A sound control mat includes a waterproof separation layer, an entangled monofilament structure, and a meltblown nonwoven. The sounds control mat provides improved sound control such as improved impact insulation.

Sound and the transmission thereof in buildings, particularly between floors in multistory dwellings and commercial buildings, can be a serious problem. Transmitted sound is typically caused by impact generated by forceful meeting of an object with a floor or airborne sound. The transmission of sound between floors may disturb or be an annoyance to individuals present in the area below or adjacent to the room in which the sound is generated.
In general, impact sound is generated due to pedestrian footfall on the floor, movement of objects over the floor, and any other contact made with the floor. Airborne sound is usually due to speech, sound from audio and video equipment, and sound from other objects such as toys, computers, video games, kitchen appliances, fans, and the like. The transmission of sound between floors is particularly a problem where the upper finished flooring is made of flooring, such as concrete, ceramic tiles, hardwood, or resilient flooring. Installation of thick carpeting may be required to prevent the transmission of sound. However, in multi-family, stacked construction, hard surfaces are desirable, yet noisy for surrounding neighbors. Additionally, in many instances, carpet is not an aesthetically desirable component.
An alternative to the use of carpeting to prevent sound transmission has been the use of a sound rated floor system, such as that disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,685,259, or a floating floor, such as that disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,879,856. The use of sound rated floor system or a floating floor substantially reduces the transmission of sound between floors by isolating the flooring from the floor substructure. Products that create a floating floor have resilience and create an air space, where the thicker the air space is and the more the resilience, the better is its performance. Accordingly, what is needed is an improved sound control system that is inexpensive, simple and quick to install, and is resilient.


Two solid copper pieces are assembled by welding without filler metal. The pieces both have a projection which are placed facing and in contact with one another, before the pieces to be assembled are placed on the welding press. Welding is performed by passing a very high intensity current for a short period of about one tenth of a second under very high pressure. The welding operation prevents any annealing of the copper.

The invention relates to an assembly process by welding of first and second solid copper pieces without filler metal.
In electrical switchgear a large number of solid pieces are made of copper, whose good electrical conduction is well known. All the assemblies of these solid copper pieces require hot joining by brazing. The filler metal is generally a silver-based alloy whose fusion point is lower than that of copper and the operation is a delicate one. The copper is necessarily heated and it undergoes a physical annealing transformation, and an external degradation due to the carbon deposits from brazing. The pieces then have to be cleaned and treated chemically to recover their original appearance. The copper recovers part of its hardness with time.

Assembly process by welding of two solid copper pieces and assembly performed using such a process


Applicant has discovered a new zeolite containing composition and a process for preparing the same. The composition is unique in that the zeolite crystals making up one layer of the composition pack in a manner such that the composition is essentially continuous with no large scale voids even when the zeolite layer is <10 .mu.m thick. Thus, the present invention is directed toward a composition comprised of a porous substrate and a layer of zeolite crystals wherein said layer of zeolite crystals is a polycrystalline layer with at least 99% of said zeolite crystals having at least one point between adjacent crystals that is .ltoreq.20 .ANG. and wherein at least 90% of said crystals have widths of from about 0.2 to about 100 microns (preferably about 2 to about 50 microns) and wherein at least 75% of said crystals have a thickness of within 20% of the average crystal thickness. Preferably the composition has at most 1 Volume % voids in the zeolite layer. Use of the composition is also described.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,110,478 describes the direct synthesis of zeolite membranes. The membranes produced in accordance with the teachings of U.S. Pat. No. 5,110,478 were discussed in "Synthesis and Characterization of a Pure Zeolite Membrane," J. G. Tsikoyiannis and W. Haag, Zeolites (VOl. 12, p. 126., 1992). Such membranes are free standing and are not affixed or attached as layers to any supports. Furthermore, the membranes have a gradient of crystal sizes across the thickness of the membrane. Such a gradient precludes growth of a thin membrane with a minimum number of nonselective permeation paths.
Zeolite membranes have also been grown on supports. See e.g. "High temperature stainless steel supported zeolite (MFI) membranes: Preparation, Module, Construction and Permeation Experiments," E. R. Geus, H. vanBekkum, J. A. Moulyin, Microporous Materials, Vol. 1, p. 137, 1993; Netherlands Patent Application 91011048; European Patent Application 91309239.1 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,099,692.
All of the above prepared membranes have nonuniform sized zeolite crystals and are noncontinuous, exhibiting many voids. Obtaining functional zeolite membranes from low alkaline synthesis routes is difficult because the heterogeneous crystals in the membrane require an enormous membrane thickness to seal pinholes and void structures which lower the membrane selectivity.

In-situ crystallized zeolite containing composition (LAI-ISC)


A system and method for creating an index value for evaluating market center execution quality. This can include a summation of at least two derived values selected from: an execution speed of a predetermined order of covered security orders that were executed at a market center; price improvement of a predetermined order of covered security orders that were executed at a market center; percentage of covered security orders that were executed at a market center at a quoted value or a better value; a percentage of covered security orders that were executed at outside the quoted value; and effective spread, which is as twice the difference between the securities execution price and the midpoint of a consolidated best bid or offer at the time of a securities order receipt. The index value can be utilized to compare market center executions provided in public data versus that provided by private data.

It is a difficult process to ascertain what market center is currently performing at the highest quality level. It is important to the customer that any stock transaction occurs in the most efficient manner possible so that the stock is sold as close as possible to the quoted price, or better, in the shortest period of time. For quality customer service it is desirable to be warned if the market center is statistically below expectations and re-route the stock transaction if the underperformance of the market center is significant.
Unfortunately, it is difficult to always ascertain which market center can provide the customer with the best possible results since a number of factors affect the total quality of the securities transaction. For example, the securities transaction may be executed in a very short period of time but the sales price may be significantly below the quoted price. Therefore, it is important to be able to analyze the performance of a market center in real time to attempt to not only meet the customer's expectations but exceed them.
Therefore, there is a significant need to evaluate market center performance, in real time, for a plurality of criteria. Moreover, it would be very valuable to be able to focus on problem areas with a combined index that provides a single numerical indication regarding overall market center performance. The present invention is directed to overcoming one or more of the problems set forth above.

Method and system for evaluation of market centers for security trading performance


In order to generate a risk index of stress symptoms triggered by flashing lights on a scan type video display screen, a video signal processor is provided which operates such as to implement temporal filtering and spatial filtering on a video signal applied thereto every field and detect low temporal frequency components while excluding effects due to high spatial frequencies. A risk index generator receives the low frequency components from the video signal processor and determines the risk index based thereon.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to technologies for indexing a risk of severe stress symptoms triggered by flashing, colorful lights displayed on video display terminal (VDT) such as a television, a computer terminal, etc.
2. Description of Related Art
With the recent developments of computer graphics techniques including virtual reality, a variety of images are displayed on a video screen of a television, computer terminal, etc., and the bright flashing lights of a a TV cartoon (for example) became a serious matter of triggering seizures or seizure-like symptoms. It is reported that flickers or flashes at a rate ranging from 2 to 55 Hertz is liable to induce seizures, various convulsions, vomiting, irritated eyes and other symptoms in certain photosensitive people. It is further reported that there is some evidence that flickering outside the 2–55 Hertz range can also cause seizures.
One approach to reducing or preventing such stress symptoms triggered by violent flickering or flashing is disclosed in the Laid-opened Japanese Patent Application No. 8-286653 (first prior art). According to this prior art, the video image signals whose brightness changes at about 10 Hertz are adaptively reduced using a temporal low-pass filterer and displaying the temporal frequency-treated images on the screen. However, this prior art suffers from the difficulties that the images displayed after being temporally filtered are deteriorated due to the reduction of frequency components of the moving pictures.
In order to overcome the above-mentioned problem, it has been proposed to generate a risk index signal in connection with the video signals which might cause the sever stress symptoms such as seizures. This proposal is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application P2001-154648A (second prior art) filed by the same entity as the assignee of the present application, in accordance with which upon detecting the video images which are likely to induce the sever stresses, an alarm or a warning signal is issued to alert viewers, Accordingly, it is possible to avoid the undesirable deterioration of the reproduced images.
Before turning to the present invention, it is deemed preferable to describe the second prior art with reference to FIG. 1.
FIG. 1 is a diagram schematically showing functional blocks for generating a VDT seizure risk index and relevant part of television receiver set.
In the following, the severe stress symptoms may be referred to as VDT seizures or simply seizures for the convenience of descriptions.
A primary-color signal generator 10 is supplied with a luminance signal Y and three color-difference signals R-Y, G-Y, and B-Y. The generator 10 produces three primary-color signals R, G, and B which are applied to a display unit (not shown). In addition, the primary-color signals R, G, and B are respectively applied to signal processing sections 12, 14, and 16. The outputs of the sections 12, 14, and 16 are fed to a VDT seizure risk index generator 18.
The signal processing sections 12, 14, and 16 are identical with one another in terms of the circuit configurations and the functions thereof, and as such, only the section 12 is illustrated in detail in FIG. 1. The section 12 generally comprises an analog-to-digital (A/D) converter 20, a field memory 22, and a temporal low-pass filter 24 which in turn comprises three field memories 26, 28, and 30, and an arithmetic circuit 32.
The field signals (analog) of primary-color R are applied to the analog-to-digital (A/D) converter 20 and converted to the corresponding digital field signals thereat without distinction between adjacent fields. The A/D converter 20 applies the digital field signals to the field memories 22 and 26 one by one.
In the interlaced scanning, one frame consists of two fields (odd and even fields), and the frame rate is about 30 per second and the field rate (or flash rate) is about 60 per second in the NTSC (the National Television System Committee) color transmission system. The arithmetic circuit 32 retrieves a field signal from the field memory 26 and also retrieves the previous field signal from the field memory 28, and calculates new pixel values based on the corresponding pixel values of the two-field signals obtained form the field memories 26 and 28 using the following equation (1)Ii′(t)=(1−δ)×Ii(t)+δ×Ii(t−Δt)  (1)where i denotes a two-dimensional coordinate used to represent the position of each pixel in the field, Ii(t) denotes a pixel value in the coordinate i at a time t, Δt denotes a time interval between two fields (Δt= 1/60 seconds in the NTSC color transmission system), and δ is a coefficient (0<δ≦1) which determines the characteristics of the temporal low-pass filter 24 and is typically set to 0.7 by way of example.
As shown in the above, the arithmetic circuit 32 operates such as to weight Ii(t) and Ii(t−Δt) by the coefficient (1−δ) and δ respectively and then adds the multiplication results. The new pixel values thus calculated over one whole field are successively cumulated in the field memory 30. It is understood that the low temporal frequency components over the successive fields can be determined from the cumulated pixel values.
The VDT seizure risk index generator 18 is supplied with the pixel data from the field memories 22 and 30. In addition, the generator 18 receives the pixel data similar to those stored in the field memories 22 and 30 from the signal processing units 14 and 16, and calculates a,seizure risk index e(t) using the following equation (2)
                              e                                (            t            )                          =                                            ∑              c                                                                  ∑                i                                                                            w                  c                                                                                                                                                                I                          i                                                                                (                          t                          )                                                                    -                                                                        I                          i                          ′                                                                                (                          t                          )                                                                                                                    m                                                                          N            ×                                          (                                  I                                                                                max                                )                            m                        ×                                          ∑                c                                                          w                c                                                                        (        2        )            where
(1) wO represents weighting coefficients wR, wG, and wB (0<wR, wG, wB≦1) of respective primary-color signals R, G, and B;
(2) Ii(t) denotes a pixel value at a time t in the coordinate i with respect to the primary color signals R, G and B;
(3) Ii′(t) is determined using equation (1);
(4) Imax denotes the maximal value of each pixel, and in case each pixel is represented by 8 bits, Imax becomes 255;
(5) N denotes a total number of pixels in one field, and if one frame consists of 640×480, then N=15360(=640×480/2); and
(6) m is an index representing human's non-linear sensitivity as to the VDT seizure risk, and typically set to 1, 2, or 3.
If the weighting coefficients wR, wG, and wB are made different, it is possible to change the seizure risk index e(t) depending on the image colors. It is admitted that the red color flash is liable to induce the VDT stress symptoms, and as such, if the weighting coefficient WR is made large relative to wG, and wB, the red color flash can be reflected on the seizure risk index e(t). Further, the index e(t) is normalized in equation (2) by the total number of pixels in one field, and thus it is possible to reduce undesirable influence due to the differences of display screen sizes.
As mentioned above, the seizure risk index e(t) is determined based on the differences between the cumulated pixel values (stored in the field memory 30) and the pixel values of one field (stored in the filed memory 22), and accordingly, the second prior art suffers from the difficulty that the risk index e(t) erroneously indicates a high value due to white noise and/or contours of picture images irrespective of fact that the possibility of inducing the stress symptoms is extremely low. In other words, the second prior art is unable to correctly evaluate the VDT seizure risk based on the human's visual sensation.
More specifically, for example, in case white noise is superimposed on the original primary-color signals, the differences between the corresponding pixel data stored in the field memories 22 and 30 become large, resulting in erroneously indication of the seizure risk possibility.
By way of example, in the case where half of the pixels in the frames flashes, if the flashing pixels are randomly scattered over the frame, the seizure risk index e(t) indicates a high level irrespective of the fact that the VDT seizure risk is very low. On the contrary, in the same case, if the flashing pixels are concentrated on half of each of the frames, the index e(t) becomes high because the seizure risk is high. However, the second prior art is encountered the problem that the above-mentioned two cases are unable to be distinguished.
Further, it is often the case that the corresponding pixel values of the adjacent fields change abruptly at the contour of the picture images. In such an instance, the differences between the two field signals stored in the memories 22 and 30 become large, leading to an undesirable result of erroneously increasing the VDT seizure risk. The aforesaid prior art also suffers from the difficulty of being unable to deal with such a case.

Method of indexing seizure risk due to flashing lights on video display and system therefor


A health model builder may construct a health model from instrumentation of software. To do so, the instrumentation of the software component may be mapped to states of operation of the software component and the instrumentation may be grouped together. A health model may be built with the states of operation resulting from mapping the instrumentation to states of operation of the software component and with transitions between the states of the health model that represent an occurrence of instrumentation in an instrumentation group. The system allows for identification of anti-alert instrumentation to be added where instrumentation is missing for reporting recovery from failure. Moreover, a blame component may be identified for any instrumentation of a software component that indicates it failed because of another software component.

Existing software management and administration products are designed to report isolated events during execution of software and may also report information of operational status of software, but often do so without providing any context. For instance, an error message may be generated for a log file that may report a failure such as a failure to open a file. This error message may not provide any context regarding the severity of this failure. The error may represent a minor failure or it may represent a major failure that places the software in a failed state of operation. There needs to be a way to understand the context of the operational status of executing software when such errors are reported so that a system administrator may appreciate the impact of such an error. In an attempt to provide more context, selected errors or status messages have been reported in a single view or monitoring window but this approach has not relieved the system administrator of the burden to make sense of the error or status messages, nor has it provided the system administrator with a satisfactory appreciation of the impact of the errors. There has been insufficient progress in improving the ability to monitor the health of software using this approach.
Following the approach of model-based testing does not appear to be any more promising. Model-based testing is a current practice for testing software whereby a model of an application is first created using the same requirements used for creating the software, and then test cases are generated and executed by both the application under test and by the model. The results of the tests executed by the application are verified against the results of the tests executed by the model. When discrepancies between the application and the model are detected, the test program alerts the tester. Although model-based testing may provide a framework for generating various combinations of input to the application, the model is only as good as its fit for the application. Taking such an approach for building a health model for monitoring the execution of software has several problems. Inherently, every model is imperfect to the extent that it does not accurately represent the application. However, in the case of model-based testing, the model will not fit the software application to the extent that the requirements are interpreted differently by the software developers who create the software and the modelers who build the model for testing. As a consequence, behavior of the application program may not be accurately reflected by a model constructed in such a manner. Furthermore, attempts to monitor the execution of a software application using such a flawed model will result in frustration due to inaccuracies in the state of execution of the software.
What is needed is a way for constructing a health model that will accurately reflect the state of operation of software or software services. Any such health model should allow a system administrator who may only be interested in monitoring a specific functionality of the product, like a network connection or database availability, to focus on monitoring that functionality.

System and method for providing a health model for software


A method and system for maximization of the use of bandwidth capacity of an optical network when adding a data stream received from a switch to the optical network. In one embodiment, a data stream is added to the optical network. A data stream is received from a switch and grouped into a destination group. The destination group is then sent to the network. In another embodiment, a method for dropping a data stream received from an optical network to a switch is provided. A segment is received from the optical network. If the segment is a private segment, then it is demultiplexed into at least one data stream. The data stream from the private segment is then sent to the switch. In still another embodiment, a method for providing an interface between a switch and an optical network is provided. In this embodiment, a data stream is received from the switch. The data stream is grouped into a destination group and the destination group is sent to the optical network. Also in this embodiment, a private segment is received from the optical network. The private segment is demultiplexed into at least one data stream and the data stream or data streams are sent to the switch. In this embodiment, a public segment is also received. The public segment is demultiplexed into at least one data stream. If the data stream from the public segment is local, the local data stream is sent to the switch. If the data stream is non-local, the non-local data stream is returned to the optical network.

Next-day air. Delivery in thirty minutes or less. The information superhighway. Our society demands speed, convenience, and efficiency in the delivery of products and services. The communications industry is not exempt from these demands. To be competitive, a provider of communications network services must provide customers with service in a quick, convenient, and efficient manner, and as inexpensively as possible. To remain competitive, such a service provider also must provide customers with new services in a quick, convenient, and efficient manner, and as inexpensively as possible.
Recent advances and improvements in communications technology, such as fiber optic cables and optical networks, provide the communications industry with enormous opportunities to improve existing services and to branch into new services. Thousands of miles of fiber optic cable have been deployed in optical networks. These optical networks make possible the transmission of large amounts of information at great speeds. Optical networks have been used primarily to carry voice signals in telecommunication applications. However, the advanced features of optical networks allow for the transmission of other information such as data, video and multimedia signals. Thus, the communications industry is ideally suited to provide advanced services including the transmission of data, video and multimedia signals.
For example, optical networks may be used to carry the information that provides a subscriber with home entertainment services. Ideally, the subscriber places an order for home delivery of some entertainment such as some music, a video or a movie through the use of a telephone (or other customer premises equipment). The music, video or movie is almost instantaneously delivered over a networked communications system to the subscriber's home entertainment center. The information regarding both order placement and order delivery is carried, at least in part, over optical networks. Thus, the advanced features of optical networks as information transport facilities allow for the provision of new and improved services to subscribers, such as home entertainment services. The advanced features of optical networks provide other opportunities as well. Such opportunities include videoconferencing services, customized services for the provision of special news, sports or entertainment programming as well as other services.
As noted, optical networks provide opportunities for the delivery of new and improved services. However, the cost of these new and improved services to subscribers remains high. The high cost stands as an impediment to the promulgation and acceptance of the new and improved services. One reason for the high cost is an inefficiency in the transport of certain types of information through optical networks. The inefficiency is discussed in further detail below in connection with a brief description of information transport facilities including optical networks.
To deliver information from one point to another, and especially to deliver data, video or multimedia signals from one point to another, service providers have used information transport facilities that include a combination of an asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) system and one or more optical networks. There are drawbacks to the use of this combination as an information transport facility. One drawback is that the transfer of information in an ATM system and an optical network often results in inefficiencies in the transport of the information in the optical network. In other words, an ATM system often transfers information to an optical network in an amount that is much less than the maximum capacity that can be handled by the optical network. This inefficient transfer of information fails to take advantage of the advanced information transmission capabilities of optical networks. This inefficient transfer of information also may actually slow the transmission of information because the inefficient transfers of information take up bandwidth capacity and use up time that could be allocated to more efficient transfers of information.
In addition, the inefficiencies in transport of information through optical networks serve to maintain (rather than to reduce) the generally high cost of use of these networks. By way of explanation, the cost of use of an optical network is approximately the same whatever amount of information is being carried within the bandwidth capacity of the optical network. Inefficient use of the optical network does not allow for much distribution of the cost of use over the different blocks of information transmitted and/or those parties using the optical network. Efficient use of the optical network allows for a greater distribution of the cost of use over the blocks of information transmitted and/or those parties using the optical network. A lower cost for use of the optical network may be achieved by providing that the optical network carries the maximum amount of information and by distributing the cost of the use of the optical network over the maximum amount of information.
To explain the inefficiencies in the transfer of information between an ATM system and an optical network, a basic description of an information transport facility that includes an ATM system and an optical network is provided below.

Method and system for interfacing an ATM switch and an optical network wherein bandwidth is maximized and non-local data streams are grouped into destination groups


An image forming system including a binding system section that generates a stack of sheets by accumulating a plurality of sheets and that binds the sheets by wrapping the stack of sheets with a cover sheet in the shape of a horizontal U, the image forming system having: a measurement section to measure the thickness of the stack of sheets; a spine cover width determining section to determine a spine cover width in the cover sheet based on the thickness of the stack of sheets measured by the measurement section; and an image forming section to form on the cover sheet a front cover image and a back cover image separating them by a spacing equal to the spine cover width.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image forming system that binds a stack of sheets by wrapping it with a cover page in the shape of a horizontal U.
2. Description of the Related Art
Binding apparatuses are known (see Patent Document 1) that carry out simple binding of a stack of a plurality of sheets on which images have been formed by a copying machine, or a printer, etc., by wrapping the stack of sheets with a cover page bent in the shape a horizontal U. An outline of a general binding technology is as follows. Firstly, a stack of sheets is prepared by accumulating and aligning a plurality of sheets on which images have been formed. Next, an adhesive such as gum, etc., is coated on one surface of the accumulated and aligned stack of sheets. Further, the cover sheet is conveyed and made to stop at a prescribed position, and the cover sheet is adhered to the surface of the stack of sheets on which the adhesive has been coated. Using this procedure, the stack of sheets and the cover sheet become bonded thereby forming a book.
An example of a book formed by a binding apparatus is shown in FIG. 1. FIG. 1(a) shows the state in which the cover sheet S2 has not been folded, and FIG. 1(b) shows the state in which the cover sheet S2 has been folded. S3 is constituted by the plurality of sheets S1 and the cover sheet S2, and is the form in which the cover sheet S2 wraps the stack of sheets S1 in the form of a horizontal U. In the following, S3 is called a wrapped book. In the final form of the wrapped book S3, the side edge part S1E of the sheets S1 and the side edge part S2E of the cover sheet S2 are aligned. The cove sheet S2 has, as is shown in FIG. 1(a), a front cover area a, a spine cover area b, and a back cover area c.
FIG. 2 shows a development drawing of the cover sheet S2. As is shown in FIG. 2, the front cover image G1 has been formed in the front cover area a, and a back cover image G2 has been formed in the back cover area c, and the front cover image G1 and the back cover image G2 are separated at a spacing X. The spine cover area b is present in between the front cover area a and the back cover area c, and the width of the spine cover area b (hereinafter referred to as the spine cover width) varies depending on the number of sheets S1 in the book. In other words, it is necessary to determine exactly the spine cover width in order to form the front cover image G1 and the back cover image G2 at accurate positions on the cover sheet S2.
As a method of determining the spine cover width, there is the method disclosed in Patent Document 2. In the technology described in Patent Document 2, the size of the spine cover part of the cover sheet is calculated using the data related to the thickness of one sheet, the data related to the toner thickness based on the amount of toner used per sheet, and the number of sheets.
Patent Document 1: Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Open to Public Inspection No. 2005-335262
Patent Document 2: Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Open to Public Inspection No. Hei 10-167557
However, since the spine cover width is affected by the variations in the thickness of one sheet of paper, the amount of curling of the sheet, etc., in the method of calculating it based on the data described in Patent Document 2 and the number sheets, it is not possible to determine exactly the spine cover width, and it is not possible to form the cover sheet image, etc., at an accurate position in the cover sheet.

Konica Minolta Business Technologies, Inc.


A numerical calculation device calculates a value of any one of an option premium or an option risk indicator or both related to a barrier option. The numerical calculation device includes a magnitude relation judging unit that judges a magnitude relation between a value of a volatility used for a calculation of the option risk indicator and a threshold value of the volatility at which it is predicted in advance that an overflow occurs, and a calculation executing unit that executes, when it is judged that the value of the volatility is equal to or larger than the threshold value, the calculation of the option risk indicator using a specific approximation formula and calculation procedure.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a technology for calculating a value of any one of an option premium and an option risk indicator or both related to a barrier option.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, option trading for trading a right (an option) for trading specific underlying assets like stocks, credits, and currencies in specific dates and periods at prices decided advance has been widely performed. A right for buying an option is called a call option and a right for selling an option is called a put option.
A barrier option and the like, which are more developed forms of these options, have also been started to be traded. The barrier option is an option in which a right for exercising an option accrues or lapses when an underlying asset value reaches a fixed price (a barrier).
For inventors investing in the option trading, to improve investment effects, it is extremely important to accurately predict trading prices (option premiums) of such options.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-230304 discloses a premium calculating method that can approximately calculate option premiums in markets of the barrier options and the like satisfactorily based on option risk indicators like Vega and Vanna.
However, in the conventional technology disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-230304, when an option premium or an option risk indicator is numerically calculated, it is likely that an execution result of the numerical calculation exceeds a maximum value of the number, which a computer can handle, to cause an overflow. Thus, the calculation executed to that point is wasted.
In the barrier option, power function including an inverse 1/v2 of a square of a volatility v frequently appears in an exponential part in an equation for the option premium or a formula for calculating the option risk indicator. When a value of the volatility becomes extremely small, a value of this exponential part increases and a value of the power function becomes extremely large. As a result, the overflow easily occurs.
A product of an equation including the inverse 1/v2 of the square of the volatility v and the power function frequently appears in the equation for the option risk indicator. When a value of the volatility becomes extremely small, a value of the power function increases and a value of the equation including 1/v2 also increases. As a result, the overflow more easily occurs.
When the overflow occurs in this way, time and processing consumed for execution of the calculation of the option premium and the option risk indicator are wasted. In particular, this causes a significant problem in repeating the calculation while changing various parameters. This causes more marked problem when the calculation is repeatedly executed in an electric calculator, a portable terminal like a Personal Digital Assistance (PDA), and the like that have relatively low performance of a CPU.

Numerical calculation device, numerical calculation method, and computer product


A wall saw includes a saw head which is displaceable longitudinally on a running rail and has a swivelable saw arm and a saw blade with cutting elements which is detachably fastened to the saw arm. The saw blade is rotatable by means of a drive unit which is mounted on the saw arm and which communicates with a drive arrangement. The saw blade is fastened to the saw arm via a coupling formed of two flange halves (11,17) which slide one inside the other and which can be connected with one another in a detachable manner, one flange half (11) being fastened to the flat side of the saw blade facing the saw arm and the second flange half (17) being arranged at the saw arm.

The invention is directed to a wall saw, in particular a wall saw for making flush cuts in concrete and the like substrates, in accordance with the preamble of patent claim 1. The invention is also directed to a saw blade for use in combination with a wall saw of the type mentioned above in accordance with the preamble of patent claim 8.
Wall saw systems are arrangements for cutting through walls of reinforced or unreinforced concrete with the aid of rotating saw blades provided with cutting segments and are described, for example, in brochure Nos. W 1881 594 10-d, 1994 and W 1838 993 10-d, 1993, published by the Hilti Aktiengesellschaft. They are used in building construction above, at or below ground level in, building demolition and renovation. For example, in demolition work for redevelopment projects, building modifications, or erection of add-on structures, it may be necessary to cut through or demolish existing concrete walls or to cut out areas of the concrete walls. In many applications, cuts can be made in areas of the concrete walls where there is adequate distance from an adjacent wall, ceiling or floor; on the other hand, flush cutting is required especially when making cuts for add-on structures or when cutting out door openings and the like. This means, for instance, that the cut must be made flush with an adjacent, vertically extending wall or, in the case of cutting out door openings, that the cuts must run flush with the floor and with the ceiling.
Conventional fastening arrangements which fix the saw blade to the saw head or saw arm cannot be used for flush cut applications of this kind because such arrangements are composed of elements that are arranged on both flat sides of the saw blade so as to clamp the saw blade between them and connect it with a drive unit mounted at the saw head. The fastening elements project over the flat sides of the saw blade and thus render flush cutting impossible. Flush flanges, as they are called, which are fixedly connected with the drive unit at the saw head or saw arm were developed for this reason. The saw blade is fixedly connected with the flush flange with the aid of countersink screws which are inserted through bore holes in the saw blade from the side located opposite to the flange and screwed into the flange. The heads of the screws terminate flush with the flat side of the saw blade. In these known flush flanges, no fastening elements project over the free flat side of the saw blade and cutting can accordingly be carried out flush with an adjacent wall, floor or ceiling.
When using wall saws and especially in flush cutting applications, care must be taken not to work with the largest saw blade diameter right from the start irrespective of the required or desired depth of cut. This is principally because saw blades with very large diameters of up to 1600 mm, for instance, can be deformed axially during operation, particularly under axial loading. This can cause vibrations or oscillations in the saw blade during operation and impair the true or circular running of the saw blade. Also, in flush cutting applications only one side of the saw blade is guided by the flush cut flange at the start of the cutting process. Therefore, the problem of oscillations in the saw blade can be even more pronounced in flush cutting applications. Therefore, when using wall saws a saw blade with a smaller starting diameter of 600 mm or 700 mm, for example, is always mounted to begin with for producing a preliminary cut. Subsequently, the saw blade is exchanged for a saw blade of greater diameter one or more times in gradations of 200 mm to 300 mm in order to produce a cut of the required depth. The saw blades with greater diameters are guided on both sides in the cut which has already been made and can thus no longer be deformed axially.
In the known fastening arrangements and flush cut flanges, the exchanging of saw blades is relatively time-consuming and difficult to manage, since the saw blade must be completely separated from the fastening arrangements. Flush cut applications have the additional problem that the fastening screws can only be reached from the flat side of the saw blade which faces the adjacent wall, floor or ceiling. For this reason, it is often necessary to lift the saw head from the track or running rail along which it is longitudinally displaceable and to tilt it in order to loosen the fastening screws, of which there are six, for example. After lifting off the saw blade from the flush cut flange connected with the saw head or saw arm, the next largest size saw blade must be lifted up and placed on the flush cut flange. The saw blade can only be secured to the flush cut flange again by the fastening screws after bringing the bore holes in the saw blade in alignment with the bore holes in the flush cut flange. The saw head with the saw blade secured thereto must then be attached to the running rail again.
It is relatively cumbersome and time-consuming to change the saw blades. In addition, it should not be forgotten that a saw head weighs about 30 kg or more and the saw blades weigh up to 70 kg. Therefore, in order to lift the saw head from the running rail and replace it on the running rail, the user must lift and adjust a weight of 100 kg. It should be taken into consideration that this must also be carried out under very cramped conditions in flush cutting applications. The saw blade is heavy and--especially with large diameters--very bulky and difficult to handle and can only be lifted with difficulty. Therefore, with known fastening arrangements for the saw blades and especially in known flush cutting flanges, changing saw blades also always requires a relatively great physical effort on the part of the user.
Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to improve a wall saw in such a way that the saw blade can be changed simply and quickly. It should be possible, even under cramped conditions such as occur particularly in flush cutting applications, to change the saw blade without needing to lift it from the running rail and tilt it. In general, the user should not have to lift the saw blade in order to change it. The saw blade should also be prepared in such a way that the saw blade can be lifted more easily than was previously possible should it ever be necessary to do so, e.g., in order to remove an exchanged saw blade from the work area.


The present invention relates to a cutting insert. The cutting insert, according to one embodiment of the present invention, comprises: a top surface; a bottom surface; side surfaces which connect the top surface and the bottom surface to each other; a hole which penetrates the top surface and the bottom surface; and cutting edges which are defined by the top surface and the side surfaces, wherein a main cutting edge side surface among the side surfaces is provided with a first relief surface, a transition surface extending from the first relief surface, and a second relief surface extending from the transition surface, the first relief surface is formed such that the relief angle or the relief surface width varies along the cutting edge, and the transition surface is provided with a plurality of ridges in order to reinforce the rigidity of the cutting edge.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a cutting insert.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, a cutting insert is coupled to a cutting tool mounted on a machine tool, to be used in cutting a workpiece to be cut which consists of iron, nonferrous metals, non-metal materials, etc.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,052,863 discloses an example of the cutting insert, which discloses a cutting insert (hereinbelow, 'conventional cutting insert') as the one illustrated in FIG. 1. For reference, FIG. 1 corresponds to FIG. 6 provided by U.S. Pat. No. 5,052,863, without any modifications to the reference numerals for convenience of explanation.
To be specific, the conventional cutting insert is used as a peripheral rotary milling cutter which includes a cylindrical holder and a plurality of replaceable cutting inserts arranged along circumferential direction, in which at least one cutting edge is provided between rake surface and relief surface of the insert.
Further, the conventional cutting insert is so configured that narrow flank surface portion 24a is gradually decreased in size in a direction from the raised cutting corner edge portion to lowered cutting corner edge portion, and the relief angle is substantially not varied along a lengthwise direction of the cutting edge.
Meanwhile, high speed and high feed cutting is subject to great possibility of having excessive cutting loads on specific portion of the cutting edges depending on processing conditions, and if this happens, the cutting edges of the specific portion of the conventional cutting insert can possibly be broken. Accordingly, it is necessary to provide a cutting insert, which has increased cutting performance, and also has increased rigidity on specific portion which can be subject to excessive machining load.


A Land Grid Array connector for connecting a Land Grid Array package mounted on a package board with a printed board. The Land Grid Array connector includes columns for conduction between the electrode of the Land Grid Array package and the electrode of the printed board and a socket supporting the columns. The Land Grid Array connector also includes a structure in which the columns receive an even load when the Land Grid Array package is mounted.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a Land Grid Array ("LGA") connector and a package mount structure for conduction between an LGA package and a system board.
2. Description of the Related Art
Systems for conduction between a package and a system board include a ball grid array (BGA) system in which a package is soldered directly to a board and a land grid array (LGA) connector system. The BGA system has the problems of heat generated at connection and the time and cost for replacement, while the LGA connector system needs only works at room temperature and facilitates replacement because of a configuration to provide conduction by pressure.
FIG. 1 shows a package mount structure of a related art (in sectional view). FIG. 2 shows the package mount structure of the related art (in plan view).
The package mount structure has a configuration in which a heatsink base 52, a lid or heat spreader 53, and a bolster plate 57 are pressed by tightening them with screws 58 with a spring 59. Principally, the outer four corners of an LGA package 54 are pressed to clamp an LGA connector 51 between a package board 55 that mounts the LGA package 54 and a system board 56.
The LGA connector 51 is pressed with the screws 58 at the four corners to collapse columns 61 of the LGA connector 51, so that the electrodes of the package board 55 and the system board 56, and a silver filler among the columns 61 are brought into conduction, thereby providing conduction between the LGA package 54 and the system board 56.
The LGA connector 51 is sandwiched between the heatsink base 52 and the bolster plate 57, and the outer four corners of the LGA package 54 are pressed with screws. Accordingly, the load on the columns 61 is not even, i.e., the load on the outer side adjacent to the four corners is large, and the load on the inside is small.
Since a socket 62 of the LGA connector 51 is made of a low-rigidity resin material such as polyimide in the present circumstances, it is deformed under a load to cause unevenness in load on the columns 61.
Since the LGA connector 51 is screwed at four portions in sequence and pressed with the springs 59 at assembling, it is difficult to provide sufficient parallelism.
For these reasons, if the load imposed on some of the columns 61 is low, there is a possibility of nonconduction.

Land grid array connector and package mount structure


An electrically controlled oscillator circuit having multi-phase outputs with programmable frequency. The circuit includes a ring oscillator having a plurality of inverting stages. Each stage has an output which is connected to a switch that can be programmed to select one of a plurality of capacitors with different values to change the frequency range of the oscillator. Controlled current is fed to the stages to vary the frequency of the oscillator within a selected frequency range. Using capacitors to change the frequency range of the oscillator reduces variations of the oscillator output frequency.

This invention relates to electrically controlled oscillating circuits and more particularly to current or voltage controlled ring oscillators with programmable output frequencies.
Current controlled oscillators (ICO) or voltage controlled oscillators (VCO) are frequently used with phase-locked loop circuits. Typical applications for a phase-locked loop circuit include frequency synthesis or clock generation. When VCOs and ICOs are used in high frequency operations (greater than 100 Mhz), with multi-phased outputs, the oscillator of choice is a ring oscillator.
Ring oscillators have a chain of inverters connected together. The output of one of the inverters is connected in series to the input of another inverter. The output of the last inverter in the chain is connected to the input of the first inverter. Each of the inverters' outputs are tapped to provide signals with a common frequency and different phases. The output frequency is changed by varying the current supply to the oscillator.
The center frequency from oscillator to oscillator typically varies on the order of from 1.5:1 to 2:1 for a given current supply due to inherent process, temperature, and supply voltage variations of the oscillator. Often it is desired to generate output signals over several octave frequency ranges (e.g. 30-125 Mhz) with a ring oscillator while maintaining the range of the current required to change variations in the oscillator as small as possible. A wide output frequency range usually requires that multiple overlapping frequency ranges be used. The restriction on the control current swings is imposed by the voltage swing limitation of a charge pump which supplies current to the oscillator.
Other prior art circuits have used oscillators with programmable numbers of inverters or a single timing stage with programmable timing capacitors. It is not believed that either of these technologies can be used with systems requiring a fixed number of multi-phase outputs with well controlled relative phase shifts over a wide output frequency range.

Controllable multi-phase ring oscillators with variable current sources and capacitances


This invention is a quad cycle and exercise apparatus with arm and foot power as propulsion. The rider is upstanding during operation.

Bicycle and other cycle devices are known in the arts including U.S. patents as follows: U.S. Pat. No. 6,485,041 to Janssen; U.S. Pat. No. 6,378,882 to Devine; U.S. Pat. No. 6,032,970 to Porter; and U.S. Pat. No. 6,190,289 to Pyles et al. The patents referred to herein are provided herewith in an Information Disclosure Statement in accordance with 37 CFR 1.97.


For certain embodiments, a preamble sequence associated with a particular number of transmit antennas may allow a receiving mobile station to determine the number of transmit antennas used for transmission. The preamble sequence may be selected from one of a set of Constant Amplitude and Zero Auto Correlation (CAZAC) sequences corresponding to all of the supported number of transmit antennas. As a result, a receiving station may be able to determine the sequence sent by correlation and, thereby determine the number of antennas used for transmission. Given the number of transmit antennas, the mobile station may then perform MIMO channel estimation during initial synchronization to recover the channel taps between each transmit and each receive antenna.

Multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) wireless communications systems utilize multiple transmit and receive antennas to achieve transmit and receiver diversity, which may allow for more reliable communications and/or improved data throughput. While multiple transmit antennas are available, the preamble or the primary synchronization signal in a MIMO system is typically transmitted to the mobile subscriber by utilizing only one effective transmit antenna at the base station. This is due to the fact that during the initial access the subscriber does not know the number of antennas at the base station. As a result, the transmission diversity as an inherent feature for a plurality of antennas is not utilized during the initial access.
In the developing of IEEE 802.16m standard, a broadcast channel (BCH) needs to be decoded by the mobile subscriber following its primary synchronization with the base station. The BCH may contain system-wide parameters in order to enable the initial access. In addition, the BCH may be transmitted by utilizing a plurality of transmit antennas. Instead of providing pilots for the BCH message, cyclic delay diversity (CDD) scheme may be utilized to transmit delayed copies of a preamble from multiple antennas. To accomplish this, information about the number of transmit antennas utilized by the base station and channel estimates need to be obtained before decoding the BCH message.
Therefore, there is a need in the art for conveying the number of transmit antennas that are utilized at the base station, ideally during primary synchronization with the mobile subscriber.

MIMO preamble for initial access with an unknown number of transmit antennas


Screening of a library of particles in vivo and/or in vitro using Polyplex Iterative Combinatorial Optimization (PICO) allows for the design of particles for targeting a specific organ, tissue (e.g., cancer), or cell. Particles may, for example, include different targeting agents (e.g., aptamers or plurality of aptamers) on their surfaces, and the aptamer or aptamers may be evolved to provide better targeting of the particles. Libraries of particles are enriched in characteristics of particles that have been found to migrate to a tissue of interest, be taken up by cells, etc. The process may be repeated to engineer particles of a desired specificity or biological function.

The development of targeted particles for the treatment and detection of human diseases is expected to result in an explosion of the market for this class of biomaterials. In some cases, particles are functionalized with targeted molecules for the specific delivery of particles to a subset of cells, tissues, or organs. The delivery of particles is mediated by specific binding of targeting molecules with distinct chemical moieties that are present on the desired target. This approach has several limitations. First, it requires unique chemical moieties on the cells, tissue, or organ being targeted in order to achieve the desired specificity. And it requires the availability of high affinity targeting molecules that preferentially bind the unique chemical moiety on the cell, tissue, or organ. One problem with this approach is that there are a myriad of potentially useful targets and targeting molecules that have not yet been isolated and/or characterized.
In addition, other biophysiochemical characteristics of the targeted particles frequently need to be optimized in order to make them useful for in vitro or in vivo applications, for example, composition of the particle, surface characteristics, surface charge, and particle size. These many possibilities lead to a very large number of possible particle formulations. Individual evaluation of all these formulations or even a portion of them in vivo would require an equal or larger number of animals. Alternatively, particles could be initially screened using cell-based systems, following which promising formulations could be further evaluated in vivo. However, the results of in vitro evaluations are often not recapitulated by in vivo outcomes. For example, rapid clearance of particles by the liver, spleen, lung, lymphatic system, or bone marrow, the microenvironment of inflammation, or the unique features of tumor microenvironment, e.g., the tumor microvasculature, are not easily reproduced in in vitro models.
Therefore, given these significant drawbacks to current approaches for engineering particles, there remains a need for an efficient system that can be used to identify particles with particular characteristics, including targeting, cell uptake, pharmacokinetics, clinical efficacy, and so forth.


An adjustment tool, having a body with a bore extending between a first end and a second end. A shaft is positioned within the bore having a plurality of outward spreading spring fingers coupled to a tool end. A spring biases the shaft towards the second end of the body. A collet coupled to a first end of the body has an inner surface which restricts the spring fingers to a closed position as movement of the shaft towards the second end of the body retracts the spring fingers into the collet. A bubble ring may be coupled to the body. Graduated indicia associated with the bubble ring indicates rotation of the tool for entry of precise rotational adjustments.

The present invention relates to hand tools, and more specifically to an adjustment tool for adjusting rotatable elements such as nuts, bolts and the like.
Hand tools are commonly used to assemble and or adjust apparatus, for example reflector antennas. Fine adjustments to the antenna(s) orientation with respect to a target signal consume a significant portion of time required during antenna installation and or performance optimization. Typically these adjustments are made local to the antenna, which may be mounted in environmentally exposed locations such as the roof or exterior wall(s) of a building or atop a radio tower.
Common tools such as box and or ratchet wrenches may be used, however because they are not retained upon the nut or bolt under adjustment, these tools represent a significant drop hazard. Also, individual ratchet wrench sockets may unexpectedly separate from the ratchet handle.
During final fine adjustment, only a portion of a rotation and or a specific number of rotations may be desired. Where adjustments are made, for example, in a narrowing range scheme it is desirable to have a clear indication of the magnitude of the previous adjustment to be able to exactly repeat a multiple of it, in either direction. Various prior rotation indication/recordation schemes are complicated when the tool(s) must be either held in place by the user or removed and then reattached after each adjustment, complicating return of the tool to the exact same orientation so that, for example, fractions of a single rotation may be reliably applied and or repeated.
Competition within the tool industry has focused attention upon ease of use, improved safety characteristics, accuracy and reliability. Factors of commercial success also include reduction of manufacturing, materials and assembly costs.
Therefore, it is an object of the invention to provide an adjustment tool that overcomes deficiencies in such prior art.


A system and method of optically inspecting a structure on a surface of a production object which is supported on a moving inspection platform. The method reliably traces structure edges and stores structure and structure island characteristics. The system uses a camera and a light or energy source to sharply delineate the structure edges. A sequence of images of the object and the structure are captured, and the structure is detected in each image. The structure is then symbolically decomposed into primitives, and a histogram is produced for each image identifying the slope and length of each edge of the structure. The histograms are compared in each image, and are aligned to eliminate differences due to wobble of the inspection platform or differences in magnification. A production structure grammar is then produced from the aligned images. The production structure grammar is compared to a reference structure grammar generated from a defect-free object. Differences in the two grammars, if any, are used to identify missing, misaligned, or misoriented structures on the production object, and to detect foreign objects and other defects.

1. Technical Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the inspection of structures on an object and, more specifically, to a system and method for optically inspecting structures on an object.
2. Description of Related Art
An example of a useful application of the present invention is the inspection of semiconductor wafers (wafers) during and after the manufacturing process. In order to transform a wafer into a microprocessor or other electronic device, the wafer undergoes several manufacturing steps. First, a wafer is cut from a crystal ingot (such as crystallized silicon), and an expitaxial layer (a single layer of silicon crystals) is then grown thereon. The creation of an expitaxial layer is often followed by the growth of high quality oxides on the wafer surface, in a process called oxidation. Next, the wafer undergoes several fabrication steps. Each fabrication step places a layer of ions, or other materials, in the wafer or on the wafer in a predetermined geometric pattern so as to form a portion of an electronic circuit. When the fabrication steps are completed, the wafer surface typically possesses several functional microelectronic devices separated into a plurality of dice.
Common fabrication steps include chemical vapor depositions (CVD), plasma vapor depositions (PVD), etches, ion implantations, diffusions, metalizations, or the growth of structures directly on the wafer. The successful completion of each of these fabrication steps depends largely on the ability to precisely control the geometric placement of gasses, ions, metals, or other deposition materials through etching, implanting, etc., with sub-micron precision. The precise placement of ions, metals, gasses, or other deposits is achieved through a process called photolithography. Though photolithography is well known in the art of microelectronic device manufacturing, a brief description of photolithography is provided so that the reader may more clearly understand the invention.
Photolithography is a pre-fabrication process in which a pattern is transferred from a negative known as a mask (also called a retical) onto a wafer using a technique similar to film development in photography. Photoresist contains photoactive sensitizers, and in a step called imaging, light or other activating illumination produces a chemical change in the photoresist exposed to the light. The first step in photolithography is the preparation of the wafer. The wafer is cleaned, and a liquid photoresist is distributed evenly across the top surface of the wafer. The photoresist is dried, and then the wafer with the photoresist thereon is heated to vaporize any solvents. The mask""s pattern, like a photographic negative, is projected onto one portion of the wafer at a time by a precision optical device known as a xe2x80x9cstepperxe2x80x9d, and is preserved on the wafer by the photoresist. Each area of the wafer that is to become a separate device is called a xe2x80x9cdiexe2x80x9d. After illumination with the mask""s pattern, a solvent washes away either the exposed portions of xe2x80x9cpositivexe2x80x9d photoresist, or another solvent washes away the unexposed portions of xe2x80x9cnegativexe2x80x9d photoresist. This process, called development, leaves the geometric pattern of the mask, or its negative, on each die.
When fabrication is complete, the electrical characteristics of each die are tested. Based on the results of these tests, the die are xe2x80x9cbinnedxe2x80x9d (i.e., they are classified as good or defective). The wafer is then sliced into separate dice which are sorted to discard defective ones. The good dice are then prepared for packaging.
During the imaging step, the photoresist is exposed to a light source at a predetermined wavelength. So called xe2x80x9cpositivexe2x80x9d photoresist is made soluble by exposure to light, such that the area of the photoresist exposed to light (or other illumination) washes away from the wafer when the photoresist is rinsed with a predetermined solvent. The result is that a direct duplicate image of the mask is left on the semiconductor wafer in the form of xe2x80x9cphotoresist structuresxe2x80x9d which constitute a developed photoresist layer. Though various types of photoresist are available, because so-called xe2x80x9cpositivexe2x80x9d photoresist is preferred for small devices, the remaining discussion will address the use of positive photoresist (hereinafter xe2x80x9cphotoresistxe2x80x9d).
By covering portions of the semiconductor wafer with photoresist structures, the entire wafer can, in a fabrication step, be exposed to various chemicals, ions, metals, or etchings without affecting the entire areas under the photoresist structures. After the fabrication step has been completed, a wash step is executed. In the wash step, the remaining photoresist is washed away and the wafer is cleaned. Should another fabrication step be desired, the wafer may undergo another photolithography process. Accordingly, in order to correctly manufacture microelectronic devices, geometrically correct patterns of photoresist structures must be deposited either on or in the wafer during fabrication. And, correct geometric patterning is dependent upon properly imaging and developing photoresist layers.
Each fabrication step is expensive, and adds significant value to the wafer. Furthermore, fabrication steps are difficult and costly to reverse. By contrast, photoresist structures can be removed quickly and with minimal disturbance to the underlying wafer structures. Thus, it is desirable to detect defects in the developed photoresist prior to the fabrication step. Defects are those anomalies which impair or alter electrical characteristics of the die when fabrication is complete, causing the die to be discarded. If a defect is detected in the developed photoresist layer, one simply washes away the photoresist structures and applies another photoresist layer in place of the defective photoresist layer. The most common method used to detect imperfections in a developed photoresist layer is optical inspection. Electronic, ion beam, or X-ray imaging is also available; however, because these imaging techniques illuminate and reconstruct only one point at a time, they are slower and more expensive than optical inspection. Laser imaging techniques capture and compare the angle of reflection of laser beams; however, they lack precision in reporting the position of defects.
Optical inspection devices typically employ a wafer support which holds a wafer under an overhead camera and multiple light sources. In operation, the optical inspection device lights the wafer from several directions in order to fully illuminate the wafer, and the overhead camera captures a gray-scale (black-and-white) image of the wafer with a developed photoresist layer thereon. In a process commonly called convolution, this image is then sent to a computer which compares the image, pixel by pixel, to a stored image of a wafer with a properly constructed photoresist layer thereon. If any differences between the captured image and the image of the wafer with a properly constructed photoresist layer are detected, the computer has detected a defective photoresist layer.
The existing method of optically inspecting a developed photoresist layer has several disadvantages. First, because the information for each pixel must be stored in memory, the present method of optical inspection requires a large amount of memory. Furthermore, since existing optical inspection devices compare images pixel by pixel, they are very slow.
In order to overcome the disadvantages of the existing methods of inspecting photoresist, it would be advantageous to have a system and method of optically inspecting a developed photoresist layer for defects, such as alignment errors, missing photoresist structures, contamination, and skewed photoresist. Ideally, the photoresist defect detection system should be able to reliably detect and assess the location of photoresist structures, such as photoresist islands, which constitute a developed photoresist layer. In addition, it would also be advantageous for such a system to operate more quickly than convolution techniques. The present invention, when utilized for semiconductor inspection, provides such a system and method.
The present invention is a system for inspecting structures on an object. The system comprises a support which supports the object, a device which emits light or energy on a surface of the object to illuminate the surface and the structures thereon, an image capturing device mounted adjacent the support for acquiring an image of the surface of the object or a portion thereof, and a computer which generates a set of high level descriptors referred to as structure grammar from the image. Structure grammar includes the high level descriptors for a particular structure that have common characteristics including relevant features such as size, shape, color, sharpness, and the like.
The computer compares the structure grammar generated from the image to a structure grammar for a defect-free object (or a defect-free portion of the object) and records any differences in the two grammars. Thus, the defect-free object grammar may be generated from computer aided drafting or from an image of a defect-free object. The computer also performs Automatic Defect Classification (ADC). In addition, a knowledge base accessible by the computer receives and stores structure grammar generated from defect images.
The device which emits light or energy on a surface of the object may emit, for example, laser light, X-rays, ion beams, electrons, or light in the infrared, ultraviolet, or visible spectrum. In addition, the image capturing device could be a line scan or an area scan camera.
In another aspect, the present invention is a method of inspecting an object with a structure thereon which has a surface and at least one edge of the surface. The method includes the steps of shining a light or energy on the object having the structure thereon (the light illuminating the surface so as to clearly illuminate the edges of the structure), capturing an image of the object or a portion thereof, producing a set of primitives for the edges of the structure, and comparing the primitives to a corresponding set of primitives generated from a defect-free object or portion thereof.
The method of inspecting a structure may accommodate structures which have a plurality of edges. In this case, the method includes the steps of scanning the image to detect the structure, tracing the structure to produce primitives for the plurality of edges, producing, for the inspected structure, a set of high level descriptors referred to as inspection grammar, and comparing the inspection grammar to a defect-free grammar representative of a defect-free structure or portion thereof.
Depending on the type of image-capturing device utilized, the method may also include the step of converting the image into a pixel-based image. The defect-free grammar may be created from a computer aided design description of the structure, or by processing an image of a defect-free structure.
The method continues by storing the defect-free grammar in a knowledge base, and storing an inspection grammar in a knowledge base as a defect grammar when the inspection grammar differs from the defect-free grammar. The defect grammars are then organized by defect type. The method continues by performing Automatic Defect Classification on the production grammar.

System and method of optically inspecting structures on an object


A circuit is provided that provides for the same power characteristics to an assembly of electrical resistive elements wired in parallel as to the assembly as wired in series. An input power source provides electrical resistive power to a plurality of load elements, wherein the plurality of load elements are connected in parallel to each other. A plurality of power splitters divide the power source into separate and equal power subsources such that there is one power splitter and one power subsource for each load element, wherein the power provided to each of the plurality of load elements is equal to the power of the electrical power source. Redundancy and fault tolerance is provided to the circuitry by permitting remaining load elements to continue to operate should one or more load elements fail.

In the description of the background of the present invention that follows reference is made to certain structures and methods, however, such references should not necessarily be construed as an admission that these structures and methods qualify as prior art under the applicable statutory provisions. Applicants reserve the right to demonstrate that any of the referenced subject matter does not constitute prior art with regard to present embodiments.
It is common in the semiconductor industry to utilize compact resistive heating element assemblies to heat a material to a desired temperature. An example of such an application is the heating of a hydrogen and oxygen gas stream in order to produce a high-purity steam.
These heating element assemblies are usually quite small in size and are designed to run from standard 120V AC nominal voltage. The combination of the physical size limitations and high voltage lead to the selection of relatively small wire diameters for the resistance heater. The use of small wire diameters can in turn lead to more frequent failures of the elements than is desirable.
In many cases, the above-described heating element assemblies can consist of two half-sections wired in series to obtain the desired electrical characteristics. If the heating elements were wired in parallel, for example, the resistance would be relatively low; and more power would be required to heat the elements to proper temperatures. One consequence of this typical in-series connection is that when one half of the element fails, the entire unit is disabled. The failure of the entire heating element assembly during a process run can generate a potentially unsafe condition and can lead to the workpieces of the process run in the furnace at that time being scrapped or requiring reworking. Scrapped lots and rework have obvious detrimental efficiency and economic implications.
In light of the above, it would be advantageous to change the connection of the two halves to a parallel configuration, so as to avoid the total failure from the failure of a single heating element. However, changing from a series connection to a parallel wiring configuration normally involves changing the heating element wire to a smaller gauge so that the parallel connection retains the same electrical characteristics as the series connection, which is necessary in order to be able to use the same power supply controls.
This problem can be described by reference to the following expressions and calculations.
Assuming a series and parallel connection of a two-section heating element assembly, the total resistance for the series connection is:Rs=R1+R2where Rs is the total resistance of the series connection, R1 is the resistance of the first section, and R2 is the resistance of the second section. The total resistance of the arrangement wired in parallel is:1/Rp=1/R1+1/R2where Rp is the total resistance of the parallel connection. Assuming that the resistance of the first and second sections are the same (R1=R2), the above expressions can be simplified as follows:Rs=2R1/Rp=2/RRp=R/2
Thus, in order to render the resistance of the series and parallel connections equal:Rs=Rp2R(s)=R(p)/2Rp=4×Rs
Thus, in the above example, the resistance must be increased by four-fold in order to switch from a series configuration to a parallel configuration.
According to the following expression it is known that resistance is inversely proportional to the gauge of a round wire:R=ρL/A=ρL/Πr2where ρ is the resistivity constant, L is the length of the wire, A is the cross-sectional area of the wire, and r is the radius of the wire. Thus a decrease in the cross-sectional area of the wire will result in the desired increase in resistance.
However, as mentioned above, resorting to smaller diameter heating element wires can greatly reduce the life and reliability of the element assembly.
Therefore, it would be desirable to provide a mechanism to permit the parallel connection of a plurality of resistive elements without resorting to reduction in the gauge of the wires.

Circuit and fault tolerant assembly including such circuit


In an infinitely variable traction roller transmission wherein two toric traction discs are rotatably supported opposite one another so as to define therebetween a toric cavity in which at least two motion transmitting traction rollers are disposed in engagement with the toric discs and supported by trunnions which are pivotally supported to permit changing the ratio of motion transmission between the toric discs, each pivot trunnion has a cylindrical cavity with a support piston disposed therein in axial alignment with the traction roller supported on the trunnion and a plurality of radial lever members are arranged around the axis of the support piston and rest on a fulcrum structure disposed around the cylindrical cavity and, at their inner end, on the support piston, and a bearing disc which carries the traction roller is supported on the radial lever members at a location inwardly from the fulcrum structure to force the traction roller into engagement with the toric discs with the piston force amplified by the radial lever members.

The invention relates to an infinitely variable traction roller transmission in which power is transmitted through traction rollers which are pivotally supported between toric input and output discs with which they are forced into firm engagement for the transmission of motion therebetween.
In such transmissions, the traction rollers are mounted on support structures which, when pivoted, cause engagement of the traction rollers with the toric discs in circles of varying diameters depending on the desired transmission ratio. The support structures are generally trunnions which are supported in a housing in such a manner that they are either axially movable or slightly tiltable for initiating a change in the transmission ratio, To provide for slight axial movability, for example, two traction roller support trunnions may be supported opposite one another by flexible tension sheets as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,086,820 which issued May 2, 1978 to Charles E. Kraus, To provide for slight tilting, traction roller support trunnions may be supported by a roller rolling along a partial circular track wherein one end of the trunnion is movable for tilting the trunnion in order to initiate a change in transmission ratio as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,964,312 which issued Oct. 23, 1990 to Charles E. Kraus.
For the transmission of large torques the forces with which the traction rollers have to be engaged with the toric discs are rather large. They may be provided either by forcing the toric discs toward one another or by forcing the traction roller axially into the toric cavity formed between the toric discs. This may be accomplished hydraulically by an arrangement as shown, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,576,055 which issued Mar. 18, 1986 to Charles E. Kraus.
It is desirable to produce the contact forces directly under the traction roller in axial direction of the traction roller such that the required fluid traction coefficient will remain relatively constant over the selected transmission ratio range. Then a relatively large ratio range can be accommodated without overloading the contact areas in the pivotal end positions of the trunnions.
However since the required contact forces are very large and the space under a traction roller is quite limited, a large hydraulic fluid pressure is required to produce the needed contact forces. The large fluid pressures require high pressure pumps and high pressure seals which are expensive and more easily subject to failure than lower pressure components.
It is therefore the principal object of the present invention to provide an infinitely variable traction roller transmission and particularly a traction roller support arrangement which generates the large contact forces needed for the engagement of the traction rollers with the toric discs with a hydraulic operating fluid of only relatively low pressure and which is therefore reliable in operation and relatively inexpensive to manufacture.

Infinitely variable traction roller transmission


Disclosed is a method for treating two or more aromatic feed streams including combining one aromatic feed stream with another aromatic feed stream. The method further includes passing the combined feed stream to a unsaturated aliphatic compound removal zone for removing an unsaturated aliphatic compound therefrom. The method further includes passing the combined aromatic feed stream to a nitrogen removal zone for removing a nitrogen compound therefrom.

The alkylation or transalkylation of benzene with a C2 to C20 olefin alkylating agent or a polyaklyl aromatic hydrocarbon transalkylating agent is one of the primary sources for the production of alkyl-benzenes. For example, ethylbenzene is often produced by the alkylation of benzene with ethylene. Ethylbenzene may subsequently be used as a precursor for making styrene by the dehydrogenation of the ethylbenzene. Often, the ethylbenzene and styrene production facilities are integrated in an ethylbenzene-styrene complex so that after the ethylbenzene is produced it is sent to a downstream styrene plant that converts the ethylbenzene into styrene through dehydrogenation. Styrene may in turn be used to produce polystyrene, a widely used plastic, or other products.
In an alkyl-benzene production plant, benzene is fed along with a C2 to C20 olefin alkylating agent or polyalkylaromatic hydrocarbon transalkylating agent to an alkylation and/or transalkylation reactor. Typically, benzene is fed along with ethylene into an alkylation reactor, where alkylation of the benzene and ethylene over an alkylation catalyst forms ethylbenzene. The ethylbenzene product stream typically includes other components as well, such as poly-ethylbenzene. The stream may next be sent to a separation zone where the ethylbenzene is separated from other components in the stream to form a purified ethylbenzene stream.
In an ethylbenzene-styrene complex, the ethylbenzene is next sent to a downstream styrene plant or zone of the complex for conversion of the ethylbenzene to styrene. According to one current process, the ethylbenzene is sent to a dehydrogenation reactor within the styrene plant, where a dehydrogenation reaction occurs to form a mixed stream of styrene, toluene, benzene, and ethylbenzene. The mixed stream is sent to an ethylbenzene-styrene splitter forming separate ethylbenzene and styrene streams. An inhibitor is typically added to the ethylbenzene-styrene splitter to restrict polymerization of the styrene and corrosion within the splitter. In many instances, the inhibitors include nitrogen compounds. The ethylbenzene stream may be sent to an ethylbenzene recycle column where an ethylbenzene recycle stream is separated from benzene and toluene. The ethylbenzene may be recycled back to the dehydrogenation reactor or reactors in order to produce additional styrene. The benzene and toluene are typically sent to a benzene-toluene splitter where the streams are separated and may be sold.
Catalysts for aromatic conversion processes generally comprise zeolitic molecular sieves. Examples include, zeolite beta (U.S. Pat. No. 4,891,458); zeolite Y, zeolite omega and zeolite beta (U.S. Pat. No. 5,030,786); X, Y, L, B, ZSM-5, MCM-22, MCM-36, MCM-49, MCM-56, and Omega crystal types (U.S. Pat. No. 4,185,040); X, Y, ultrastable Y, L, Omega, and mordenite zeolites (U.S. Pat. No. 4,774,377); and UZM-8 zeolites (U.S. Pat. No. 6,756,030 and U.S. Pat. No. 7,091,390). It is known in the art that the benzene stream generated by the styrene zone includes contaminants, such as nitrogen, unsaturated aliphatic compounds, and water such that it has been undesirable to recycle the stream back to the alkylation reactor to produce additional ethylbenzene. These contaminants, even at ppm and ppb levels, can cumulatively act to poison the aromatic conversion catalysts, such as aromatic alkylation catalysts and significantly shorten their useful life. More particularly, nitrogen compounds in the benzene stream, as well as water and dienes or other unsaturated aliphatic compounds, are known to deactivate the alkylation or transalkylation catalyst in the alkylation or transalkylation zone adding additional expense in having to change out or regenerate the catalyst. In addition, due to the contaminants in this stream, the sale of this benzene stream to third parties is generally below the typical market value of benzene
A variety of guard beds having clay, zeolite, or resin adsorbents to remove one or more types of nitrogen compounds and/or other contaminants from an aromatic hydrocarbon stream upstream of an aromatic conversion process are known in the art. Examples include: U.S. Pat. No. 7,205,448; U.S. Pat. No. 7,744,828; U.S. Pat. No. 6,297,417; U.S. Pat. No. 5,220,099; WO 00/35836; WO 01/07383; U.S. Pat. No. 4,846,962; U.S. Pat. No. 6,019,887; and U.S. Pat. No. 6,107,535. An acidic molecular sieve H—Y has been utilized to adsorb the nitrogen compounds from the stream. More particularly, several approaches have been proposed for treating the recycle benzene stream from the styrene monomer production zone so that the stream can be used as an additional feed stream to an alkylation zone. Various approaches have also been utilized for treating a fresh benzene feed stream to an ethylbenzene production zone.
Recent attempts, as described in U.S. patent application Ser. Nos. 13/314,796; 13/314,749; and 13/314,842 have focused on removing the olefinic compounds, and in particular dienes such as butadiene or isoprene from a benzene feed stream or a benzene stream exiting the styrene plant prior to directing the stream through a nitrogen compound removal guard bed. In this manner, a large portion of the dienes can be removed from the stream prior to contacting the guard bed catalyst with the stream to restrict the dienes from contacting the guard bed and poisoning the nitrogen adsorbent. With this in mind, these applications propose contacting the benzene or other aromatic stream with adsorbents and/or catalysts including clay, acidic molecular sieves, and/or activated carbon in order to remove at least a portion of the dienes or other C2 to C20 olefin alkylating agent or a poly-alkyl aromatic hydrocarbon transalkylating agents present in a recycle or a fresh feed stream prior to contacting the stream with the nitrogen removal adsorbent to restrict these components from shortening the life of the nitrogen guard bed.
Because the recycle benzene stream from the styrene monomer production zone has different components and concentrations of contaminants than a fresh benzene feed stream provided to an alkylation zone, the recycle benzene stream is treated separately from the fresh benzene streams to remove the contaminants. In other words, because the recycle benzene feed stream requires a higher level of contaminant removal than the fresh benzene stream, and may require different contaminants to be removed, the recycle benzene stream is sent through a recycle stream treatment zone apart from the fresh feed stream treatment zone so that these different concentrations or types of contaminants can be removed.
Increases in crude oil prices have created renewed interest in utilizing available streams for recycle in petrochemical processes. Thus, it is desirable to identify ways to utilize feeds and recycle streams in an effective and economical manner for use in aromatic conversion processes while avoiding the problems associated with the presence of the contaminants in the feeds as discussed above.

Methods and apparatus for treating a hydrocarbon stream


A faucet handle extender includes an attachment member configured to selectively couple with a faucet handle. The faucet handle extender also includes an extension member coupled with the attachment member. Movement of the extension member causes movement of the faucet handle.

When children are young it is common for parents to assist their children in reaching water faucets. Like adults, children need to wash their hands, gain access to drinking water, or access tap water for countless other reasons. Unlike adults, children have a shorter arm reach which can interfere with the usage of faucets that are generally designed for adult use.
Some methods to solve this problem that have been used include direct parental assistance and the use of foot stools. There are distinct disadvantages to these methods. Adults sometimes are unable or unavailable to assist children, and foot stools require large amounts of floor space.
The problem is not limited to young children. People with disabilities, the elderly, people with dwarfism, people with arthritis or back pain, or other adults may find it difficult to reach faucet handles to control water-flow from a faucet.
Thus, there exists a need for a device that allows the above mentioned children and people to gain easier access to a faucet handle.


An adhering amount detecting process includes: lowering the nozzle to a trial application position; performing a trial application to apply the viscous material to a trial application surface disposed on an application stage; and detecting an amount of the viscous material adhering to the nozzle. Then, whether a difference between maximum and minimum values of the amounts of the viscous material adhering to the nozzle detected by performing the adhering amount detecting process a plurality of times exceeds a threshold is determined. If the difference is determined as not exceeding the threshold, the lowered position of the nozzle with respect to the application target is set such that a gap between the nozzle at the lowered position and an application surface of an application target coincides with a gap between the nozzle at the trial application position and the trial application surface.

1. Technical Field
One aspect of the present invention relates to method and apparatus for applying a viscous material to an application target through a nozzle.
2. Background Art
When an electronic component is to be mounted on a circuit board, a viscous material application apparatus is used. In the viscous material application apparatus, a viscous material such as an adhesive is applied to a circuit board serving as an application target while elevating or lowering a nozzle of an application head (for example, see Japanese Patent No. 4935745). In the viscous material application apparatus, a work of setting various application conditions is performed before, for example, the start of an application work in order to attain an adequate application shape in accordance with the kind of a circuit board to be produced, the kind of a component, etc. Conditions to be set include the lowered position of a nozzle during ejection of a viscous material, an ejection amount of the viscous material, etc.
In the work of setting application conditions, under provisionally set application conditions, the viscous material is applied in a trial manner (hereinafter also referred to as "trial-applied") a plurality of times to a sheet which is supplied to an application stage for a trial application, a recognition process is performed on the viscous material on the sheet, and the application state including the shape and the application amount is analyzed. In the case where the analysis result shows that the application is faulty, the setting of the application conditions is changed, and the trial application is again performed. The application conditions under which a satisfactory application state is attained are set as that for a work of application on the circuit board.

Method and apparatus for applying viscous material

PANASONIC INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY MANAGEMENT CO., LTD.


A method of controlling an electronic parking brake of a vehicle having a dual clutch transmission. The method includes: identifying a slope of an area in which the vehicle is located in order to determine whether the identified slope exceeds a predetermined slope value; determining whether both of two clutches are opened in a safe mode when the identified slope exceeds the predetermined slope value; determining whether the vehicle moves upward in a front direction when both of the two clutches are opened; and operating the electronic parking brake when the vehicle moves upward in the front direction. When the vehicle moves upward in the front direction on the inclined road, the electronic parking brake is automatically operated to prevent the vehicle from slipping in the rear direction. Therefore, the method can effectively improve the safety of the driver and vehicle even when the driver is inept in pedal operation.

Field of the Invention
The present disclosure relates to a method of controlling an electronic parking brake of a vehicle having a dual clutch transmission, and more particularly to a method of controlling an electronic parking brake of a vehicle having a dual clutch transmission which is capable of preventing a slip phenomenon on an inclined road.
Description of the Prior Art
With the increase of methods of electronically controlling various kinds of devices provided in a vehicle, although mechanical brakes, in which a gear ratio is changed by shifting a lever, had been used as a vehicle brake in the past, there is also a tendency of increase in use of electronic parking brakes, each of which is connected to a brake pedal only to be electrically controllable.
The electronic parking brake, which is a system configured to control a brake of a vehicle by determining the current state of the vehicle and the intention of a driver after sensing a pedal operating value by the driver, may be controlled based on the information transferred through a Controller Area Network (CAN) communication between a transmission control unit configured to control a transmission and an engine management system.
Meanwhile, a dual clutch transmission, which has been recently developed for more exact and rapid control of the transmission of a vehicle, enables individual controls of odd gear sets and even gear sets.
FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing a dual clutch transmission according to the prior art.
As shown in FIG. 1, the dual clutch transmission includes two clutches, a shaft controllably connected to the odd and even gear sets, and four synchronizers configured to synchronize with the gear sets.
In order to control a dual clutch transmission, a transmission control unit may change gear ratios by controlling the two clutches such that a vehicle travelling state corresponds to preset information about vehicle speeds and a driver's accelerator pedal operating rate.
In the case of a dual clutch transmission according to the prior art, if a dangerous situation occurs, all clutches are separated from the shaft, so that the driving power generated from an engine may be cut off from a driving shaft.
However, in this case, a vehicle slip phenomenon may occur on an inclined road and if a driver does not recognize the fact and thus fails to execute a proper brake operation, a big traffic accident may occur in a dangerous situation.

Method of controlling electronic parking brake of vehicle having dual clutch transmission

Continental Automotive Systems Corporation