A coated cutting tool comprising a substrate and a coating layer formed on a surface of the substrate, wherein: the coating layer comprises a lower layer including at least one Ti compound layer containing a specific Ti compound, an intermediate layer including an α-type Al2O3 layer containing α-type Al2O3, and an upper layer including a TiCN layer containing TiCN; the respective layers are laminated in this order from the substrate side toward a surface side of the coating layer; an average thickness of the coating layer is from 5.0 μm or more to 30.0 μm or less; and an angle formed by a normal to a cross-sectional surface which is located within a predetermined range below a surface of the intermediate layer and is parallel to the surface of the substrate and a normal to a (001) plane of a particle of an α-type Al2O3 layer, and an angle formed by a normal to a cross-sectional surface which is located within a predetermined range below a surface of the upper layer and is parallel to the surface of the substrate and a normal to a (111) plane of a particle of a TiCN layer, respectively satisfy predetermined conditions.

It has been conventionally well known to employ, for the cutting of steel, cast iron, etc., a coated cutting tool which is obtained by depositing, via chemical vapor deposition, a coating layer with a total thickness of from 3 μm or more to 20 μm or less on a surface of a substrate consisting of a cemented carbide. A known example of the above coating layer is a coating layer consisting of a single layer of one kind selected from the group consisting of a Ti carbide, a Ti nitride, a Ti carbonitride, a Ti carboxide, a Ti carboxynitride, and aluminum oxide (Al2O3), or consisting of multiple layers of two or more kinds selected therefrom.
JP2013-132717 A discloses a surface-coated cutting tool which is obtained by depositing a lower layer consisting of a titanium compound layer and an upper layer consisting of an aluminum oxide layer (Al2O3 layer), such layers together constituting a hard coating layer, on a surface of a tool substrate formed of a tungsten carbide-based cemented carbide, wherein, in the upper layer consisting of the aluminum oxide layer (Al2O3 layer), a (006) plane texture coefficient TC(006) is 1.8 or more, and a ratio I(104)/I(110) of a peak intensity I(104) of a (104) plane to a peak intensity I(110) of a (110) plane ranges from 0.5 to 2.0, and wherein an absolute value of a residual stress value in the aluminum oxide layer (Al2O3 layer) is 100 MPa or less.


A self-alignment stage for compression-forming machines, which self-aligns an upper surface of a lower mold seated on an inner frame, thus compensating for a relative pose error of the lower mold with respect to an upper mold when the material is compression-formed between the upper mold and the lower mold. The self-alignment stage for the compression-forming machines, includes an outer frame comprising a body having a space therein, a plurality of outer connectors protruding from a side surface of the body of the outer frame so as to support the body on a support base of a compression-forming machine, and the inner frame placed in the space of the outer frame such that the inner frame executes a horizontal translational motion and a rotational motion with respect to the outer frame. The self-alignment stage further includes a plurality of inner connectors to connect the inner frame to the outer frame while allowing the inner frame to execute the horizontal translational motion and the rotational motion with respect to the outer frame. The lower mold is seated on the inner frame is self-aligned by elasticity of the inner and outer connectors, so that the upper surface of the lower mold is in parallel surface contact with a lower surface of the upper mold when the material is compression-formed by the upper mold.

a) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates, in general, to compression-forming machines and, more particularly, to a self-alignment stage for the compression-forming machines which compensates for a relative pose error of a lower mold with respect to an upper mold when a material is compression-formed between the upper mold and the lower mold of the stage and, particularly, self-aligns a wafer on a vacuum chuck, in which the wafer and the vacuum chuck are corresponding to the lower mold, seated on the stage to compensate for a relative pose error with respect to a template corresponding to the upper mold when compression-forming a desired pattern with a material on the wafer, so that an upper surface of the wafer is in parallel surface contact with a lower surface of the template, thus reducing the number of defective products.
b) Description of the Related Art
Generally, compression-forming machines include a lower mold, and an upper mold which is placed above the lower mold and executes vertical directional motions above the lower mold, so that a material seated on the lower mold is compression-formed by the upper mold.
A variety of materials may be compression-formed by the above-mentioned compression-forming machines and, particularly, integrated circuits, which are used in semiconductor manufacturing processes, may be compression-formed on silicon wafers by the compression-forming machines.
Particularly, large scale integrated circuit patterns are formed on the silicon wafers by the compression-forming machines. The large scale integrated circuit patterns force the compression-forming machines to have reduced allowable errors, because the large scale integrated circuit patterns must be precisely formed.
FIGS. 1A and 1B are views showing a conventional compression-forming machine. The above conventional compression-forming machine includes a stage 1, and a vacuum chuck 2 which is placed on the stage 1. The compression-forming machine further includes a template 4 which is an upper mold to vertically move above a lower mold. A wafer 3 is placed on the vacuum chuck 2, in which the vacuum chuck 2 and the wafer 3 are corresponding to the lower mold.
As shown in FIG. 1A, a material M, for example, a photoresist solution is dispensed on the wafer 3 in the compression-forming machine. Thereafter, the material M is compressed by the template 4, then patterns on the template 4 are formed to the material M on the water 3, as shown in FIG. 1B.
During the above-mentioned compression-forming process, an upper surface of the water 3 must be in parallel surface contact with a lower surface of the template 4 to uniformly compress the material M. However, the conventional compression-forming machine is disadvantageous in that an assembling process, in which the elements of the machine are assembled such that the lower surface of the template 4 is in parallel surface contact with the upper surface of the wafer 3, is very difficult, because the template 4 only moves vertically by an actuator.
Furthermore, the conventional compression-forming machine must be equipped with various parts, such as sensors and actuators, so as to allow the upper surface of the wafer 3 to be in parallel surface contact with the lower surface of the template 4. Therefore, the conventional compression-forming machine is problematic in that its structure is complex, and its size and volume increase.

Self-alignment stage for compression-forming machines

Korea Institute of Machinery & Materials


The present invention comprises a bellmouth adapter assembly for deploying nd retrieving a towed array from a vessel that includes a bellmouth having a rearwardly extending tubular member with an axial centerline, and a distal first flange member extending outwardly from the tubular member, the first flange member having a first inner curved surface. The adapter has a second flange member which is concentrically superimposed over and fixed to the first flange member and has a second inner curved surface. This second curved surface is selected so that its bend radius is larger than the bend radius of the first inner curved surface.

(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to marine towing apparatus and more particularly to towed sonar array cables.
(2) Description of the Prior Art
It is known in the art to provide a winch and stowage reel assembly for deploying and retrieving a towed sonar array cable from a submarine. The winch assembly includes a driven capstan and an idling drum. In operation, the capstan rotates to bring a towed array cable onto the capstan and thence onto the drum and back to the capstan, usually for a plurality of turns, and thence onto the stowage reel. To pay out the towed array cable, which typically would have an array fixed to a free end thereof, the array being of substantially the same configuration as the cable, the capstan draws cable from the stowage reel and, after a plurality of turns around the idling drum, urges the cable through a bellmouth and out of the submarine to facilitate towing of the array well aft of the submarine's propulsion propellers. Such an arrangement is shown, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,263,432 to Wood, particularly with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2 therein.
Various arrangements have been suggested by the prior art for improving the deployment of cables from bellmouths or marine vessels.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,064,358 to Smith et al. discloses a termination between a submarine coaxial cable and a submerged repeater housing. It employs an anchor assembly for transferring the load in the cable core to the repeater housing, and a protective boot assembly for surrounding and supporting the cable where it extends away form the anchor assembly. The boot assembly is rigidly connectable to the housing. Movement of the cable within the boot tube is permitted to a greater extent near the free end of the boot assembly than near the housing, by means of a flexible tube and bellmouth assembly; in order to account for the stresses associated with the cable handling and recovery.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,313,392 to Guenther et al. discloses a system for deploying and retrieving a seismic source assembly form a marine seismic vessel. The system comprises a guide track that is secured to the underside of an upper deck of the vessel. The chain, which absorbs most of the strain due to towing, passes through the track and is safely confined therein during the deployment and retrieval of the source assembly. A connector is attached to the chain at each point where a seismic source and a buoy line is to be attached. As the chain is unreeled and as each connector approaches the track, a source and a buoy line is attached to that respective connector. The track is constructed so a connector on the chain with both a source and a buoy line attached can pass therethrough. This procedure is continued until the seismic source assembly is deployed.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,317,185 to Thigpen et al. discloses a towing link consisting of spaced-apart head and tailpieces. The headpiece includes a towing eye and a pair of lugs for receiving the stress members of a streamer and a lead-in cable. The tailpiece defines a pair of bores through which the stress member and electrical conductors of the two cables are inserted and sealed. A pair of mating connector plugs is provided to interconnect corresponding conductors of the two cables.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,877,355 to VanPelt discloses a cable embedding device comprising a framework for supporting and hydraulically raising and lowering a rock saw and a cable carrying bellmouth relative to two spaced-apart sled-type runners. Each sled carries part of a jet spray system and an educator system in which the spray system creates a slurry and in which the educator system carries and discharges the slurry to the back of the device. A hinge and a hinge-roller assembly connect the framework to the device for relative movement there-between. The bellmouth is shaped to curve around the rock saw, and its pedestal foot supports the bellmouth in the cable embedding and trenching operations.
One area in which the prior art has not suggested an improvement is in preventing excessive bending of the towed array during on or off-loading from or to a barge or pier.
Conventionally, as the towed array is on or off loaded, the minimum bend radius of the towed array is occasionally violated. Even though the bellmouth at the exit point on the submarine is designed to incorporate the minimum bend radius as one of its features, it was designed to handle situations which would be encountered during typical deployment and retrieval situations at sea, not during on and off loading of the array from or to a barge or pier. In the on or off-loading scenario, the angle of the array exiting the bellmouth towards the barge is often steep enough to bend around the lip of the bellmouth that has a radius much less than the minimum bend radius.
An object, therefore, of the bellmouth exit angle adapter of the present invention is to prevent the minimum bend radius of the towed array from being violated, as the array is on or off loaded between a submarine and a barge or pier.

The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Navy


A method for the ultra-fast photodissociation of water molecules into H2 and O2 gases is presented. Water vapor is initially produced and supplied to a photolysis bottle. Within the photolysis bottle, the water vapor is illuminated by a light signal to dissociate H2 and O2 gases from the water vapor. The dissociated H2 and O2 gases are radiated with an RF signal to inhibit recombination of the dissociated H2 and O2 gases, and the dissociated H2 and O2 gases are subsequently recovered.

This invention relates to photodissociation processes in general, and to components, systems, and methods for affecting the ultra fast dissociation of a water molecule in particular.
Photodissociation of the water molecule H2O has been shown in the prior art using various approaches including catalysts, ultraviolet light, superheated steam and solar pumped lasers. Also described are systems employing photo-chemical diodes, photovoltaics, and various vessel configurations. Problems involved in these prior art systems have included volatility of hydrogen when obtained from superheated steam, excessive costs in systems using ultraviolet light sources, material and maintenance costs of systems employing catalysts, and the lack of gas purity in the gas separation process.
What is therefore needed are systems and methods for water molecule dissociation which provides lower gas volatility, higher gas purity, with lower equipment and maintenance costs.

Methods for affecting the ultra-fast photodissociation of water molecules


The present invention provides a bi-directional communication network which provides real-time computer-aided diagnostics, asset history, accounting records, maintenance records and energy management. Advantageously, such a network integrates the various work aspects of today's food service industry to insure the proper work allocation of administrative and repair tasks. The system includes a control center, a communication link to a point of sale system, a plurality of kitchen base stations, and a plurality of kitchen or cooking appliances located within a site or cell. Maintenance and repair, once initialized, are monitored through the control center having a database with the necessary software diagnostics, accounting records, inventory records, and maintenance records for the particular appliance under service so as to integrate the various aspects of accounting, billing, repair and energy management.

In recent years, as cooking and restaurant appliances in large hotels or institutional kitchens have become more complex, there has been an increased need for the utilization of computers for diagnosing malfunctions. Today, cooking appliances are maintained and serviced, however, by a food service industry that--with exceptions--is too poorly equipped and untrained to do so. The domestic food service industry is composed of some three hundred independent service agencies, ranging in size from one up to hundreds of employees. Most, however, consist of just a few employees which are unfortunately burden with the responsibilities of invoices, repairs, inventories, warranties, credits, returns, and the like. For example, these service agencies not only have to generate invoices, but also have to collect payment, which for obvious reasons is time consuming. With such other duties, service agencies have the least amount of time to keep up with the technology of today's complex kitchen or cooking appliances. With the existing food service industry so fragmented and ill-suited to handle the latter administrative tasks as well as the repairs, it is estimated that their efficiency may be as low as 20%. In other words, although the food service industry has become the focal point of the work allocation, the service sector is the least capable segment of the industry to do so.
Accordingly, there is a need in the art to provide a cost-effective system which enhances the work force utilization of today's food service industry, allowing the proper work allocation of administrative and repair skills among those best suited to perform the tasks.


A graphical query and data mining interface provides visual feedback to a user during the construction of a query that helps the user determine the quality of the query as the query is being built. The graphical query and data mining interface determines relationships in the database from a database relationship document, such as an XML document. These relationships may be between columns, including columns in different tables. The relationship of columns in the database is then graphically displayed to a user. When the user selects a column in the database, a filtered display mechanism displays only those columns or records that satisfy the portion of the query already constructed. In this manner dynamic information is provided to the user as the user builds the query that indicates to the user the quality of the query.

1. Technical Field
This invention generally relates to computer systems, and more specifically relates to apparatus and methods for querying a database.
2. Background Art
Since the dawn of the computer age, computers have evolved and become more and more powerful. In our present day, computers have become indispensable in many fields of human endeavor including engineering design, machine and process control, information storage and retrieval, and office computing. One of the primary uses of computers is for information storage and retrieval.
Database systems have been developed that allow a computer to store a large amount of information in a way that allows a user to search for and retrieve specific information in the database. For example, an insurance company may have a database that includes all of its policy holders and their current account information, including payment history, premium amount, policy number, policy type, exclusions to coverage, etc. A database system allows the insurance company to retrieve the account information for a single policy holder among the thousands and perhaps millions of policy holders in its database.
Retrieval of information from a database is typically done using queries. A query usually specifies conditions that apply to one or more columns of the database, and may specify relatively complex logical operations on multiple columns. The database is searched for records that satisfy the query, and those records are returned as the query result.
One problem with using queries to retrieve information from a database is that using queries typically requires specialized knowledge of a query language, such as Structured Query Language (SQL), as well as detailed knowledge of the database and its relationships. There are many applications where a person needs to query a database, but does not have the detailed knowledge of a query language or the details of the database. Some efforts have been made to provide a graphical query interface that allows a person that does not know SQL to query a database. The main focus of these known graphical query interfaces is abstracting the database and providing an easy-to-use interface for building queries. One problem with these known graphical query interfaces is a user can construct queries that are not very meaningful because they return no data, or because they return thousands or millions of records. Because the graphical query interface abstracts the details of the database to the user, the user has no idea whether two tables might represent disjoint sets of data. As a result, the user receives no feedback from known graphical query interfaces regarding the quality of the query until the query is completely built and then executed. If the size of the dataset is too large or too small, the user has no information regarding relationships in the database that allow the user to modify the query to return an acceptable dataset.
The result in the prior art is the generation of queries that are not terribly useful because they return a dataset that is too large or too small to be useful. Without a way to generate queries in a way that provides an indication of the quality of the query before the query is executed, the computer industry will continue to suffer from the generation and execution of queries that do not return a useful dataset.

Dynamic graphical database query and data mining interface

International Business Machines Corporation


A bicycle is provided that has a frame with a seat tube and a down tube aligned in the same plane, a chain stay rail, a free wheel mechanism and a crank hub. The bicycle is improved by having an enlarged crank sprocket rotatable in a plane substantially parallel to bike frame and able to provide a gear ratio of at least 4.5 to 1 with respect to the free wheel mechanism. The crank sprocket is stabilized to prevent it from wobbling and to maintain its rotation in a parallel plane. The crank sprocket is also extended away from the hub to allow the crank sprocket to rotate without coming in contact with the chain stay rail. Preferably, the crank sprocket can provide a gear ratio of 6.5 to 1 with respect to the free wheel mechanism and has a plane of rotation located at about the center of the axial width of the free wheel mechanism.

Though current conventional bicycles are intended to travel quickly, they are not able to achieve the speeds of bicycles equipped with the present invention. To achieve higher rates of speed than are currently obtainable by current conventional bicycles, the gear ratio between the crank sprocket and the gears on the rear wheel free wheel mechanism must be increased. One way to achieve this goal is to drastically increase the diameter of the crank sprocket.
Enlarged diameter crank sprockets have been used on multi-wheeled cycles, such as tricycles and polycycles. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,093,729 and 363,189 describe enlarged diameter crank sprockets. These prior art sprockets appear to be located in the middle of the pedal crank shafts. These multi-wheeled cycle crank sprockets can be larger than conventional bicycle sprockets as the sprockets are free from a bicycle's structural constraints and are subject to different forces. In addition, the multi-wheeled cycles containing the enlarged crank-sprockets are not used to obtain the high speeds possible with the present invention.
Bicycles with drastically enlarged crank sprockets are not known to exist on conventional bicycles. This is apparently due to several reasons. Conventional bicycle frames cannot accommodate enlarged diameter crank sprockets. An enlarged bicycle crank sprocket if placed on the hub in the original position of a conventional crank sprocket could not rotate in a plane parallel to the bicycle frame without coming in contact with a chain stay rail of the frame.
In addition, if the enlarged crank sprocket is extended away from the hub to clear this chain stay rail and is constructed similarly to a conventional crank sprocket, the enlarged crank sprocket would be unstable and would wobble and not rotate in a plane parallel to the frame. This wobbling would reduce a peddler's ability to produce torque (and, therefore, speed) and ultimately may cause the chain to derail. In addition, an extended enlarged crank sprocket would eventually warp or buckle. These problems are compounded in the case of multi-speed bicycles.
Accordingly, it is desired to provide a multi-speed bicycle capable of achieving high speed utilizing an enlarged crank sprocket.

Gearing mechanism for high speed bicycles


Methods and systems for telecommunications operations and controls include (1) an enhanced text message process or methodology that allows a remote user who does not have, already installed, a specialized voice telephony program to nevertheless place and participate in a voice call, (2) call admission control using a “degrees of separation” metric, (3) real time controlled sharing of contact (buddy) lists, (4) multi-service instance messaging conferences, and (5) “meta buddies” or buddy lists that can be automatically imported and made part of a user's own buddy list.

1. Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the present invention relate generally to telecommunication operations and controls, and in particular, to methods and systems for providing telecommunication services over the internet.
2. Background of the Invention
The services provided by internet service providers have undergone explosive growth over the past several years. One such service has been the Instant Message or Instant Messaging (IM) service, which allows users to seamlessly exchange text messages on a substantial real-time basis. Indeed, it has been precisely because of the "real-timeness" of the exchange that has made IM particularly popular.
A typical IM implementation only supports text messaging. However, there are times when voice-to-voice communication may be more appropriate or desirable. However, a voice-enabled communication device may not be readily available. In addition, the parties may not necessarily be aware of one another's telephone numbers to initiate a conventional telephone conversation.
Another common limitation regarding a typical IM implementation is that users must be enrolled with a common internet service provider to be engaged in a multi-user text conference (also known as a "chat session", which is implemented as a "chat room"). That is, only those users who are members of a given IM text network are able to receive instant messages from other users in the same network.
In addition, with currently available IM internet services, a user typically must include, a priori, a party's address in his/her "buddy" list prior to being able to send an IM to that party. Thus, in the event the user wishes to conduct a multi-party conference with that party and a third party, the user must first invite the third party to register with his/her IM service and then add the third party to his/her buddy list before conducting the conference. This process is, of course, inconvenient and time-consuming, and may not even be practicable.
As will be appreciated by those skilled in the relevant art, conventional IM, despite its widespread use, still inherently embodies several inconvenient limitations.

Systems and methods for advanced communications and control


A first conductive pattern having a pitch of not more than a predetermined pitch is formed on a main surface of a thin flexible substrate. In addition, a second conductive pattern having a pitch of not less than the predetermined pitch is formed on a rear surface of the substrate. A through hole is formed so as to be enclosed by respective parts of the areas, mainly, land areas at edge portions, of the conductive patterns and has openings at both front and rear sides of the substrate. In the through hole, a high viscosity conductive material formed by screen printing from the main surface side of the flexible substrate and a low viscosity conductive material formed by screen printing from the rear surface side contact each other. Accordingly, a via connection structure is formed.

1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to flexible wiring substrates applied to COF (Chip On Flexible) modules, in which a plurality of semiconductor chips are mounted on a substrate composed of a flexible insulating thin-film provided with a conductive pattern thereon. More particularly, the present invention relates to a high density mountable flexible wiring substrate in which the conductive patterns are provided on both surfaces thereof.
2. Description of Related Art
Flexible wiring substrates have advantages in flexibility and modifiable shape thereof over rigid wiring substrates. Accordingly, high density mounting of ICs and decrease in module sizes are advantageously performed. In particular, flexible wiring substrates are essential for miniaturizing various mobile devices.
Many flexible substrates have conductive patterns printed on both surfaces thereof, and connection structures by through holes are typically formed. That is, penetrating holes are formed on through hole lands by using a drill or the like, and through-hole plating (copper plating) or the like is performed. As a result, predetermined conductive patterns on both surfaces of the substrate are connected with each other.
However, in conventional flexible substrates, when through-hole plating is performed, since there is a step (button plating) of plating after removing a resist at which through hole lands are formed, the number of manufacturing steps are increased, and as a result, the manufacturing cost is increased. In contrast, when plating is performed without performing resist coating, conductive pattern widths on the substrate are increased, and as a result, patterns having fine pitches are difficult to form.
The present invention was made in consideration of at least the situations described above, and an object of the present invention is to at least provide a flexible wiring substrate which can be applied to conductive patterns having fine pitches, in which reliable connection between through holes can be realized at a lower cost by a smaller number of manufacturing steps.
A flexible wiring substrate according to one exemplary embodiment of the present invention may consist of a flexible substrate having a first conductive pattern provided with not more than a first pitch formed on a main surface of the flexible substrate and a second conductive pattern provided with not less than the first pitch formed on a rear surface of the flexible substrate, and a via connection structure in which a first conductive material printed from the main surface side and a second conductive material printed from the rear surface side contact each other in a penetrating hole formed in the substrate so as to be enclosed by respective parts of areas of the first and the second conductive patterns, wherein, compared to the first conductive material, the second conductive material is composed of a material having a lower viscosity.
According to the flexible wiring substrate of this exemplary embodiment of the present invention, by using a flexible thin substrate, a via connection structure can be formed by printing performed on both sides of the substrate. Conductive patterns formed on the main surface and the rear surface of the substrate have different pitches from each other. In order to realize a reliable via connection structure which can be applied to the substrate having the conductive patterns described above, the structure is formed of conductive materials having viscosities differing from each other.
A flexible wiring substrate according to another exemplary embodiment of the present invention may consist of a flexible substrate having a first conductive pattern provided with not more than a first pitch formed on a main surface of the flexible substrate and a second conductive pattern provided with not less than the first pitch formed on a rear surface of the flexible substrate, and a via connection structure in which a first conductive material printed from the main surface side and a second conductive material printed from the rear surface side contact each other in a penetrating hole formed in the substrate so as to be enclosed by respective parts of areas of the first and the second conductive patterns, wherein the first conductive material having a first diameter extends to the part of the area of the first conductive pattern, and the second conductive material having a second diameter larger than the first diameter extends to the part of the area of the second conductive pattern.
According to the flexible wiring substrate of this exemplary embodiment of the present invention, by using a flexible thin substrate, a via connection structure can be formed by printing performed on both sides of the substrate. Conductive patterns formed on the main surface and the rear surface of the substrate have different pitches from each other, and in order to realize a reliable via connection structure which can be applied to the substrate having the conductive patterns described above, the structure is formed of conductive materials having diameters differing from each other.
A flexible wiring substrate according to another exemplary embodiment of the present invention may consist of a flexible substrate having a first conductive pattern provided with not more than a first pitch formed on a main surface of the flexible substrate and a second conductive pattern provided with not less than the first pitch formed on the rear surface of the flexible substrate, and a via connection structure in which a first conductive material printed from the main surface side and a second conductive material printed from the rear surface side contact each other in a penetrating hole formed in the substrate so as to be enclosed by respective parts of areas of the first and the second conductive patterns, wherein the second conductive material forms the second conductive pattern.
According to the flexible wiring substrate of the present invention, by using a flexible thin substrate, a via connection structure can be formed by printing performed on both sides of the substrate. In the case in which conductive patterns formed on the main surface and on the rear surface of the substrate have pitches different from each other, when the conductive pattern is formed on the rear surface having relatively no fine pitches thereon, a reliable via connection structure can be simultaneously realized.


Methods, apparatuses and devices relate to inkjet printing a covering layer on at least a first side of a substrate in a peripheral region thereof are discussed.

When manufacturing semiconductor devices on substrates like semiconductor wafers, for example, silicon wafers, metal is deposited on the substrate, for example, on a non-processed backside of the substrate or a processed front side of the substrate or parts thereof, to provide electrical contacts to the semiconductor devices and/or to provide interconnects between various parts of the devices manufactured. Various metal deposition techniques are conventionally used, for example, sputtering, galvanization or electroless plating. One example for electroless plating is electroless nickel plating, where an autocatalytic deposition of nickel phosphorous (NiP) by immersion of the substrate into a plating bath may be used. In some cases, this may lead to the formation of nickel flitter, for example in a peripheral region of the substrate. Similar phenomena may occur using other metals. Such flitter has a poor adherence to the substrate, which constitutes a quality risk as they may detach from the peripheral region of the substrate and, e.g., reach other portions of the substrate, e.g., portions where devices are formed, and which might require additional measures when manufacturing devices, like regular change of filters or of a plating bath used or a separate process step for removing the flitter, which additional measures may increase manufacturing costs. In case of unsuccessful measures, production yield is decreased when due to flitter substrates have to be discarded.
Various embodiments of the present invention will be described in the following with reference to the accompanying figures. It is to be noted that these embodiments have illustration purposes only and are not to be construed as limiting the scope of this application in any way. Features of various embodiments described may be combined with each other unless specifically noted otherwise. On the other hand, describing an embodiment with a plurality of features is not to be construed as indicating that all those features are necessary for practicing the techniques disclosed herein or shown in the drawings, as other embodiments may comprise, for example, less features and/or alternative features.
In various embodiments discussed and described in more detail below, a substrate, for example, a semiconductor wafer, is provided with a covering layer, for example an imide layer, at a peripheral region thereof using inkjet printing techniques. The covering layer may, but need not comprise an isolation material. The covering layer may serve as a passivation layer and/or a protection layer in some embodiments. In some embodiments, the printing is restricted to the peripheral region, i.e., other regions of the substrate are not printed on. In some embodiments, this may occur prior to a metal deposition, for example, comprising electroless plating like the electroless plating of nickel. However, applications of the techniques and apparatuses described in the following are not limited to specific metals or substrates. In some embodiments, by forming the covering layer at the peripheral region of the substrate, formation of flitter like nickel flitter may be prevented, minimized or reduced.

Inkjet printing in a peripheral region of a substrate


A method and apparatus calculate resistance of a three-dimensional conductor system defined by boundary faces. The resistance calculation includes (a) partitioning the three-dimensional shape into a plurality of parallelepipeds, a boundary between two parallelepipeds forms and entire face for both of the two parallelepipeds, (b) determining at least one source face and at least one sink face from among the boundary faces, a current entering the conductor system through the source face and leaving the conductor system through the sink face, (c) setting boundary conditions with respect to the current for each of the parallelepipeds, (d) calculating power for each of the parallelepipeds with the boundary conditions, (e) calculating power for the conductor system based on the power and the boundary conditions of each of the parallelepipeds, and (f) obtaining the resistance of the conductor system by minimizing dissipation of the calculated power of the conductor system.

As complexity and performance of IC and Very Large Scale Integration (VLSI) circuit increases, time delay due to interconnects is becoming as significant as that of logic gates. Interconnect resistance (or wire resistance) is one of the important parameters for such a time delay calculation and other circuit characterization. The adoption of Chemical Mechanical Polishing (CMP) makes interconnect thickness sensitive to the local metal density. This leads to design limits on the metal density, and the introduction of nonmetal slots in large metal structures, such as wide metal lines as shown in FIG. 1A. The resistance of these complicated structures is difficult to calculate.
Interconnects are typically formed with a thin-film, i.e., a two-dimensional metal or conductor layer. Thus, interconnect resistance is typically calculated using the sheet resistance Rs, which is measured in Ohms per square (Ω/□). The sheet resistance Rs takes the material properties and thickness into account, and the resistance of a square unit of material is the same for a square of any size. Thus, the resistance of a conductor layer is calculated as the product of the sheet resistance Rs and the number of squares S. However, there are no formulas for the number of squares S except for conductor layers having the simplest geometry such as a rectangle.
FIG. 1B schematically illustrates a simple rectangular conductor having a length L and a width w. The current flows through the length L from one end to the other, perpendicular to the width w. In this case, the number of squares S is given as S=L/w. However, conductor shapes can be more complicated, for example, as shown in FIG. 1C. Suppose that the current enter the conductor from one edge 11 to another edge 13, current paths need not be straight. This makes it difficult to define a length and a width of the conductor shape, and renders the resistance calculation inaccurate.
The importance of parasitic capacitance due to interconnects has been recognized to the extent that a number of efficient and specialized capacitance solvers exist. However, this is not the case for interconnect resistance. Conventionally, a resistance calculation must use a general field solver, such as Raphael, available from Synopsys Corporation, Mountain View, Calif., which uses finite element, finite difference, or boundary element analysis.
Conformal transformations can be used to calculate the resistance of some two-dimensional (thin film) structures. For example, Hall, P. M., "Resistance Calculations For Thin Film Patterns", Thin Solid Films, 1, 1967–68, pp. 277–295 describes such conformal transformations. When this approach is feasible, it can be accurate and very fast. However, conformal transformations generally assume specific constant potential surfaces, which might not conform to the specific system at hand. Moreover, this technique does not extend to three dimensions.
Accordingly, the present invention provides a fast and accurate interconnect resistance solver which uses a variational method and is capable of extending to three-dimensional calculations.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Three-dimensional interconnect resistance extraction using variational method


A method and apparatus for detecting slider/disk fly-height modulation in a hard disk drive is provided. A slider is electrically isolating from an electrically grounded suspension. A signal line is coupled to the slider, the signal line for providing an alert signal when a modulation in fly-height between the slider and an electrically grounded disk of the hard disk drive occurs.

Hard disk drives are used in almost all computer system operations. In fact, most computing systems are not operational without some type of hard disk drive to store the most basic computing information such as the boot operation, the operating system, the applications, and the like. In general, the hard disk drive is a device which may or may not be removable, but without which the computing system will generally not operate.
The basic hard disk drive model was established approximately 50 years ago and resembles a phonograph. That is, the hard drive model includes a storage disk or hard disk that spins at a standard rotational speed. An actuator arm with a suspended slider is utilized to reach out over the disk. The arm carries a head assembly that has a magnetic read/write transducer or head for reading/writing information to or from a location on the disk. The complete head assembly, e.g., the suspension and head, is called a head gimbal assembly (HGA).
In operation, the hard disk is rotated at a set speed via a spindle motor assembly having a central drive hub. Additionally, there are circumferential tracks evenly spaced at known intervals across the disk. When a request for a read of a specific portion or track is received, the hard disk aligns the head, via the arm, over the specific track location and the head reads the information from the disk. In the same manner, when a request for a write of a specific portion or track is received, the hard disk aligns the head, via the arm, over the specific track location and the head writes the information to the disk.
Over the years, the disk and the head have undergone great reductions in their size. Much of the refinement has been driven by consumer demand for smaller and more portable hard drives such as those used in personal digital assistants (PDAs), MP3 players, and the like. For example, the original hard disk drive had a disk diameter of 24 inches. Modern hard disk drives are much smaller and include disk diameters 3.5 to 1 inches (and even smaller 0.8 inch). Advances in magnetic recording are also primary reasons for the reduction in size.
However, the decreased track spacing and the overall reduction in HDD component size and weight in collusion with the load/unload drive capabilities have resulted in problems with respect to the HGA in general and the slider suspension in particular. Specifically, as the component sizes shrink, a need for tighter aerial density arises. In other words, the HGA is brought physically closer to the magnetic media. In some cases, the HGA will reach "ground zero" or contact recording. However, one of the major problems with near contact recording is the effect of vibration resonance when a slider encounters the asperities of the magnetic media or disk.
For example, when the slider contacts the disk, dynamic coupling between the slider and components of the head gimbal assembly (including the gimbal structure and nose portion) make the interface unstable and generate a strong or even a sustained slider (or even HGA) vibration. The vibration will result in slider flying high for some period of time and than returning to normal fly-height as the vibrations reduce below a threshold. This phenomenon is known as fly-height hysteresis. When slider is flying higher or lower than normal, the read/write performance is degraded. In other words, if the fly-height hysteresis occurs during a data write operation, the data is not written to the disk properly due to the higher than normal head to disk distance, and in the worst case, the data is lost. Similar difficulties arise during a read operation.
Thus there is a need for monitoring the fly-height of a read-write head and for detecting collisions with asperities that could introduce momentary fly-height modulations, and for compensating for them by informing the read-write controller when they have occurred.

Method and apparatus for detecting slider/disk fly-height modulation in a hard disk drive

Hitachi Global Storage Technologies Netherlands B.V.


The current invention describes a method and system for delivering reconfigured digital content or reconfigured delivery of digital content designed to allay the effects of Q/D-related EMS. Disclosed is a system/method for delivering an extended digital therapeutic (ExRx) based on a selected emotional/mental state (EMS) and home-bound state (HBS).

In the past few decades, the availability and use of electronic computing devices, such as desktop computers, laptop computers, handheld computer systems, tablet computer systems, and cellular phones have grown tremendously, which provide users with a variety of new and interactive applications, business utilities, communication abilities, and entertainment possibilities.
One such communication ability is electronic messaging, such as text-based, user-to-user messages. Electronic messaging has grown to include a number of different forms, including, but not limited to, short message service (SMS), multimedia messaging service (MMS), electronic mail (e-mail), social media posts and direct messages, and enterprise software messages. Electronic messaging has proliferated to such a degree that it has become the primary mode of communication for many people.
While electronic messaging can be a particularly efficient mode of communication for a variety of reasons—instant delivery, limitless distance connectivity, recorded history of the communication—electronic messaging does not benefit from the advantages of in-person communication and telecommunication. For example, when communicating via telecommunication, a person can adjust, alter, or augment the content of their message to an intended recipient through tone, volume, intonation, and cadence. When communicating in-person, or face-to-face, a person can further enhance or enrich their spoken words with eye contact and shift of focus, facial expressions, hand gestures, body language, and the like. In electronic messaging, users lack these critically important signals, clues, and cues, making it difficult for people to convey the subtler aspects of communication and deeper intent. As a result, issues of meaning, substance, and sentiment are often lost or confused in electronic messages, which can, and very often does, result in harmful or damaging misunderstandings. Miscommunications can be particularly damaging in interpersonal and business relationships.
Another unintended effect of our overreliance on electronic communication is the impairment of emotional and mental health. In a recent article published in the American Journal of Psychiatry, Dr. Jerald Block wrote "technology addiction is now so common that it merits inclusion in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, the profession's primary resource to categorize and diagnose mental illnesses." He went on to further state that the disorder leads to anger and depression when the tech isn't available, as well as lying, social isolation and fatigue. Our devices and experiences from said devices (receiving likes, comments and shares on social media) are in essence a drug dealer and drugs, respectively: Having the capability of doling out the same kind of dopamine hit as a tiny bump of cocaine. In effect, creating the typical addiction/dependency vicious cycle and all of the attendant consequences.
According to psychotherapist, Nancy Colier, author of "The Power of Life", "We are spending far too much of our time doing things that don't really matter to us . . . [and become] disconnected from what really matters, from what makes us feel nourished and grounded as human beings." Based on her findings, the average person checks their smartphones 150 times per day, or every six minutes. Furthermore, the average young adult sends on average 110 texts per day and 46% of respondents checked that their devices are something that they couldn't live without.
With this kind of digital ubiquity, it is becoming readily apparent that any solution to the problem involving curtailing or augmenting user behavior is not a realistic approach. Current approaches espoused by experts involve any one of, or combination of, the following: Downloading an app (Moment, Alter, etc.) that locks or limits phone usage upon reaching a pre-specified limit; disabling notifications from your phone settings; keeping the blue-hued light of your smartphone away from your place of rest; and even buying and carrying around a dummy phone.
There is a void for a solution that takes into account ubiquitous usage and provides delivery of pro-mental and emotional health content—personalized to the user, much like the way therapeutics have become narrowly tailored—to counter all of the digital-mediated ill effects plaguing our society. These effects will only logarithmically grow as we transition into the IoT era—where we will be exposed to thousands of internet-enabled objects (each capable of delivering contextualized analytics and provisioning) as part of our day-to-day living. Finally, there is a void in the market for delivering hyper-personalized digital-based therapeutics based on a higher-resolution assessment of an EMS (a more dynamic EMS or dEMS). A dynamic assessment based on a multi-correlate coordinate system (mood map) that allows users to plot as a single point along at least two correlates of behavior—resulting in a push of hyper-personalized digital content with therapeutic value to reinforce or counter the user-mapped dynamic assessment.
There is a void for fast-capture input modality for quick-assessment of an EMS and/or associated neurotransmitter requiring addressing. Furthermore, there is a void in the art combining this fast-capture for digital delivery of a design-rich visual asset with short suggestions or recommendations to address the EMS and/or associated neurotransmitter to achieve an acute psychological response. Finally, there is a void in the art combining this fast-capture for digital delivery of more substantive, textual based generalized clinician tips to achieve acute or longitudinal psychological/behavioral responses.
Moreover, there is a void in the art for a method for delivering an encoded mood or EMS profile of a user to a user device—in at least one of a logged-on, logged-off, rested, or locked state.
In the wake of the ongoing global pandemic due to COVID-19 and its unyielding impact on public health and the economy, the mental health of people continue to be largely ignored—or at best, swept to the fringes of our collective conscience. Terms such as "flattening the curve"—once confined within the lecture hall of a public health class—are now part of the everyday lexicon. Guidelines on mask wearing, social distancing, and remaining at home have been issued from the CDC, members of the media, and even social media influencers. These blunt-force tools of public health policy have thus far been effective in "flattening the curve", and thus, reducing the surge in health care facility capacity.
But an issue that has been overlooked is the mental health issues lingering as a result of the quarantining and distancing. While reducing the surge, it has led to increased feelings of anxiety, loneliness, and overall despair. With no end in sight until a vaccine is developed and herd-wide immunity is achieved, these emotional and/or mental states are only stoked by the constant bombardment of COVID-19 related news and the stress of making next month's rent and car payment. What's more, being forced to quarantine or isolate with the same people whether it be children or spouse—under the same roof with no outlets to blow off steam has further stoked the already burning flame.
In one published study by a reputable peer-reviewed journal, it was found that 28.9% of participants had symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and 31.2% had symptoms of depression. Moreover, the longer the quarantine lasted, the higher the occurrence of the PTSD symptoms ("COVID-19: How to Manage Your Mental Health during the Crisis." Mayo Clinic, Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research, 2 Apr. 2020, www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/coronavirus/in-depth/mental-health-covid-19/art-20482731). There have been a handful of other studies performed reaffirming the Mayo Clinics findings that the effects of quarantining and distancing (Q/D) have led to and exacerbated symptoms of low mood, stress, anxiety, and depression.
There is a consensus amongst mental wellness experts that seeking professional therapy, not to mention exercising and limiting our COVID-19 media diet, will all help in mitigating Q/D-related emotional/mental (EMS) health effects. Above all, it is recommended, writ large, that maintaining social relationships with loved ones and friends—albeit via technological channels, such as Zoom—remain the most effective tool in the EMS tool kit in combating the EMS effects from Q/D.
One tool in the tool kit that is gaining traction is any one of the myriad of mental health apps that can be simply downloaded and consumed on one's personal device. First-time downloads of the top 20 mental wellness apps in the U.S. hit 4 million in April—up close to 30 percent from January. However, none of the top 20 mental health apps have reconfigured their content offerings to account for Q/D-related EMS. As such, there is a void in the market and art for a reconfigured digital content or reconfigured delivery of digital content designed to allay the effects of Q/D-related EMS.
Recent advances in neuroscience and psychology have increased our understanding of how neurotransmitters like dopamine, oxytocin, serotonin and GABA, strongly correlated with specific feelings, can be triggered by specific types of digital material. What that means is, we can begin to identify, list, reveal, and teach people what's actually in their videos and digital assets. We firmly believe that people deserve to know the possible effects of the content they consume, not just their genre, views, rating, etc. It is also firmly believed that there is a need for content offerings to be dynamically responsive to people's varying compliance with social isolation recommendations pursuant to an outbreak or calamity, such as the recent COVID-19 pandemic.

Delivery of an extended digital therapeutic (ExRx) based on an emotional/mental state (EMS) and/or home-bound state (HBS)


A silane-containing methacrylate resin composition which produces non-yellowing polymers. The composition contains 20-99.9% by weight (meth)acrylic acid ester, optionally other comonomers or polymers and softeners as well as 0.1-30% by weight of a silane. 100 parts by weight of this mixture are polymerized in the presence of a free radical initiator, Cu.sup.2+ and a quaternary amine. The components can be stored in premixtures and brought to reaction. The polymer can be used in glass laminates.

Pure poly(meth)acrylates have excellent weathering properties. That is, they are stable when exposed to UV radiation or visible light. Yellowing normally is not a problem for these products. On the other hand, the pure homo- and copolymers of methacryic monomers are not suitable for bonding, since they exhibit only very low adhesive properties. Thus, such polymers can be produced between sheets of glass by bulk polymerization and the glass sheets can be separated readily from the polymeric intermediate layer after cooling (see Published European Patent Application EP 0,217,545 B1). On the other hand, if bonding is desired such as, e.g., for the manufacture of laminated glass sheets, an adhesion promoter must be added to the reaction mixture from which the polymer is produced. Silanes are suitable as adhesion promoters, especially when bonding with siliceous materials (e.g. glass sheets) (See Japanese Patent JP 49-80183). These silanes can be polymerized into the polymer chain and bring about very good adhesion promotion, even in relatively low concentrations. On the other hand, however, the silanes also bring about, in combination with other components, a considerable yellowing, which must be reduced by means of suitable selection of the monomers, catalysts, accelerators, inhibitors or by the addition of UV adsorption agents. The subjective appearance of yellowing can also be reduced by means of appropriately colored glass panes. However, the latter methods can not be used in UV-initiated systems because, then, not enough UV light can penetrate into the monomer mixture.

(Meth)acrylate resins with reduced yellowing, their production and use


A communication apparatus, in a communication network in which a plurality of routes can be set with respect to a destination, acquires a line condition of a communication line in each route, calculates a communication cost of each route, based on the line condition of the communication line in the route, and selects a route from the plurality of routes based on the communication cost calculated. The line condition is acquired at regular intervals to thereby update the communication cost.

1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a technology for recognizing dynamically a change in route conditions in a network and selecting an optimum route for transmission of data.
2) Description of the Related Art
In a network, when a device transmits data to another device, the data passes through a plurality of nodes. The nodes may be transmission apparatuses, switchboards, switches, routers, wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) apparatuses, asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) apparatuses, optical cross-connectors, and fiber channels.
Depending on the topology of the network, there may be numerous possible routes for the data. Along the path to the destination, each node needs to select a route for transmitting the data further. Generally, a communication cost between nodes is set in advance, and the nodes select the route based on the communication cost set.
The communication cost is a value, which is an index of the condition of the communication line connecting the nodes. Conventionally, the communication cost in each communication line is set empirically based on factors such as the line speed of the communication line. For example, the greater the priority level of a communication line, the lower is its communication cost. Moreover, the higher is the line speed, the lower is its communication cost.
Each route to the destination includes a plurality of communication lines. In the conventional communication apparatus, a sum total of the communication costs of the communication lines included in a route is calculated. The communication apparatus selects the route having the lowest value of the communication cost, so that the data can be transmitted to the destination efficiently and quickly. The communication apparatus serves as a node.
There are various methods of selecting the route of transmission using the communication cost. A network design method in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. H10-207934 discloses a method for solving a mathematical plan problem. This network design method assumes a plurality of routes to the destination of data, sets a restrictive condition such that the communication cost in each route does not exceed a predetermined value, and specifies an optimum route by finding out an objective function with the lowest communication cost of the route.
In a communication network design apparatus disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2000-165451, a plurality of nodes are arranged to optimize the topology of the network, taking into consideration the maximum line speed and the minimum line speed between nodes, and a preset communication cost is used for determining whether the arrangement of the respective nodes is optimum.
However, there are some problems in applying methods involving communication cost, to the conventional apparatus. Once a communication cost between respective nodes is set, the same communication cost is used, unless a network administrator changes the value. Moreover, because the quantity of data that passes through the communication line is not always constant, the line speed of the communication line may be used to its maximum, or may not be used at all. Furthermore, the service condition of a communication line changes with the lapse of time. In such a case, the communication cost of that communication line must change accordingly. However, in the conventional apparatus, the communication cost can be corrected only by the network administrator on recognizing the failure. Therefore, the nodes may try to use the faulty communication line, and hence smooth data transmission is not possible.
Thus, in the conventional communication apparatus, there is a problem in that the preset communication cost of the communication line may not always correspond to the actual condition of the communication line. In fact, it is very important to allow the communication cost to dynamically correspond to a change in the condition of the communication line to ensure that data reaches the destination quickly and without error.

Method of and apparatus for communication, and computer product


A facsimile communication control method is provided for a mobile communication system whereby a sending-side facsimile device capable of sending and receiving facsimile signals does not discontinue a telephone call despite completion of facsimile communication, and a receiving-side facsimile device capable of sending and receiving facsimile signals discontinues a telephone call upon completion of facsimile communication.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a facsimile communication control system in a mobile communication system that includes: a mobile station composed of a mobile unit for controlling radio lines for mobile communication, a facsimile device that can transmit and receive facsimile signals, and an adapter that connects the mobile unit and facsimile device; a mobile communication exchange that accommodates this mobile station by way of radio lines; and a supplementary exchange device connected to this mobile communication exchange that controls facsimile communication through a prescribed protocol according to facsimile communication process requests from the mobile station.
2. Description of the Related Art
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a typical mobile communication system that performs facsimile communication. FIG. 1 presents a case in which the facsimile devices of each of two mobile units connected by way of a mobile communication network are connected and facsimile communication is performed reciprocally between the two facsimile devices, but a case may also be considered similarly in which a mobile communication network is used on only the transmitting side or receiving side.
Mobile station 1 (2) is composed of mobile unit 13 (23) that controls radio lines for mobile communication; facsimile device 11 (21) capable of transmitting and receiving facsimile data; and mobile unit-facsimile connection adapter (hereinbelow referred to as "connection adapter") 12 (22) for connecting facsimile device 11 (21) to mobile unit 13 (23).
Radio base stations 35 and 36, which control radio lines for mobile unit communication, are controlled by mobile communication radio line control stations 33 and 34, respectively. Mobile communication exchanges 31 and 32 are connected to each other by way of inter-station line 43, and in addition, accommodate mobile stations 1 and 2 by way of mobile communication radio line control stations 33 and 34 and radio base stations 35 and 36, respectively, and switch/connect mobile communication calls to mobile stations 1 and 2. Supplementary exchange devices 37 and 38 are connected to mobile communication exchanges 31 and 32, respectively, and control facsimile communication based on a prescribed transmission control protocol in response to initiation at the time of facsimile communication. Radio lines 41 and 42 connect radio base stations 35 and 36 to mobile units 13 and 23, respectively.
Operation of a prior-art mobile communication system will next be explained with reference to FIG. 2. FIG. 2 is a sequence chart from the midpoint to the end of a facsimile transmission from facsimile device 11 to facsimile device 21 between mobile stations. This sequence is a protocol proposed by Standard RCR-STD27C of the Research and Development Center for Radio Systems (RCR) and is based on call control protocol for facsimile communication employing facsimile devices in mobile communication.
Facsimile device 11, which has at this point completed transmission of image signal Pix, sends DCN indicating completion of facsimile communication to connection adapter 12, thus completing facsimile transmission by facsimile device 11. After completing transmission of Pix to supplementary exchange device 37, connection adapter 12, which has received DCN, sends DCN to supplementary exchange device 37, and executes an OFF request to mobile unit 13. After receiving DCN, supplementary exchange device 37 completes transmission of Pix to supplementary exchange device 38, following which it sends DCN to supplementary exchange device 38.
Supplementary exchange device 38, having received DCN from supplementary exchange device 37, completes transmitting Pix to connection adapter 22 and then sends DCN to connection adapter 22. Connection adapter 22 having received DCN, completes sending Pix to facsimile device 21 and then sends DCN to facsimile device 21 and executes an OFF request to mobile unit 23, thereby completing facsimile reception by facsimile device 21.
Mobile unit 13, having received the OFF request, sends INFO indicating non-speech completion to mobile communication exchange 31. Mobile communication exchange 31, having received this INFO, transmits INFO indicating current inactivity to mobile unit 13, and mobile unit 13 and mobile communication exchange 31 resume conversation.
DISC, which is a call-disconnect signal, is then sent by mobile unit 13 to mobile communication exchange 31, following which mobile communication exchange 31 both sends DISC to mobile communication exchange 32 and sends REL indicating the release of the telephone call to mobile unit 13, and when RELCOM indicating completion of release of the telephone call from mobile unit 13 to mobile communication exchange 31 has been transmitted, the telephone call between mobile unit 13 and mobile communication exchange 31 is released.
Mobile communication exchange 32, having received DISC from mobile communication exchange 31, sends DISC to mobile unit 23. Mobile unit 23 transmits REL, and when RELCOM is transmitted from mobile unit 13 to mobile communication exchange 31, the telephone call between mobile unit 13 and mobile communication exchange 31 is released.
The facsimile communication from facsimile device 11 to facsimile device 21 is thus completed.
In the above-described mobile communication system, the problem occasionally occurs that, if the transmitting-side facsimile device terminates facsimile transmission when Pix reception at the receiving-side facsimile device is delayed due to some reason such as poor line quality, the telephone call is discontinued midway even though the receiving-side facsimile device is still in the process of receiving, thereby disrupting the facsimile communication process at the end of the facsimile communication.
The reason for this problem can be explained by means of the example shown in FIG. 3.
As in FIG. 2, this figure shows a sequence chart from the midpoint to completion of facsimile communication between mobile stations from facsimile device 11 to facsimile device 21, the transmission procedure on the transmitting side being the same as in FIG. 2.
In this case, when the transmission of Pix between supplementary exchange device 38 and connection adapter 22 is delayed for some reason, mobile communication exchange 32 receives DISC from mobile communication exchange 31 during Pix transmission, whereupon mobile communication exchange 32 sends DISC to mobile unit 23, and, having received DISC, mobile unit 23 sends REL to mobile communication exchange 32 and facsimile communication is terminated midway by turning connection adapter 22 OFF.

Facsimile communication control method in a mobile communication system


Disclosed herein are methods and systems that determine the carbon content of a subterranean formation by analyzing samples of drill cuttings obtained from a subterranean formation with a laser-induced breakdown spectrometer and an autocalcimeter.

Information about a subterranean formation can be obtained while drilling a wellbore by using tools to gather data relating to the subterranean formation surrounding a wellbore, referred to as "logging while drilling (LWD)." Among the various potential sources of such information are the drill cuttings from the subterranean formation. As the drill bit removes fragments of material from the bottom of the wellbore, the fragments are carried to the surface by a drilling fluid and separated from the drilling fluid. The separated material may be periodically sampled and subjected to analysis to determine desired information from the samples.

Organic carbon concentration using LIBS and autocalcimeter


An embodiment of the disclosed subject matter allows wireless electronic badges to temporarily establish a wireless network, such as a piconet network, with a network security station. The wireless electronic badges automatically exchange user code with the network security station, to determine if the wireless electronic badge is authorized. If the wireless electronic badge is an authorized badge, then the network security station transmits display information to the authorized badge, for example, data for a photograph of the authorized user, where, upon receipt by the authorized badge, the badge visually displays the photograph.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to electronic security badges. More particularly, it relates to an apparatus and technique for implementing multiple security badges within a single electronic display badge device.
2. Background of Related Art
Display badges are used for multiple purposes. Most notably, display badges are used for security and identification purposes, e.g., to limit access to company buildings, to identify a person with a relevant identification number, etc. However, typical picture badges are susceptible to copying (i.e., forgery), making their use as a security device somewhat risky, particularly in high security applications.
Moreover, individuals may be required to display several different badges for entry and/or access to respective different places. For instance, a first badge may be required to be displayed while the individual is at work. Another badge may be required to be displayed to gain entry into a sports gym either during or after work hours. Yet another badge may be required to authorize entry into a wholesale shopping club.
Each badge worn by a user typically looks different, and/or displays different information on them, making their separate use necessary. Thus, a typical person may be required to carry several different badges at a time, switching between required badges as they move about in their daily activities (e.g., from work, to shopping, etc.) Oftentimes, a user may forget a particular one of many badges, requiring a return trip to home or the office to retrieve the necessary badge.
Accordingly, there is a need for streamlining the badges for a typical person to make it simpler to carry and remember required security badges. Moreover, there is a need for a display badge which prevents fraud and is generally more secure.


A seal ring 10 for sealing between first and second members 12, 14 each having an outer groove surface 16, 126 and inner groove surface 18, 127 includes a metal seal body 26, 42, 52, 60, 70, 80, 92, 110, 122, 140 for engagement with the outer groove surface on the first and second members, and a metal flexible flange 30, 32, 44, 46, 54, 56, 62, 64, 76, 78, 88, 90, 94, 96, 112, 114, 128, 144, 146 with a cantilevered end of a flexible flange providing substantially line contact sealing engagement with the inner groove surface on respective first and second member. The metal flexible flange is configured for being fluid pressure energized, and is deformed beyond its elastic limit when securing members secure the first member to the second member.

Pressure vessels are conventionally composed of structural sections having flanges or other connectors at their extreme ends. The flanges are secured to the assembly by securing bolts that extend through the mating flanges. The opposed flanges may be drawn together about a metal sealing ring with sufficient force to cause metal-to-metal sealing between surfaces on the seal ring and tapered surfaces on the opposing seal grooves in the first and second members.
An API seal ring may leak under circumstances where the bolts are properly tightened to secure the flanges in sealed engagement, but thereafter excessive heat causes bolt extension such that the flanges are allowed to be moved apart a slight amount. When this occurs, there may be insufficient mechanical force between the seal ring and the mating wall surfaces of the seal groove to maintain a fluid tight seal. Also, when the flange bolts are made up very tightly, metal coining between the seal ring and the mating wall surfaces may occur, in which case only a slight movement of the flanges may cause seal leakage. Coining of the seal ring typically occurs, because the seal ring metal is less hard than the metal defining the receiving grooves in the flange. Overstressing the studs to shut off a leak may also cause coining of the seal ring groove. It is frequently recommended to employ periodic tightening of flange bolts to prevent leaking in high temperature applications.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,410,186 discloses a seal ring for flanged joints, and was part of a seal concept for nuclear reactor applications. Due to wide tolerances, an API seal ring groove would be coined by this type of seal ring. To eliminate coining, one would have to make several sizes of a seal ring for a specific ring groove. This type of seal ring also would not seem suitable for holding pressures at high temperatures when the studs elongate because of its limited flexibility.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,058,906 discloses a seal ring formed from a high strength material. For the seal ring to function, the ring flexes against the ring groove wall to burnish and form a seal. The seal ring is intended to flex within its elastic limits, and again would require numerous different seal rings to work satisfactorily within a single API ring groove.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,240,263 discloses a seal ring with a substantial uniform cross sectional thickness. The patent teaches substantially planar contact between surfaces of the seal ring and the tapered surfaces defining the seal groove. This type of seal may leak because there is no pressure energization. Because the seal areas are large, pressure can migrate into the seal area thus equalizing pressure, resulting in leakage.
The disadvantages of the prior art are overcome by the present invention, and an improved seal ring and method are hereinafter disclosed for reliable sealing between two members.


The invention provides for a magnetic resonance imaging system (100) for acquiring magnetic resonance data (142) from a subject (118) within a measurement zone (108). The magnetic resonance imaging system (100) comprises: a processor (130) for controlling the magnetic resonance imaging system (100) and a memory (136) storing machine executable instructions (150, 152, 154), pulse sequence commands (140) and a dictionary (144). The pulse sequence commands (140) are configured for controlling the magnetic resonance imaging system (100) to acquire the magnetic resonance data (142) of multiple steady state free precession (SSFP) states per repetition time. The pulse sequence commands (140) are further configured for controlling the magnetic resonance imaging system (100) to acquire the magnetic resonance data (142) of the multiple steady state free precession (SSFP) states according to a magnetic resonance fingerprinting protocol. The dictionary (144) comprises a plurality of tissue parameter sets. Each tissue parameter set is assigned with signal evolution data pre-calculated for multiple SSFP states.

Magnetic Resonance fingerprinting (MRF) is a technique where a number of RF pulses, distributed in time, are applied such that they cause signals from different types of tissues to have a unique contribution to the measured Magnetic Resonance (MR) signal. A limited dictionary of pre-calculated signal contributions from a set or fixed number of tissue parameters identifying a particular type or composition of tissues is compared to the measured MR signals and within a single voxel the parameters identifying the type or composition of tissues causing the measured MR signal can be determined. For example, if it is known that a voxel only contains water, fat, and muscle tissue the contribution of tissue parameters identifying these three materials and their compositions need only be considered and only a few RF pulses are needed to accurately determine the parameters of the composition of tissues of the voxel.
The magnetic resonance fingerprinting technique was introduced in the journal article Ma et al., "Magnetic Resonance Fingerprinting", Nature, vol. 495, pp. 187 to 193 (2013). The magnetic fingerprinting technique is also described in United States patent applications US 2013/0271132 A1 and US 2013/0265047 A1.

Multi-state magnetic resonance fingerprinting


Provided herein is a device (and associated method of using the device) to aid and educate a child in blowing their nose. The device comprises a pinwheel assembly, which is positioned under the child's nostrils such that air expelled from the nostrils will turn the blades of the pinwheel. The device optionally comprises a pacifier, which is configured such that when the nipple of the pacifier is in the child's mouth, the pinwheel assembly is positioned such that air expelled from the child's nostrils will turn the blades of the pinwheel assembly. Other configurations include cups, which encircle the child's mouth, and handles which aid in the proper positioning of the device.

The inventions disclosed herein relates generally to the field of children's toys and health devices, and more particularly to a toy that teaches children to blow through their nose, clearing their nasal passages.
While adults are adept at clearing their nasal passages, i.e. "blowing the nose," this skill is often not readily grasped or readily practiced by the young, e.g. infants, toddlers, and young children. A child's inability, or lack of incentive, to blow their nose results in unsanitary, unsightly discharge and prolongs congestion. Congestion may cause the Eustachian tubes to become blocked by mucus within the tube, leading to discomfort. Often, blockage will allow fluid to build up within the normally air-filled middle ear and this provides a favorable environment for bacteria or viruses, which can cause an ear infection. Many children, up to 80%, will suffer from chronic ear infections, Otitis Media, at some point in their childhood. This can cause terrible pain and suffering as well as lead to long term scarring and hearing damage. The ear-drum can rupture due to this pressure, which can be quite painful. Chronic Otitis Media can lead to persistent blockage of the Eustachian tubes, and complications such as hearing loss, chronic ear drainage, and other symptoms.
Medical procedures and devices are known for clearing blockage of the Eustachian tubes, for example the myringotomy surgical procedure, which can lead to scaring of the ear drum with the possibility of permanent hearing loss, or the Otovent™ medical device, which uses autoinflation of a balloon to create back-pressure to clear the sinuses. Neither is enjoyable for the user. A preferable approach would be to induce the child to regularly blow their nose. One prior art device exists which accomplishes this, known as the "Puffshot™ marshmallow shooter". With this device a child places the large opening of a tube-like object over their nose. At the opposite (distal) end of the tube there is a small hole. A marshmallow is inserted into this small hole and the child exerts force from their nose to cause the marshmallow to shoot out of the hole. The child is then encouraged to eat the marshmallow. Unfortunately, marshmallows are a low-nutrient "junk food" item that also poses a risk of choking.
Accordingly, there is a need in the art for fun, effective devices that incentivize children to blow their noses without the disadvantages of the prior art.

Nasal pinwheel for assisting children in nose blowing


Protection structures for suppressing plasma damage. Plasma damage is shown to occur primarily during a metal clear portion of a metal etch as opposed to also occurring during the overetch portion of the etch. The protection structures (202) provide a temporary connection between the metal layer (210) being etched and the substrate or a protection device during the clear portion of the etch. This temporary connection (202) is removed as the metal (210) is cleared.

Process-induced damage is becoming a very serious concern for semiconductor device manufacturers. Such damage accounts for device degradations and lower yields. One type of process-induced damage can occur during ash, plasma etch and plasma enhanced deposition processes (collectively referred to as plasma charging damage), and ion implantation. Charge-induced damage is becoming particularly important due to: the scaling down of gate oxide thicknesses and channel length with succeeding technologies; increasing levels of metalization; and the advent of high density plasma sources for etching and deposition.
With respect to charge-induced damage, the charge collected in the antenna stresses the oxide of a device. More specifically, in a MOSFET structure, the charge collected on the antenna stresses the gate oxide of the MOSFET, thereby inducing stress-related degradation of the MOSFET. This stress-related degradation may include: shortening the lifetime of the device, increasing the gate leakage of the device, or shifting the threshold voltage of the device.
Advanced technology nodes now require 5 and 6 levels of metallization. This results in multiple wafer exposures to the metal etch reactors. This combined with the decrease in gate oxide thickness to 60 .ANG. and below make plasma damage a primary concern during metal etch process development. Accordingly, there is a need to better understand the mechanisms of the plasma damage and to develop an approach for minimizing this damage.

Protection structures for the suppression of plasma damage


The invention is an alkaline cleaning system which includes an alkaline detergent composition having a pH greater than 10.5 when diluted to a 1 wt-% aqueous solution, and an alkali stable continuous polymeric film dispersible or soluble in aqueous liquids covering the detergent composition. The invention also includes methods of using the alkaline cleaning system by applying an aqueous diluent automatically (by machine) or manually through partial or complete dissolution of the film covered solid.

Water soluble films have previously been made from polyvinyl alcohol and vinyl acetate resin blends. These chemicals are generally not compatible with any number of chemical systems. For example, these polymers are generally not compatible with chemical systems having a high pH or alkalinity such as caustic (NaOH) or caustic type materials. The alkali reacts with the vinyl acetate portion of the film converting it to vinyl alcohol. Films made of 100 wt-% vinyl alcohol have dramatically reduced water solubility. Moreover, packaged chemical detergents, cleaners, and the like must also be contained in a system which combines strength and structural integrity with storage stability to contain the product during storage and transportation prior to reaching its final end use. At the final location the package has to have enough strength to withstand handling prior to use.
Finally, many chemical cleaners have a highly alkaline nature. As a result, operational handling of these compositions, especially in the environment of use, often creates definite hazards stemming from the premature creation of high pH solutions which may result in severe injury to the operator.
Prior attempts to solve these problems include Torimae, Japanese Patent Document No. 2,163,149 and 0,260,906 which disclose cold water soluble films resulting from a copolymer of itaconic acid and saponified vinyl acetate and modified polyvinyl alcohol films used for packaging solid detergents, respectively; Proctor & Gamble, Japanese Patent No. 2,155,999 which discloses water soluble packages containing liquid detergents, the film generally comprising a vinyl alcohol polymer; Albert, U.S. Pat. No. 3,892,905 which discloses films made of a polymer mixture of polyvinyl alcohol and polyvinyl pyrrolidone; and Japanese Patent No. 2,108,534 to Torimae discloses cold water soluble multi-layer films for powder detergent packaging generally comprising vinyl alcohol polymers.
However, while these publications disclose films which generally would be classified as water soluble, there is no discussion regarding the maintenance of water solubility in the face of solids or solutions having an alkaline pH. Moreover, these publications do not disclose the manner in which the solubility of the polymeric films can be controlled generally.
As a result, a need still exists for a package cleaning system which has a high structural integrity and remains alkaline stable, preventing exposure to the operator prior to use and remains aqueous soluble or dispersible even in the presence of, or after contact with highly alkaline solutions.

Water soluble or dispersible film covered alkaline composition


An image displaying method for a television includes: selecting a portion of a plurality of display regions of a screen of the television to display a still or animated image when a power-on signal is received; and utilizing all the plurality of display regions to display images corresponding to a television signal after a predetermined time period beginning from when the power-on signal is received. The present invention further discloses an image displaying method for a television, including: selecting a portion of a plurality of display regions of a screen of the television and stopping the displaying of images corresponding to a television signal on the selected display regions when a power-off signal is received; and stopping the displaying of images corresponding to the television signal on all the plurality of display regions after a predetermined time period beginning from when the power-off signal is received.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to televisions, and more particularly, to image displaying methods and apparatuses for television when powering on/off.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Televisions are one of the most popular home appliances because they can distribute information and provide entertainment functionalities. Many families have two or even more televisions, and the importance of the television can be seen in view of this.
The television displays images on its screen. In the prior art, however, the operations of the television are monotonous when powering on or powering off.

Image displaying method and apparatus for television when powering on/off


According to the present invention, there is provided a wheel identifying apparatus for a vehicle which includes a transmitter, a signal strength determiner, a variation determiner, and a wheel identifier. The transmitter is located on the body of the vehicle and working to transmit a signal during running of the vehicle. The signal strength determiner is located on a wheel of the vehicle away from the rotational axis of the wheel and works to determine strength of the signal thereat. The variation determiner works to determine a variation in the strength of the signal determined by the signal strength determiner. The wheel identifier is configured to identify the wheel as a spare wheel located on the body of the vehicle when the variation determined by the variation determiner is substantially zero.

1. Technical Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to tire inflation pressure detecting apparatuses for detecting the inflation pressure of tires on a vehicle and tire location detecting apparatuses for automatically detecting the locations of tires on a vehicle.
More particularly, the invention relates to a direct-type tire inflation pressure detecting apparatus for a vehicle which has a function of identifying running and spare wheels of the vehicle.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventional direct-type tire inflation pressure detecting apparatuses generally include a plurality of transmitters and a receiver.
Each of the transmitters is directly mounted on one of a plurality of wheels of a vehicle and includes a pressure sensor working to sense the inflation pressure of a tire fitted on the wheel. Each of the transmitters is configured to transmit a pressure signal representative of the inflation pressure of the tire sensed by the pressure sensor.
The receiver is mounted on the body of the vehicle and includes at least one antenna. The receiver is configured to receive the pressure signals transmitted from the transmitters via the antenna and determine the inflation pressure of the tires based on the received pressure signals.
However, in the above arrangement, the receiver may receive, in addition to the pressure signals transmitted by the transmitters, pressure signals transmitted by external transmitters. However, it is impossible for the receiver to determine whether a pressure signal received thereby has been transmitted by one of the transmitters or by an external transmitter. Moreover, it is also impossible for the receiver to detect the locations of the transmitters (or the associated tires) on the vehicle. In other words, the receiver cannot identify the wheel on which the transmitter having transmitted a pressure signal and the tire whose inflation pressure is indicated by the pressure signal are located.
To solve the above problems, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,602,524, each of the transmitters may be configured to transmit an identification signal (to be referred to as ID signal hereinafter) representative of the identity thereof along with the pressure signal. On the other hand, the receiver may be configured to have reference ID signals registered therein, each of which coincides with the ID signal of one of the transmitters and is associated with the location of that transmitter.
Thus, the receiver may work to compare an ID signal received thereby with the reference ID signals registered therein and identify the transmitter which has transmitted the ID signal when the ID signal coincides with one of the reference ID signals.
Consequently, the receiver can identify the wheel on which the identified transmitter is mounted. More specifically, the receiver can determine whether the wheel is a FR (front-right), a FL (front-left), a RR (rear-right), or a RL (rear-left) wheel of the vehicle. Further, the receiver can determine the inflation pressure of the tire fitted on the identified wheel based on the pressure signal received along with the ID signal.
However, with such a configuration, it is required to previously register the ID signals specific to the respective transmitters as reference ID signals in the receiver through associating the ID signals with the locations of the respective transmitters on the vehicle (i.e., the wheels on which the respective transmitters are mounted). Moreover, as tire replacement or rotations are performed, it is required to update the reference ID signals in the receiver.
Conventionally, the registration of the ID signals in the receiver is made through performing a time-consuming manual operation. Thus, it is desired to automatically make the ID registration. Further, for automatically making the ID registration, it is desired to automatically detect the locations of the transmitters (or the associated tires), in other words, to automatically identify the wheel on which each of the transmitters (or the associated tires) is mounted.
Moreover, the vehicle wheels generally include a spare wheel that is located on the body of the vehicle in the vicinity of the rear wheels of the vehicle and also has a transmitter mounted thereon. Thus, in automatic detection of the locations of transmitters on the vehicle, it is difficult for the receiver to determine whether a pressure signal received thereby is transmitted by the transmitter on the spare wheel or by the transmitter on one of the rear wheels of the vehicle. In other words, it is difficult for the receiver to identify whether the wheel on which the transmitter having transmitted the pressure signal is mounted is the spare wheel or one of the rear wheels of the vehicle.

Tire inflation pressure detecting apparatus with function of identifying running and spare wheels


The invention relates to an evaporator control by use of an expansion valve and an internal heat exchanger IHE. The evaporator control is controlled after the start of the evaporation process and the temperature of the compressor suction vapor, oil and hot gas as well as coolant liquid is controlled and regulated upstream of the expansion valve.

(1) Field of the Invention
Evaporation of refrigerant in cooling and freezing plants, refrigeration engineering, refrigeration machine for cooling and heating operation, refrigeration plants, refrigeration sets, heat pumps, air-conditioning systems and others.
(2) Description of the Related Art
Evaporator control with drive dry expansion on the basis of the minimum stable signal (MMS) is illustrated in (FIGS. 1, 2 and 3).
For optimum operation of an evaporator used in refrigeration, the evaporator is supplied with sufficient wet steam for a control valve (expansion valve) (3) to be controlled to a minimum stable signal, normally on the basis of the evaporator outlet pressure (12) and the associated evaporator outlet temperature (13) (drawing FIGS. 1, 2 and 3). The difference between the evaporator pressure, converted by calculation into the associated evaporation temperature, and the actual evaporation temperature measured is used as measured variable for the control valve. In this context, the aim is stable control characteristics with as low a temperature difference as possible. As low a temperature difference as possible leads to a higher evaporator power. If the difference is too low or the signal is not stable, liquid shocks or power reduction occur at the compressor (1). If the difference is too great, the evaporator power (4) is reduced.
Automatic valves, capillary tubes or other equipment are also dimensioned and used on the basis of the same principle (superheated refrigerant vapor at the end of the evaporation process).
Nowadays, in some cases internal heat exchangers (IHEs) (5) (FIG. 4, 5, 6) are connected downstream of the evaporator. However, these internal heat exchangers are designed as "thermally short" equipment and are not incorporated in the evaporator control on the basis of the entry vapor content. The refrigerant liquid is not strongly cooled and the suction vapors are not strongly superheated. The superheating of the suction vapor is restricted to approx. 5-10K. Injection valves which are customary nowadays are also not designed for maximum superheating, and the superheating which can be set is at most approx. 20-25K.

Evaporation process control used in refrigeration