A computerized system having means for displaying a digital image of an object such as an object of artwork supplied by the user, analyzing the color composition of the image, searching a database for coordinating frame and matting material products, developing composite images of the user's input with the matching selections, and presenting the digital images to the user so the items may be previewed before placing an order. The system interfaces with a mobile digital camera system for taking digital pictures of input supplied by the customer. The image may be cropped or otherwise altered and combined with the selected frame moulding and matting material combinations. The user may experiment with various features such as color, shape, size, width, number of openings, and other characteristics of frames and matting material until the desired combination is achieved. The system also includes a database of merchandising information such as products and materials, colors and designs available, model numbers, size, material type, cost, and supplier source. The system is capable of generating a printout of the composite image and associated data, and of storing the data for later use.

In many areas of interior design and furnishings, a customer is presented with a daunting array of products available from which to choose. Such products include carpeting, vinyl and wood floorings, wallcoverings, upholstery and drapery fabrics, paint, furniture styles, and decorating accessories such as paintings, prints, sculpture and statuettes, woven wallhangings, crafts, and needlework. In the area of picture framing, it is known to provide a customer with small sections of frame mouldings and matting of various textures and colors, and to select frame and matting combinations based on how they appear when held close to the artwork to be framed. Artwork may include prints, painting, needlework, photographs, documents, and any other object a person would desire to have framed. Framing products may include frame mouldings, matting and related materials such as fillets and decorative designs that may be applied to the matting, and any other items used in framing artwork. For most prints, paintings, and related matter, it is difficult to envision how the total finished product will appear especially if the frame and matting samples are relatively small or the artwork is large in size. It is also cumbersome for store personnel trying to help the customer by holding the artwork up with the small sections of frame and matting near one corner or edge, so the customer can stand back for a better perspective. A further drawback is the difficulty in seeing how various widths, layers, colors, textures, and other enhancements of matting appears next to the artwork and frame moulding.
The process of narrowing the field to preferred combinations can be very time consuming, and other customers may begin to feel neglected by store personnel who are completely occupied by one customer. A further difficulty occurs when a customer wants to compare many different combinations. Additionally, a vendor may run out of space to display all the many product samples that are available.
A further drawback to current practice is that some store personnel are more skilled than others in selecting or suggesting combinations of frame mouldings and matting materials based on their training, experience, and level of artistic and creative ability. Thus, with unskilled personnel, the selection process may be more time-consuming, or lead to less optimal results than desired. Additionally, a customer may have difficulty remembering the various combinations of materials presented or envisioning how the total finished product will appear.
In the field of image processing and storage, it is well known that digital representations of visual objects may require relatively large amounts of storage space, and manipulation of digital images often requires very high speed computer processing capabilities. Updating to systems with ever-increasing capabilities to handle image processing and storage requirements is commonly required. Additionally, computer software applications are usually developed to use computer resources as efficiently as possible, both for satisfactory system performance and to allow for future growth in software applications without the need to constantly update the associated computer hardware. Efficient methods for a given application are typically developed based on the hardware characteristics of the system.
Image processing and previewing systems are well known in various fields of the prior art, such as those described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,434,467 for calculating hair color; 4,546,434 for designing apparel; 4,149,246 for specifying custom garments; 5,195,030 for foot shape imaging and overlay; 5,343,386 for making electronically-produced postcards; and 5,432,904 for developing auto repair estimates. These devices, however, are substantially different in field of use, purpose, and construction and, accordingly, are not described in detail herein.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,291,395 issued to Abecassis for a wallcovering storage and retrieval system applies to the area of home furnishings. The system disclosed therein allows a user to input information relating to particular styles, patterns, motifs, and colors. The system then outputs one or more numbers referring to samples of wallcoverings and/or coordinating products such as borders, fabrics, and bed linens that meet the customer's criteria. The system does not have an image database associated with it and, therefore, the customer cannot view samples of the selected wallcoverings on a video monitor. Instead, a customer must physically go to a separate location within a store or warehouse to view each product. U.S. Pat. No. 5,111,392 issued to Malin applies to the field of interior design and discloses a system for designing an arrangement of office furniture pieces in which the designer selects a basic shape for the furniture from a library of predetermined shapes, adjusts the dimensions, creates groupings, and selects finish, color, and fabrics needed to complete the design. The system disclosed in Malin does not, however, have means to allow a designer to input his or her own elements and incorporate them into the design, such as fabrics, paintings, or other decorating accessories. The designer is limited to the library database provided by the product manufacturer.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,053,956 issued to Donald et al. discloses a system for retail trading comprising means for storing images of items being traded, means for identifying, selecting, and retrieving the stored images, and means for displaying retrieved images either alone or combined with an image supplied by the user. The disclosure and claims associated with Donald et al. cover a wide range of items that can be traded including carpets, furniture, clothing, household textiles, homewares, and even motor vehicles. The system does not, however, teach an image processing system that includes means to combine various frame mouldings and matting with artwork or the like, or to vary the color, size, or number of openings in matting materials. It also does not disclose means for using image storage space and processing capability efficiently, such as by storing only one segment of a design having a repetitive pattern and piecing segments together based on the size of the object selected by the customer, nor does it disclose or even suggest a system that will analyze the customer's artwork and then search for and present images of frame mouldings and colored accent matting that coordinate with the artwork.

Computerized system for selecting, adjusting, and previewing framing product combinations for artwork and other items to be framed


A device and method for automatically preventing misting of the windscreen of a vehicle, wherein a number of sensors determine ambient conditions capable of misting the windscreen, and, upon such ambient conditions occurring, an electronic central control unit automatically activates the air-conditioning system of the vehicle to prevent the windscreen from misting. The device has and the method utilizes a radiant mean temperature sensor arranged inside the vehicle passenger compartment to measure temperature inside the passenger compartment. The radiant mean temperature sensor (4) has a field of view including at least part of the windscreen.

As is known, of the numerous steps taken to improve driving safety, many are aimed at distracting the driver's attention from the road as little as possible, particularly as regards manual interaction with on-vehicle systems.
Nevertheless, numerous sources of distraction still remain, foremost of which is undoubtedly demisting the windscreen.
Demisting a vehicle windscreen, in fact, not only calls for turning on the air-conditioning system fan by hand, and possibly also orienting the air inlet ports manually to direct airflow onto the windscreen, but is also normally performed when the windscreen is already misted, so that it takes a fairly long time for full visibility through the windscreen to be restored.

Device and method for automatically preventing misting of the windscreen of a vehicle


An underfill material is provided on the surface of a wafer in such a manner as to cover bumps, then the wafer is irradiated with a laser beam from the surface thereof and along planned cutting lines so as to remove an insulation layer and the underfill material present over the planned cutting lines, and the debris generated in this instance are deposited on the underfill material and are thereby prevented from being deposited on the wafer surface and/or on the bumps. Subsequently, a surface layer of the underfill material is cut so as to make the bumps flush in height and to expose the tips of the bumps.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of processing a wafer which is carried out as a pre-treatment of a wafer, such as a semiconductor wafer, in cutting and splitting the wafer into a plurality of individual devices such as semiconductor chips.
2. Description of the Related Art
As one of semiconductor chip mounting means, there has generally been used the mode of wire bonding in which an electrode pad and a lead frame, in a semiconductor chip joined to the lead frame, are connected to each other through metallic wires. However, reductions in size and thickness of electronic apparatuses using the semiconductor chips have been demanded more and more in recent years, and, in order to meet the demand, flip chips and the like have been developed and put to practical use. The flip chip pertains to the technology in which a plurality of projected electrodes called bumps having a height of about 15 to 100 μm, for example, are formed on the surface of the semiconductor chip, and the bumps are joined directly to electrodes present on the mounting substrate side. In some cases of the flip chip, an underfill material is placed between the electrodes on the wafer surface prior to splitting the wafer, for the purpose of preventing short-circuiting from occurring between the electrodes (refer to Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 2002-033342 and JP-A-2005-538572). As the underfill material, insulating resins such as epoxy and polyimide resins are used favorably.
In the recent semiconductor device technology, an insulation layer called "low-k" has been adopted for forming a wiring layer on the chip surface. The insulation layer is provided for lowering the permittivity to thereby smoothen the flow of electrical signals. However, when dicing in which a wafer is cut by a rotary blade containing diamond abrasive grains is conducted in splitting the wafer into a multiplicity of discrete chips, the insulation layer would be exfoliated or crushed because of its brittleness. In view of this, practically, only the insulation layer is first cut by a cutting method free of exertion of physical stresses, such as by irradiation with a laser beam, and thereafter the main body part (formed principally of single crystal silicon) of the wafer is cut by dicing or by irradiation with a laser beam.
Meanwhile, when a wafer is cut by irradiation with a laser beam, the heated wafer material (the wafer itself or the insulation layer) may be transpired, and the transpired component(s) may be deposited on the wafer surface, causing troubles such as short-circuit. The transpired component(s) deposited on the wafer surface are called debris, and, in the case of a chip of the type in which wiring is conducted by the above-mentioned wire bonding method, the debris can be easily removed by forming a protective film on the wafer surface. More specifically, the debris can be removed by a method in which irradiation with a laser beam is conducted while permitting deposition of the debris on a protective film and then the protective film is peeled off.
However, in the case where the above-mentioned bumps are formed on the wafer surface, it has been difficult to form the protective film in a good state on the wafer surface. This is because the material ordinarily used for forming the protective film is a solution, such as a water-soluble resist, and its properties are unsuitable for covering the projected parts.


A three-dimensional shape detecting means includes a projecting device which projects pattern light; an image capturing device which captures a pattern light projection image; a pattern light position extracting device which extracts a position of the pattern light projected on the subject; a three-dimensional shape calculation device which calculates three-dimensional shape of the subject; a storage device which stores color value data of the pattern light projection image; a hue parameter calculation device which calculates hue parameters corresponding to a main hue; a luminance parameter calculation device which calculates luminance parameters in units of pixels; and a pattern light detecting device which detects pixels representing the pattern light. The pattern light position extracting device extracts the position of the pattern light based on the pixels representing the pattern light detected by the pattern light detecting device.

An image capturing device, equipped with a correction means capable of correcting a captured image (an image of a subject such as a white board, a book, etc. captured by the device) as if the subject were shot from the front even when the subject is shot from a direction oblique to the front of the subject, is well known today. Such a correction means makes the correction by detecting the three-dimensional shape of the subject based on the captured image of the subject. A portable digital camera equipped with such a correction means has been disclosed in, for example, FIG. 1, etc. of Japanese Patent Provisional Publication No. HEI09-289611 (hereinafter referred to as a "document No. 1").
A technique for detecting the three-dimensional shape of the subject as parameters required by the aforementioned correction means has been disclosed in the tenth paragraph, FIG. 3, etc. of Japanese Patent Publication No.3282331 (hereinafter referred to as a "document No.2"). Specifically, the document No. 2 discloses a three-dimensional shape measurement device of a stationary type. The device extracts slit beams projected on the subject by subtracting a slit-beamless image (obtained by shooting the subject on which no slit beams are projected) from a slit-beamed image (obtained by shooting the subject on which the slit beams are projected), and detects the three-dimensional shape of the subject based on the extracted slit beams.

Three-dimensional shape detecting device, image capturing device, and three-dimensional shape detecting program


A computer network for asynchronously ingesting media content into a content management system (CMS) is disclosed. The network includes a client computer located in a first geographical location, a server computer located in a second geographical location and a liaison computer located in a third geographical location. The client computer communicates with the server computer by way of a substandard network connection that is subject to frequent interruptions and/or low bandwidth. The liaison computer communicates with the server computer by way of a reliable network. The client computer includes a user interface wizard component that edits and bundles media content and prompts a user to select between uploading content to the server computer by way of the substandard network (e.g. piecemeal between interruptions) or storing the content in a local mobile storage device for uploading from the liaison computer.

Media communication technologies in many parts of the world are constrained by factors such as frequent interruptions to communication networks, low network bandwidths, and limited or unreliable availability of electricity. The cost to improve these communications networks and utilities is often substantial and the resources for providing or improving the infrastructure are either limited or unavailable. As such, these challenges are likely to exist in the long-term. Such challenges can constrain the ability of individuals and companies, e.g., media content creators, to transfer their works to audiences over computer networks. For example, Lagos, Nigeria, has a thriving entertainment industry, sometimes referred to as Nollywood, which produces large volumes of movies, television shows and musical videos each year. Yet, because of poor and unreliable computer networks in Nigeria, and generally in Africa, today, only a small fraction of that media content is uploaded on the Internet for world-wide viewing and possibly monetization.

Asynchronously ingesting media content into a content management system from a client computer having an unreliable network connection


The present invention relates to a method of reducing cell death in a warm-blood animal wherein said cell death associated with a neurodegenerative disorder, an immune disease, a neoplastic disorder, an inflammatory disorder, or a viral disease. The method comprises administering to said animal a therapeutically effective amount of a peptide comprising amino acid sequence: Ser-Val-Asp-Val-Glu-Tyr.

Cell death occurs in both normal human development and in pathological conditions. Two kinds of cell death have been recognized: apoptosis and necrosis. Briefly, apoptosis, or programmed cell death, is a natural process that is triggered by specific biological events and proceeds by well-defined mechanisms. Apoptosis occurs by compaction and convolution of the nuclear chromatin into dense masses, fragmentation of the nucleus, and blebbing of the plasma membrane, ultimately resulting in cell death. Even though 50% of an organism's cells are experiencing some stage of apoptosis at any given time, the process is observable in only about 0.1% of those cells.
Necrosis, on the other hand, is easily observed. Necrosis results from severe or sudden insult, for example as a result of physical trauma, anoxia, hyperthermia or chemically induced damage. Briefly, necrosis is typified by early changes in the structure and function of the mitochondria. When the mitochondria are unable to provide energy to the cell, the cell can no longer maintain homeostasis. The plasma membrane then loses its ability to regulate osmotic pressure and the cell swells and bursts, spilling its contents into the surrounding tissue and provoking an inflammatory response. In cases of severe injury or bacterial infection, this response can result in additional tissue damage. Cell necrosis is associated with diseases that result from the acute interruption of blood flow to any organ of the body. For example, the interruption of blood flow to the heart, brain, or kidney may produce, by way of example, myocardial infarction, cerebral infarction, or renal infarction, respectively. Cell necrosis is also associated with the toxic effects of bacteria and chemicals and bacterial or viral infections of any organ in the body.
Apoptosis appears to be genetically regulated. However, apoptosis can be induced by exposing cells to radiation, heat, cytotoxic agents, and abnormal changes in cellular biology. The mitochondria may also be involved in apoptosis. Excessive cell death may result in crippling degenerative disorders, for example, the annihilation of vital CD4+ T-lymphocytes in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infected patients; the elimination of neurons, and other cell types, following ischemia and reperfusion; and the destruction of cells after exposure to ionizing or ultraviolet radiation in the treatment of neoplastic disorders. These disorders are thought to stem from ectopically programmed cell death, e.g., metabolic or infective factors that induce the apoptosis. Too little cell death can result in proliferative disorders, such as neoplastic disorders or autoimmune disease when a particular immune cell lives beyond its appropriate life span.
One common trigger of apoptosis in the acquisition of these disorders is oxidative stress, which causes the production of free radicals. Free radicals are highly reactive molecular species which interact with a wide variety of naturally occurring cellular components. Exposure to free radical leads to cumulative damage to cellular components and, ultimately, to the tissue itself.
A variety of factors may increase the free radical concentration and oxidative stress, thereby rendering the warm-blooded animal susceptible to cell death and its associated disorders. Such factors include considerations of genetics, nutritional status, exposure to drug therapy, drug metabolism, disease, and environmental factors. A change in any one of these factors may result in a failure of the body's defensive mechanisms and lead to cell death. Cellular damage has been invoked as a possible etiology in the development of various degenerative disorders, including, by way of example, cardiovascular disease, autoimmune disorders, arthritis, cancer, pancreatitis, hepatoxicity, cataracts, macular degeneration, accelerated aging, Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, and the like.
The present invention discloses novel compositions and methods for the amelioration of cell death, and further provides other related advantages.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Peptides and their use to ameliorate cell death


A method of manufacturing a microarray includes providing a substrate having a surface that is immobilized with a functional group protected with an acid-labile protecting group and capable of coupling with an oligomer probe, providing a photoacid generator onto the substrate, disposing on the substrate an imprint template comprising a convex region and a plurality of concave regions surrounding the convex region so that the convex region contacts with or is adjacent to an upper surface of the substrate to define a plurality of reaction zones by the upper surface of the substrate and the convex region and the concave regions of the imprint template, exposing one or more of the reaction zones to light so that an acid is generated by the photoacid generator in the one or more exposed reaction zones and a functional group in the one or more exposed reaction zones is deprotected by the acid, and providing an oligomer probe onto the substrate so that the oligomer probe couples with the deprotected functional group.

1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to a method of manufacturing a microarray, and more particularly, to a method of manufacturing a microarray with an enhanced reaction yield.
2. Description of the Related Art
With the advancements made in genome projects, the genomic nucleotide sequences of various organisms have been disclosed. Thus, there has been an increasing interest in biopolymer microchips, and in particular, microarrays. Microarrays are tools that have been widely used in, for example, gene expression profiling, genotyping through detection of mutation or polymorphism such as Single-Nucleotide Polymorphism (SNP), a protein or peptide assay, potential drug screening, development and preparation of novel drugs, etc.
A widely available microarray may be manufactured by, for example, exposing to light predetermined regions of a substrate which contain functional groups protected with photo-labile protecting groups removing protecting groups, exposing functional groups in the predetermined regions, and then performing in situ polymerization of monomers in the predetermined regions.
However, to remove photo-labile protecting groups with light irradiation, exposure energy of 5,000 millijoules (mJ) or more may be required, which may result in a large amount of exposure and time, which thereby may lengthen the duration of the process. Furthermore, protecting groups removed during the removal of photo-labile protecting groups may interfere with the removal of other protecting groups. In addition, as microarrays become highly integrated, intervals between immobilized functional groups may decrease, thereby making it more difficult to remove photo-labile protecting groups and resulting in a reduction in reaction yield.
Thus, there is a need for a method for manufacturing a microarray which can reduce process duration and enhance reaction yield.


Two resilient sections are connected to a tip end which is to be brought into contact with an external connection terminal of a contact belonging to a test socket of an electronic device or semiconductor package. The resilient sections provided opposite to each other and are bent so as to extend horizontally with respect to the tip end. The force exerted downward on the tip end is equally distributed between the plurality of resilient sections. The resilient sections are eventually deflected downwardly without involvement of horizontal sliding action. The force which is exerted on the tip end in reaction to the downward deflection of the curved portions brings the tip end into pressing contact with the external connection terminal without involvement of horizontal sliding action of the tip end with respect to the external connection terminal.

The present invention relates to a test socket for use in testing the electrical characteristics of an electronic device or a semiconductor package, and more particularly, to the structure of a contact for use in establishing electrical connection when the contact is brought into contact with an external connection terminal of an electronic device or a semiconductor package.
As shown in FIG. 19, a known test socket for use in testing an electronic device, such as an IC or a bare chip, or a semiconductor package, comprises a contact 1 which is formed by means of punching a member having the property of a spring into a predetermined shape, and a housing 11 which fixedly retains the contact 1 and is formed from an insulating material. In order to test a semiconductor package 14, the semiconductor package 14 is placed on a seat 13, and the tip end of the contact 1 is brought into contact with external connection terminals 14a extending from the semiconductor package 14. A press jig 12 is pressed against the external connection terminals 14a, to thereby establish electrical connection between the external connection terminals 14a and the contact 1. A predetermined test signal is transmitted to and received from electrical circuits provided within the semiconductor package 14, by way of the contact 1 and the external connection terminals 14a.
FIG. 20 is a plan view showing the contact 1 provided in the known test socket shown in FIG. 19. In the drawing, reference numeral 1 designates a contact; 2 designates a resilient section; 3 designates a tip end which is to be brought into contact with external connection terminals of an electronic device or a semiconductor package; 4 designates a base; and 5 designates a terminal. The terminal 5 to be connected to a test circuit board protrudes downwardly from the base 4, which is provided for positioning the test socket and extends horizontally. The resilient section 2 protrudes from the base 4 upwardly while being bent horizontally. The tip end 3 is provided at the free end of the resilient section 2 and is imparted with elasticity with respect to the vertical direction. The press jig 12 is pressed against the external connection terminals 14a while the external connection terminals 14a of an electronic device or the semiconductor package 14 are placed on the tip end 3. As indicated by a dotted line shown in FIG. 20, the tip end 3 is displaced downwardly while involving horizontal movement and deflecting the U-shaped resilient section 2. By means of the restoration force of the deflected resilient section 2, the tip end 3 is brought into pressing contact with the external connection terminals 14a.
FIG. 21 is a plan view showing the shape of a contact described in the Unexamined Japanese Patent Application Publication No. Hei 5-104856. In the drawing, reference numeral 1 designates a contact; 2a and 2b designate resilient sections; 3 designates a tip end; 4 designates a base; 5 designates a terminal; and 6 designates a support section. In the contact 1, the terminal 5 protrudes downwardly from the horizontally-extending base 1, and the support section 6 protrudes upward from the base 4. The base end of a first resilient section 2a and the base end of a second resilient section 2b are connected to the support section 6 such that the first and second resilient sections 2a and 2b extend horizontally while being spaced a certain distance apart from each other in the vertical direction. The tip end 3 to be brought into contact with the external connection terminals 14a of an electronic device or the semiconductor package 14 is connected to the free end of the first resilient section 2a and the free end of the second resilient section 2b. Vertical elasticity is imparted to the tip end 3. The contact 1 can retard horizontal movement of the tip end 3, which would otherwise be involved at the time of downward movement of the tip end 3, by means of the first resilient section 2a and the second resilient section 2b. As a result, there can be prevented disengagement of the external connection terminals 14a of an electronic device or the semiconductor package 14 from the tip end 3, or deformation of the external connection terminals 14a, which would otherwise be caused when the semiconductor package 14 is displaced while the external connection terminals 14a are disengaged from the tip end 3.
FIG. 22 is a plan view showing the shape of a contact described in the Unexamined Japanese Patent Application Publication No. Hei 4-34380. In the drawing, reference numeral 1 designates a contact; 2a and 2b designate resilient sections; 3 designates a tip end; and 5 designates a terminal. The contact 1 is formed by means of vertically stacking two hair-pin-like resilient sections 2a and 2b so as to constitute an S-shaped geometry, and attaching the tip end 3 to an upper free end of the two resilient sections 2a and 2b. The terminal 5 is attached to a lower free end of the two resilient sections 2a and 2b. The two resilient sections 2a and 2b are bent in opposite directions, and hence the contact 1 having the resilient sections 2a and 2b has the function of retarding horizontal movement, which would otherwise be involved by vertical movement of the tip end 3.
The surfaces of the external connection terminals 14a of an electronic device or the semiconductor package 14 are usually plated, and an oxide film is formed on the surface of the external connection terminals 14a. Hence, the external connection terminals 14a have high electrical resistance. There is a necessity for establishing good electrical contact between the external connection terminals 14a and the tip end 3 of the contact 1 by means of removing the oxide film and increasing the area of contact between the external connection terminals 14a and the tip end 3. FIG. 23 is a perspective view showing the shape of a contact 1 which is to realize good electrical contact and is described in the Unexamined Japanese Patent Application Publication No. Sho 58-199545. In the drawing, reference numeral 1 designates a contact; 2 designates a resilient section; 3 designates a tip end; 3a designates a protuberance; and 5 designates a terminal. In the contact 1 having such a structure, a plurality of protuberances 3a are formed in the tip end 3 with which the external connection terminals 14a are to be brought into contact. Even in a case where an oxide film is formed on the surface of the external connection terminals 14a, the contact 1 has the function of breaking the oxide film, to thereby ensure electrical contact with the external connection terminals 14a.
In the known contact shown in FIG. 20, external connection terminals are moved horizontally by several hundreds of micrometers when contact pressure is applied to the external connection terminals, as a result of which the external connection terminals are disengaged from the tip end. Use of either one of the contacts shown in FIGS. 21 and 22 prevents disengagement of the external connection terminals from the contact, which would otherwise be caused by horizontal movement of the external connection terminals. Such a known contact involves external connection terminals being moved about 50 μm horizontally and fails to eliminate relative sliding movement, which would arise between the tip end 3 of the contact and the external connection terminals 14a. The external connection terminal 14a is formed from a 42-alloy, and solder plating having a thickness of about 10 μm is formed on the surface of the external connection terminal 14a. Since the surface of the solder plating is naturally oxidized, the surface of the external connection terminal 14a is coated with an oxide. In a case where relative sliding movement arises between the external connection terminals 14a and the tip end 3, the tip end 3 scrapes a solder or solder oxide which covers the external connection terminals 14a. The resultant agglomerate adheres to and are accumulated on the surface of the tip end 3. Particularly in a case where the accumulated agglomerate corresponds to insulating oxides, electrical connection is hindered. As a result, the semiconductor package may be erroneously determined to be defective even though the semiconductor package is non-defective. In contrast, in a case where the accumulated agglomerate is conductive oxides such as solder, high contact resistance arises between the external connection terminals and the tip end 3, and the semiconductor package may be erroneously determined to be defective. In either case, an electronic device or semiconductor package, which has been determined to be defective, is uneconomically discarded. In order to prevent occurrence of uneconomical discarding of a non-defective electronic device or semiconductor package, a test socket must be replaced with a new one after a short period of use. This accounts for the shortening of the life of a test socket for testing an electronic device or a semiconductor package.
In the case of use of a contact having protuberances provided on its tip end shown in FIG. 23, good electrical contact can be achieved during an early period. Bringing external connection terminals in contact with the tip end of the contact involves horizontal movement of the external connection terminals. Further, the surface of the external connection terminals is scraped by the sharp protuberances, which inevitably involves formation of a large amount of agglomerate. As in the case of the previously-described background art, the life of the test socket is shortened.
Either of the previously-described contacts involves horizontal movement of external connection terminals, which in turn results in formation and deposition of agglomerate. The resultant agglomerate is scraped from the external connection terminals as a result of repeated used of the contact. In a case where agglomerate is conductive and adheres to external connection terminals so as to extend across the contacts, electrical shortcircuit may arise. Further, the agglomerate that adheres to the external connection terminals causes soldering failures when a semiconductor package is mounted. In association with an increase in the size of an electronic device or semiconductor package and the number of terminals, a pitch between external connection terminals is made narrower, and hence agglomerate imposes a serious problem.
Besides, generally, an electric device or a semiconductor package 14 are protected by resin molding. After molding, unnecessary resin is cut off. During cutting off, resin trash sometimes attaches to external terminal 14a. The trash avoids electric connection between a contact terminal and the external terminal. Due to this, a good electric device or a good semiconductor packaging are deteriorated.

Test socket, method of manufacturing the test socket, test method using the test socket, and member to be tested


A machine tool is provided which comprises a machine base; a first support provided on a first rotational machine axis, the first rotational axis being mounted on the base in a fixed position relative to the base; a second support provided on a second rotational machine axis, the second rotational axis being mounted on the base in a fixed position relative to the base, wherein the axis of rotation of the second rotational axis is parallel to and spaced laterally from the axis of rotation of the first rotational axis. A mount is carried by a support arm on the second support, with the support arm being moveable relative to the second support about a rotary axis. A control arrangement is operable to control the orientation of the first support relative to the axis of rotation of the first rotational axis, and the orientation of the mount relative to the axis of rotation of the second rotational axis and its rotational position about the rotary axis, so as to govern the position and orientation of the first support and the mount relative to each other. Combination of motion about three rotational axes in this way facilitates versatile and accurate control of the relative orientations of the first support and the mount on the second support. The machine base may include a central support located between the machine axes, with the machine axes mounted onto opposite sides of the support.

There are many applications for machine tools that require the motion of two points in space to be controlled relative to each other, in both position and angle, over a swept area or volume. It is desirable to minimise the number of machine axes involved to optimise this control. It is also desirable to maintain a very tight stiffness loop between the two points and ideally a constant value of stiffness in the loop as the position and angle of the points are adjusted. This improves the level of accuracy and repeatability of the motion.
Existing machine tools often use long linear guide rails to enable contact between a cutting tool (such as a grinding wheel) and a workpiece at any position along the workpiece's length. Shorter linear guide rails may be carried by the long rails in order to facilitate motion of a cutting tool towards or away from the workpiece, in a direction orthogonal to the long rails. These stacked rails (or axes) introduce unwanted compliance, reducing the tool-to-component stiffness. This in turn leads to reduced component quality, in terms of its dimensional precision and finish. Also, the long linear guide rails typically need to be least as long as the workpiece to be machined. This often results in an axis with a poor bearing ratio where the axis is most compliant in the direction of the cutting force. This problem is compounded when an orthogonal infeed axis is stacked upon the long axis.
The use of stacked axes is also problematic if on-axis position encoders are employed. The taller the stack of axes, the greater the distance between the points of interest and the encoders. This results in "Abbe offset" errors which reduce the intrinsic precision of the machine tools.
Furthermore, the use of orthogonal stacked linear axes requires time consuming and expensive alignment to maintain orthogonality between the axes and to minimise the pitch, yaw and roll errors for each axis.
These long linear axes also require long telescopic covers that are expensive, introduce friction, prone to failure and furthermore may influence the precision of linear motion (for example its straightness, positioning precision and repeatability).
The present invention seeks to overcome the problems above associated with use of long guide rails, and reduce the need for stacked, orthogonal axes.
International publication no. WO2009/093064 (in the name of the present applicant) describes a machine tool which comprises a machine base, a first support mounted on a first rotational machine axis on the base, and a second support mounted on a second rotational machine axis on the base. The second rotational axis is parallel to and spaced laterally from the first rotational axis and carries a mount moveable relative to the second support along a first linear machine axis orthogonal to the second rotational axis. A control arrangement is provided which is operable to control the orientation of the first support on the first rotational axis, and the orientation of the mount relative to the second rotational axis and its location along the linear axis, so as to govern the position and orientation of the first support and the mount relative to each other. This can be achieved without needing long linear axes and a stacked linear axis, thereby overcoming problems associated with the known configurations discussed above.

Machine tools and methods of operation thereof


A disk drive array controller generally has a host I/O port configured for connection to a host computer and a plurality of disk I/O ports configured for connection to a corresponding plurality of disks forming a disk drive array. A controller constructed in accordance with various aspects of the present invention may include a host I/O processor in communication with the host I/O port and configured to perform I/O transactions with the host computer through the host I/O port; a cache memory; a front end caching subsystem in communication with the host I/O processor and configured to cache blocks of data comprising host I/O transactions in the cache memory; a disk array I/O processor configured to access host data in the cache memory and in communication with the plurality of disk drives, the disk array I/O processor processing host I/O transactions into disk I/O transactions; and a back end caching subsystem in communication with the disk array I/O processor, the back end caching subsystem configured to cache disk array meta-data in the cache memory. Variations of this basic system are possible, and contemplated as within the scope of the present invention. The disk drive array controller may further include a communication path between the front end caching subsystem and the back end caching subsystem, whereby allocation of blocks in the caching subsystems are synchronized. The communication path may be, for example, a control store common to the front end caching subsystem and the back end caching subsystem, the control store holding a data structure through which caching and I/O transaction information are communicated between the front end caching subsystem and the back end caching subsystem.

Many workers in the computer and computer peripheral arts are today trying to push the price/performance/reliability envelope of computer systems further than ever before. State of the art systems require ever increasing on-line storage capacity and reliability without a corresponding detrimental impact on speed. In order to provide access to such ever increasing volumes of data at a reasonable speed and cost, many new technologies have been developed. One very popular storage technology is redundant arrays of inexpensive disks (RAID).
The technology behind RAID includes both a general hardware architecture and a disk array controller firmware architecture. With respect to the disk controller firmware architecture, one of the more popular architectures is RAID Level 5. The RAID Level 5 architecture, as well as RAID generally and the various RAID Levels, are described in detail in Patterson et al., "A Case for a Redundant Arrays of Inexpensive Disks (RAID)", ACM SIGMOD Conference, Chicago, Jun. 1-3, 1988, incorporated herein by reference.
As described therein, disk data are divided into stripes. See also FIG. 3, which illustrates a RAID Level 5 disk set including four disks, DISK1 -DISK4, and a stripe width of five blocks. Stripes 301, 302, and 303 contain data of two kinds, host data D and meta-data P. Host data D, which is the information stored, retrieved and manipulated by the host computer, is for convenience referred to hereinafter simply as data D. Meta-data P is used exclusively by the disk array controller and perhaps other disk subsystem components for the control and maintenance of the disk array system. For example, one type of meta-data P may be parity information. Stripes are recorded as sequential blocks on a plurality of different disk drives. Each stripe includes a plurality of data blocks D and one additional set of blocks called parity blocks P. The parity blocks P contain the logical exclusive-OR (XOR) of the plurality of data blocks D, and is recorded on an additional disk drive. Conventionally, the parity blocks P are distributed among all the disk drives of an array, as shown in FIG. 3, in order to avoid drive contention during write operations. The use of parity blocks P improves availability of all of the data in a stripe. When one drive is unavailable, for example, the missing data block from a stripe can be reconstructed from the parity block and the available data blocks. The contents of the parity block is simply XORed with the data blocks remaining. The result of this XOR operation is the data from the missing drive. Once such a drive has been repaired, data can be restored to the repaired drive using the parity blocks and data blocks from each good drive in similar fashion.
A typical RAID-based disk controller 101 is shown in FIG. 1. The controller is connected to a host computer (not shown), through a host port 103. Input/output (I/O) transactions are received through the host port by a host I/O processor 105. The host I/O processor is responsible for receiving commands from the host computer to the RAID array and for transferring data and command status responses from the RAID array back to the host computer. Commands from the host computer are typically requests to perform an operation on a number of blocks, i.e., a logical block count (LBC), beginning with a specified logical block address (LBA) within the RAID array.
The RAID disk controller also has a disk array interface port 107 which communicates with a plurality of physical disk drives 109. Data I/Os and other commands to be executed by the physical disk drives of the RAID array are processed by a disk array I/O processor 111 executing RAID Level 5 algorithms. The host commands relating to logical locations (LBA, LBC) are processed into a plurality of physical I/O operations which are in turn processed by a physical disk handler 115 into physical I/O commands for specific physical disk drives 109. For example, a disk write of several blocks may be organized into stripes and divided into individual disk I/O operations. Such common operations are described in detail in Patterson et al.
In order to improve the efficiency of RAID controllers, it has become a common practice to provide a cache 113, logically disposed between the host I/O processor 105 and the disk array I/O processor 111. For example, Row et al. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,163,131, issued Nov. 10, 1992, describe an architecture for a large file server including a front end cache. Goodlander et al. disclose a front end caching system in the context of a data storage system including a plurality of disk drives, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,257,367. The caching system 113 is typically a separate software process or set of subroutines using the same system logical block references as the host I/O processor 105 because the data cached is that data frequently requested by the host computer. Therefore, use of logical block references by the cache 113 is most efficient. Caching of data is helpful because the host may request data from the same logical location many times without modification. When such frequently requested data is found in the cache 113, it may be sent to the host port by the host I/O processor 105 without having to perform a physical I/O to the RAID array. Such a cache 113 may also be helpful during write operations because valid old data which has been previously cached need not be retrieved from the physical disks to be XORed with the parity stripe before overwriting. The valid old cached data can be XORed with the parity stripe and then the new data both cached and written to the physical disks. Also caching of write operations permits the disk array controller to report command completion very quickly, an operation referred to as "fast writes".
One problem with conventional RAID disk controller design is that a write operation is usually preceded by at least one disk drive read operation in order to retrieve the parity stripe from the RAID array. Sometimes this problem is solved by consolidating writes into full-stripe writes, wherein a new parity is generated for the full stripe. However, there is no assurance that a full-stripe write, or optimized write, as it is known in the art, will always be obtained from consolidations of host write commands.
As discussed above, systems with no caching and systems with only front end caching are known. Systems with only back end caching are also known. However, front end caches have never been combined with back end caches. Workers in this field of art have not combined front end caches and back end caches in a single RAID disk controller system because such a combination was not thought to provide an advantage warranting the additional cost and complexity of the resulting system. It was recognized that the front end cache would improve the host I/O performance and the back end cache would improve the disk array I/O performance during write operations, but the advantages are outweighed by the cost and complexity of additional cache memory, separate cache control systems and potential negative interactions between the front end cache system and the back end cache system. Potential negative interactions include referencing a block multiple times during a single operation, resulting in additional cache look ups.

RAID controller system utilizing front end and back end caching systems including communication path connecting two caching systems and synchronizing allocation of blocks in caching systems


An apparatus and method for analyzing liquid samples employs first and second bidirectional ports that permit liquids to be introduced to first and second liquid waveguide capillary cells at the same time. The direction of liquid flow through the apparatus and roles of components may be reversed to prevent or overcome obstruction by particulates and other debris. The apparatus and method can detect and map colored dissolved organic matter and can detect, discriminate and map algal species or algal blooms including red tide in an automated, unattended manner within large aquatic systems.

Blooms of the toxic dinoflagellate, Karenia brevis, are a frequent occurrence off the coast of Florida in the Gulf of Mexico. Although such blooms generally develop and terminate offshore, wind and currents can concentrate assemblages in nearshore waters, creating a condition referred to locally and elsewhere as "red tide". Harmful algal blooms pose a threat and efforts to reduce or eliminate their negative impacts and consequences are necessary. In the Gulf of Mexico, toxic blooms of K. brevis regularly lead to untimely restrictions on commercial and recreational shellfish harvesting and deleterious effects on tourism and public health. Toxic blooms of K. brevis are generally detected by visual confirmation (e.g., water discoloration and fish kills), illness to shellfish consumers, or human respiratory irritation with actual toxicity verified through time-consuming chemical analyses for brevetoxins within shellfish samples and mouse bioassays. Currently, biological monitoring programs primarily rely on microscope-based cell enumeration and gross measurements of a biochemical parameter, such as chlorophyll-a concentration, for characterizing algal species and estimating biomass. Existing methods can be slow, labor intensive, intermittent, and do not always provide timely or accurate measurements. Developing optical detection methods for discriminating particular phytoplankton species in mixed phytoplankton assemblages has long been a goal of aquatic scientists. Phytoplankton pigment and light absorbance analyses could be incorporated into coastal monitoring programs and thus provide an effective and alternative means for monitoring K. brevis. Mitigation of some of the harmful effects resulting from toxic blooms of K. brevis could be achieved by early detection of this species in mixed phytoplankton communities.
The majority of organic carbon in the oceans is present as dissolved organic matter ("DOM"). A significant proportion of DOM has color (abbreviated "CDOM"), and is often present in concentrations sufficient to affect the color of lakes, estuaries, and near-shore coastal water. Due to the presence of CDOM in waters where phytoplankton assemblages occur, baseline CDOM measurements of water in the area are necessary. Additionally, mapping the distribution of CDOM including its time-space variability is central to understanding global carbon cycles. Characterizing CDOM variability is problematic because standard spectrometric methods for determining CDOM concentration are laborious and susceptible to methodological biases. For example, the collection and storage of discrete water samples for analysis in the laboratory often introduces artifacts such as contamination and photolysis. Also, the numerous steps required to conduct these analyses limit the number of samples that can be collected and effectively analyzed.
The use of liquid waveguide capillary cell ("LWCC") technology for CDOM absorption measurements has been described in E. J. D'Sa et al., "Determining optical absorption of colored dissolved organic matter in seawater with a liquid capillary waveguide", Limnol. Oceanogr. 44, 1142–1148 (1999). A near-continuous automated LWCC analytical technique for mapping CDOM distribution in an aquatic system is described in Kirkpatrick et al., "Continuous hyperspectral absorption measurements of colored dissolved organic material in aquatic systems", Applied Optics, 42, 33, 6564–68 (20 Nov. 2003). Devices employing an LWCC are also described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,020,207 and 6,603,556 B2.


A large aperture lightweight antenna uses an inflatable spherical surface deployed within a lighter than air platform. Beam steering is accomplished by moving the RF feedpoint(s) with respect to the reflector. The antenna can use an inflatable collapsible transreflector.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to large aperture lightweight antennas. Such antennas are especially suited for use on lighter than air platforms. More particularly, this invention is especially well suited to provide inflatable and collapsible transreflector antennas.
2. Related Art
Lighter-than-air (LTA) vehicles such as manned airships (blimps), unmanned airships, or tethered aerostats have been used as platforms for radar and radio communication relays. However, since LTA lift capacity is reduced as the vehicle operates at higher altitudes, LTA vehicles require extremely lightweight antenna systems to function in this role at very high altitudes. Adding to the complexity of such antenna installations is the requirement for ballonets, or buoyancy control systems, to control the lifting force and allow controlled ascent and descent of the LTA vehicle. As the maximum altitude of the LTA increases, these ballonets occupy a larger fraction of the total volume within the LTA envelope. Ideally, the antenna would be collapsed or folded when the LTA is at low altitude (ballonets fully expanded) and the antenna would be fully deployed when the LTA is at high altitude (ballonets fully collapsed).
Scanning antennas utilizing transreflectors of spherical, parabolic, elliptical, or other toric sections are described in U.S. Pat. No. 2,835,890—Bittner, U.S. Pat. No. 2,989,746—Ramsay, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,214,248—Cronson et al. However, these antennas are not designed to be collapsible, are fabricated from thick metal rods or wires, or are comprised of multiple singly curved, reflective/transmissive surfaces. An inflatable spherical reflector is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,364,053—Hotine but it is not collapsible nor capable of 360 degree scanning. A planar inflatable/collapsible antenna is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,132,699—Rupp.
Although no published documentation is presently in hand, it is also believed others have previously recognized that an RF reflective conductive surface can have a thickness less than one RF skin depth.
A collection of possibly relevant prior art documents are identified below:                [1] K. S. Kelleher and H. H. Hibbs, "A New Microwave Reflector," NRL Report 4141, May 1953.        [2] J. D. Barab, J. G. Marangoni, and W. G. Scott, "The Parabolic Dome Antenna: A Large Aperture, 360 Degree, Rapid Scan Antenna, Toroidal Microwave Reflector," IRE National Convention Record, Part 1,1956.        [3] J. Ruze, "Lateral-Feed Displacement in a Paraboloid," IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation, Vol. AP-13, Sep. 1965, pp. 660–665.        [4] A. V. Mrstik, "Scan Limits of Off-Axis Fed Parabolic Reflectors," IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation, Vol. AP-27, September 1979, pp. 647–650.        [5] T. Li, "A Study of Spherical Reflectors as Wide-Angle Scanning Antennas," IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation, Vol. AP-7, July 1959, pp. 223–226.        [6] G. Peeler and D. Archer, "A Toroidal Microwave Reflector," IRE National Convention Record, 1954, pp. 242–247.        [7] C. J. Sletten, Reflector and Lens Antennas, Massachusetts, Artech House, 1988.        [8] M. Gilbert and N. Williams, "A Hybrid Antenna System Incorporating a Parabolic Torus, "Proceedings of the IEE Conference on Antennas and Propagation, 1985, pp. 146–150.        [9] D. Paolina," Reflector Antennas Analysis Notes," NWC Technical Memorandum 5352, August 1985.        [10] A. W. Love, Antenna Engineering Handbook, New York, McGraw-Hill, 1984, Artech House, 1988.        [11] S. P. Applebaum, "Adaptive Arrays," IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation, Vol. AP-24, September 1976, pp. 585–598.        [12] S. Silver, Microwave Antenna Theory and Design, London, Peter Peregrinus Ltd., 1984.        [13] U.S. Pat. No. 4,214,248—Cronson et al.        [14] U.S. Pat. No. 2,835,890—Bittner.        [15] U.S. Pat. No. 2,989,746—Ramsay.        [16] U.S. Pat. No. 4,364,053—Hotine.        [17] U.S. Pat. No. 5,132,699—Rupp et al.        [18] K. S. Kelleher and H. H. Hibbs, "A New Microwave Reflector," NRL Report 4141, May 1953.        [19] J. D. Barab, J. G. Marangoni, and W. G. Scott, "The Parabolic Dome Antenna: A Large Aperture, 360 Degree, Rapid Scan Antenna, Toroidal Microwave Reflector," IRE National Convention Record, Part 1, 1956.


The present invention relates to a process for the dispersion copolymerization of 35 to 70% by weight of vinyl substituted aromatic monomer and 30 to 65% by weight of conjugated diene monomer comprising carrying out the copolymerization in a reaction mixture containing a liquid aliphatic hydrocarbon dispersing medium, an anionic catalyst system, and an "A" block of a copolymer dispersing agent, the dispersing agent having at least two polymer blocks wherein at least one of the polymer blocks is soluble in the dispersing medium and at least another of the polymer blocks is insoluble in the dispersing medium and is formed in situ.

In many prior art non-aqueous dispersion polymerization systems, an organic dispersing medium has been utilized having poor solvent properties for the polymer being produced. A dispersing agent was therefore utilized in the organic medium in order to disperse the polymer being formed throughout the medium. These dispersing agents or dispersants were generally polymeric materials such as block copolymers, random copolymers, or homopolymers as described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,098,980 and 4,452,960.
Styrene-butadiene rubbers (SBR) have generally been prepared in solvents in which SBR is soluble, however, only SBR's having a styrene content of less than 35% are soluble in hexane or other aliphatic solvents. These higher styrene content SBR polymers are not completely insoluble in the aliphatic solvents, and, in fact, are highly swollen in these solvents. However, SBR's having a styrene content greater than 35% necessarily have been polymerized in aromatic or cycloaliphatic solvents via solution polymerization.
The applicant first determined that certain pre-made dispersing agents can be utilized to conduct the non-aqueous dispersion polymerization production of SBR having a styrene content greater than 35% by weight in aliphatic dispersing medium such as hexane. Although the dispersion process using a pre-made dispersant works well, it has one shortcoming from a practical or commercial scale up point of view. The dispersant must be prepared separately and stored for subsequent use in the polymerization process. Storage tank and transfer lines require a large capital expenditure and the synthesis of the dispersant and transfer time into the polymerization reactor results in higher production costs.
In these first dispersion SBR studies, a single diblock polymer consisting of a short block (5%-10% of total polymer) of hexane soluble polybutadiene and a long block (90%-95% of total) of high styrene content SBR was prepared in the absence of a dispersing agent. Synthesis of this polymer structure in hexane resulted in either extremely viscous cements or the very undesirable phase separation.
It is therefore desirable to provide a continuous dispersion polymerization process in which there is no need to store the dispersing agent prior to the commencement of the dispersion polymerization process.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a continuous polymerization process employing an anionic initiation system to polymerize styrene and butadiene monomers in a non-aqueous dispersion into SBR having 35 to 70% by weight of styrene. Polymerization is conducted in the presence of a dispersing agent that is continuously prepared in-situ, that is, during the continuous polymerization reaction.
Such a continuous non-aqueous dispersion polymerization process offers many advantages including improved stable dispersions, improved heat transfer, energy savings, high polymer concentrations in the reaction medium, increased production capacity, and the production of very high molecular weight polymers; and no need to store the dispersing agent prior to its use.

In-situ anionic continuous dispersion polymerization process


A method and apparatus for providing pressurized water to a residential fire sprinkler system in the absence of electricity. The apparatus includes a double diaphragm pump operated from compressed nitrogen gas.. The pump includes a housing containing a pair of flexible diaphragms mechanically connected and separating the housing into a pair of pressurized chambers and a pair of pumping chambers. The pressure chambers are connected to a supply of compressed nitrogen gas. The inlet to the pumping chambers is connected to any water supply and the outlet to the pumping chambers is connected to a residential fire sprinkler system. Compressed nitrogen gas is alternately supplied to the pressure chambers and alternately discharges the gas from the pressure chambers thereby causing water from the water supply to flow alternately into one of the pumping chambers and to be discharged alternately from the other pumping chamber for delivering pressurized water to the fire sprinkler system. An expansion tank is flow connected to the discharge line of the pumping chambers to balance the pressure in the discharge line whereby pulsing of the discharge water to the fire sprinkler system is eliminated.

This invention relates to a residential fire extinguishing system and more particularly to a system for providing pressurized water to a N.F.P.A. 13D, residential fire sprinkler system without the use of electricity.
There are many residential buildings that are built in outlining areas that do not have access to a municipal water supply. These residences must rely for their source of water upon wells. While these residences do not have municipal water, they do have electricity for powering electric pumps to deliver water from the wells. Many of the new residential buildings are provided with residential fire sprinkler systems due to the absence of fire hydrants and also the nearest fire company may be several miles away. While the electric pump can function to supply water from the well to the sprinkler system, if the source of electricity is interrupted, the pump will no longer function. Under these circumstances, in the event of a fire, the pump is unable to supply water to the residential fire sprinkler system. This problem is not only serious where the water supply is derived from a well but is also serious where there is access to a municipal water supply. The reason for this is that the water to be supplied to a fire sprinkler system must be from a source of pressurized water. Thus areas with frequent power outage due to storms and brown outs present a serious problem for a residential fire sprinkler system regardless of the source of water.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to be able to supply a source of pressurized water to a residential fire sprinkler system without the use of electricity in any form.

Method and apparatus for providing pressurized water to a residential fire sprinkler system in the absence of electricity


A method whereby a musician may play drums with his/her feet is disclosed. Foot pedals are provided, which are pressed by the underside of the musician's feet, such as heels or toes. Various linkages may transfer downward pedal movement to a drum-striking mechanism. The drum-striking mechanism includes a striking device which may resemble the drum-striking end of a drumstick, and a drive mechanism, which may include an escapement, e.g., resembling a piano hammer-action mechanism. A system which plays an open/closed hi-hat is disclosed, as well as a system which plays a rim shot.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention provides means for a musician to play percussion instruments, e.g., drums and/or cymbals with his/her feet.
2. Prior Art
A musician who plays an instrument such as keyboard or guitar can enhance his/her performance by simultaneously playing a percussion instrument. For example, the foot-pedal of a standard hi-hat can be depressed on the two & four beats of each measure. A standard bass drum with standard foot-pedal can also be played.
To provide a wider variety of drum sounds, including cymbals, a system of electronic drums can also be used. In this system, foot switches (e.g. the Boss FS-5U Footswitch made by Roland Corp.) may be used to trigger digitally-recorded samples of drum sounds from an electronic drum machine. While good musical results may be obtained from this system, experience has found that audience members often lack the attention, sophistication, and insight to realize that the musician is triggering live drum sounds during performance. A good drum performance of this type sounds almost indistinguishable from a standard self-operating drum machine. With no actual drums to see, audience members tend to incorrectly assume that a drum machine is setting the music's tempo and triggering the drums sounds, even when the musician is actually creating the entire musical performance live. Hence, a live musical performance which may embody great coordination and skill is not fully appreciated by the audience. Another disadvantage of this electronic system is that simple footswitches cannot sense the downward velocity of the musician's foot. Hence, all drum beats have the same volume. Off-the-shelf methods of velocity sensing (such as those used on standard electronic musical keyboards) may be used to solve this problem, but these methods would require electromechanical engineering time, and the audience-perception problem discussed above would still remain.
It is possible to arrange drums/cymbals on the floor in front of a seated musician. A drum stick may then be attached to the musician's shoe(s), and the musician may then strike the drums/cymbals with the drumstick. However, this method has several disadvantages: Drums set on the floor will require a great deal of space, both horizontally and vertically. Hence, the musician will have to position his/her stool at a high level above the floor. If the musician is playing a standard acoustic piano, the piano itself may have to be elevated to accommodate the drums. The horizontal expanse of the drums/cymbals requires the musician to move his feet over large distances to reach different percussion instruments, making performance more clumsy and difficult. Also, a desirable drum beat sound generally requires that the drum stick, or beater, must freely bounce away from the percussion instrument after making contact. To manually achieve this action continuously with foot-mounted implements is difficult. Even a standard bass-drum/pedal requires that the musician must learn to release downward pressure on the pedal after the beater has made contact with the drum head, in order to produce a clean-sounding beat. This technique is aided somewhat in a standard bass drum arrangement because a standard bass drum beater has enough mass, and typically travels with enough velocity that it can impart a significant upward force on the musician's foot during the return bounce. But if one replaces the bass drum with a standard snare drum, and replaces the standard bass-drum beater with a drumstick, then the upward pedal force is reduced and a clean strike becomes more difficult. Also, this arrangement may result in a punctured snare drum head.
The manual-release requirement of a standard drum pedal is even more of a problem if the musician wishes to play one pedal with his/her toe and another pedal (playing a different instrument) with his/her heel. In this situation, there is a natural desire to rest the heel when playing the toe and vice versa. To perform a clean strike/bounce-away (to produce a satisfying ring and decay of the drum) with a standard drum pedal and then rest the beater against the drum head without producing a second audible strike is extremely difficult. Furthermore, it is impossible to play the other pedal with the first pedal resting in down position before the first strike has completely decayed, since holding the pedal down will cause the beater to press against the drum head, muting the ring.
British patent 185,227 (Davies), FIG. 12, discloses a striking device 116 which is driven by downward movement of a roller 112 attached to an arm 106. After the pedal 10 has reached its lower limit of travel, momentum of the striking device causes it to strike and rebound away from the drum 117. Several drawbacks are found with this arrangement:
(a) As the striking device is halted by downward roller pressure following a drum strike, an upward impulse, or "bump" is felt by the musician's foot. This impulse is distracting and irrelevant to the musical rhythm of the performance.
(b) The drum strike occurs after the pedal has reached its lower limit of travel. This detracts from the joy of playing since the event of the musician's foot hitting bottom does not correspond temporally with the event of the musician hearing the drum beat. It is preferable for the two events to occur simultaneously.(c) The arm is, of necessity, rigid; and therefore heavy. Also, the arm takes up vertical space for the entirety of its length. Hence, a great engineering challenge is presented if it is desired to have two such arms crossing each other to play different percussion instruments without multiplying the vertical height of the base structure 7.(d) The base structure 7 as shown takes up a great deal of vertical space, thus making it difficult to use when playing a piano.(e) The apparatus as shown uses many different parts for linking pedals with strikers. Hence, tooling for manufacture is expensive.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,747,464 (Russell) discloses a pedal-to-striker linkage using a bicycle-brake-type cable system. Running a cable through a curved conduit presents significant friction and wear.
Swiss patent 98,101 (Grilli), FIG. 3, discloses a rotor with a cable-pulling point located above the rotational axis. The rotor is mounted between two parallel horizontal sheets. Like Davies, the structure takes up a great deal of vertical space.
There exists a need for a method of playing non-electronic percussion instruments by foot which is versatile (can be used for many different percussion instruments), comfortable for the musician, easy to master, and uses physical space efficiently.
Glossary
Percussion instrument: Any of various musical instruments which are played by being struck, e.g., a snare, bass or tom drum, a cymbal, a cowbell. etc.
Percussion instrument manipulation device: A mechanical device which plays a percussion instrument and/or changes the sound of a percussion instrument.
Striking Device: A mechanical object which strikes a percussion instrument, e.g., a drumstick, mallet, bass drum beater, wire brush or Blastick®.
Escapement: A mechanism (e.g., a piano hammer action) including an input member (e.g., a wippen) which moves from a rest position to an end-of-travel position, and an output member, (i.e., a striking device) (e.g., a hammer shank & hammer head), wherein, as the input member travels from its rest position to its end-of-travel position, motion is transferred from the input member to the output member as the input member travels from the rest position to a predetermined release position between the rest and end-of-travel positions, and as the input member travels between the release position and the end-of-travel position, the output member is not propelled by the input member, and is free to bounce off an object (e.g., a piano string or drum head) and reverse its direction of travel, even as the input member continues to travel toward its end-of-travel position. An escapement mechanism may include a backcheck for catching the output member after it has struck and bounced away from the instrument. Thus, the output member is prevented from bouncing back toward the instrument. An escapement mechanism may also include a jack (as in a piano action) which is driven by the input member to propel the output member toward the instrument, and a letoff device (e.g., a letoff button) to disengage the jack from propelling the striking device during a continuous downward pedal movement shortly before the striking device strikes the instrument.
Line: An elongate structure which is used to pull an object in the same direction as its length, e.g., a cable, wire, string, or a tracker rod (such as found in old-style pipe organs).
Rim Shot: A "side stick" beat played on a drum, typically a snare drum. A rim shot is typically played by holding the drumstick near the center of its length over the head, continuously pressing the tip of the drumstick against the head, accelerating the butt end of the stick toward the rim, and striking the rim. This type of beat is often used in bossa-nova patterns or in light rock styles when a soft mood is desired. NOTE: A "rim shot" in this specification and claims is not to be confused with a drum beat in which the stick is held at or near its butt end, and the entire stick is accelerated toward the drum in such a manner that the side of the stick strikes the rim at the same instant that the tip strikes the head.

System for playing percussion instruments with feet


A sensor system for a tire, which enables the installation condition of a sensor unit in a tire's air chamber to be know. A sensor system where a sensor unit is installed in a tire's air chamber has detecting means for detecting a relative change in the distance between the sensor unit and a position where the sensor unit is installed.

In order to monitor information inside a tire, such as an air pressure and a temperature, there has been heretofore performed attachment of a sensor unit to an inner surface of the tire, a well part of a rim or the like, detection of the information inside the tire by use of the sensor unit, and transmission of the detection results to a receiver outside the tire by utilizing radio waves (for example, see Japanese patent application Kohyo publication No. Hei 10(1998)-504783).
In such a sensor system for a tire, a sensor unit is installed in a tire's air chamber. Thus, there is a drawback that, even if the sensor unit falls off a predetermined installation position, the falling of the sensor unit cannot be known. If a vehicle runs while the sensor unit has fallen off, an electronic component of the sensor unit will be destroyed, and communication may be disabled or a false alarm may be given.


A thin film transistor array substrate includes a plurality of pixels, each of the pixels including a capacitor comprising a first electrode, and a second electrode located above the first electrode, a data line extending in a first direction, configured to provide a data signal, located above the capacitor, and overlapping a part of the capacitor, and a driving voltage line configured to supply a driving voltage, located between the capacitor and the data line, and comprising a first line extending in the first direction, and a second line extending in a second direction substantially perpendicular to the first direction.

1. Field
Embodiments of the present invention relate to a thin film transistor array substrate and an organic light-emitting display apparatus including the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
An organic light-emitting display apparatus is self-emissive, and unlike a liquid crystal display apparatus, the organic light-emitting display apparatus does not require a separate light source, such as a backlight, thereby having comparatively reduced thickness and weight. Also, the organic light-emitting display apparatus has excellent characteristics including low power consumption, high brightness, a quick response time, or the like.
The organic light-emitting display apparatus includes gate lines that are located on a substrate and that extend in one direction, data lines that extend to cross the gate lines, a pixel circuit that is electrically connected to each of the gate lines and each of the data lines, and an organic light emitting diode (OLED) that is electrically connected to the pixel circuit. However, recently, the organic light-emitting display apparatus is required to have high definition, such that available space for the pixel circuit is decreased.

Thin film transistor array substrate and organic light-emitting display apparatus including the same


Weather radar for measuring radar signals in the GHz range with a receiver containing at least one signal path, the receiver comprising a receiving facility for an incoming radar signal, on which a test signal generated by a test signal generator is superimposed in a coupler, and a processing device to amplify, filter and convert both signals to lower frequencies, wherein for filtering a matched filter is provided, and with an evaluation device in which calibration parameters of the signal path are derived from the test signal for the frequency of the test signal in order to determine the signal strength of the received radar signal, wherein the test signal is superimposed with at least one frequency differing from the frequency of the radar signal, so that the radar signal and the test signal are processed separately from one another by the evaluation device, and the calibration parameters of the signal path for the frequency of the radar signal are determinable from the test signal through a modeling of the frequency dependence of the calibration parameters for frequencies around those of the radar signal.

The invention relates to a weather radar for measuring radar signals in the GHz range.
Weather radars transmit high-power microwave pulses and measure the strength of the signal that is backscattered by rain or other targets. The rain quantity, for example, can then be estimated from the signal strength. A calibration of the weather radar and, in particular, its receiver is required for this purpose.
From WO 2011/001206 A1 a multichannel receiver system is known allowing for automatic gain calibration by relating the amplitude of a reference signal before coupling it into a receiving path and the amplitude of the reference signal comprised in an output signal of the receiving path and eliminating or reducing changes in conversion gain.
DE 10 2011 012 843 A1 relates to a driver assistance device for a vehicle having a radar unit for detecting a measured variable which determines a frequency-dependent correction quantity for correcting the measured variable.
A polarimetric weather radar system is known from U.S. Pat. No. 7,495,599 B2 which calibrates the signal paths of the two different polarizations by coupling a low-energy test signal at a frequency equal to the radar frequency into both signal paths. The differences in the measured values resulting at the outputs of the two signal paths are then stored as calibration parameters so that the subsequent digital signal processing can take account of and eliminate the difference in the signal paths for real radar signals. The calibration can be carried out either on a one-off basis with a continuous-wave test signal, wherein the antenna signal must be blocked for the calibration period, or on a pulse-by-pulse basis. In this case, a specific range cell is reserved for the calibration, in which a pulsed test signal is then fed in and received instead of the atmospheric echo. A disadvantage of this calibration method is that the data recording of the weather radar must be interrupted during the calibration or range cells must be blocked and excluded from the operational useful signal processing.
From U.S. Pat. No. 8,004,458 B2, a different polarimetric weather radar is known which feeds a test signal at the radar frequency into the signal paths as well. This test signal can be varied in amplitude and phase and thus allows the simulation of various weather conditions. A test signal that is variable to this extent can be used to test and validate the correct function and calibration of the weather radar receiver. For example, Doppler test signals can be fed in or the complex transfer function of the receiver can be determined over the complete dynamic range. This weather radar also has the disadvantage that the data recording must be interrupted during the calibration or range cells must be blocked and excluded from the operational useful signal processing.
From WO 2012/139029 A1, a further polarimetric radar is known which calibrates the two signal paths in ongoing operation without interrupting the data recording. This is done by identifying individual signals in the recorded raw data which correspond to spherical objects. Since spherical objects have an identical reflection behavior for radar waves of both polarizations due to their symmetry, the two signal paths can be calibrated relative to one another on the basis of their reflection signals. This calibration method has the disadvantage that the two signal paths can only be calibrated relative to one another, so that absolute values for calibration parameters, such as amplification or noise, of the individual signal paths and their time dependence cannot be determined. Due to the thermal drifts of the components used in the signal path, measurements at different times are therefore not comparable.


A first balloon is fitted to an insertion portion of an endoscope and a second balloon is fitted to an insertion aid member. An end connector of a tube is connected to a balloon control device that supplies and sucks air into and from the first balloon and the second balloon. A duct that communicates with the first balloon, a duct that communicates with the second balloon, and a duct that communicates with a clearance between the insertion portion and the insertion aid member are formed in the end connector.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an endoscopic device, and more particularly to an endoscopic device that alternately inserts an insertion portion of an endoscope and an insertion aid member to insert the insertion portion into an alimentary canal in a deep part such as small intestine or large intestine for observation.
2. Related Art
When an insertion portion of an endoscope is inserted into an alimentary canal in a deep part such as small intestine, complex bending of intestine prevents a force from being transmitted to a tip of the insertion portion in simple insertion of the insertion portion, and insertion into a deep part is difficult. For example, surplus bending or flection in the insertion portion prevents the insertion portion from being further inserted into the deep part. Thus, a method is proposed for inserting an insertion portion of an endoscope covered with an insertion aid member into a body cavity, and guiding the insertion portion with the insertion aid member to prevent surplus bending or flection of the insertion portion.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 51-11689 describes an endoscopic device including a first balloon at a tip of an insertion portion of an endoscope, and a second balloon at a tip of an insertion aid member (also referred to as an over tube or a sliding tube). This endoscopic device alternately inserts the insertion portion and the insertion aid member while repeating expansion and contraction of the first balloon and the second balloon, thereby allowing the insertion portion to be inserted into a deep part of intestine with complex bending.


A semiconductor device includes a substrate, a metal layer, an alloy layer and a Sn—Ag—Cu-based solder ball. The metal layer is configured to be formed on the substrate. The alloy layer is configured to be formed on the metal layer. The Sn—Ag—Cu-based solder ball is configured to be placed on the alloy layer. The alloy layer includes Ni and Zn as essential elements.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor device. More particularly, the present invention relates to a semiconductor device with solder balls as external connection terminals having high reliability.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, Sn—Pb eutectic solder has been used. However, since a lead-free solder is requested, various solders are developed.
For example, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application JP-A-Heisei, 5-50286 discloses one of such solders. The solder (hereafter, referred to as Sn—Ag—Cu-based Solder) is composed of: Ag between 3.0 and 5.0 weight %; Cu between 0.5 and 3.0 weight %; and Sn of the remainder. The solder ball of such composition is actually used as the external connection terminal of BGA (Ball Grid Array).
FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing a conventional semiconductor device. As shown in FIG. 1, in the conventional semiconductor device, a solder resist 103 having an opening is formed on a substrate 101, A Cu layer 105, a Ni layer 107 and an alloy layer 109 are laminated in turn inside this opening. The alloy layer 109 includes Cu, Ni and Sn as essential components A Sn—Ag—Cu-based solder 111 is installed on the surface of the alloy layer 109.
FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing an example where the conventional semiconductor device is installed on a mount substrate. As shown in FIG. 2, the mount substrate has a solder resist 123 having an opening on a substrate 121, A Cu layer 125 is formed inside this opening. When the Sn—Ag—Cu-based solder 111 is mounted, an alloy layer 129 that includes Cu and Sn is formed between the Cu layer 125 and the Sn—Ag—Cu-based solder 111. The Cu layer 125 and the Sn—Ag—Cu-based solder 111 are bonded through this alloy layer 129.
On the other hand, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application JP-P2001-156207A discloses a semiconductor device in which Sn—Zn-based solder balls are used as external connection terminals.
However, we have now discovered that the conventional technique has a room to be improved with regard to the following points.
Firstly, when the Sn—Ag—Cu-based solder described in the JP-A-Heisei, 5-50286 was used as the external connection terminals of the BGA, the impact resistance of the alloy layer 109, which included Cu, Ni and Sn and served as the solder bonding portion on the semiconductor device side, was lower than that of the conventional Sn—Pb eutectic solder. Thus, there was a case that the connection reliability was reduced.
Secondly, when the Sn—Zn-based solder described in the JP-P2001-156207A was used as the external connection terminals, the impact resistance of the alloy layer serving as the solder bonding portion on the semiconductor device side was improved. However, since the Sn—Zn-based solder was low in humidity resistance, there was a case that the connection reliability for a long term could not be maintained. Moreover, since the Zn included in the Sn—Zn-based solder was very high in reactivity with Cu, an alloy layer (Zn—Cu alloy layer) having a thick thickness is formed on the bonding surface. For this reason, the impact resistance of the alloy layer serving as the solder bonding portion on the mount substrate side was low, and there was a case that it was stripped when external force was applied. In this way, the mount substrate requires the limit even on the metal material of the portion bonded to the solder.
For this reason, a semiconductor device having solder balls as external connection terminals, which is superior in connection reliability to a mount substrate and superior even in a connection reliability for a long term, is desired.

Semiconductor device with solder balls having high reliability


A source element for generating seismic waves includes a housing; a partitioning element placed inside the housing and configured to split the housing in a closed chamber and an opened chamber; and a valve in fluid communication with the closed chamber and configured to supply high-pressure air to the closed chamber to make the partitioning element oscillates. An oscillation of the partitioning element generates low-frequency seismic waves.

Technical Field
Embodiments of the subject matter disclosed herein generally relate to methods and systems and, more particularly, to mechanisms and techniques for increasing low-frequency content of seismic energy generated by a marine seismic source array.
Discussion of the Background
Reflection seismology is a method of geophysical exploration to determine the properties of a portion of a subsurface layer in the earth, information that is especially helpful in the oil and gas industry. Marine reflection seismology is based on the use of a controlled source that sends energy waves into the earth. By measuring the time it takes for the reflections to come back to plural receivers, it is possible to estimate the depth and/or composition of the features causing such reflections. These features may be associated with subterranean hydrocarbon deposits.
For marine applications, a seismic survey system 100, as illustrated in FIG. 1, includes a vessel 102 that tows plural streamers 110 (only one is visible in the figure) and a seismic source 130. Streamer 110 is attached through a lead-in cable (or other cables) 112 to vessel 102, while source array 130 is attached through an umbilical 132 to the vessel. A head float 114, which floats at the water surface 104, is connected through a cable 116 to the head end 110A of streamer 110, while a tail buoy 118 is connected, through a similar cable 116, to the tail end 1106 of streamer 110. Head float 114 and tail buoy 118 are used, among other things, to maintain the streamer's depth. Seismic sensors 122 are distributed along the streamer and configured to record seismic data. Seismic sensors 122 may include a hydrophone, geophone, accelerometer or a combination thereof. Positioning devices 128 are attached along the streamer and controlled by a controller 126 for adjusting a position of the streamer according to a survey plan.
Source array 130 has plural source elements 136, which are typically air guns. The source elements are attached to a float 137 to travel at desired depths below the water surface 104. During operation, vessel 102 follows a predetermined path T while source elements (usually air guns) 136 emit seismic waves 140. These waves bounce off the ocean bottom 142 and other layer interfaces below the ocean bottom 142 and propagate as reflected/refracted waves 144, which are recorded by sensors 122. The positions of both source elements 136 and recording sensors 122 may be estimated based on GPS systems 124 and recorded together with the seismic data in a storage device 127 onboard the vessel. Controller 126 has access to the seismic data and may be used to achieve quality control or even fully process the data. Controller 126 may also be connected to the vessel's navigation system and other elements of the seismic survey system, e.g., positioning devices 128.
A source element may be impulsive (e.g., an air gun) or vibratory. A vibratory source element is described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/415,216 (herein the '216 application), filed on Mar. 8, 2012, and entitled, "Source for Marine Seismic Acquisition and Method," assigned to the same assignee as the present application, the entire content of which is incorporated herein by reference.
Presently, the air gun is the work horse of marine seismic acquisition. However, neither air guns nor existing vibratory source elements are effective in the low-frequency range of the spectrum, mainly in the 1 to 10 Hz range. In other words, energy generated by an air gun in the low-frequency spectrum is too weak to be reflected to seismic receivers to be recorded. The low-frequency energy range is useful in seismic exploration because it provides better seismic energy depth penetration, which is extremely valuable for imaging complex geological settings, such as sub-salt, basalt, chalk or even dense carbonate. New processing methods, such as full wave inversion (e.g., a data-fitting procedure based on full-wavefield modeling to extract quantitative information from seismic data) can benefit greatly from increased energy in the low-frequency range.
Thus, there is a need to obtain the low-frequency range to better interpret seismic data. To be able to record such data, source arrays need to be adjusted/modified to generate low-frequency content. Therefore, it is desirable to provide source elements and methods capable of generating low-frequency energy.

Method and system for low-frequency pressurized source


A method, apparatus, computer medium, and other embodiments for synchronizing control of one or more devices at predetermined times are described. A host scheduler loads a to-do list of predetermined events and corresponding time-tags into memory and broadcasts scheduled events to the devices to cause activation of the events on intended devices.

With conventional microprocessors (i.e., processor, central processing unit CPU), the issuance of control signals and the initial execution of events at precise times associated with the control and operation of various elements and devices of a video processing system cannot be guaranteed when a signal is generated that consumes the attention of the processor. Typically, such signals are known as interrupts, and are usually generated when input/output (I/O) is required. As an example, hardware interrupts can be generated when a key is pressed or when a control input device such as a mouse is moved. On the other hand, software interrupts can be generated when a program must perform I/O access to a device. When an interrupt occurs, the operating system generally takes control in order to determine the next action to be taken. Such control is undesirable for the current event being undertaken by the processor. Additionally, such interrupts preclude specific anticipated events from occurring until the interrupt control is completed. This is disadvantageous because the overall efficiency of processing events and of completing operations in generally are detrimentally impacted.
Accordingly, it would be beneficial if there were a way to accurately synchronize and control devices and elements of a video processing system in a precise manner. There is a need to improve the efficiency of the processing operations.

System for video processing control and scheduling wherein commands are unaffected by signal interrupts and schedule commands are transmitted at precise time