A method of making thin walled covers employing a vacuum mold assembly comprises the steps of effecting a relative movement between a thin sheet of thermoplastic material and the vacuum mold assembly sufficient to form a peripheral seal with a surface area of the sheet and thereafter applying a vacuum to the vacuum mold to draw portions of the sheet about main body forming molding surfaces of molding horns, thin marginal edge molding surfaces of the molding horns, and inturned flange molding surfaces of the molding horns so as to form a plurality of thin walled covers, each with an exterior surface presenting a substantially dimple-free class A surface. The sheet is then separated from the vacuum mold assembly. During separation, the molding horns move so that the surface configuration providing portions of the horns move relatively away from the molded surfaces in an angular direction having a component in a direction to withdraw the thin marginal edge molding surfaces of the molding horns relatively out of the U-shaped marginal edges of the formed thin walled covers. The covers are subsequently cut from the sheet. Each thin wall cover comprises a main body portion having a U-shaped marginal edge along one elongated peripheral extent thereof and an inturned flange along an opposed elongated peripheral extent thereof.

This application relates to vehicle parts and more particularly to improvements in plastic door pillar covers and the method of making such covers.
It is well known that many vehicles mask the portion of the door B-pillar which is coextensive with the window so as to provide edge coverage as well as color contrast. Heretofore, covers of this type have been injection molded of a suitable plastic material. In order to achieve a high gloss finish, the molded article is either injection molded over a preformed paint film laminate inserted in the mold or painted in conventional fashion after molding with the required number of coats. This method of making the covers resulted in the formation of wall thickness greater than required because of the necessity to practice efficient mold filling procedures. The cost of providing excess material and the added cost of finishing the part created a particular need for cost effectiveness in producing the part.
Moreover, B-pillar covers are installed in a highly visible position on the vehicle. Every time a driver or passenger enters a vehicle, the driver or passenger will glance at the B-pillar. Thus, any defect on the exterior surface of the B-pillar will be noticed and will dramatically affect consumer acceptance and satisfaction. Thus, it is critical that the B-pillar cover have a very smooth exterior surface. This surface, in the automotive industry, is known as a "class A" finish. The standards for a class A finish are well known in the industry, and, in particular, are known to be very stringent. Parts having even minor cosmetic defects in the class A finish will be rejected.
While vacuum molding thin plastic parts has heretofore been performed, the present inventors have discovered that such methods suffer from inherent drawbacks in applications requiring a class A finish. Vacuum molding processes have involved creating a vacuum at a body molding surface so as to draw a thermoplastic material to the body molding surface. Vacuum orifices are formed in the body molding surface and are connected, via vacuum channels, to a vacuum source. Where the part to be molded is to be formed from relatively thin material, such as a B-pillar, drawing the surface to the body molding surface can create small vacuum dimples at the vacuum orifices. Such dimples would be visible to the eye, especially when the sun is shinning on the part, and, therefore, are unacceptable for a class A finish.

Process of making B-pillar covers for automotive vehicle


A contact image sensor has a plurality of sensor elements on an insulating substrate, the sensor elements having electrodes as common electrodes and other electrodes as individual electrodes. The contact image sensor is manufactured by extending the common electrodes and the individual electrodes out of a document passage region, and forming short-circuiting patterns which electrically connect the common electrodes and the individual electrodes outside of the document passage region through pads which connect ICs for energizing the contact image sensor. After the ICs are connected to the pads, the insulating substrate is cut along the short-circuiting patterns to break the electrical connection between the common electrodes and the individual electrodes.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of manufacturing a contact image sensor for reading an image document or the like, and more particularly to a method of manufacturing a contact image sensor having a structure which is prevented from electrostatic destruction due to triboelectricity produced when an image document or the like moves with respect to the contact image sensor.
2. Description of the Related Art
Image sensors are used to read an image document and convert the image document into an electric signal in image scanners, facsimile machines, or the like. The image sensors that are available at present are roughly classified into two types, i.e., an optical image sensor having a size-reduction optical system including lenses for focusing an image document at a reduced scale onto a CCD (charge-coupled device) to read the image document, and a contact image sensor having a sensor unit composed of a plurality of sensor elements formed according to a thin-film fabrication process on an insulating substrate which has a width greater than the width of an image document to be read, the sensor unit being held in direct contact with the image document without any size-reduction optical system interposed therebetween.
The contact image sensor may be easily reduced in size and cost because it uses no lenses. Since the contact image sensor is fabricated according to a thin-film fabrication process, it can be mass-produced by forming a plurality of image sensor patterns on a single insulating substrate and then cutting off the substrate into a plurality of contact image sensors.
The contact image sensor, however, has a problem in that it can easily be electrostatically charged because the insulating substrate is made of glass or the like. In the fabrication process, the insulating substrate tends to be electrostatically charged, causing sensor elements on the insulating substrate to be electrostatically destroyed. The susceptibility to triboelectric destruction has been responsible for a low yield of contact image sensors.
Japanese laid-open patent publication No. 2-98966 discloses a method of fabricating a contact image sensor in an attempt to solve the above problem. As shown in FIG. 1 of the accompanying drawings., a plurality of individual electrodes 302 of chromium and a short-circuiting pattern 303 are formed on a glass substrate 301. The individual electrodes 302 are composed of pixel electrodes 302a and leading electrodes 302b, the pixel electrodes 302a being arranged in two rows A, B extending in the longitudinal direction of the glass substrate 301. The short-circuiting pattern 303 is positioned between the two rows of the pixel electrodes 302a, and comprises a horizontal pattern 303a extending in the longitudinal direction of the glass substrate 301 and a plurality of vertical patterns 303b extending transversely across the horizontal pattern 303a and connecting respective pairs of the pixel electrodes 302a.
All the pixel electrodes 302a are covered with a photosemiconductor layer 308, on which there are disposed two common electrodes 304 in covering relationship to the pixel electrodes 302a of the respective rows A, B, thus producing two elongate sensor units of sandwiched structure on the glass substrate 301.
Then, a plurality of ICs 306 are mounted on the glass substrate 301, and pads of the ICs 306 and ends of the leading electrodes 302b are interconnected by bonding wires 307. Thereafter, the glass substrate 301 is cut off along the horizontal pattern 303a by a slicing machine having a slicing blade which is wider than the horizontal pattern 303a, breaking the electric connection between the paired individual electrodes 302. Before the ICs 306 and the individual electrodes 302 are connected, the individual electrodes 302 and the common electrodes 304 remain connected to each other with no potential difference developed therebetween. Accordingly, the sensor unit is prevented from being electrostatically destroyed in the fabrication process.
The contact image sensor operates by holding the sensor units against an image document, and scanning the sensor units over the image document to read an image thereon. Since the image document is normally made of paper and hence is insulative, triboelectricity is generated between the glass substrate and the image document. FIG. 2 of the accompanying drawings shows a cross section of the contact image sensor after the glass substrate 301 is cut off along the horizontal pattern 303a. Since the vertical patterns 303b extending from the individual electrodes 302 have ends exposed in a region where the image document moves with respect to the contact image sensor, triboelectricity tends to be discharged to the exposed ends of the vertical patterns 303b, and the sensor unit is likely to be electrostatically broken during usage of the contact image sensor.
One solution would be to position the exposed ends of the vertical patterns 303b outside of the region where the image document moves with respect to the contact image sensor. However, because all the vertical patterns 303b extend from the individual electrodes 302, a very wide wiring pattern area would be needed to position the exposed ends of all the vertical patterns 303b outside of the region where the image document moves with respect to the contact image sensor. Not only signal wires but also a new wire just for short-circuiting the individual electrodes would be required in such a very wide wiring pattern area. Consequently, such an arrangement would result in an increase in the cost owing to an increase in the size of the glass substrate, and would be uneconomical in terms of effective utilization of the area available on the glass substrate.

Method of manufacturing contact image sensor


An apparatus for making a silicon single crystal large in diameter dependently on the Czochralski process, wherein appropriate openings (11) are provided on the warmth keeping over (10) so as to prevent an undesirable influence caused by atmospheric gas. The major elements of the apparatus are that the sum of areas of the openings (11) is larger than the area of gap (18) formed between the lower end of the warmth keeping cover (10) and the level of silicon solution, and that the warmth keeping cover and the heat insulating member (12) are composed of sheet metal.

The diameter required for silicon single crystals has been tending to increase year after year. Presently, silicon single crystals of 6 inches in diameter are used for the latest device. Then, it is said that silicon single crystals of 10 inches or more in diameter will be needed in the future.
The silicon single crystals used in the field of LSIs are usually manufactured by the Czochralski method (CZ method) in which after a seed crystal has been dipped and adapted to the molten silicon contained within a rotating quartz crucible, the seed is slowly rotated and pulled, and according to this CZ method the molten silicon is decreased as a silicon single crystal grows. As a result, as the silicon single crystal grows, the dopant concentration in the silicon single crystal is increased and the oxygen concentration is decreased. In other words, the properties of the silicon single crystal are varied in the direction of its growth. Paralleling the tendency toward increasing the level of integration for LSIs, the quality required for silicon single crystals becomes increasingly severe year after year and this problem must be overcome.
As a means of overcoming this problem, a method has been known from old in which the interior of a quartz crucible according to the CZ method is divided by a cylindrical quartz partition member formed with small holes for passing molten silicon therethrough and a cylindrical silicon single crystal is grown on the inner side (a single crystal growing section) of the partition member while feeding starting material silicon to the outer side (a material melting section) of the partition member (e.g., Patent Publication No. 40-10184, "Detailed Explanation of the Invention", line 13 to line 28). The problem with this method is that solidification of the molten silicon tends to occur starting at the partition member on the inner side of the partition member as pointed out by Laid-Open Patent No. 62-241889 (page 2, "problems that the Invention is to solve", line 12 to line 16). In other words, the solidification is caused at the portion where the molten silicon surface of the crystal growing section is in contact with the partition member. This solidification grows towards the central portion of the crucible the temperature is low and the growth of the silicon single crystal is impeded. This is caused by the fact that since transparent silica glass usually used for the partition member tends to pass heat radiation and moreover in the usual case there is a considerable dissipation of heat to the water-cooled furnace wall from the portion of the top of the partition member which is exposed on the molten silicon surface, the heat in the molten silicon is transmitted upwardly through the partition member and the heat is dissipated from the portion of the partition member which is exposed on the molten silicon surface. As a result, the molten silicon temperature is greatly decreased in the vicinity of the partition member. Moreover, due to the intense agitation of the molten silicon, the surface temperature of the molten silicon attains a temperature which is uniform and slightly above the solidifying point. Thus, the molten silicon surface contacting with this partition member is in a condition having an extremely high tendency to cause its solidification. The previously mentioned Laid-Open Patent No. 62-241889 proposes a method employing no partition member in order to overcome this problem. In this method, however, the material melting section is so limited that particularly when a large-diameter silicon crystal is to be manufactured, it is difficult to melt the starting material silicon in an amount corresponding to the pulled amount of the silicon single crystal.
Recently, the production of high-quality granular silicon has been made possible and it is considered that to continuously feed such granular silicon as the starting material silicon into the molten silicon is relatively easy. However, if a sufficient heat for melting the granular silicon is not applied to the granular silicon when it is supplied onto the molten silicon surface, there is the possibility of causing a part of the granular silicon to remain unmelted. It is not infrequent that solidification is caused from the remaining unmelted granular silicon and the solidification spreads out. The reason is that due to the difference in specific gravity between the molten silicon and the granular silicon, the solid granular silicon floats to the molten silicon surface and its heat tends to be deprived of due to the radiation rate of the solid silicon being greater than that of the molten silicon. In particular, if the granular silicon is deposited and aggregated on the partition member at the molten silicon surface in the material melting section, as in the case of the solidification in the crystal growing section, the heat is rapidly lost through the partition member thus tending to cause the occurrence of solidification and its spreading. This problem is essentially the same even if the starting material silicon is in any other form than the granular silicon. In regard to this problem, in accordance with the method shown in Laid-Open Patent No. 61-36197 a "heat insulating cover" is arranged above the material melting section to facilitate rapid melting of the granular silicon (Claim 6).
Proposed by Laid-Open Patent No. 1-153589 is a method in which a partition member is employed and also the occurrence of solidification at the partition member is prevented. This invention proposes to completely cover the partition member by a heat keeping cover. In accordance with this method, the dissipation of heat from the partition member is prevented and hence the occurrence of solidification is prevented. Also, the melting capacity for the starting material silicon to be fed is sufficient. However, it has been found out that this invention is still insufficient for stably performing the growth of silicon single crystals.
The present invention has been made in view of these circumstances and it is an object of the present invention to provide a silicon single crystal amanufacturing apparatus which stably realizes the growth of a silicon single crystals over a long period of time.

Silicon single crystal manufacturing apparatus


Interconnect structures containing metal oxide embedded diffusion barriers and methods of forming the same. Interconnect structures may include an Mx level including an Mx metal in an Mx dielectric, an Mx+1 level above the Mx level including an Mx+1 metal in an Mx+1 dielectric, an embedded diffusion barrier adjacent to the Mx+1 dielectric; and a seed alloy region adjacent to the Mx+1 metal separating the Mx metal from the Mx+1 metal. The embedded diffusion barrier may include a barrier-forming material such as manganese, aluminum, titanium, or some combination thereof. The seed alloy region may include a seed material such as cobalt, ruthenium, or some combination thereof.

The present invention generally relates to metal interconnect structures, and particularly to self-forming diffusion barriers.
Metal interconnect structures are the primary means of connecting microelectronic devices. Such interconnect structures typically take the shape of wires, trenches, or vias formed in dielectric layers above the microelectronic devices and may typically be formed by depositing a dielectric layer, etching a trench in the dielectric layer and filling the trench with metal. To prevent electromigration of the metal within the trench and to prevent material from the metal and the dielectric from diffusing into each other, a liner may be deposited into the trench prior to filling the trench with metal. Typically, this liner consists of a layer of tantalum, tantalum nitride, or both; though other liner materials are known in the art.
However, as the dimensions of microelectronic devices continue to shrink, smaller interconnect structures are also required. As the interconnect structures shrink, the thickness of the liner becomes increasingly problematic, as it takes up a proportionally greater volume of the trench. Because the volume of metal in the trench is reduced, the resistance of the interconnect structure increases, subsequently decreasing overall device performance. Ultimately the interconnect structure may become so small that it is not possible to effectively deposit the liner in the trench, rendering the device inoperable. Therefore, a means of forming a diffusion barrier that maximizes the metal volume within the trench is desirable.

Self-forming embedded diffusion barriers

International Business Machines Corporation


The device object of this patent is composed of:—one box (1) which is U-shaped in its transversal section;—two guiding plates (2) for the magnets (4);—two L-shaped rolled sections (3), which constitute the magnets (4) pole pieces;—various magnets (4) placed parallelly to the ferromagnetic insert (8) to be tested; each magnet (4) is placed parallel to the ferromagnetic insert (8) sliding direction with respect to the device and vice versa;—various measuring coils (5) placed in a housing (6), which is U-shaped in its transversal section;—a covering plate (7) fixed to box (1) in such a way to occupy the device side facing the insert (8) to be tested;—simple gears permitting to direct, in following times, the coils (5) parallelly to the different angles of the ferromagnetic insert (8) layers.

The metal inserts in ferromagnetic material are used in different applications. They can be used as supporting elements of complex structures or as being part of particular single elements.
For example, the covering of a tyre has an internal insert of steel wires, which are criss-crossed to strenghten the whole structure.
Worn out tyres are covered with a new tread allowing in this way their recycling. The reconstructed tyre achieves, in this way, security levels which can be compared to a new tyre from any point of view. The application of stricts working procedures, from the acquisition and suitability testing of the structure, to very accurate pressure controls of the final product under working conditions, guarantees the high quality of the entire production process.
All wracks directed to reconstruction are in fact previously carefully examined through the utilization of suitable equipment, which verifies the conditions of suitability to reconstruction.
One of the main parameters taken into consideration is the integrity of the metal insert, which is usually tested through x-rays, ultrasounds equipments or through scirografy.
Unfortunately the non-destructive testing of ferromagnetic metal inserts using these appliances is rather expensive.
Two patents for non-destructive material tests are known, which make use of magnetism and electromagnetism. Patent US 2001/019263 describes an apparatus for testing the conditions of railroad rails. It consists in a wave generator/transmitter, inclusive of a solenoid, and in a wave receiver, also inclusive of a solenoid. Both have the same structure and each of them is enclosed.
This device includes a U-shaped box, representing the base and sides of the device itself. A guiding plate for the magnets develops orthogonal to the device along each end of the box. Each guiding plate is fixed to the two opposite sides. A L-shaped rolled section is in turn fixed to both the above mentioned guiding plates.
The box contains several magnets, the ends of which are held in the right position by the above mentioned guiding plates. Said rolled sections represent the magnet pole pieces. The box contains also several coils placed in a suitable shell. A covering plate is then fixed to the box, in order to occupy the side of the device facing the metallic insert to be examined. The measuring coils are positioned between the magnets and the metal insert, at the centre of the device. The box is equipped externally with at least a multiple signal power point. The box and the covering plate avoid the contact of the magnets and coils, respectively, with the operator's hands or with the object to be examined.
The inductor consists of pole pieces and permanent magnets made with long-lasting high-stability materials and placed on one or more planes parallel to the ferromagnetic metal insert to be examined. Each magnet is placed parallely to the sliding direction of the metal insert with respect to the device, object of this patent. When the device slides on the ferromagnetic metal insert, it is correct to say that each magnet is located parallely to the sliding direction of the device itself on the metal insert to be examined.
Each measuring coil is autonomously connected to the multiple signal power point. The coils can also have simple gears, which permit their rotation. It is therefore possible, later on, to direct them following the different angles of the metal layers with respect to the sliding axis of the object to be tested.
This device permits a non-destructive testing of the ferromagnetic insert, both on the surface and internal part of an object. The device creates a magnetic field, parallel to that of the insert itself. The position and the possible presence of a damage are identified by one or more coils that are placed in the magnetic field. The signals recorded by the coils are transmitted to a software obtaining a diagram which underlines the presence of defects (their position and extent).

Magnetic-inductive device for the control of ferromagnetic reticles


A catalyst for production of acrylic acid which catalyst is so high in activity as to give a still higher selectivity of acrylic acid or a long-catalytic-life-time catalyst for production of acrylic acid which catalyst is so high in activity as to be able to give a high acrylic acid yield while suppressing the temperature rise of the oxidation reaction to a low one; and processes for production of acrylic acid using these catalysts. The catalyst includes an oxide and/or a composite oxide as an essential catalytic component, wherein the oxide and/or the composite oxide has a metal element composition shown by general formula (1):MoaVbWcCudOx   (1)(wherein: when a=12, then 1≦b≦14, 0≦c≦12, 0 ≦d≦10, and 0<c+d; and x is a numerical value determined by oxidation states of the elements);    with any of the vanadium, tungsten, and copper being maldistributed in the surface side or core side of the catalyst.

A. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a catalyst for production of acrylic acid and a process for production of acrylic acid using this catalyst.
B. Background Art
As to catalysts for efficient production of acrylic acid by catalytic gas phase oxidation of acrolein (catalysts for production of acrylic acid), there is widely used a catalyst comprising molybdenum and vanadium as essential catalytic components, and various proposals have been made about its production processes.
Examples of these production processes include: (a) a process in which a mixed liquid of starting materials is subjected to evaporation to dryness, and then, to the resultant dried material, there are added polyvinyl alcohol, a water-absorbent resin, and water, and then they are kneaded together and then extrusion-molded (e.g. refer to patent document 1 below); (b) a process in which a mixed liquid of starting materials is spray-dried and then calcined at 400° C., and then the resultant calcined material is supported onto a support with water as a binder by use of such as a rotary drum type supporting device (e.g. refer to patent document 2 below); (c) a process in which a mixed liquid of starting materials is dried by any method of evaporation to dryness, spray drying, drum drying, and gas flow drying, and then, to the resultant dried material, there are added propyl alcohol and water to mix them together, and then the resultant mixture is extrusion-molded (e.g. refer to patent document 3 below); (d) a process in which a mixed liquid of starting materials is spray-dried and then calcined at 400° C., and then the resultant calcined material is supported onto a support with a liquid binder comprising water and an organic compound of higher than 100° C. in boiling point or sublimation temperature under normal pressure (e.g. refer to patent document 4 below); and (e) a process in which a mixed liquid of starting materials is dried and then calcined at 250-500° C., and then the resultant calcined material is supported onto a support with such as aqueous glycerol solution as a binder by use of a tumbling granulator (e.g. refer to patent documents 5 and 6 below).                [Patent Document 1] JP-A-096183/1993 (Kokai)        [Patent Document 2] JP-A-279030/1994 (Kokai)        [Patent Document 3] JP-A-010621/1996 (Kokai)        [Patent Document 4] JP-A-252464/1996 (Kokai)        [Patent Document 5] JP-A-299797/1996 (Kokai)        [Patent Document 6] JP-A-079408/2001 (Kokai)
However, still none of the catalysts for production of acrylic acid which catalysts are obtained by the above prior production processes is sufficient for the aim of the selectivity of acrylic acid which is the objective product. Furthermore, still none of these catalysts can be said to be sufficient for the aims that chemical and physical properties (e.g. properties such as specific surface area, pore volume, pore distribution, acidity/basicity, acid strength/basic strength) of the catalysts are stable for a long time and further that the catalysts enable the efficient production of acrylic acid. Therefore, there has been much room for improvement.

Catalyst for production of acrylic acid and process for production of acrylic acid using the catalyst


A method for enabling a diagnostic system to assess, within time constraints, the health of the host system during operation, and to detect and isolate system faults during maintenance, with reduced potential for false alarms due to intermittent real faults and system noise, and for apparent misdiagnosis of the host system health, by use of a Diagnostics by Confidence Measure Assessment (DCMA) process in which a confidence measure is provided for each system test failure assessment, resulting from both the use of specialized persistence processing on many test results from a single source and the use of specialized corroboration processing on many test results from different sources.

In system engineering usage, a fault may be defined as any physical condition which causes an object to fail to perform in a required manner; thus, a failure is an inability of an object to perform its desired function. Failures are detected by evaluation of test results, i.e. the results of comparing a measurement (itself defined as a sample of a signal of interest) to some predetermined operational limits. The primary objective and challenge of a diagnostic system then is to obtain simultaneous high levels of both the coverage and accuracy of fault detection in a system being diagnosed. In fact, a fault detection (FD) effectiveness parameter can be defined, as the product of fault detection coverage and fault detection accuracy, and is a measure of the diagnostic system's ability to detect all potential faults. It is desirable to simultaneously increase the probability of detecting faults in equipment when a fault exists, while reducing the probability of declaring a fault when one does not exist. Increased fault detection, the ability to detect more faults than a previous capability, can be the result of either increased fault coverage, e.g. the presence of more test points in the same equipment, or greater detection accuracy, e.g. the implementation of better tests or processing. Conversely, decreased fault detection leads to missing more real faults, and is almost never desirable.
A false alarm is defined as a fault indication (by Built-In Test or other monitoring circuitry) where no fault exists. However, the user community extends the definition of false alarm to include activity which does not correct the causative fault; this may be actions such as isolating a fault to the wrong module or the inability to reproduce the fault during maintenance. Both false alarms actions result in maintenance actions which do not correct the actual fault; the user's perception is that the causative fault does not exist. Similarly, detection of a temporary or transient real fault is also considered an error. Consider the fault isolation process as applied to an aircraft: if a real fault is detected while the plane is in flight, but cannot be duplicated during ground maintenance, then the maintenance staff considers that fault to be a false alarm. Such a condition is most often caused by intermittent behavior of the system in use, and due to factors including overheating, part fatigue and corrosion, poor calibration, noise and the like. Since the plane is not stressed in the same manner while on the ground, these temporary real faults either disappear or cannot be duplicated; however, continued use of the unrepaired plane is not always a desirable alternative.
Due to the possibility of serious consequences if faults are not properly diagnosed, there have been many past attempts to provide diagnostic systems with ever increasing levels of fault detection effectiveness. Some systems have tried to increase effectiveness by changing test limits and, in some cases, by checking for repeated results. Changing test measurement limits generates mixed results in a system having measurement variations. Noise in either, or both, of the system-under-test (SUT) and the associated diagnostic system, can cause proper measurements, taken in a correctly operating system, to lie in the region of assessed failures, while similar measurements of a failed system may lie in the region of correct operation.
If it is desired to increase fault detection by tightening test limits (e.g. allowing a smaller measurement variation from the mean value before existence of a fault is declared), then the test threshold must move toward the mean value of the measurement. However, since more noisy measurements lie outside the limit of correct operation, the resulting diagnostic system will declare more false alarms. Conversely, to decrease false alarms by changing only a measurement limit will allow more measurement variation (e.g. allow movement of the test limit farther from the measurement mean value) before declaration of a fault condition occurs. However, use of this fault threshold location decreases the diagnostic system's ability to detect a fault, since a noiseless measurement would have to deviate more from its intended location for correct operation before a fault is detected. Accordingly, a new technique is required to simultaneously increase fault detection while reducing false alarms. This new technique is desirably compatible with new, multi-level, integrated diagnostic systems and also desirably capable of an increased probability of detecting faults while reducing, if not eliminating, false alarms and intermittent real faults. Thus, we desire to provide a new method for fault diagnosis which will substantially reduce or eliminate the effects of intermittent faults, noisy measurements, potential false alarms, and out-of-tolerance conditions, while providing flexibility of system changes and implementation in a standardized architecture (capable of replication and similar usage in different system portions and the like). Finally, the high level of Fault Detection without False Alarms must be made in a timely manner in order to facilitate operator and system response to the failure. It is therefore not acceptable to perform extensive post-processing of a test result if such processing will require use of time beyond the system time constraints.

Method for fault diagnosis by assessment of confidence measure


Apparatus for facilitating the selective lifting of the lid or the seat/lid combination of a two-piece toilet seat assembly comprises (a) a stem member that is adapted to pass through a pre-formed opening in the lid portion of the seat assembly so as to be movably supported by the lid portion, (b) a manually-engagable handle rigidly connected to one end of the stem member, and (c) a latch member radially-extending from the stem member at a location on axially spaced from the handle. During movement (e.g., rotation) of the stem member within the pre-formed opening in the lid portion, the latch member moves between a seat-latching position in which it underlies a portion of the seat portion of the toilet seat assembly, and a second position in which it is spaced from the seat portion. Thus, applying an axial force on the stem will cause the lid and seat portions to pivot away from the toilet basin together when the latch member is in its seat-latching position, and will cause only the lid portion of the assembly to pivot away from the seat portion when the latch is in its second position.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to improvements in apparatus by which toilet seat assemblies can be manually lifted and lowered to access or cover an underlying toilet bowl or basin. More particularly, it relates to apparatus that is either retrofittable to the lid of a conventional two-piece toilet seat assembly, or is incorporated within the lid portion of a new two-piece toilet seat assembly to enable the user to selectively lift either the lid or the lid/seat combination without physically touching either of the lid or seat components of the assembly
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
Conventional two-piece toilet seat assemblies commonly comprise a seat portion and a lid portion. The seat portion is adapted to be mounted atop a toilet basin for pivotal movement about a horizontal axis at the rear of the seat, thus enabling the user to physically lift the seat, i.e., pivot it upwardly, from an operative horizontal position atop the rim of the basin, to a non-operative, generally vertical, position in which the seat is spaced from the rim of the basin. The lid portion of the assembly, in turn, is pivotally mounted on the seat portion of the assembly, and the lid portion typically pivots about the same horizontal axis as that about which the seat portion pivots (or about an axis closely spaced from and parallel to such axis). The lid portion is adapted to be pivoted by the user between an operative position in which it overlies the seat portion of the assembly and covers the toilet basin below, and a non-operative position in which it is sufficiently spaced from the seat portion to allow use of the seat portion. In lifting the lid and/or seat portions of the assembly, it is common for the user to physically contact the bottom surface of either of the lid or seat portions in order to exert an upward force. Unfortunately, this portion of these components is often non-sanitary, making physical contact a health risk.
Various schemes have been proposed heretofore to facilitate the movement of the different toilet seat components by a user in order to avoid physical contact with the seat components. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,729,839, issued to R. F. Bigelow, discloses a system in which a pair of U-shaped handles is used to lift each component of a two piece seat assembly. One handle extends radially outward from the bottom of the seat portion of the assembly, and the other handle extends radially outward from the bottom of the lid portion. The handles are angularly displaced from each other so that the user may readily grasp one handle or the other. A rotatably mounted, spherically-shaped knob is attached to each handle to facilitate the lifting and pivotal movement of either component. While such a device is infallible in its operation, its appearance is aesthetically unattractive. Other types of seat handles for lifting one or the other of the seat elements of a two-piece toilet seat assembly are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,459,889 and 5,027,472. Each of the handles disclosed in these patents is relatively complex in construction and/or difficult to access, and some are only useful for raising the seat/lid combination, and not the lid portion alone. Thus, it will be appreciated that a need still exists to provide a relatively simple and low-cost apparatus by which the lid portion or the lid/seat combination of a two-piece toilet seat assembly can be selectively lifted and lowered without the necessity for physically contacting the underside of either component of the seat assembly.

Apparatus for lifting and lowering toilet seats


Disclosed herein is a method and apparatus used to the measure duty cycle of a clocking waveform utilizing minimal hardware and achieving high accuracy. This invention utilizes digital sampling of the signal to be measured at a rate that can be significantly lower then the clocking frequency of the signal to be measured. It accomplishes broad-band, multi-frequency use by using a time-varying frequency for the sampling clock to make sure that the sampling clock is asynchronous with the frequency of the clocking signal to be measured. The average ratio of the sampled ones (or zeros) as compared to the total number of samples is then computed to derive the measurement of duty cycle.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to systems which measure the duty cycle of a periodic signal. More particularly, this invention relates to a circuit and various components which measure the duty cycle of a periodic signal with great accuracy.
2. Description of the Related Art
The duty cycle, in electronic signals, is often expressed as a percentage of duration of a 1-level compared to the total duration of a complete 1-0 cycle. The duty cycle is an expression of the average DC energy of a clocking signal introduced by the duty cycle. A 50% duty cycle has average DC energy of one-half the difference of the 1-level and the 0-level as there is an equal duration of 1-level signal and 0-level signal. The duty cycle in clocking waveforms is also a measure of second harmonic energy in a clocking signal which can appear as a deterministic jitter source from odd-even pulse widths in the clocking signal. Both interpretations can lead to non-optimal performance of very high speed signal processing if the duty cycle deviates from tolerable levels. For this reason, means for measuring duty cycle to support corrective actions are needed.
During the production of many high-speed systems, special care and calibrations are done to make sure good duty cycles are present within the processing elements. In some systems, however, the application space is so broad, that it is not possible to use factory calibration information as it is not relevant to the then current environment. This is true, for example, where operation of a device is specified for a wide range of operating frequencies and a wide range of temperatures. In these cases, automatic measurement of the duty cycle at various spots within the electronic processing path must be supported. In this fashion, once the system is in the operating environment, the calibration procedure can be invoked to take corrective actions appropriate for the given environment without external probing or outside test equipment. For this to be practical, very high performance duty cycle measuring circuits must be implemented with a small amount of electronics and must be able to make high-quality duty cycle measurements in a short amount of time.
Past methods for measuring duty cycle typically involved using an oscilloscope device to observe the waveform shape and then, firmware in the oscilloscope would interpret the waveform data to compute the duty cycle number. This high-performance means of accurately measuring duty cycle requires expensive external test equipment, access to the testing points and a relatively constant operating environment suitable for reliably applying pre-computed corrective action based on relatively infrequent actual calibration information.
Cruder methods for measuring duty cycle are accomplished by measuring the DC voltage of a high-speed signal and then applying a low-pass filter to average the result. For well-shaped repetitive signal with binary 1 and 0 values encoded, the duty cycle value is given by comparing the DC1-level and DC 0-level to the average measured DC voltage. For example, if a 1-level was 1000 mV and a 0-level was 0 mV, then a measured averaged DC voltage of 500 mV (mid-way) might be thought to indicate a 50% duty cycle. The problem with this method is that it assumes well-shaped waveforms. If there is a variation in waveform shape for 1-levels and 0-levels (something that is common in modern high-speed electronics), for example, caused by variation in rise-time versus fall-time, then a 500 mV averaged DC voltage might have been caused by a condition other than a 50% duty cycle. That is, a 50% voltage average does not necessarily indicate a 50% duty cycle. As it is duty cycle, rather than average DC voltage, that cause deterministic jitter and other denigrating effects, a measure that directly indicated duty cycle is required.
Making assumptions about the shape of the wave form results in inaccuracies. In order to increase accuracy, what is needed, and is not found in the prior art, is a means of assuring an accurate shape for the waveform. One way of assuring accuracy has been found to be via the use of a digital sampling device. The output of the digital sampling device is controlled so that the shape is predictable and accurate. At that point, the desired waveform is produced with accuracy and averaging is done without error.
What is also needed is accurate measurement of the duty cycle using a clocking signal having minimal hardware.

Method and apparatus for measuring duty cycle


A communication system intended for use in a motor vehicle includes a plurality of devices (26, 28), a transmission channel (32) that connects the plurality of devices (26, 28) to one another, and a signal source (30) coupled to the transmission channel (32). Each of the devices (26, 28) includes a control unit (36) configured for evaluating signals of the transmission channel (32), and at least two coupling units (38, 40) configured for connecting and disconnecting the particular device (26, 28) to/from the transmission channel (32). The control units (36) of the devices (26, 28) are configured for causing the coupling units (38, 40), at a certain point in time, in each case to connect no more than one of the devices (26, 28) to the transmission channel (32), and to disconnect the other of the devices (26, 28) from the transmission channel (32).

A system and a method for communication between a plurality of devices via a shared transmission channel in a motor vehicle are disclosed. The system and the method are characterized in particular in that they allow redundant reading of a signal source that is coupled to the transmission channel. An efficient, cost-effective option for reading out signal sources in motor vehicles is provided in this way. In addition, the safety is increased for persons in particular in semiautonomously controlled or autonomously controlled motor vehicles.

Communication system and method for communication for a motor vehicle


A clipboard apparatus comprising a single sheet of plastic folded over to form two planar surfaces which allow the insertion of reference material into the sandwiched area formed between the two planar surfaces of said folded plastic sheet so as to protect said reference material from surrounding adverse elements. The clipboard apparatus further includes a clip assembly, attached to the planar surface at or near the fold, for securing a piece of paper to the outside smooth surface of the clipboard for writing, or drawing, on the surface.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to clipboards and, more particularly to a clipboard having additional functions beyond providing a flat hard surface to write upon and a clip device to secure a piece of paper to said hard flat surface.
2. Description of Related Art
Clipboards, which provide a solid flat surface upon which writing or drawing can be performed and which incorporate a clip device to secure a piece of paper to said flat surface, have been known for many years. Many attempts have been set forth to expand the basic function of the clipboard to include such features as a storage drawer which slides out from the bottom area of the clipboard in which can be stored pencils, erasers and any small drawing or writing aids desired. Another advancement of the functionality of the clipboard is found in a design that incorporates slotted compartments machined into the lateral edges of the hard surface clipboard to accommodate drafting aids such as triangles, templates and squares. Innovation has even produced a clipboard tailored to police enforcement use which is transparent and bullet proof so that it can be held in front of the police officer as added protecting while, as an example writing a ticket. That particular clipboard design further encompasses a handle cut into one side of the hard surface so that the clipboard can further be used as a defensive weapon. Still another clipboard design incorporates a lamp assembly, digital clock, and storage area.
Often, however, a clipboard is required that will allow the user to protect a piece of paper, such as a map, a form sheet, or other pertinent data from the harsh environment in which the user is operating while at the same time allowing the user to view the protected document and make notations upon a separate piece of paper held on the hard surface by a clip device. One attempt at solving this need can be found in a clipboard that incorporates a first and a second panel member positioned one atop the other which are screwed together and at least one of the surfaces is transparent so as to allow viewing of a piece of paper held between the two surfaces. There exist three inherent problems with the aforementioned clipboard design. First--the design incorporates two pieces of hard surface material that must be machined separately and screwed together. Secondly--the two surfaces must be unscrewed to allow insertion of a piece of paper for viewing and protection, and then the screws must be re tightened to secure the piece of paper. Thirdly--since the clipboard involves two sheets of hard surfaces that are screwed together at the top of the clipboard, maximum pressure between the two sheets will exist at the top of the clipboard and minimum pressure will exerted, on the paper inserted, at the bottom of the clipboard. When the clipboard is held upright, there may not be sufficient pressure on the "captive" paper to hold it between the two surfaces.
It will be appreciated then that there exists a need for a clipboard that allows viewing of at least one piece of paper, while protecting that piece of paper from hostile elements, that can be economically and easily manufactured and that requires no tools, or disassembly, to use.

Single-piece sandwich frame clipboard apparatus

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A new, distinct Festuca plant as shown and described, characterized by gray green new growth that quickly matures to blue giving the plant better heat tolerance.

The present invention relates to a new form of Festuca plant named 'Cool as Ice'. 'Cool as Ice' is a seedling of Festuca, not patented, characterized by gray green new growth that quickly matures to blue giving the plant better heat tolerance. The new plant was selected as a seedling by the inventor as part of an on going grass breeding program since 2009 at a wholesale perennial nursery in Hebron, Ill. in 2010. The selection of this plant was due to green new growth that quickly matures to blue giving the plant better heat tolerance. Asexual, vegetative division propagation has been the only means of reproduction. Propagation has taken place at a nursery in Hebron, Ill. since 2011. In 2011 we planted 60 plants in pots. To date these plants have remained uniform in height. The new Festuca has shown to be stable and identical in reproduction to the parent after making over 3000 vegetative divisions from 2011 to 2015.


A controllable pressure reducing valve has a housing which includes an inner chamber extending in the direction of a longitudinal axis and an inlet opening and an outlet opening. The inlet opening and the outlet opening open into the inner chamber at an axial relative distance. The inner chamber includes between the mouths of the inlet opening and the outlet opening at least one annular wall having a cylindrical valve bore. An axially movable valve body which is arranged in the inner chamber, extends through the valve bore and has a piston-type portion guided in the valve bore and adapted to close the valve bore. The piston-type portion includes at least one control recess bounded by a control step which extends in axial direction and in circumferential direction and combines with an edge of the valve bore to form a controllable valve opening.

From DE 1 107 471 A there is known a multistage controllable pressure reducing valve for reducing fluid pressure, which is intended primarily for feed water or the injection of water vapor. The pressure reducing valve has a housing with a longitudinally extending inner chamber, an inlet opening and an outlet opening and with a plurality of annular walls which are arranged between the inlet opening and the outlet opening, are separated from one another by housing recesses and contain coaxial valve openings. Extending through the valve openings is a spindle guided in the valve openings in the manner of a piston and including milled recesses extending in the longitudinal direction of the spindle and determining the control characteristic. The known configuration of the pressure reducing valve is only suitable for use with pure water since particles of dirt may accumulate in the milled recesses and impair the movability of the spindle. Furthermore, the longitudinally extending milled recesses limit the control range appreciably.
Other pressure reducing valves as known, for example, from DE 32 15 224 C2 and DE 37 44 730 C1, have a valve piston arranged in a housing bore for axial movement and including annular recesses capable of exposing valve openings opening radially into the valve bore. To reduce energy by vortical circulation, the valve openings in the housing are additionally surrounded by annularly arranged throttling devices. These valve configurations are likewise only suitable for use with pure liquids which cannot clog the narrow throttle openings.
Furthermore, there is known from EP 0 744 527 B1 an apparatus for the transmission of data present above ground to a data receiving device below ground in a borehole, wherein a bypass conduit discharging into the mud pit and including a shut-off device actuatable by a fluid pressure drive is connected to the supply conduit of a mud pump driven at a constant output. Connected downstream of the shut-off device is a throttle which reduces the pressure energy of the drilling fluid escaping from the supply conduit with the shut-off device open. To transmit data to a downhole data receiving device, the shut-off device is actuated in the opening direction during uninterrupted drilling operations, whereby the flow rate of the drilling fluid in the drill string is reduced. The variation of the flow rate over time produces a signal capable of being detected by the downhole data receiving device. Depending on the manner of actuation and design of the shut-off device, a pulse-like pattern can be imposed on the volumetric flow variations, and by variation of the pulse pattern it is possible to produce as a binary sequence coded signals which serve to control components of the downhole system.
However, the reduction to practice of the above-described method of signal generation is fraught with major difficulties because, depending on the operation of a drilling rig, the conditions in the supply conduit of the mud pump may vary widely. At shallow drilling depths the drilling fluid pressure on the drill head is comparatively low as a rule, while the flow rate is quite high. In order to achieve flow rate variations suitable for signal transmission, it is therefore necessary to direct a comparatively large bypass flow into the pit at a low pressure. At large drilling depths the drilling fluid pressure on the drill head is necessarily very high whilst the flow rate is relatively small as a rule. An attendant problem is to let only a limited amount of volumetric flow escape through the bypass conduit and into the mud pit, in spite of the high pressure, which makes it necessary for a corresponding pressure energy of the branched off bypass flow to be reduced. Intermediate states between said extremes must also be negotiated by the shut-off device provided for signal generation.
Another problem presenting itself is the unavoidable loading of the drilling fluid with abrasive solid particles which, on the one hand, may result in severe wear of the shut-off and throttling device and, on the other hand, may also cause clogging and eventual failure of the shut-off and throttling devices.

Controllable pressure-reducing valve and device for the generation of pressure change signals


A method for sharing data between a first domain and a second domain, including issuing a first request for data from a storage pool by the first domain, receiving the first request by a control domain driver in a control domain, obtaining the data by the control domain driver, storing a first copy of the data in shared memory at a first physical address, updating a hypervisor page map to include an entry associating a first pseudo-physical page number with the first physical address, notifying the first domain that the first request has been completed, issuing a second request for the data by the second domain, receiving the second request by the control domain driver, determining that the first copy of the data is present in the shared memory, and updating the hypervisor page map to include an entry associating the second pseudo-physical page number with the first physical address.

Virtualization technology such as Xen® and VMware® allow multiple operating systems to execute on a single host computer (Xen® is a trademark overseen by the Xen Project Advisory Board and VMware® is a registered trademark of VMware, Inc.). More specifically, two or more operating systems may execute concurrently on the host computer. The virtualization technology provides the necessary functionality to allow each of the operating systems to access (directly or indirectly) the various resources of the host computer (e.g., the processor, main memory, storage pool, network interface, etc.).
For example, a first operating system executing on the host computer may request file A from the storage pool. The request from the first operating system is received by the appropriate interface provided by the virtualization technology. The virtualization technology then performs the appropriate action to obtain file A from the storage pool and load a copy of file A into the portion of main memory allocated to the first operating system. If a second operating system subsequently requests file A, the virtualization technology subsequently obtains and stores a copy of file A into the portion of main memory allocated to the second operating system.
In such cases, two copies of the same file (i.e., file A) are present in main memory. This may result in inefficient usage of the main memory. In some cases, the virtualization technology may include functionality to remove the duplicate copies of files from the main memory (i.e., after two or more copies of a given file have been loaded into main memory). Specifically, once the two copies of file A are loaded into main memory, a determination may be made about whether the two files are the same (e.g., by calculating a checksum of the memory pages containing each copy of file A and then comparing the checksums). If two memory pages are found to be the same, the virtualization technology performs the appropriate actions to ensure that both operating systems are still able to access the remaining copy of file A in the main memory and one of the copies is removed.

Method and system for cross-domain data sharing


A fluid metering roll such as an anilox roll is comprised of a tubular carbon fiber composition core having one or more metallic layers intervening between the core and a surface layer comprised of ceramic, the ceramic having outwardly opening fluid metering cells. The method of forming the roll includes steps of thermal spray applying one or more layers comprised of metal over the roll surface the layers intervening between the roll and an external ceramic coating. Characterizing features of the application method reside in each of the thermal spray applied layers being directed toward the core at a negative rake angle of from about 111/2.degree. to about 131/2.degree. and preferably 121/2.degree., the core and layers which receive the thermal spray being simultaneously cooled to about 110.degree. Centigrade or less during application of the thermal spray. The method and article are further characterized in that the coefficient of thermal expansion of the layers intervening between the core and the outermost ceramic layer form a progression whereby the intermediate layers have thermal characteristics which progressively become smaller in the outward direction.

The present invention is directed to a fluid metering roll and to a novel method of manufacturing same. More particularly the invention is directed to an anilox roll characterized in that the roll is comprised of a carbon fiber composite core having an exterior ceramic surface formed with outward opening metering cells.
It is the objective of anilox rolls to pick up liquid, typically ink, from an ink source and to deposit on a subsequent printing roller or the like, discrete increments of ink, the quantity deposited by each cell being controlled within precise tolerances across the entire surface of the printing roller, this result being effected by the anilox roller having a multiplicity of closely-spaced, i.e., up to 1,000 or more, cells per lineal inch, the cells having virtually identical volumetric capacities.


A remote garage door opener module for after-market assembly into a vehicle for transmitting signals to a garage door opener includes a bezel positionable against a headliner of the vehicle along an interior surface thereof in a position over a hole in the headliner. The module further includes a housing enclosing a power source and electronic circuitry for transmitting the signals. The housing extends away from a first side of the bezel and is positionable at least partially through the hole in the headliner. The module further includes a button exposed at a second side of the bezel and coupled to the electronic circuitry and a mounting element selectively engageable with the headliner adjacent the hole and coupled with one of the housing or the bezel for coupling the module with the headliner.

The present disclosure generally relates to a remote garage door opener module for after-market assembly into a vehicle.
Remote garage door openers in the form of trainable remote garage door openers have been previously-available as factory-installed, in-vehicle remote garage door openers. Such remote garage door openers are integrated into a vehicle, such as by being generally permanently mounted on the headliner, a windshield visor, a rearview mirror, or the like. Further, the openers can communicate directly with a garage door opener and can be in the form of a trainable remote garage door opener that can learn the signal protocols of a remote transmitter that comes with such a garage door opener and later transmit a signal having those protocols. As such, they can accommodate many different garage door opener protocols using multiple codes and signaling frequencies to provide integrated vehicle door access.
Previously, such remote garage door openers were configured to receive power from the vehicle battery and/or vehicle ignition and had mounting structures and wire routing directed toward being included with the vehicle during assembly thereof. Therefore, further advances are desired.

Battery powered trainable remote garage door opener module


A balloon expandable superelastic stent is made of a Ti—Ni—Nb (the content of Nb being at least 3 at %) shape memory alloy. A shape recovery temperature of the stent is lower than a living body temperature in an unloaded state after shape memory treatment. The shape recovery temperature exceeds the living body temperature after the stent is mounted to a catheter and released from the catheter in a living body.

This invention relates to a stent to be placed in a lumen of a human body or an animal.
As well known, a shape memory alloy, such as a Ti—Ni alloy, exhibits a remarkable shape memory effect in association with martensitic reverse transformation. It is also well known that the shape memory alloy exhibits excellent superelasticity or pseudoelasticity in association with stress-induced martensitic transformation caused by strong deformation in a parent phase, that is, austenite phase after the reverse transformation. The superelasticity is observed in a number of shape memory alloys. Among others, the superelasticity is remarkable in the Ti—Ni alloy and a Ti—Ni—X alloy (X═V, Cr, Co, Nb, or the like) obtained by substituting an element X for a part of the Ti—Ni alloy.
The shape memory effect of the Ti—Ni alloy is described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,174,851 (hereinafter referred to as a patent document 1). The superelasticity of the Ti—Ni alloy is described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication (JP-A) No. S58-161753 (hereinafter referred to as a patent document 2).
The shape memory effect and the superelasticity of the Ti—Ni—X alloy are described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publications (JP-A) Nos. S63-171844 (hereinafter referred to as a patent document 3) and S63-14834 (hereinafter referred to as a patent document 4) for a Ti—Ni—Nb alloy and in U.S. Pat. No. 4,770,725 (hereinafter referred to as a patent document 5) for a Ti—Ni—Nb alloy. As compared with the Ti—Ni alloy, the Ti—Ni—Nb alloy has a characteristic that transformation temperature hysteresis is increased by imposing a stress. Therefore, the Ti—Ni—Nb alloy is put into practical use as a joint for reactor piping.
Angioplasty using a stent is a technique for treating occlusion or narrowing of a blood vessel or a heart valve. The stent is a mesh-like metal tube or tube to be placed in a living body in order to prevent re-narrowing of a narrow portion, such as a blood vessel, after it is radially expanded. The stent is folded into a small size and mounted to an end portion of a catheter. After introduced into the narrow portion together with the catheter, the stent is released from the catheter and radially expanded to be attached to an inner wall of a lumen such as a blood vessel.
For example, in case of PTCA (percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty), the stent is radially expanded following a blood vessel expanding operation by inflation of an internal balloon set on an inner wall of the catheter. The stent is called a balloon expandable stent and formed by the use of a metal such as stainless steel or tantalum.
On the other hand, in order to prevent rupture of an aneurysm which may result in a subarachnoid hemorrhage or the like, blood supply to the aneurysm is stopped. As one of techniques for stopping the blood supply, use is made of embolization in which a metal coil such as a platinum coil is implanted into the aneurysm to form a blood clot (thrombus). However, it is pointed out that a part of the blood clot may possibly be released from the metal coil and carried by a bloodstream to a periphery to block a blood vessel. In order to avoid such undesired phenomenon, consideration is made about a covered stent technique in which the aneurysm is embolized by the use of a graft. In this case, simultaneously when the stent is released from the catheter, the stent is radially expanded by its own spring function to press the graft against a blood vessel wall. Such stent is called a self expandable stent. For the self expandable stent, a material having an excellent spring characteristic is desired.
The superelasticity in the Ti—Ni alloy is a behavior that, at a temperature above a reverse transformation finish temperature (Af point, austenitic transformation finish temperature) thereof, the alloy which has been deformed under an external load is recovered into an original shape simultaneously when the external load is released. A recoverable deformation is as high as about 7% in case of an elongation strain. For use as the stent, the alloy is formed into a hoop shape slightly greater in diameter than the lumen where the stent is to be placed. The stent is radially contracted and mounted to the catheter. Simultaneously when the stent is released from the catheter, the stent is autonomously recovered into the diameter of the original hoop shape to be brought into tight contact with the lumen such as the blood vessel. Thus, the alloy has the Af point lower than a living body temperature (37° C.) and always exhibits the superelasticity at the living body temperature.
As well as the above-mentioned characteristics, the superelastic stent has several problems. For example, its own spring function may damage the blood vessel wall and its autonomous shape recovery may cause a positioning error in the lumen. Therefore, it is difficult to use the superelastic stent in a blood vessel system such as a coronary system.
The stent for use in PTCA is preferably made of a metal material having a low spring function and a high rigidity. However, use of such material is disadvantageous in that a force urging a lumen wall outward is weak to cause a positioning error following blood vessel pulsation.
In view of the above, proposal has been made of a stent using a shape memory alloy.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication (JP-A) No. H11-42283 (hereinafter referred to as a patent document 6) discloses that a Ti—Ni—Nb alloy is applied to a stent. Specifically, the above-mentioned publication describes that the stent made of a Ti—Ni—Nb alloy and having a low Young's modulus upon shape recovery and a high Young's modulus upon shape deformation under an external load is obtained if the ratio of the stress on loading to the stress on unloading at the respective inflection points on the stress-strain curve is at least about 2.5:1. This stent exhibits superelasticity at the living body temperature after it is released from the catheter but does not sufficiently achieve desired positioning of the stent as required in PTCA.
The present inventors have already proposed a stent obtained by slotting in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication (JP-A) No. H11-99207 (hereinafter referred to as a patent document 7). In detail, the patent document 7 proposes the stent which exhibits no shape memory effect at the living body temperature during insertion into the living body and exhibits superelasticity after shape recovery by inflation of a balloon. In the embodiment in the patent document 7, the stent made of a Ti—Ni alloy or a Ti—Ni—X alloy (X═Cr, V, Cu, Fe, Co, or the like) is subjected to strong deformation to thereby elevate a recovery temperature. However, in case of the stent obtained by slotting as shown in the patent document 7, the strong deformation is performed merely by accommodating the heat-treated stent into the catheter. Therefore, depending upon a slot shape, sufficient deformation is difficult and sufficient effect is not obtained.


A method and apparatus for correcting a delay between accompaniment audio and unaccompanied audio, and a storage medium are provided. The method includes: acquiring original audio of a target song, and extracting original vocal audio from the original audio; determining a first delay between the original vocal audio and the unaccompanied audio, and determining a second delay between the accompaniment audio and the original audio; and correcting a delay between the accompaniment audio and the unaccompanied audio based on the first delay and the second delay. Thus, the correction efficiency of the delay between accompaniment audio and unaccompanied audio is improved, and correction mistakes possibly caused by human factors are eliminated, thereby improving the accuracy.

At present, in consideration of demands of different users, different forms of audios, such as original audios, accompaniment audios and unaccompanied audios of songs may be stored in a song library of a music application. The original audio refers to original audio that contains both an accompaniment and vocals. The accompaniment audio refers to audio that does not contain the vocals. The unaccompanied audio refers to audio that does not contain the accompaniment and only contains the vocals. A delay is generally present between the accompaniment audio and the unaccompanied audio of the stored song due to factors such as different versions of the stored audio or different version management modes of the audio.

Method and apparatus for correcting delay between accompaniment audio and unaccompanied audio, and storage medium

GUANGZHOU KUGOU COMPUTER TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD.


A vehicle anti-theft system includes programming vehicle identification numbers or a corresponding identifier value into a read-only memory portion of each computer on board the vehicle. The computers are all linked through a multiplex communication system that has a monitoring port. The monitoring port facilitates coupling an external device to the multiplex communication link. The external monitoring device is used to determine the contents of the read only memory portion on each component to determine whether any of the components were stolen from another vehicle, for example.

This invention generally relates to an anti-theft system for vehicles. More particularly, this invention relates to a system for inhibiting or preventing the theft of vehicle components by including a unique vehicle identifier on each component.
Vehicle theft is a substantial, widespread problem. Most often, when a vehicle is stolen it is dismantled into component parts, which are sold individually. An additional problem is that certain vehicle components, such as air-bags and stereos, are stolen from vehicles and later sold.
One attempt to reduce the ability to sell stolen vehicles and component parts has been to physically or mechanically etch a vehicle identification number onto certain portions of a vehicle. This approach has several shortcomings and drawbacks. First, physically etching in an identification number to a plurality of component parts typically proves prohibitively expensive. Further, physical etching is relatively easy for a thief to detect and, in many circumstances, alter. Moreover, there is no efficient way to verify that a particular component on a vehicle has a legitimate identification number without visually inspecting it, which may require removing that part from the vehicle. This makes the task of monitoring stolen parts prohibitively expensive.
This invention overcomes many of the short-fallings and drawbacks of the prior art. This invention provides an efficient method and system for identifying component parts of a vehicle. Moreover, a system designed according to this invention provides for easy monitoring for detecting stolen parts. Further, this invention includes a strategy for prohibiting a thief from altering an identification given to a component part, which discourages theft because it reduces the ability to sell a stolen part.

Vehicle anti-theft system including vehicle identification numbers programmed into on-board computers


A sealing apparatus for a semiconductor wafer includes an upper mold and a lower mold. The lower mold includes a recess in which the semiconductor wader is placed, and a pot for introducing resin to the recess. The pot is located under a center area of the recess. Thus, when the resin is introduced in the recess, the resin is spread from the center area of the semiconductor wafer toward the peripheral area.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a sealing apparatus for a semiconductor wafer, and a method of manufacturing a semiconductor device by using the sealing apparatus. More particularly, the invention relates to a method of manufacturing a Chip Size Package (CSP) whose size is similar to that of a semiconductor chip contained therein by using the sealing device.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, it has been required to shrink electric devices. To meet the requirement, it is also required to downsize a semiconductor device. As one of the solutions to satisfy these requirements, it has been proposed to form a semiconductor device having a chip size package (CSP) structure. The size of the semiconductor device having the CSP structure is almost the same as that of the semiconductor chip.
The method of forming the semiconductor device having the CSP structure includes a step for forming a plurality of semiconductor elements on a semiconductor wafer, a step for setting the semiconductor wafer in a mold, a step for sealing a surface of the semiconductor wafer on which the semiconductor elements are formed by a thermoset resin, a step for removing the semiconductor wafer sealed by the resin from the mold, a step for polishing the resin on the semiconductor wafer until electrodes formed on each of the circuit elements are exposed, and a step for dividing the semiconductor wafer into semiconductor devices having the CSP structure. If necessary, external terminals, such as soldering balls, may be formed on the exposed electrodes. Specifically, in the step for sealing a surface of the semiconductor wafer on which the semiconductor elements are formed by the thermoset resin, the thermoset resin is introduced on the surface of the semiconductor wafer from one side, and is expanded on the entire surface of the semiconductor wafer
However, according to the process for manufacturing the CSP-type semiconductor device described above, since the thermoset resin is introduced on the surface of the semiconductor wafer from one side, and is expanded on the entire surface of the semiconductor wafer, it takes a time to spread the thermoset resin on the entire surface of the semiconductor wafer. Although the thermoset resin is melted by heat, the melted resin is re-solidified with the course of time. Thus, it is necessary to spread the thermoset resin on the semiconductor wafer from one side to the other side before the melted resin is solidified so that it is required to accelerate the flowing speed of the resin. On the other hand, there are many sensitive semiconductor elements formed on the surface of the semiconductor wafer where the resin covers. Thus, if the melted resin flows on the surface of the semiconductor wafer with high speed, the resin catches air near these elements. As a result, void is created in the resin.

Sealing apparatus for semiconductor wafer and method of manufacturing semiconductor device by using sealing apparatus


Solid, elongate dosage forms (10) with a long axis (11) and with a length (L) which is defined by projection of the ends (12, 13) of the dosage form to the long axis, where a cross-sectional area (14, 15, 16) oriented perpendicular to the long axis (11) has an area which is variable along the long axis (11) and increases from a cross-sectional area (15) which is located between the ends (12, 13) and has a minimal area essentially continuously toward the two ends (12, 13) up to in each case a cross-sectional area (14 and 16 respectively) with a maximal area, wherein the distance of the maximal cross-sectional area (14) which is located near one end (12) from the maximal cross-sectional area (16) which is located near the other end (13) is, projected on the long axis (11), more than half the length (L) of the dosage form (10), are described.

The present invention relates to divisible solid dosage forms, in particular solid pharmaceutical dosage forms, and to a process for their production.
It is often desirable for solid pharmaceutical dosage forms, for example tablets, to be divisible in order to be able to alter the dosage without the need to produce individual tablets for each particular dosage. Division of a tablet into accurately predetermined parts makes it possible to administer a fraction or any multiple of the fraction of the active ingredient present in the tablet.
To facilitate division, tablets normally have scores. The tablet is broken apart by exerting pressure on the tablet, with the tablet being held between two fingers or with both hands. Divisible tablets are described, for example, in CH 683 066 or U.S. Pat. No. 3,927,194.
DE-B 30 30 622 describes a divisible tablet with controlled and delayed release of active ingredient. The ratio of length to width to height in this case is intended to be about 2.5-5:about 0.9-2:1. One or more relatively deep score(s) running perpendicular to the length and to the height are present. The bottom and top surfaces are, independently of one another, flat or curved convexly around the long axis or parallels thereto.
DE-B 44 46 470 describes a process for producing divisible tablets by shaping an active ingredient-containing melt in a calender with two counter-rotating molding rolls which have depressions for receiving and molding the melt to tablets, where the depressions are divided by at least one bar which extends essentially as far as the surface of the molding roll and forms a score.
One problem with the known divisible solid dosage forms is that expenditure of a relatively large force is necessary to divide the dosage forms. This problem is particularly pronounced with dosage forms produced by melt extrusion because they usually consist of a very hard and brittle material. Attempts have been made to bypass this problem by providing the solid dosage forms with very deep notches with large notch angles. However, with these approaches to a solution there is the risk that the solid dosage form will break during after-treatment steps, e.g. during deflashing or film-coating, due to the stress on the material, which leads to a large proportion of rejects.
A further serious problem with known divisible solid dosage forms is the inadequate uniformity of mass of the manually divided halves of the dosage forms. Corresponding investigations have revealed standard deviations of between 3 and 13% for the tablet halves (see H. G. Kristensen et al., Pharmeuropa, Volume 7, No. 2, June 1995, pp. 298 et seq.). Standard deviations as high as this lead to inaccurate dosages, which is particularly undesirable with active ingredients of high activity. The inadequate uniformity of mass of the manually divided tablet halves derives, on the one hand, from the fractures area not being exactly at the intended place and, on the other hand, from the tendency of the tablet material to escape at outer edges of the tablet mold, which leads to losses of active ingredient.
It is an object of the present invention to provide solid dosage forms which display easy divisibility and, at the same time, a sufficient resistance to stress for further processing steps. It was additionally intended that the solid dosage forms be of a nature such that the fragments resulting from manual division of the solid dosage forms display a maximum uniformity of mass.
We have found that this object is achieved by the solid dosage forms having a particular geometry. The present invention therefore relates to a solid, elongate dosage form (10) with a long axis (11) and with a length (L) which is defined by projection of the ends (12, 13) of the dosage form onto the long axis, where a cross-sectional area (14, 15, 16) oriented perpendicular to the long axis (11) has an area which is variable along the long axis (11) and increases from a cross-sectional area (15) which is located between the ends (12, 13) and has a minimal area essentially continuously toward the two ends (12, 13) up to in each case a cross-sectional area (14 and 16 respectively) with a maximal area, wherein the distance of the maximal cross-sectional area (14) which is located near one end (12) from the maximal cross-sectional area (16) which is located near the other end (13) is, projected on the long axis (11), more than half the length (L) of the dosage form (10).

Cleavable solid dosage forms and method for the production thereof


A tobacco filter with a circumferential length of 17 to 27 mm is prepared by creping or embossing, with a roller of a temperature not lower than 100.degree. C., a sheet-like material comprising not less than 20% by weight of a cellulose ester component and having a web structure with a basis weight of 20 to 35 g/m.sup.2 and a density of 0.25 to 0.45 g/cm.sup.3, and wrapping up the creped or embossed material into a rod form. The cellulose ester component includes e.g. a cellulose ester short staple, a fibrillated fiber, an esterified fiber and a fiber coated with a cellulose ester. This tobacco filter shows a pressure drop of 200 to 500 mm WG, a firmness of 88% or more and a cross-sectional porosity of 2% or less provided that it has a circumferential length of 24.5 mm and a length of 10 cm.

As a tobacco filter which removes tars from the tobacco smoke and insures a satisfactory smoking quality, a filter plug prepared by shaping a fiber bundle of cellulose acetate fibers with a plasticizer such as triacetin is generally used. This filter has an adequate pressure drop and satisfactory cross section, and, in this filter, the constituent filaments have been partly fused together by the plasticizer to be shaped, so that the filter has a suitable firmness as required of a filter. By the same reason, however, when such filter is discarded after smoking, it takes a long time for the filter plug to disintegrate itself in the environment, thus adding to the pollution problem.
Meanwhile, a tobacco smoke filter made of a creped paper manufactured from a wood pulp sheet and a tobacco filter made from a regenerated cellulose fiber bundle are also known. Compared with a filter plug comprising a cellulose acetate fiber, these filters are slightly more wet-disintegratable and, thus, of somewhat lower pollution potential. However, in these filters, not only the aroma and palatability of tobacco smoke are sacrificed but also the efficiency of selective elimination of phenols which is essential to tobacco filters can hardly be expected.
Further, according to a conventional technology which comprises creping and/or embossing a sheet-like material and wrapping up the creped and/or embossed material into a rod filter, an adequate pressure drop (puff resistance, such a suitable firmness as not to impart an unpleasant feeling to a smoker and a homogeneity of a cross section can hardly be expected concurrently. By way of example, a firmness of a filter can be enhanced by use of a plasticizer or a specialized binder as in, for instance, a filter made of a cellulose acetate fiber bundle, or by modifying the cross-sectional configuration of a constituent fiber. The pressure drop of such filter may easily be regulated by adjusting depth of crepes or embosses formed by creping or embossing process. However, adjustment of the pressure drop to an adequate range results in coarse structure (tissue) of the filter, so that the firmness of the filter is decreased and cross section of the filter becomes heterogeneous. Therefore, a filter having satisfactory properties can hardly be obtained.


A compound represented by formula (1) or pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof:

A Wnt signaling pathway is conserved regardless of the difference in the species of organisms, and is known as an important pathway involved in the development, differentiation and maintenance of living organisms. In recent years, however, it is reported that the constitutive activation of the pathway is involved in the development of malignant transformation of fibrosis and cancer. It is known that, particularly in colorectal cancer, melanoma, endometrial cancer, liver cancer and prostate cancer, the Wnt signaling pathway can be activated constitutively by the suppressible mutation of adenomatous polyposis coli (APC) or activating mutation of β-catenin or the like. It is also known that, in pancreatic cancer, hematological cancer, liver cancer and the like, the Wnt signaling pathway can be activated after the treatment with a known anti-tumor agent.
In Non Patent Literatures 1 and 2, it is described that an excellent anti-tumor activity can be achieved by inhibiting the Wnt signaling pathway. In Non Patent Literatures 12, 13 and 14, it is described that an excellent effect on fibrosis can be achieved by inhibiting the Wnt signaling pathway. Thus, the Wnt signaling pathway has attracted attention as a novel target for the treatment of tumors or the treatment of fibrosis.
In Non Patent Literatures 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 and 11, compounds or antibodies capable of inhibiting the Wnt signaling pathways are disclosed, and it is reported that the compounds or the antibodies can act on Tankyrase, Traf2- and Nck-interacting kinase (TNIK), Porcupine, Frizzled Receptor and the like.
Furthermore, compounds each having an octahydro-1H-pyrazino[2,1-c][1,2,4]triazine backbone are known as modulator of the Wnt signaling pathway, and the relationship between the compounds and diseases such as cancer and fibrosis is pointed out (Patent Literatures 1 to 3).

Abstract: wherein R1 is a C1-6 alkyl group; R2 and R3 are the same or different from each other and each is a hydrogen atom or a C1-6 alkyl group; X2, X3 and X4 are the same or different from each other and each is a hydrogen atom or a halogen atom; and X5 is a hydrogen atom or —P(═O)(OH)2 has a Wnt Pathway modulating activity.


An electrical connector configured to be inserted into a mating connector in an insertion direction includes a housing having a receiving passage, a locking mechanism, and a releasing mechanism. The locking mechanism is rotatably mounted on a top wall of the housing by a pivot and has a locking portion. The locking portion is inserted into a mating housing of the mating connector to lock the electrical connector and the mating connector. The releasing mechanism provides a releasing force to drive the locking mechanism to move from a locked state to a released state to allow the electrical connector to be disengaged from the mating connector.

In a conventional electrical connector assembly, an electrical connector is locked to a mating connector for a stable electrical connection therebetween. A restoring force is provided by an elastic member, typically by a spring, to act on a locking mechanism such that the electrical connector can be unlocked from the mating connector.
In some electrical connectors, however, after a locking portion of the locking mechanism is inserted into the mating connector, a large force is required to be applied to a releasing mechanism for unlocking the locking portion from the mating connector. The large required force is not only inconvenient for use, but also causes the locking portion to be easily deformed or worn in the case of long-term use, reducing a service life of the electrical connector or the electrical connector assembly.
In addition, in some electrical connectors, the spring is vertically disposed in a recess recessed into a receiving passage and located below the locking mechanism. The position of the spring causes the receiving passage to become narrow, and it is thus difficult to accommodate or mount wires within the receiving passage, increasing difficulty of using the electrical connector or electrical connector assembly and reducing utility of the electrical connector or electrical connector assembly.

Electrical connector and electrical connector assembly


An adhesive-backed label having a plurality of adhesive-backed label portions, each of the adhesive-backed label portions comprising an instance of an identifying indicia, whereby one or more of the plurality of adhesive-backed label portions is applied to at least one collected sample so that the identifying indicia on the adhesive-backed label portion on the collected sample corresponds to the identifying indicia on at least one of the adhesive-backed label portions that remains on the adhesive-backed label, at least one of the adhesive-backed label portions on the adhesive-backed label also comprising a field configured to receive additional identifying indicia.

When collecting and transferring medical samples and specimens for testing there are a number of challenges for maintaining integrity of the collected specimen, particularly specimens that are sent to a laboratory for testing (clinical, research, forensic testing, etc.). Current methods used for labeling specimens, verifying specimen identification information, maintaining chain of custody, maintaining supply requirements, handling variation in specimen quantities and types, and providing required documentation have many limitations and are prone to allowing errors.
A testing and diagnostic laboratory typically uses paper requisition forms with integrated labels, where the labels are used to associate the test order on the requisition form with the actual specimen. These forms cannot be photocopied or remotely printed because of the integrated labels, multicopy format, and a printed unique identifier (ID). Paper requisition forms with integrated labels are rigid and impose constraints that can prevent accurate specimen collection and testing. For example, paper templates cannot be changed on demand to accommodate different specimen collection and testing parameters, and possible depletion or shortage of specialized paper can cause delays in the ability to collect specimens. Moreover, paper requisition forms can require special printers that often must be ordered in advance.
Therefore, it would be desirable to have a way to simplify sample ordering and provide integrity in medical sample tracking thereby eliminating the shortcomings of current medical sample ordering and tracking systems.


A ply-twisted yarn useful in cut resistant fabrics is made by providing a first multifilament yarn of continuous organic filaments having a tensile strength of at least 4 grams per denier and having a twist in a first direction of from 0.5 to 10 turns per inch; providing a second yarn comprising 1 to 5 continuous inorganic filament(s); and ply-twisting the first yarn and the second yarn about each other 2 to 15 turns per inch in a second direction opposite to that of the twist in the first yarn to form a ply-twisted yarn having an overall effective twist of +/−5 turns per inch.

This invention relates to a cut-resistant ply-twisted yarn and fabrics made from that yarn that are useful in protective garments, especially garments known as turnout gear which are useful for firefighters, but such fabrics and garments also have use in industrial applications where workers may be exposed to abrasive and mechanically harsh environments where fire and flame protection is needed. The garments, which include coats, coveralls, jackets, and/or pants can provide protection against fire, flame, and heat.
Most turnout gear commonly used by firefighters in the United States comprise three layers, each performing a distinct function. There is an outer shell fabric often made from flame resistant aramid fiber such as poly (meta-phenylene iosphthalamide) (MPD-I) or poly (para-phenylene terephthalamide) (PPD-T) or blends of those fibers with flame resistant fibers such as polybenzimidazoles (PBI). Adjacent to the outer shell fabric is a moisture barrier and common moisture barriers include a laminate of Crosstech® PTFE membrane on a woven MPD-I/PPD-T substrate, or a laminate of neoprene on a fibrous woven polyester/cotton substrate. Adjacent the moisture barrier is an insulating thermal liner which generally comprises a batt of heat resistant fiber.
The outer shell serves as initial flame protection while the thermal liner and moisture barrier protect against heat stress.
Since the outer shell provides primary defense it is desirable that this shell be durable and able to withstand abrasion and resist tearing or cutting in harsh environments. This invention provides for such a fabric that is preferably flame resistant and has good tear, cut, and abrasion attributes.
There are a number of fabrics described in the prior art which utilize bare steel wires and cords, primarily as armored fabrics. For example, WO 9727769 (Bourgois et al.) discloses a protective textile fabric comprising a plurality of steel cords twisted together. WO 200186046 (Vanassche et al.) discloses a fabric comprising steel elements used to provide cut resistance or reinforcement for protective textiles. The steel elements are either a single steel wire, a bundle of non-twisted steel wires, or a cord of twisted steel fibers. GB 2324100 (Soar) discloses a protective material made from twisted multi-strand cable which may be stitched to one or more layers of Kevlar® to form a unitary material. The use of large quantities of bare metal wire presents processing challenges and garment aesthetic (comfort and feel) problems and is undesirable.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,470,251 (Bettcher) discloses a cut resistant yarn made by winding a number of synthetic fibers yarns, such as nylon and aramid, around a core of strands of stainless steel wire and a high strength synthetic fiber such as aramid, and a safety garment made from the wound yarn.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,119,512 (Dunbar et al.) discloses a protective fabric made from cut resistant yarn comprising two dissimilar non-metallic fibers,.at least one being flexible and inherently cut resistant and the other having a level of hardness at above three Mohs on the hardness scale.
While inorganic filaments such as steel can provide useful cut resistance in fabrics, incorporating those inorganic filaments into fabrics is not a trivial problem, especially when combining those inorganic filaments with other continuous organic filament yarns. Most multifilament yarns containing continuous organic filaments have initial twist to maintain cohesion of the yarn. If an inorganic filament is simply twisted into the previously twisted yarns, the final yarn is too lively, that is it has too much twist and tends to twist and wrap onto itself and snag during weaving, preventing high quality fabrics from being produced. Further, if the inorganic filament is combined with the multifilament yarn without twist or with very low twist, the resulting yarn will not have adequate cohesion to be woven. What is needed is a method of providing a twisted yarn containing both multifilament yarns of continuous filaments and continuous inorganic filaments that has low liveliness and is easily woven into a fabric.

Ply-twisted yarn for cut resistant fabrics