A technique that can effectively utilize unused wireless link and realize high-quality wireless communication between a communication terminal and a base station and enables efficient distribution of radio resources over an entire wireless communication system is provided. A wireless communication system in which a base station and a communication terminal can conduct wireless communication by detecting a usable wireless link and changing a wireless link used for the connection is also provided. On the communication network side, in addition to a plurality of wireless communication networks and a base station, a server device is provided. Connection-method reconstruction management means for determining a connection method of the wireless communication on the basis of communication condition information including information on usable wireless link at current locations of the base station and the communication terminal and connection-method reconstruction control means for controlling the connection method of the wireless communication for the corresponding base station are provided.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a wireless communication system capable of wireless communication between a base station and a communication terminal by detecting a usable wireless link and by changing the wireless link used for connection and a method of wireless communication, and particularly to a technique for effectively utilizing resources of the wireless link.
2. Description of the Related Art
Various types of wireless access systems such as mobile phone, wireless LAN, PHS and the like have spread, and a wireless MAN service such as WiMAX (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access) is going to start.
In order to effectively utilize such access systems, research and development have been made on a technique to handover different types of wireless networks in a seamless manner (See, G. Wu, P. Havinga and M. Mizuno, "MIRAI Architecture for eterogeneous Networks," IEEE Comm Mag., pp. 126-134, 2002; and M. Inoue, K. Mahmud, H. Murakami, M. Hasegawa and H. Morikawa, "Novel Out-of-Band Signaling for Seamless Interworking between Heterogeneous Networks," IEEE Wireless Commun., Vol. 11, No. 2, pp. 56-63, 2004). Also, as disclosed in H. Harada, "Software Defined Radio Prototype toward Cognitive Radio Communication Systems," IEEE Dyspan 2005, Vol. 1, pp. 539-547, 2005, a software wireless technique capable of connection with different wireless interfaces in order to switch a different wireless system has been studied.
Based on these techniques, by switching to an optimal system according to a situation of a wireless network, more efficient use of limited radio resources (frequency, wireless infrastructure) and network resources will become possible. Also, as a result, total throughput and capacity are improved, leading to improvement efficient frequency usage.
In addition, for users, it becomes possible to communicate through an optimal wireless access all the time. For example, communication can be made through a mobile phone supporting high-speed movement during travel, while communication can be automatically switched to a wireless LAN through the inexpensive Internet when at home. A Cognitive Wireless Cloud advocated by the applicant of the present application is disclosed in Masahiro Kuroda, Yoshitoshi Murata, Hiroshi Harada, Shuzo Kato, "Cognitive Wireless Cloud (1)˜Architecture˜," IEICE Search Report, Technical Committee on Software Radio, March 2007. The Cognitive Wireless Cloud is cognitive wireless architecture in which a cognitive wireless terminal capable of connecting to various types of networks through a plurality of wireless access means autonomously collects information of the networks available at the site, obtains QoS information of each wireless accesses and networks on a real-time basis and optimizes capacity and an error rate of the entire network.
Considering an environment in which a large number of radio waves are present, the total capacity is improved if a complex system of the network as a whole including the terminal is in the optimal state. As a result, a bit rate per frequency is improved, and the frequency use efficiency is improved. The cognitive wireless network can be considered as a technique to form such an optimal state while switching various types of wireless systems.
The problem relates to how integration of the plurality of radio resources in such a cognitive wireless network is achieved. For example, a link aggregation technique that integrates communication bands of a plurality of wireless links in order to improve a throughput of communication has been known. However, with the prior-art link aggregation technique, dynamic selection in a plurality of frequencies according to the use situation over time is not possible, and an effect in the cognitive wireless network is limited.
As a technique relating to the present invention, a technique relating to collection of wireless information has been examined by the applicants of this application. For example, a technique for a terminal to autonomously recognize a usable network is disclosed by Goh Miyamoto, Kentaro Ishizu, Mikio Hasegawa, Yoshitoshi Murata, "Cognitive Wireless Cloud (2)˜Data collecting method for discovering radio resources˜," IEICE Search Report, Technical Committee on Software Radio, March 2007. A technique to obtain the respective network QoS information on a real-time basis is disclosed in Yoshia Saito, Mikio Hasegawa, Yoshitoshi Murata, "Cognitive Wireless Cloud (3)˜High-speed end-to-end QoS measuring method˜," IEICE Search Report, Technical Committee on Software Radio, March 2007. In addition, a technique to make efficient radio resource reservations for seamless handover that can deal with high-speed movement is disclosed in H. N. Tran, M. Hasegawa, Y. Murata, "Resource Reservation Scheme for Mobile Users in Cognitive Wireless Cloud," IEICE Search Report, Technical Committee on Software Radio, March 2007.
As a prior-art patent document relating to the present invention, an integrated wireless communication system is disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open No. 2008-211583. In this patent application, a plurality of wireless systems constituted by base stations accommodating terminal stations are connected to a network, respectively, and an information management server is installed therein. The server receives indication as to what type of wireless signals such as wireless communication standards, band widths, frequency channels, transmission power and the like are transmitted by each base station and at what location from each base station and creates a database. Then, in the information management server, a frequency to be used by each base station is determined and notified. A characteristic of this technique is that cognitive wireless that can optimize a frequency to be used is realized without direct wireless signal detection.
However, with the technique of Japanese Laid-Open No. 2008-211583, only the frequency that can be used from location information of the base stations is determined, and favorable communication cannot be necessarily realized by a communication terminal in an actuality. Also, communication quality required by the communication terminal is not necessarily ensured.
Japanese Laid-Open No. 2003-152732 discloses a software wireless communication device. This software wireless communication device converts a received radio wave by an analog-digital converter once and then performs demodulation or the like by a digital signal processor or a microprocessor in software. A plurality of frequencies or wireless methods can be dealt with by switching the software.
Japanese Laid-Open No. 2007-184850 discloses a cognitive communication system in which a database device maintaining information on a wireless channel use state is connected to each base station provided in the respective wireless access networks, and a database device having a database of frequencies used by the existing wireless access networks, integrating the database devices is installed on each of the base station sides. In order to manage wireless access devices with different communication methods or management methods in an integrated manner, common use of the functions and a communication interface between different devices are required. However, with the prior-art techniques, such functions are realized by a device developed specially for the wireless system, and the functions in the device are different and moreover, common use of the interface between the devices is not possible, which leads to a problem that general-purpose devices cannot be developed.

Wireless communication system and method of wireless communication

NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGY


A method of manufacturing power-module substrates, after bonding copper-circuit plates 30 at intervals on a ceramic plate 21 having an area in which ceramic substrates can be formed abreast, by dividing the ceramic plate 21 between the copper-circuit plates 30, in which: bonding-material layers 71 of active-metal brazing material having same shapes as outer shapes of the copper-circuit plates 30 are formed on the ceramic plate 21; temporal-stick material 72 including polyethylene glycol as a major ingredient is spread on the copper-circuit plates 30, the bonding-material layers 71 and the copper-circuit plates 30 are temporarily fixed on the ceramic plate 21 in a state of laminating with positioning by the temporal-stick material 72; and a laminated assembly thereof is pressurized in a laminating direction and heated, so that the ceramic plate and the copper-circuit plates are bonded.

Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a manufacturing method of a power-module substrate for a semiconductor device controlling a large electric current and high voltage.
Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, it is known that a power-module substrate has a structure in which a circuit plate is bonded with laminating on one surface of a ceramic substrate and a heat-radiation plate is bonded with laminating on the other surface of the ceramic substrate. The power-module substrate is provided as a power module by soldering electronic components such as a semiconductor chip (a power element) and the like on the circuit plate and bonding a heat sink on the heat-radiation plate.
In such power-module substrates, for example, there is technology described in Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2 as methods of bonding metal plates to be the circuit plate or the heat-radiation plate on the ceramic substrate by laminating.
Patent Document 1 discloses steps in which: adjusting a copper-circuit assembly in a state in which circuit elements are connected by thin bridge portions; printing bonding material such as Ag—Cu—Ti or the like including active metals such as Ti on a ceramic substrate in a pattern of the copper-circuit assembly; bonding the copper-circuit assembly and the ceramic substrate by heating with laminating; and then removing the bridge portions by an etching process.
Patent Document 2 discloses a method of manufacturing power-module substrates, including steps of: laminating and bonding a ceramic mother-plate and a metal plate with interposing a brazing foil; forming circuit patterns by etching the metal plate; forming grooves between the circuit patterns on the ceramic mother-plate; and dividing the ceramic mother-plate along the grooves.

Manufacturing method of power-module substrate


An organic electroluminescent device has an improved lifetime and may be driven at a low voltage. The organic electroluminescent device includes; a substrate; a first electrode to define a pixel region on the substrate; multiple organic film layers to perform light emission on the first electrode; and a second electrode laminated on the multiple organic film layers; wherein the multiple organic film layers include at least an emitting layer, and at least one of a hole injection layer and a hole transport layer. The at least one of the hole injection layer and the hole transport layer includes an electron acceptor material.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an organic electroluminescent device, more particularly, to an organic electroluminescent device capable of being driven at low voltage.
2. Description of the Related Art
An organic electroluminescent device (OELD) has advantages in that it is thin and lightweight. The components and processing are simple, high definition and a wide view angle are secured, a complete moving picture and high color purity are realized, and electrical characteristics appropriate a for mobile purpose are obtained by low power consumption and low voltage driving of a self-emitting type display using a phenomenon that light is generated as electrons are being connected to holes in an organic compound layer when current flows to a fluorescent or a phosphorescent organic compound thin film.
The organic electroluminescent device is divided into a passive driving device and an active driving device according to a driving method, a small molecular weight device and a polymeric device according to the material and the structure.
In the case of a small molecular weight device, the efficiency and lifetime are improved by forming a hole transport layer between the emitting layer and the anode and forming an electron transport layer between the emitting layer and the cathode, with the emitting layer being substantially between the anode and the cathode as mentioned in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,356,429, 4,539,507, 4,720,432 and 4,769,292. These patents substantially include color patterning by deposition and technologies commonly applied to passive and active types of display devices.
On the other hand, an initial polymeric device, different from the small molecular weight device, is formed in a sandwich shaped structure, wherein a light emitting polymer is introduced between a transparent anode and a metal cathode as mentioned in U.S. Pat. No. 5,247,190. The polymeric device has disadvantages in that the efficiency and the lifetime are unfavorable since the consistency between the work function of both electrodes and the highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) and the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) values of polymers are not well matched. On the contrary, the efficiency and the lifetime are quite improved by introducing a metal for the cathode having a work function value similar to the LUMO value of the polymer at the cathode side. It is difficult to introduce material except ITO and IZO since there is a limitation of a transparent electrode at the anode side.
A structure to adopt a single layer comprising a light emitting polymer between the anode and the cathode is typical due to the advantages that the functions of the electron transport and the hole transport of a general light emitting polymer are simultaneously performed when fabricating a full color PLED device. However, a four-layer structure adopting a first charge carrier injection layer, two layers of a semiconductor conjugated polymer and a second charge carrier injection layer is adopted in U.S. Pat. No. 5,807,627, wherein the efficiency of the device is increased by adding charge carrier injection layers even though implementation of the improved electron transport and the hole transport is difficult. However, there is a limitation wherein polymers having different characteristics should be adopted in a single device so that a lower layer is not dissolved during wet processing, and only mono color is realized because an emitting layer may not be patterned since the total process proceeds by spin coating in the case of adopting PPV series polymer adopting a multilayer structure, thus constructing two layers.
Eventually, the necessity to increase the efficiency or the device stability gain force even in a polymeric light emitting device by eliminating a simple structure has been recognized, and the high molecular weight device also requires addition of a subsidiary layer to aid injection or movement of the charge carriers as in the lower molecular weight device.
Each layer may be introduced by vacuum deposition in the case of a small molecular weight organic electroluminescent device. However, introduction of various organic layers is restricted since the spin coating process is used in the case of the polymeric organic electroluminescent device. Therefore, the polymeric organic electroluminescent device is generally constructed in a simple structure having anode and cathode electrodes, a hole injection layer and an emitting layer.
However, the polymeric organic electroluminescent device not only has problems due to diffusion of the anode material indium or tin into the emitting layer, or because of a change in the emitting layer due to use of a hole injection layer having acidic characteristics, since the device is fabricated without a separate hole transport layer or an electron transport layer in the upper and the lower parts of the emitting layer due to its single layer structure. This also causes a negative effect in that the stability of the device is lessened considerably due to diffusion of the cathode metal into the emitting layer that may occur when depositing the cathode material.
One of the methods to solve the above-cited problems is a method to prevent diffusion by forming a thick hole-blocking layer (or an electron transport layer) or a hole transport layer in the upper and the lower parts of the emitting layer. However, the hole transport layer, the hole-blocking layer and the electron transport layer contain a large amount of self-emitting materials and change the wavelength of the light coming out of the emitting layer by forming an exciplex on the interface with the emitting layer, even through the materials do not emit light by themselves. Furthermore, there is a problem that forming thick materials in the upper and the lower parts of the emitting layers considerably increases the driving voltage.
On the other hand, a combined concept of reduction of the driving voltage and the luminance quenching principle by promoting a non-radioactive process different from emission does not exist, although existing patents on doping mainly concern the concept of energy transfer using a method for mixing the emitting dopant with the emitting host substances (U.S. Pat. No. 4,769,292) or a concept of preventing trapping of the electrons by simply mixing materials having low LUMO value with a hole transport layer or an emitting layer (U.S. Pat. No. 5,601,903). This concept is also adopted to the small molecular weight (or hybrid type) organic electroluminescent device as well as the polymer light emitting device.

Organic electroluminescent device driven at low voltage


A package includes a closure for attachment to a container. The closure has a skirt with a plurality of internal lugs and an internal surface. The container has a sidewall terminating in an open end and having a plurality of external projections. The plurality of external projections include sets of child-resistant and non-child-resistant projections. The child-resistant projections have undersides with notches for receiving the plurality of internal lugs of the closure, and the non-child-resistant projections have substantially flat undersides for locating against the plurality of internal lugs of the closure. The sidewall also has an external surface located axially between the plurality of external projections and the open end for engagement with the internal surface of the closure for sealing the package and for resiliently biasing the closure away from the container. Preferably, indicia are provided on the closure and container to facilitate selective engagement of the lugs and projections in the different modes.

U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,057,159, 4,059,198 and 4,485,932 disclose child-resistant closure and container prescription packages that include a container or vial, a closure, and a spring/seal disk arrangement disposed between the closure and the container. The closure has lugs on an inside surface of a skirt that cooperate with external locking notches or pockets on projections around the mouth of the container for securing the closure to the container. An internal abutment on the closure cooperates with the spring/seal disk(s) to urge the closure away from the container so that the lugs are resiliently captured within the notches. When it is desired to remove the closure, the closure is pushed toward the container so that the lugs clear the notches, and then turned counterclockwise. When the closure is assembled to the container, the lugs cam beneath surfaces on the projections against the force of the spring seal disk(s) until the lugs snap into the notches on the projections.
Although the closure and container packages disclosed in the noted patents have enjoyed substantial commercial acceptance and success, improvements remain desirable. For example, it can be difficult for adults with impaired dexterity to push and twist the closure with respect to the container to open the package for access to the contents. Some prior art packages have both a child-resistant mode of operation and a non-child-resistant mode of operation, wherein the closure must be inverted, or flipped upside down, and re-applied to the container in the non-child-resistant mode of operation. This inversion of the closure on the container often yields a package having a different appearance in the non-child-resistant mode than in the child-resistant mode.
A package in accordance with a first aspect of the invention includes a closure having a skirt with a first plurality of lugs, a container having an open end and a second plurality of external projections and a spring to bias said closure away from said container. The second plurality of external projections on said container includes a first series of projections having under-notches alternating with a second series of projections without under-notches. Indicia on said closure and container are for selectively engaging the lugs with the projections with under-notches in a child-resistant mode of operation, and engaging the lugs with the projections without under-notches in a non-child resistant mode of operation. In the preferred embodiment, the spring is formed by opposed portions of the closure and the container, one or both of which resiliently deflect to develop the spring force. A separate spring element, such as a spring disk, could be provided between the closure and the container rim, but would be less preferred.
A package in accordance with a second aspect of the present invention includes a closure for attachment to a container. The closure has a skirt with a plurality of lugs and an internal surface. The container has a sidewall terminating in an open end and having a plurality of projections thereon. The plurality of projections include a set of child-resistant and a set of non-child-resistant projections. The child-resistant projections have undersides with notches for receiving the plurality of lugs of the closure, and the non-child-resistant projections have substantially flat undersides for locating against the plurality of lugs of the closure. The sidewall further has a conical surface at the open end for engagement with the internal surface of the closure to seal the package and to resiliently bias the closure away from the container. The internal surface on the closure skirt preferably is conical.
A package in accordance with another aspect of the present invention includes a closure for attachment to a container. The closure includes a base wall and a skirt extending from the base wall. The skirt has a plurality of internal lugs extending radially inwardly and an internal surface between the plurality of lugs and the base wall. The container includes a base, a sidewall extending from the base and terminating in an open end. The sidewall includes a plurality of external projections extending radially outwardly therefrom, and sets of child-resistant and non-child-resistant projections. The child-resistant projections have undersides with notches for receiving the plurality of internal lugs of the closure. The non-child-resistant projections have substantially flat undersides for locating against the plurality of internal lugs of the closure. The sidewall also includes an external conical surface between the plurality of external projections and the open end for engagement with the internal conical surface of the closure for sealing the package and for resiliently biasing the closure away from the container so as to resiliently urge the plurality of internal lugs into the notches of the plurality of child-resistant projections in the child-resistant mode of operation and to resiliently urge the plurality of internal lugs into contact with the undersides of the plurality of non-child-resistant projections in the non-child-resistant mode of operation.
Another aspect of the present invention includes a closure for receipt on a container having a plurality of external projections. The closure includes a base wall, a skirt, and indicia on at least one of the base wall and the skirt. The skirt extends from the base wall and has a plurality of internal lugs extending radially inwardly and an internal surface between the plurality of internal lugs and the base wall for sealingly engaging the container. The indicia are provided on at least one of the base wall and the skirt to facilitate selective engagement of the plurality of internal lugs either with the plurality of external projections of the closure in a child-resistant mode of operation or in a non-child-resistant mode of operation.
A further aspect of the present invention includes a container for cooperation with a closure having a plurality of internal lugs. The container includes a base, and a sidewall extending from the base and terminating in an open end. The sidewall includes a plurality of external projections extending radially outwardly therefrom, and including a set of child-resistant and a set of non-child-resistant projections. The child-resistant projections have undersides with notches for receiving the plurality of internal lugs of the closure. The non-child-resistant projections have substantially flat undersides for locating against the plurality of internal lugs of the closure. The sidewall also includes an external conical surface between the plurality of external projections and the open end for sealing engagement with the closure and for resiliently biasing the closure away from the container so as to resiliently urge the plurality of internal lugs into the notches of the plurality of child-resistant projections in the child-resistant mode of operation and to resiliently urge the plurality of internal lugs into contact with the undersides of the plurality of non-child-resistant projections in the non-child-resistant mode of operation.
In one or more of the preferred embodiments of the invention, there are indicia provided on one or both of the closure and container to facilitate selective engagement of the plurality of lugs of the closure either with the child-resistant projections of the container in a child-resistant mode of operation or with the non-child-resistant projections of the container in a non-child-resistant mode of operation. Moreover, the sets of child-resistant and non-child-resistant projections are circumferentially interspersed around the sidewall of the container. Finally, one or both of the sidewall of the container and the skirt of the closure is radially resiliently flexible and adapted to flex upon engagement of the opposing surfaces of the closure and container for sealing the package and resiliently urging the plurality of lugs into the notches of the child-resistant projections in a child-resistant mode of operation and into contact with the undersides of the non-child-resistant projections in a non-child-resistant mode of operation.

Closure and container package with child-resistant and non-child-resistant modes of operation


A rotor shaft that is supported by a deep groove ball bearing a radial load and a unidirectional thrust load, and by a cylindrical roller bearing for bearing a radial load. Also, a pretension applying means is provided for applying a pretension to the rotor shaft in the same direction as the thrust load which is borne by the deep groove ball bearing.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a rotor shaft which is supported by a deep groove ball bearing and a cylindrical roller bearing and which is used for an aircraft gas turbine and the like.
2. Description of the Related Art
FIG. 2 is an illustrative view of a conventional rotor shaft for use with an aircraft gas turbine and the like. The shaft is supported by a deep groove ball bearing and a cylindrical roller bearing. In FIG. 2, the rotor shaft is supported by three heavy load and high-speed rotation roller bearings. That is, at predetermined portions on the side of a joint of the rotor shaft 1 and on the side opposite thereto, there are respectively arranged cylindrical roller bearings 3 each of which has a large load bearing capacity with respect to a radial load and a coefficient of friction that is smaller than that of other type roller bearings and which is resistant against an impact load and is suitable for heavy-load and high-speed rotation of the rotor shaft. Also, at a predetermined portion on the side of the joint, there is arranged a single deep groove ball bearing 2 for bearing a thrust load applied on the rotor shaft 1 during its high-speed rotation.
As described above, the conventional rotor shaft 1 of an aircraft gas turbine engine and the like has a disadvantage in that, since the rotor shaft 1 is supported by the three bearings, the torque loss due to the bearings is extremely great and the rotor shaft is forced to become lengthy which results in giving rise to an adverse effect regarding weight reduction and the maintenance of rigidity of the rotor shaft thereby contributing to an increase in the manufacturing costs of the aircraft gas turbine and the like.


A management information storage section included in a relay apparatus stores first management information for managing an address of a first buffer which stores data transmitted from a first apparatus to a second apparatus and second management information for managing an address of a second buffer corresponding to the first buffer. An information processing section swaps the address of the first buffer managed by the first management information for the address of the second buffer managed by the second management information. A transmission section transmits to the second apparatus data stored at the address of the first buffer swapped between the first management information and the second management information.

A storage system including a host apparatus and a storage apparatus which stores data for the host apparatus is known.
A technique for duplicating data and recording it on a plurality of disks is known. This technique is used for, for example, improving the performance or reliability of an ordinary storage system. In addition, a remote copy function for installing a plurality of storage apparatus at places distant from one another and keeping data stored in them equivalent is known.
A technique for preserving a measure to perform recovery by controlling and guaranteeing the order in which a storage apparatus is written by a database itself even in the case of the occurrence of a failure in an apparatus, such as a server, or a disaster is known. With storage apparatus using the remote copy function, a technique for storing data written by a host apparatus in a mirrored storage apparatus while maintaining the order in which the data is transferred is known. The host apparatus which is in operation may go down due to a disaster. However, if the order is guaranteed, data processing can be continued by the use of a host apparatus included in a spare storage system on the basis of data stored in the mirrored storage apparatus.
Furthermore, with remote copy it is known that an increase in the distance of a connection between a master storage system and a substorage system causes a slow communication response and a delay in data copy. Accordingly, the technique of placing a cache disk between the master storage system and the sub storage system for temporarily storing copy object data is known.
Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2006-260292
International Publication Pamphlet No. WO/2008/139545
Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2006-155202
FIGS. 22A and 22B are examples of a remote copy control method by a storage apparatus.
FIG. 22A is an example of realizing mirroring by transferring data between dedicated buffers 72 of controller modules 74 (CM0 and CM1) in a copy source storage apparatus 71 and dedicated buffers 82 of controller modules 84 (CM0 and CM1) in a storage apparatus 81 remotely connected to the storage apparatus 71.
1) The copy source storage apparatus 71 temporarily stores data I/O(1) through I/O(5) from a host in disk units 73 and then stores them in the transfer buffers 72.
2) Data is transferred periodically from the buffers 72 in the copy source storage apparatus 71 to the buffers 82 in the copy destination storage apparatus 81. When the copy source storage apparatus 71 transfers the data from the buffers 72 to the copy destination storage apparatus 81, the copy source storage apparatus 71 synchronizes the CM0 to the CM1 with respect to transfer timing.
3) The copy destination storage apparatus 81 stores the data transferred from the copy source storage apparatus 71 in disk units 83. At this time the copy destination storage apparatus 81 synchronizes the CM0 to the CM1 with respect to timing at which the data is outputted from the buffers 82.
There are a plurality of buffers 72 and a plurality of buffers 82. When the data is transferred from the copy source storage apparatus 71 to the copy destination storage apparatus 81, the order in which the data is transferred from the plurality of buffers 72 and the order in which the data is outputted from the plurality of buffers 82 are maintained and the plurality of buffers 72 are associated with the plurality of buffers 82. As a result, the order in which the data is transferred is guaranteed in the copy destination storage apparatus 81.
By the way, the concept of preventing data from being lost in a system has recently spread. A method in which mirroring is performed not via only one apparatus but via one or more apparatus is known. As illustrated in FIG. 22B, for example, a storage apparatus 91 placed for relay between a storage apparatus 71 and a storage apparatus 81 includes a controller module 93 with buffers 92 and a controller module 95 with buffers 94.
1) Data which is transferred from the copy source storage apparatus 71 and which is stored in buffers 92 is temporarily stored in disk units 96. The data in the buffers 92 is outputted to the disk units 96 in parallel, so data transfer order is not taken into consideration.
2) After the data stored in the disk units 96 is stored in buffers 94, the data is transferred to the copy destination storage apparatus 81. The data is stored in the buffers 94 in the order in which the data is written to the disk units 96. Accordingly, as stated above, when the data is transferred to the storage apparatus 81, data transfer order is not guaranteed.
Remote copy between the storage apparatus 91 and the storage apparatus 71 and remote copy between the storage apparatus 91 and the storage apparatus 81 which are independent of each other are managed. As a result, data transfer order among a plurality of apparatus cannot be guaranteed.


In one general embodiment, a method is provided for fabricating magnetic structures using post-deposition tilting. A thin film magnetic transducer structure is formed on a substantially planar portion of a substrate such that a plane of deposition of the thin film transducer structure is substantially parallel to a plane of the substrate. Additionally, the thin film transducer structure is caused to tilt at an angle relative to the plane of the substrate. The thin film transducer is fixed at the angle after being tilted.

The present invention relates to thin film processing, and more particularly, this invention relates to methods for fabricating magnetic structures using post-deposition tilting.
In magnetic storage systems, data is read from and written onto magnetic recording media utilizing magnetic transducers commonly. Data is written on the magnetic recording media by moving a magnetic recording transducer to a position over the media where the data is to be stored. The magnetic recording transducer then generates a magnetic field, which encodes the data into the magnetic media. Data is read from the media by similarly positioning the magnetic read transducer and then sensing the magnetic field of the magnetic media. Read and write operations may be independently synchronized with the movement of the media to ensure that the data can be read from and written to the desired location on the media.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Methods for fabricating magnetic transducers using post-deposition tilting


An apparatus and a method for use within a graphical user interface visually associate a graphical representation of a file and a graphical representation of an application, and select an action from a menu appearing in proximity to the association. In the invention, selecting a file icon or file listing with a pointing device and drags it to an application icon or taskbar button. As the file icon is dragged over the application icon, a menu appears listing actions that can be taken on the file by the selected application. The user can select an action listed in the menu by dragging the file icon over the action. Releasing the button over the selected action causes the application to take that action on the file.

1. Technical Field
The invention relates to an improved graphical user interface. In particular, the invention relates to an improved apparatus and method for selecting actions for applications to perform on files.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A graphical user interface (GUI) is used on most computers to present information to users in an easily understood form. The GUI is also used to accept commands and information from the user. Although there are several types of GUIs, they typically share certain methods of operation, including the use of a pointing device, e.g. a mouse, a keyboard touchpad, or a trackball. These pointing devices allow a user to point to an object intuitively, e.g. a file or application, on the computer display and to select the object by pressing a button on the pointing device. In many cases the object can be dragged across the display with the pointing device, for example by continuously pressing the mouse button while the mouse is moved.
The following terms will be used in the context of this description:
An application is a program that operates on one or more files.
A file is a distinct collection of information that has typically been created with and operated on by an application.
A desktop is the visual background of a GUI; application windows are opened on top of the desktop.
An icon is a visual representation of a file or application, commonly placed on a desktop or in a taskbar which shows running applications.
Under most GUIs, files and applications are usually represented on the computer display in one of several ways. An application may be represented by a desktop icon, which the user can click on to start the application. A file can also be represented by a desktop icon, which the user can click on to start the appropriate application opened to that file. An application that is currently running is often represented on a taskbar, which displays all running applications as buttons for easy selection. Both icons and taskbar buttons can be pointed to and selected with the pointing device.
Several GUIs offer a feature in which a file is dragged onto a compatible application, which then performs a default action on the file. For example, if a document file icon, representing a text based file, is dragged onto an application icon representing a word processor or other compatible application, the application opens within a window and displays the selected file. If the same document file icon is dragged onto a printer icon, a printer application may open a print dialog window from which the user can print the file. If the document file icon is dragged onto a directory icon, the file may be moved or copied to that directory.
The action taken on the file in this manner is limited to one default action defined for the pairing of the file and a compatible application. Although there are typically several common actions that may be taken on a file, for any actions other than the default action the user must first open the application to the desired file and then select the desired action. It would therefore be desirable to allow a user to select, via the GUI, from several actions appropriate to the file and application pairing, obviating the need to open the application and load the file manually. Additionally, it would be advantageous to retain the current behavior and to apply the added functionality without adding complexity.

Apparatus and method for selecting actions for visually associated files and applications


The new invention allows for easy retrieval of fall backs and eases the initial threading process upon initial opening/use of the package. Threading is done without removing the cap. Several of the embodiments allow refills to be inserted into the canister without removing the lid/cap. The layout of the dispensing system and the geometry and shape of the dispensing orifice/aperture minimize and mitigate product fall backs. The new invention improves performance of the orifices/apertures through unique geometry and shape as well as using different materials from existing products or the combination of multiple materials. Varying orifice diameter, co-molded density and stiffness or geometry of the actual lobes defining the dispensing aperture allows the precise amount of friction to be created in the dispensing opening for selectively grabbing or releasing the towelette, thereby tearing the towelette connecting perforations at just the right time.

Moist towelettes are commonly sold and used in consumer product markets. Many methods exist for packaging moist towelettes. However, there are no packages that have adequate dispensing mechanisms. Wipes and moist towelettes are packaged as center dispensing rolls in cylindrical containers or as stacks of individual horizontal towelettes.
Many existing packaging systems for moist towelettes either have no dispensing mechanism, or if there is a dispensing mechanism, then it has too many limitations that inhibit functionality and ease of use.
Current packages attempt to let customers remove one towelette at a time. Normally, the subsequent wipe in a package hangs out from the package for easy grasping. However, should the next wipe fall back through the orifice in the cap and into the canister, current technology requires the user to pull the cap off. This is often very difficult to do. The consumer must then re-thread the wipe through the cap orifice, and then re-apply the cap to the canister for further single towelette dispensing. This is the same activity that a consumer must go through for first dispense of the package also.
When using the moist towelettes, hands of a user often become contaminated with substances. Reopening the container, then finding and leading an end of a towelette through a dispensing orifice are difficult when the dispensing interruption occurs before completing a cleaning operation.
Needs exist for improved methods for dispensing and storing moist towelettes that allows for easy dispensing.


An eyeglass lens appliqué device for determining placement of at least one auxiliary lens within an eyeglass lens. The lens appliqué device includes a sheet of plastic that can be removably disposed on the eyeglass lens, and is clingable to the eyeglass lens. The plastic sheet includes an outline of at least one auxiliary lens, and scale markings to show a distance from the outline of the auxiliary lens to an approximate peripheral edge of the eyeglass lens.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to eyeglass lenses and more particularly to preparation of multifocal lenses for eyeglass frames.
2. Related Art
Multifocal lenses for eyeglasses, such as bifocal or trifocal lenses, have a primary lens and at least one auxiliary lens segment having a different focal length than the primary lens. Generally, the auxiliary lens is integrated into the primary lens and located near the bottom of the primary lens. Properly locating the auxiliary lens on the primary lens can be difficult due to differences in the geometry of various eyeglass frames and individual patient anatomy. Moreover, each patient may have personal preferences for the location of the auxiliary lens on the primary lens.
An important factor in determining the location of an auxiliary lens on a primary lens is the segment height of the auxiliary lens. The segment height is the distance from the bottom of the primary lens or eyeglasses frame to the top of the auxiliary lens. Often, the segment height is determined by using a ruler, and measuring the distance from the bottom of the frame or lens to the pupil of the patient. This method is problematic, however, because the optical technician must rely on a best guess as to the most comfortable auxiliary lens location for the patient.
Some attempts have been made to mark an eyeglass lens blank with the patient preferred location for the auxiliary lens. This has been accomplished by marking the lens blank with an indicator, such as a piece of transparent tape, while the patient is wearing the eyeglasses. The glasses are then removed from the patient and the segment height is measured with a ruler. Such methods are inherently inefficient because they have required measuring the segment height after removal of the glasses from the patient. Additionally, the indicators have led to placement errors because they don't accurately simulate the auxiliary lens or are difficult for the patient to see.

Method and apparatus for marking eyeglass lens for placement of reading segment


A drive unit assembly. The drive unit includes a motor drivingly connected to a motor output shaft which in turn is drivingly connected to a sun gear of a gear assembly. The gear assembly further includes a gear assembly housing, one or more planetary gears and a pinion gear. At least a portion of the one or more planetary gears are drivingly connected to the sun gear, the gear assembly housing and a plurality of gear teeth circumferentially extending from an inner surface of a drive unit housing. The pinion gear has a first side and a second side, where the second side of the pinion gear is integrally connected to a first end portion of the gear assembly housing. Drivingly connected to the pinion gear is a differential ring gear of a differential assembly having a first side gear, a second side gear and one or more bevel gears.

In recent years' considerable attention has been given to producing vehicles with increased fuel efficiency to reduce the overall fuel consumption of motorized vehicles all over the world. Additionally, in light of increasingly stringent emission controls considerable attention has been given to producing vehicles that produce fewer emissions. As a result, considerable attention is being given to producing hybrid vehicles and all electric vehicles that have a reduced fuel consumption and produce fewer emissions. Hybrid vehicles typically use two or more distinct power sources to provide the power necessary to drive the vehicle.
Many conventional hybrid vehicles incorporate the use of an internal combustion engine and an electric motor to provide the rotational power necessary to drive the vehicle. The electric motor of the hybrid vehicle alone or in combination with the internal combustion engine provides the rotational power necessary to drive the forward axle system of the vehicle. Additionally, the internal combustion engine of some conventional all-wheel drive (AWD) hybrid vehicles is used to provide the rotational power necessary to drive the forward axle system and the rear axle system of the vehicle. In order for the internal combustion engine to provide the rear axle system with the rotational power necessary to drive the vehicle, a secondary drive-line system is used. The secondary drive-line system extends from the internal combustion engine of the vehicle to the rear axle system. The secondary drive-line adds additional weight to the vehicle and takes up space under the vehicle. It would therefore be advantageous to develop a drive unit that would avoid the use of a secondary drive-line to drive the rear axle system of the vehicle.


A process for the production of automobile parts lacquered with two coats, in which two coating layers are applied on both sides of a coil of sheet metal and are each stoved, and corresponding sheet metal parts are then stamped out of the coil and shaped by the deep-drawing process. In each case by the coil coating process, a coating composition (A) which comprises, based on its solid resin composition, 55 to 80 wt. % of one or more polyester-polyols, 2 to 10 wt. % of one or more aromatic epoxy resins and, as crosslinking agents, 5 to 15 wt. % aminoplast resin and 10 to 25 wt. % blocked polyisocyanate is applied to produce the first coating layer, and a coating composition (B) which comprises, based on its solid resin composition, 60 to 80 wt. % of one or more polyester-polyols and, as crosslinking agents, 10 to 20 wt. % aminoplast resin and 10 to 20 wt. % blocked polyisocyanate is applied to produce the second coating layer, the sum of the constituents of the coating compositions in each case being 100 wt. %. A process for the production of lacquered automobile bodies, in which the lacquered and shaped sheet metal parts are joined together by gluing and/or clinching and/or screwing.

Prior art in the lacquering of motor vehicles or parts thereof is initially the production of the body or the body parts. For this, correspondingly shaped sheet metal parts are first stamped out and shaped by the deep-drawing process using drawing lubricant or oil, and are then in general assembled by welding and subsequently subjected to expensive cleaning. A lacquer coat is then applied by electro-diplacquering and, if desired, one or, in the case of automobile bodies in particular, more further coats of lacquer are applied.
There is the desire to discover a simpler production process which, in particular, avoids the cleaning steps and enables the electro-diplacquering to be replaced.
European Patent Application EP-A-0 603 772 discloses a process for the production of vehicle parts from prelacquered sheets. The sheets, which have been prelacquered with a primer, are cut into sections, and these are deep-drawn and coated with a powder lacquer as the top lacquering. The lacquers used to produce the primer and the top lacquering are not described in more detail.
European Patent Application EP-A-0 438 773 discloses a process for the production of motor vehicle bodies in which sheets which have been precoated with a lacquering of at least two coats are deep-drawn and then assembled. An acrylate lacquer is employed as the primer and a polyurethane lacquer is employed as the top lacquer. The compositions of these lacquers is not explained in more detail.
WO 89/11497 describes a coating composition which can be applied by the coil coating process and is suitable for applying one-coat lacquerings, which can be subjected to deep-drawing, to sheet metal. After correspondingly shaped sheets have been stamped out, the parts lacquered with one coat in this way can be shaped by the deep-drawing process without the lacquer coat showing damage. The coating compositions from WO 89/11497 comprise a polyester-polyol with a controlled degree of branching and a weight-average molecular weight of 4,000 to 40,000 and a hydroxyl number of 10 to 100 mg KOH/g as the binder, which is crosslinked via free or blocked polyisocyanate.
The coatings produced by the coil coating process using the coating compositions from WO 89/11497 are in need of improvement in respect of their deep-drawing properties. This has been found in the case of coil coating application to both sides, where the coating layer applied to the later inside of the shaped part does not withstand the shaping process, which has a particularly extreme effect there. This manifests itself, for example, in the simulation of the deep-drawing operation in which a square dish with rounded corners is produced from a sheet coated on both sides by the coil coating process. The coating in the region of the corners on the inside of the dish shows cracks or even flaking, especially if sheets having a thickness in the range from 0.7 to 1.3 mm are employed, such as are usual in automobile coach construction. Furthermore, the deep-drawn one-coat lacquerings applied by the coil coating process do not adhere to the substrate if further coats of lacquer, which are usual in car series lacquering, are applied, such as, for example, a filler, base lacquer and clear lacquer coat. It has been found that the coil coating primer coat becomes detached from the metallic substrate, together with the subsequent lacquer coats, especially in the regions of severe shaping. For example, detachment of the multi-coat lacquering manifests itself in the region of the corners and edges on the outside of the square dish, often already after stoving of the filler coat.

Process for the production of automobile body parts and automobile bodies


A method for the manufacture of a multilayer printed circuit board on which integrated circuit chips may be directly mounted includes producing holes at predetermined locations to enable electrical connections between a chip and conductive layers of the circuit board to be established via the holes. Electrically conductive bump members, which protrude outwardly from the circuit board, are formed in registration with the holes. The bump members cooperate with an electrically conductive plating layer or filler that is deposited so as to be in intimate contact with a conductive layer(s) exposed during the production of each hole.

A TAB system using a lead finger projectingly formed has been widely known as a method of mounting IC bare chips on a flexible circuit board. This system is chiefly employed for mounting ICs on a circuit board of a single layer. In the case of a mounting system using a multilayer flexible circuit board, as shown in FIG. 12, a flexible multilayer circuit board 1 for the flip-chip system is fabricated by laminating inner and outer electrically conductive layers 2 to 7 for forming required circuit wiring patterns via suitable insulating base members, and an IC bare chip 9 is connected to connection ends 2A and 3A of the outer conductive layers 2 and 3 via bumps 9A and 9B. In the case of FIG. 9, the outer conductive layer 2 is not electrically connected to the inner conductive layer 4, but is connected to the outer conductive layer 6 via a through-hole conductive portion 8. Further, the outer conductive layer 3 is electrically connected to the inner conductive layer 5 and the conductive layer 7 via a through-hole conductive portion 8A. The through-hole conductive portions 8 and 8A are formed suitably away from the bumps 9A and 9B for connection of the IC bare chip 9 and the connection terminals 2A and 3A. The connection ends 2A and 3A of the circuit board 1 and the connection bumps 9A and 9B for the IC bare chip 9 are connected together generally by soldering. Even in the case of the flexible multilayer circuit board 1 of the flip-chip structure, therefore, solder-flow blocking dams 10 and 10A are arranged around the connection ends 2A and 3A.
In the structure of the flexible multilayer circuit board 1 made under the above-mentioned flip-chip system, it is difficult to arrange the through-hole conductive portions 8 and 8A that connect the inner conductive layer to the outer conductive layers in the portion where the IC bare chip 9 is mounted due to the conduction structure using through-holes, and further, it is necessary to provide the solder-flow blocking dams 10 and 10A, putting great limitation on construction of the portion where the IC-bearing chip 9 is mounted on the circuit board 1. Therefore, circuit boards 1 of this type are usually bulky compared to the mounting density of the IC bare chips 9. Furthermore, the connection bumps 9A and 9B must be provided on the IC bare chip 9, requiring an increased number of steps. The increased steps and the provision of the solder-flow blocking dams inevitably raises the manufacturing costs on this IC mounting system.
To form through-hole conductive portions 8 and 8A by a conventional method, on the other hand, it is necessary to bore holes at required conductive portions using a drill, causing a problem of undesirable smear due to the frictional heat produced by the drilling using a drill that revolves at high speeds and a problem of an additional process of removing the smear. Furthermore, when the flexible circuit board of this type is of a soft material, the diameters of the holes is limited. In laminating the layers, moreover, it is not easy to regist the land positions and perforation positions of the required layer.

Method of manufacture of multilayer circuit board


Systems and methods are provided that can include a storage and retrieval robot operating under program control to extract a selective number of support beads from a storage or retainment region, for dispensing to titer wells or other vessels for assays and other purposes. According to various embodiments, the storage and retrieval robot can position a capture device over any one or more storage wells containing oligonucleotide or other material support beads, and withdraw or extract those support beads into a collection tube under vacuum pressure or other force. According to various embodiments, a selected number of support beads can be extracted, using a linear motor piston to limit available space for support bead insertion. According to various embodiments, the collected support beads can be dispensed into one or more destination tubes, wells, or other containers, surfaces, vessels, receptacles or mixture containment region, for use in assays or other purposes. According to various embodiments, a calculated plurality of support beads can be extracted or mixed in selective quantities. According to various embodiments, a sample subset of the supply support beads can be taken, to calculate an amount of actual oligonucleotide contained in the support beads. According to various embodiments, an adjustment or normalization of the number of support beads dispensed can be performed to compensate for variations in oligonucleotide amount, thereby enhancing the uniformity of concentration in solution.

Various, chemical, biological, and other substances or materials can be incorporated into beads. If collections of such beads can be stored and retrieved with an automated or robotic handling system, customers wishing to obtain those beads can receive the bead types they want from inventory at reasonable cost, and in a potentially short delivery time. Previous bead handling systems stored inventory beads in multiple capsules, one for each bead type, with each capsule containing a pre-loaded number of beads. If the beads were subsequently dispensed into titer plates or trays, for example at a rate of one bead per well, then the number of beads per capsule would dictate a minimum number of plates or lot size that the customer would be required to purchase. Some customers, however, may only wish to purchase one plate while others may desire hundreds or more. Establishing a minimum plate purchase can force some customers to buy more plates than they need, inefficiently raising the cost. In addition, when inventory beads are stored in capsule format, the number of beads contained in a capsule can be less than some ordered quantities, requiring multiple capsule retrievals to extract the necessary beads and fill the order, increasing retrieval time and cost. In addition, when beads are dispensed to a plate at a rate of one bead per well or multiple beads per well, the concentration of the oligonucleotide or other materials embedded in the beads can vary, leading to differences in oligonucleotide concentrations when the beads are used. Other problems in existing bead handling and dispensing systems exist.

System and method for selective retrieval of support beads


In one embodiment, a method can include: (i) receiving a packet in a switch, where the packet includes a plurality of fields that forms a binding; (ii) performing a first lookup of a first table using a first lookup key, where the first lookup key includes a first subset of the plurality of fields; (iii) performing a second lookup of a second table using a second lookup key, where the second lookup key includes a result of the first lookup and a second subset of the plurality of fields; and (iv) indicating a check of the binding by using a result of the second lookup. The plurality of fields can include a media access control (MAC) source address, an internet protocol (IP) address, a receive port, and a receive virtual local area network (VLAN), while the result of the first lookup can include a layer-2 source index, for example.

Today's switch/routers can support dynamic host configuration protocol (DHCP) snooping and internet protocol (IP) source guard. With DHCP snooping, a switch can learn and keep the "binding" of fields, such as {media access control (MAC) source address, receive port, receive virtual local area network (VLAN)}, and validate DHCP messages. IP source guard can check that packets coming from a particular port have a valid IP address assigned by DHCP, thus protecting against IP address snooping.
However, for stronger detection of mis-configuration and/or potential network attacks, the entire address binding consisting of {MAC source address, IP source address, receive port, receive VLAN} should be checked. Such a stronger check can ensure that a packet received from a port and VLAN contains expected IP and MAC addresses. Further, the entire address binding should be checked for cases where multiple hosts exist in a system (e.g., due to a hub or another switch between the host and the switch) to ensure a full binding check.


Various apparatus and methods for related to clock recovery are disclosed. For example, in one illustrative embodiment, a clock recovery circuit includes a coding circuit adapted to translate a stream of first digital numbers derived from a source signal into a stream of first binary numbers and a stream of second binary numbers, a digital-to-analog converter (DAC) circuit coupled to the coding circuit and configured to provide an analog output based on the streams of first and second binary numbers and a voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO) controlled by the analog output of the DAC circuit and adapted to produce a base clock having a base clock frequency.

Designers of communication systems have often used multi-phased, low-frequency clocks to sample high-speed data streams in phase-locked loop (PLL)-based clock and data recovery circuits (CDRs). One advantage to using such systems is that traditional bang-bang phase detector circuits can be used at relatively low clock frequencies. For example, it is well described in the relevant literature to use a four-phased clock to cause four separate phase detectors to sample an incoming data stream. The outputs of the four phase detectors are then continuously updated at the based clock frequency to form a sequence of data words. The data words, in turn, are converted to analog form using a digital-to-analog (DAC) converter and used to control a voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO).
Unfortunately, the above-described system requires the use of a DAC having a relatively large number of bits while operating at a very high frequency. While it is possible to use individual DACs (typically 1.5 bits) for each phase-detector, this approach requires that signal addition occur in the analog domain and that phase error information be elongated for an undesirable length of time. While this problem may be corrected using time-domain multiplexing circuitry to combine consecutive phase-error signals into a single stream, this approach requires that the DAC and other circuitry operate at high frequencies, which as stated above can be difficult to implement.
Thus, new technology directed to improving clock recovery circuits is desirable.

Methods and systems for coding of a bang-bang detector


A ferrite housing is provided that includes a body for receiving at least one ferrite element therein and a plurality of mounting portions extending from and forming part of the body.

This invention relates generally to microwave devices, and more particularly, to a ferrite housing.
Ferrite circulators are typically configured as multi-port (e.g., three-port) passive RF or microwave devices having magnets and ferrite material that may be used to control the direction of signal flow in, for example, an RF circuit or a microwave circuit. For example, ferrite circulators may be used to control signal flow in wireless base station or power amplifier applications. Ferrite isolators are typically constructed by terminating one port of a ferrite circulator. Terminating one port results in signal or energy flow in only one direction, which may be used, for example, for isolating components in a chain of interconnected components.
In general, a ferrite isolator is a multi-port device, such as a three-port device with one port terminated, and that has a symmetrical Y-junction formed by a magnetically biased ferrite disk or slab. The isolator allows flow of, for example, microwave energy in only one direction (e.g., from one of three ports to another one of the three ports), with one port (e.g., port 3), isolated by a matched termination, thereby providing high attenuation in one direction. In operation, a microwave signal entering one of the ports of the ferrite isolator follows a rotating sense based on the interaction of the electromagnetic wave with the magnetized ferrite. Thus, by symmetrically constructing the ferrite isolator, a defined signal path or direction through the ferrite isolator may be provided. Thus, ferrite isolators may be provided by terminating one of the ports of a ferrite circulator and used to protect against reflections.
Further, known ferrite circulators and isolators include a machined housing, and more particularly, a stamped two-piece housing/base plate assembly, wherein the two pieces (e.g., housing and base plate) are joined (e.g., soldered) in a secondary operation. Other known ferrite circulators and isolators may include a metal injection molded housing having a drop-in body, a high power termination (for isolators) and mounting holes.
These known ferrite circulators and isolators require hard connecting and other secondary operations to assemble or finish the final housing (e.g., connecting a mounting plate or threading or tapping holes for the mounting portions of the housing). This adds time, complexity and cost to the overall manufacture and assembly of these ferrite isolators.


A cover-tape feeding apparatus for feeding a peeled portion of a cover tape of a carrier tape which includes an accommodating tape having, at a predetermined pocket pitch, pockets accommodating electric components, respectively, and the cover tape attached to the accommodating tape to close the pockets, and which is fed in a lengthwise direction thereof at a carrier-tape-feed pitch equal to a quotient obtained by dividing the pocket pitch by an integral number, the apparatus including a conveying belt which is endlessly wound on at least two pulleys and at least a portion of which supports the peeled portion of the cover tape; a reciprocative member which is reciprocated forward and backward in opposite directions substantially parallel to the portion of the conveying belt; and a pinching device including a pair of pinching members at least one of which is provided on the reciprocative member, the one pinching member cooperating, when the reciprocative member is moved forward, with the other pinching member to pinch the portion of the conveying belt and the peeled portion of the cover tape supported by the portion of the belt and feed the peeled portion of the cover tape and the portion of the conveying belt and, when the reciprocative member is moved backward, being moved relative to the fed portion of the cover tape and the fed portion of the conveying belt.

1. Field of the Art
The present invention relates to a cover-tape feeding apparatus which feeds a cover tape as an element of a carrier tape carrying electric components (e.g., electronic components); a cover-tape treating apparatus which treats a cover tape; and an electric-component feeder which supplies electric components.
2. Related Art Statement
There is known a carrier tape which includes (a) an accommodating tape having, at a predetermined pocket pitch, a plurality of pockets accommodating a plurality of electric components ("ECs"), respectively, and (b) a cover tape attached to the accommodating tape to close the pockets, and which is fed in a lengthwise direction thereof at a carrier-tape-feed pitch equal to a quotient obtained by dividing the pocket pitch by an integral number. A portion of the cover tape is peeled from the accommodating tape, and the peeled portion of the tape is fed by a cover-tape feeding device.
The cover tape peeled from the accommodating tape may be treated in various manners. For example, Japanese Patent Application laid open for public inspection under Publication No. 7(1995)-101409 discloses a cover-tape treating device which peels a cover tape from an EC-accommodating tape and takes up the cover tape onto a take-up reel. Otherwise, a pair of rotatable rollers may be used such that the two rollers cooperate with each other to pinch a cover tape, and are rotated to feed the cover tape while peeling it from an EC-accommodating tape. In the latter case, the cover tap peeled and fed by the rollers is taken up by a take-up roller, or is collected by a cover-tape collecting box.
However, in the case where a take-up reel takes up a cover tape peeled from an EC-accommodating tape, the diameter of the cover tape wound around the take-up reel increases as the amount of the cover tape taken up by the reel increases. Therefore, a length of the cover tape taken up by a unit angle of rotation of the take-up reel increases. On the other hand, a length of the cover tape peeled from the EC-accommodating tape by one carrier-tape feeding operation does not change. To solve this problem, the cover-tape treating device disclosed in the above-indicated document is constructed such that after a certain length of the cover tape has been peeled from the EC-accommodating tape, a tension force exerted to the cover tape in a direction opposite to a direction in which the cover tape is taken up exceeds a drive force of a drive lever to drive or rotate the take-up reel, so that the reel is prevented from being rotated over an excessive angle. However, as the diameter of the cover tape being taken up on the take-up reel increases, the tension force exerted to the cover tape being peeled from the EC-accommodating tape fluctuates, which leads to unstable peeling of the cover tape from the accommodating tape, even breakage of the cover tape.
Meanwhile, in the case where a pair of rotatable rollers pinching a cover tape feed the cover tape while peeling the tape from an EC-accommodating tape, a length of the cover tape peeled by a unit angle of rotation of the rollers does not change. Therefore, this case is free from the problem with the case where a take-up reel takes up a cover tape, that is, the problem of unstable peeling of the cover tape from the EC-accommodating tape. However, it is difficult to treat the peeled cover tape. For example, in the case where the peeled cover tape is taken up by a takeup reel or is collected by a collecting box, the cover tape is fed in a free state from the rollers to the reel or the box, which may lead to jamming of the cover tape.


A test strip port connector of a test meter receives an analytical test strip comprising a sample chamber for receiving a fluid sample. The fluid sample is prevented from contaminating an interior region of the test strip port connector by a sealing mechanism having a seal configured to be moved into a sealing position across the test strip.

Systems that measure analytes in biological fluids, as exemplified by the determination of glucose in blood, typically comprise a test meter that is configured to receive a biosensor, usually in the form of an analytical test strip. Because many of these measurement systems are portable, and testing can be completed in a short amount of time, patients are able to use such devices in the normal course of their daily lives without significant interruption to their personal routines. For example, a person with diabetes may measure their blood glucose levels several times a day as a part of a self management process to ensure glycemic control of their blood glucose within a target range.
There currently exist a number of available portable electronic devices that can measure glucose levels in an individual based on a small sample of blood. A test strip is inserted into a test strip port of the meter, which includes a test strip port connector that mechanically and electrically engages the inserted test strip. To initiate an assay of a sample, a person is required to prick their finger using a lancet or similar device and provide a blood sample onto the test strip. Test strips oftentimes may be difficult to manipulate by users due to the small size and geometry of the test strips and limitations in the manual dexterity of some users. The user needs to properly apply a sample onto a specified area of the test strip such that the applied sample enters a sample chamber wherein an assay sequence is undertaken electronically by the meter. It is important for the electrical connections between the meter and the test strip to remain clean and unimpeded by contaminants, such as sample fluid. Fluidic interference from the sample will cause the electronic circuitry to misread the analyte concentration of the provided sample and can also affect the working life of the test meter. Hence, proper electrical engagement and communication between the test strip and the analyte meter will be insured if fluid ingress from the sample or other contaminant is prevented from entering the meter through the test strip port connector. It would therefore be advantageous to provide a test meter that includes features to block or otherwise prevent fluidic ingress.


An integrated circuit chip is provided, the integrated circuit chip having: a base portion, the base portion having a peripheral wall forming an elevated perimeter depending away from a surface of the base potion; a plurality of extensions extending away from the surface, a periphery of each of the plurality of extensions being spaced away from the peripheral wall, the plurality of extensions further comprising a first group of extensions and a second group of extensions, each of the first group of extensions having a greater peripheral area than a peripheral area of each of the second group of extensions and the first group of extensions being aligned with a portion of an integrated circuit disposed on another surface of the base, the portion of the integrated circuit generating a higher heat flux than other portions of the integrated circuit, and a plate secured to the elevated perimeter, the plate the plate covering the plurality of extensions and further comprising an inlet opening and an outlet opening.

Integrated circuit (IC) components such as integrated circuit chips typically include a base layer or substrate and at least one layer of electrical conductive or non-conductive materials to form the integrated circuit. The substrate is commonly formed from silicon. In operation, as electric current passes through the electrically conductive material and/or semiconductor material, a significant amount of heat may be generated in the IC chip. Depending on the circuit layout on the substrate, non-uniform high temperature areas, "hot spots," may develop across the chip. The hot spots create a temperature gradient across the IC chip which induces thermal stress within the chip. Thermal stress may cause early failure of IC chips and decrease circuit performance.
Current methods for mitigating the hot spots across IC chips include "smart" circuit layout and using "heat spreaders." Smart circuit layout spaces out the components that create hot spots across the IC chip. However, the most thermally efficient circuit layout may not match the most electrically efficient layout. A heat spreader is typically a plate or heat pipe having a high thermal conductivity that is positioned on the IC chip. This increases the overall size and cost of the IC chip. Other methods of cooling or mitigating the hot spots include forming or machining microchannels on the bottom or back side of the substrate layer of the IC chip. A pressurized liquid coolant is then supplied to the microchannels to cool the IC chip.

Integrated circuit chip and method for cooling an integrated circuit chip


A highly effective catalyst system for the polymerization or copolymerization of olefins comprises at least one metallocene as transition-metal compound and at least one aluminum compound of the formula II ##STR1## and/or of the formula (III) ##STR2## where, in the formulae (II) and (III), the radicals R.sup.14 may be identical or different and are an alkyl group, an aryl group, benzyl or hydrogen, and p is an integer from 2 to 50, and at least one aluminum compound of the formula IV ##STR3## where R.sup.15, R.sup.16 and R.sup.17 are identical or different and are a hydrogen atom, an alkyl group, an alkylsilyl group, an alkoxy group, an aryl group, an aryloxy group, an alkenyl group, an arylalkyl group, an alkylaryl group, an arylalkenyl group, a halogen atom or a radical of the formula --OSiR.sup.15 R.sup.16 R.sup.17 where R.sup.15, R.sup.16 and R.sup.17 are as defined in the description.

1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates primarily to a catalyst system for the polymerization of olefins which comprises a metallocene and at least two different aluminum compounds as cocatalyst.
2. Description or Related Art
Catalysts based on soluble metallocene compounds in combination with oligomeric aluminoxanes are known. These systems can be used to polymerize ethylene, propylene and also higher olefins (cf. EP-A 185 918; J. Am. Chem. Soc. 109 (1987) 6544).
Polyolefin waxes and polyolefins of high stereoregularity can also be prepared with the aid of metallocene/aluminoxane catalyst systems (EP-A 321 852 and EP-A 387 690).
It is common to all these processes that the cocatalyst used is an aluminoxane. This aluminum compound is expensive and difficult to prepare. In addition, relatively large amounts are required in the polymerization since the Al/metallocene ratio should be greater than 1 000, in some cases greater than 10 000, in order to achieve satisfactory metallocene activities. The residual ash content in the polymer formed is thus correspondingly high and must be removed by complex, high-cost purification steps.
There is therefore interest in reducing the amount of aluminoxane necessary or replacing the aluminoxane by other cocatalysts. However, the solutions proposed hitherto are all unsatisfactory.
Thus, replacement of all the methylaluminoxane (MAO) by twice the amount of trimethylaluminum in combination with ethylenebis(indenyl)ZrCl.sub.2 as metallocene and propylene as olefin results in a reduction in the polymerization activity from 10 kg of PP/g of metallocene.times.h to 63 g of PP/g of metallocene.times.h (0.6%) (Macromolecules, 23 (1990) 4489).
According to Adv. Organomet. Chem. 18 (1980) 99, zirconocene/trialkylaluminum systems are incapable of polymerizing propene, and are also inactive or have very low activity toward ethylene.
Smaller deactivation effects on replacement of MAO by trimethylaluminum have been observed in the Cp.sub.2 ZrCl.sub.2 /ethylene system. However, this type of system cannot polymerize prochiral olefins, such as, for example, propene, to give isotactic or syndiotactic polymers. Only atactic polymer would be formed, which is only of slight interest.
J. Polym. Sci., Part A, Pol. Chem., 29 (1991) 459 describes the polymerization of propene using rac-ethylene(1-indenyl).sub.2 ZrCl.sub.2 in the presence of MAO and mixtures of MAO and trimethylaluminum. Full or partial replacement of MAO by trimethylaluminum likewise results in considerable drops or loss of the polymerization activity.

Catalyst and process for the polymerization and copolymerization of olefins


A metadirectory namespace is provided for storing files and directories “hidden” from one or more user-accessible namespaces. The metadirectory namespace is a separate, parallel namespace that coexists with other user-accessible namespaces in a storage operating system. Files and directories may be identified as being stored in a metadirectory based on their location or based on their associated flags. The metadirectory namespace may be selectively exported only to clients, users and applications given special file access permissions.

A network storage appliance is a special-purpose computer that provides file service relating to the organization of information on storage devices, such as disks. The network storage appliance or filer typically accesses one or more storage volumes. A storage volume comprises physical storage devices defining an overall logical arrangement of storage space, and each volume is usually associated with its own file system. Currently available filer implementations can serve a large number of discrete volumes (150 or more, for example).
Additionally, a filer may be made more reliable and stable in the event of a system shutdown or other unforeseen problem by employing a backup memory consisting of a non-volatile random access memory (NVRAM) as part of its architecture. An NVRAM is typically a large-volume solid-state memory array (RAM) having either a back-up battery, or other built-in last-state-retention capabilities (e.g. a FLASH memory), that holds the last state of the memory in the event of any power loss to the array.
A filer includes a storage operating system that implements a file system to logically organize stored information as a hierarchical structure of directories and files. As used herein, the term "storage operating system" generally refers to the computer-executable code operable on a computer that manages data access and may, in the case of a filer, implement file system semantics. The storage operating system can also be implemented as an application program operating over a general-purpose operating system, such as UNIX® or Windows NT®, or as a general-purpose operating system with configurable functionality, which is configured for storage applications as described herein. The set of valid file names and directory names recognized by a file system comprises its namespace. Each "on-disk" file may be implemented as a set of disk blocks configured to store information, such as text, whereas the directories may be implemented as specially formatted files in which information about other files and directories are stored.
In general, a filer may be configured to operate according to a client/server model of information delivery to thereby allow many clients to access files and directories stored on a server, e.g., the filer. In this model, the client may communicate with the filer over a computer network, such as a point-to-point link or a shared local area network, using a known protocol such as the conventional Common Internet File System (CIFS) protocol for the Microsoft® Windows™ operating system or the Network File System (NFS) protocol for UNIX-based operating systems.
More specifically, a client can locate a desired file or directory within a namespace exported by a filer. Using a recognized file system protocol, the client can send the filer an access request, such as READ, WRITE, RENAME or REMOVE, along with a unique file handle identifier for the desired file or directory. The filer uses the file handle to locate the requested file or directory within a file system and typically returns information appropriate for the client access request or returns an error code explaining why the request could not be completed. A file access request to the filer may also originate from a local user or application instead of from a remote client. In this case, the local user or application can navigate the file system namespace and submit a file access request along with a file handle identifier for a desired file or directory.
Because a filer can handle file access requests from a large number of sources, ranging from remote clients to local users and applications, access to files and directories within the filer is often restricted to prevent an unauthorized client, user or application from accessing protected information. An example of restricted files and directories within a filer may include, but are not limited to, configuration files, system files, support files and temporary files not intended to be globally accessible. A protected file or a restricted file used herein refers to any file or directory having restricted file access.
A number of conventional methods are used for restricting access to files and directories in a file system. In Unix-based operating systems, file access is typically restricted by associating an access mode with each file and directory. The access mode grants a selected combination of read/write/execute (rwx) permissions to different categories of users. FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary file permission 100 for a Unix file named "testfile" that includes, inter alia, sets of access mode flags 110, 120 and 130, a user identifier 140, a group identifier 150 and a file name 160. Access to the file is restricted by access mode flags 110, 120 and 130 that respectively define the rwx file permissions for a user, "jdoe," a group of users, "engineering," and all other users, "other." In Microsoft® DOS-based operating systems, file access is restricted according to file attributes associated with each file and directory. For example, FIG. 2 illustrates file attributes 200 for file 220, "IO.SYS," located on a disk labeled "C:" as described by path 230. As shown, IO.SYS has file attributes 210 indicating it is a read-only file, "R," for use by the operating system, "S," and hidden from a user-accessible namespace, "H." In the Microsoft® Windows NT™ operating system, an access control list associated with each file and directory grants access permissions to different categories of users. As shown in FIG. 3, an access control list 300 is associated with the file "Frog.exe." The location of the file 320 and the owner of the file 340 are listed in a header portion of the access control list, whereas access permissions 360 are explicitly described separately for individual users, e.g. "Paul," and groups of users, e.g. "Marketing." Typically, access control lists additionally include a field 380 for setting file and directory permissions.
Despite utilizing the conventional file security techniques described above, files with special access restrictions are often "visible" in the user-accessible namespace of a file system. For instance, although access to system files may be restricted to specific modules within a filer's storage operating system, those files may still be seen by any user or application that can navigate the file system's namespace. Therefore, there is a need to effectively "hide" restricted files and directories in a file system namespace to assure they cannot be improperly tampered with by unauthorized clients, users and applications.
Past techniques for hiding file names in a file system namespace have included assigning a hidden attribute to restricted files and directories indicating they should not automatically be displayed in a user-accessible namespace. For example, file systems implemented by Microsoft® DOS™-based operating systems assign attributes to files and directories to indicate whether the file is e.g., read-only, hidden, archived, system, or compressed. Unix-based operating systems do not use hidden attributes, but instead automatically hide file names and directories beginning with a "dot." Although previous methods have hidden the names of protected files and directories in a file system namespace, most storage operating systems have allowed users to view hidden files and directories by setting appropriate flags in their file access request. For instance, the DOS command "dir *.*" and the Unix command "ls-a" effectively allow a user to list both hidden and non-hidden files. Therefore, past techniques for hiding protected files and directories suffer the disadvantage of allowing users to easily locate hidden files in a user-accessible namespace.
Yet other approaches to hiding files and directories in a file system have been employed. For example, the Data ONTAP™ storage operating system, available from Network Appliance, Inc. of Sunnyvale, Calif., may implement a Write Anywhere File Layout (WAFL™) file system such that hidden files and directories in a WAFL volume are not directly located in the user-accessible namespace.
Broadly stated, the on-disk format representation of the WAFL file system is block-based using, e.g., 4 kilobyte (KB) blocks and using inodes to describe the files. An inode is a data structure used to store information, such as metadata, about a file. That is, the information contained in an inode may include, e.g., ownership of the file, access permission for the file, size of the file, file type and location of the data for the file on disk. The WAFL file system uses a file handle, i.e., an identifier that includes an inode number, to retrieve an inode from disk. The WAFL file system also uses files to store metadata describing the layout of its file system. These metadata files include, among others, an inode file that describes files and directories stored in the file system. The on-disk format structure of the WAFL file system, including the inodes and inode file, is disclosed and described in commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 5,819,292 entitled Method for Maintaining Consistent States of a File System and for Creating User-Accessible Read-Only Copies of a File System by David Hitz et al., issued on Oct. 6, 1998 and expressly incorporated herein by reference.
The WAFL file system can "hide" protected files and directories by pre-allocating their inode numbers outside the user-accessible namespace. In this way, clients, users and applications navigating the file system cannot directly locate inodes of these files. For instance, a protected file having a pre-allocated inode outside the user-accessible namespace may contain configuration data that should only be accessed by a specific application. Since only the storage operating system and the specific application know which inode number was assigned to the file, unauthorized clients, users and applications cannot create a valid file handle to submit file access requests for the protected file. Thus, unlike most conventional storage operating systems, access to hidden files is restricted to only those users having knowledge of the pre-allocated inode numbers of the protected files.
However, the method described above for hiding files in a file system may not scale well, and is inconvenient, when new files and directories need access protection. For instance, every time a new protected file is added to the file system, the storage operating system must be re-compiled to pre-allocate an inode number for the new file, then the pre-allocated inode number must be communicated to clients, users and applications permitted to access the protected file. Furthermore, there may be a limited number of reserved inodes available for pre-allocation.
Therefore, it is generally desirable to implement a file system capable of hiding protected files and directories outside its user-accessible namespace so the hidden files are accessible only to authorized clients, users and applications. Advantageously, the storage operating system should not require complicated function calls to access protected files and directories hidden in its file system and should scale easily when hidden files are added and removed.

Metadirectory namespace and method for use of the same


This invention relates generally to apparatus and methods for tightening tissue of the female genitalia by heating targeted connective tissue with radiant energy, while cooling the mucosal epithelial surface over the target tissue to protect it from the heat. Embodiments include a handle and treatment tip that has both an energy delivery element and a cooling mechanism. The handle may be a two-handed handle allowing control even while rotating and maneuvering the treatment around the genital opening. The apparatus or system may also include an integrated controller, which may confirm tissue contact without applying RF energy, based only on the temperature of the applicator and the time since the last application of energy from the applicator.

The vagina is made up of three layers: a mucosa of stratified squamous epithelial tissue; the submucosa or lamina propria, containing vascularized connective tissue; and a deeper muscularis, containing smooth muscle. Collagen molecules are produced by cells resident in these tissues which synthesize three polypeptide chains that wrap around one another to form a triple helix. Collagen is a major type of fibrous protein that is a basic structural element of connective tissue, tendon, cartilage, and bone. Each of the collagen chains is approximately 1000 amino acid units in length, with glycine recurring regularly every third unit, and with proline and hydroxyproline recurring very frequently. Cross-linking occurs between the sides, not the ends, of collagen molecules and is coupled with the amino acid composition to give collagen its great strength. Collagen tissue tightening takes place in a direction parallel to an axis of collagen fibers.
The phenomenon of thermal contraction of collagen begins with a denaturation of the triple helix of the collagen molecule. Partial denaturation of collagen tissue results in a contraction of the collagen-rich spaces and provides a "tightening" effect on the overlaying tissue. Patents relevant to aspects of collagen denaturation and exploitation of this for medical or cosmetic purposes include U.S. Pat. No. 5,919,219 to Knowlton for "Method for Controlled Contraction of Collagen Tissue Using RF Energy" and U.S. Pat. No. 5,755,753 to Knowlton for "Method for Controlled Contraction of Collagen Tissue"; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,143,063 to Fellner for "Method of Removing Adipose Tissue."
Further patents and published patent applications include U.S. Pat. No. 6,350,276 to Knowlton for "Tissue Remodeling Apparatus Containing Cooling Fluid"; U.S. Pat. No. 6,387,380 to Knowlton for "Apparatus for Controlled Contraction of Collagen Tissue"; U.S. Pat. No. 6,425,912 to Knowlton for "Method and Apparatus for Modifying Skin Surface and Soft Tissue Structure"; U.S. Pat. No. 6,453,202 to Knowlton for "Apparatus for Tissue Remodeling"; U.S. Pub 2002/0049483 to Knowlton for "Fluid Delivery Apparatus"; U.S. Pub 2003/0212393 to Knowlton for "hand piece with RD Electrode and Non-Volatile Memory"; U.S. Pub 2003/0236487 to Knowlton for "Method for Treatment of Tissue with Feedback"; and U.S. Pub 2004/0000316 to Knowlton for "Methods for Creating Tissue Effect Utilizing Electromagnetic Energy and a Reverse Thermal Gradient".
The vaginal tissue of women is stretched during vaginal child birth; at least some of the effects of the stretching are permanent and many women have long term medical consequences. Some consequences include physical problems, such as uterine prolapse, cystoceles, urethroceles, enteroceles, rectoceles, stress urinary incontinence, bowel movement problems, for which surgical options are available. Some consequences may include sexual aspects, as may follow from excessive loosening of the vagina and its opening, the introitus. Such loosening typically occurs with the first vaginal delivery, and the loosening tends to increase with subsequent vaginal deliveries. This effective of looseness in this region may include decreased pressure and friction during intercourse, and as a consequence, decreased sexual pleasure for women and their conjugal partners. Some surgical options can be exercised in an attempt to alleviate these problems, but surgical approaches can bring with them a risk of scarring that is entirely counterproductive with regard to the desired result. More generally, these surgical approaches are not highly popular because of the risks associated with an invasive procedure, in a sensitive area, especially when such procedures are considered medically optional.
Known systems and devices for treating the vagina are less than optimal, including those using radiant energy to modify the collagen. In particular, known systems are not optimized for the manipulation of the device, including the energy applicator (e.g., handle, applicator, etc.) and the cooling of the treated tissue. In addition, existing systems may not regulate the contact with the patient's tissue optimally. Finally, known systems have not proven to be simple to use, lightweight, and intuitive. Described herein are systems, devices, and methods of using them to remodel and treat the mucosal surfaces of the vagina, introitus, and vulva.
Thus, there is a need for effective approaches to treating a loose vagina and introitus with a non-invasive procedure, and particularly for systems and device that simplify and improve the treatment, particularly when applying RF energy. Accordingly, one object of the present invention is to provide systems (including apparatus and devices) and methods for corrective or restorative remodeling of the mucosal surfaces of the vagina, introitus, and vulva.