An escalator is provided with a caliper disc brake for stopping movement of the steps in cases of emergency. The disc is mounted on the main drive sprocket shaft, and the caliper is normally held away from the disc. When power is removed from the drive, the caliper is set on the disc to stop further movement of the steps. The braking torque of the brake assembly is adjustable to allow use of one basic assembly with escalators having different rises. The adjustment is accomplished by moving the center of gravity of the brake pads toward or away from the pivot axis of the brake lever. The brake can also be finely tuned at installation to provide an optimum stopping distance and time so that a too abrupt stop is avoided.

Escalators are provided with caliper disc brakes which are used to selectively prevent movement of the main drive sprocket shaft. These brakes will set whenever power to the escalator is shut off, either in an emergency situation, or when the escalator is shut down for servicing, or otherwise.
Escalators are made having different rises, or lengths, due to different building or architectural requirements. Longer escalators are of course heavier than the shorter ones, and therefore require a higher or larger braking force to hold the steps against movement. If a single common disc brake assembly is used for escalators of all rises or lengths, then the brake used must be capable of applying sufficient braking force to the drive shaft to hold in place the steps of the longest of the escalators using the brake. Thus the brake used must be capable of developing a high braking torque. When such a high torque brake is used on a short escalator, stoppage of the steps in emergency situations will occur in an undesirably abrupt manner. The only solution to this problem is to use different torque brakes for different length escalators, which creates manufacturing and inventory problems. At the present time, for preassembled escalators, the brakes are preadjusted and set in the factory. They cannot be tuned in the field. It would be desirable to have an escalator brake which has an adjustable torque so that the same brake assembly can be used for different length escalators, and so that the brake can be adjusted if necessary in the field.

Escalator caliper brake assembly with adjustable braking torque


Systems and methods disclosed herein include preventing use of a Focal Plane Array (“FPA”) in a thermal imaging system if used in conjunction with a weapons-related activity by disabling the FPA in response to detecting one or more shock pulse events using accelerometers coupled with the thermal imaging system. The method includes monitoring an output from the one or more of the accelerometers to determine whether a shock pulse acceleration event has been detected that exceeds a predetermined threshold. The method also includes determining that a second acceleration event associated with the accelerometers exceeds a second predetermined threshold. The method further includes disabling the thermal imaging system in response to the detected acceleration events.

All objects emit infrared radiation ("IR") as a function of their temperature. Thermal imaging systems, also referred to as thermal cameras or infrared cameras, are devices that generate images or video based on infrared radiation. Using IR detectors, radiation can be collected and used to generate the thermal imaging data. Thermal imaging systems can include, for example, a thermal camera and an uncooled infrared focal plane array ("FPA"). A few examples of the many applications for infrared FPAs include missile or related weapons guidance sensors, infrared astronomy, weapon targeting, home inspection (thermography), security and surveillance, automotive object avoidance, manufacturing inspection, medical imaging, and infrared phenomenology (such as observing combustion, weapon impact, rocket motor ignition, or other events that are interesting in the infrared spectrum).
Under current United States federal regulations, the export of uncooled FPAs as well as other thermal imaging devices has been tightly controlled based in part on concerns related to the use of such FPAs in thermal weapons sights. In order to prevent the export of thermal imaging systems that could be incorporated into thermal weapons systems by foreign entities, the export of cameras that incorporate FPAs has accordingly been controlled.

Method and system for restricting applications for a focal plane array


A method is directed to providing a custom message set within a vehicle message service system. The method includes receiving at least one vehicle message service request, determining at least one set of vehicle parameters based on the at least one received vehicle message service request, requesting at least one vehicle message for each of the at least one set of vehicle parameters from a database, and generating the custom message set responsive to the vehicle messages. The method may further include transmitting the generated custom message set to a vehicle client. The step of generating the custom message set responsive to the received vehicle parameters may include receiving a vehicle message for each of the at least one set of vehicle parameters from the database and producing an object including the vehicle messages.

Mobile communication units (MCU's), such as cellular phones, personal data assistants (PDA's), and on-board Vehicle Communication Units (VCU's), used in conjunction with a Wide Area Network (WAN), such as a cellular telephone network or a satellite communication system, have made it possible for a person to send and receive voice communications, data transmissions, and FAX messages from virtually anywhere on earth. Such communication is initiated at the MCU when it is turned on, or by entering a phone number to be called, or in many cases, by pressing a preprogrammed button on the MCU or speaking a voice command causing the MCU to automatically complete the process of dialing the number to be called. A radio communication link is established between the MCU and a Wide Area Network (WAN), using a node of the WAN in the vicinity of the MCU.
In cellular telephone systems, a router is commonly referred to as a "cellular base station." Once the radio communication link between the MCU and the cellular base station has been established, the base station then utilizes a combination of additional cellular stations, conventional telephone wire line networks, and possibly even satellite systems to connect the MCU to the number or data node (e.g. IP address) to be accessed.
Wireless communication services for MCU users, such as navigation and roadside assistance, have increased rapidly in recent years. Services offered are for either a motor vehicle in operation or a non-operational motor vehicle. Services offered for a motor vehicle in operation include navigation assistance, stolen vehicle tracking, remote diagnostics, and the like. Services offered for a non-operational motor vehicle include remote door-lock release, emergency services, remote horn and lights, and the like.
MCU service providers must make available a wireless communication service customer assistance center (or other such manually staffed service center) in order that an operator or customer assistant may complete the MCU requests. Recently, some MCU service providers have made access to MCU requests available to the customer via the Internet and the World Wide Web. This availability has allowed customers to modify the many different options available within the vehicle depending on vehicle equipment and the service-level the customer has purchased.
Conventional vehicles receive specific embedded logic at the time of manufacture, and as new model year vehicles become available with new service-levels older models likely will not be retrofitted due to cost factors. Unfortunately, this presents a number of negative issues for the manufacturer, such as, for example requiring future products to provide legacy support.
It would be desirable, therefore, to provide a method and system that would overcome these and other disadvantages.

Method and system for providing flexible vehicle communication within a vehicle communications system


A rotary connector apparatus for supplying electric power to an air bag mounted on a steering wheel has a stator housing, a rotor housing, a flexible cable within a space defined by the housings and a slidable sheet temporarily fixed by an engaging claw on the bottom housing until the stator housing is assembled. A bearing over the entire periphery of a lower end of the rotor housing includes a thrust bearing and a radial bearing. Crimp portions protruding from the rotor housing are inserted into a cord cover, and the cord cover is secured by crushing the crimp portions. The cord cover covers an outlet for the cord, and a holder for holding an end of the flexible cable is secured to the rotor housing. The holder has an arc-shaped surface on a side of a space accommodating the cable, and a tongue-shaped elastic piece is secured within a recess on the surface to prevent buckling of the cable.

This invention relates to a rotary connector apparatus for supplying electric power to an air bag or the like provided for example in a pad portion of a steering wheel of an automotive vehicle.
Recently, technology to prevent an automotive occupant from suffering collisional impacts by inflating an air bag during an automotive accident has been put to practical use. In the air bag, particularly an air bag provided in a pad portion of a steering wheel, it is necessary to supply electric power to an inflator of the air bag from the vehicular body side of the air bag through a rotary portion of the steering wheel. As a means for supplying electric power, there is one arrangement that principally uses a slip ring and another arrangement that employs a flexible, or soft, cable wound around in a spiral form like the rotary connector apparatus of this invention.
Conventionally, there have been proposed various types of rotary connector apparatuses of this kind. In a rotary connector apparatus disclosed for example by Japanese Utility Model Publication No. H4-54715, there are provided a stator housing, a rotor housing rotatably mounted on the stator housing, and a flexible cable accommodated in a spiral form within a space defined by both of the housings, wherein the rotary connector apparatus is further provided with a guide (peripheral wall) for guiding an end of the flexible cable to the inside of the space as well as an attachment (rotatable ring) for connecting the stator housing and the rotor housing.
The steering portion to which a rotary connector apparatus of this kind is attached is at a point adjacent to a driver's seat, and it is necessary to avoid causing abnormal sound from the rotary connector apparatus. However, in the conventional art stated above, the flexible cable is in direct contact with an inner wall of a housing so that there is a possibility of generating a sliding sound, for example, by the flexible cable. To this end, use of a slidable sheet excellent in slidability, wherein the slidable sheet is adhered to the inner wall of the housing, and a groove is provided at a boundary portion between the slidable sheet and the housing, has been contemplated so as to improve slidability of the flexible cable and thereby prevent generating a sliding sound.
However, where a slidable sheet is adhered to prevent the generation of a sliding sound as in the above conventional art, there are necessarily an adhesive agent and adhesive processes. Further, in order to secure by adhesion over a long term, there has been a concern that appropriate selection of materials for the housing or the adhesive agent is required. Also, there has been a possibility of tangling by a flexible cable falling into the groove at the boundary portion between the slidable sheet and the housing.
Since in the connector apparatus of the kind described above the rotor housing rotates relative to the stator housing, it is in general necessary to form a bearing structure at a contact point between the housings. However, the provision of the bearing increases, for example, the diameter of the axial portion of the rotor housing, which is accompanied by an increase in length of the flexible cable wound around the axial portion. Consequently, the cost required for the flexible cable rises, and the sliding sound generated due to contact by the flexible cable with the housing becomes great.
Each of the rotational connector apparatuses of the kind described above was provided with a cord electrically connecting the rotor housing and the stator housing to external apparatuses, which cord was connected with a holder for holding an end of a flexible cable within the housing, the connection point being covered by a cord cover. However, in the prior art techniques, the holder was mounted on a disk-shaped portion of the housing by securing the cord cover and the holder to each other by means of screws. This increased the size of the rotational connector apparatus in the axial direction.
Each of the rotational connector apparatuses of the kind described above was provided with a holder for holding an end of a flexible cable, and the flexible cable was connected with an external circuit. However, there was a risk that, where the shape of the holder was inappropriate, the holder caught on the flexible cable when the flexible cable was wound or unwound, which damaged the flexible cable. Further, there was also a problem that, when a tongue-shaped elastic piece for preventing buckling of the flexible cable was fixed, if a fixing portion of the tongue-shaped elastic piece protruded from the holder, the fixing portion interfered with the flexible cable.


A facility inspection support apparatus having portable terminal equipment (2) for collecting on the field basis a patrol inspection result at each site of plant facilities, and a processor (1) for receiving the patrol inspection result data collected by the portable terminal equipment and performing a necessary data process. The processor (1) includes a data base (11) for storing in advance a plurality of patrol inspection routes, and discrimination information of patrol inspection items included in the inspection routes, and storing the patrol inspection result data collected by the portable terminal equipment, and facility management processor (15) for deriving the discrimination information of a patrol inspection item designated by the interactive apparatus and a past patrol inspection result data for the designated patrol inspection item, out of the data base, and transferring the discrimination information and the past patrol inspection result data to the portable terminal equipment (2). The portable terminal equipment (2) includes a data memory (23) for storing the collected patrol inspection result data, and a display device (26) for sequentially displaying the discrimination information of patrol inspection items and the past patrol inspection result data sent from the processor in the order following the patrol inspection route.

In a thermal power plant, for example, a computer is used for operating and monitoring the plant. Various process status values at various plant facilities are converted into electrical signals such as analog signals, digital signals, and pulse signals, and supplied to the computer.
There are other process status values necessary for the management of facilities of the thermal power plant, although they are not supplied to the computer.
The latter process status values are monitored by a maintenance engineer while making a patrol for inspecting the facilities. The inspection results are recorded on an inspection report for the management of facilities. For the purpose of such management, a regular inspection and a patrol inspection of plant facilities is also carried out.
Such conventional inspection jobs are mainly carried out manually, resulting in a very long job time.
Although inspection routes are predetermined so as to prevent the inspection of any one of plant facilities from being missed, a maintenance engineer is required to memorize all inspection routes. Usually a maintenance engineer holds in his hand an inspection sheet on which inspection routes are written so that every facility is inspected while referring to the sheet. This imposes some burden on the maintenance engineer.
A patrol inspection job for such a power plant includes: patrol inspection jobs generally regularly executed; precise inspection jobs for inspecting the plant status more precisely; and patrol inspection jobs regularly executed for recording the status of apparatuses installed for the maintenance and management of a plant. There are other inspection jobs executed irregularly in accordance with the state of a plant, such as inspection jobs executed at the start of operating a plant, and inspection jobs executed upon occurrence of an abnormal state of a plant. The number of patrol inspection courses for both types of patrol inspection jobs becomes extremely large. Furthermore, since inspection items for irregular patrol inspection jobs are determined on the basis of the object of each job, there are various combinations of inspection items. Therefore, preparing patrol inspection courses for such a variety of inspection jobs and items results in a great amount of job, time and labor.
While an inspection job is actually executed at each field after setting the inspection courses, a maintenance engineer cannot be informed of a standard value for judging if a plant status quantity for an inspection item is normal or not, or of a value obtained at the previous inspection. Therefore, it is difficult for the maintenance engineer to properly judge, for example, if the inspected plant status quantity is normal or not, or if the defect found at the previous inspection has been recovered or not.


The opening control mechanism includes a frame, a support shaft, a first pulley, a second pulley, a first elastic member and a second elastic member. A position taken by the second pulley when no force acts on the grip is referred to as a second reference position. The second pulley can be rotated in a second direction of rotation, starting from the second reference position. A processing unit performs a specified operation when the second pulley has been rotated in the second direction of rotation, starting from the second reference position, by a predetermined amount.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to straddle type vehicles and, more particularly, to a straddle type vehicle including a system for performing a specified operation in response to rotation of a grip, starting from a free position, in the direction opposite that in which the grip is rotated to accelerate the vehicle.
2. Description of the Background Art
Motorcycles, a type of straddle type vehicles, are known. Some motorcycles provide an auto-cruise mode. As used herein, auto-cruise mode means the mode in which a travel speed is automatically maintained regardless of the grip operation by the rider. Typically, the auto-cruise mode reduces operational burdens on the rider and reduces fuel consumption compared with the normal travel mode in which the rider rotates the grip to control the travel speed.
Since the travel speed is maintained at a certain level in auto-cruise mode, the auto-cruise mode must be cancelled in order to accelerate or decelerate the motorcycle. The rider can cancel the auto-cruise mode by actuating a switch provided on the handlebars, for example. The rider must actuate a switch to cancel the auto-cruise mode. Since actuating a switch is an operation different from the operations to decelerate or accelerate the motorcycle in normal mode, the rider has some difficulty cancelling the auto-cruise mode in a motorcycle with a switch used to cancel the auto-cruise mode.
A motorcycle described in JP 2010-247681 A includes an arrangement that allows the operator to cancel the auto-cruise mode with a simple operation. In the motorcycle of JP 2010-247681 A, the auto-cruise mode can be cancelled by rotating the grip, starting from the free position, in a direction that causes the motorcycle to be decelerated. As used herein, free position means the position of the grip where no force acts on the grip.
In the motorcycle of JP 2010-247681 A, rotating the grip causes the accelerator pulley to rotate together with the rotated grip. In the motorcycle of JP 2010-247681 A, rotation of the accelerator pulley is detected by a sensor to cancel the auto-cruise mode.


Provided is a reaction force isolator for an apparatus having a support installed on an installation surface and a movable body on the support, movement of the movable body generating a reaction force within the support. The reaction force isolator includes a movement sensor outputting a movement signal indicating movement of the movable body relative to the support; an actuator having a fixed portion connected to the installation surface and a movable portion connected to the support; and a control unit processing the movement signal to output an actuation signal to the actuator so that the actuator exerts a force on the support to offset the reaction force, the control unit providing an inhibit signal to disable the actuator when the movement signal indicates that the movable body is moving at a substantially constant velocity relative to the support.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an exposure apparatus and more particularly, a scanning exposure apparatus for transferring a pattern on a mask onto a photosensitive substrate during the manufacture of semiconductor devices, liquid crystal devices, or the like.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Photolithography is one of the important processes in manufacturing semiconductor devices, liquid crystal display devices, or the like. In photolithography, a pattern on a mask is transferred onto a photosensitive substrate by exposure through a projection optical system, for example. In a projection exposure apparatus used in such a photolithography process, recent demand for exposing a larger chip pattern on the mask onto the photosensitive substrate has led to development of a scanning projection exposure apparatus in which the mask and the photosensitive substrate are synchronously moved and scanned by a spatially fixed exposing radiation. In general, the exposing radiation has a slit-like or circular illumination field. The mask and the photosensitive substrate are mounted on a mask and a substrate stage, respectively, and the mask stage and substrate stage are moved in predetermined directions.
The scanning exposure operation generates undesirable reaction forces within the exposure apparatus, and as a result, various components of the exposure apparatus may be inclined or deformed. The reaction forces are normally generated during acceleration and deceleration periods of the mask and substrate movement, but not during constant motion of the mask and substrate stages. To solve this problem, a method of generating counter forces has been proposed. In this method, suitable driving signals are amplified and supplied to actuators, which exert appropriate forces to the apparatus to cancel the reaction forces. FIG. 6 plots the driving signal level versus time during scanning exposure operation. The graph shows that driving signal S1 has positive and negative peaks at an acceleration period Ap and a deceleration period Dp, respectively.
In the conventional method above, however, a driving signal S1 of small magnitude is supplied to the actuators through the amplifiers even during a constant-motion period Cp (FIG. 6). This is because the amplifiers connected to the actuators are always held in the ON-state. Thus, even when the thrust command signal (driving signal) S1 should not be generated (during a constant-speed operation), there is a possibility of generating the thrust command signal S1 due to noise in the amplifiers, or due to fluctuation in velocity during the constant-speed motion of the stages. As a result, unnecessary forces may be generated within the apparatus, in particular, in support members that supports the mask stage and the substrate stage. These forces may degrade scanning accuracy (or alignment accuracy between the mask and the substrate).


Image display apparatus and method with an LED matrix device. Each dot of the device is composed of one red LED, one blue LED and two green LEDs. When data displayed in a 16.times.16 dot matrix is displayed by reducing the data to a 8.times.8 dot matrix, 2.times.2 dots of the 16.times.16 matrix are grouped into one unit composed of 2.times.2 dots arrayed in a matrix. Four data, i.e., data obtained by extracting upper-left data from all the units, data obtained by extracting upper-right data, data obtained by extracting lower-left data, data obtained by extracting lower-right data, respectively, from all the dot units, are successively displayed on a time division basis with deviation corresponding to a half dot relative to one another. Image of smooth contour can be generated even with a small-scale LED display apparatus having a small number of dots and low resolution.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an LED display apparatus and an LED displaying method capable of displaying color pictures of high quality by using a dot-matrix type LED display device having a relatively small number of dots and low resolution.
2. Description of Related Art
With the advent of LED (Light Emission Diode) capable of emitting blue light rays with high intensity or luminance, there have been developed in recent years full-color LED display devices or apparatus of a large size which can realize high visibility even in the open air. In practical applications, the full-color LED display apparatus began to be used for displaying pictures and information not only in sports fields and recreation grounds but also for outdoor and indoor advertisements.
For facilitating understanding of the concept underlying the invention, technical background thereof will first be described. FIG. 17 of the accompanying drawings is a block diagram showing a conventional LED display apparatus 1 known heretofore. Referring to the figure, a dot-matrix type LED display device or unit 2 includes a plurality of LEDs (8.times.8=64 LEDs in the device shown in FIG. 17) arrayed in the form of a dot matrix. A display data receiver 3 receives display data (i.e., data to be displayed) a from a display signal generation source such as a personal computer or the like (not shown) under the timing determined by a synchronizing signal b. A display data storage unit 4 serves for storing the display data a received by the display data receiver 3. On the other hand, the display data a stored in the display data storage unit 4 are read out by a display data read-out unit 5. A counter 8 counts a clock signal CK which provides a source for various timing signals. A comparison unit 9 compares the display data a read out from the display data read-out unit 5 with a count value outputted from the counter 8. A light emission driver control unit 10 outputs signals for controlling light emission driver circuits 11, 12 and 13 on the basis of an output signal of the comparison unit 9, wherein the light emission driver circuits 11, 12 and 13 drive relevant LEDs of the dot-matrix type LED display device 2, which will be described in more detail later on.
Next, description will be directed to the operations of the LED display apparatus 1 implemented in the structure described above. The display data a supplied from the display signal generation source are received by the display data receiver 3 under the timing given by the synchronizing signal b. The display data a as received are temporarily stored in the display data storage unit 4. The display data a stored in the display data storage unit 4 are read out by the display data read-out unit 5 under the timing of a timing signal t generated on the basis of the synchronizing signal b and supplied to the comparison unit 9 to be set therein.
On the other hand, the counter 8 starts to count the clock signal CK. The count value of the clock signal CK is compared with the display data a set at the comparison unit 9. In this conjunction, assume, only by way of example, that the number of the display data a set at the comparison unit 9 is "128". In that case, so long as the count value is smaller than "128" inclusive, the comparison unit 9 outputs a light emission enable signal (e.g. H-level signal) for enabling light emission of the LED. On the contrary, when the count value exceeds "128", the comparison unit 9 outputs a light emission inhibit signal (e.g. L-level signal) for disabling or inhibiting the light emission of the LED. In response to the output signal from the comparison unit 9, the light emission driver control unit 10 outputs a signal for controlling the light emission driver circuits 11, 12 and 13 for the relevant LEDs of the dot-matrix type LED display device 2.
In this manner, in the conventional LED display apparatus, the time for light emission of each of the LEDs is controlled on the basis of the display data a, which in turn means that display with gradation corresponding to the display data a can be realized. Thus, the LED display apparatus can generate not only character images but also motion picture images including various natural pictures. At this juncture, it should be mentioned that there are provided usually a plurality of comparison units 9 in correspondence to various LED blocks, although only one comparison unit 9 is shown. The same holds true in the following description as well.
However, when the conventional LED display apparatus is operated by using the personal computer as the display signal generation source for displaying on the dot-matrix type LED display device 2 the same contents as those displayed on the monitor of the personal computer, there arises a problem that difficulty is encountered in implementing such LED display apparatus at low cost, because an extremely large number of LEDs (e.g. 640.times.480 for each of red, blue and green displays in the case of color display) is required in order to meet the VGA (video graphics array) specifications for the personal computer.
This problem will be elucidated more concretely by taking as an example the display of character data by the conventional LED display apparatus. FIG. 18A of the accompanying drawings illustrates, only by way of example, display of an upper case alphabetic character "A" on the dot-matrix type LED display device 2 including an array of 16.times.16 dots. The display data a inputted from the display signal generation source such as the personal computer is composed of 16.times.16 dots on a frame-by-frame basis as illustrated in FIG. 18A, wherein each dot is represented by one red LED (R) (red light emission diode), one blue LED (B) and two green LEDs (G). In FIG. 18A, the dots designated by R, G and B each in a circle indicate that the corresponding LEDs are lit while the dots which are not labeled with R, G and B are not lit.
By contrast, FIG. 18B is a view for illustrating a corresponding image generated for the 16.times.16 display data inputted to the display data receiver 3 by processing the data such that 4 (2.times.2) dots are converted into one unit, whereon the four dot data contained in each of the units are averaged so as to constitute or represent one dot. The image shown in FIG. 18B is generated on the basis of the averaged data by selectively driving the relevant LEDs of the 8.times.8 dot-matrix type LED display device 2. From the comparison of the image shown in FIG. 18B with that of FIG. 18A, it can be seen that the image generated on the basis of the averaged display data shown in FIG. 18B is accompanied with rougher contours and thus remarkably degraded in respect to the resolution when compared with the image shown in FIG. 18A.
In the LED display apparatuses developed in recent years, it is demanded that color display of high quality or high definition should be able to be generated even with a dot-matrix type LED display unit composed of a small number of dots and exhibiting low resolution.

LED display apparatus and LED displaying method

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.


A method for providing in use estimation of dot gain in digital printing using digital printing plates, the method comprising: applying to a digital printing plate a calibration strip, the strip comprising at least one set of patches, each patch comprising a plurality of dots at a predetermined gray level within said dynamic range, gray levels of said set of patches being distributed over said dynamic range, printing from said calibration strip under a current set of printing conditions, measuring intensities of said printing, and interpolating from said measurements to generate a curve of dot gain over said dynamic range. The curve can then be used to compensate. When moving to a different set of printing conditions, a single test print is then carried out and a new dot gain estimation is available.

The present invention relates to a dot gain calibration method and apparatus and, more particularly, but not exclusively to dot gain calibration for use with a pre-press system, press or proofing printer.
Dot gain on a printed sheet is an increase in halftone dot size in comparison with dot size on the printing plate. The magnitude of the dot gain depends on factors such as the ink absorption characteristics of the paper, the ink, the screening parameters and the press variables.
The total measured dot gain on the paper is a combination of two separate and unrelated gain factors; plate-related dot gain and press-related dot gain factors. The two gains may be dealt with in any calibrating process to compensate for the dot gain, and may be considered either separately or jointly. Plate related dot gain typically results from chemistry or from the plate exposure process. Press related dot gain, on the other hand, may result from factors such as paper type, screen frequency/geometry, solid ink density/ink characteristics, or press machine attributes such as plate to blanket pressure or blanket characteristics. The data on the plate is considered as constant, while press factors as well as paper alkali/acidity may change over time.
Plate related dot gain is conventionally corrected separately from the press related factors by using correction curves, also called ex-curves (i.e. expose curves). Press-related dot gain can subsequently be compensated for by a process known as tone reproduction.
Tone reproduction is a process in which tonal range is manipulated in order to yield aesthetically pleasing results on printed sheets. Target values are applied for each set of printing parameters and then compensation is made for differences between the actual, that is measured (without compensation), values and the target values (that produce the most pleasing result).
Current tone reproduction processes generally provide reasonable compensation for press-related dot gain, provided that conditions remain stable between compensation and print run
The current workflow for building a calibrated tone reproduction curve comprises:
Using a prepress system and a CTP (Computer to Plate) or CTF (Computer to Film) machine to create dedicated four plates, one for each color, with test patterns for measurement of the dot gain for different file values for each of the four colors;
2. Loading the plates onto a press and performing a trial print run;
3 Measuring dot percentage values on the printed sheet;
4. Comparing the measured values to a set of predefined required (target) values;
5. Creating a tone reproduction curve to compensate for the differences between the required and measured values; and
6. Producing plates with the job to be printed, using the tone reproduction curve to modify the digital data.
The above cycle is very expensive and time consuming and the curve is only valid as long as conditions remain exactly the same. If a new paper stock is used, or a slightly different ink formula is placed in the machine, or different screen parameters are used (that is parameters for setting dot patterns to give the color picture) then the entire tone reproduction process has to be repeated. In order to avoid the need for carrying out such calibration, printers often try not to use new paper stock or less predicable kinds of paper such as recycled paper stock. Printers also try to avoid changing to higher quality screen sets, thus saving valuable press and make-ready time by working with familiar dot gains.
Another common technique used in press sites due to the high cost of the current calibration cycle is on-press compensation. Use of non-optimized tone reproduction curves for existing printing conditions and manual compensation of dot gain, performed on press by means of ink keys setup are common. This is a difficult and time consuming task, that becomes even more difficult and almost impossible as use of high screen ruling and FM screening gains popularity.
Even when a dot gain measurement cycle has been performed for a given paper and screen set, the validity of the tone reproduction curve is limited to a time frame, as paper and press characteristics often change over time. Likewise, other factors tend to make themselves felt such as routine replacement of the blankets on the press.
Furthermore, conventional calibration methods are manual, and therefore prone to operator mistakes. There is no closed-loop process of feed back from press to CTP (Computer to Plate) or CTF (Computer to Film) devices and therefore the accurate reproduction of color cannot be fully automated.
Other processes hindered by the complex setup workflow include remote plate-making, where the same digital data serves for manufacturing plates in different press locations and for different presses and different paper stocks. It is quite common that a print job is defined in one location and the data is then sent to a second remote location where the plate is made up and the print run is carried out. It is also quite possible for the same print job to be carried out with remotely created plates at several locations at the same time. Currently, it is difficult to make sure that the different locations accurately print the same color.
Remote preparation is very common in Gravure processes, which use copper cylinders to transfer ink to the paper.There is only a limited number of sites in the world which have the capability to make such cylinders. This requires, therefore, knowledge of printing conditions in remote sites.
A further kind of printing that is not suited to the above process is printing using direct imaging presses. Direct imaging presses use direct-imaging waterless printing plates with sets of ink for which the existing dot-gain calibrations are unsuited.
In the past, screen rulings of 153–200 lines per inch (LPI) have been used. Today, the trend is for greater densities, in the realm of 250+LPI, with dots having circumferences in the range of tens of microns. As will be appreciated, the same percentage dot gain has a greater visual effect the more densely packed are the dots, and thus effective control of dot gain is rendered more and more important.
With larger screen cells and lower screen rulings it was always possible to manipulate the press directly by operating the ink keys. However, with current trends this becomes more difficult.
It is noted that screening techniques can be divided into two. In conventional screening, known as AM, dot distribution is fixed and tones are decided by dot size, or absence of the dot altogether. The alternative is FM screening, in which the dot size is fixed, and the positioning of the dots at greater or lesser frequency is altered. Due to the non-linearity of the visual effect with dot packing, good dot gain control is especially important for FM screening
Good control of dot gain is especially important for the commercial packaging market. Companies often rely on consumers recognizing the colors on their packaging and do not wish different batches to have different colors. Aside from the consumer issue, exact colors on packaging act as a barrier to product piracy and forgery in general, since it requires expertise and investment on the part of the forger to match colors exactly.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,748,330 to Wang, discloses a technique for calibrating the hardware and software of a digital printing apparatus, which relies on making seven component test patches which completely characterize the printing system. The technique is specific to a grid-based screening technique described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,469,267, which allows use of a function based on the Yule-Neilsen equation and is hence not of general applicability.
There is a need for a robust, automatic and generally applicable tone reproduction measurement and calibration process to overcome the disadvantages of the existing processes.

Dot gain calibration method and apparatus


An electric vacuum cleaner which has a plurality of indicating lamps L.sub.1 -L.sub.6 for being lighted in steps to indicate the power levels of the motor which has simple construction at connecting parts of the pipes, and which,. comprises a plurality of indicating lamps which are provided on the nozzle part to indicate the power levels of the motor in steps; a power-source providing leads which extends from the body to the nozzle part; a control circuit which controls the power of the motor; a light-emitting element which emits optical signals based on the power signal generated by the control circuit; an optical-signal passage which is provided through the extension pipe in order that the optical-signals travel straight; a light-detecting element which receives the optical signals travelled from the light-emitting element; and driving circuitry for driving a plurality of the indicating lamps based on the signals received at the light-detecting element, PA1 is constructed in such a way that the power levels of the motor are converted into the optical signal at the light-emitting element (30) and then transmitted to the light-detecting element (40) through the light-signal passage (50), therefore electric pins for transmitting the output signals, which were conventionally required at the connecting part of the pipes, are now completely unnecessary.

A vacuum cleaner of the kind mentioned in the opening paragraph is known from DE 29 23 588 A1. The known vacuum cleaner comprises a number of indicating lamps which are provided on its body. In this known vacuum cleaner, the power of the motor is controlled by a control circuit and the power levels of the motor thus controlled are indicated by the number of illuminated indicating lamps.
When the user actually uses the vacuum cleaner, he naturally looks at the floor surface to be cleaned. In other words, he looks around the nozzle on the floor which is located in front of him. However, if the indicating lamps are mounted on the body, the user must look back at every time when he wants to check the power levels of the motor, because the body is located behind him during cleaning.


Automatically classifying product description information includes selecting a first word from the information and determining whether the word is defined as a prefix within one or more keywords, each keyword being associated with one of a plurality of classes, each class being associated with one or more keywords. If the word is defined as a prefix, then for each keyword for which the word is defined as a prefix, determine whether all suffixes of the prefix within the keyword are found among all remaining words in the information in sequence. For each keyword for which this is true, generate a new result for each class associated with the keyword. Then select a first new result; compare the new result with one or more previous results each corresponding to a class; if a suffix count for the new result is greater than a suffix count for a previous result, mark the new result as unambiguous, the new result being thereafter considered a previous result; and if one or more new results generated for the first word remain unselected, select a next new result and repeat until no new results remain unselected. If one or more words in the information remain unselected after processing the first word, select a next word and repeat until no words remain unselected. If a single previous result is marked as unambiguous after all words in the information have been selected and processed, then classify the information in the class corresponding to the previous result marked as unambiguous.

Due to the ever-increasing popularity and accessibility of the Internet as a communication medium, the number of business transactions conducted using the Internet is also increasing, as are the numbers of buyers and sellers participating in electronic marketplaces that provide a forum for these transactions. The majority of electronic commerce ("e-commerce") transactions occur when a buyer determines a need for a product, identifies a seller such as a supplier that provides the product, and accesses the supplier's web site to arrange a purchase of the product. If the buyer does not have a preferred supplier or is purchasing the product for the first time, the buyer will often perform a search for a number of suppliers that offer the product and then access numerous supplier web sites to determine which supplier offers certain desired product features at the best price and under the best terms for the buyer. The matching phase of e-commerce transactions (matching the buyer with a particular supplier) is often inefficient because of the large amount of searching involved in finding a product and because once a particular product is found, the various offerings of that product by different suppliers may not be easily compared.
In general, computer-implemented automatic classification involves using one or more software components to classify product-related content (e.g., product description information) received from buyers or sellers into appropriate product classification schema. A schema can include a set of product classes (which can be referred to as a "taxonomy") organized in a hierarchy, with each class being associated with a set of product features, characteristics, or other product attributes (which can be referred to as a "product ontology"). For example, writing pens can have different kinds of tips (e.g., ball point or felt tip), different tip sizes (e.g., fine, medium or broad), and different ink colors (e.g., blue, black, or red). Accordingly, a schema can include a class corresponding to pens, which has a product ontology including tip type, tip size, ink color, or other appropriate attributes. Within a class, products may be defined by product attribute values (e.g., ball point, medium tip, blue ink). Product attribute values can include numbers, letters, figures, characters, symbols, or other suitable information for describing a product.
Previous techniques for automatically classifying product-related content into schema have used pattern matching methods involving keyword comparisons. The performance of previous techniques has typically been adequate for most needs. However, given the ever-increasing number of e-commerce transactions being conducted, and the ever-increasing number of product searches being performed, the performance of previous techniques is increasingly insufficient for certain needs.

Computer-implemented automatic classification of product description information


Use of a filled polymer resin in the manufacture of an article therefrom by injection moulding, a method of manufacturing an article by injection moulding a filled polymer resin, a method for enabling or improving the injection mouldability of a polymer resin comprising recycled polymer, wherein the polymer resin comprises recycled polymer and functional filler, the use of a functional filler in a polymer resin comprising recycled polymer to improve the injection mouldability of the polymer resin, an article of manufacture obtained by injection moulding a filled polymer resin, and a filled polymer resin.

There is an ever increasing demand to recycle and re-use polymer materials since this provides cost and environmental benefits. However, the reprocessing of recycled polymer waste presents challenges which are not necessarily encountered during processing of polymer compositions derived from virgin polymer. For example, recycled polymers may be unsuitable for injecting moulding.
As the need to recycle polymer waste materials increases, there is a continuing need for the development of new compositions for the economically viable processing of polymer waste materials into high quality articles of manufacture.


A remotely controlled toy vehicle appears to drift when turning, appearing to slide into the turn, by having a rear driving platform that swivels under a main body of a chassis. In addition to making the chassis appear to slide, the rear driving platform induces a tilt of the chassis into the turn, simulating a car suspension shifting toward the slide. Dummy rear wheels attached to pivoting trailing arms assist in obscuring the rear driving platform and make the toy vehicle appear more realistic. Castoring front wheels further enhance the drifting effect.

Remotely controlled (RC) toy vehicles are a perennial favorite among children and adults. Those that are capable of performing trick maneuvers are particularly desired. One such maneuver is "drifting", a term possibly borrowed from snowboarding slang wherein the snowboard slides sideways with respect to the longitudinal axis of the board. Drifting is a word that describes a car sliding through a turn; it has been around since early car races in the late 1800's. In RC toy vehicles, expert drivers attempt to simulate racing maneuvers such as power slides or drifting as a way of rounding a sharp turn quickly. Typically, causing a wheeled toy vehicle to power slide or drift is exceedingly difficult to achieve. Without momentum and reduced frictional contact to the undersurface, the wheeled toy vehicle will merely turn and not slide. Even if able to initiate a slide, the wheeled toy vehicle may tend to lose control, spinning or tumbling, rather than remaining in a drifting orientation maintaining a relatively stable sliding angle. Thus, generally known toy vehicles are not designed to drift, especially if used in a variety of surface conditions, including soil, asphalt, carpeting, hardwood flooring, etc.
Consequently, a significant need exists for a toy vehicle that is capable of drifting, appearing to slide to the side.

Drifting remotely controlled toy vehicle


A waterproof connector sealing member has a plurality of electrical wire insertion holes that extend between the two main surfaces of a flat plate-shaped sealing main body. A plurality of projecting ribs are provided on the inner wall surface of each of the electrical wire insertion holes, and the projecting ribs of respectively adjacent electrical wire insertion holes are provided in different positions with respect to each other along the axial direction of the electrical wire insertion holes. Relief grooves are formed in the sealing main body in positions adjacent to the electrical wire insertion holes in the vicinity of the outer edges of this sealing main body, with each of these relief grooves extending from one of the main surfaces that is closer to the projecting rib of the adjacent electrical wire insertion hole provided toward the outside in the axial direction.

Waterproof connectors are conventionally used, for example, for electrical connections in automobiles. The waterproof connector sealing member shown in FIGS. 12A and 12B (see Japanese Utility Model Application Kokai No. H2-119372), for example, has been used for a waterproof connector.
In the waterproof connector sealing member 101, shown in FIG. 12B, a plurality of electrical wire insertion holes 103 extend between two main surfaces of a substantially circular flat, plate-shaped sealing main body 102. A plurality of ring-shaped sealing projections 104 are provided on the inner wall surface of each of the electrical wire insertion holes 103, and the sealing projections 104 of respectively adjacent electrical wire insertion holes 103 are formed in different positions with respect to each other along the axial direction of the electrical wire insertion holes 103.
The waterproof connector sealing member 101 is attached to a sealing member receiving cavity of a waterproof connector housing (not shown in the figures), and as a result of the outer circumferential surface of the sealing main body 102 contacting and pressing against the inner circumferential surface of the sealing member receiving cavity, a seal is formed between the outer circumferential surface of the sealing main body 102 and the inner circumferential surface of the sealing member receiving cavity.
Furthermore, a plurality of contacts (not shown in the figures) to which electrical wires (not shown in the figures) are connected are inserted into the electrical wire insertion holes 103 from the side of the contact insertion surface (right side in FIG. 12B) of the waterproof connector sealing member 101, with the side of the contacts inserted first, and when the insertion of these contacts is completed, the contacts are supported by being positioned inside contact receiving cavities (not shown in the figures) in the housing that is located on the inside (left side in FIG. 12B) of the waterproof connector sealing member 101. Moreover, the electrical wires that are connected to the contacts are positioned inside the electrical wire insertion holes 103 in the waterproof connector sealing member 101. Furthermore, the sealing projections 104 press the electrical wires from the peripheries of the electrical wires; as a result, the electrical wires are sealed, and the contacts inside the contact receiving cavities are waterproofed from the outside by the sealing projections 104.
In the insertion of these contacts into the electrical wire insertion holes 103, since the sealing projections 104 of respectively adjacent electrical wire insertion holes 103 are provided in different positions with respect to each other along the axial direction of the electrical wire insertion holes 103, the pressing force by means of the sealing projections 104 is not concentrated in specific locations along the axial direction between the respectively adjacent electrical wire insertion holes 103, so that the insertion of the contacts can be accomplished relatively easily.
Furthermore, the waterproof connector sealing member shown in FIGS. 13A and 13B (see Japanese Patent Application Kokai No. S62-241277) has also been used in the past in a waterproof connector.
As is shown in FIGS. 13A and 13B, in this waterproof connector sealing member 201, a plurality of electrical wire insertion holes 203 that extend between the two main surfaces of a substantially rectangular flat plate-shaped sealing main body 202 are formed in this sealing main body 202. A plurality of projecting ribs 204 are provided around the sealing main body 202, and receiving holes 205 are formed in the peripheries of the respective electrical wire insertion holes 203 on the side of the back surface of the sealing main body 202 as shown in FIG. 13B.
This waterproof connector sealing member 201 is attached to a sealing member receiving cavity 211 in a plug housing 210. In this case, a seal is created between the outer circumferential surface of the sealing main body 202 and the inner circumferential surface of the sealing member receiving cavity 211 by the outer circumferential surface of the sealing main body 202 contacting and pressing against the inner circumferential surface of the sealing member receiving cavity 211. In this case, positioning projections 213 provided on the plug housing 210 are inserted into the receiving holes 205 formed in the sealing member 201, so that the electrical wire insertion holes 203 in the sealing member 201 are positioned in locations corresponding to contact receiving cavities 212 in the plug housing 210.
Then, a plurality of contacts 220 to which electrical wires 230 are connected are inserted into the electrical wire insertion holes 203 from the side of the contact insertion surface (left side in FIG. 13A) of the waterproof connector sealing member 201, with the side of the contacts 220 inserted first, and when the insertion of these contacts is completed, the contacts 220 are supported by being positioned inside the contact receiving cavities 212 in the plug housing 210. Furthermore, the electrical wires 230 connected to the contacts 220 are positioned inside the electrical wire insertion holes 203 in the waterproof connector sealing member 201, so that the electrical wires 230 are sealed, and the contacts inside the contact receiving cavities 212 are waterproofed from the outside. Furthermore, the contacts 220 in the plug housing 210 mate with male type contacts 242 that protrude to the interior of a mating recessed part 241 of a mating connector 240, so that these parts are connected to each other.
However, the following problems have been encountered in these conventional waterproof connector sealing members shown in FIGS. 12A and 12B, and 13A and 13B:
Specifically, in the case of the waterproof connector sealing member 101 shown in FIGS. 12A and 12B, there is no relief area for the compressed sealing member around the electrical wire insertion holes 103 (especially on the outside of the electrical wire insertion holes 103) as shown in FIG. 12A. When the electrical wires are positioned inside the electrical wire insertion holes 103 by inserting the contacts into the electrical wire insertion holes 103, the sealing projections 104 and the sealing material around the sealing projections 104 are compressed by the electrical wires in the direction of expansion to the outside. However, since there is no relief area for the compressed sealing member around the electrical wire insertion holes 103 (especially on the outside of the electrical wire insertion holes 103), if a thick wire is inserted into a specified electrical wire insertion hole 103, for example, the sealing material escapes into the electrical wire insertion holes 103 adjacent to this electrical wire insertion hole 103, so that these electrical wire insertion holes 103 are longitudinally deformed to a great extent. In such a case, if thin electrical wires are inserted into these greatly deformed electrical wire insertion holes 103, there is a danger that a gap will be created between the electrical wires and the sealing projections 104, so that the desired sealing characteristics will not be obtained.
Furthermore, in the case of the waterproof connector sealing member 201 shown in FIGS. 13A and 13B, although the receiving holes 205 into which the positioning projections 213 of the plug housing 210 are inserted are formed around the electrical wire insertion holes 203, the receiving holes 205 are not formed around all of the electrical wire insertion holes 203 as shown in FIG. 13B. Regions where no receiving hole 205 is formed are present especially in the vicinity of the outer edges. Accordingly, there is a risk that the electrical wire insertion holes 203 in the vicinity of the regions where no receiving hole 205 is formed will be positionally shifted with respect to the contact receiving cavities 212. If a thick electrical wire is inserted into one of these positionally shifted electrical wire insertion holes 203, the sealing material escapes into the electrical wire insertion holes 203 that are adjacent to this electrical wire insertion hole 203, so that these electrical wire insertion holes 203 are longitudinally deformed to a great extent. In such a case, if thin electrical wires are inserted into these greatly deformed electrical wire insertion holes 203, there is a danger that a gap will be created between the electrical wires and the sealing projections inside the electrical wire insertion holes, so that the desired sealing characteristics will not be obtained.

Waterproof connector sealing member and waterproof connector


An improved motion generating mechanism for use in a music box to drive decoration articles associated therewith is disclosed. A crank arm eccentrically attached to the outer side of the driving wheel associated with the playing roller of a music box is circularly moved in synchronism with the driving wheel. At each end of the crank arm is disposed an engagement protrusion respectively. A securing seat is fixed to the mounting plate of the music box and to the base plate of the outer case with a supporting base pivotally associated therewith respectively; each supporting base is provided with a swing arm having an elongated guide groove disposed thereon; in each groove is slidably located the engagement protrusion so that the supporting bases are able to be pivotally moved in synchronism with the crank arm. To each supporting base is secured a mounting pole onto which a decoration article is mounted. Each mounting pole is led through an elongated slot disposed on the top of an upper lid. An additional cam board is mounted to the crank arm with an abutment disc in urging contact therewith and an actuation pole attached to the abutment disc with a decoration article attached thereto is able to be actuated synchronically up and down.

The present invention relates to an improved motion generating mechanism for a music box which is comprised of a driving wheel associated with the playing roller of the music box; and a crank arm having a cam board mounted thereto and eccentrically secured to the driving wheel is provided with an engagement protrusion at each end thereof. A supporting base having a swing arm which is provided with an elongated guide groove is pivotally fixed to a securing seat mounted to the mounting plate of the music box and to the base plate of an outer case respectively. Each engagement protrusion of the crank arm is slidably engaged with the guide groove of each swing arm so that the rotation of the driving wheel will cause the crank arm to accordingly move, making the supporting bases to be pivotally operated in synchronism. To each supporting base is attached a mounting pole on which is disposed a decoration article whereby the motion of the crank arm can make the decoration articles to act in a fascinating manner. The cam board is in abutment against an abutment disc on which is disposed an actuation pole so as to make an decoration article attached thereto to move also in synchronism with the other decoration articles moved with the music played by the music box, making the motion of the decoration articles more interesting.
Referring to FIG. 1, a conventional music box having a mounting plate 11 is disposed on a base plate 10 of an outer case. A mounting pole 21 led through the upper lid 20 of the outer case is provided with a follower base 22 at the bottom end thereof. A spring tightening unit 12 mounted to the mounting plate of the music box is able to drive a playing roller 13 to move when tightened. There are a plurality of protrusion points disposed on the playing roller 13 which can actuate a plurality of music producing strips 14 having a different length to generate music.
As further shown in FIG. 2, a connection rod 15 having a driving wheel 16 eccentrically disposed at each end thereof that can make the follower base 22 disposed at the bottom end of the mounting pole 21 to be actuated up and down and circularly in synchronism with the played music so as to make the decoration articles dancingly moved in an interesting manner.
However, the simple structure of the prior art driving mechanism can only produce simple motion without too much variation, so it becomes less competitive in a fast changing consumer market.
To overcome the above cited problem, the present inventor has worked out an improved motion generating mechanism which can produce complex motions in synchronism with a played music.

Motion generating mechanism for a music box

7th Floor, No. 9, Lane 100, Her Chiang Street

5 Fl., 7-1, Alley 56, Lane 166, Shih Pai Road Sec. 1


The invention relates to a method for protecting the redistribution layer on wafers/chips, which preferably comprises a structure constructed from a seed layer, a layer of copper situated on the seed layer, a nickel layer arranged thereon, and a gold layer covering the latter. The wafer (4) provided with the redistribution layer (1) is covered on its entire surface with an organic protective layer (12), e.g., made of BTA (benzotriazole), Glicoat or Preventol®, which protects the redistribution layer (1) from corrosion and oxidation in that it produces a dense covering of the metal surface of the redistribution layer (1) through chemical bonding.

The production of a redistribution layer, which realizes an electrical connection between active structures and an associated bonding pad on a wafer or a 3D structure in the form of a compliant element, is relatively complicated and requires a plurality of photolithographic process steps. Thus, the wafer first has to be coated with a photoresist, which subsequently has to be exposed and developed. This is followed by coating with a metal layer, after which the photoresist is stripped. These process steps have to be repeated until the desired layer sequence is achieved. These process steps are represented in principle in a scheme below.
Thus, in a method employed in practice at the present time, the necessary patterning of the gold layer is realized by means of a customary lithographic process. The redistribution layer is produced in this case in that, after the deposition of a seed layer and Cu/Ni layer situated thereon of the redistribution layer, the gold is deposited on the entire redistribution layer. The actual electrical conductor is in this case the Cu layer having the lowest electrical resistance.
This method can be represented in summary as follows:                a) Deposition of the seed layer        b) EPR1 (epoxy photoresist 1): Coating and patterning (lithography step 1)        c) Reroute plating, production of the Cu/Ni layer sequence on the seed layer        d) Coating of the reroute trace with Au        e) EPR2 (epoxy photoresist 2): Coating and patterning (lithography step 2)        f) (as required) selective etching of the Au layer (wet etching, CMP, or removal/stripping).
In this case, the Ni layer serves as an adhesion layer for the Cu layer and the latter in turn serves as an adhesion layer for the Au covering layer. Since the Au layer itself cannot oxidize, it serves, on the one hand, as a secure adhesion layer for a solder material, in order for example to connect a 3D structure to a connection pad of a printed circuit board, which is usually composed of Cu, and, on the other hand, as a protective layer for the Cu layer situated underneath. In other words, the Cu layer is largely protected from corrosion by the Au layer.
A particular disadvantage in the case where the redistribution layer is constructed with such a structure is the fact that the side edges of the redistribution layer are not protected at all against corrosion and oxidation. This means that the possibly laterally penetrating corrosion or advancing oxidation may ultimately lead locally to a destruction of the redistribution layer, thereby limiting the service life of the electronic component provided with such a redistribution layer.
During front-end IC production, the Cu metallization is protected from oxidation during CMP (chemical mechanical polishing) by BTA (benzotriazole), and afterward by a liner (TiN) and an oxide.
In the production of printed circuit boards (PCBs), the industry uses BTA or another organic layer in order to provide the printed circuit board with protection from oxidation prior to soldering. Furthermore, the conductive tracks on a printed circuit board are comparatively thick and wide, with the result that corrosion problems are not especially significant in this case.
The situation is different, however, in the case of redistribution layers on wafers or chips. In this case, the problem has hitherto been solved by encapsulating the redistribution layers through galvanic or electrical coating. However, this requires an additional lithography step, which increases the process complexity and costs.
Another possibility for protecting the Cu layer consists in using the soldering process in order to enclose the Cu layer by means of a UBM (under bump metallization). In this case, the redistribution layer is completely encapsulated, although this is not suitable for long conductive tracks and, moreover, would lead to a significant increase in costs.

Method for protecting the redistribution layer on wafers/chips


A hydrocarbon well includes a wellbore with a surface casing string that couples the wellbore to a wellhead located at the surface and a production casing string that extends through a reservoir within the subsurface. A fluid column is present within the wellbore. The hydrocarbon well also includes a high-frequency tube wave generator that is hydraulically coupled to the wellbore and is configured to generate high-frequency tube waves that propagate within the fluid column. The high-frequency tube waves include a selected waveform containing a specific bandwidth of high-frequency components. The hydrocarbon well further includes a receiver that is hydraulically coupled to the wellbore and is configured to record data corresponding to the generated and reflected high-frequency tube waves propagating within the fluid column, wherein the recorded data relate to characteristics of the wellbore. Moreover, such techniques may also be applied to a pipeline.

This section is intended to introduce various aspects of the art, which may be associated with embodiments of the present techniques. This discussion is believed to assist in providing a framework to facilitate a better understanding of particular aspects of the present techniques. Accordingly, it should be understood that this section should be read in this light, and not necessarily as admissions of prior art.
In the drilling of hydrocarbon wells, a wellbore is formed within a formation using a drill bit that is urged downwardly at the lower end of a drill string until it reaches a predetermined bottomhole location. The drill string and bit are then removed, and the wellbore is lined with steel tubulars, referred to as casing strings. An annulus is thus formed between the casing strings and the surrounding subsurface formation. A cementing operation is typically conducted to fill the annulus with columns of cement. The combination of the casing strings and the cement strengthens the wellbore and facilitates the zonal isolation of the surrounding subsurface formation.
It is common to place several casing strings having progressively-smaller outer diameters into the wellbore. The first casing string may be referred to as the "surface casing sting." The surface casing string serves to isolate and protect the shallower, freshwater-bearing aquifers from contamination by any other wellbore fluids. Accordingly, this casing string is almost always cemented entirely back to the surface.
A process of drilling and then cementing progressively-smaller casing strings is repeated several times below the surface casing string until the hydrocarbon well has reached total depth. The final casing string, referred to as the "production casing string," extends through a hydrocarbon-bearing interval within the formation, referred to as a "reservoir." In some instances, the production casing string is a liner, that is, a casing string that is not tied back to the surface. The production casing string is also typically cemented into place. In some completions, the production casing string has swell packers or external casing packers spaced across selected productive intervals. This creates compartments between the packers for isolation of stages and specific stimulation treatments. In this instance, the annulus may simply be packed with subsurface formation sand.
As part of the completion process, the production casing string is perforated at a desired level. This means that lateral holes are shot through the production casing string and the cement column surrounding the production casing string using a perforating gun. In operation, the perforating gun typically forms one perforation cluster by shooting 12 to 18 perforations at one time, over a 1 to 3 foot region, with each perforation being approximately 0.3 to 0.5 inches in diameter. The perforating gun is then typically moved uphole 10 to 100 feet, and a second perforating gun is used to form a second perforation cluster. This process of forming perforation clusters is repeated another 1 to 18 times to create a total of 3 to 20 perforation clusters within each stage of the hydrocarbon well. The resulting clusters of perforations allow hydrocarbon fluids from the surrounding reservoir to flow into the hydrocarbon well.
After the perforation process is complete, the reservoir is typically fractured at the corresponding stage to increase the reservoir's productivity. Hydraulic fracturing consists of injecting a pad of fracturing fluid, such as slickwater, into a reservoir at such high pressures and rates that the reservoir rock cracks and forms a cluster of fractures. In operation, the injection pressure of the fracturing fluid exceeds the hydraulic pressure in the subsurface, and often even exceeds the lithostatic pressure in the formation.
Hydraulic fracturing is used most extensively for increasing the productivity of "unconventional," or "tight," reservoirs, which are reservoirs with very low permeability that typically do not produce economically without hydraulic fracturing. Examples of unconventional reservoirs include tight sandstone reservoirs, tight carbonate reservoirs, shale gas reservoirs, coal bed methane reservoirs, tight oil reservoirs, and/or tight limestone reservoirs. During the hydraulic fracturing of such reservoirs, the injection rate of the fracturing fluid is typically increased until it reaches a maximum injection rate of around 20-150 barrels per minute (bbl/min). In operation, approximately 5,000 to 15,000 barrels of fracturing fluid may be injected for each stage of the hydrocarbon well.
Next, a pad of fracturing fluid mixed with a proppant material, such as sand, crushed granite, ceramic beads, or other granular materials, is pumped into the hydrocarbon well. The volume of proppant material is usually increased as fracturing progresses, with the ultimate volume percent of the proppant material in the fracturing fluid reaching around 10 vol. %. The proppant material serves to hold the fractures open after the hydraulic pressures are released. Ideally, the resulting fractures grow to be hundreds of feet long. In the case of unconventional reservoirs, the combination of fractures and injected proppant substantially increases the flow capacity of the treated reservoir.
In order to further stimulate the reservoir and to clean the near-wellbore regions downhole, an operator may choose to acidize the reservoir. This is done by injecting an acid solution down the wellbore and through the perforations. The use of an acidizing solution is particularly beneficial when the reservoir includes tight carbonate rock. In operation, the completion company injects a concentrated formic acid or other acidic composition into the wellbore and directs the fluid into selected stages of interest. The acid helps to dissolve carbonate material, thereby opening up porous channels through which hydrocarbon fluids may flow into the hydrocarbon well. In addition, the acid helps to dissolve drilling mud that may have invaded the reservoir.
Application of hydraulic fracturing and acid stimulation as described above is a routine part of petroleum industry operations as applied to individual reservoirs. Such reservoirs may represent hundreds of feet of gross, vertical thickness of subterranean formation. More recently, hydrocarbon wells are being completed through reservoirs horizontally, with the horizontal (or "lateral") sections often extending greater than 1,000 feet, in which case the hydrocarbon well may be referred to as an "extended-reach lateral well," or, in some cases, greater than 10,000 feet, in which case the hydrocarbon well may be referred to as an ultra-extended-reach lateral well.
When there are multiple-layered or very thick reservoirs to be hydraulically fractured, or where an extended-reach or ultra-extended-reach lateral well is being completed, then more complex treatment techniques are required to obtain treatment of the entire target area. Therefore, the operating company must isolate various stages to ensure that each separate stage is not only perforated, but also adequately fractured and treated. In this way, the operator is sure that fracturing fluid and stimulant are being injected through each perforation cluster and into each stage of interest to effectively increase the flow capacity at each desired depth.
Treatment of a stage of interest requires isolation from all stages that have already been treated. This, in turn, involves the use of so-called diversion methods, in which injected fracturing fluid is directed towards one selected stage of interest while being diverted from other stages. In many cases, frac plugs are set between stages and are used to prevent injected fluid from entering stages that have already been fractured and propped.
This hydraulic fracturing process is repeated for every stage in the hydrocarbon well. In the case of wells including lateral sections, the first stage is typically located near the end (or "toe") of the lateral section, and the last stage is typically located near the beginning (or "heel") of the lateral section. For extended-reach lateral wells, there will typically be around 20-50 individual stages. Moreover, some ultra-extended-reach lateral wells may include more than 100 stages.
After the hydraulic fracturing process is complete, the frac plugs (and/or other diversion materials) may be drilled out of the hydrocarbon well. The hydrocarbon well may then be put into production, meaning that it may be used to recover hydrocarbon fluids from the reservoir. In operation, the pressure differential between the reservoir and the hydrocarbon well is typically used to force hydrocarbon fluids to flow through the fractures in the reservoir and into the production casing string via the corresponding perforation clusters. The hydrocarbon fluids then flow up the hydrocarbon well to the surface.
In operation, the success of the hydraulic fracturing process has a direct impact on the amount of hydrocarbon fluids that may be recovered from the reservoir. Specifically, the numbers, sizes, and locations of the fractures corresponding to the perforation clusters within each stage of the hydrocarbon well directly impact the amount of hydrocarbon fluids that are able to mobilize and flow into the hydrocarbon well. Moreover, it has been estimated that only a fraction of the stages in a multi-stage well typically contribute to the ultimate production of hydrocarbon fluids from the reservoir. Accordingly, accurate fracture characterization is essential for enabling optimized well planning and efficient stimulation. However, to date, reliable and accurate fracture characterization remains elusive.
One common fracture diagnostic technique involves generating tube waves associated with water hammer signals at the end of a hydraulic fracturing process for a particular stage. Specifically, pumps being used to inject fracturing fluid into the stage at a high flow rate of around 90 bbl/min are gradually shut down over a 10-30 second time interval. This gradual change in well pressure generates a tube wave within the wellbore. However, tube waves generated in this manner are limited in bandwidth, with typical frequency ranges of only a few Hertz (Hz). Moreover, data collected from tubes waves with such limited bandwidths and low frequencies exhibit high reflectivity at impedance boundaries between fractures and the wellbore, as well as limited spatial resolution, and, thus, do not provide highly accurate information regarding the fractures within the surrounding reservoir.
Another fracture diagnostic technique is provided by U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2019/0055836 A1, entitled "Method for Fracture Activity Monitoring and Pressure Wave Resonance Analysis for Estimating Geophysical Parameters of Hydraulic Fractures Using Fracture Waves." The technique described therein involves generating a tube wave within a hydrocarbon well using a pressure source, measuring the resulting pressure signal for a certain period of time, and then determining at least one physical parameter of the hydrocarbon well using the measured pressure signal. The pressure source may be an active source, such as a water hammer or fracture treatment pump, or a continuous/passive source, such as general fluid pumping energy or microseismic events. However, such pressure sources generally produce limited-bandwidth, low-frequency pressure pulses. Thus, this technique suffers from the same shortfalls discussed above, namely, the inability to provide detailed information regarding the fractures within the reservoir.
U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2013/0079935 A1, entitled "Method of Real Time Diagnostic of Fracture Operations with Combination of Tube Waves and Microseismic Monitoring," provides another fracture diagnostic technique that involves generating tube waves in a wellbore, recording the tube wave reflections from the fractures in the wellbore, and analyzing the recorded data to determine fracture characteristics within the wellbore. However, the technique described therein explicitly relates to low-frequency tube waves and, thus, is similarly limited in terms of reflectivity and spatial resolution.
Another fracture diagnostic technique is provided by U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2019/0136684 A1, entitled "Method for Evaluating and Monitoring Formation Fracture Treatment Closure Rates and Pressures Using Fluid Pressure Waves." The fracture diagnostic technique described therein involves using an active acoustic source and a pressure gauge at the wellhead to probe subsurface fracture properties, such as the fracture conductivity. This technique utilizes pressure waves with low frequencies, i.e., below 10 Hz, and long wavelengths, i.e., around 150 meters. The use of pressure waves with such low frequencies and long wavelengths results in a low spatial resolution and, thus, an inability to differentiate fractures that are less than around 100 meters apart. As a result, this technique also fails to provide detailed information regarding the individual fractures corresponding to the perforation clusters in each stage within the reservoir.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,724,687 B1, entitled "Characterizing Oil, Gas, or Geothermal Wells, Including Fractures Thereof," provides yet another fracture diagnostic technique that involves using an excitation event within a wellbore to create a responsive signal having higher-frequency components superposed on lower-frequency components, wherein the lower-frequency components are resonant responsive to a length of the wellbore, and the higher-frequency components provide information about one or more characteristics of the fracture extending from the wellbore. This technique includes using rapidly-closing valves to create the responsive signal, and using a high-frequency-response pressure sensor to detect the responsive signal either downhole or at the surface. For this technique, it is assumed that the higher-frequency components will excite the fracture at its natural, or resonant, frequency, and can be detected on top of the lower-frequency components to characterize the fracture properties. This assumption provides a method to characterize one fracture or cluster with a limited size, and the provided example uses one equivalent fracture or cluster, not separated fractures. This technique cannot be used to detect a long fracture because no resonant signal would be generated within a long fracture due to the strong pressure wave attention inside the fracture. Moreover, this technique does not allow fractures to be differentiated from other structures, such as casing joints and fracture entrances from the wellbore, that may form acoustic resonators and generate high-frequency resonance in the wellbore.
Other existing fracture diagnostic techniques, such as microseismic event detection, distributed temperature and acoustic sensing, time-lapsed resistivity mapping, and the use of tagged proppants, rely on indirect measurements whose interpretation is subject to uncertainties. Moreover, the high cost of such techniques often precludes their routine application. Therefore, there exists a need for accurate, reliable, and cost-effective fracture diagnostic techniques, particularly for detecting multiple fractures per stage in multi-stage, unconventional wells.

Assessing wellbore characteristics using high frequency tube waves


A fuel cell system comprises a controller configured to determine whether a condition relating to a stop pattern of the fuel cell system satisfies a predetermined condition, and an output unit configured to output a warning when it is determined that the condition relating to the stop pattern satisfies the predetermined condition.

An equipment management system that manages various types of information regarding a plurality of pieces of equipment is known. Examples of the various types of information include basic information and maintenance information regarding the equipment. The basic information includes, for example, an installation date, a prescribed useful life, and a rated power consumption. The maintenance information includes past maintenance record (e.g., Patent Literature 1).

Fuel cell system, equipment management method, management apparatus, and equipment management system


In a magneto-optical recording medium including a reading-out layer, which is in an in-plane magnetization state at a room temperature and in a perpendicular magnetization state when the temperature rises, and a recording layer, which is in a perpendicular magnetization state at a room temperature to a Curie point, an intermediate layer having in-plane magnetization component and a lower Curie point than the recording medium is formed between the reading-out layer and the recording layer so as to abruptly change magnetization state of the reading-out layer. Since magnetization state of the reading-out layer is abruptly changed, recording is carried out highdensely. Moreover, since exchange-coupling between the reading-out layer and the recording layer is controlled, a recording characteristic is improved.

As an optical disk memory to which rewriting is capable, a magneto-optical disk memory is put to practical use, but a conventional magneto-optical disk memory has a disadvantage that when a diameter and an interval of a recording bit becomes smaller than a diameter of a converged semiconductor laser beam, a reproducing characteristic is deteriorated. This is because since an adjoining recording bit enters the converged laser beam, recording bits cannot be separately reproduced. In order to solve such a problem, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication 5-81717/1993 (Tokukaihei 5-81717) discloses a method of separately reproducing recording bits by using a magneto-optical recording medium with a two-layer construction having (1) a reading-out layer, which is an in-plane magnetization film at a room temperature and becomes a vertical magnetization film as temperature rises, and (2) a recording layer which is a vertical magnetization film even if the recording bits are smaller than a diameter of a laser beam.
In Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication 5-81717/1993 (Tokukaihei 5-81717), even if a recording bit is smaller than a diameter of a laser beam, the recording bits can be separately reproduced, but as a recording medium, it is desired that density is further heightened and a recording characteristic is improved.


Machine learning adversarial campaign mitigation on a computing device. The method may include deploying an original machine learning model in a model environment associated with a client device; deploying a classification monitor in the model environment to monitor classification decision outputs in the machine learning model; detecting, by the classification monitor, a campaign of adversarial classification decision outputs in the machine learning model; applying a transformation function to the machine learning model in the model environment to transform the adversarial classification decision outputs to thwart the campaign of adversarial classification decision outputs; determining a malicious attack on the client device based in part on detecting the campaign of adversarial classification decision outputs; and implementing a security action to protect the computing device against the malicious attack.

Machine learning models ("models") are increasingly used to make probabilistic determinations, and models are becoming increasingly common in automation technologies and in cybersecurity. These models, however, are vulnerable to multiple types of malicious attacks, including adversarial inputs which may lead to otherwise absurd seeming errors. The misclassification of outputs that result from adversarial inputs can result in significant problems for the model's applicability. Practical and low-cost adversarial mitigation is therefore needed.
The subject matter claimed herein is not limited to embodiments that solve any disadvantages or that operate only in environments such as those described above; rather, this background is only provided to illustrate one example technology area where some embodiments described herein may be practiced.


A system for monitoring a user includes a transmitter positioned in a first location, a sensor system, first and second monitoring devices, a controller and an application. The sensor system collects data including sound and image data of the user, the user's vital data, and ambient condition data and transmits the collected data wirelessly to the transmitter. The first and second monitoring devices communicate wirelessly with the transmitter and are worn by first and second caregivers of the user, respectively, that are located in a second location that is different from the first location. The controller is located in the second location and communicates wirelessly with the first and second monitoring devices and the transmitter. The transmitter transmits wirelessly live data feeds to the first and second monitoring devices and to the controller and the live data feeds include the sound and image data of the user and the user's vital data. The application includes an analyzer that analyzes the live data feeds and determines whether any of the collected data has a value above a predetermined threshold or out of a predetermined range and sends an alarm notification to at least one of the first and second monitoring devices in cases when at least one of the collected data has a value above a predetermined threshold or out of a predetermined range.

Parents and other caregivers often use a remote baby monitoring system for monitoring a baby, usually when it sleeps. The baby monitoring system usually includes sound and video recording devices for picking up sounds and images of the sleeping baby. The system also includes a loudspeaker providing an alarm to alert the parents when the baby cries, moves or wakes up. However, at night often both of the sleeping parents of the baby are woken up by the alarm, and thus they can not sleep well.
Accordingly, there is a need for a baby monitoring system that can send an alarm to alert only one of the parents so that other parent can continue to sleep.