A data integrity module and method for evaluating data in a process information database. A neural network generates statistical patterns for specifying patterns for the data being evaluated. A fuzzy expert rules base specifies rules for evaluating the data. A processor, responsive to the rules base and the statistical patterns, identifies suspect data in the process information database by evaluating the data according to the rules base and the statistical patterns. A modification system modifies the suspect data in the process information database.

There are many types of process information databases which are used in a variety of manufacturing environments such as pharmaceutical production, automobile manufacture, food and beverage production, pulp and paper processing and manufacture, injection molding of various items, production of electronics, printing processes and items resulting therefrom, etc.. These databases include data generated by a manufacturing process which produces a product including one or more of the following products or parts therefor: pharmaceuticals, automobiles, food and beverage, pulp and paper, injection molded items, electronics, and printed items.
As the amount of information that can be collected increases and the amount of information that can stored increases, there is a growing need for systems and methods which evaluate the integrity of the data in such process information databases. One such process includes the manufacture of articles such as absorbent garments. While it is contemplated that the invention may be applicable to numerous manufacturing settings, the invention will be described in the context of the manufacture of articles such as absorbent garments since this context constitutes one embodiment according to the invention.
Articles such as disposable absorbent garments have numerous applications including diapers, training pants, feminine care products, and adult incontinence products. A typical disposable absorbent garment is formed as a composite structure including an absorbent assembly disposed between a liquid permeable bodyside liner and a liquid impermeable outer cover. These components can be combined with other materials and features such as elastic materials and containment structures to form a product which is specifically suited to its intended purposes. A number of such garments include fastening components which are intended to be connected together (e.g., pre-fastened) during manufacture of the garment so that the product is packaged in its fully assembled form.
For example, one such pre-fastened garment includes child's training pants, which have a central absorbent chassis and front and back side panels extending laterally out from the chassis adjacent longitudinally opposite ends thereof. A portion of each of the front and back side panels has a respective fastening component disposed thereon. During manufacture of the training pants, the central absorbent chassis is initially formed generally flat and then folded over so that the front and back side panels face each other. The respective fastening components of the front and back side panels are then aligned and connected together to define an engagement seam. Upon securing the front and back side panel fastening components together, the pre-fastened pair of training pants is in its fully assembled three-dimensional form having an interior space bounded in part by the engagement seam.
For a variety of purposes, including quality control, process control, material control, and so on, it is often desirable to monitor the presence of and/or interrelationships between one or more elements of a disposable absorbent garment. For instance, elements such as outer covers, liners, absorbent pads, side panels, elastic components, fastener components, etc. must be positioned or aligned with respect to each other and/or to other components as desired or otherwise intended in order to produce an acceptable product. Accordingly, inspection systems are commonly used to detect the presence and/or relative positions of such components during manufacturing. If an inspection system determines that one or more components are out of position and thus do not properly register with other components, the inspection system typically outputs one or more signals indicating that certain articles should be culled and discarded, that the process should be adjusted so as to bring out-of-position components into proper position, that the process should be adjusted so that subsequent components are brought into proper registration with one another, and so on.
One such registration inspection system is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,359,525, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. As described therein, registration inspection of a composite product during fabrication is accomplished by producing an image of the article and then analyzing the image to detect the relative positions of one or more components. The detected positions are then compared to desired positions to thereby determine whether one or more components are improperly positioned. Such registration inspection systems employ conventional video cameras for capturing visible, ultraviolet, x-ray, and infrared light reflected by and/or transmitted through components of the product in order to produce still video images of such components. Thus, after producing a video image of a composite article and its several components, the image can be analyzed to determine whether the components are properly positioned and registered with one another.
While data from inspection systems may certainly benefit from a data integrity check, one motivation for this invention stems more from the desire to have accurate information about machine delay, waste, raw material usage, productivity, etc. For example, the invention is applicable to systems and methods such as disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/306,794 filed simultaneously herewith on Nov. 27, 2002, entitled COMMUNICATION BETWEEN MACHINES AND FEED-FORWARD CONTROL IN EVENT-BASED PRODUCT MANUFACTURING, incorporated herein by reference.
Another motivation of the invention relates to the desire to have correct data in systems which rely on such data and may provide great weight to data. For example, the invention is applicable to systems and methods such as disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/306,881 filed simultaneously herewith on Nov. 27, 2002, entitled INTEGRATING EVENT-BASED PRODUCTION INFORMATION WITH FINANCIAL AND PURCHASING SYSTEMS IN PRODUCT MANUFACTURING, incorporated herein by reference. As another example, the invention is applicable to systems and methods such as disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/306,868 filed simultaneously herewith on Nov. 27, 2002, entitled QUALITY MANAGEMENT AND INTELLIGENT MANUFACTURING WITH LABELS AND SMART TAGS IN EVENT-BASED PRODUCT MANUFACTURING ,incorporated herein by reference.
Although highly useful for many applications, the large and varied amounts of data result in data of different qualities, some more accurate than others. Thus, there is a need for a higher order level of control of the quality of records in the process information database.

Intelligent agent system and method for evaluating data integrity in process information databases


A fine-grained behavior model matching based method and system for effective feature location in large legacy systems. A feature behavior analyzer extracts internal behaviors of a feature under requesting based on NLP techniques or writing rules of the feature specification and generates a feature behavior model. A method uses multiple information sources associated with each method under analyzing to generate an expressive behavior signature for each method. The method integrates control flow information of each method and the signature information of its callees, and generates a CFG-based behavior model. A feature location identifier identifies and ranks the feature-related code locations based on a similarity between the feature behavior and the code behavior models. In one aspect, “use cases”, “source code repository” and “issue tracking system” are historical information of existing applications that are used to help understand each code unit of legacy systems applications, and recommend code units related with the given feature description.

A feature is a functional requirement of a program that produces an observable behavior which users can trigger.
Feature location is the activity of identifying the source code elements (i.e., methods) that implement a feature, e.g., by implementing techniques (systems and methods) for identifying/locating an initial location in a source code that corresponds to a specific functionality. Such techniques are referred to herein as Feature Location Techniques (FLTs).
While source code itself may be broken down for analysis according to different granularity levels: e.g., classes/files, methods or functions, and statements (i.e., basic blocks, lines of code, variables, etc.), the located code entry is also called a feature location. Existing (FLTs) solutions for determining an initial location in a source code include dynamic, static, textual, historical, and hybrid techniques.
Identifying/Locating an initial location in the source code that corresponds to a specific functionality/feature is challenging. Existing approaches however currently have problems including that such techniques do not consider the internal behavior information of each method which leads to a precision loss or recall loss.
For example, FIG. 1A shows a first example excerpt of a C++ program fragment that includes a method 10 named "sellHolding( )" obtained as part of a legacy system source code. This sellHolding( ) function 10 is defined as importing three variables (userID string, symbol, and index integer) and includes an assignment of a value to a variable "success" based on a call to a further object "removeHolding" at method step 12. FIG. 1B shows a second example instance of the same source code method name sellHolding( ) 10′, however found in a more recent version of the same example legacy software. This sellHolding( ) method 10′ function imports an additional variable (userID string, symbol, index integer and quantity integer) and also includes an assignment of a value to a variable "success" at method step 12′ however, based on a call to a completely different object "reduceHolding". Thus, identifying this feature may lead to precision loss or recall loss given that a call to this method may provide an inconsistency given the different internal behaviors of this same method.
As large systems are componentized by hundreds of applications, middlewares, etc., the system could contain thousands of components, interfaces, millions of lines of code which does far exceed the upper limit of what can be handled by humans. Not only because of an architecture that is complex, but also because the system may rapidly change e.g., banking system.
Thus, it is a challenge how to effectively identify feature locations in large systems, such as legacy computer systems, with high precision and recall.

Effective feature location in large legacy systems

International Business Machines Corporation


A method is disclosed for preparing a quantity of individual treated fibers from one or more fiber mats in a treatment apparatus. The apparatus comprises a fiber treatment zone, a conveyor for conveying each mat through the fiber treatment zone, wherein each mat is impregnated by an applicator with a crosslinking substance, and directly to an attrition device. The attrition device fiberizes the mats to form a fiber output having a low nit level, such as no more than about three, and a dryer for both drying the fiber output and curing the crosslinking substance. The fiberizer is configured to have minimize the accumulation of fiber at locations therein. An optional component of the fiberizer is a novel fluff generator comprised of multiple rotors each having plural longitudinally extended rows of radially extending rotor pins that rotate past groups of shorter pins mounted on the inside surface of the fluff generator housing.

Various devices are known in the art for treating fibers in mat form and thereafter breaking the mats into individual fibers. For example, reference is made to U.S. Pat. No. 3,440,135 to Chung which discloses a mechanism for applying a crosslinking agent to a cellulosic fiber mat, the passage of the mat while still wet and following "aging" through a fiberizer, such as a hammermill, etc. (without disclosing any specific details of such a fiberizer) to fiberize the mat, and drying the resulting loose fibers in a two stage dryer. The first dryer stage is at a temperature sufficient to flash water vapor from the fibers and the second dryer stage is at a temperature to effect curing of the crosslinking agent. A cyclone separator is then illustrated separating the fibers from the gas and for subsequent collection. Chung mentions the need for the "aging" step, of many hours duration, in order to reduce the level of nits in the resulting fiber product. As described below, nits are typically interbonded fibers which can interfere with product quality. Therefore, the Chung apparatus suffers from the drawback of requiring the inconvenient and costly storage of wet fiber mats (e.g. in roll form) for a substantial period of time in order to minimize nit formation.
Unfortunately, fiberization processes known in the art which employ currently available fiberizing or comminution machinery yield crosslinked fibers that have too many nits and knots to be acceptable for many uses. A probable reason is that such machinery has excess dead space where fibers are excessively pressed together and/or has localized regions of elevated temperature hot enough to cause premature curing of the crosslinking agent while fibers are in intimate contact with each other. Since fiberization is performed on a mat that is still wet with the uncured crosslinking agent, dead spaces and hot spots in the fiberizer would encourage the formation of interfiber bonds, which form nits, that virtually cannot be broken by downstream equipment.
Interfiber bonding in a conventional fiberizer apparatus can also lead to production of excessive amounts of "fines", which are undesirably short fibers due principally to fiber breakage. Crosslinking imparts substantial brittleness to cellulose fibers, which thereby exhibit limited compliance to mechanical stresses. Nits are especially susceptible to mechanical stresses because of their density which is much greater than the density of individual fibers. Excess fiber breakage and fines not only degrade absorbency but can substantially reduce the loft and resiliency of a product made from crosslinked fibers.
Hence, there is a need for an apparatus that will produce treated fibers, such as crosslink agent treated cellulose fibers, having a nit level lower than levels obtainable with existing equipment. There is also a need for such an apparatus that will produce such fibers from a mat comprised of cellulose fibers while not causing significant breakage of individual fibers of the mat.

Method for crosslinking cellulose fibers


A system includes a tackle training apparatus that comprises a cylindrical structure. The cylindrical structure comprises at least one recessed portion in a curved surface of the cylindrical surface. Each recessed portion of the at least one recessed portion corresponds to a security strap. The system comprises placing a first flat surface of the cylindrical structure on a playing surface of a practice field, wherein the cylindrical structure stands upright upon the playing surface. The system comprises placing a ball in a recessed portion of at the least one recessed portion, wherein the recessed portion and a corresponding securing strap secure the ball to the tackle training apparatus. The system includes a player approaching the cylindrical structure in a tackling disposition, wherein the player targets the ball with a facemask portion of a helmet worn by the player. The system comprises striking the ball and the cylindrical structure with the facemask of the user's helmet, the striking including dislodging the ball from the cylindrical structure.

Tackle dummies have long been used in the American sport of football to teach football players the art of tackling. The dummy represents an opposing player or ball carrier. During practice sessions, a player or tackler practices tackling techniques by rushing and striking the dummy to simulate physical contact with a ball carrier. There is a need to provide a tackle dummy which teaches tackling techniques that avoid the head and neck area of a ball carrier.
This section is intended to introduce various aspects of the art, which may be associated with exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. This discussion is believed to assist in providing a framework to facilitate a better understanding of particular aspects of the present disclosure. Accordingly, it should be understood that this section should be read in this light, and not necessarily as admissions of prior art.

System, method and apparatus for training proper tackling technique


A method and apparatus for providing integrated bake and chill thermal cycling applied to a material substrate is provided. The apparatus is a module comprising an integrated bake and chill plate with one or more fluid channels in a generally spiraling arrangement. The fluid channels have inlets and outlets near the center and perimeter of the integrated bake and chill plate. Additionally, the fluid channels can have microchannels through portions thereof. The module can also comprise one or more thermoelectric devices, a thermally conductive plate on which the substrate directly or indirectly rests, a printed circuit board, and a variable power source. The integrated bake and chill plate, the thermally conductive plate and the thermoelectric devices are all in thermal contact with each other. The thermoelectric devices are also in electrical contact with the variable power source and comprise a top plate, a bottom plate, a support positioned between the top and bottom plates, and one or more copper pads beneath the bottom plate for establishing electrical contact. The module bakes and chills a substrate by flowing fluids of different temperatures through the generally spiraling fluid channels and adjusting the temperature of the thermoelectric devices according to a preprogrammed cycle. Different fluid flow patterns can be chosen where fluid enters near the center of the integrated bake and chill plate and drains near the perimeter, where fluid enters near the perimeter and drains near the center, or where the two patterns are combined.

Certain stages of semiconductor manufacturing require baking the semiconductor substrate material, such as a wafer, and subsequently chilling it. For example, the photoresist processing state of semiconductor manufacturing requires such baking and chilling, or thermal cycling. In order to produce high quality wafers suitable for present integrated circuit applications, the temperature of the wafer during this thermal cycling must be precisely controlled with respect to both the temporal temperature profile of the baking and chilling cycles and to the uniformity of the temperature across the substrate.
The conventional method for baking and chilling wafers involves first baking the wafer at a temperature ranging typically between 70.degree. C. and 250.degree. C. for a period of time ranging typically between 30 seconds and 90 seconds. After baking the wafer, the wafer is mechanically moved to a cold plate where it is chilled to a temperature ranging typically between 0.degree. C. and 30.degree. C.
There are several disadvantages of the above method. First, moving a wafer through the air between the hot and cold plates subjects the wafer to uncontrolled temperature variations during the bake and chill cycles. Moreover, the time required to move the wafer between the bake and chill plates prevents the realization of very short thermal transition times between thermal cycles. Finally, mechanically moving the wafer from the hot plate to the cold plate can contaminate or otherwise damage the wafer.
Attempts have been made to overcome the disadvantages of separate bake and chill plates. One apparatus places the hot plate upside down and directly above the cold plate. Because the wafer moves only a short distance from the cold plate directly upward to the hot plate, the apparatus reduces the uncontrolled and nonuniform temperature fluctuations normally present during the transition from the baking step to the chilling step. Nevertheless, because the wafer must be moved between separate bake and chill plates, the wafer is still subjected to uncontrolled and nonuniform temperature fluctuations during thermal cycling. Moreover, physical movement inhibits short thermal transition times. Finally, the wafer may still be exposed to contaminates or otherwise damaged during the physical movements from the hot plate to the cold plate.
Accordingly, the present invention provides an improved apparatus for the thermal cycling of material substrates such as wafers used in the manufactures of semiconductors. In particular, the present invention provides an improved apparatus for thermal cycling that eliminates the need to move the substrate between distinct bake or chill plates and that provides improved continuous control of substrate temperature throughout the entire baking and chilling cycle. Further features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description and drawings.


The invention relates to a (knee) joint for positioning two pivoting parts in such a way that they can pivot within a limited range. According to the invention, a combined turning and sliding movement is produced by means of curved guides (6, 6xe2x80x2, 7, 7xe2x80x2). A cam body (8) connected to one pivoting part, e.g. the lower leg, has two cams (10, 11; 13, 14), preferably on each side. Said cams interact with the curved guides (6, 6xe2x80x2, 7, 7xe2x80x2). The curved guides (6, 6xe2x80x2, 7, 7xe2x80x2) are located in half-shells (3, 4) which are connected to the second pivoting part, e.g. the upper leg. Parts of the inventive knee joint which are subject to wear are relatively easy to replace and movement sequences can also be modified when replacements are made.

This application is the US national phase of PCT application PCT/AT98/00315 filed Dec. 18, 1998 with a claim to the priority of Austrian application A2150/97 filed Dec. 19, 1997.
The invention relates to a joint (knee joint) for limited relative pivoting of two parts, in particular human body parts, where arcuate guides produce a combined pivoting and sliding.
The problem in making various joints, in particular knee joints, is mainly in reproducing the natural movement of the joint, which natural movement is not a simple pivoting but a combined pivoting and sliding.
Austrian 393,620 describes a joint for a knee brace where two arcuate guides formed in a first brace part are engaged by two pins limiting the pivot angle of the two brace parts. The pins or bolts thus form in every position the axis for the arcuate guiding of the other pins. The natural movement of the knee cannot be duplicated by such an arrangement.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,009,223 describes joints for knee braces where in addition to the two arcuate guides there are two further arcuate guides. These two additional guides form a sort of T, with one T-arm carrying a bolt and the other T-arm another bolt of another side rail. Even in this known arrangement it is not possible to guide in a natural movement.
The object of the invention is to produce a joint of the above-mentioned types that produces a combined pivoting and sliding movement and that is usable in particular but not exclusively as a replacement for a human knee joint. It should also be possible to relatively easily replace wear-prone parts and even produce by changing parts a different movement pattern.
This is attained in that a cam body on one of the pivotal parts, e.g. the tibia, preferably has two sides each with two cams that coact with respective arcuate guides that are formed in cups that are connected with the second pivotal part, e.g. the femur.
Such an arrangement produces a combined pivotal and slide movement that be adjusted by changing the shape of the arcuate guides for different requirements. Replacement of the wear parts is also relatively simple.
According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the cam body has two cylindrical surfaces forming a cam and meeting at a rounded edge and two projections extending perpendicular to the pivot direction and forming second cams and the guides are offset in two steps in the cups. With this it is preferable when the cam body is shaped in section as a triangle with rounded corners.
The projecting second cams are formed on the side of the rounded triangle opposite the point of the two cylindrical surfaces. The connection of one of the pivotal parts is arranged opposite the point of the two cylindrical surfaces.
In order to hold the two cups these are partially surrounded by a holder on which the connection for the other pivotal part is arranged. The cups are fitted to the holder so that they can be switched easily.


A slewing mitigation technique is presented where just the right amount of charge is provided at the switching instant to a switch capacitor circuit so that operational transconductance amplifier (OTA) does not need to provide high peak current. This eliminates slewing altogether and allows using OTAs with less static current for the same settling accuracy.

Demand for high-speed circuits is increasing for wideband wireless and wireline applications, and high-speed performance is usually achieved at a cost of increasing power consumption. Switched capacitor (SC) circuits are key building blocks in many circuits such as filters, delta-sigma modulators (DSMs), sampling circuits, and sampled-data amplifiers. SC based designs are more tolerant to process variations as critical specifications of such circuits depend on capacitance ratios, which are better controlled than transconductances and resistors.
The SC circuits used in these applications are desired to be highly linear. For example, SC integrators used in delta-sigma analog-to-digital converters (ADCs) should be highly linear to achieve a high signal-to-noise and distortion ratio (SNDR). Most of the time operational transconductance amplifiers (OTAs) are designed to meet high-speed requirements which result in higher cost and higher power consumption. OTAs are designed to meet high-speed requirements at the cost of additional biasing current, which is not used all the time. For example, the time bias current is productively used during slewing time, which is merely a fraction of a total settling time. The bias current is otherwise wasted, resulting in high power consumption.

Slewing mitigation apparatus for switched capacitor circuit


A gyroscope package, system and method for use in a downhole tool suitable are provided. The gyroscope package, system and method includes a housing coupleable with a downhole tool, a gyroscope body within the housing, and an inductive-type MEMS gyroscope. The MEMS gyroscope includes a magnetic shield disposed around the inductive-type MEMS gyroscope to magnetically shield the inductive-type MEMS gyroscope.

The present disclosure relates to wellbore navigational devices and techniques. More specifically, the disclosure relates to inductive-type gyroscope sensors for wellbore measuring and navigating in oilfield exploration activities. In some embodiments, the inductive-type gyroscope sensors are Micro Electro-Mechanical System (MEMS) gyroscopes. The disclosure uses MEMS gyroscopes as an example, but aspects of this disclosure are not limited to only MEMS gyroscopes.
Modern technology has enabled the performance of drilling and logging operations within wellbores that extend sophisticatedly under the surface in winding, curving and horizontal underground fashions. These environments are harsh and equipment-unfriendly, and may demand equipment-aided monitoring of orientation (e.g., inclination) and other parameters of or within the wellbore. For example, a downhole tool in such venues may indicate almost constant monitoring of the position and direction of the downhole tool, such as during drilling, for enabling accomplishment of planned objectives.
Gyroscopes may be used in the context of such drilling and monitoring activities. Currently there are several types of gyroscope sensors used in navigation fields. Mechanical and optical-based gyroscopes have been developed. Micro Electro Mechanical Systems (MEMS) gyroscopes are miniaturized gyroscopes, being fabricated via employment of micromachining technology.
As suggested by the name, MEMS are packaged similarly to other integrated circuits and may provide either analog or digital outputs. A single part may include gyroscopic sensors for multiple axes, and a microprocessor. Internally, a MEMS gyroscope may use lithographically constructed versions of tuning forks, vibrating wheels, or resonant solids of various designs. Owing to their utilization of silicon semiconductor device fabrication technology, much of the sensing elements of MEMS gyroscopes may embody crystal silicon.
MEMS gyroscopes have an expansive range of applications, encompassing uses such as in compasses, spacecraft, automobiles and motorcycles, dedicated computer systems, and consumer electronics, such as pointing devices, gaming devices and smart phones, powered underwater devices, industrial robotics, and subterranean wellbore sensors. Published documents reflecting structures and related techniques are provided in US20130104653, entitled "MEMS Hemispherical Resonator Gyroscope," U.S. Pat. No. 8,061,048, entitled "Apparatus for Azimuth Measurements Using Gyro Sensors," US20110197460, entitled "Six-Direction Indicator," US20100223796, entitled "Apparatus for Azimuth Measurements Using Gyro Sensors," U.S. Pat No. 7,801,704, entitled "Method and System for Azimuth Measurements Using Gyro Sensors," and US20020174720, entitled "MEMS Gyroscope and Accelerometer with Mechanical Reference." Inductive-type MEMS gyroscopes are sometimes referred to as a third generation of the gyroscope technology.

Apparatus, system and method of a magnetically shielded wellbore gyroscope


The method of inhibiting the reduction of the bond strength by water of a metal-thermoplastic polymer-metal sandwich, where the thermoplastic core contains carbon to carbon double bonds, by incorporating 0.01 to 1.0% of a fatty acid component which comprises at least one fatty acid as an additive.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to method and apparatus for the manufacture of a laminate of two metal sheets and a layer of thermoplastics material sandwiched between them and adhering to them, particularly the continuous manufacture of such a laminate in which the two sheets are moved along paths to a convergence region and the thermoplastics material is continuously extruded. In the convergence region, the thermoplastics material is squeezed between the sheets to form the layer of the laminate. The invention also relates to the presence of an additive in such a laminate, which provides increased durability, at least against attack by water.
2. Description of the Prior Art
GB-A-2038239 describes a method of forming a laminate of the type indicated above. The pressing together of the first and second metal layers may be carried out for a period of from a few seconds up to about 30 minutes. The temperature of the laminate during pressing is maintained in the range from 150.degree. C. to 329.degree. C. (Example 19 to 21 and 155 respectively).
There is at present a desire to improve the bonding strength and durability of such a laminate, particularly in order to provide new lightweight sheet materials. A possible use for such a material is as a generally horizontal or generally vertical exterior part of a motor vehicle, for which purpose especially high requirements are placed on the quality of the bond between the thermoplastics material of the laminate an the metal sheets. As well as the quality of the bond, i.e. its strength particularly peel strength, the durability of the bonding is also of concern where there is continual penetration of water and also temperature fluctuations. In addition, such a material must be able to undergo deformation processes, in order to achieve the desired shape, and such deformation processes may be cold or hot. Meanwhile, the laminate must retain its strength and durability.
Furthermore it is desirable that the additional step and expense of providing adhesive layers between the extruded thermoplastic material and the metal sheets is avoided.
EP-A-87546 describes a method in which an extruded polymer band, two adhesive layer sheets and the two metal sheets are brought to a nip between a pair of rollers, and squeezed to effect thickness reduction of the polymer band, prior to cooling of the laminate. The thickness reduction may be in the range of 10 to 90%. GB-A-1277350 also shows thickness reduction of the thermoplastics layer during formation of the laminate. Adhesive layer sheets are again employed.
GB-A-1092715 describes a method of forming or shaping aluminium-clad thermoplastic laminates with the application of heating. Acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene copolymer (ABS) is mentioned as one possible material GB-A-1014154 describes the formation of such laminates and their cold forming. In an example, hot extruded polyethylene is fed into the nip of cooperating pressure rolls together with aluminium foils and is bonded directly to the aluminium.

Method of inhibiting the reduction of the bond strength by water of a metal-thermoplastic polymer metal sandwich


A semiconductor laser driver circuit that provides single supply operation over a wide supply voltage range (e.g., 3 V to 5.5 V), is capable of high speed data transmission, and is programmable over a wide laser modulation current range (such as 5 mA to 60 mA). The circuit includes temperature sensitive circuits to adjust for changes in Vbe over the operating temperature range, and to adjust a bias current to maintain transistor g.sub.m in the presence of temperature changes. Also included is an adaptive drive feature to accommodate different laser drive currents. Details of these and other features are disclosed.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of semiconductor laser driver circuits.
2. Prior Art
Existing high speed laser driver integrated circuits require a single power supply of approximately 5 V, or multiple power supplies. However, electronics systems are evolving toward lower supply voltages to conserve power and to exploit improving low voltage, high frequency IC processes. Therefore, it is an objective to provide a laser driver circuit capable of operating with a single supply voltage as low as 3 V. It is also an objective to provide operation with existing 5 V systems.
It is also an objective of the invention to comply with existing SDH/SONET specifications at 2.448 Gb/s, or faster.
It is also an objective of the invention to minimize power consumption.
It is also an objective of the invention to provide a wide range of laser modulation current (such as 5 mA to 60 mA) while meeting the previous objectives.
It is a further objective of the invention to be directly compatible with standard PECL logic at the data inputs.
FIG. 1 is a simplified schematic of a typical (Maxim MAX3261, Sony CXB1108AQ) integrated bipolar laser driver. The output transistors Q1 and Q2 switch the modulation current Imod into an external laser depending on the state of the differential data inputs Vin+, Vin-. RL represents the typical matching impedance of a high speed laser (e.g., 25 .OMEGA.). Emitter follower transistors Q3 and Q4 provide level shifting and current gain to drive the output transistors. Additional emitter followers can be included for more level shifting and current gain ("A Versatile Si-Bipolar Driver Circuit with High Output Voltage Swing for External and Direct Laser Modulation in 10 Gb/s Optical-Fiber Links", H.-M. Rein et al., IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits, Vol. 29, No. 9, September 1994). Differential pair Q5 and Q6 provides voltage gain to ensure full switching of the output devices by switching current I3 through R1 or R2 depending on the input data. The inputs can be buffered by optional emitter followers (not shown).
The circuit of FIG. 1 directly couples the output current from the collector of transistor Q1 to the laser. Since the supply voltage must be greater than the headroom needed by the current source Imod, plus the output transistor Q1, plus the laser, this topology is not capable of operation with a supply voltage of 3 V. For example, transistor Q1 and current source Imod both need about 1 V of headroom for high speed operation, the typical DC laser drop is 1.5 V, and a modulation current of 60 mA multiplied by the 25 .OMEGA.of RL is 1.5 V. This is a total of 5 V, which clearly shows that operation on a single 3 V DC supply is not possible.
The circuit of FIG. 2 can be used to AC couple the output current from the collector of transistor Q1 to a semiconductor laser. By using an inductor to set the DC voltage at the collector of Q1 to be equal to the supply, adequate headroom is achieved. The value of the inductor LAC is chosen to limit droop during long consecutive streams of data ones or zeros and the value of the capacitor CAC is chosen to provide the desired high pass cutoff frequency. The use of this output topology allows sufficient headroom for 3 V operation. This topology is commonly used in RF applications, and it has been previously applied to semiconductor lasers. Similar AC coupling networks with resistive pull-up have been previously implemented.
A disadvantage of the circuit of FIG. 1 is that the emitter follower currents I1 and I2 must be approximately equal to the peak base current (caused by collector to base capacitance) of the output transistors Q1 and Q2. At high data rates and with large modulation current, I1 and I2 can become very large (10's of mA). Transistors Q3 and Q4 must therefore be large devices and will also have significant transient base current. This sets a maximum value for R1 and R2 and can cause the value of current I3 to be larger than desired. The value of current I3 multiplied by R1 (or R2) results in the peak magnitude of the differential voltage signal across the bases of transistors Q1 and Q2. This signal must be large enough to fully switch the modulation current at its maximum value. The required amplitude is typically 400 mV for 60 mA of modulation current.

High speed semiconductor laser driver circuits


A voltage error correction system includes a voltage converter, a first and a second analog to digital converters, a subtracter, an adder, and a digital voltage generator. The voltage converter adjusts an input voltage proportionally, adds the adjusted input voltage to a reference voltage to obtain a positive voltage, and outputs the positive voltage. The first analog to digital converter converts the positive voltage into a first digital voltage, the second analog to digital converter converts the reference voltage into a second digital voltage, the subtracter subtracts the second digital voltage from the first digital voltage and outputs a difference voltage, and the adder outputs a corrected voltage by adding the difference voltage of the subtracter to a compensation voltage.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a voltage error correction system, and particularly to a system for correcting errors generated by a voltage generator.
2. Description of Related Art
A power supply system is usually used for receiving an alternating current (AC) voltage, and converting the AC voltage into a positive voltage by a positive direct current (DC) voltage generated by a voltage generator which has errors. Then, the positive voltage is converted into a digital voltage provided to a digital electronic device.
Referring to FIG. 2, one such power supply system, such as a motor driven power supply system, includes a voltage generator 10, a voltage converter 20, and an analog to digital converter 30. The voltage converter 20 receives an AC voltage Vin provided by a power supply (not shown), and a positive DC reference voltage Vref provided by the voltage generator 10. The voltage converter 20 is configured for adjusting the AC voltage Vin proportionally, adding the adjusted AC voltage Vin to the reference voltage Vref to obtain a positive voltage, and outputting the positive voltage to the analog to digital converter 30. The analog to digital converter 30 receives the positive output voltage from the voltage converter 20, and converts the positive voltage into a digital output voltage Vout.
In this power supply system, if an error exists in the reference voltage Vref provided by the voltage generator 10, the system takes no error correction measures, thereby the error still exists in the digital voltage Vout. For example, if the range of the AC voltage Vin is from −2.0 volts to +2.0 volts, an adjustment ratio of the voltage converter 20 is predetermined to be 0.75. When the voltage generator 10 outputs an 1.6 volt reference voltage Vref (which has an 0.1 volt absolute error), the voltage converter 20 adjusts the AC voltage Vin proportionally and adds the reference voltage Vref to the adjusted AC voltage Vin, and the range of the output voltage from the voltage converter 20 is from −2.0*0.75+1.6=0.1 volts to +2.0*0.75+1.6=3.1 volts. The range of the output voltage from the analog to digital converter 30 is 0.1-3.1 volts. That is to say, the 0.1 volt absolute error still exists in this power supply system.
Therefore, it is desired to provide a voltage error correction system to overcome the above described shortcomings.


A radiotherapy system has: a placing unit placing a subject; an imaging unit performing an imaging of the subject; a region setting unit setting a required region of first image data obtained by the imaging unit performing the imaging of the subject and setting a corresponding required region of second image data obtained by, before the imaging, performing a pre-imaging of the subject; a histogram generating unit generating a dose-volume histogram of the required region of the first image data and generating a dose-volume histogram of the required region of the second image data; a difference computing unit computing a difference between the dose-volume histogram of the required region of the first image data and the dose-volume histogram of the required region of the second image data; and an outputting unit, if it is determined that the difference is greater than a threshold value, outputting the determination to an outside.

In radiotherapy, image data is generated by imaging during treatment planning, and treatment plan data is generated based on the image data. In addition, image data is generated by imaging just before the treatment. Then, the image data obtained just before the treatment is aligned with the image data for the treatment plan to compute a difference of the image data obtained just before the treatment from the image data for the treatment plan, and then repositioning is carried out by shifting the patient by the difference from the imaging position just before the treatment. After the repositioning, radiotherapy is carried out by irradiating a treatment site of the patient.
Examples of conventional arts relating to the embodiments include Japanese Patent Application Publication (Laid-Open: KOKAI) No. 2010-69086.
However, according to the conventional arts, because both images are aligned with each other based on shading (CT values, image density, values of luminance, or the like) of overall data of both the images including sites unrelated to treatment, shift of internal organs in the data of both the images tends not to be taken into account and an area of interest such as a treatment site may not be aligned with high accuracy. In particular, in the case where chest and abdominal organs such as a lung, a liver, and the like are irradiated, because of respiratory movement of an affected part, a normal site other than a treatment site might be irradiated.

Radiotherapy system and control method for radiotherapy system


A method for manufacturing calendered and/or extruded semifinished products with increased surface tackiness from a mixture of rubber and rubber-like plastic materials employs a shock-cooling step for cooling the hot semifinished products at a maximum shock cooling temperature of 0.degree. C.

The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing calendered and/or extruded semifinished products with increased surface tackiness made from a mixture of rubber and rubber-like plastic materials as well as a device for performing the method.
With semifinished products of rubber mixtures, for example, with components for the construction of tires, it is often important that the surface of these articles be provided with high tackiness so that during assembly a good adhesion to neighboring layers can be achieved. A plurality of methods for increasing the surface tackiness of semifinished products of rubber mixtures are known. For example, in an additional working step solutions are applied by pasting to the surface and generate the required surface tackiness.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a more favorable manufacturing process for semifinished products of the aforementioned kind which furthermore can be directly integrated into the conventional manufacturing process of the semifinished products.

Method for manufacturing semifinished products from a mixture of rubber and rubber-like plastic materials by shock cooling to increase tackiness


A centrifugal clutch includes a housing which is rotatable about an axis, the housing having a plurality of first supporting areas which each extend radially with respect to the axis; a pressing plate which is axially movable with respect to the housing and is coupled to the housing for rotation about the axis; and a supporting member which is axially movable with respect to the housing, the supporting member having a plurality of second supporting areas which each extend radially with respect to the axis, each second support area being separated from a respective first support area by an axial distance which decreases with radial distance from the axis. A plurality of centrifugal members are supported between respective pairs of first and second support areas, each the centrifugal member being radially displaceable by centrifugal force along the respective pair of support areas to exert force in a clutch engaging direction along a force transmission path between the supporting element and the pressing plate. The supporting member is guided through a guide arrangement during axial movement of the supporting member with respect to the housing.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to a centrifugal clutch comprising a housing arrangement, a pressing plate which is coupled with the housing arrangement so as to rotate together with the housing arrangement around an axis of rotation and is movable in the direction of the axis of rotation, a supporting member which is movable axially with respect to the housing arrangement, and a plurality of centrifugal members, each of which is supported with respect to the housing arrangement in a first supporting area extending radially from inside to outside and is supported with respect to the supporting member in a second supporting area extending radially from inside to outside. An axial distance between the first supporting area and the second supporting area of a pair of supporting areas associated with each centrifugal member decreases radially from inside to outside, and every centrifugal member is radially displaceable by centrifugal force along the pair of supporting areas associated with it.
2. Description of the Related Art
A friction clutch which can be activated by centrifugal force is known from DE 30 19 377 A1. By means of this known centrifugal clutch, a flywheel which is otherwise freely rotatable is suddenly coupled to a crankshaft of an internal combustion engine when a determined limiting speed of the flywheel is reached in order to generate a drive torque which cranks this crankshaft and accordingly starts the internal combustion engine. The roller elements acting as centrifugal members are supported with respect to a housing associated with the flywheel on the one hand and with respect to a plate-like supporting element on the other hand, these two structural component parts or structural component groups having supporting areas which approach one another in radial direction toward the outside. The plate-like supporting element which is not otherwise supported in the entire arrangement is supported in axial direction at a plate spring that is secured axially in its radial outer area with respect to the flywheel and, therefore, also with respect to the housing. This plate spring in turn acts upon the pressing plate in axial direction, namely, in the present case, by means of another plate spring. Accordingly, these two plate springs permanently generate a force which pretensions the supporting element in the releasing direction so that it is also ensured that the centrifugal members are positively pretensioned toward the radial inside and held in their radial innermost position when there is no centrifugal force applied.
Due to this substantially loose arrangement of the plate-like supporting element, slight manufacturing inaccuracies or inaccurate positioning can have the result that the different centrifugal members do not move radially outward in a uniform manner when a slight tilting movement occurs. The centrifugal members are pressed radially outward to a greater extent in those places where the supporting element is at a greater distance from the housing than in other areas due to slight tilting and the centrifugal members are therefore also exposed to greater centrifugal force. This leads to a more sharply inclined position and to a correspondingly asymmetric action upon the pressing plate. Consequently, on the one hand, an uneven loading of the pressing plate may possibly occur and, on the other hand, variations may be generated in the transmission of torque which could result in a grabbing of the clutch.


A pair of tooth portions has a plurality of convex portions and is arranged to engage with each other when approaching each other. The convex portion of at least one tooth portion of the pair of tooth portions has, on an opposing surface thereof opposing the convex portion of the other tooth portion, an abutting surface abutting against the convex portion of the other tooth portion when the pair of tooth portions is engaged with each other and a non-abutting surface not abutting against the convex portion of the other tooth portion when the pair of tooth portions is engaged with each other.

Conventionally a binder for binding a paper bundle formed by stacking a plurality of sheets of paper, a paper processing apparatus equipped with the binder and the like have been widely used. As the binder, ones using staples were common. However, recently, binding means which do not use a metal material, such as staples, attract attention from the viewpoints of resource saving, environmental measures and recyclability. As binding means which do not use a metal material, for example, a binding means is known, which binds a paper bundle by pressing and crimping the paper bundle in a thickness direction by means of a pair of upper and lower teeth.
For example, in a binder of Patent Document 1, an absolute value of an inclination angle of inclined surface portions of a pair of teeth with respect to a contact and separation direction of the teeth is configured to be less than 380. Then, the inclined surface portions of the teeth crimp a paper bundle stacked between the teeth while elongating a paper material, thereby binding sheets of paper.
In addition, a paper processing apparatus of Patent Document 2 has a fixed toothed die capable of forming an unevenness-shaped pressed and deformed portion on a paper bundle and a movable toothed die capable of coming in contact with or separating from the fixed toothed die. Then, a paper bundle is bound by the fixed toothed die and the movable toothed die, of which a top surface of teeth has an end portion configured in a rounded shape.

Teeth part, binder, paper-processing apparatus, and image formation system


Methods, apparatus, and systems for occluding a multiplicity of parallel membranes, such as found in a patent foramen ovale (PFO). Methods, apparatus, and systems include the use of a positioning device that can be seated on the limbus of the septum secundum (SS). The positioning device includes a piercing member that can pierce the SS and septum primum (SP). The positioning device also includes a fastening member that can engage the SS and SP to fasten the tissues and occlude a PFO.

The human heart is divided into four chambers. These include the right atrium, the right ventricle, the left atrium, and the left ventricle. The right atrium and right ventricle are divided from the left atrium and left ventricle by a muscular wall called the septum. The atrial septum is the wall separating the atria, and the ventricular septum is the wall separating the ventricles.
Early in fetal development the two atria (i.e., left and right atriums) are a single chamber. A wall or membranous structure develops from the superior aspect of the atrial chamber and extends superiorly toward the base of the atrial chamber. This membrane is the septum primum (SP). As the SP seals to the base of the chamber, it is dissolved away at the superior attachment, creating a passageway for blood to travel from the right atria to the left atria (bypassing the developing lungs). At about the same time, a second membrane develops from the superior aspect of the right atrium and extends inferiorly. This membrane is the septum secundum (SS). It fuses with the SP along the walls of the atria, but does not extend to the base of the atria. The inferior portion of the SS is named the limbus. The two membranes form a passage defined by thin tissue (SP) and thick tissue (SS) that extends from the right atria to the left atria. This passage is named the foramen ovale. The portion of the SP that comprises the left side of the foramen ovale is named the fossa ovalis. The limbus of the SS is distinct from the fossa ovalis of the SP in that it is thicker and more muscular.
Upon birth blood must be diverted into the lungs of the newborn. One event that enables this is an increase in pressure within the left atrium relative to the right atrium. This pressure reversal effectively closes the foramen ovale and eliminates the shunting of blood from right to left. In most people, the SP and SS membranes that form the passage of the shunt fuse and the passage is eliminated. However, in a minority of people, these membranes do not fuse effectively and the shunt remains sealed by pressure, but the passage remains viable, or patent. This condition is named patent foramen ovale (PFO). In unusual circumstances the pressure in the right atrium can exceed that in the left atrium, allowing passage of blood through the PFO. This would typically be inconsequential, except when the venous (right atrial) blood contains thrombotic debris that is normally eliminated by thrombolytic mechanisms in the lungs. In this case, a clot can travel to the left atria and become an embolic risk to the patient's health through myocardial infarction or stroke.

Defect occlusion apparatus, system, and method


A method and system for video data delivery for 3G mobile systems is disclosed. The throughput and quality of video data delivery in real-time is enhanced by using a combination of circuit-switched and packet-switched network and using optimal video frame dispatching patterns that are calculated based on transmission feedback, status of the network and QoS parameters.

Customers of mobile communications are embracing 3G networks and video telephony services that are delivered using such networks. The current popularity of camera phones promises a bright future for video phones and video telephony in the 3G space. While 3G networks are capable of delivering video content to wireless devices, the throughput and Quality of Service (QoS) for real-time video delivery on 3G networks leave much to be desired. There is room for improvement in respect to transmission errors related to video delivery on 3G networks.
Cellular radio telephony companies and 3G operators currently use circuit-switched networks for voice and video telephony. Currently, mobile phone call set-up and call controls are performed over circuit-switched networks that include 2G, 2.5G and 3G networks. Circuit switching is a type of communication in which a dedicated channel is established between two end points in the network for the duration of a connection. Such a dedicated channel is well suited for transmitting data in real-time. However, the available bandwidth in a circuit-switched network is rather narrow. 3G circuit-switched networks transmit data at a rate of 64 kilo bits per sec (kpbs), and thus are not suitable for data intensive applications such as the transmission of video data in real-time. Further, the presence of interference in the cellular air interface to mobile terminals often cause data to be dropped before such data reaches the destination end point.
In view of the foregoing, a more efficient manner of transmitting video data in the context of 3G networks is needed.

Enhanced video streaming using dual network mode


A circuit breaker handle actuation device used in conjunction with a circuit breaker having a circuit breaker handle and an external handle located on an electrical enclosure. The device includes a stationary frame having first and second horizontal supports. The device also includes a rotatable frame having first and second horizontal elements which extend from first and second vertical elements, respectively. The first and second vertical elements are rotatably attached to the first and second horizontal supports. In addition, an opening for receiving the circuit breaker handle is located between the first and second vertical elements. Further, the device includes a rotatable bracket having first and second vertical arms which are rotatably attached to the first and second horizontal elements, respectively, wherein the rotatable bracket is connected to the external handle. Movement of the external handle between ON, OFF and RESET/PARK positions causes corresponding movement of the circuit breaker handle.

Power distribution systems such as motor control centers include a floor mounted electrical enclosure which houses motor control units, wireways, internal wiring, bus bars, circuit breakers and other equipment in accordance with NEMA standards. It is desirable that the footprint of a motor control center, such as those used on an oil rig or for commercial construction, be reduced or minimized in order to reduce costs.
A motor control center enclosure includes one or more large frame circuit breakers such as Siemens VL circuit breakers. Further, the enclosure includes shelf sections having a range of heights, for example, from 60 inches to 6 inches. In one embodiment, a large frame circuit breaker is located on a relatively tall shelf section. The circuit breaker is actuated by separate handle mechanism that is connected to an external handle located on a front panel of the enclosure. It is desirable to locate a large frame circuit breaker in a short shelf section. However, the current handle mechanism does not fit within the short shelf section since the circuit breaker itself occupies a large portion of the shelf. Further, the current handle mechanism must be disassembled in order to gain access to the circuit breaker, thus increasing assembly time and maintenance costs.


In this invention, a test system includes a tester and a switching module for connecting any pin to the tester for testing a device-under-test (DUT), the test system has a rectifying device between the ground of the DUT and the ground of the switching module in order to isolate the DUT from the switching module, thereby blocking unwanted current flowing between the DUT and the switching module to ensure the correctness of the testing.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates in general to a testing system for testing a device, and more particular to a testing system with a switching module for testing a device.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A device such as IC (Integrated Circuit) is required to be fully tested before it can be released to the market. Nowadays, IC has become more and more complicated with ever increasing running speed. As a result, how to test an IC to ensure it is fully functioning is an important task, especially for high speed and high pin-count devices.
For a high pin-count IC, it is preferred to use a solid state switching module instead of using relays to select any pins out of all the pins of an IC for testing, because the size of the solid state switching module can be made much smaller compared with conventional relays. However, in solid state switching module, it is easier to conduct current from the switching module back to the DUT (Device Under Test) or the tester, which will affect the correctness of the testing results.
For example, FIG. 1 illustrates a conventional testing system, which includes a DUT 100, a switching module 101 and a tester 102. The DUT 100, the switching module 101 and the tester 102 are grounded together. The DUT 100 has a plurality of I/O pins. The switching module 101 comprises a conductive path 103 to conduct a first pin out of the plurality of I/O pins to a second pin of the switching module. The tester is connected to the conductive path 103. An open/short test is performed by forcing current from the conductive path 103 to the tester 102. In such conventional testing system, there may be a current path 104 that allows a current ISW (110) flowing from the ground of the switching module to the second pin in the switching module. As a consequence, a current seen by the tester ITESTER (120) is the sum of ISW (110) and current loop IDUT (130) through the conductive path 103, which can be shown in the following equation:ITESTER−IDUT+ISW,
Wherein the IDUT (130) is what a designer cares about and the ISW (110) shall not exist in the open/short test in the first place; otherwise, a pseudo pass will occur in the open/short test because the current flowing from the switching module back to the tester will reduce the current from the DUT back to the tester, which will cause the test to fail.
Furthermore, some unwanted current flowing from the switching modules to the DUT or the tester may take different ways. For instance, in a solid state high speed switching module, parasitic inductance or capacitance may contribute current flowing between the switching module and the DUT or tester due to sudden current changes if all the grounds of the DUT, switching module, and the tester are tied together.
Therefore, what is needed is a solution to perform tests on a DUT to resolve the pseudo pass issue.

Testing system with an isolated switching module

Abstract: Since the ground of the switching module is not directly connected to the ground of the DUT and the tester, the rectifying device will keep the voltage difference between the ground of the switching module and the DUT in a range between zero and the cut-in voltage of the rectifying device, thereby allowing single-ended signals to be used between the switching module and the tester or the DUT.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Ltd.


A hand-held dry-erase board system for efficiently storing a writing instrument in the handle of a portable dry-erase board. The hand-held dry-erase board system includes a frame including a writable surface, a handle, wherein the handle includes an upper end and a lower end and wherein the upper end of the handle is attached to the frame and a clip, wherein the clip is attached to the handle and wherein the clip secures a marker.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to learning aids and more specifically it relates to a hand-held dry-erase board system for efficiently combining a dry-erase board, a marker and an eraser into one package.
2. Description of the Related Art
Any discussion of the prior art throughout the specification should in no way be considered as an admission that such prior art is widely known or forms part of common general knowledge in the field.
Learning aids have been in use for years. Typically, learning aids have included items such as flashcards, small chalk boards and small dry-erase boards. When using flashcards, a student or teacher will read the question on one side of the flashcard and, when ready, flip it over to read the answer. Portable chalk boards and dry-erase boards usually include a board along with a piece of chalk or dry-erase marker and then a separate eraser. The student or teacher may write a question on one side of the board and then either erase it, or if the board has two sides, flip it over to reveal the answer (providing the answer was previously written on the back).
A disadvantage with flashcards is that they are not usually able to be modified and are generally not written on. This can hinder the student's learning ability as the flash card may not adequately describe the solution to the given problem. Portable chalk boards pose the problem of leaving messy chalk dust and small pieces of chalk everywhere. Chalk boards can also be difficult to read from a distance (i.e. the back of a classroom). A problem with past portable dry-erase boards is that it can be cumbersome to carry around a separate board, marker and eraser simultaneously.
While these devices may be suitable for the particular purpose to which they address, they are not as suitable for efficiently combining a dry-erase board, a marker and an eraser into one package. Past chalk boards and dry-erase boards have posed a significant problem in that it can be very cumbersome to carry around a board, a marker or chalk and an eraser at one time.
In these respects, the hand-held dry-erase board system according to the present invention substantially departs from the conventional concepts and designs of the prior art, and in so doing provides an apparatus primarily developed for the purpose of efficiently combining a dry-erase board, a marker and an eraser into one convenient package.


A thermal module includes a heat sink (20), a heat pipe (10) and a fastening device (100). The heat pipe has a condenser section (14) connected with the heat sink. The fastening device includes a base member (50) for fixing an evaporator section of the heat pipe, a positioning pole (58) disposed on and connected to the base member, and an elastic member (30). The positioning pole includes a neck (580) and a head (582). The elastic member includes an abutting portion (32) defining therein a positioning hole (320), and two locking portions (34) extending from the abutting portion. The neck of the positioning pole is freely and loosely received in the positioning hole of the abutting portion. A maximal outer diameter of the head of the positioning pole exceeds a diameter of the fixing hole.

1. Field of the Invention
The disclosure relates generally to a fastening device, and more particularly to a fastening device for mounting a thermal module onto a heat generating electronic component.
2. Description of Related Art
It is widely acknowledged that heat is produced during operation of electronic components such as central processing units (CPUs) of computers. The heat produced by the CPUs must be quickly removed to protect the CPU. Typically, a thermal module is provided to remove heat from a CPU of a notebook computer. To maintain intimate contact with the CPU, a fastening device is generally required.
A conventional thermal module includes a thermal attachment block, a heat pipe, a fin assembly and a plurality of elastic members. The block has a bottom surface contacting a CPU mounted on a printed circuit board and a top surface defining a groove therein. The heat pipe includes an evaporator section received in the groove of the block, and a condenser section thermally contacted to the fin assembly. The elastic members are disposed at two opposite sides or four corners of the block. The elastic members and the block are firmly combined by soldering or riveting. An assembly hole is defined adjacent to a free end of each elastic member for mounting the thermal module to the printed circuit board. When the thermal module is mounted to the printed circuit board, the block is disposed on a top surface of the CPU. The assembly holes of the elastic members align with corresponding mounting holes of the printed circuit board. Fasteners extend through the assembly holes of the elastic members and engage with mounting holes of the printed circuit board, lowering the block. Thus, the thermal module is mounted to the printed circuit board with the block thermally contacting the electronic component.
However, the elastic members are firmly combined with the block by soldering or riveting, rendering the thermal module applicable for only printed circuit boards with appropriately positioned mounting holes. When positions of the mounting holes are changed due to changed requirements of layout of components on the printed circuit board, a newly designed block can be applied. In addition, soldering or riveting stress can deform junctures of the elastic members and the block, adversely affecting contact between the block and the heat generating electronic component, thereby reducing heat transfer efficiency therebetween.
What is needed, therefore, is an thermal module with improved fastening device which can overcome the limitations described.


Embodiments of a wireless access network and method for providing a location based service (LBS) to a visiting mobile station are disclosed. In some embodiments, a location data request forwarded by a home location server (HLS) is received at a visited location server (VLS). A subscriber profile and security query is generated for forwarding from a visitor authentication server to a home authentication server. When the home authentication server authenticates the request, location information for the visiting mobile station is obtained and a location data response message that includes the location information from the VLS is sent to the HLS for forwarding to the location client for use by the location client in performing a requested LBS.

Location-Based Services (LBS) are information and entertainment services accessible by mobile stations through a wireless network that make use of the geographical position of the mobile station. Providing LBS in broadband wireless access networks, such as WiMax and LTE networks, becomes increasingly complex when mobile stations are roaming because, among other things, location-based service requests need to be authenticated and user policies from the home service network need to be applied.

System and method for providing location based services (LBS) to roaming subscribers in a wireless access network


A solid propellant gas generator incorporates staged gas cooling and filtration so as to generate cool, clean gases having a composition suitable for use in an automobile airbag inflator. Carbon yarn is used as a lightweight primary heat sink within the filter thereby increasing the dimensional stability of the gas generator.

The present invention relates generally to gas inflators for automotive passenger restraint systems, and more specifically, to a gas filter for improved filtration of solids and cooling of combustion gases.
The composition of the gas stream emanating from an automobile airbag inflator is subject to strict requirements to avoid toxicity concerns. Generally, solid propellant gas generators produce unacceptable byproducts which must be removed from the gas stream prior to exiting the gas generator. Due to the high temperatures involved in burning solid propellants, many of the unacceptable byproducts are in the form of liquids or gases which are difficult to remove unless otherwise cooled to the point where the undesirable byproducts convert to solids, which can be filtered out, or to liquids, which solidify in contact with cool surfaces of the gas generator.
The conventional approach to solving the aforesaid problem has been to direct the hot propellant gases directly into a coolant/filter mass and rapidly cool the gases down in a single step to the point where the undesirable solid liquid byproducts are removed. However, a problem is presented by this approach in that rapid cooling of the gases may stabilize the gas combustion equilibrium in a manner that leads to unacceptably high levels of undesired gases.
For example, in airbag inflators, low levels of NO and CO in the effluent gases are mandated. When a stoichiometric propellant containing N, C and O is burned, the quantity of NO and CO produced is a function of the propellant combustion temperature. More CO and NO is formed at higher temperatures. If, as in a conventional system, the combustion gases are quenched in a single step to a temperature at which the gas reaction rates are reduced to essentially zero, combustion will not go to completion and unacceptably high CO and NO levels, resulting from the combustion temperature equilibrium condition, may be produced.
Multistage filters that cool the gases in stages have been designed to address the problems described. However, due to high temperatures, dimensional instability caused by burning and thermal shock is problematic with regard to current filtration designs.
For example, certain multistage cylindrical filters incorporate an expanded metal mesh as an outer filtration layer. The mesh is held in place by a longitudinally welded seam that creates a greater diameter across the filter when compared to other areas on the circumference. When the filter is inserted into a supporting housing or body, a critical radial annulus is required between the outer wall of the filter and the inner wall of the body, thereby ensuring uninterrupted egress of the gases through ports in the body. The connecting seam of the expanded metal mesh reduces the annular region between the seam and the body. Upon gas generant combustion, the heat causes the metal mesh to expand into the radial annulus, thereby further reducing the annular region between the seam and the housing. It has been found that when the area of the seam expands, it will often inhibit radial and circumferential gas flow at the expansion point and eliminate homogeneous gas flow through the filter. As known in the industry, this may result in "filter burn" and rupture of the filter at the point where the gases are unevenly forced out. In certain designs, this may further result in uneven inflation of the airbag and/or explosive potential due to pressure buildup.
Other multistage filters incorporate ceramic heat sinks. Ceramic is an excellent heat sink, however, ceramic must be handled with special equipment during manufacture and assembly. In addition, when heated upon propellant combustion, certain ceramic compositions have been found to liberate undesirable gases.
The weight of many of the materials used in certain multistage filters is yet another disadvantage. Heavyweight materials add to the weight of the airbag inflator as a whole, and also complicate handling during the manufacturing process.


Operations in fabricating a Fin FET include providing a substrate having a fin structure, where an upper portion of the fin structure has a first fin surface profile. An isolation region is formed on the substrate and in contact with the fin structure. A portion of the isolation region is recessed by an etch process to form a recessed portion and to expose the upper portion of the fin structure, where the recessed portion has a first isolation surface profile. A thermal hydrogen treatment is applied to the fin structure and the recessed portion. A gate dielectric layer is formed with a substantially uniform thickness over the fin structure, where the recessed portion is adjusted from the first isolation surface profile to a second isolation surface profile and the fin structure is adjusted from the first fin surface profile to a second fin surface profile, by the thermal hydrogen treatment.

With increasing down-scaling of integrated circuits and increasingly demanding requirements to speed of integrated circuits, transistors need to have higher drive currents with increasingly smaller dimensions. Fin Field-Effect Transistors (Fin FET) were thus developed. Fin FETs include vertical semiconductor fins above a substrate. The semiconductor fins are used to form source and drain regions, and channel regions between the source and drain regions. Shallow Trench Isolation (STI) regions are formed to define the semiconductor fins. The Fin FETs also include gate stacks, which are formed with sidewalls and over the top surfaces of the semiconductor fins.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Flat STI surface for gate oxide uniformity in Fin FET devices

TAIWAN SEMICONDUCTOR MANUFACTURING CO., LTD.


Techniques for automatically recommending parallel execution of a SQL statement. In one set of embodiments, a first determination can be made regarding whether a SQL statement can be executed in parallel. Further, a second determination can be made regarding whether executing the SQL statement in parallel is faster than executing the statement in serial by a predetermined factor. If the first determination and second determination are positive (i.e., the statement can be executed in parallel and parallel execution is faster by the predetermined factor), a recommendation can be provided indicating that the SQL statement should be executed in parallel. In some embodiments, the recommendation can include a report specifying the degree of performance improvement gained from parallel execution, additional system resources consumed by parallel execution, and other statistics pertaining to the recommended parallel execution plan.

Embodiments of the present invention relate to in general to databases, and in particular to techniques for aiding a user in tuning database performance by recommending parallel execution of SQL statements.
Several current relational database management systems (RDBMSs) support the parallel execution of SQL statements. Generally speaking, when a SQL statement is executed in parallel by a database server, the work necessary for running the statement is divided among two or more processes or microprocessors (e.g., CPUs) of the server. This can, in some instances, significantly reduce the execution elapsed time (and thus, response time) for the statement when compared with serial execution.
However, not all SQL statements are well-suited for parallel execution. Parallel processing has a performance overhead, which can in turn affect a database server's throughput and the response time of other concurrent statements/queries. Thus, for certain SQL statements and certain contexts, parallel execution can have an ineffective (or even detrimental) performance impact. Unfortunately, there is currently no automated mechanism for aiding a user (e.g., a database administrator (DBA)) in determining whether a particular SQL statement can benefit from being run in parallel.

Techniques for recommending parallel execution of SQL statements


A thin film magnetic head includes a slider that floats from a surface of a recording medium by an airflow generated on the surface of the recording medium to be rotated, and a thin film magnetic head element structure that is formed on an air discharging end face of the slider. A thermal plastic deformation portion is provided in the vicinity of the air discharging end face on a back surface of a recording medium facing surface of a slider so that a part of the thin film magnetic head element structure is further spaced from the surface of the recording medium than the recording medium facing surface of the slider.

1. Field
a floating thin film magnetic head and a method of manufacturing the same is provided.
2. Related Art
A floating thin film magnetic head includes a slider in which a magnetroresistance effect element or an inductive element and is incorporated. A flexure is made of a flexible metal sheet adhesively fixing the slider to a free end thereof. A load beam fixes the flexure. In the floating thin film magnetic head, when a recording medium stops, a lower surface of the slider contacts with a surface of the recording medium by an elastic force of the load beam, and when the recording medium begins to move, the slider floats from the surface of the recording medium by a floating force, which is produced by an airflow led between the slider and the surface of the recording medium along a moving direction of the recording medium. By maintaining such floated state, the thin film magnetic head performs a recording operation and a reproducing operation.
A reproducing element and a recording element are laminated on an air discharging end face of the slider. The reproducing element includes the magnetroresistance effect element in which a resistance according to an intensity of an external magnetic field changes and an electrode layer electrically connecting with the magnetroresistance effect element.
The recording element includes a lower core layer that is laminated by inserting a magnetic gap layer magnetically connected at a position that is retreated from a surface opposite to the recording medium (hereinafter, refer to "a medium facing surface"), an upper core layer, and a coil layer of which a recording magnetic field is applied to the upper core layer and the lower core layer. Such reproducing element and recording element are covered with a protective layer, which is made of an insulating material such as Al2O3 or the like.
The thin film magnetic head performs a reproducing operation by detecting a resistance change of the electrically connected magnetroresistance effect element, and performs a recording operation by producing a dielectric magnetic field in the lower core layer and the upper core layer by means of a power feeding toward the coil layer and applying a leakage magnetic field as the recording magnetic field from the magnetic gap layer to the recording medium.
During the recording and the reproducing operations of the thin film magnetic head, the temperature of the reproducing element rises by a current that flows into the magnetroresistance effect element, and the temperature of the recording element rises by an exothermic heat of the coil layer due to the current flowing into the coil layer.
As above-mentioned, since the reproducing element and the recording element are covered with the protective layer made of the insulating material, the heat of the reproducing element and the recording element are not emitted outward. The temperature of the reproducing element and the recording element is high. Due to the temperature rise of the reproducing element and the recording element, an overall structure of the thin film magnetic head that includes the reproducing element, the recording element, and the protective layer is thermally expanded to protrude from the medium facing surface. In the related art, in order to avoid of the contact the thin film magnetic head with the recording medium, various measures, of which the thin film magnetic head element structure is ground obliquely, or a tip of the thin film magnetic head element structure is provided with a notch, are employed.
The related art is disclosed in JP-A-10-49822 and JP-A-11-328643.
Recently, in order to cope with the high recording density of the recording medium, it is required that a floating distance (a distance between the surface of the recording medium and the reproducing element and the recording element) of the thin film magnetic head is set to less than 1.5 nm. As mentioned above, in a case where the floating distance becomes significantly smaller, it is very difficult to prevent the element structure protruding from the medium facing surface by the thermal expansion from contacting with the recording medium. The risks such as the damage of the recording medium and the magnetic information recorded on the recording medium and the damage of the element structure in itself further increase. In order to achieve the high recording density, a frequency of the current applied to the magnetroresistance effect element and the coil layer should be high. For example, the temperature of the recording element is mainly above 100° C., thus the protruding amount of the overall element structure is large.
Conventionally, the thin film magnetic head element structure is ground and the element structure is provided with a notch. Since a target floating distance of the thin film magnetic head is very small, a grinding error and a forming error of the notch have a large effect on the floating distance, and a variation between individuals increases.

Thin film magnetic head having a thermal plastic deformation portion and manufacturing the same


A compact cross shaped tool 10 having a cross shaped holder unit 11 that is dimensioned to selectively receive a first cross arm unit 12 and a second cross arm unit 13. Both of the cross arm units 12, 13 are slidably received in one portion 21 of the holder unit 11 and only one of the cross arm units 13 is slidably received in the other portion 20 of the holder unit 11.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of multiple bit hand tools in general, and in particular to a compact cross shaped multiple bit tool.
2. Description of Related Art
As can be seen by reference to the following U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,807,179; 4,327,790;, 4,848,197; and 4,926,721, the prior art is replete with myriad and diverse multiple bit hand tools.
While all of the aforementioned prior art constructions are more than adequate for the basic purpose and function for which they have been specifically designed, they are uniformly deficient with respect to their failure to provide a simple, efficient, and compact hand tool arrangement wherein a pair of tool arms are releasably locked in a cross shaped configuration such that a uniform torque force may be applied to a selected tool bit.
As anyone who has employed the prior art multiple bit tool arms is all too painfully aware, their multiple piece construction increases the chances of a component failure and/or makes it virtually impossible to apply a uniform torque force to a selected tool bit.
As a consequence of the foregoing situation, there has existed a longstanding need for a new and improved multiple bit hand tool that comprises the least possible number of interacting tool components in a simple and efficient manner and the provision of such an construction is a stated objective of the present invention.


A system, device and method for secure message thread communication is provided. The device comprises a communication interface; a display device; and, a controller configured to: generate, at the display device, a plurality of message threads, the plurality of message threads associated with different incident reports; receive multimedia data for transmission in a first message thread of the plurality of message threads; compare the multimedia data with data from the different incident reports; and when an association is determined between the multimedia data and respective data from an incident report associated with a second message thread, of the plurality of message threads: transmit, using the communication interface, the multimedia data in the second message thread, and not the first message thread.

In a dispatch center, for example a command center and/or an emergency dispatch center, an operator can have many browsers and/or windows open on one or more displays, the browsers and/or windows for communicating with many first responders (e.g. communication devices of responders, such as police service responders, fire service responders, emergency medical service responders, and the like). Indeed, the operator can be communicating with multiple chatgroups and/or multiple first responders in multiple windows on multiple displays. It is furthermore important that the correct information be provided to the first responders in a secure manner.
Skilled artisans will appreciate that elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements in the figures may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help to improve understanding of embodiments of the present invention.
The apparatus and method components have been represented where appropriate by conventional symbols in the drawings, showing only those specific details that are pertinent to understanding the embodiments of the present invention so as not to obscure the disclosure with details that will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art having the benefit of the description herein.

System, device and method for secure message thread communication


A fluid flow production and control system includes a variable speed pump defining a fluid flow path therethrough and a fluid flow path outlet, for operating at a speed determined by an input speed control signal. Also included is a pressure sensor for detecting the pressure of fluid at the outlet, and a flow rate sensor for detecting the flow rate of fluid at the outlet. One or more dimensional parameters of the flow path, such as the cross-sectional area, venting ports along the direction of the flow path, and the like, may be varied in response to a parameter control signal. A control unit coupled to the pressure sensor and flow rate sensor and responsive to detected pressures and flow rates supplies an input speed control signal to the pump and a parameter control signal to the dimensional parameter varying mechanism to thereby produce a selected flow rate and fluid pressure at the outlet.

The present invention relates to a unitary fluid flow production and control system in which output pressure of the fluid and flow rate of the fluid can be independently controlled.
Fluid flow development is utilized in a wide variety of systems and for a variety of purposes including, for example, fuel delivery for automobiles, aircraft and other motorized vehicles, water delivery systems, hydraulic systems, pneumatic systems, chemical and petrochemical processes, oil refining, power generation, heating and air conditioning systems, etc. The fluid flow in such systems may be produced using various type pumps such as centrifugal pumps, piston actuated pumps, diaphragm pumps, and the like.
In nearly all fluid flow production systems, two of the parameters or fluid characteristics of interest are flow rate at the output of the pump or other flow developing device, and output pressure of the fluid. It is oftentimes desirable to control, to the extent possible, these two parameters but effectuation of such control such as by varying the speed of operation of the pump, for example, results in controlling either the output flow rate or the output pressure, but not both. In particular, plotting output pressure versus output flow rate for different pump speeds yields a family of curves in which the output pressure decreases as the flow rate increases and vice versa. Furthermore, throttling the discharge of a constant speed pump affects both flow and pressure, but not independently. Of course, independent control and selected variation of each parameter by itself would be desirable.
Exemplary prior art patents describing fluid flow systems, pumps and approaches to controlling operation of the systems include U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,932,840 (control apparatus of variable delivery pumps), 4,801,247 (control of various parameters of a variable displacement piston pump), 3,563,672 (a pump control system for maintaining a substantially constant output pressure), 2,944,488 (a pump control system to maintain a constant pressure in a fluid delivery line downstream of a pump), 4,204,808 (a variable drive pump to maintain a pipe line suction pressure at an acceptable level), 4,257,746 (dosimeter having a low air flow rate), 4,795,314 (condition responsive pump such as a peristaltic blood pump control utilizing integrated, commanded, and sensed flow rate signals), 4,332,527 (variable speed centrifugal pump), and 4,907,950 (variable positive fluid displacement system).

Unitary fluid flow production and control system