A silver-coated ball 10 according to the present invention includes: a spherical core 1; and a coating layer 2 including silver superfine particles, which is arranged so as to surround the core 1. The silver superfine particles included in the coating layer 2 have a mean particle size of 1 nm to 50 nm.

Solder balls are mainly used to connect a number of electric/electronic components together. Specifically, solder balls are used as input/output terminals for a quad flatpack package (QFP) with lead terminals around its components and semiconductor packages such as a ball grid array (BGA) and a chip size package (CSP), which are relatively small in size and which can cope with multiple-pin applications.
FIGS. 10(a) and 10(b) are respectively a perspective view and a cross-sectional view of a BGA that uses solder balls. As shown in FIGS. 10(a) and 10(b), a BGA is an LSI package in which silver-coated balls 50 are bonded onto the lower surface of an LSI chip with an interposer 62 interposed between them. The silver-coated balls 50 are arranged in matrix on one side of the interposer 62, and are used as input/output terminals for the package. Each of these silver-coated balls 50 is a tiny metallic sphere with a diameter of about 0.1 mm to about 1.0 mm, and may be obtained by forming a solder layer, including lead (Pb), on the surface of the metallic ball, for example.
In recent years, solder including lead is being replaced with solder including no lead (which is also called "Pb-free solder") in order to handle environmental issues. In view of these circumstances, the applicant of the present application disclosed a solder ball, of which the surface is coated with a tin-silver (Sn-AG) based solder layer with no lead and in which the creation of voids is minimized even when being heated and melted (see Patent Documents Nos. 1 and 2).
In general, solders are roughly classifiable, according to their soldering temperature, into medium-low temperature solders with melting temperatures of approximately 150° C. to approximately 250° C. and high-temperature solders with melting temperatures of approximately 250° C. to approximately 300° C. The medium-low temperature solder is mostly used to connect an electronic component onto a printed circuit board, while the high-temperature solder is often used to connect the interconnects of an electronic component together.
The Sn—Ag based solder layer mentioned above has a melting point of approximately 216° C., and therefore, solder balls with this solder layer can be used effectively in a soldering process at a medium to low temperature. In a high temperature range of about 250° C. to about 300° C., however, the Sn—Ag based solder layer would melt again to deform the balls, for example. For that reason, the Sn—Ag based solder layer cannot be used for a high-temperature soldering process. That is why a lead-free solder ball applicable to such a high-temperature soldering process is now in high demand.
Meanwhile, it is known that a metal in the form of nanoparticles (i.e., superfine particles with particle sizes of several nm to several hundreds of nm) has physical properties that are quite different from those of the same metal in bulk. For example, it is known that silver nanoparticles get sintered at a far lower temperature than silver in bulk. As for silver nanoparticles, Patent Document No. 3 discloses a method of making a silver colloid organosol including silver nanoparticles with a mean particle size of approximately 32 nm (see Examples of Patent Document No. 3).                Patent Document No. 1: Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2004-114123        Patent Document No. 2: Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2004-128262        Patent Document No. 3: Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2003-159525

Silver-coated ball and method for manufacturing same


Optical waveguide devices that include a polymer clad and a polymer core where the clad includes constitutional units contributed by (a) a monomer selected from the group consisting of a halocatechol diacrylate, a haloresorcinol diacrylate, and a haldhydroquinone diacrylate, and/or (b) a charge transport moiety.

All patents, patent applications, and publications cited within this application are incorporated herein by reference to the same extent as if each individual patent, patent application, or publication was specifically and individually incorporated by reference.
UV curable polymers have been used in the fabrication of passive and active (e.g., electro-optic) optical waveguide devices. One of the main advantages of UV curable polymers is that they become solvent resistant on crosslinking, which allows subsequent polymer layers to be deposited. Additionally, UV curing can be accomplished at lower temperatures than thermal curing, which may avoid problems like cracks or loss of adhesion due to thermal expansion mismatches with the substrate or other polymer layers. UV curable polymers are particularly advantageous for the fabrication of electro-optic (EO) polymer devices since avoiding high temperature thermal curing is crucial to preserve poling induced EO activity and the structural integrity of the chromophore. However, commercially available UV curable polymers typically are unsuitable for developing commercially viable electro-optic polymer devices. For example, of the number of commercially available passive polymers, UV-15 from Masterbond has been used for many years to fabricate electro-optic polymer devices even though it has relatively high optical loss and undesirable mechanical strength after the fabrication process, which provides little protection of stacks from process damage (see, for example, H. C Ling, et al., J. Appl. Phys. 70(11), 6669 (1991); R. R. Barto, et al., ACS Poly. Mater. Sci. Eng. 83, 167 (2000); and M. -C. Oh, et al., IEEE J. Sel. Top. Q. Chem. 7(5), 826, (2001). Other properties that are important for electro-optic polymer devices and need to be improved over current commercially available polymers include conductivity around the poling temperature of the electro-optic polymer core, dielectric constant at operating temperatures and frequency, and properties related DC bias drift.

Waveguide devices with low loss clads and tunable refractive indices


A computer implemented method of identifying anomalous behavior of a computer system in a set of intercommunicating computer systems, each computer system in the set being uniquely identifiable, the method including monitoring communication between computer systems in the set for a predetermined baseline time period to generate a baseline vector representation of each of the systems; monitoring communication between computer systems in the set for a subsequent predetermined time period to generate a subsequent vector representation of each of the systems; comparing baseline and subsequent vector representations corresponding to a target computer system using a vector similarity function to identify anomalous behavior of the target system in the subsequent time period compared to the baseline time period, wherein a vector representation of the target system for a time period is generated based on a deterministic walk of a graph representation of communications between the computer systems in which nodes of the graph correspond to computer systems in the set and weighted directed edges between nodes of the graph correspond to a characteristic of communication between pairs of computer systems in the set.

Network connected computer systems, whether physical and/or virtual computer systems connected via one or more physical and/or virtual network communication mechanisms, can be susceptible to malicious attack. For example, one or more computer systems can become infected with malicious software such as botnet agents or the like, and such infected systems can instigate malicious communication with other systems such as communications intended to propagate such infections and/or communications intended to affect the operation of target computer systems (e.g. denial of service attacks, hijacking or the like).

Anomalous network node behavior identification using deterministic path walking

British Telecommunications Public Limited Company


Methods of forming at least one multiconductor via are disclosed. Specifically, a substrate may be provided and at least one through-hole may be formed therethrough. At least one seed layer may be formed, patterned, and a metal may be deposited thereon to form a plurality of conductive elements. Alternatively, the at least one through-hole may be substantially filled with a dielectric material and a plurality of smaller through-holes may be formed therein and then filled with conductive material to form a plurality of conductive elements. Alternatively, at least one cavity may be formed into a substrate and a plurality of conductive nanotubes or other protruding structures may be formed therein. The substrate may be thinned to form at least one through-hole and a plurality of laterally separated conductive elements extending therethrough. Semiconductor dice, substrates, as well as multichip modules having dice including multiconductor vias, systems including same, and methods of manufacture are also disclosed.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to semiconductor wafers, devices, and components. Particularly, the present invention relates to forming at least one conductive via in a semiconductor substrate including a plurality of conductive elements extending therethrough.
2. Background of Related Art
During the production of electronic devices such as printed circuit boards, semiconductor dice, multichip modules, and chip carriers, the signal carrying capability or density (i.e., the number of signals conducted therethrough) of a conductive via formed through the thickness of a substrate may be limited. A conventional manufacturing process involves drilling, etching or laser cutting a hole through a substrate followed by plating of the sidewall of the hole with a metal so as to provide a single conductive path therethrough.
Accordingly, several conventional approaches have been developed for increasing the signal carrying capability of a conductive via formed in a substrate.
For instance, U.S. Pat. No. 5,300,911 to Walters discloses a structure with coaxial conductive elements forming a conductive via, wherein the conductive elements are used to carry current from two or more coupled windings to form a monolithic transformer. In further detail, through-holes are formed in a fired ceramic ferrite and then are plated with metal. After that, a dielectric is coated over the metal and another layer of metal is plated thereon. Additional conductor layers may be applied to form a third or fourth coaxial conductive structure if needed.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,374,788 to Endoh et al. discloses a structure having a single through-hole that is used for top-to-bottom connection in a printed circuit board. The core metal and via holes in the circuit board are coated with coaxial metal or solder layers to improve adhesion. The layers comprising the coaxial coating are not electrically isolated from each other.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,541,567 to Fogel et al. discloses forming a coaxial conductive via by wire bonding wires to be used as center conductors to a conductive surface and then inserting the protruding wires into through-holes placed in a ceramic or magnetic material layer. This structure is designed to perform like a transformer or inductor. However, the alignment of thousands of pins through an array of thousands of holes may be a difficult process. Further, the finest pitch spacing between conductive vias may be limited.
Also, U.S. Pat. No. 5,619,791 to Lambrecht, Jr., U.S. Pat. No. 4,543,715 to Iadarola et al., U.S. Pat. No. 6,498,381 to Halahan et al., and U.S. Pat. No. 6,388,208 to Kiani et al. each disclose multiconductor via structures and methods for their manufacture.
From the above, it can be seen that a need exists for improved multiconductor via structures, semiconductor dice including same, and methods for producing the same.

Substrate, semiconductor die, multichip module, and system including a via structure comprising a plurality of conductive elements


Disclosed is a method of providing cooperative diversity in a Multiple Input Multiple-Output (MIMO) wireless network including a source station, a relay station, and a destination station each for transmitting a plurality of streams through multiple antennas, the method including: decoding, by a relay station, a plurality of streams received from the source station, checking for errors in the individual decoded streams, and transmitting error detection information to the source station and thereafter relaying streams having no errors to the destination station and retransmitting, by a source station, streams corresponding to streams which were previously found to include errors to the destination station based on the error detection information.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to transmit diversity in wireless communications, and in particular, to a method of providing cooperative diversity in a Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO) wireless network with at least one transmit antenna and at least one receive antenna.
2. Description of the Related Art
Typically, diversity gain and multiplexing gain are in a trade-off relationship. As the multiplexing gain of transmission increases, the diversity gain decreases, and vice versa. This problem can be overcome by the use of cooperative diversity.
Cooperative diversity is a technique for achieving diversity through cooperation between networks using a relay station. The relay station operates in either an Amplify-and-Forward (AF) or Decode-and-Forward (DF) mode. While the relay station amplifies a received signal prior to retransmission in the AF mode, it fully decodes the received signal, encodes the decoded signal, and then relays the coded signal in the DF mode. Due to the retransmission without decoding, the AF relay has the shortcoming that noise involved in the received signal is amplified at transmission. Although the DF relay does not suffer from the noise amplification as does the AF relay, the DF relay suffers from decoding errors that can cause errors in the coded signal. Along with a MIMO technique the cooperative diversity technique is an attractive technology for use in various, complex time and space wireless environments with limited frequency spectrum as it can provide a high data rate, an improved service quality, and a high network capacity.
However, most conventional cooperative techniques, such as the aforementioned cooperative diversity technique, were developed for implementation in a Single-Input Single-Output (SISO) network with a 1×1 antenna structure. Little is known about providing cooperative diversity for a MIMO network, and much of what is known about cooperative diversity is a mere expansion of the cooperative diversity for the SISO network. For example, a Selection Decode-and-Forward (SDF) technique was proposed in which a relay station transmits a Negative Acknowledgement (NACK) signal to a source station if a signal received from the source station is found to contain errors during decoding by the relay station.
The source station retransmits the stream to the destination source station, and the relay station relays the retransmitted signal after encoding it to the destination station if no decoding errors have occurred (e.g., see, J. N. Laneman, D. N. C. Tse, and G. W. Wornell, "Cooperative Diversity In Wireless Networks: Efficient Protocols And Outage Behavior," IEEE Trans. Inform. Theory, vol. 50, 2004). In an application of the SDF technique to a MIMO network, if at least one error is detected from a plurality of streams received from the source station during decoding, the relay station transmits a NACK signal to the source station so that the source station retransmits all of the plurality of streams to the destination station, and in the absence of errors, the relay station relays the decoded signal after encoding it to the destination station. However, a plurality of streams characteristic of MIMO have not been individually considered in the simple expansion of the conventional cooperative diversity for MIMO networks.

Method of providing cooperative diversity in a MIMO wireless network


A segmented cap assembly comprising a crown component, a visored headband component and at least one ornamental badge. Ornamental badge is selectively attachable to either the crown component or the headband component.

The present invention relates to segmented caps having detachable and interchangeable components.
Segmented caps of the prior art generally provide detachable and interchangeable components that are intended to be worn in a single configuration. Caps are often utilized as a marketing tool. It is more useful for marketing purposes that a segmented cap to be useable as a marketing tool in a variety of wear configurations.


DNA sequences are provided coding for acyl carrier protein, which sequence can be used for production of acyl carrier protein as an end product or in plant seed to enhance seed oil production. A regulated promoter is provided which substantially limits expression of the acyl carrier protein to seed tissue.

Plants provide a rich source of a variety of products which find use in foods, as raw materials, and as finished products. Vegetable fatty acids find extensive use for a wide variety of commercial purposes, being used as vegetable oils for cooking, as lubricants, in alkyd resins, as specialty chemicals, and the like. For the most part, the plant fatty acids tend to be of 18 carbon atoms, there usually being only a minor level of fatty acids having fewer than 16 carbon atoms. For many purposes, it would be desirable to have fatty acids in the range of 8 to 14 carbon atoms. There is, therefore, substantial interest in developing methods for producing vegetable oils where there is a substantial proportion of the total fatty acids of 14 carbon atoms or fewer.
To achieve this purpose, it will be necessary to modify the constituent members of the metabolic pathway resulting in the formation of fatty acids and their elongation to higher fatty acids. Toward this purpose, it will be necessary to be able to produce one or more components along the fatty acid metabolic chain which modify the course of the plant metabolism. In addition, there may be significant commercial applications for individual components of the fatty acid metabolic pathway.

Acyl carrier protein - DNA sequence and synthesis


A memory cell stores a data bit value despite atomic radiation. The memory cell includes two inverters, an access circuit, and two switch circuits. Each inverter has an input and an output. The access circuit is arranged to write and read the data bit value in the memory cell. The switch circuits cross couple the outputs of the two inverters to the inputs of the two inverters. The switch circuits are arranged to alternately decouple and couple the inputs of the two inverters to limit corruption from atomic radiation of the data bit value in the memory cell.

Data stored in the memory of a semiconductor device can become corrupted by the effects of cosmic radiation and atomic particles generated from radioactive decay. Cosmic radiation may collide with atoms in the Earth's atmosphere or atoms in the packaging of the semiconductor device. These collisions may create a chain of secondary particles. Similarly, atomic particles, such as alpha particles, from radioactive decay may collide with atoms in the packaging of the semiconductor device and create a chain of secondary particles. These chains of secondary particles may include charged particles, such as electrons, that are injected into the semiconductor device.
The cumulative charge from a chain of secondary particles may change the voltage at a node of the semiconductor device. Often the change is transient, without any permanent effect on the semiconductor device or the intended operation of the semiconductor device. However, certain circuits, such as static random access memory (SRAM), are susceptible to corruption of the data stored in the SRAM. Typically, the atomic radiation does not permanently damage the semiconductor device.
Programmable logic devices (PLDs) are a well-known type of integrated circuit that can be programmed to perform specified logic functions. One type of PLD, the field programmable gate array (FPGA), typically includes an array of programmable tiles. These programmable tiles can include, for example, input/output blocks (IOBs), configurable logic blocks (CLBs), dedicated random access memory blocks (BRAM), multipliers, digital signal processing blocks (DSPs), processors, clock managers, delay lock loops (DLLs), and so forth.
Each programmable tile typically includes both programmable interconnect and programmable logic. The programmable interconnect typically includes a large number of interconnect lines of varying lengths interconnected by programmable interconnect points (PIPs). The programmable logic implements the logic of a user design using programmable elements that can include, for example, function generators, registers, arithmetic logic, and so forth.
The programmable interconnect and programmable logic are typically programmed by loading a stream of configuration data into internal configuration memory cells that define how the programmable elements are configured. The configuration data can be read from an external PROM or written into the FPGA by an external device. The collective states of the individual memory cells then determine the function of the FPGA.
If atomic radiation corrupts one of these memory cells, the atomic radiation may alter the function of the FPGA. Thus, the FPGA may operate improperly until the FPGA is reset to reload the configuration data into the FPGA.
The present invention may address one or more of the above issues.

Memory cell for storing a data bit value despite atomic radiation


A method and system controls access to an authentication-dependent or authentication-conditional function of a vehicle, via a smart device or smartphone. For the authentication, an authentication feature of the smart device is compared with a stored authentication feature of the device, and authentication is granted if they are identical or sufficiently correspond, the authentication is subjected to an approval process by a user of the smart device, in which it is determined whether the user approves the authentication or not. The authentication and the approval process have at least one channel in a protected region of the smart device and/or are themselves embedded in the protected region, which lies outside a region of the operating system of the applications and/or the apps of the smart device. The function of the device is executed when there is an authentication and an approval.

The present invention relates to a method and a system for controlling the access to an authentication-dependent or authentication-conditional function of an apparatus, and in particular of a vehicle, by way of a smart device or smartphone.
For the more convenient handling of apparatuses and vehicles, in particular, their functions are often nowadays coupled to smart devices and, in particular, to a smartphone. This also concerns, for example, the access to vehicles and their activation. For the secure call and the secure execution, authentication operations are connected upstream and are intended to enable access only if authorization is proved.
However, such authentication operations can be attacked by third parties, for example using malware and non-secure data transmission channels.
The invention is based on the object of providing a method and a system for controlling the access to an authentication-conditional function of an apparatus, and in particular of a vehicle, which are better protected from attacks by third parties.
The object is achieved in the case of a method for controlling the access to an authentication-conditional function of an apparatus, and alternatively, in the case of a system for controlling the access to an authentication-conditional function of an apparatus, in accordance with the claimed invention.
According to a first aspect, the present invention provides a method for controlling the access to an authentication-dependent or authentication-conditional function of an apparatus, and in particular of a vehicle, by means of a smart device or a smartphone.
In this method, for authentication, an authentication feature of the smart device is compared with a stored authentication feature of the apparatus and authentication is granted if they are identical or sufficiently correspond.
The authentication is subjected to an approval operation by a user of the smart device. In this case, it is determined whether or not the user approves the authentication.
The approval operation has at least one channel in a protected area of the smart device and/or is itself embedded in a or the protected area.
According to the invention, the protected area is outside an area of the operating system, the applications and/or the apps of the smart device.
In particular, the separation of the protected area from the area of the operating system can be distinguished by the fact that suitable hardware measures mean that it is not possible to access storage areas in the protected area from the operating system, the applications and/or the apps of the smart device.
The function of the apparatus is performed if there is authentication and approval.
Possible attacks by third parties are excluded or at least reduced by the procedure according to the invention, namely the requesting and checking of user approval of the authentication operation in a protected area of the smart device. This enables more secure access to functions of apparatuses and of vehicles, in particular.
The smart device is, in particular, a mobile telephone with an extended range of functions, for example a smartphone, and other devices which partially or completely undertake the corresponding functions, for example also smartwatches, smart glasses or other wearables.
The approval operation can be performed in different ways.
It is thus particularly advantageous if the approval operation is carried out before the authentication, for example as requests for permission, and, in particular, authentication is carried out only when there is approval by permission in advance.
Alternatively, it is also possible for the approval operation to be carried out after authentication has already taken place, that is to say, for example, as requests for authorization from the user afterward.
A particularly high degree of security is achieved with the combined authentication and approval by virtue of the fact that, during the approval operation, an approval feature supplied by a user is compared with an approval feature stored in the smart device—in particular in the protected area—and approval is granted if they are identical or sufficiently correspond.
The types or classes of the approval features to be compared can be different.
In one advantageous development of the method according to the invention, during an approval operation, a supplied approval feature and/or a stored approval feature is/are related to a feature or a combination of features from the group of features comprising a biometric feature, a fingerprint, an iris scan, a facial recognition feature, a vocal feature, in particular a voice input, a gesture feature, a facial expression feature, a vein scan of a finger or of a hand, an input via a man-machine interface, an input via a motion sensor, an input via a directly wired hardware key and/or a secure user input via a non-manipulable touch-sensitive interface, in particular in each case in a hardware-secured area of the smart device.
Any desired combinations of these measures are also conceivable.
In principle, the method according to the invention can be used in any desired working apparatuses, the access to which and the function of which are intended to be protected in an unassailable manner.
However, the method is particularly suitable if the access to a vehicle, the activation of a vehicle and/or the performance of a subfunction of the vehicle is/are controlled as the function.
According to an alternative aspect, the present invention also provides a control system in the sense of a system for controlling the access to an authentication-dependent or authentication-conditional function of an apparatus, and in particular of a vehicle, by means of a smart device and, in particular, a smartphone.
The control system is configured to carry out a method according to the invention for controlling the access to an authentication-dependent or authentication-conditional function of an apparatus, and in particular of a vehicle, by means of a smart device and, in particular, a smartphone or to be used in such a method.
In particular, the control system according to the invention is designed with                an authentication unit for authentication, which is configured to compare an authentication code of the smart device with a stored authentication code of the apparatus and to grant authentication if they are identical or sufficiently correspond, and        an approval unit for an approval operation by a user of the smart device, which is configured to determine whether or not the user approves the authentication.
The approval unit has at least one channel in a protected area of the smart device and/or is itself embedded in a or the protected area.
The protected area is, in particular, outside an area of the operating system, the applications and/or the apps of the smart device.
A functional unit is also formed and can be used to perform the or a selected function of the apparatus when there is authentication and approval.
The authentication unit, the approval unit and the functional unit may each be designed individually or in combination as a software component, a hardware component, in particular an ASIC, or a combination thereof.
Further details, features and advantages of the invention emerge from the following description and the figures.

Methods and system for controlling the access to an authentication-dependent function

Bayerische Motoren Werke Aktiengesellschaft


A smart device is disclosed which contains a digital camera with an active electronic viewscreen that displays the detected image, in which the camera can sense laser light beams. The smart device has the capability receiving and executing an application program that allows the camera to be used as a grade elevation detector, in which the camera can sense a laser light beam that effectively forms a plane of laser light which defines an “on-grade” elevation for a jobsite. The user can determine this on-grade elevation by running the APP and viewing the display screen to find the (rotating or static) laser beam. An automated APP system can capture the on-grade elevation using a sequence of images that include a grade rod measurement paired with laser beam intensity detection images.

There are many electronic devices that have digital cameras with relatively large displays for a user to perceive the image that is being seen by the digital camera. This includes smart phones, or other types of iPOD-type devices, and also certain types of tablet computers. Such devices could be used to detect a laser beam, including visible laser light in either the red or green spectra. Also some digital cameras are sensitive enough to perceive infrared lasers and can give a certain visible output when receiving infrared laser signals, as well.
The width of the laser beam needs to be considered; typical laser transmitters used for indicating on-grade elevation on construction jobsites have a width in the range of two millimeters to five millimeters. The size of the lens for most digital cameras on smart phones and iPODs is about the same size, so there will need to be some type of special software to help in determining the center of the beam density. An application program that can be loaded onto the smart phone (or other smart device) will be needed to assist the user in determining the position of the laser beams, and such an APP program can also be used to provide other very useful optional features.


The invention relates to a method for the manufacture of a sensor element and to a sensor element. In the method, both surfaces of a sensor film are provided with metallic electrodes. The sensor element is produced by cutting it from a larger amount of sensor element material. In the manufacture of the sensor element material, the electrodes are produced as a continuous process from roll to roll and the sensor element material is formed by laminating as a continuous process from roll to roll. At least the signal electrode consists of repeated electrode patterns (41) which are at least partially connected to each other via one or more narrow connecting strips (42), and a sensor element of a desired length and/or shape is produced by cutting the material across the region of the connecting strips.

Previously known is a so-called electret field, i.e. a permanent electric charge injected into a dielectric material by ionizing. A film applicable for use as a sensor film in the sensor element of the invention is presented in U.S. Pat. No. 4,654,546, in which a dielectric plastic film, such as polypropylene, containing flat or torn gas bubbles or voids is used to form a so-called cellular electret film. Both surfaces of the film are metal-coated. WO specification 96/06718 presents a method for swelling a foamed plastic film, whereby the amount of gas contained in the film can be more than doubled. Patent specification FI 913741 presents various electric structures for sensor elements. Previously known are also fibrous polarized electret films, as presented e.g. in U.S. Pat. No. 4,874,659. Other known elements applicable in the sensor element of the invention are piezoelectric sensor films, such as PVDF.
Sensor elements and sensor bands (ribbons) as provided by the invention, which have a relatively large area or length, connected to a suitable signal processing apparatus or system, can be used for many different purposes. Possible applications are for example sensors installed in a road structure for determining the weight of a moving vehicle, registration and monitoring of a patient's vital functions (breathing, heartbeat and snoring) using a sensor placed in the bed under the mattress e.g. in conjunction with sleep research, monitoring of the vital functions of a drunken person by means of a sensor installed in the floor of a jail, sensors mounted under a carpet in an old-age home to monitor an old person's getting up from bed, sensors mounted under a floor coating in the vestibule of a bank or shopping center and connected to an alarm system. From a long sensor band installed on a fence around an industrial area, using suitable software, it is possible to notify a possible intruder and its location when both ends of the sensor band are connected to a signal processing device. A sensor element may also be mounted inside a floor structure under a large machine, such as a paper machine, to monitor its operation. They can also be used in various safety applications, e.g. to make sure that a machine will not be started before its operator is in the proper place, and so on. In addition, this type of sensor elements can be used in sports e.g. to measure the force and duration of exertion. They can also be used as different kinds of switches, such as light switches, or in underwater ultrasound measurements. Moreover, a signal, e.g. an ultrasound signal can be fed into the sensor to make it vibrate. Sensors according to the invention can also be used in various keyboards, in cages for test animals for the measurement of motional activity, monitoring of the vital functions of an animal recovering from a surgical operation, and so on. When such large sensor elements are applied, a plurality of sensors are used and the signals obtained from them can be compared and summed to eliminate unnecessary signals or to draw other conclusions, e.g. by installing several sensors of opposite polarities in the floor of the same space it is possible to eliminate e.g. signals produced by the vibration of an air conditioner or the building itself and pick out the breath and pulse of a person lying on the floor. Traditionally, this type of large sensor elements or bands have been manufactured by cutting a sensor element of a size suited for the intended use e.g. from sensor material coiled up on a roll and consisting of a metal film with sensor films, e.g. electrically charged electret bubble films, laminated on its both surfaces so that the positively charged sides lie against the metal film, with further metal films laminated against the negative side on the outer surfaces of the laminate thus formed. When a force is applied to such an element, an electric charge is generated between the signal electrode in the core and the earth electrodes on the outer surfaces. A metal electrode may also be placed directly on the surface of the sensor film, e.g. by evaporating, as described e.g. in U.S. Pat. No. 4,654,546. Another commonly used method is to print an electrode pattern of silver pasta on the surface of a polyester film and laminate it together with a sensor film. With the first-mentioned methods, a problem in the manufacture of large sensor elements like this is that the sensors are sensitive to electromagnetic interference and discharges of static electricity. This is due to the fact that, as the sensor is cut from material in which the signal electrode is of the same size with the sensor material, it extends to the very edges of the sensor element. Therefore, the edge areas of the elements need to be separately provided with metal films extending over the edges, these metal films being grounded. Another big problem is that when the material is being cut, the small metal particles released during cutting are apt to form a short circuit between the signal electrode and the earth electrode. When the electrode surfaces are made from silk-screen printed silver pasta, the price becomes very high as silver pasta is very expensive. As compared with the manufacturing method of the invention, the price of an electrode surface printed with silver pasta is multiple times higher.

Method of manufacturing an electromechanical sensor element


Disclosed herein is an agricultural composition for facilitating treatment of a plant, in accordance with some embodiments. Accordingly, the agricultural composition may include carbanions and a diluting agent. Further, a carbanion of the carbanions may include a carbon atom. Further, the carbon atom may include a formal charge of −1. Further, the diluting agent may be capable of dissolving the carbanions for forming a solution. Further, the dissolving of the carbanions may include diluting the carbanions. Further, a ratio of the diluting agent to the carbanions by volume ranges from 50:1 to 550:1. Further, the dissolving facilitates at least one application of the solution to the plant.

Existing compositions for facilitating treatment of a plant are deficient with regard to several aspects. For instance, existing compositions do not remediate soil. Furthermore, current compositions do not increase the electrical conductivity of the soil. Moreover, current compositions do not perform fertilizer recovery. Further, the existing compositions do not kill fungi, bacterial, viruses, and insects present on the plant without harming the plant. Further, the existing compositions do not increase the translocation of nutrients in the plant. Further, the existing compositions do not increase ERGs in the soil. Further, the existing compositions do not increase the chlorophyll content of the plant.
Therefore, there is a need for an agricultural composition for facilitating treatment of a plant that may overcome one or more of the above-mentioned problems and/or limitations.

Agricultural composition for facilitating treatment of a plant


A powered grocery cart mover moves a line of grocery carts. The grocery cart mover includes a drive mechanism and a mechanism for engaging the line of grocery carts. The engaging mechanism is configured and arranged so that upon activation of the drive mechanism, the engaging mechanism lifts an end of the line of carts off the ground and moves the carts horizontally in a desired direction. The drive mechanism is pivotally connected to the cart engaging mechanism to facilitate steering of the cart engaging mechanism and the line of carts. The grocery cart mover can further include a harnessing mechanism releasably attachable to the cart engager and the line of carts for securing the line of carts relative to the cart engager.

A significant degree of grocery shopping occurs in large supermarkets. These supermarkets frequently are primarily self-service supermarkets in which the customer uses a grocery cart made available at the store to collect groceries for presentation at a checkout counter. The customer then typically bags their own groceries and places the groceries in the grocery cart for transport to their vehicle located outside the store. After the customer unloads the groceries from their cart into their vehicle, the grocery cart is returned by the customer to one of several corrals located in the store parking lot. Periodically, an employee of the store will gather grocery carts from the corrals located in the parking lot and return the grocery carts to a location inside the store for use by customers entering the store.
The grocery carts are usually made so that the carts can be temporarily joined together by pushing the front end of a first grocery cart into the rear end of a second grocery cart. The rear end of the second grocery cart collapses in a manner allowing the front end of the first grocery cart to mate with the interior of the basket portion of the second grocery cart. An unlimited number of grocery carts can be joined together in this manner, subject only to practical size and space limitations.
When returning the carts to the store, a store employee gathers the multiple grocery carts by joining the carts together using this temporary mating process until a line of carts including anywhere from five to twenty or so carts has been formed. Next, the employee typically secures a rope to the front end of a cart at the front of the line of carts. This rope extends along the line of carts to the rear of the line of carts whereupon the employee may temporarily fasten the rope to the rear cart or retain the end of the rope in the employee's hand. This rope helps to maintain the line of carts together to facilitate maneuvering the line of carts.
Once the carts are temporarily joined together, the employee maneuvers the line of carts by pushing the handle of a cart at the rear of the line of carts to advance the line of carts forward toward the store or desired location. In order to steer the line of carts, the employee must move the rear of the line of carts laterally in a direction perpendicular to the general direction in which the line of carts is being advanced. Lateral movement of the rear cart to steer the line of carts is facilitated by lifting the rear cart so that the wheels of the rear cart are off the ground.
However, due to the weight and bulk of the line of grocery carts, this maneuvering process is difficult, time consuming, and can be injurious. Store employees can frequently be seen using their whole bodies to jerk a line of grocery carts into a desired orientation. The situation is aggravated by adverse weather conditions such as snow or ice on the parking lot surface over which the carts must be moved. The ice or snow can result in the store employee slipping while attempting to move the heavy line of carts as well as the snow or ice forming an obstruction to pushing the line of carts forward in the desired direction, or to moving the rear of the line of carts laterally to steer the line of carts.
Injuries associated with moving lines of grocery carts in these scenarios can include wrist injuries, strained back muscles, as well as injuries associated with slipping and falling. These injuries can result in worker compensation claims as well as other claims against the store resulting from those injuries.
Examples of attempts to address this problem include: (1) using a hand push pallet truck with a grocery cart mounted on the truck for engaging a line of carts; and (2) using a powered vehicle on which an employee can sit to engage a line of carts. In this latter example, a second employee assists in guiding the line of carts.


Systems and methods include communicating emergency information relative to a structure and an individual associated with the structure. Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to a beacon that transmits emergency information to a communications device associated with the individual. The emergency information includes emergency status information that updates the individual as to a status of an emergency that the structure is enduring and/or emergency action information that provides recommended actions for the individual to execute to avoid harm caused by the emergency. A controller updates the emergency information that is transmitted by the beacon based on changes in the status information due to changes in the status of the emergency that the structure is enduring and/or changes in the emergency action information due to changes in the recommended actions that the individual is to execute based on changes in the status information of the emergency.

Different types of structures, such as commercial buildings, have a flow of occupants that pass through and/or occupy the structure and oftentimes such structures have a complicated layout of egress paths that include entrances, exits, stairwells, elevators, safe areas to congregate during an emergency and so on that may be implemented in emergency situations by those that are occupying the structure. However, some egress paths may be less impacted by the elements of the emergency than others and thus are more preferable to individuals attempting to avoid harm from the emergency than those that are more impacted.
Conventionally, occupants are notified as to a location of an egress path based on immobilized indicators that are positioned at the location of the egress path. For example, an egress path is typically identified to occupants based on a static sign, such as an "EXIT" sign that is positioned at the entrance of the egress path. Occupants may only be aware of the egress path when within sufficient proximity to recognize the egress identification. Occupants that are positioned outside the proximity of egress identification may simply be unware of the presence of other egress paths. Further, egress paths may have an increased risk of harm based on the impact of the emergency. Occupants may be unaware of the increased risk of harm present in specific egress paths as compared to others. Thus, the communication as to the presence of egress paths as well as additional information as to the status of the egress paths relative to the emergency is instrumental in guiding occupants to safety.

Communicating emergency information via a beacon


A charging device including a charging roller having a metal cylinder and an elastic layer located thereon, and a cleaner for cleaning the surface of the charging roller. The cleaner includes a driving shaft and a cleaning roller which is rotatably mounted on the driving shaft. The cleaning roller is made of a non-cellular foam resin having a density of from 5 to 15 kg/m3 and a tensile strength of from 1.2 to 2.2 kg/cm2.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a charging device which charges an image bearing member with a charging roller in electrophotographic image forming apparatus and which has a cleaner cleaning the charging roller. In addition, the present invention also relates to an image forming apparatus such as copiers and printers which use the cleaning device and a process cartridge using the charging device.
2. Discussion of the Background
In conventional electrophotographic image forming apparatus, an image is typically formed by the following method:    (1) an image bearing member such as photoreceptors is charged with a charger to apply a charge having a predetermined polarity to the image bearing member (i.e., charging process);    (2) the image bearing member is exposed to imagewise light to form a latent electrostatic image on the image bearing member (i.e., light irradiation process);    (3) the latent electrostatic image is developed with a toner having a charge with the same polarity as that of the latent electrostatic image to form a toner image (i.e., developing process);    (4) the toner image is transferred to a receiving material such as papers (i.e., transferring process); and    (5) the toner image is fixed on the receiving material upon application of heat and pressure thereto to form a hard copy (i.e., fixing process).
Even after the transfer process, a small amount of toner particles remains on the surface of the image bearing member. Therefore, the surface of the image bearing member is typically cleaned by a cleaner, such as cleaning blades and cleaning brushes, before the next charging process to remove the residual toner particles from the surface of the image bearing member.
Recently, contact charging methods in which a voltage is applied to an image bearing member by an electroconductive charging roller which is contacted with the image bearing member or short-range charging methods in which a voltage is applied to an image bearing member by an electroconductive charging roller which is set in a close vicinity of an image bearing member are typically used for the charging process. This is because these charging methods have advantages such that the amount of ozone generated due to discharging caused by the charger can be restrained and the power consumption of the charger can be reduced.
However, when residual toner particles are insufficiently removed, a problem occurs in that, when the remaining toner particles contact with or are close to the charging roller, the remaining toner particles may adhere thereto. This is because the remaining toner particles typically include toner particles which have a charge with a polarity opposite to the polarity of the potential of the charging roller, and the reversely-charged toner particles are attracted by the charging roller, resulting in adhesion of the toner particles to the surface of the charging roller. In addition, dust such as paper dust generated by receiving papers, which has a charge with a polarity opposite to that of the potential of the charging roller can be also adhered to the charging roller.
Recently a need exists for an electrophotographic image forming apparatus capable of producing high quality and high definition images. Therefore, a spherical toner having a relatively small particle diameter is typically used to form a toner image because such small spherical toner particles can be densely adhered to a latent electrostatic image. However, such a small spherical toner has a drawback in that a cleaning blade cannot properly scrape such small spherical toner particles since the toner particles often pass through the nip between the image bearing member and the cleaning blade, resulting in occurrence of bad cleaning of the surface of the image bearing member (namely, the charging roller is contaminated with toner particles). Therefore, it is necessary to clean the surface of the charging roller to prevent occurrence of various problems.
Specific examples of such cleaning members for use in such a charging roller include sponge materials such as a polyurethane foam and a polyethylene foam disclosed in unexamined published Japanese patent application No. 5-297690, and a brush roller disclosed in unexamined published Japanese patent application No. 2002-221883. Matters such as toner on the surface of the charging roller are removed when such a cleaning member is brought into contact with and abrade the surface of the charging roller. The removed matters are collected in pores inside such a sponge material or between fibers of brushes located on a brush roller. However, the amount of the matters which can be stored in such members is limited. Therefore, maintaining a good cleaning performance for a long period of time is a remaining issue. For example, in the case of a process cartridge including a charging roller, the charging roller needs to have a life length as long as those of other members constituting the process cartridges, each of which has a relatively long life. Therefore, a cleaning device having such a brush roller is not suitable for such process cartridges.
In addition, it is necessary for the cleaning device to remove foreign materials such as paper dust, which adhere to the charging roller.
Because of these reasons, the need exists for a long-life charging device having a cleaner which can efficiently clean materials electrostatically adhered to the surface of a charging roller.

Charging device, and process cartridge and image forming apparatus including the charging device using the same


A non-aqueous electrolyte solution for secondary batteries, comprising a lithium salt (total number of moles of lithium atoms: NLi) and a liquid composition, wherein the liquid composition comprises a specific fluorinated solvent (α) and a cyclic carboxylic acid ester compound (total number of moles: NA), and may contain a specific compound (β) (total number of moles: NB), the content of the fluorinated solvent (α) is from 40 to 80 mass %, NA/NLi is from 1.5 to 7.0, and (NA+NB)/NLi is from 3 to 7.0; and, a lithium ion secondary battery employing such a non-aqueous electrolyte solution for secondary batteries.

For a non-aqueous electrolyte solution to be used for lithium ion secondary batteries (hereinafter sometimes referred to simply as "secondary batteries"), a carbonate type solvent such as ethylene carbonate or dimethyl carbonate, has been widely used in that it usually dissolves a lithium salt excellently to provide a high lithium ion conductivity (hereinafter referred to simply as "conductivity"), and it has a wide potential window. However, a carbonate type solvent is flammable and is likely to catch fire by e.g. heat generation of the batteries.
As a method to increase non-flammability (flame retardancy) without deteriorating the performance as a non-aqueous electrolyte, it has been proposed to add a fluorinated solvent (Patent Document 1). However, the fluorinated solvent has a low ability to dissolve the lithium salt and tends to deteriorate the cycle properties.
Under the circumstances, it has been proposed to incorporate a glyme type solvent to a fluorinated solvent having a high non-flammability (flame retardancey) as the main component, to let the lithium salt and the glyme solvent form a complex thereby to obtain a non-aqueous electrolyte solution excellent in the solubility of the lithium salt (Patent Document 2).
Further, a non-aqueous electrolyte solution has been proposed which comprises a fluorinated solvent, a cyclic carbonate, a cyclic carboxylic acid ester and a lithium salt (Patent Documents 3 and 4). However, as a result of a study conducted by the present inventors, it has been found that there has been either problem such that the reactivity with the electrodes is so high that the stability is inadequate, or the conductivity is so low that it is poor for practical application. Thus, it has been difficult to lower the reactivity of the non-aqueous electrolyte solution with the electrodes, while securing the practically sufficient conductivity.
In general, with a secondary battery, the battery temperature will be raised due to Joule heat or external heating, and if the battery temperature reaches such a high temperature that exceeds 150° C., thermal runaway may occur to destroy the battery. As a cause for thermal runaway, it is known that an electrolyte solution is reacted with a positive electrode and a negative electrode, whereby they are decomposed to generate heat. That is, thermal runaway starts as the temperature of a secondary battery has reached a temperature at which the electrolyte solution is reacted with the positive electrode and the negative electrode by e.g. Joule heat, so that they undergo thermal decomposition. Therefore, it is important for a non-aqueous electrolyte solution to be used for a secondary battery that the reactivity with the positive electrode and the negative electrode is low, and heat generation is less likely to occur by a reaction therewith.
In recent years, it has been actively studied to apply secondary batteries to e.g. power sources for vehicles such as electric automobiles which require larger energies, and a non-aqueous electrolyte solution having a lower reactivity with a positive electrode and a negative electrode is desired.
Further, in order to obtain a larger energy efficiently, it is required not only to lower the reactivity of the non-aqueous electrolyte solution with a positive electrode and a negative electrode, but also to have excellent rate properties, initial charge/discharge properties and cycle properties provided.

Non-aqueous electrolyte solution for secondary batteries, and lithium ion secondary battery


Solid and liquid pharmaceutical preparations containing cilansetron or its acid addition salts as active substance which include an amount sufficient to stabilize cilansetron against racemization, of a physiologically compatible water-soluble acid additive selected from monobasic or multibasic organic acids having 2 to 12 carbon atoms with a first p.sub.s value between 1.1 and 4.8, acid salts of the aforementioned multibasic organic acids, and acid salts of multibasic mineral acids having a first available pK.sub.s value between 1.5 and 7.5, as well as the use of such acid additives for stabilizing cilansetron against racemization in pharmaceutical preparations.

The present invention relates to solid and liquid pharmaceutical preparations containing cilansetron as an active substance, and which further contain a sufficient quantity of physiologically compatible water-soluble acid additive to stabilize the cilansetron against racemization. The invention further relates to the use of these acid additives for the stabilizing of cilansetron against racemization in pharmaceutical preparations.
Cilansetron is the generic designation for R-(-)5,6,9,10-tetrahydro-10-[(2-methyl-imidazol-1-yl) methyl]-4H-pyrido[3.2.1-jk]carbazol-11(8H)-one, which is known from U.S. Pat. No. 4,939,136 (=EP 297,651). The compound can be produced in a known manner according to the methods indicated in this patent or analogous thereto. Furthermore, a method is known from U.S. Pat. No. 5,663,343 (=EP 768,309) for obtaining pure enantiomers of cilansetron. Cilansetron has 5 HT-antagonistic properties and can be used as a pharmaceutically active substance. The use of cilansetron for treating diseases of the lower intestines is known from U.S. Pat. No. 5,438,068 (=EP 601,345).
Cilansetron is an optically active compound. In pharmaceutical preparations, cilansetron can partially racemize over time, in particular in open storage, through environmental influences, so that then in addition to cilansetron its optical isomer can also be present in the pharmaceutical preparations. However, for pharmaceutical preparations it is desirable that the active substance contained therein be present in a largely constant, uniform form.

Cilansetron pharmaceutical preparation stabilized against racemization


A participant overlay and audio placement collaboration system platform and a method for overlaying participants collaborating via a user interface and placement of distinct audio sources are disclosed. The participant overlay and audio placement collaboration system platform provides an ergonomic and intuitive sense-oriented user interface that separates presenters/speakers relevant video contents from irrelevant surroundings and visually overlays the presenter with the presented material, thereby allowing for a more immersive, intuitive, and interactive presentation, while maximizing usage of desktop space for shared/presented content and of the presenter(s) themselves. The further correlation of audio-mapping of acoustic content of presenter(s)/participant(s) relative to their visual representation on the desktop, allows for a significantly improved audio experience and separation capability of different speakers and relevant speakers audio from nuisance background sounds.

Embodiments of the invention described in this specification relate generally to participant isolation and representation during collaborative presentation, and more particularly, to a participant overlay and audio placement collaboration system platform and a method for overlaying participants collaborating via a user interface and representational placement of distinct audio sources as isolated participants.
The existing conventional collaboration systems available today typically separate shared content to be collaborated with from video feed(s) of the collaborators, which is typically presented in a square live video window, with one or multiple windows in various window arrangements 'competing' over the available desktop space to either show the presenter's and audience's video feeds versus the presented/shared materials.
The problem with this approach is, that the shared content is typically just using a fraction of the available desktop space, to allow the video feed display in one or multiple rectangular shaped video windows, taking up a large portion of the available desktop space. While existing video collaboration/conferencing options allow the user to scale shared contents versus the presenter's and other participants views, the contents and video are distinctively separated, resulting in either good views of the shared material or good views of the video feeds, but never both. Also, due to that separated organization of content versus participants, the presenter/participants cannot 'visually interact' with the shared content.
Another shortcoming of current collaboration/video conferencing systems is the poor audio mixing abilities, meaning all audio feeds are plainly added together to one combined audio signal, which in larger groups tends to result in indistinguishable audio-presence of speakers, making it very difficult for the listeners to distinguish different speakers or separate the current speaker from other communication/noises in the background.
Today's collaboration systems, typically video conferencing with documents/screen sharing, separate shared content (in one rectangular window space) from the presenters/participants video feeds (in another one or multiple separated rectangular video feed windows). This therefore requires software and/or the user to arrange and prioritize shared contents over participants video feeds. This only allows for one primary use of the available desktop space, either contents or participants, or both are compromised to allow both at the same time. Also, typical video feeds contain a large amount of unnecessary contents of background visuals of the participants surroundings, without any value add to conversation/collaboration, just cluttering up valuable screen space. Besides that, the simple mixing of all audio signals to one indistinguishable audio stream, makes it very difficult for the listeners to acoustically separate speakers and/or separate background noises from the actual speakers voice.
Therefore, what is needed is a way to separate presenters/speakers relevant video contents (head, body, etc.) from the irrelevant surrounding and visually overlaying the presenter with the presented material (similar to weatherman presenting weather on TV), and to allow for a more immersive and interactive presentation, while maximizing use of the available desktop space for shared/presented content and also allowing for maximized visualization of the presenter(s) themselves, in addition to correlating spoken or other audible content by audio-mapping of acoustic content of presenter(s)/participant(s) relative to their visual representation on the desktop, thereby allowing for a significantly improved audio experience and separation capability of different speakers and relevant speakers audio from nuisance background sounds.

Participant overlay and audio placement collaboration system platform and method for overlaying representations of participants collaborating by way of a user interface and representational placement of distinct audio sources as isolated participants


A storm reinforcing brace for a corrugated polycarbonate plastic hurricane shutter panel, and the combination thereof. The brace includes an elongated bar member extrusion-formed as a single one-piece unit and having a continuous, uniform generally hat-shaped section defining a central portion, leg or side portions, and mounting flange portions thereof. The central portion is preferably flat with an inwardly extending C-shaped channel sized to entrappingly slidably receive a head of a separate threaded fastener from either end of the channel, the threaded fastener being held in the channel in an outwardly extending adjustably slidable orientation along the length of the brace. Each of the mounting flange portions lie in a plane inwardly offset from the central portion and laterally extending from each corresponding leg portion, each of the mounting flange portions for receiving fasteners therethrough anchoring the brace against the upright side members of a window frame. The central portion is offset from the plane of the mounting flanges a distance sufficient for the central portion to support an inner planar surface of the shutter panel, the threaded fastener passing through the shutter panel to boltably secure the shutter panel against the central surface.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to removable storm and hurricane shutters and more particularly to a storm reinforcing brace for corrugated hurricane shutters.
2. Description of Related Art
Hurricane shutters have become extremely popular and useful in the hurricane prone sections of the country. Such hurricane shutters are typically deployed prior to an area coming under the influence tropical storm and hurricane weather conditions and serve to prevent damage to the glass windows and portal doors as a result of high winds and flying debris. An example of such a storm shutter installation is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,685,261 which is primarily directed to a hurricane shutter which includes a lower support channel or bracket which is readily adaptable to a range of lower sill angles to which this portion of the storm shutter is attached.
Following are a number of prior art references which teach means for reinforcing window and door protective devices. U.S. Pat. No. 2,622,285 to Roos discloses a means to protect windows. Birs teaches a hurricane shutter reinforcement and method in U.S. Pat. No. 5,383,315.
A window barrier is taught by Dandridge in U.S. Pat. No. 1,633,848. Carr discloses a combination storm shutter and fastener in U.S. Pat. No. 2,777,174.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,330,768 to Rodrigues teaches a window storm panel brace. A bracing device for a storm panel is also disclosed by Clewis in U.S. Pat. No. 6,640,509.
DiVeroli discloses a storm panel system in U.S. Pat. No. 6,189,264. A hurricane shutter apparatus for installation in a building during its original construction is taught by Biggers in U.S. Patent Application Publication 2006/0010792.
The foregoing examples of the related art and limitations related therewith are intended to be illustrative and not exclusive. Other limitations of the related art will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon a reading of the specification and a study of the drawings.
The present invention affords a simple, easy to install hurricane reinforcing brace particularly adapted to strengthen corrugated plastic or metal hurricane panels across the mid-section of such panels, typically the weakest area for resisting airborne flying objects during tropical storms and hurricane force winds. The invention is easily attachable to the window frame and likewise, easily interengageable with the corrugated hurricane shutter after the reinforcing brace has been installed.

Storm reinforcing brace for a corrugated hurricane shutter and system


Disclosed is a method for producing wear-resistant layers on materials of barrier-layer-forming metals, such as aluminum, magnesium and titanium and their alloys and mixtures, preferably aluminum or its alloys, by means of laser treatment, the material surface being exposed to a laser irradiation in the presence of an atmosphere containing oxygen in such a way that the upper or outer layer of the material surface reacts with the oxygen to form an oxide of the metal constituting the material, preferably aluminum oxide, and the layer of the material lying under that is remelted without reacting with the atmosphere containing oxygen. This results in a multilayer structure with excellent wear-resistant properties, including excellent corrosion resistance, excellent abrasion resistance and extreme hardness that does not exhibit any brittleness as a result of the hardness gradient within the layer structure.

The present invention relates to a method for producing wear-resistant layers on materials of barrier-layer-forming metals, such as in particular aluminum, magnesium and titanium and their alloys and mixtures, by means of laser treatment and to the application of this method and to the materials provided with wear-resistant layers produced in this way.
The production of wear-resistant layers on materials of barrier-layer-forming metals, such as aluminum, magnesium and titanium and their alloys, under electrolytic conditions is known: for instance, wear-resistant layers with excellent properties can be obtained by what is known as anodic oxidation with spark discharge (known as the ANOF method) and suitable, usually aqueous or aqueous-organic electrolyte solutions. Such a method is described for example in EP 0 545 230 B1. A disadvantage of these methods is that they work electrolytically and therefore use electrolyte baths, which subsequently require disposal. What is more, after their production, the layers produced must be cleaned of undesired constituents of the electrolyte bath. Therefore, efforts are increasingly being made to produce such wear-resistant layers in some other way.
The multitude of applications for surface refinement in automobile construction and other areas, in particular in the area of mechanical engineering, is sufficient testimony to the need for technologies that meet the increased requirements for the functionality of the components. Laser methods offer new approaches here to improving the quality of the components. However, wear-resistant layers have a leading role to play. In principle, the use of lasers for surface treatment opens up new environmentally friendly technologies, in particular since they do not need electrolyte baths.
In DE 102 02 184 C1 and the journal HTM 52 (1997) 2, pages 91 to 93 (J. Barnikel et al. "Nitrieren von Aluminiumlegierungen mit UV-Laserstrahlung" [nitriding of aluminum alloys with UV laser radiation], comments are made on the laser nitriding of aluminum surfaces.
For instance, DE 102 02 184 C1 describes a method for producing wear-resistant layers in regions of components that are near the surface, in particular pistons for internal combustion engines, from a composite aluminum base material, at least parts of the surface of the components having undergone hardening and the wear-resistant layer being formed from aluminum nitrides in an aluminum matrix, the wear-resistant layer being produced by means of a laser nitriding treatment, with energy being introduced into the surface in the form of pulses, so that a remelt layer forms in the areas near the surface and this causes a conversion of nitrogen from the nitrogen atmosphere or from the air with aluminum from the composite material in such a way that the aluminum nitrides are in a finely dispersed and graded form in the remelt layer.
Although the aluminum nitride (AlN) formed in this way is very hard (about 1230 HV=Vickers hardness), it is also very brittle. It therefore tends to crack and is consequently unusable for many applications, in particular in automobile construction. Particularly safety components that are exposed to vibrations, such as for example aluminum components for internal combustion engines, such as in particular pistons, cylinder faces, valves and the like, are at great risk if they are provided with such an aluminum nitride layer. The use of such components provided with aluminum nitride layers can cause the entire engine to fail while it is running. The layer thickness of the aluminum nitride layer produced is also relatively small. Moreover, under point loading of the surface there occurs an effect known as the "eggshell effect": the base material under-goes plastic deformation and this causes subsequent crack formation.
The technical teaching of DE 102 02 184 C1 also does not overcome the aforementioned disadvantages, even if the energy of the laser is applied to the aluminum surface in a pulsed manner in a nitrogen atmosphere and the aluminum nitride is formed in a finely dispersed manner.
A further possibility for surface refinement by means of laser treatment is that of producing aluminum materials by the laser treatment of protective oxide-ceramic layers, the material particles, such as for example aluminum oxide (Al2O3), zirconium oxide (ZrO2) etc., being melted onto the surface of the aluminum material (cf. Laser und Optoelektronik, 29(4), pages 48 to 52, 1997). The disadvantage of this possibility in principle of melting solid materials by laser and applying them to the material surfaces concerned is that these particles cannot be applied uniformly to the surface of the material. In particular in the case of components of a complicated shape, uniform coating cannot be accomplished. Furthermore, poor bonding of the melted particles with respect to the material surface is often observed, which is often caused by an already existing oxide layer on the workpiece to be treated.
The problem on which the present invention is based is therefore that of providing a method for producing wear-resistant layers on materials of barrier-layer-forming metals, in particular aluminum, magnesium and titanium and their alloys and mixtures, which largely avoids, or at least mitigates, the disadvantages of the prior art described above.
To solve the problem described above, the present invention proposes—according to a first aspect of the present invention—a method as claimed in claim 1. Further, particularly advantageous refinements of the method according to the invention are the subject of the respective method sub-claims.
This is so since the applicant has now surprisingly found that the problem described above can be solved by exposing the material surfaces of materials based on barrier-layer-forming metals, such as aluminum, magnesium and titanium and their alloys and mixtures, to a laser treatment in the presence of an atmosphere containing oxygen, or laser irradiation in the form of a laser oxidation treatment, in such a way that the upper or outer layer of the material surface is exposed to the oxygen to form an oxide of the metal constituting the material, while the layer of the material lying under that is remelted without reacting with the oxygen.
Further subject matter of the present invention—according to a second aspect of the present invention—is the application according to the invention of the method based on the present invention, as it is defined in the respective claims.
Finally, subject matter of the present invention—according to a further, third aspect of the present invention—is the materials according to the present invention that can be obtained by the method according to the invention, which are provided with a wear-resistant layer of the aforementioned type and as defined in the respective claims.
The subject matter of the present invention is consequently—according to a first aspect of the present invention—a method for producing wear-resistant layers on materials of barrier-layer-forming metals, in particular aluminum, magnesium and titanium and their alloys and mixtures, with preference aluminum or its alloys, by means of laser treatment, the material surface being exposed to a laser irradiation in the presence of an atmosphere containing oxygen in such a way that the upper or outer layer of the material surface is reacted or converted with the oxygen of the atmosphere containing oxygen to form an oxide of the metal constituting the material, while the layer of material lying under that is remelted without reacting with the oxygen.
The laser treatment or laser oxidation according to the invention results in wear-resistant layers with excellent wear-resistant properties, in particular with excellent corrosion resistance and excellent abrasion resistance and extreme hardness, the wear-resistant layers not exhibiting any brittleness—unlike aluminum nitride layers of the prior art—and, because of the hardness gradient within the layer structure—the hardness (Vickers hardness) of the layers or the layer structure decreasing gradually from the outside inward—exhibiting excellent mechanical properties, in particular not having a tendency toward the "eggshell effect" under point loading of the surface.
The layers produced according to the invention have properties that are comparable, or to some extent improved, in comparison with wear-resistant layers produced according to conventional electrolytic methods, with disadvantages being avoided in an efficient way, in particular by avoiding the use of electrolyte baths.
The laser treatment or laser oxidation carried out according to the invention results in a multilayer structure: the actual wear-resistant layer as such generally comprises a two-layer structure, this comprising the upper or outer oxide layer of the metal constituting the material and the layer of remelted material ("remelt layer") lying adjacent the upper or outer oxide layer and lying under this oxide layer, arranged underneath which there is then the unchanged (i.e. unreacted and not remelted) layer of the material adjacent said remelt layer. Altogether, it therefore results in a multilayer structure which comprises—when viewed from the outside inward or from top to bottom—the upper, outer oxide layer of the metal constituting the material, the remelt layer arranged under that and the layer of unreacted and not remelted base material arranged in turn under that. In this case, the outer layer (i.e. the oxide layer of the metal constituting the material) has the greatest hardness (Vickers hardness), the remelt layer lying under that has a lower hardness (Vickers hardness) in comparison, and the layer of the base material arranged in turn under that has the lowest hardness (Vickers hardness). This produces as desired a multilayer structure with the aforementioned hardness gradient, which leads to excellent mechanical properties.
According to one particular embodiment of the method according to the invention, it may be provided that, before the production of the wear-resistant layer (i.e. before the laser treatment or laser oxidation according to the invention), the material surface is subjected to a remelting, in particular likewise by means of laser treatment, with preference under inert conditions. When doing so, it must be ensured in particular that no oxidation of the material surface takes place during this pretreatment. This is achieved by working under inert conditions, in particular under an inert gas atmosphere, prefera-bly under a noble gas atmosphere, and below the reaction temperatures of the material surface, generally below temperatures of 1.000° C. of the material surface. However, this preceding method step of remelting is of a purely optional nature.
According to a preferred embodiment, aluminum or an aluminum alloy is used in particular as the metal constituting the material, so that an aluminum oxide layer (Al2O3 layer) results as the upper, outer layer of the laser treatment or laser oxidation according to the invention. The material according to the invention may be, for example, a cast or diecast material, in particular an aluminum cast or diecast material. In particular, it may be a coarse-grained cast or diecast material, in particular cast or diecast aluminum material, which may possibly have been subjected to a remelting, in particular likewise by means of laser treatment, as described above, before the production of the wear-resistant layer by the laser treatment according to the invention, this pretreatment being optional. Instead of cast or diecast alloys, wrought alloys, in particular wrought aluminum alloys, may also be subjected to the treatment according to the invention. However, the aforementioned examples of materials used are not of a restrictive nature.
In principle, a laser with a wavelength in the range from 700 to 1.200 nm, in particular 800 to 1.100 nm, is used for the laser treatment according to the invention.
In principle, both pulsed and nonpulsed lasers may be used for the laser treatment or laser oxidation according to the invention. In the case of the use of pulsed lasers, the pulse duration (FWHM) is chosen in particular in the range from 10−7 s to 10−2 s, in particular at approximately 10−3 s; the layer thickness of the wear-resistant layer can be controlled in a specifically selective manner by means of the pulse duration of the laser.
For example, a nonpulsed diode laser or an Nd:YAG laser, in particular respectively at a wavelength in the range from 800 to 1100 nm, may be used within the scope of the method according to the invention.
Generally, the laser treatment is carried out in such a way, in particular the energy that is introduced or made to act by means of laser irradiation is dimensioned in such a way, that the reaction temperature Treaction at the material surface is at least 1.000° C. (Treaction≧1.000° C.).
Generally, the power density used for the laser may vary within broad ranges. For ex-ample, the power density used for the laser may be chosen in the range from 104 to 108 W/cm2, in particular in the range from 105 to 107 W/cm2, preferably at approximately 106 W/cm2. Nevertheless, it may be necessary owing to the individual case or on the basis of the application to deviate from the aforementioned values without departing from the scope of the present invention.
As described above, the laser treatment or laser oxidation according to the invention is carried out in an atmosphere containing oxygen. The atmosphere containing oxygen may either comprise or consist of pure oxygen or comprise or consist of a gas mixture of oxygen with at least one further inert gas that is nonreactive under reaction conditions, preferably a noble gas. In order that no nitrides, in particular no aluminum nitride, can be formed during the laser treatment or laser oxidation according to the invention, the atmosphere containing oxygen does not contain any nitrogen and/or any gas generating nitrogen under reaction conditions.
Generally, the method according to the invention is carried out under atmospheric pressure. Nevertheless, carrying out the method under reduced or increased pressure is not ruled out, even though it is preferred for the method to be carried out under atmospheric pressure.
Wear-resistant layers produced by the method according to the invention generally have total thicknesses of 50 to 350 μm, in particular 75 to 300 μm, preferably 100 to 250 μm. These thicknesses generally comprise the upper or outer oxide layer and the remelt layer lying under it.
As far as the upper or outer layer is concerned, which in the case of aluminum or aluminum alloys is an aluminum oxide layer (Al2O3 layer), possibly with further constituents (for example SiO2 or mullite in the case of silicon-containing aluminum alloys), its layer thickness is generally 1 to 50 μm, in particular 2 to 30 μm, preferably 3 to 20 μm.
The upper, outer layer, in particular aluminum oxide layer (Al2O3 layer) has an extreme hardness. The Vickers hardness (HV) of this upper (outer) layer is at least 1.000 HV, in particular at least 1.500 HV, preferably at least 2.000 HV.
A further, particular feature of this upper, outer layer, in particular aluminum oxide layer (Al2O3 layer), is its extremely low roughness (peak-to-valley height): generally, the roughness (peak-to-valley height) Ra of the upper, outer layer is ≦0.5 μm, in particular ≦0.4 μm, preferably ≦0.3 μm. Consequently, the wear-resistant layers produced according to the invention are also suitable for those applications in which the dimensional stability and evenness of the layers have to meet extremely high requirements.
In the event that the material consists of aluminum or an aluminum alloy, the upper, outer layer of the wear-resistant layer according to the invention is an aluminum oxide layer (Al2O3 layer) and comprises at least 60%, preferably at least 80%, with particular preference at least 90%, corundum (α-Al2O3). This explains the extreme hardness of this outer layer. In the case of silicon-containing aluminum alloys, the outer layer may also contain up to 10%, in particular up to 20%, preferably up to 30%, silicon dioxide (SiO2), preferably in the form of mullite; this likewise exhibits a great Vickers hardness. All the aforementioned figures in percent are given as percent by weight with respect to the weight of the upper, outer layer.
As far as the remelt layer is concerned, arranged under the outer oxide layer, in particular Al2O3 layer, it generally has a thickness in the range from 50 to 300 μm, in particular 75 to 250 μm, preferably 100 to 200 μm.
This remelt layer generally has a Vickers hardness (HV) that is less than the Vickers hardness (HV) of the outer layer lying above it and a Vickers hardness (HV) that is greater than the underlying layer of base material. Generally, the remelt layer arranged under the outer oxide layer, in particular under the outer Al2O3 layer, has a Vickers hardness (HV)≧150 HV, in particular ≧200 HV. The much lower Vickers hardness of the remelt layer in comparison with the outer oxide layer is explained by the fact that the remelt layer was created by the base material simply remelting, but not reacting with the oxygen of the laser treatment atmosphere; a greater Vickers hardness of the remelt layer in comparison with the underlying layer of the base material is in turn ex-plained by the fact that a finely dispersed or finely grained phase or layer is created by the remelting process.
This is so since the remelting process by means of laser treatment or laser oxidation according to the invention has the effect that the remelt layer arranged under the outer oxide layer, in particular under the outer Al2O3 layer, is formed in a finely dispersed and/or finely grained manner, in particular with a grain size <1 μm, preferably <0.5 μm.
By contrast, the base material lying under the remelt layer is generally formed in a coarsely grained and/or coarsely dispersed manner, in particular with a grain size >10 μm, preferably >20 μm.
As described above, the base material arranged under the remelt layer generally has a lower Vickers hardness than the remelt layer lying above it: generally, the Vickers hardness (HV) of the base material layer lying under the remelt layer is up to 150 HV, and lies in particular in the range from 50 to 150 HV, preferably 75 to 125 HV.
The basic layer structure of the wear-resistant layers obtainable by the method according to the invention is illustrated in the representations of the figures.

Production of wear-resistant layers on barrier-layer-forming metals or their alloys by means of laser treatment


A cover to protect the clothing from cosmetic dirt is disclosed. In order to realize the protection, the cover comprises an upper part that covers the head, a lower part that covers around the neck, an elastic part in between, and a loopy strap on the top. As the cover is placed between the head and the neckline of clothing, the clothing does not touch the cosmetics on the face, when being dressed or undressed. As a result, the clothing is completely protected from cosmetic dirt, while the cover can be quickly and easily put on and off.. Additionally, a pair of releasable fasteners attached to a loopy strap on the top, or a loopy strap and the main body of cover make the cover in a compact manner for easy carrying.

This invention relates to a cover to protect clothing, such as pullovers, from cosmetic dirt, when the clothing is dressed or undressed, and relates to configurations to make the cover portable.
For those who do makeup their faces with cosmetics, pullover-type wear, especially around the neckline, easily get dirt off cosmetics, such as foundation and rouge, when dressing or undressing. It is felt unpleasant and unclean, if the clothing gets any of the dirt. Formerly, in order to protect from the dirt, they have widen the neckline of the clothing with excessive force, or have used a piece of cloth, such as a scarf or a towel to cover the head. However, these means cannot protect the clothing from the dirt successfully. The neckline of the clothing may become too loose with excessive force. A piece of cloth may be so unstable that the head cannot be covered up properly.


Embodiments provide an optical device that includes a star coupler, a polarization bam splitter (PBS) and a polarization rotator. The star coupler includes a port at a first end face. The polarization beam splitter is optically coupled via a first side to the star coupler port, and is further optically coupled via a second side to a first port of an optical coupler. The polarization rotator is optically coupled between the polarization beam splitter and a second port of the optical coupler.

This section introduces aspects that may be helpful to facilitating a better understanding of the inventions. Accordingly, the statements of this section are to be read in this light and are not to be understood as admissions about what is in the prior art or what is not in the prior art.
In an optical communication system, a series of one or more spans of optical fiber typically carries data from an optical transmitter to an optical receiver. The optical fiber may be fabricated to have one or multiple propagation modes for light having a wavelength in ordinary optical telecommunication bands, e.g., the optical S-band, C-band or L-band. In a multi-mode optical fiber, multiple propagation modes are available, and each of the propagation modes may carry a different data stream. Thus, a multi-mode optical fiber may be able to support a larger data transmission rate in a given frequency band than a single-mode optical fiber.

Spatial division multiplexing optical mode converter


A hinged cap for engaging a housing of a diagnostic device comprises a central body; two arms extending from opposing sides of one end of said central body, said arms being substantially parallel; each of said arms comprising a cap hinge member for engaging a housing hinge member on said housing, wherein said cap hinge member and said housing hinge member define a hinge axis around which said cap is pivotable between an open and a closed position with respect to said housing.

Throughout this application, various references are cited to describe more fully the state of the art to which this invention pertains. The disclosures of these references are hereby incorporated by reference into the present disclosure in their entirety.
Diagnostic devices currently exist for detecting the presence of an analyte in a sample of biological fluid. Typically, such diagnostic devices have an exposed end or aperture for application of the biological fluid to be tested and a closed end for detecting the analyte and displaying the result of the diagnostic test. Examples of such diagnostic devices include pregnancy tests and glucose meters.
WO 95/08117, WO 01/29558, WO 02/059600, WO 06/042004, U.S. 2005/0196318, US 2006/0110285, and EP 0164148 are directed to conventional two-part diagnostic devices where a biological sample is applied to one part of the diagnostic device and reagents are contained in the other part of the diagnostic device. The two parts of these diagnostic devices are then connected together and folded on top of one another thereby mating the two parts and completing the diagnostic test.
U.S. 2008/0112848 is directed to a dry test strip assembly that has a base and a cover. The cover is attached to the base at the distal end of the base and compresses a test strip onto the base. The base has a plurality of test ports for conducting more than one diagnostic test simultaneously and the cover includes a sample opening that is aligned over the test ports when in the closed position. The compression provided by the cover serves to divide the test strip into discrete testing portions and sample is applied through the window in the cover.
Applicant's copending application, U.S. Ser. No. 11/475,948, filed Jun. 28, 2006, describes an analytical device that comprises a membrane array supported within a housing. One end of the housing is adapted to receive a removable cap. The cap is an optional separate piece that can be laterally snapped onto and off of the housing.
While the aforementioned diagnostic devices and caps are generally useful, it is desirable to provide a cap for a diagnostic device that overcomes the deficiencies of the prior art and further provides other advantages to the device itself.