A two-tier wideband antenna comprising a chip of a dielectric material with an upper radiating structure and a lower radiating structure, the dielectric chip being mounted on an insulating carrier substrate which includes a feed-line to connect the antenna to a transceiver device. The lower radiating structure comprises two side elements which have a large aspect ratio so as to reduce the frequency of the lower band edge of the frequency response of the antenna when compared with the frequency response of a monopole patch antenna fabricated on a similar dielectric chip. The antenna of the present invention is suitable for operation over an ultra wideband, e.g. a frequency range extending from 3.1 to 10.6 GHz.

Existing 2G and 3G cellular systems such as Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) and Universal Mobile Telephone System (UMTS) operate over a frequency band which is relatively narrow compared to the frequency of operation—for example, the UMTS system has an operating band extending from 1920 to 2170 MHz. The design of antennas offering good performance with bandwidths for one or more 2G or 3G systems is relatively well established.
Future wireless systems, such as 4G or what is commonly referred to as Long Term Evolution (LTE), will require much higher data transfer rates than existing systems, and as a result the required operating bands will become wider. The UWB systems defined by the WiMedia Alliance and the IEEE 802.15 standards describe systems with operating bands ranging from 3.1 to 10.6 GHz. At the same time, the long term evolution of wireless handsets and terminals will see an increased functionality and the capability to operate on multiple systems so that the physical dimensions of the constituent parts of each system will become necessarily smaller. For such future systems, a new type of antenna design becomes an imperative: an antenna which retains the small physical dimensions of antennas for 2G and 3G systems while offering good performance over a bandwidth extending over several GHz.
Wideband planar antennas are well known, for example U.S. Pat. No. 5,828,340, Johnson, describes a planar antenna having a 40% operational bandwidth, where the extended bandwidth is achieved by forming a tab antenna on a substrate where the tab antenna has a trapezoidal shape. Furthermore, it is known that the physical dimensions of an antenna can be reduced by fabricating the antenna on a substrate with a high dielectric constant, such as Alumina. U.S. Pat. No. 7,019,698, Miyoshi, describes a gap-fed chip antenna comprising a radiating portion formed by the union of a reversed triangular portion and a semicircular portion sandwiched between two dielectric layers and comprising a feeding portion which couples to the radiating portion. The antenna taught by Miyoshi is suitable for use as an antenna device operating according to the UWB system and has dimensions in the order of one quarter of one wavelength at an operating frequency of 6 GHz. A similar antenna is described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,081,859, Miyoshi et al.
FIG. 1 of the accompanying drawings shows a prior art monopole chip antenna comprising a dielectric chip 10, arranged on an insulating carrier substrate 15. The antenna includes a radiating element 11 fabricated on an upper surface of dielectric chip 10, a feed point, realized by a metal input/output (I/O) pad 12 fabricated on the lower surface of dielectric chip 10, a metal connecting trace 16A connecting the I/O pad 12 to radiating element 11. Carrier substrate 15 includes a feed line 17 which connects a transceiver device (not shown) to metal I/O pad 22 and a ground plane 13 offset from dielectric chip 10.
Despite the advances taught in Johnson and Miyoshi, for integration in mobile wireless handsets and terminals, antennas with further reduced physical dimensions are highly desirable. Moreover a solution to the problem of producing a highly miniaturized ultra wideband antenna with excellent performance characteristics (e.g. a return loss of less than −6 dB and a high radiation efficiency over a frequency range from 3.1 to 10.6 GHz) has, so far, yet to be found.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide a wideband chip antenna fabricated on a dielectric substrate, which is suitable for integration in a portable wireless handset or terminal, where the bandwidth of the antenna extends over an ultra wide band frequency range, e.g. from 3.1-10.6 GHz, and where the antenna has dimensions which are small compared with the wavelength of the lower edge of the operating frequency band of the antenna.


A safe, physically demanding interface device for children or other users to play video games according to the present invention includes a base and a joystick or control rod. The base supports a significant portion or the entirety of the child weight (e.g., supports a child in a seated or standing position), while the joystick is manipulable by the child to play the games. The device is configured to force the child to utilize many of the large muscle groups to interact with the game. Since the child weight is supported by the base, the interface device is stable (e.g., unlikely to tip or move) and, therefore, provides for safe, compelling video game play for users either alone or with other users.

Obesity is currently considered an epidemic and is blamed for a host of physical, social and economic problems. The risk of obesity increases for children within certain groups. For example, childhood obesity rates are higher in lower socioeconomic communities since children in these groups tend to remain indoors and engage in sedentary activities (e.g., such as playing video games) that provide minimal physical activity (or exercises) and burn fewer calories. This lack or reduced amount of physical activity tends to cultivate weight problems (or obesity) for the children.

Method and apparatus for operatively controlling a virtual reality scenario with a physically demanding interface


A signal receiver inputs a signal, computes a set of equalizer tap values during a signal acquisition phase by applying an algorithm iteratively to a given set of training data contained within the signal, and uses the set of equalizer tap values to perform signal equalization during the signal acquisition phase. The algorithm includes computing and applying phase correction to the pre-equalized signal at each adaptation step to correct for phase error related to the main path only, of the input signal.

In a Digital Television (DTV) system, the signal at the receiver often includes distortions introduced by the transmitter, the transmission channel and/or the receiver itself. Consequently, DTV receivers normally include an equalizer to remove linear distortions. The equalizer may be an adaptive equalizer, i.e., one which employs an equalizer adaptation method that is responsive to the differences ("error information") between the equalizer's output and the transmitted DTV signal. The error information is calculated by subtracting the equalizer output from the received signal. An adaptive equalizer typically has taps with tap weights (coefficients). Adapting the equalizer involves calculating and repeatedly recalculating the tap coefficients.
The DTV signal reception process can be divided into two phases: signal acquisition and signal tracking. During the tracking phase, which is the phase after the system has solidly acquired the DTV signal, equalizer adaptation is "blindly" maintained by the use of Viterbi decoder "soft decisions". Soft-decision Viterbi decoders maintain a history of many possible transmitted sequences, building up a view of their relative likelihoods and finally selecting the value of logic 0 or 1 for each bit according to which has the maximum likelihood. Viterbi soft decisions are 8-VSB constellations which are mapped from the corresponding Viterbi decoded bits.
During the acquisition phase, which is the period of time when Viterbi decoder decisions are not yet reliable, a training sequence is often used to initiate the adaptive equalizer. For example, the 8-VSB Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC) signal employed by the United States' ATSC digital television system includes a Data Field Sync (DFS) training signal, whose length is 820 symbols. This DFS training signal is repetitively transmitted every 313 DTV segments. Prior art solutions employ the DFS training signal to initiate the adaptive equalizer during the training signal period. However, in the presence of severe multi-path conditions, the training signal period is often too short for the equalizer to converge to a correct solution. This results in an unsuccessful transition between the acquisition phase and the tracking phase using Viterbi decoder soft decisions to drive equalizer adaptation.
There are two major approaches to carrier/phase synchronization: According to the first approach, carrier synchronization is done before equalization. In prior art solutions, the phase error upon which the carrier is tracked includes terms relating to all signal paths, i.e., the main path and all ghost paths. The main path is the specific signal path to which the equalizer aims to synchronize. A ghost path is any signal path other than the main path. As a result, in strong multi-path conditions, the channel impulse response (CIR) portrayed to the equalizer may be very hard to cancel.
According to the second approach, the phase tracking error is based upon the equalizer's output, which means that its integrity depends on the equalizer's convergence, and so in strong multi-path conditions, this approach can be used for tracking only.

Fast training equalization of a signal by using adaptive-iterative algorithm with main path phase correction


A laser device that is easily assembled and can be manufactured at low cost and a light-source device using the same are provided. The laser device includes a base plate portion, a semiconductor laser element placed on the base plate portion, a lid portion provided on the base plate portion, on which the semiconductor laser element is placed, and including a top plate, and a side wall portion covering a part or all of lateral sides of a space between the base plate portion and the top plate. The top plate is integrally formed with a part or all of the side wall portion.

Semiconductor lasers have characteristics such as low power consumption and small size, and have been widely used in various fields such as optical communication, optical recording, and material processing. As a semiconductor laser module on which a semiconductor laser is mounted, a module provided with a plurality of semiconductor lasers in a package is known (Patent Document 1).


There are provided a sliding member that is enhanced in adhesiveness between the surface of a base member formed of aluminum or aluminum alloy and silver coating with a simple construction, and a method of manufacturing the sliding member. In a piston 1 having a sliding face 22 which slides in a cylinder bore 3, a silver coating layer 21 constituting the sliding face 22 is provided on the outer peripheral surface 11 of a main body 10 formed of aluminum alloy, and the silver coating layer 21 is formed by coating slurry having silver particles 23 dispersed in terpineol on the outer peripheral surface 11 of the main body 10 and heating the coated slurry and the main body 10 to remove terpineol in the slurry and fuse the silver particles 23 with one another.

Emission reduction of carbon dioxide (CO2 gas) as heat-trapping gas has recently become a worldwide theme, and emission reduction of carbon dioxide has been also strongly required to vehicles as discharging sources of carbon dioxide. Therefore, reduction of the friction between a sliding member and a slid member as a sliding partner material in a vehicle has been attempted. For example, it has been found that enhancement of fuel consumption, prevention of baking and prevention of occurrence of strange noise can be performed by subjecting the sliding surface of a piston (sliding member) of an internal combustion engine to a surface treatment.
As this type of surface treatment method has been proposed a method of infiltrating an aluminum (containing aluminum alloy) base member in chemical conversion coating liquid containing etching liquid and water-soluble metal salt to conduct a surface roughening treatment on the surface of the aluminum base member with the etching liquid, and substantially at the same time, forming metal coating on the surface of the aluminum base member with the metal constituting the water-soluble metal salt (see Patent Document 1, for example).

Process for producing sliding member and sliding member


The output rotation of an engine is transmitted to a drive member when a vehicle starts moving, and the drive member is connected to a carrier of a speed-increasing planetary gear via a start clutch. Upon engagement of the start clutch, the rotation of the drive member is accelerated by the speed-increasing planetary gear and then transmitted to an input shaft that is directly connected to a ring gear. Such rotation transmitted to the input shaft is shifted to a plurality of speeds and transmitted to an output shaft by using a plurality of friction engagement elements to selectively connect or fix elements of a single planetary gear set and a multiple planetary gear set that is connected to the output shaft.

The disclosure relates to an automatic transmission in which elements of a single planetary gear set connected to an input shaft are connectable with elements of a multiple planetary gear set via a clutch, in addition to being fixable via a brake, such that the rotation of the input shaft is shifted to multiple speeds and then transmitted to an output shaft.
An automatic transmission, disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 4-219553 (paragraphs 0030 and 0034, and FIG. 3) (U.S. Pat. No. 5,106,352 is of the family of the Japanese Publication), is provided with a single planetary gear set and a multiple planetary gear set. The single planetary gear set has a first ring gear, a first sun gear fixed to a transmission case, and a first carrier supporting a pinion that meshes with the first sun gear and the first ring gear. Meanwhile, the multiple planetary gear set is provided with second and third sun gears, a long pinion, an intermediate pinion, a common carrier, and a common ring gear. The long pinion directly meshes with the second sun gear, and meshes with the third sun gear via the intermediate pinion. The common carrier supports the long pinion and the intermediate pinion, while the common ring gear meshes with the long pinion. In order to establish shift speeds including six forward speeds and one reverse speed, the common ring gear of the multiple planetary gear set is directly connected to an output shaft, and the rotation of the first carrier of the single planetary gear set (whose rotational speed is decelerated by the rotation of the input shaft) is selectively transmitted to the third and second sun gears of the multiple planetary gear set via first and third clutches. Additionally, the rotation of the input shaft is selectively transmitted to the multiple planetary gear set via a second clutch. The second sun gear and the common carrier of the multiple planetary gear set are selectively fixed by first and second brakes, respectively.
Disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,542,889 (third and fourth columns, and FIG. 1) is an automatic transmission (see FIG. 1 of the U.S. patent) that has a single planetary gear set 52 structured such that a crankshaft 14 of an engine is directly connected to an impeller 12 of a torque converter 10, and a turbine 16 is directly connected to an input shaft 44. Moreover, a ring gear 72 rotates and accelerates the rotational speed of a carrier 74 directly connected to the input shaft 44, a fixed sun gear 70, and the input shaft 44. The automatic transmission also has multiple planetary gear sets 50, 48 structured such that a ring gear 64 and a carrier 58 of the two planetary gear sets 50, 48 are directly connected, and a carrier 66 and a ring gear 56 are connectable by a clutch CL1. The sun gear 62 of the multiple planetary gear sets 50, 48 is connectable with a carrier 74 via a clutch CL3, and fixable using a brake B2. Reverse rotation of the carrier 66 is prevented by a one-way clutch 82. Likewise, reverse rotation of the ring gear 56, which is connected to the carrier 66 via the clutch CL1, is also prevented by the one-way clutch 82. The carrier 66 is connectable with the ring gear 72 of the planetary gear set 52 via a clutch CL2, and fixable using a brake B1. Furthermore, the directly connected ring gear 64 and carrier 58 are also directly connected to an output shaft 90, and a sun gear 54 of the planetary gear set 48 is directly connected to the input shaft 44.
According to the automatic transmission described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 4-219553, the output rotation of the engine is decelerated by the single planetary gear set, and then input to the multiple planetary gear set, whereby torque increased by the multiple planetary gear set is transmitted. Furthermore, if the engine output characteristic outputs a high torque at a relatively low output rotation, for example, as in the case of a diesel engine, the transmitted torque further increases. Thus, an accompanying increase in the sizes of parts, and an increase in the capacities of clutches and brakes are required in order to handle the higher torque.
The automatic transmission described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,542,889 attempts to resolve such a problem, wherein rotation of the input shaft rotationally driven by the engine via a torque converter is first accelerated by the single planetary gear set 52 and then input to the multiple planetary gear sets 48, 50. A vehicle with high output torque at a low-speed rotation, such as one mounted with a diesel engine, starts moving by switching from the torque converter and gradually connecting a start clutch. However, the automatic transmission described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,542,889 is rotationally driven via the torque converter and thus cannot avoid a reduction in transmission efficiency due to transmission loss caused by the fluid. Furthermore, to ensure compatibility with variations of gasoline engines with high rotational speed and diesel engines with relatively low rotational speed requires changing the single planetary gear set inside the automatic transmission. This in turn requires many part changes, resulting in increased costs. As used herein "rotation" is representative of rotational speed and/or rotational torque.


A high efficiency air conditioning system combining a desiccant assisted air conditioner with a heat pump device is disclosed. The heat pump device has a desorber for separating a refrigerant vapor from an absorption fluid; a compressor for compressing the refrigerant vapor; an absorber for absorbing the refrigerant vapor in the absorption fluid; an absorption fluid passage for circulating the absorption fluid between the absorber and the desorber; a refrigerant compression passage for transporting the refrigerant vapor produced in the desorber to the absorber by way of the compressor; and a heat medium passage means for drawing out heat of absorption and heat of desorption generated in the absorber and/or the desorber. Facilities are provided for storing refrigerant and absorption fluid during various modes of system operation and appropriate valving is provided for operating the system in various modes to increase the economic efficiency of system utilization.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to desiccant assisted air conditioners, and relates in particular to a desiccant assisted air conditioning system having a heat pump device to provide a heat accumulation function and serving as a heat source for regeneration of desiccant material and as a cooling source for cooling process air.
2. Description of the Related Art
Desiccant assisted air conditioning apparatus is well known, for example in a U.S. Pat. No. 2,700,537. The system discloses a desiccant assisted air conditioning apparatus requiring a heat source in a temperature range of 100.about.150.degree. C. for regenerating the desiccant (moisture adsorbent), and heat sources such as electric heaters and boilers are primarily utilized. In recent years, desiccants which can be regenerated at lower temperatures in a range of 60.about.80.degree. C. have been developed, enabling the use of heat sources operating at lower temperatures.
FIG. 21 is a schematic representation of a typical example of such improved desiccant assisted apparatus combining a known motor-driven vapor compression heat pump (including refrigerating machine), and FIG. 22 is a psychrometric chart showing the operation of this example apparatus. In FIG. 21, the reference numeral 101 refers to a conditioning space; 102 refers to a blower; 103 refers to a desiccant wheel including desiccant material alternatingly communicatable with the process air and regeneration air; 104 refers to a sensible heat exchanger; 105 refers to a humidifier; 106 refers to a water supply pipe for the humidifier; 107.about.112 refer to air passages for process air; 140 refers to a blower for the regeneration air; 220 refers to a condenser as well as a heat exchanger between refrigerant and regeneration air (heating device); 121 refers to a sensible heat exchanger; 124.about.129 refer to air passages for regeneration air; 201.about.204 refer to cooling refrigerant passages. Numeral 240 refers to an evaporator for working as a heat exchanger between refrigerant and process air (cooling device). In FIG. 21, circled letters K.about.V represent the thermodynamic state of the air medium being processed to correspond to respective sites shown in FIG. 22, SA designates supply air, RA designates return air, OA designates outside air and EX designates exhaust air.
The operation of such an apparatus will be explained in the following. In FIG. 21, the ambient air from the room 101 to be conditioned (process air) is drawn through a passage 107 into a blower 102 to be pressurized and is forwarded to a desiccant wheel 103 through a passage 108. In the desiccant wheel 103, the humidity ratio of the ambient air is lowered by the removal of moisture from the ambient air to the moisture adsorbent in the desiccant wheel 103. During the process of adsorption, the heat of adsorption is released into the process air which rises in temperature. The process air with a warmer temperature and a lower humidity is forwarded through the passage 109 to the sensible heat exchanger 104, and is cooled by heat exchange with outside air (regeneration air). Then the cooled air is forwarded to an evaporator 240 through a passage 110 to be further cooled by the heat pump device and is forwarded to a humidifier 105 through a passage 112 to be cooled by water spraying or evaporative humidification in an isenthalpic process and is returned to the conditioning room 101 through a passage 113.
The desiccant material absorbs moisture during this process and needs to be regenerated. In this example, this is performed as follows. Outside air (regeneration air) OA is drawn into the blower 140 through a passage 124 to be pressurized and forwarded to the sensible heat exchanger 104. This outside air cools the process air and, in the process, raises its own temperature. The warm air OA flows into a next sensible heat exchanger 121 through a passage 125 and raises its temperature by heat exchange with the spent high temperature regeneration air after regeneration. The regeneration air from the heat exchanger 121 flows into a condenser 220 through a passage 126 so that it is heated by heat of condensation of the heat pump device to raise its temperature to a range of 60.about.80.degree. C., and its relative humidity is lowered. The regeneration air with a lowered humidity passes through the desiccant wheel 103 to remove the moisture from the desiccant wheel. Spent air from the desiccant wheel 103 flows through a passage 128 to enter the sensible heat exchanger 121 to preheat the regeneration air prior to regeneration, and flows through a passage 129 to be exhausted externally.
The above process can be explained with reference to the psychrometric chart shown in FIG. 22. The ambient air in room 101 to be air conditioned (process air: state K) is drawn into the blower 102 through the passage 107 to be pressurized, and flows through the passage 108 to reach the desiccant wheel 103 so that its humidity ratio will be lowered by adsorption of moisture to the moisture adsorbent in the desiccant wheel while its temperature rises (state L) by the heat of adsorption. The air with a lower humidity and a higher temperature flows through the passage 109 to reach the sensible heat exchanger 104, and is cooled by heat exchange with the regeneration air (state M). The cooled air flows through a passage 110 to reach the evaporator 240 to be further cooled by the heat pump device (state N) and is forwarded to a humidifier 105 through a passage 111 so that its temperature is lowered in an isenthalpic manner by water spraying or evaporative humidification (state P), and is returned through the passage 112 to the conditioning space 101. In the above manner, an enthalpy difference is produced between return air (state K) in the room and supply air (state P) for use for cooling of the conditioning space 101.
The desiccant is regenerated as follows. Outside air (OA: state Q) is drawn through the passage 124 into the blower 140, is pressurized, forwarded to the sensible heat exchanger 104, cools the process air and raises its own temperature (state R), flows into the passage 125 and the next heat sensible exchanger 121, exchanges heat with the spent high temperature air so that its own temperature rises (state S). Regeneration air from the sensible heat exchanger 121 flows through the passage 126 to reach the condenser 220 and is heated by the heat of condensation of the heat pump device to a temperature between 60.about.80.degree. C., so that its relative humidity is lowered (state T). The regeneration air having a lowered humidity flows through the desiccant wheel 103 thereby removing adsorbed moisture (state U). Spent outgoing air from the desiccant wheel 103 flows through the passage 129 to reach the sensible heat exchanger 121 to preheat the regeneration air prior to regeneration process, and lowers its own temperature (state V) and flows into the passage 129 to be exhausted out as waste air. The processes of regeneration of desiccant and dehumidification and cooling of the ambient air described above is repeatedly performed to provide the desiccant assisted air conditioning process. Thus, the regeneration air is defined as air to be humidified, and the process air is defined as air to be dehumidified in this specification.
In the desiccant assisted air conditioning system having such a configuration, the vapor compression refrigeration process combined with the desiccant regeneration cycle requires a condensation temperature of about 80.degree. C. In recent years, it has become desirable to replace CFC (chlorofluorocarbon) refrigerant with more environmentally acceptable ammonia as refrigerant in the vapor compression refrigeration cycling units; however if, it is desired to attain the condensation temperature in this range, the pressure requirement increases to an abnormally high range of about 42 Kg/cm.sup.2, resulting in an expensive air conditioning system to provide the necessary pressure endurance.
Therefore, there has been a need to develop a desiccant assisted air conditioning system to enable operation of the working fluid at low refrigerant pressures while offering high reliability, environmental compatibility and low cost.

Heat pump device and desiccant assisted air conditioning system


This tire deflation tool deployment device is designed for use in situations where law enforcement officials desire to stop a vehicle in a chase situation. The device disclosed deposits a spiked deflation tool from beneath a command vehicle into the pathway of a target vehicle so as to puncture a tire of the target vehicle. The device includes a deflation tool storage and release housing. A fabric panel attached at one end to the housing has a second end wrapped about the tool and serves to lower the tool toward the pathway in an even and controlled manner before the tool leaves the fabric panel. From its release from the housing, movement and attitude of the tool are controlled by tether lines interconnecting the tool with the housing and payed out to a given extent limiting the distance the tool is towed behind the command vehicle.

1. The Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a system for stopping a fleeing vehicle by causing a tire thereof to deflate by depositing a spiked deflation tool from a chase vehicle into a pathway of said fleeing vehicle to cause puncturing of at least one tire of the fleeing vehicle.
2. Description of Related art
Situations where law enforcement officers are required to give chase to perpetrators have grown to be ubiquitous. Once viewed as the capstone scene in cops and robber cinemas, a number of prime-time television productions now are based solely on this activity. Audiences are drawn to the death-defying antics of crazed, drunken or otherwise desperate criminals weaving in and out of freeway traffic, racing across crowded intersections. Ever as desperate, police officers and sheriffs alike race to keep up in efforts to apprehend the offender before harm is done.
For those involved, this is far from entertainment. Indeed, an increasing number of chase participants and bystanders do not survive; so many in fact that authorities in many jurisdictions have curtailed such chases despite the obviously negative outcome. In more recent times, a number of auto chase alternatives have been developed. Authorities are looking to technology, in the form of tools and mechanisms, to safely stop a fleeing or suspicious vehicle. Many of these tools include tire puncturing implements that are placed, thrown, or released into the vehicle's pathway.
For example Pacholok et al., in U.S. Pat. No. 5,839,849 disclose a spike deployment system that is projected in front of a fleeing vehicle. Similarly, Abukhader's U.S. Pat. No. 5,611,408 would stop a car using hollow spikes that facilitate escaping air from punctured tires. Spike strips, also including a hollow spike design, are deployed by a system presented by Lowndes in U.S. Pat. No. 5,536,109.
A spike belt is disclosed by Blair in U.S. Pat. No. 6,551,013. Blair describes a portable tire deflation device in the form of a band of spring steel 10-12 feet in length. Blair's spike belt is divided into multiple segments wherein each segment has a strip of removably secured, hollow steel spikes, and is designed for a law enforcement officer to deploy across a lane of traffic.
Groen et al., in U.S. Pat. No. 6,155,745, teaches a vehicle tire deflation device to be positioned on a road surface in front of a moving vehicle. The device has a collapsible outer cover which makes it safe for handling prior to its deployment. The cover easily collapses so as not to impede the operation of the device in puncturing tires of the target vehicle. The multi-piece spike design of Groen et al. combines to penetrate the tire surface, subsequently embedding a hollow quill in the tire tread. Thus, the tire deflates at a controlled rate rather than a dangerous blowout.
Easily carried in the trunk of a police vehicle, the Groen et al. device has an optional mating connector configured so as to rigidly connect two or more deflation devices together for broader road coverage. A rolling tire embeds a hollow, puncturing quill which remains in the tire. Alternative designs for a tire penetration device including puncturing quills of the hollow type are described in Groen et al., in U.S. Pat. No. 5,820,293. Greves and Greves et al., respectively in U.S. Pat. No. 5,452,962 and No. 5,330,285 illustrate further embodiments tire puncturing implements of note. The above-discussed patents to Groen et al., Greves and Greves et al. patents present deflation tool technology assigned to Stop Stick, Inc. of Lawrenceville, Ind.
In U.S. Pat. No. 6,527,475, Lowrie illustrates a system mounted to the underside of a vehicle behind the rear tires thereof similar to the location of the present invention device housing as will be described herein. The Lowrie system acts to eject a collapsed tire deflation device by means of a compressed gas propulsion source. A set of control switches is mounted inside the vehicle near the operator so as to control the ejection. The ejected deflation device remains attached to the housing via a tether line.
Curry, in U.S. Pat. No. 6,758,628, illustrates a method and apparatus for launching a base member in the form of a spiked strip directly from under the rear of a lead vehicle and onto a roadway in front of a trailing target. The spiked strip causes deflation of the tires of the trailing vehicle. The spiked strip includes a plurality of tire piercing spikes projecting in a single direction. Illustrated is a trapezoidal housing with a bottom plate having said spiked strip affixed thereto. The plate is designed to drop onto the roadway when triggered by the operator of the lead vehicle. A mechanical and/or electromechanical latching device is employed by Curry for holding and releasing a trailing edge of the bottom plate.
Curry's spiked strip is illustrated as affixed to the bottom plate such that when the plate engages the road surface there is no possibility of the spiked strip "turning turtle" to an ineffective position. Although not illustrated, Curry suggests that the bottom plate may in some way be hinged to a forward lip so that an unattached spiked strip would be allowed to slide down the bottom plate which would serve as a launching ramp for the spiked strip. In this latter embodiment, the descent of the spiked strip would appear to be uncontrolled as to tumbling or disorientation relative to a targeted vehicle tire.
While each of the above-described devices and methods has its merits, none is completely satisfactory. Some in fact even pose considerable risks to the law enforcement officers who are assigned to deploy them. These devices place not only the officers in danger but also endanger innocent drivers and bystanders. The present inventive system effectively resolves the shortcomings and inadequacies of the prior art in satisfying a long felt need.


An approach is provided for monitoring, assessing, and managing power source performance. Depletion of a power source of a mobile device caused by executing a plurality of activities is determined. A duration value is determined for executing each of the activities. The duration values are attributed to the depletion. Statistical data corresponding to performance of the power source is generated.

Consumer adoption of mobile devices, such as cellular telephones, laptop computers, pagers, personal digital assistants, and the like, is increasing. These devices can be used for a diversity of purposes (or activities) ranging from basic communications, to conducting business transactions, to managing entertainment media, and a host of other activities, e.g., asset tracking, content streaming, document editing, etc. When not plugged into an outlet, execution of one or more of these activities is limited to the extent with which a power source (e.g., battery) of the mobile device can power the execution of the activities. In order to aid consumers attempting to choose one mobile device over another, manufacturers typically provide consumers with power source performance guidelines indicating, for instance, maximum amounts of time (or duration) for conducting phone calls (e.g., "talk time"), for resting in an idle state (e.g., "standby time" or "hibernation time"), for presenting content (e.g., "multimedia playback time"), and the like. This information is useful when purchasing a mobile device, however, provides little in the way of monitoring, assessing, and managing the performance of the power supply subsequent to purchase, such as when the power supply depletes, ages, and/or otherwise cycles.
Therefore, there is a need for an approach that can efficiently and effectively monitor, assess, and manage power source performance.

Method and apparatus for monitoring, assessing, and managing power source performance


An arrangement for fastening a turbulence vane to headbox where in the headbox, a groove running parallel to the width of the headbox is formed in a plate delimiting a slice chamber, in order to fasten the turbulence vane to the plate. A fastener is fitted to the rear edge of the turbulence vane, which is placed in a groove. In the turbulence vane a fastening retainer is formed, to which the fastener is fitted. In the fastener there is a coil spring construction arranged to lock onto the fastening retainer.

This invention relates to an arrangement for fastening a turbulence vane to a headbox, in which headbox there are openings for the stock flow formed in the plate delimiting the slice chamber, as well as at least one continuous groove running parallel to the width of the headbox and located in the area between the openings in order to fasten a turbulence vane to the said plate on the slice chamber side, while a fastener which is arranged to be placed in the said groove is fitted to the rear edge of the turbulence vane.
Nowadays, special turbulence vanes are used in the slice chamber after the turbulence generator in the headbox of a paper machine. The turbulence vanes are also termed strips or lamellae, a single slice chamber generally containing a total of one to six of them. With the aid of the wall friction of the turbulence vanes, the desired level of turbulence is intended to be maintained to the slice opening and as far as the wire section, so that the fibers in the stock flow will be as randomly oriented as possible when they are discharged from the headbox. This is used to affect the tensile strength of the material being manufactured and the orientation of the tensile strength in different directions in the material. Particularly in the multilayer headboxes used in soft tissue machines, turbulence vanes are also used to separate the different stock layers from each other, which improves the layer purity of the fibers, as well as their orientation.
In the state of the art, a fastener, which is welded or glued to a usually plastic turbulence vane, is used to attach the turbulence vane to the plate delimiting the slice chamber. The turbulence vane is secured, with the aid of a fastener, to a groove machined in the plate. In order to improve the durability of the turbulence vanes and to increase their operating life, attempts are being made, however, to use new kinds of materials, which will resist high temperatures and chemicals. It is impossible, or at least extremely difficult, to glue or weld materials of this kind, such as the so-called fluoroplastics. In addition, welding often causes distortions or strain in the material, which can lead to unpredictable breakages during operation.
FI publication print number 55372 also discloses a fastener, which is glued onto the turbulence vane. The fastening in question is, however, unreliable and it requires a specific kind of groove in the plate. The same publication also discloses another fastener, which is not actually attached to the turbulence vane. The fastening is based on the friction that is created between the turbulence vane and protrusions on the fastener. This fastening is particularly unreliable and its manufacture and installation is difficult. The rotation of the turbulence vane permitted by the fastener is, in addition, extremely limited.
The present invention provides a new type of arrangement for fastening a turbulence vane to a headbox, wherein a turbulence vane can be fastened to a headbox more easily and also more securely than previously.
An arrangement for fastening a turbulence vane to headbox, in which headbox there are openings for the stock flow formed in the plate delimiting the slice chamber, as well as at least one continuous groove running parallel to the width of the headbox and located in the area between the openings in order to fasten a turbulence vane to the plate on the slice chamber side, while a fastener, which is arranged to be placed in the groove, is fitted to the rear edge of the turbulence vane, is characterized in that in the base material of the turbulence vane a fastening retainer is formed, to which the fastener, with a construction arranged to lock onto the fastening retainer, is fitted, and which forms a hinge member permitting the turbulence vane to turn.
In the arrangement there are at least two fasteners and they are arranged to fit entirely into the groove, which is preferably a dovetail groove. The fastening retainer is formed of drill holes, which are arranged in a row running in the direction of the width of the headbox. The drill holes, the diameter of which is 2-6 mm, are machined at a distance of 3-25 mm, from the rear edge of the turbulence vane, and at 5-30 mm, intervals in the direction of the width of the headbox.
In the arrangement the fastener is a coil spring, which is fitted in to the drill holes forming the fastening retainer, the coils of the coil spring forming the construction. The pitch of the coil spring, which comprises acid-resistant steel, is the distance between the drill holes, or a multiple of the distance.
The fastening retainer is formed by at least one groove running parallel to the width of the headbox and machined in the upper and/or lower surface of the turbulence vane. The groove is machined at a distance of 5-25 mm, from the rear edge of the turbulence vane.
The fastener which has an essentially circular cross-section is of a plastic material. A construction locking onto the fastening retainer is shaped in a throat formed in it.
The length of the fastener running in the direction of the width of the headbox is 50-350 mm, and that these are arranged in the turbulence vane at intervals of 100-500 mm.
In the arrangement according to the invention, special fasteners are used, by means of which gluing and welding are avoided. Thus, it is possible to use materials resistant to high temperatures and various chemicals, which it would be difficult to glue, weld, or join in other ways. According to the invention, there are constructions corresponding to each other in both the turbulence vane and the plate, which lock into each other. Gluing and welding are then unnecessary. In addition, the fastener can be manufactured from a different material than the turbulence vane. The fasteners can also be manufactured in several different ways and they permit thermal expansion in adjacent structures. In addition to attachment, the fastener also forms a hinge member, which permits the turbulence vane to turn freely. Further, the fastener according to the invention is suitable for use directly in the existing conventional grooves in a headbox.
These and other features and advantages of the invention will be more fully understood from the following detailed description of the invention taken together with the accompanying drawings.

Arrangement for fastening a turbulence vane to a headbox


A topcoat material for application on top of a photoresist material is disclosed. The topcoat material comprises an acid-inert compound. The topcoat material also comprises a polymer or an oligomer or a cage structure which shows negligible intermixing with the imaging layer and is soluble in aqueous base developer. A method of forming a patterned material layer on a substrate and a coated substrate comprising the topcoat material is also disclosed.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the fields of chemistry, photolithography and semiconductor fabrication. More specifically, the invention is directed to a composition of a high contact angle topcoat material and a method of forming a photolithographic image using the topcoat, where a liquid such as water is interposed between the last lens fixture of an exposure tool and the photoresist-coated wafer.
2. Description of Related Art
The continuous drive to print smaller structures for advanced electronic device manufacturing requires the use of higher resolution optical lithography tools. Immersion lithography has the potential to extend current 193 nm argon fluoride-based technology to 45 nm critical dimensions (half-pitch DRAM) and beyond by effectively improving the depth-of-focus processing window for a given optical numerical aperture (NA). In addition, it enables lens designs with NA greater than 1.0, thus resulting in an increased resolution of optical scanners. The process requires filling the gap between the last lens element of the exposure tool and the resist-coated substrate with ultrapure water or another suitable fluid. See A. Hand, "Tricks With Water and Light: 193 nm Extension", Semiconductor International, Vol. 27, Issue 2, February 2004.
One of the technical challenges facing liquid immersion lithography is the diffusion between the photoresist components and the immersion medium. That is, during the immersion lithographic process, the photoresist components leach into the immersion medium and the immersion medium permeates into the photoresist film. Such diffusion is detrimental to photoresist performance and might result in disastrous lens damage or contamination in a 40 million dollar lithography tool. Therefore, there is a need for a method to prevent interaction between photoresist layers and immersion fluid in an immersion lithography system.
Topcoat materials can be applied on top of the photoresist layer for the purpose of eliminating diffusion of materials from the photoresist layer underneath, and to prevent the permeation of the exposure medium into the photoresist film. Traditionally, topcoat materials have been used in photolithography as anti-reflective films on top of a photoresist. The top anti-reflective coat (TARC) materials can prevent the multiple interference of light that takes place within the photoresist layer during exposure. As a result, the critical dimension (CD) variation of the geometrical features of a photoresist pattern caused by the variation in the thickness of the photoresist film can be reduced.
For ease of processing, classic TARC materials are designed to be soluble in both water and aqueous base developers so that they can be applied directly from water solution and subsequently removed by the aqueous base developer during the develop stage.
Numerous TARC materials have been developed previously. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,744,537 and 6,057,080 disclose aqueous-soluble TARC materials comprising a polymeric binder and a fluorocarbyl compound, which have nearly ideal refractive indices on the order of 1.3-1.4. U.S. Pat. No. 5,879,853 also discloses a TARC material that is removable by a wet process. U.S. Pat. No. 5,595,861 similarly discloses a TARC comprising partially fluorinated compounds, which can also be water soluble. U.S. Pat. No. 6,274,295 discloses a TARC material comprising a light-absorbing compound having a wavelength of maximum absorption higher than an exposure wavelength used to expose the photoresist. This TARC can also be water-soluble. Finally, U.S. Pat. No. 5,240,812 discloses a protective material for use as an overcoat film for acid catalyzed resist compositions to prevent contamination from vapors of organic and inorganic bases. While not specifically disclosed as being a TARC, the overcoat can also be water-soluble.
Since water has been proposed as the exposure medium for 193 nm immersion lithography, classic water-soluble TARC materials such as those described above cannot be used as topcoats for such technology. Other commercial materials currently available either require solvents that are incompatible with semiconductor fabrication lines or impact the lithographic performance of the photoresist. New topcoat materials are needed to ensure the deployment of 193 nm immersion lithography necessary for manufacture of semiconductor devices at 45 nm and below design ground rules. See M. Slezak, "Exploring the needs and tradeoffs for immersion resist topcoating", Solid State Technology, Vol. 47, Issue 7, July 2004.
At IBM, organic polymer-based topcoats or hybrid (organic-inorganic) molecular topcoats are being developed. This is a new area of exploration and there is a need to develop a variety of topcoats that are compatible with different resists, or ultimately functions as universal topcoats. A critical deficiency of most of the reported base soluble topcoats is that they have relatively high surface energy, resulting in a "low" water contact angle (in the range of 70-80 degrees). It has been reported low surface energy (contact angle greater than 90° C.) topcoats may be important for high-speed scanning and low defectivity in immersion lithography. If immersion lithography realizes its potential as a successor to dry 193 nm lithography in volume production, the combination of high speed scanning and low defectivity are essential.
In fact, the first working topcoats were based on Teflon-AF-like Fluoropolymers and have very low surface energy and have water contact angles in the 110-120 degree range. However, these topcoats were not developable in aqueous base and led to involved/expensive/impractical processing.
Thus, there remains a need for a topcoat material that is highly soluble in developer, resistant to immersion fluid, compatible with photoresist, and has low surface energy with water contact angle greater than 90° C.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

High contact angle topcoat material and use thereof in lithography process

International Business Machines Corporation


The present invention provides an apparatus and a method for classifying and recognizing image patterns using a second-order neural network, thereby achieving high-rate parallel processing while lowering the complexity. The second-order neural network, which is made of adders and multipliers, corrects positional translations generated in a complex-log mapping unit to output the same result for the same object irrespective of the scale and/or rotation of the object. The present invention enables high-rate image pattern classification and recognition based on parallel processing, which is the advantage obtained in neural network models, because consistent neural networks and consistent network structure computation models are applied to all steps from the image input step to the pattern classifying and recognizing step.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to image pattern classification and recognition, and more particularly to an apparatus and a method for classifying and recognizing image patterns, irrespective of scale and rotation transformation, using an image input unit for transforming an image of an object into a rotation and scale invariant form and using an artificial neural network.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Recently, an increased demand for automated and manless systems in factories has resulted in a strong need for an apparatus for classifying and recognizing image data. In particular, when an object or an image input unit used is translated, an image of the object input in the image input unit is transformed in scale and rotation. In this case, accordingly, a transform invariant recognition is needed. In this regard, there have been proposed devices for transforming images involving various transformations in scale and rotation into a certain invariant form, and thereby recognizing the result.
Referring to FIG. 1, illustrated is an example of a conventional case as mentioned above. As shown in FIG. 1, the conventional apparatus includes a complex-log mapping unit 11, a Fourier transform unit 13 and a multilayer perceptron unit 15. In this case, an input image is transformed into a scale and rotation invariant image using the scale and rotation invariance of complex-log mapping. A Fourier transform is also carried out to correct possible positional translation of an output of complex-log mapping. The transformed result is classified and recognized by a neural network. The conception of the complex-log mapping unit is described in "Form-Invariant, Topological Mapping Strategy for 2D shape Recognition", by L. Massone et al., reference being made to a "retino-cortical mapping".
However, this conventional case involves an additional computation for achieving the Fourier transform. As a result, it has the disadvantages of a very difficult parallel processing and a high network complexity.

Apparatus and method for classifying and recognizing image patterns using neural network


The present invention is directed toward methods of identifying compounds which inhibit the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) viral protein R (Vpr) from stimulating the differentiation of undifferentiated cells. This invention takes advantage of the observation that cell lines from rhabdomyosarcomas, which are tumors of muscle origin, have been used as models of CD4-independent HIV infection. These cell lines can be induced to differentiate in vitro. The vpr gene of HIV-1 is sufficient for the differentiation of the human rhabdomyosarcoma cell line TE671. Differentiated cells are characterized by great enlargement, altered morphology, lack of replication, and high level expression of the muscle-specific protein myosin. Morphological differentiation and inhibition of proliferation of other transformed cell lines following vpr expression was also observed. This invention also relates toward methods of identifying compounds which inhibit HIV Vpr binding to Gag. These screening methods should facilitate the identification and development of antiviral agents.

Since the demonstration in 1987 that the small open reading frame within HIV-1 designated R encodes a 15 kd protein (Wong-Staal, F., et al., (1987) AIDS Res. Hum. Retroviruses 3:33-39), relatively little regarding the function of the viral protein R (vpr) has been reported. The vpr open reading frame is conserved within all genomes of HIV-1 and HIV-2 and within most, if not all, simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) genomes. VPR is immunogenic in vivo in that a large subset of HIV.sup.+ individuals makes antibodies that can react with a bacterially produced vpr peptide (Wong-Staal, F., et al., (1987) AIDS Res. Hum. Retroviruses 3:33-39). The most direct evidence for the function of the vpr protein comes from several studies reporting that vpr increases the replication and cytopathogenicity of HIV-1, HIV-2, and SIV in primary CD4.sup.+ T lymphocytes and transformed T cell lines (Ogawa, K., et al., (1989) J. Virol. 63:4110-4114; Shibata, R., et al. (1990a). J. Med. Primatol. 19:217-225; and, Shibata, R., et al. (1990b) J. Virol. 64:742-747), although others have reported vpr has no effect on replication (Dedera, D., et al. (1989) Virol. 63:3205-3208). Interestingly HIV-2 mutated for vpr has been reported unable to infect primary monocyte/macrophages (Hattori, N., et al. (1990) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 87:8080-8084). Transactivation of the HIV long terminal repeat and heterologous promoters by HIV is increased about 3-fold in wild-type versus vpr-negative HIV-1, though the mechanism through which vpr may transactivate transcription is unknown and may be indirect (Cohen, E. A., et al., (1990b) J. Acquir. Immune Defic. Syndr. 3:11-18). The relationship between the effects of vpr on promoter activity and viral infectivity is not clear. Vpr protein is incorporated into the viral particle, and this finding has led to the proposition that vpr functions early in infection, following virus penetration and uncoating, and that vpr may interact with cellular regulatory mechanisms important in the establishment of infection (Cohen, E. A., et al. 1990a J. Virol. 64:3097-3099; Yu, X. F., et al. (1990) J. Virol. 64:5688-5693.; and, Yuan, X., et al., (1990) AIDS Res. Hum. Retroviruses 6:1265-1271).

Identification of compounds that modulate HIV-1 vpr protein activity

Trustees of The University of Pennsylvania


A resin-encapsulated semiconductor device includes a semiconductor chip, a plurality of inner leads that are connected to a group of electrodes of the semiconductor chip, respectively, and an encapsulating resin that encapsulates a connection part located between the semiconductor chip and the inner leads. Each of the inner leads includes a protruded portion provided on a surface thereof on an outer side relative to the periphery of the semiconductor chip. The protruded portion protrudes in a thickness direction and is provided with a step portion formed in its side portion. The group of electrodes of the semiconductor chip is connected to surfaces of inner portions of the inner leads located on an inner side relative to their protruded portions, through electroconductive bumps, respectively. The encapsulating resin encapsulates the semiconductor chip and the electroconductive bumps and is formed to expose surfaces of the protruded portions. The surfaces of the protruded portions that function as external terminals can be reduced in size and thereby the pitch between the external terminals can be reduced.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a resin-encapsulated semiconductor device with a lead frame. Particularly, it relates to a structure that is suitable for achieving the reduction in thickness and the increase in speed of elements, and a structure that is employed for achieving three-dimensional mounting of a plurality of resin-encapsulated semiconductor devices, in a resin-encapsulated semiconductor device called SIP (System In Package). Furthermore, the present invention relates to a lead frame used therein and the method of producing the same as well as the method of producing a resin-encapsulated semiconductor device.
2. Related Background Art
Conventionally, a resin-encapsulated semiconductor device called "QFN (Quad Flat Non-leaded Package)", only one side of which is encapsulated with an encapsulating resin, has been developed as a compact and thin resin-encapsulated semiconductor device. The following will describe the conventional QFN-type resin-encapsulated semiconductor device.
First of all, the following describes a lead frame used in a resin-encapsulated semiconductor device. FIG. 6 is a plan view illustrating a conventional lead frame 1. This lead frame 1 has a structure in which a die pad 4 arranged substantially at the center of an opening region 3 of a frame 2 is supported by handling leads 5. One end of each of the hanging leads 5 is connected with each of the corners of the die pad 4, while the other end thereof is connected with the frame 2. Further, the frame 2 is provided with a plurality of inner leads 6, which are arranged so that their ends face corresponding edges of the die pad 4.
Next, the following describes a conventional resin-encapsulated semiconductor device employing the foregoing lead frame. FIGS. 7A and 7B show a conventional resin-encapsulated semiconductor device. FIG. 7A is a bottom view of a resin-encapsulated semiconductor device, and FIG. 7B is a cross-sectional view of the device taken along line A-A1 shown in FIG. 7A. A semiconductor chip 7 is bonded to the die pad 4, and the frame 2 of the lead frame 1 (see FIG. 6) is cut away, so that the inner leads 6 are separated from one another. Electrodes 8 of the semiconductor chip 7 are connected electrically with the surfaces of the inner leads 6 through thin metal wires 9, respectively. The surroundings of the semiconductor chip 7 are encapsulated with an encapsulating resin 10, with the bottom face of the die pad 4 and the bottom faces of the inner leads 6 being exposed. The bottom faces and side faces of the inner leads 6 are exposed at a bottom face and side faces of the package 11, respectively, thereby forming external terminals 12.
Next, the following describes a method of producing the resin-encapsulated semiconductor device shown in FIGS. 7A and 7B. FIGS. 8A to 8E illustrate steps of the production method by showing, like FIG. 7B, the cross-sections taken along line A-A1 indicated in FIG. 7A.
First, a lead frame 1 is prepared as shown in FIG. 8A. This lead frame 1 is the same as that shown in FIG. 6, though the illustration of the frame 2 (see FIG. 6) is omitted therein. The drawing shows a die pad 4 on which a semiconductor chip is to be mounted, and one of a plurality of inner leads 6 arranged so that their ends face the corresponding edges of the die pad 4. Next, as shown in FIG. 8B, a semiconductor chip 7 is mounted on the die pad 4 of the lead frame 1 by bonding. Then, as shown in FIG. 8C, the semiconductor chip 7 is connected electrically with surfaces of the inner leads 6 through thin metal wires 9.
Subsequently, as shown in FIG. 8D, the surroundings of the die pad 4, the surfaces of the inner leads 6, and the semiconductor device 7 are covered with a molding die 13 to be encapsulated with an encapsulating resin. Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 8E, the package 11 that has been encapsulated with the encapsulating resin 10 is taken out of the molding die. Thus, a resin-encapsulated semiconductor device is completed in which the bottom faces and outer side faces of the inner leads 6 are arranged in the bottom of the package 11 to serve as external terminals 12 (see, for instance, JP2000-307049A).
However, the conventional resin-encapsulated semiconductor device as described above is very thick as a whole since the thin metal wires are used for connecting the electrodes of the semiconductor chip with the inner leads, and hence, there are limits to the reduction in thickness of the device. Furthermore, since no consideration has been given to the size of the exposed faces of the inner leads that form the external terminals, the above-mentioned structure was not suitable for reducing the size of the external terminals and the pitch of the external terminals, i.e. the distance between the external terminals.
In addition, in a situation where high-speed signals or high-frequency signals operate, loss of signals in the thin metal wires becomes a problem, which prevents the semiconductor chip from fully functioning.
Moreover, since the external terminals are exposed only at the bottom face of the resin-encapsulated semiconductor device, when a plurality of resin-encapsulated semiconductor devices are stacked on top of each other, no electric connection can be established between the devices through their external terminals. Thus, it is difficult to implement the three-dimensional packaging.

Lead frame and method of producing the same, and resin-encapsulated semiconductor device and method of producing the same

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.


A supporting arrangement for objects such as light fixtures and pipes on ships is provided which includes a vertical support which at its lower end engages the object to be supported and at its upper end connects by bolts to a stud welded to the deck of the ship. A brace connects with a clamp that can be positioned where desired along the support member to an angle bracket which is carried by a short post welded to the deck at a location remote from the weld stud.

On ships, in particular, naval ships, it is the practice to suspend light fixtures, pipes, ducts and other objects from a deck above. The fixtures or other objects must be supported at different distances from the deck above because of varying spacing and different height requirements. Making such installations conventionally is a slow and expensive operation. Typically, a tubular vertical support is welded at its upper end to the deck and extends downwardly to the fixture. A brace extends outwardly from the vertical support at an angle, being welded to the vertical support at one end and to the deck at the other. These welding operations require heavy, bulky welding equipment which must be moved throughout the ship under construction to accomplish the necessary welds at the different locations where supports are needed. This disrupts other construction operations on the ship, requires insulation blankets for the cables, and generally is a very awkward and slow operation. The brace generally is a tubular member which is scarfed at its ends so that it will be flush with the vertical support at one end and with the deck at the other. The cutting of the brace is accomplished generally off the ship, with the brace then being brought to the location of the support for attachment. It is not always possible to estimate the precise angle necessary for the ends of the brace to enable it to be connected both to the vertical support and to the deck at an available location. The length of the brace may not be correct. Often costly rework is necessary.
Hence, there has been a need for an improved arrangement for suspending light fixtures or the like to reduce the cost, complexity and time of assembly for ship construction.

Suspension system for supporting objects on ships


The present invention discloses an ultraviolet light curable transparent conductive composition and method for making such a composition that may be used to produce a transparent conductive coating on a suitable substrate. These coatings may be used in such applications as touch screens, membrane switches, TV screens, and VCRs. The disclosed composition does not contain any significant amount of volatile organic solvents that do not become incorporated in the active layer after curing.

UV radiation curable transparent conductive compositions are applied to a substrate through spraying, screen printing, dipping or brushing, thus forming a transparent conducting film or coating. Transparent conductive coatings transmit visible light while possessing electrical conductivity. Accordingly such coatings find application in automobiles, airplanes, etc. as electrodes for liquid crystal devices, exothermic resistors, and photosemiconductors.
UV curable conductive films offer advantages over typical heat curable films typically produced by chemical vapor deposition, sputtering, and sol-gelling. Heat curable compositions used for example in the sol-gel process require the use of organic solvents that contain a significant amount of volatile organic compounds (VOCs). These VOCs escape into the atmosphere while the heat curable composition dries. Such solvent based systems are undesirable because of the hazards and expenses associated with VOCs. The hazards include water and air pollution and the expenses include the cost of complying with strict government regulation on solvent emission levels. In contrast, UV curable compositions contain reactive monomers instead of solvents; thus eliminating the detrimental effects of the VOCs.
The use of heat curable compositions not only raises environmental concerns but other disadvantages exist with their use as well. Heat curable compositions suffer from slow cure times which lead to decreased productivity. These compositions require high energy for curing due to energy loss as well as the energy required to heat the substrate. Additionally, many heat curable compositions yield poor film properties that result in decreased value of the end product.
Although UV curable compositions exhibit superior properties and performance over their heat curable counterparts, UV curable compositions themselves suffer from certain disadvantages. Generally, UV compositions have high molecular weights and a substantial degree of cross linkage due to the highly reactive nature of the composition. As a result, many of these compositions suffer from low durability and resin shrinkage. With the use of many such compositions, an inordinately high amount of UV light is required to cure. With some compositions, suspended solids fall out of solution after a period of one to two days. This dispersion adversely affects the gloss and clarity of the finished product.
Accordingly, there exists a need to provide environmentally safe UV curable transparent conductive compositions which exhibit improved appearance and workability. Additionally, there is a need to provide a method of applying an improved composition which furthers the goal of improved performance.


A stacked looped hose rack for upright vacuum cleaners provides a top hose receptacle, a bottom hose receptacle, and an intermediate hose receptacle, all three attached to the handle assembly of the upright cleaner. The top hose receptacle is rotatable to provide for a quick dump or release of the hose spirally wrapped around the top and bottom receptacles, and through the intermediate one. The bottom receptacle is in the form of a spool, the top receptacle is in the form of a generally elliptical spool, and the middle receptacle is provided with a pair of channels in H-type configuration to receive the hose as it passes therethrough.

It is well known that vacuum cleaners typically fall in three categories, routinely referred to as uprights, canisters, and sticks. Upright vacuum cleaners are generally perceived as providing superior floor care, while canisters provide a certain degree of flexibility in use, accommodating both floor care and above floor cleaning. Stick cleaners are generally perceived as providing for quick cleanup of floor surfaces and the like, and are appreciated for their ease of storage and ready availability.
The present trend in vacuum cleaners is to provide uprights with above-floor cleaning capabilities. To extend the utility of upright cleaners to this arena, a hose, wands, and associated tools must typically be provided. Such a combination allows the vacuum cleaner to perform the outstanding floor care typically characterizing an upright cleaner, while also providing the flexibility of utility which has previously characterized canister cleaners. The storage of the hose and associated tools implemented with the vacuum cleaner is critical so that the same are readily available for immediate use, but without impeding the operability of the cleaner itself.
In the vacuum cleaner art, the mounting and storage of cords and hoses on the cleaner is well known. The implementation of separated receiving hooks for electrical power cords is known from U.S. Pat. No. 2,003,147, while the provision of a quick release mechanism for such power cords is shown by U.S. Pat. No. 2,946,071. Additionally, the side mounting of the vacuum hose on an upright cleaner in which a single wrap of the hose is provided on an extensive continuous contoured receptacle is shown in U.S. Pat. No. Des. 313,681. However, a single wrap of hose is sufficient only for an extendable or stretchable hose. For hoses which can not be elongated in use, the size or number of wraps must be increased, while remaining unobstructive to the utility of the cleaner.
Despite the prior teachings, there is an absence in the vacuum cleaner art of a hose rack for an upright cleaner which accommodates substantial hose length in a compact area by spirally wrapping the hose upon itself There is particularly absent such a hose rack in which the spiral wrap of the hose is vertically stacked upon itself. There is also absent such a hose rack in which the spiral wrap of the hose is horizontally wound upon itself. There is also absent such a rack which allows for the quick release of the hose for access in use. The art is in need of a hose rack which fills the voids identified above and which allows for an orderly storage of the hose upon a rack which is simplistic in design, inexpensive to construct, and easy to implement with presently existing upright vacuum cleaners.

Stacked looped hose rack for upright cleaner


At least one processor may obtain a document comprising text tokens. The at least one processor may determine, based on a pre-trained language model, word embeddings corresponding to the text tokens. The at least one processor may determine, based on the word embeddings, named entities corresponding to the text tokens; and one or more accuracy predictions corresponding to the named entities. The at least one processor may compare the one or more accuracy predictions with at least one threshold. The at least one processor may associate, based on the comparing, the named entities with one or more confidence levels. The at last one processor may deliver the named entities and the one or more confidence levels.

Natural language processing (NLP) is an interdisciplinary field with components from computational linguistics, computer science, machine learning and artificial intelligence. NLP is concerned with analyzing, deciphering, understanding and making sense of human's natural language. The following disclosure provides technical solutions to some of the deficiencies in conventional systems in the NLP field.

Pre-trained contextual embedding models for named entity recognition and confidence prediction


Some embodiments include an integrated assembly having a CMOS region with fins extending along a first direction, and with gating structures extending across the fins. A circuit arrangement is associated with the CMOS region and includes a pair of the gating structures spaced by an intervening region having a missing gating structure. The circuit arrangement has a first dimension along the first direction. A second region is proximate to the CMOS region. Conductive structures are associated with the second region. Some of the conductive structures are electrically coupled with the circuit arrangement. A second dimension is a distance across said some of the conductive structures along the first direction. The conductive structures and the circuit arrangement are aligned such that the second dimension is substantially the same as the first dimension. Some embodiments include methods of forming integrated assemblies.

Memory is one type of integrated circuitry, and is used in computer systems for storing data. Memory may be fabricated in one or more arrays of individual memory cells. Memory cells may be written to, or read from, using digit lines (which may also be referred to as bitlines, data lines, sense lines, or data/sense lines) and access lines (which may also be referred to as wordlines). The digit lines may extend along columns of the array, and the access lines may extend along rows of the array. Each memory cell may be uniquely addressed through the combination of a digit line and an access line.
Memory cells may be volatile or nonvolatile. Nonvolatile memory cells can store data for extended periods of time, including when a computer is turned off. Volatile memory dissipates and therefore is rapidly refreshed/rewritten, in many instances multiple times per second. Regardless, memory cells are configured to retain or store memory in at least two different selectable states. In a binary system, the states are considered as either a "0" or a "1". In other systems, at least some individual memory cells may be configured to store more than two levels or states of information.
Some memory cells may include a transistor in combination with a capacitor (or other suitable charge-storage device). The transistor is utilized to selectively access the capacitor, and may be referred to as an access device. The capacitor may electrostatically store energy as an electric field within capacitor dielectric between two capacitor electrodes. The electrical state of the capacitor may be utilized to represent a memory state.
The wordlines may be coupled with wordline-driver-circuitry, and the digit lines may be coupled with sense-amplifier-circuitry. The wordline-driver-circuitry and sense-amplifier-circuitry may be within a CMOS region of an integrated assembly.
Memory is one example of integrated circuitry, and many other types of integrated circuitry are known (e.g., sensor circuitry, logic circuitry, etc.). Such other types of integrated circuitry may be utilized in combination with integrated memory in some applications.
A continuing goal of integrated assembly fabrication is to increase the level of integration, or, in other words, to pack ever-more memory into ever-decreasing space. It is desired to develop new architectures for integrated assemblies, and it is desired for such new architectures to be suitable for highly-integrated applications.

Integrated assemblies and semiconductor memory devices


A device for environmental protection of an electrical component on a mount, e.g. a circuit board, includes: a first housing part; a second housing part which together with the first housing part provides a substantially closed housing; a mount (e.g. a circuit board) for an electrical component that may be movably secured with respect to the first housing part; and a sealing material positioned between the mount and a surface of the first housing part; such that the mount can be moved with respect to the first housing part to put the sealing material under compression. The device can also include a maintenance termination unit for a telecommunications network.

The present invention relates to a device for providing environmental protection around electrical connectors, components or circuitry.
In particular, the invention provides a device comprising a network termination module that preferably contains a so-called maintenance termination unit or MTU. Such units are often provided in a telecommunications network between that part which is the responsibility of the telephone company and that part which is the responsibility of the subscriber. The module serves as a demarcation point and allows remotely-activated disconnection and testing.
Such modules generally need to provide protection from the environment in order that they may be positioned in unfavourable locations for example on an external wall of a building. Such environmental protection can prevent moisture or other contaminants from damaging electrical connectors, components and circuitry.


A heat sink comprises a heat sink base and a row of heat sink extensions that are attached to one side of the heat sink base. An interleaved heat sink structure includes a first row and a second row of heat sink extensions. The first row and the second row of heat sink extensions are coupled respectively to a first and a second heat sink bases. The first and the second heat sink bases are thermally coupled to a first plurality of memory packages and a second plurality of memory packages, respectively. The first row of heat sink extensions is parallel to and at least partially interleaved with the second row of heat sink extensions. A memory heat dissipation control system and a method for assembly a memory part that includes a DIME and two heat sinks are also described.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a heat sink, and more particularly, to an interleaved heat sink structure for dissipating heat from memory chips.
2. Description of the Related Art
Electronic storage medium, such as dynamic random access memory (DRAM), is frequently packaged in a way that allows for high density per unit of physical space. DRAM often dissipates heat as a part of normal operation and functions optimally within a temperature range. This is especially true given the recent proliferation of stacked, doubled sided DRAM dual inline memory modules (DIMMs) where the DRAM packages are stacked in a planar fashion, and where stacked DRAM packages are placed on both sides of a printed circuit board (PCB).
FIG. 1(a) shows a side view of a conventional DRAM DIMM 100 that includes a plurality of DRAM packages 110 attached to both sides of a PCB 120. The DRAM DIMM 100 is plugged into a host board 130 through a DIMM socket 140 and is received by a pair of connectors 150. Multiple DRAM DIMMs are often placed on a host board in rows, columns, or both to maximize memory density in a given physical space. FIG. 1(b) illustrates a top view of a DRAM DIMM array 100′ placed in rows on the host board 130. Each of the DRAM DIMMs is received by a pair of connectors 150.
As shown in FIG. 1(a) and FIG. 1(b), DRAM DIMMs can be actively cooled by transverse airflow. However, in a system where a DRAM DIMM array is placed on a host board in close proximity to each other, such as 12.7 mm, this creates a situation where the air must flow through narrow air channels between the DRAM DIMMs. Given that DRAM DIMMs are generally longer than the placement density of a DRAM DIMM array on a host board, the air channel between two DRAM DIMMs can be very narrow and long. As a result, a boundary layer is developed around each DRAM DIMM, which results in a stagnation of airflow near the DRAM DIMM surface.
As illustrated in FIG. 2, when boundary layers 210 are formed around two DRAM DIMMs, the airflow in the areas 220 between the boundary layers 210 and the DRAM DIMM surfaces are slowed down, thus reducing the efficiency in which heat can be dissipated from the DRAM packages 110 of the PCBs 120. In this example, the airflow is actually more efficient between the areas 220, where it is less effective to cool the DRAM DIMM surfaces.
In order to solve the thermal challenges generated by a DRAM DIMM array, integrated metal heat spreaders, attached to the DRAM DIMM surfaces, can be used to assist with cooling. However, due to the boundary layer effect, the heat that gathers at the metal heat spreaders need to be directed to an area where more air is flowing, such as region 220′. Therefore, it would be useful to design a heat sink that can pass through the boundary layer. This, however, conflicts with achievable DRAM DIMM density because such a heat sink design would reduce the possible density in which DRAM DIMMs could be placed in an array since the heat sink would occupy space that could otherwise be occupied with a denser placement of DRAM DIMMs. If the heat sinks are placed in close proximity to each other, individual servicing, i.e., the individual vertical injection and ejection, of each DRAM DIMM in a DRAM DIMM array might be jeopardized.
In view of the foregoing, there is a need for a heat sink that will highly utilize the airflow between the DIMMs yet still allow high density and individual servicing of each DIMM in a DIMM array.


A rotatable shaft member supports a first control member and a second control member. The first control member cooperates with a tang of a rotatable sear. The second control member cooperates with an abutment stop of the sear. When the shaft is rotated to where the second control member contacts the abutment stop of the sear, the sear is blocked and the gun cannot be fired. When the shaft member is rotated such that the second control member is moved away from the tang of the sear, the gun can be fired. When the shaft member is rotated further such that the second control member is remote from the abutment stop and the first control member contacts the tang of the sear, the tang moves out of contact with the searing surface of the hammer. The hammer begins to pivot in a gun firing direction until the tang engages a half-cocked notch for stopping movement of the hammer, whereby the hammer is decocked.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a handgun, having a frame, a firing pin, a barrel mounted thereupon, a slide for sliding reciprocating movement on said frame, a trigger pivotally mounted upon the frame by a trigger pin, a trigger rod member pivotally connected to the trigger by means of a pin and having a control surface, a spring loaded sear pivotally mounted upon the frame by means of a sear pin, a hammer pivotally mounted to the frame by means of a hammer pin, a hammer spring acting onto the hammer, which hammer includes a searing surface and a half-cocked notch, which sear includes a tang for engaging the searing surface of the hammer, and includes a control projection for engaging the control surface of the trigger rod member, which sear is rotatable between a hammer locking position and a hammer release position.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Such guns are generally known as semiautomatic pistols which can be fired in a single action mode and in a double action mode, as well.
Such guns should lend themselves to be fired quickly and accurately. Further, they should lend themselves for a safe operation because faulty manipulations, for instance, under stress can lead to an accidental firing of the gun. Such an accidental firing of the gun due to a faulty manipulation can occur when decocking the gun. A decocking of a cocked gun is accomplished generally, in that the operator pulls the trigger slightly and simultaneously holds the hammer with his thumb to slowly move the hammer into the decocked position. The hammer can slip off the thumb such that accidentally a shot is fired. It is also desirable to have a gun which can be operated easily to establish various states such as safety on, safety off and decocking.

Handgun having a decocking/safety control device


An electronic display includes a plurality of electronically controlled display elements arranged to form a face which is curved around a horizontal axis. The display elements are mounted on display sections which are aligned along a common axis and fastened side-by-side to a chassis to create a display having a desired length. Each display section includes a frame having semi-circular sides which define a radius around the axis and a flexible printed circuit board which is curved around the radius and fastened to the frame. The display elements are preferably light emitting diodes which are fabricated in arrays and mounted to the printed circuit board with sockets. The light emitting diodes are electrically coupled through the printed circuit board to a display driver such as a programmable controller which selectively illuminates the display elements to form images on the curved face of the display.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to electronic displays and more particularly to an electronic display having a curved face.
2. Description of the Related Art
Electronic displays are used in casino gaming operations to display information such as special promotional bonus jackpot values. Such displays typically employ a flat array of light emitting diodes (LEDs) which are selectively illuminated to display numbers or other information. For example, a flat display panel may be used to display a number representing the value of a bonus jackpot which is continuously being incremented. Displays have also been used in a "race track" configuration in which several LED panels are mounted end-to-end around the top of a table or kiosk with the LEDs facing outwardly. The LEDs are selectively illuminated to scroll information around the outer periphery. The LEDs are arranged as a flat vertical panel along the sidewalls of the table or kiosk. To round the corners, the LEDs are arranged to form a face which is curved around a vertical axis.
A problem with flat displays, however, is that they may not attract a great deal of attention. In order to encourage participation in special promotions, a casino operator needs to attract as much attention as possible to bonus jackpots and other incentives.
Accordingly, a need remains for a technique for attracting attention to an electronic display.


A method for etching an ultra high aspect ratio feature in a dielectric layer through a carbon based mask is provided. The dielectric layer is selectively etched with respect to the carbon based mask, wherein the selective etching provides a net deposition of a fluorocarbon based polymer on the carbon based mask. The selective etch is stopped. The fluorocarbon polymer is selectively removed with respect to the carbon based mask, so that the carbon based mask remains, using a trimming. The selectively removing the fluorocarbon polymer is stopped. The dielectric layer is again selectively etched with respect to the carbon based mask, wherein the second selectively etching provides a net deposition of a fluorocarbon based polymer on the carbon based mask.

The present invention relates to the fabrication of semiconductor devices. More specifically, the present invention relates to the fabrication of semiconductor devices, which use ultra high aspect ratio features.
Plasma-etching processes are commonly used in the fabrication of semiconductor devices. Generally, photoresist material forms feature patterns on the surface of the wafer to be etched, and features are then etched into the wafer by exposing the wafer to a particular type of etching gas. One of the challenges faced in plasma etching is the ever-increasing aspect ratio needed to meet design requirements, especially for ultra-high density structures. When etching features on semiconductor wafers, the aspect ratio of an etched feature is defined as the ratio between the feature's depth and the feature's critical dimension (CD). As more features are packed on a single piece of wafer to create higher density structures, the CD of each individual feature necessarily decreases, while the depth of the features remains unchanged. Thus, the aspect ratio of each individual feature increases as the device feature shrinks.
A new difficulty emerging recently during ultra-high aspect ratio (UHAR) etch is twisting, which is generally defined as deviations of location of the overlay. When the aspect ratio of a feature reaches a certain threshold while the feature's width is very small, twisting occurs, particularly near the bottom of the feature.


A medical device shaft includes a first longitudinal edge joined to all or a portion of a second longitudinal edge, and an inner surface forming a plurality of lumens separated by a plurality of longitudinal ribs extending along a length of the shaft; wherein a base of each rib is spaced apart from one another and each rib is joined to one another in proximity to a peak of each rib. Each of a plurality of elongated members extends within one of the plurality of lumens of the shaft.

Medical devices have long utilized generally tubular elongated shafts wherein a distal end of a shaft is inserted within the body of a patient to a target site while a proximal end is manipulated by an operator and, in some cases, joined to an implantable device for delivery of therapy to the site. Such shafts are used in interventional devices, examples of which include infusion catheters, angioplasty catheters, electrical mapping catheters, and ablation catheters; and in conjunction with implantable devices, examples of which include drug infusion pumps, neurological stimulation devices and cardiac monitoring and/or stimulation devices, such as pacemakers and cardioverter defibrillators. Typically, the shafts include one or more elongated members functioning to facilitate diagnosis and/or deliver therapy; examples of such members include electrical conductors, fiber optic bundles, and drug delivery lumens. Additional elongated members are included in some shafts to facilitate steering of the shafts to a specific site within the body; examples of these members include stylet and/or guide wire lumens, pull wires and malleable rods. Embodiments presented herein exemplify a novel shaft construction for medical devices.

Shaft constructions for a medical device


Chocolate is ground in order to obtain a very small average particle size. A determined viscosity is necessary for further processing. In order to keep as small as possible the fraction with particle size lying above the desired value and having an adverse effect on the taste of the final product, according to the invention the process mass is circulated in a cycle incorporating a grinding device and a ball mill. This has the result of accelerating the grinding process and reducing the inconsistency in the distribution of the particle size.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a method and device for mixing and grinding chocolate, fats or the like, wherein a process mass of cacao and/or cacao powder, cacao butter, edible fat, sugar and the like are pre-mixed and ground in a grinding device and a ball mill.
2. Description of the Related Art
Up until the present the components for processing were pre-mixed in a pre-mixer and ground in a grinding device. The pre-mixer and grinding device can also be unified to one unit. After grinding the mass is then ground in a ball mill to make it still finer as required until the final desired particle size is obtained.
In a ball mill it is possible to grind the process mass to a very small average particle size and to therein obtain the desired viscosity, although the uniformity in the distribution of the particle size leaves something to be desired. Unless grinding continues to a very small particle size, which is very time-consuming and moreover produces an adverse viscosity value, it can occur that the process mass still has a fraction with particle sizes lying far above the desired value. Such a fraction has an adverse effect on the taste of the final product.


Embodiments disclose automated systems and methods for washing solar panels. The solar panels may be arranged in rows with varying lengths. A washing device unit may be configured to clean a first row, and a second washing may be configured to clean a second row, wherein the first row may include more solar panels than the first row. The first washing device may be configured to receive cleaning fluid from a fluid source and supply the cleaning fluid to the second washing device in areas that the second row is adjacent to the first row.

1. Field of the Disclosure
Examples of the present disclosure are related to systems and methods for washing panels with a plurality of washing devices. More particularly, embodiments relate to washing adjacent panels utilizing a single fluid line, wherein the fluid line is configured to supply fluid to each of the washing devices based on the alignment of the washing devices.
2. Background
Solar panels use light energy from the sun to generate electricity through a photovoltaic effect. Depending on the construction, solar panels can produce electricity from different frequencies of light. Electrical connections are coupled to the solar panels to achieve a desired output voltage and current capacity.
In recent years, mounting solar panels on roofs has become prevalent. These mounted solar panels are conventionally held in place by racks and/or frames attached to mounting supports. The mounting supports include mounts that are directly attached to the roof structure, footing mounts, and wiring connections. The footing mounts are comrpised of aluminum and other metals that use weight to secure the solar panels in position. Furthermore, conventionally the mounted solar panels are mounted at an angle to maximize the reception of sunlight.
Due to the positioning of the mounted solar panels in combination with weathering effects require that the solar panels are frequently cleaned. This is because even a thin coating of dust or dirt affects the photovoltaic energy produced by the solar panels.
Conventionally to clean the solar panels, mechanical devices such as cranes are used. Alternatively, users must utilize safety devices, such as harnesses, to manually clean the solar panels. Accordingly, cleaning solar panels mounted on roofs or buildings is an arduous task. Furthermore, conventional systems and methods for cleaning solar panels do not conserve fluids.
Accordingly, needs exist for more effective and efficient systems and methods for cleaning solar panels utilizing a single fluid line, wherein the fluid line is configured to supply fluid to a plurality of washing devices.


The apparatus of the present invention is directed to an apparatus and a system for managing a card number for so-called electronic money cards and comprises an interface means for handling the signals between the head and branch offices of an issuing authority such a bank or credit card company, both domestic and overseas, a processing means for internal processing and controlling based on the signals received from by this interface means, unused card number storage means for storing card numbers not yet used for issued cards, drawn unused card number storage means for storing unused card numbers when retrieving such numbers from each head office and branch, currently used card number storage means for storing card numbers issued and currently being used, and invalid card number storage means for storing numbers of cards that have no remaining balance. By utilizing this invention, card numbers can be efficiently and rationally managed so that large numbers of cards can be directly issued to customers by each domestic and overseas branch of a bank or credit card company in a timely and rapid fashion.

The present invention relates to an apparatus and system for card number, particularly in regards to card numbers used for bank cards, credit cards, etc.
Conventionally, the management or control of card numbers assigned to credit cards, ATM cards, cash cards, prepaid cards and the like as well as the control of the issuance of such cards, is generally concentrated in a so-called card center of the issuing bank or credit card company. That is, the handling of the card numbers and the issuing or production of the cards themselves is unilaterally carried out by such card centers. Consequently, branches of the bank or credit card company cannot freely or selectively issue such cards. Accordingly, since the handling and issuance of such cards are concentrated in such card centers as mentioned above, the following problems have arisen.
First, as the various functions required to issue such cards as well as manage the assigned card numbers are concentrated in a separate facility such as a card center, the headquarters and branches of bank and credit card companies cannot issue such cards directly to the customer.
Specifically, when a bank or credit card company receives a request for a card from a customer, the bank or credit card company (hereafter referred to as the issuing authority) forwards an issue order to the card center. Consequently, the time required from when the customer requested the card until the card is actually received usually requires at least a week. This makes it almost impossible to respond to a customers needs in a speedy or timely fashion.

Apparatus and system for managing a card number