measured distance.
In the systems disclosed in the above mentioned documents, the cross is projected on opposite positions of the inner wall. Namely, the positions of the two extreme sides of the hole are detected one at a time. In order to detect the positions, the base must be moved. Thus, it takes time to measure the diameter. Moreover, the position of the base must be precisely adjusted to accurately project the cross on the opposite walls. Hence, more time is necessary, and in addition, a measuring error is apt to occur.

Method and system for measuring an inner diameter of a hole formed in an object


A configurable segmented antenna is described herein. A monitor component can be configured to detect at least one parameter corresponding to one or more segments of an antenna integrated with a communications device. An antenna component can be configured to select at least one segment of the one or more segments in response to the at least one parameter. A control component can be configured to modify a quality of a signal according to the at least one parameter. Further, a transmission component can be configured to transmit the signal from the at least one segment based on the quality.

Conventional antenna technologies enable a communication device to transmit and/or receive electromagnetic radiation via antenna(s); however, such technologies reduce communication device performance if an orientation of the antenna(s) changes, and/or if one or more parts of the antenna(s) are obstructed.
The above-described deficiencies of today's antenna and related technologies are merely intended to provide an overview of some of the problems of conventional technology, and are not intended to be exhaustive. Other problems with the state of the art, and corresponding benefits of some of the various non-limiting embodiments described herein, may become further apparent upon review of the following detailed description.
The following description and the annexed drawings set forth in detail certain illustrative aspects of the disclosed subject matter. These aspects are indicative, however, of but a few of the various ways in which the principles of the various embodiments may be employed. The disclosed subject matter is intended to include all such aspects and their equivalents. Other aspects of the disclosed subject matter will become apparent from the following detailed description of the various embodiments when considered in conjunction with the drawings.


Acid-doped, polyaniline-based polymers are formed into fibers, films, and coatings with a solvent of at least one bicyclic terpene. Such a solvent system is characterized by a drying temperature of less than 150.degree. C. and a relatively low toxicity.

Acid-doped polyaniline is finding an increasing level of interest as a solid electrolyte for capacitors and other electronics devices. The dopants are selected from a relatively small group of acids that enhance solubility in organic solvents with a low dielectric constant, e.g., a dielectric constant of less than about 17. ate Acid-doped polyaniline polymers are generally considered to have no practical solubility in solvents with a dielectric constant of greater than about 17. See U.S. Pat. No. 5,567,356. The most preferred polyaniline dopant is dinonyl naphthalene sulfonic acid (DNSA).
A commercially available solution contains DNSA-doped polyaniline in a solvent mixture containing xylene, ethylene glycol monobutyl ether. Unfortunately, this solvent system is characterized by toxicity and a suggested drying temperature of 150.degree.-200.degree. C. to remove the solvent from the acid-doped polymer. This high temperature is required to remove the xylene-based solvent from relatively porous surfaces as well as thin layers.
It would be useful to have a solvent system that exhibited low toxicity and a lower drying temperature than with xylene-based solvent systems.
It would be even more beneficial to have a solvent system that also had a relatively high boiling point. The higher boiling point would facilitate the use and handling of the solvent in a commercial setting.
Enhanced systems for forming polyaniline-based polymer films and coatings would be particularly useful in the manufacture of capacitors. In such articles, one or more coatings of electrically conductive polyaniline-based polymer can be used as a solid electrolyte between the dielectric oxide layer and the electrodes. It would be useful to have a polyaniline-based polymer dissolution system that did not pose the problems and limitations of the former xylene solvent systems.

Polyaniline solutions with bicyclic terpene solvent


A concept such as an album is introduced with respect to management and arrangement of image files, and several albums are electronically classified and managed for an electronic camera apparatus. According to one embodiment, a method comprises capturing an image, recording the image as an image file, creating a plurality of albums used for classifying and arranging the image file, and displaying album identifier information corresponding to each of the created plurality of albums during the shooting mode or the playback mode.

1. Field
Embodiments of the present invention relate to an electronic camera apparatus and operation guide method therefor. In particular, the present invention is effective for an electronic camera apparatus, configured with a removable mass-capacity recording medium.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, an electronic camera apparatus is loadable with a recording medium, such as semiconductor memory. Picked-up (captured) image data is stored in the semiconductor memory. When the user operates the electronic camera apparatus, the image data stored in the semiconductor memory is read, and thereafter, displayed on a liquid crystal display monitor on the electronic camera.
In the conventional electronic camera apparatus, the picked-up image data is stored with a given file number (e.g., see JPN. PAT. APPLN. KOKAI Publication No. 2002-199334).
In recent years, the storage capacity of semiconductor memories has increased; therefore, a great many image files can be stored. Moreover, the function in which the electronic camera apparatus is connected to a personal computer to display image data on the personal computer has been developed. However, an effective arrangement and management method of the image files has not been developed as yet.

Electronic camera apparatus and operation guide


Embodiments of the invention reduce a possibility that a head will collide with a medium when the clearance between the head and the medium is adjusted by using a medium, and sufficiently reduce the clearance even at an initial stage of accessing a data area. In one embodiment, a hard disk drive (HDD) keeps a heater in an OFF state for a period of time from the start of seek operation until the specified timing after a following mode starts. This prevents a head element from colliding with a magnetic disk, and also prevents flying properties from changing due to the deformation of the ABS. In the above specified timing, the heater is switched from OFF to ON. Specifically, for example, on completion of seek operation, in the timing in which a head arrives at a target track, or in the timing in which an HDC/MPU enters the following mode, the heater is turned ON.

The present invention relates to a data storage device and a control method therefor, and more particularly to a data storage device in which a head is provided with a heater for adjusting clearance between the head and a medium, and to a control method for the heater.
Data storage devices using various types of media such as optical disks, magnetic tapes and semiconductor memories are known in the art. Among them, hard disk drives (hereinafter refer to as HDDs) have become popular as storage devices for computers to such an extent that they are one type of the storage devices indispensable for today's computers. Further, not limited to computer systems, HDDs are expanding more and more in application because of their excellent characteristics. For example, HDDs are used for moving picture recording/reproducing devices, car navigation systems, cellular phones, and removable memories for use in digital cameras.
A magnetic disk used in the HDD has a plurality of data tracks that are concentrically formed. A plurality of pieces of servo data each having address information, and a plurality of data sectors each including user data, are written to each data track. A plurality of data sectors are written between servo data areas. By accessing, according to the address information of the servo data, a desired data sector by use of a head element of a head slider supported by an actuator that pivotally moves, it is possible to write data to the data sector or to read data from the data sector.
In order to improve the recording density of a magnetic disk, it is important to reduce the clearance between the magnetic disk and a head element flying above the magnetic disk. For this reason, some mechanisms for adjusting the clearance are proposed. In one example of the mechanisms, a head slider includes a heater, and the clearance is adjusted by heating a head element by use of the heater (for example, refer to patent document 1 (Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 5-20635)). In this specification, this is called TFC (Thermal Flyheight Control). According to the TFC, an electric current is supplied to a heater to generate heat, which causes a head element to protrude. This makes it possible to reduce the clearance between a magnetic disk and a head element.

Data storage device with heater, and control method therefor with timing control

Hitachi Global Storage Technologies Netherlands B.V.


An anchoring device particularly for securement of an umbrella, and may also be used in soft or hard materials. The anchoring device is comprised of a tubular body having an outer surface and an upper end and a tapering lower end, the lower end includes a penetrating tip extending longitudinally from the tubular body, the penetrating tip further having a plurality of lateral extensions capable of breaking hard ground, and a plurality of laterally extending baffles about the outer surface of the lower end of the tubular body, each of the baffles having a front edge proximal and a rear edge distal to the lower end of the tubular body. The front edges are substantially the same distance from the penetrating tip, whereby the lateral extensions break the ground or material preceding the front edges of the baffles as the body rotates.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is an anchoring device for securement or support of articles in hard or soft materials. Many anchoring devices generally resemble "screws" as they have a spiraling thread about their lower ends which enters the ground, or into soft or hard materials, as the screws turns in such direction that the front edge of the thread is forced into the ground. Such method of securement either fastens the anchor within the ground so that an article may utilize the fastening force of the anchor to hold the article in the ground, or the anchor may support an article above the ground. The present invention is particularly applicable to support umbrellas over the ground, although it will be appreciated that the invention could advantageously be used for other ground-anchoring or fastening functions, including supporting pipes and cables, and the like.
2. Description of the Related Art
Prior art screws generally have one continuous spiraling thread about the lower end to enter and embed within the ground. As such, each rotation of the screw only further inserts into the ground an additional small part of the spiraling thread. Even with narrow thread pitch, prior art screws must be repeatedly rotated in order to functionally secure or support an article. Without either a deep penetration into the material or a significant lateral extension of the thread, the prior art screw may slip in softer material, such as beach sand.
A typical prior art anchoring device is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,832,304, to Morgulis. Morgulis teaches a ground anchoring devices particularly for umbrellas, which has a spiraling thread for threading into the ground. However, Morgulis only teaches a single spirally threaded screw for fastening the umbrella into the ground, not a plurality of discontinuous ridges as does the present invention. The Morgulis anchoring device must therefore be driven deeply into the ground to withstand the force of wind buffeting the umbrella. Otherwise, given the surface area of a umbrella, such significant force may easily dislodge an umbrella from beach sand.
Another prior art anchor is demonstrated in U.S. Pat. No. 4,819,904 to Shpigel, et al. Shpigel teaches a conical anchor which, when embedded in the ground, has a screw thread which selectively extends from the surface of the anchor. Shpigel does not teach the use of a plurality of ridges to hold the anchor into the ground. The anchor device of Shpigel has a further problem in that it cannot easily extend its threading in dense material, as opposed to dirt or sand, as the material will resist the lateral pressure of the extension of the threading.

Anchoring device particularly for umbrellas


The subject invention provides systems and methods that facilitate accessing and management of information (e.g., instructions, executables, classes, objects . . . ) associated with a control system. The systems and methods enable a control system entity the ability to leverage functionality of another control system entity, for example, to employ a service and/or execute an application within an execution environment of the other control system entity. Other capabilities include, but are not limited to, installing and uninstalling, registering and deregistering, loading and/or unloading instructions, commencing, pausing and terminating instruction execution, passing parameters and variables to instructions, modifying, overriding instructions and removing instructions, reliable messages, files, executables, classes, data structures, schema, objects, services, notifications, behaviors, alerts, etc. Optionally, a security mechanism can be utilized to determine the scope of access to the control system entity and/or instructions, applications, and services therein.

Electronic commerce, or e-commerce, generally refers to business conducted over an electronic medium such as the Internet (e.g., through the World Wide Web, or Web). Electronic commerce transactions typically are facilitated through applications such as web services, electronic shopping carts, file transfer protocol (FTP), secure FTP, electronic data interchange (EDI), email, and Universal Description, Discovery, and Integration (UDDI), among others. Electronic commerce transactions commonly are differentiated based on the type of trading partners that are interacting. For example, commerce between a business and a consumer generally is referred to as business-to-consumer (B2C) commerce, whereas commerce between businesses generally is referred to as business-to-business (B2B) commerce. Integration servers can be utilized to couple business and/or consumer trading partners and coordinate communication therebetween. By way of example, two businesses that employ disparate operating systems and/or applications can utilize an integration server to interact across internal and external networked computer systems.
In many instances, e-commerce can leverage information obtained from control systems and/or affect control systems. For example, a consumer purchasing an automobile through a dealer's web site may desire to know the lead time associated with building an automobile with a customized set of options. The dealer may query its manufacturing plants to ascertain whether an automobile with those options has been built or is going to be built. The result along with additional information can facilitate determining when such automobile will arrive at the distributor. If the purchaser decides to place a custom order (e.g., where there is no plan to build a car with the desired combination of options), the custom specification can be provided to the manufacturing plant and utilized to automatically configure one or more control systems therein. For example, the customer may have specified the color green as the external color of the automobile. This data can be conveyed to a control system and utilized to automatically select a suitable paint gun (e.g., a paint gun associated with green paint) and/or green paint when the automobile is being assembled.
Control systems commonly employ one or more industrial controllers. A typical industrial controller is a special purpose processing device for controlling (e.g., via an automated and a semi-automated means) industrial processes, machines, manufacturing equipment, plants, and the like. Such controllers can execute a control program or routine in order to measure one or more process variables or inputs representative of a status of a controlled process and/or effectuate outputs associated with control of the process. For example, an output module can interface directly with a controlled process by providing an output from memory to an actuator such as a motor, drive, valve, solenoid, and the like. In distributed control systems, controller hardware configuration can be facilitated by separating the industrial controller into a number of control elements, each of which can perform a different function. Particular control modules needed for the control task can be connected together on a common backplane within a rack and/or through a network or other communications medium. Various control modules can also be spatially distributed along a common communication link in several locations. Data can be communicated with these remote modules over a common communication link, or network, wherein any or all modules on the network communicate via a common and/or an industrial communications protocol.
Industrial controllers, as well associated components, often do not have a general purpose execution environment for executing applications. In many instance, such capability, if present, could be leveraged by an industrial controller to execute one or more applications and/or services that would benefit the industrial controller. Some industrial controllers have associated execution environments; however, such environments typically are not accessible to other industrial controllers. Thus, there is need to provide techniques to share execution environments across industrial controllers.

Application and service management for industrial control devices


A hand-held machine tool includes a gear unit and a torque clutch that has a torque-limiting coupling allocated to the gear unit and that is assigned at least one spring element which is clamped between a limit-transfer element and a spring-holding element, and which is designed to apply a predefined spring force to the limit-transfer element axially in the direction of the torque-limiting coupling. The spring-holding element includes at least one opening, through which the at least one spring element reaches, at least sectionally.

German Application No. DE 10 2009 046 663 describes a hand-held machine tool having a gear unit and a torque clutch, which has a torque-limiting coupling assigned to the gear unit. A limit-transfer element is acted upon by a spring element with a predefined spring force axially in the direction of the torque-limiting coupling, the spring force being adjustable within predefined limits via an assigned torque-adjusting sleeve.
The spring element is clamped between an assigned spring-holding element and the limit-transfer element. The spring-holding element has a spring-guide section which is formed parallel to the longitudinal axis of the spring element and which, in the area between the torque-adjusting sleeve and the spring element, abuts against it in order to guide the spring element in the direction of its longitudinal axis during tensioning or release.
The related art has the disadvantage that the spring-guide section, because of its dimensions, especially its assigned wall thickness, requires the use of a torque-adjusting sleeve having a comparatively large diameter, so that the torque clutch has comparatively large dimensions overall. The applicability of the hand-held machine tool, especially in work environments that are tight and difficult to access, may thereby be limited.

Hand-held machine tool with a torque clutch


In the present invention, a partition wall which partitions a discharge port and a suction port provided on a static passage, in the rotating direction, has a discharge side shape which is identical with the shape of blades, and has a positional relationship in which the partition wall does not overlap with the discharge port in view of such a fact that the pressure variation on the suction side is higher than that of the discharge side, and noise on the suction side is dominant.

(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a vortex blower.
(2) Description of the Related Art
A vortex blower has the feature that its pressure coefficient which is a dimensionless value indicating a work load per unit impeller diameter is high in comparison with that of a centrifugal blower, and has been heretofore widely used as a blower having a relatively small capacity. There has been presented an increased demand of miniaturization, high-pressurization, noise reduction and the like for the vortex blower, and accordingly, various proposals have been made for improving the configuration of a partition wall between a suction port and a discharge port, provided on a static passage in order to achieve the above-mentioned demand.
The configuration of the partition wall of the conventional vortex blower has been variously studied in order to enhance the aerodynamic performance and to reduce noise. For example, as disclosed in JP-A-51-27111 or JP-B2-2680136, a vortex blower which reduces noise in view of a correlation between the configuration of blades of an impeller and the configuration of the partition wall.
JP-A-51-27111 discloses a vortex blower having the configuration which aims at reducing noise in the case that the shape of blades of an impeller is linear in the radial direction thereof. That is, the partition wall has a discharge side shape with which a stream is finally shut off at the flow center at which flow variation is minimum. Further, the partition wall have the shape that it gradually partitions a stream, from the inner peripheral side, rather than finally partitioning the stream at a point where the flowing speed on the outer peripheral side is maximum, so as to aim at reducing noise.
The above-mentioned JP-B2-2680136 proposes a vortex blower including an impeller with blades which have a three-dimensionally curved so as to increase the pressure coefficient in order to reduce noise. In this vortex blower, the partition wall is provided with guides which overlap with a suction port and a discharge port on a static passage as viewed in front of the vortex blower, the guide on the suction side having the shape that its front end cuts the blade from the outer peripheral side of the impeller, but is opened to the static flow passage from the inner peripheral side while the guide on the discharge side has the shape that it partitions the blades from the inner peripheral side of the impeller, and as a result, the stream matches the velocity distribution of a vortex-like stream generated between the impeller and the casing, thereby it is possible to reduce noise.

Hitachi Industrial Equipment Systems Co., Ltd.


According to some embodiments, an electrical connection assembly comprises a conductive support having a pair of longitudinal conductive slots for receiving a corresponding pair of longitudinal conductive pins; and a U-shaped conductive spring coupled to the conductive support. The conductive spring comprises a pair of conductive longitudinal spring sides each aligned with a corresponding longitudinal conductive slot, and a spring top plate interconnecting the spring sides along corresponding top regions of the spring sides. Each spring side has a pair of parallel longitudinal slots defined therein. The longitudinal slots separate an outer perimeter section of the spring side from a central section of the spring side. The central section includes a contact tab configured to establish contact with a longitudinal conductive pin. The central section further includes an inward-bending support tab configured to press a bottom part of the outer perimeter section outward to establish contact with the conductive pin.

The present invention relates to electrical connection devices and methods, and in particular to conductive U-shaped spring devices and methods for connection of electrical components.
Common solar energy junction boxes enclose a number of electrical components. Connection of components inside such boxes may use solder or pullback-style flexible piece compression connections. Solder connections may be relatively firm, but may be hard to repair. Also, replacing damaged soldered components may require the use of a soldering iron to remove the damaged electronic component and then to solder on the replacement component. In such a case, repairing a junction box may require specialized personnel, and may be time-consuming and inconvenient. Pullback-style pressure connections may be more convenient, but may provide limited contact areas and thus limited current transmission capabilities.

U-shaped electrical connector spring devices and methods


An outdoor unit for an air conditioner allows condensed water generated from an outdoor heat exchanger to be easily discharged, and prevents coldness from the outdoor heat exchanger from being transmitted to a bottom of the outdoor unit, thus preventing freezing of the condensed water on the bottom. The outdoor unit includes a cabinet having a bottom panel, an outdoor heat exchanger installed in the cabinet, and a support member made of heat insulating material supporting the outdoor heat exchanger with a spacing between a lower end of the outdoor heat exchanger and the bottom panel of the cabinet, to prevent condensed water generated from the outdoor heat exchanger from freezing.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an air conditioner, and more particularly, to an outdoor unit for an air conditioner, which is designed to prevent condensed water from forming on a heat exchanger.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, a separated-type air conditioner includes an indoor unit installed inside a building and an outdoor unit installed outside a building, in which the indoor unit and the outdoor unit are connected to each other via refrigerant piping. The indoor unit usually includes an indoor heat exchanger to generate coldness by heat exchange, and a circulating fan to circulate air in a room. The outdoor unit includes a compressor, an outdoor heat exchanger, and a blower fan to cool the outdoor heat exchanger by blowing outdoor air.
When the air conditioner is operated in a heating mode, the outdoor heat exchanger included in the outdoor unit is maintained in a cooled condition. Accordingly, condensed water is formed on a surface of the outdoor heat exchanger, and the condensed water flows downward. To discharge the condensed water, a bottom plate of the outdoor unit of the air conditioner is provided with a drain hole.
In the outdoor unit of the conventional air conditioner, since a lower end of the outdoor heat exchanger is supported on a bottom plate of a cabinet of the outdoor unit, it is difficult to discharge the condensed water present between the lower end of the outdoor heat exchanger and the bottom plate of the cabinet, thus freezing of the condensed water occurs. Accordingly, ice expands upward from the lower end of the heat exchanger and becomes progressively larger, thus lowering heat-exchange efficiency.
Furthermore, since the conventional outdoor unit for an air conditioner is constructed such that a bottom plate of a cabinet thereof is usually made of metal, coldness from an outdoor heat exchanger is transmitted to the bottom plate of a cabinet in a heating operation, thus promoting freezing of the condensed water.


A substrate, such as a splice between two or more wires, a wire bundle or an electrical component, such as a suse, diode or transistor, is enclosed and sealed using a recoverable article comprising a polymeric sheet having an involuted curled section at one end and a sealant having a melt flow index has a specified relationship to the hot modulus of polymeric sheet. In an alternate embodiment, the sealant is a gel.

This invention relates to enclosing and sealing a substrate, such as a plurality of wires or a splice between two or more wire, and to an assembly comprising a heat recoverable article for effecting such sealing.
When two or more insulated wires are spliced together, the insulation is generally removed from the section of the wires which are to be joined together by soldering, crimping, or the like. After the wires have been spliced it is desirable to insulate the splice area, that is the entire area of the splice and adjacent bared wires. This entire area is referred to herein as the splice. The splice area may also include an electrical component such as a fuse, diode or transistor or the like spliced to the wires. It is also desirable to seal the area between adjacent wires of a splice, wire bundle or cable to prevent ingress of water, solvents or other contaminants and migration of such contaminants along the insulation of the individual wires.
Various approaches have been proposed to insulate and seal splices and wire bundles. One approach has been to use a heat recoverable tubular article, optionally coated with a hot melt adhesive or sealant. This requires access to a free end of the wires and installation of the recoverable tubing before the wires are spliced. After the wires are spliced, the tubing is slid over the splice and heat is applied to cause recovery of the tubing and to cause the adhesive or sealant to melt and flow. An example of such a heat recoverable tubular article is sold commercially by Raychem Corporation under the trademarks "FLT", "SCT" and "MVT".
At times it is not convenient or feasible to install the recoverable tube over the wires, particularly when three or more wires are involved or a branch is joined to another wire. The use of a heat recoverable wrap-around article has been proposed for example in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,847,721 to Evans and 3,899,807 to Sovish. Evans discloses articles rendered involutely heat recoverable by differentially annealing a molecularly oriented unitary polymeric layer so as to provide an anisotropic gradient through the thickness thereof. Sovish et al discloses articles rendered involutely heat recoverable by lamination of a first heat recoverable layer to a second, relatively non-heat recoverable layer which resists linear recovery of the first such that the laminated article curls upon recovery. It is believed that the Evans and Sovish et al articles have not met with commercial success primarily due to the circumstance that it is difficult to control the final shape of the article.
Another device which is recoverable to form an enclosing tube is Foley U.S. Pat. No. 3,483,285. The device is used as a clamp for encircling wires or cables. Glasgow U.S. Pat. No. 3,620,896 also discloses a cable clamp. The use of an adhesive to bond the wraparound article to itself and to the underlying substrate is mentioned. A wrap-around recoverable article particularly suitable for use as a marker sleeve is disclosed in commonly assigned copending application Ser. No. 877,620 filed Feb. 9, 1988 by Hansen et al, the entire disclosure of which are incorporated herein by reference. Other wrap-around articles are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,138,568 to Brauduberger and 3,416,991 to Yoshimura and British Patent No. 1,091,588 to Toyoba.
None of these references address the problem of sealing a plurality of wires or a splice.

Wrap-around heat-recoverable sealing article