The invention relates to manufacturing thermoplastic material containers (2) with a petaloid bottom (4) by drawing-blowing hot preforms (16) in a blowing mold that has a petaloid mold bottom (1) including radiating ridges (13) alternating with cavities (11) that are adapted to form the valleys (7) and the feet (5), respectively, of the container bottom; during drawing, heat losses are reduced in longitudinal zones (19) of the end part (20) of the preforms, extending over the bottom (18) and over an axial portion of their body (21), distributed over the periphery of the ends of the preforms facing respective cavities (11) of the mold bottom (1).

Referring to FIGS. 1 to 3 of the appended drawings, there is shown therein—respectively in plan view, in diametral section taken along the line II-II in FIG. 1 and in partially cut-away three-quarter perspective view from above—a mold bottom 1 intended to equip a mold (not shown) for the manufacture of thermoplastic material, such as PET, containers, in particular bottles, by drawing-blowing hot preforms, which mold is part of a molding device (not shown) that may include a plurality of molds, for example a rotary device of the carousel type in which the molds are distributed peripherally.
As shown in FIG. 4, which is a three-quarter isometric perspective view from below of the bottom of a container 2 molded using a mold bottom 1 as shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the container 2 has a body 3 and a bottom 4 of the so-called petaloid type featuring a plurality of excrescences forming feet 5, generally from four to six in number (generally five in the standard practice, as shown). These feet are angularly distributed in equidistant fashion and extend approximately parallel to the axis 6 of the container. They are separated from each other by radiating valleys 7 with a convex curvilinear bottom 8 (which may extend in a circular arc). All the valleys 7 converge at the center of the bottom 4 of the container, which may include a plateau 10 projecting slightly outward. The bottom 4 of the container is connected to the body 3 of the container by a connecting area 9 that is substantially a circular-section cylinder.
The mold bottom 1 is arranged in a complementary fashion and includes, for molding said bottom 4 of the container 2, cavities 11 in a number equal to the number of feet 5 of the container bottom 4 (five in the example shown in FIGS. 1 to 3) and constitutes a petaloid mold bottom 1. These cavities are angularly distributed in equidistant fashion relative to the axis 12 of the mold bottom (mutual angular separation of 72° in this example) and are separated from each other by radiating ridges 13 (that is to say projecting portions, elongate in a substantially radial direction, of the mold bottom which form said valleys in the bottom of the molded container). Each ridge 13 has a peak 14 of concave (for example circular arc) extent.
When a container is fabricated by drawing-blowing a hot preform in a blowing mold equipped with the mold bottom 1, the preform 16 starts by being drawn longitudinally in mechanical fashion, by the action of a drawing rod 15 introduced into the preform 16 and movable axially; the end 17 of the drawing rod 15, bearing against the bottom 18 of the preform 16, drives the latter into contact with the mold bottom 1, as represented in chain-dotted line in FIG. 2.
In FIG. 2, it is seen clearly that, once the mechanical drawing has been completed, the distance D1 separating the bottom of a cavity 11 from the facing portion of the preform 16 is very much greater than the distance D2 separating a ridge 13 from the facing portion of the preform 16. This means that, during pneumatic blowing phases or pneumatic pre-blowing phases followed by pneumatic blowing that complements the mechanical drawing, the thermoplastic material of the bottom 18 of the preform 16 is subjected to longitudinal and/or radial drawing rates that are very different according to their location; this is the case in particular according to whether it is a question of conforming the extremity of the excrescences forming feet 5, for which the drawing rate both longitudinally and radially is a maximum, or a question of conforming the bottom 8 of the valleys 7 interleaved between the feet, for which the drawing rate is lower.
Remember that, as a general rule, molding by drawing-blowing includes, in addition to the mechanical drawing step, at least one step of blowing by means of a fluid, typically air, at a very high pressure (typically of the order of 25×105 Pa to 40×105 Pa). The blowing step is most often preceded by a pre-blowing step using a fluid at a relatively low pressure (typically of the order of 10 to 15×105 Pa). The inclusion or absence of the pre-blowing step, and likewise the sequencing of the various steps, depend on the characteristics of the container to be fabricated.
Remember also that, in most cases, the drawing step is initiated first, followed by the pre-blowing step which, in many cases, begins when drawing has not been completed; blowing then begins, sometimes when drawing has not been completed. In other cases, pre-blowing may be initiated before drawing. In certain configurations, blowing begins after drawing is completed. In other cases, the sequence may be as follows: complete drawing, followed by pre-blowing and blowing. In extreme cases, there is no pre-blowing operation and blowing begins before or after drawing is completed.
Other sequences may be envisaged. In the remainder of the description, the term "blowing" employed without other qualification will designate without distinction, and whatever the sequencing relative to mechanical drawing, a step of blowing only or the succession of a pre-blowing step and a blowing step.
Regardless of the sequencing of the operations, to obtain a correct conformation of the bottom 4 of the container as a whole, it is necessary for the thermoplastic material to be at a temperature producing the optimum softening for homogeneous drawing, whilst at the same time maintaining the temperature below the crystallization temperature. It is then certain that the softened material can be fed correctly into the areas that are subject to the highest drawing rates, and thus that a container is obtained with a bottom having a relatively constant thickness throughout despite its complex shape.
Now, the drawing rod 15, which is made of metal, is brought into contact sequentially with the bottoms of successive hot preforms and its temperature undoubtedly rises because of these repetitive contacts; however, these contacts being only intermittent, the rod remains at all times at an average temperature substantially lower than that of the hot preforms. To give a concrete idea of this, the preforms are typically heated to a temperature of the order of 100° C. whereas the average temperature of the drawing rod remains of the order of 85° C.
Because of this, it is clear that, in the area of contact of the drawing rod 15 with the thermoplastic material of the bottom 18 of the preforms 16, that material, on conceding heat to the metal rod that serves as thermal receiver, is cooled locally. As a result of this, the thermoplastic material, becoming cooler, at least locally, loses a portion of its drawing capacity. It must also be emphasized that, when pushed by the end 17 of the rod, the thermoplastic material of the bottom 18 of the preform is deformed and to some degree shrinks around the end 17 of the rod, which increases the area of contact. This increases the heat exchange cited above.
The consequence is that, because of the insufficient mobility of the thermoplastic material during blowing, and regardless of the time at which it begins after the drawing rod has touched the bottom of the preform, too great a quantity of material remains in the central area of the bottom of the container in corresponding relationship to the position of the bottom of the preform. In concrete terms, the bottom of the containers features a thickness that varies greatly according to the location; the material thickness is a maximum in a central ring around the central plateau 10 or button, whereas it is a minimum in the bottom of the feet because of the insufficient supply of material.
This drawback is relatively unimportant when manufacturing containers with standard bottoms that feature reliefs that are relatively little differentiated and does not affect the quality of manufacture of such containers. On the other hand, the drawback referred to hereinabove becomes entirely relevant when manufacturing containers with a petaloid bottom: the correct formation of the feet 5 of the bottom necessitates a high rate of drawing of the thermoplastic material whereas that material is precisely that which has been in contact with the drawing rod 15 and has suffered a reduction in temperature. However, for containers having normal or small capacities (that is to say having capacities not exceeding approximately 2 liters), this drawback is relatively unimportant and until now no compensation has been envisaged for this type of container. On the other hand, for containers of significantly greater capacity (for example 3 or 3.5 liter containers), the difference in dimensions between the feet and the valleys becomes much greater and such that it is no longer possible to produce petaloid bottoms of correct shape under the conditions presently applying to containers of smaller capacity.
In an attempt to remedy this drawback, at least in part, it has already been envisaged to reduce as much as possible the area of contact of the drawing rod with the thermoplastic material of the bottom of the hot preforms. To this end, it has been proposed to use shouldered drawing rods that feature an end part of reduced diameter connected to the rod body by a shoulder (or even by a plurality of successive staggered shoulders). With this arrangement, the thermoplastic material is in contact with the rod only at the rounded tip thereof and along the peripheral edge of the shoulder, which represents a smaller area of contact than with a conventional drawing rod.
However, this shouldered drawing rod has the drawback of being aggressive with respect to the preforms. The hot thermoplastic material, which is fragile and easily torn, can easily be pierced by the smaller diameter end of the rod because the thrust force communicated by the rod to the bottom of the preform is applied over a reduced area; what is more, the peripheral edge of the shoulder, if it comes into contact with the thermoplastic material, may mark it or even cause it to tear.

Drawing-blowing method and device for molding thermoplastic material containers, in particular bottles, with petaloid bottoms


A semiconductor memory device includes plural memory cells MC arranged in a matrix, plural bit lines BL and plural plate line voltage supply lines SCP which are arranged in a row direction, plural sense amplifier circuits SA which are arranged in a column direction and are electrically connected to the respective bit lines, plural plate line voltage supply circuits CPD which are arranged in the column direction and drive the plate line voltage supply lines SCP, and means for electrically connecting the plate line voltage supply lines SCP with the plural plate lines CP, wherein the respective plate voltage supply lines SCP are electrically connected, at different positions on the same plate line CP, to the plate line CP.

Recently, there has been known a semiconductor memory device which uses a ferroelectric film as an insulating film for capacitors to make data storage nonvolatile.
Transition of the polarized state of a ferroelectric substance shows hysteresis characteristics, and remnant polarization exists in the ferroelectric substance even when a voltage applied to the ferroelectric substance becomes 0, and therefore, nonvolatile data storage is carried out utilizing the remnant polarization.
In order to read the nonvolatile data from the ferroelectric capacitors, it is necessary to apply voltage to the ferroelectric capacitors, and generally, reading is carried out by driving plate lines that constitute electrodes of the ferroelectric capacitors.
While the plate lines drive plural memory cells that are arranged in a word line direction, the capacitances of the ferroelectric capacitors that are driven by the plate lines are significantly larger than those of capacitors that are formed of a silicon oxide film, which are usually adopted in a dynamic semiconductor memory device, and therefore, load capacitances connected to the plate lines are excessively large. Further, since Ir or IrO is used as a material of the plate lines, the resistance of the plate lines is high.
The excessive load capacitances connected to the plate lines and the high resistance of the plate lines cause a problem that the access time of the memory device is significantly increased.
On the other hand, in order to drive the plate lines at an appropriate speed, MOS transistors of high driving abilities must be used, leading to increased power consumption and increased layout area.
So, as a method for resolving the excessive load capacitances of the plate lines and the increase in the layout area, there have been proposed circuit systems such as a plate line division system and a plate line voltage fixation system, and circuit operations.
Hereinafter, a description will be given of a conventional semiconductor memory device with a ferroelectric substance.
Initially, as for a first conventional system, assuming that the above-mentioned problems cannot be solved by the plate line driving system, there is disclosed a semiconductor circuit that is operated with voltage of plate lines being fixed, without driving the plate lines (for example, refer to Japanese Published Patent Application No. Hei.10-162587 (Patent Document 1)). According to this system, since the plate lines are not driven, the plate line driving time is omitted to prevent increase in the access time.
Further, as for a plate line division system that is a second conventional system, there is disclosed a semiconductor circuit in which plural plate lines are provided for one word line (for example, refer to Japanese Published Patent Application No. Hei.10-162589 (Patent Document 2)). According to this system, since plural plate lines are provided for one word line, only desired memory cells can be operated, thereby preventing increase in the load capacitances connected to the plate lines to prevent increase in the access time.
However, the above-mentioned conventional techniques may have the following drawbacks. Since a layout is not particularly designated in either Patent Document 1 or Patent Document 2, a generally conceivable layout is presumed.
Initially, in the system disclosed in Patent Document 1, usually a layout as shown in FIG. 11 is considered. Hereinafter, this layout will be described with reference to FIG. 11.
FIG. 11 is a plan view for explaining a semiconductor memory device according to the first conventional system. In the semiconductor memory device, there are disposed plural word lines WL extending in a column direction DWL, plural bit lines BL extending in a row direction DBL, one plate line CP as large as a memory array MA, sense amplifier circuits SA that are adjacent to the memory array MA in the row direction DBL of the memory array MA, and plate line voltage supply circuits CPD that are adjacent to the memory array MA in the column direction DWL of the memory array MA. The bit lines BL are connected to the sense amplifier circuits SA, and the plate line CP is connected to the plate line voltage supply circuits CPD.
This circuit system employs the operation mode with the voltage of the plate line CP being fixed, and usually, supply of voltage tote plate line is carried out at an end of the memory cell array MA. However, it has become obvious from an analysis by the inventors of the present invention that the following problem occurs when voltage is supplied to the plate line at only the periphery of the memory cell array. That is, when a specific memory cell is operated, since the resistance of the plate line is high in a non-operating memory cell disposed in the vicinity of the operating memory cell, the voltage of the plate line is likely to cause undershoot or overshoot temporarily and locally, leading to degradation in data holding of the memory cell.
For example, when a memory cell Pos1 shown in FIG. 11 is operated, the plate line voltage in the vicinity of the Pos1 varies, whereby the plate line voltage in the vicinity of the non-operating Pos2, which voltage is supplied from the periphery of the memory cell array, causes undersupply of voltage because the resistance of the plate line is high, and the plate line voltage in the vicinity of the Pos2 also varies with the variation in the plate line voltage in the vicinity of the Pos1, leading to simple writing operation of the memory cell in the vicinity of the Pos2, resulting in degradation of data holding of the memory cell.
Further, in order so solve the above-mentioned problem, when miniaturization of the memory cell array is considered, more plate line voltage generation circuits CPD must be provided, leading to increase in the area of the semiconductor memory device.
Especially, in the system disclosed in Patent Document 2, a layout as shown in FIG. 12 is usually considered.
Hereinafter, the layout will be described with reference to FIG. 12.
FIG. 12 is a plan view for explaining a semiconductor memory device according to the second conventional system. In the semiconductor memory device, there are disposed plate lines CP and word lines WL extending in the column direction DWL (two plate lines CP are disposed for one word line WL), bit lines BL extending in the row direction DBL, sense amplifier circuits SA that are adjacent to the memory array MA in the row direction DBL of the memory array MA, and plate line voltage supply circuits CPD that are adjacent to the memory array MA in the column direction DWL of the memory array MA. The bit lines BL are connected to the sense amplifier circuits SA, and the plate lines CP are connected to the plate line voltage supply circuits CPD.
In this system, when miniaturization and high-density integration of the semiconductor memory device with a ferroelectric substance are proceeded, the load capacitance and resistance of the plate lines CP reach non-negligible levels, resulting in obstacles in promoting further speed-up.
Further, in order to solve the above-mentioned problem, when increase in the capability of driving the plate lines CP is considered, transistors of large driving capabilities must be used for the plate line voltage generation circuits CPD, leading to increase in the area of the plate line voltage generation circuits CPD.
Further, when further division of the plate lines CP is considered to solve the above-mentioned problem, more plate line voltage generation circuits CPD must be provided, leading to increase in the area of the ferroelectric substance memory device.

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.


To achieve classification of semistructured data with a Kernel method for labeled ordered trees, instances having a labeled ordered tree structure are input and their inner product is computed, the result of which is used for classification learning of the instances. In the inner product computation, a sum of matches is computed for descendant nodes of non-leaf nodes of the labeled ordered trees by applying dynamic programming based on correspondence in which order of the nodes is maintained.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a technique of classifying semistructured data such as XML (Extensible Markup Language) or HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) data.
2. Related Art
In recent years, semistructured data such as XML or HTML data is attracting attention as data formats for use in various databases and data exchanges, and developing various data mining techniques for the semistructured data is becoming an important issue.
Now, consider the basis of data mining, which is Supervised Learning (Classification Learning) for classifying instances having a structure (the above mentioned semistructured data) into two classes.
Supervised Learning in this context is to learn a classifier, such that, given a set of instances that belong to either of two classes (called a positive class and a negative class), the classifier correctly classifies a new instance into the positive class or the negative class when it is not known which class the new instance belongs to. The instances that belong to the positive class are called positive instances, and the instances that belong to the negative class are called negative instances.
Generally, Supervised Learning involves representing an instance as a point (vector) in a feature space. Learning the classifier is to determine a rule (a set of separating planes) for appropriately classifying a set (point set) of positive instances and negative instances in the feature space (more properly, classifying unknown points yet to be given).
If an instance is easily represented as a vector, in other words, if its attribute required for classification (basis of the feature space) can humanly be determined, the attribute may be simply passed to various learning algorithms. However, an instance having a structure, i.e., an instance represented as an array, tree, graph, and so on, cannot be directly represented as a vector. In many of such cases, it may be effective to define substructures of the instance as its attributes. For example, a chemical compound can be represented as a graph, and its activity can be determined (to some extent) from the stacked substructures.
The above mentioned semistructured data can be modeled as a labeled ordered tree. One strategy of Supervised Learning for processing instances having such a structure is Relational Learning. Relational Learning defines basic relations between elements, and these relations form substructures. The substructures, used as attributes, are constructed successively as the learning proceeds. However, the problem of searching an optimal hypothesis would be NP hard in general, thereby resorting to a heuristic searching approach. The following reference 1, for example, describes Relational Learning in detail.
Reference 1: Furukawa, Ozaki, Ueno. Kinou-ronri Programming. Kyoritsu shuppan, 2001
Another strategy of Supervised Learning for processing instances having a structure is to find partial patterns, define frequent patterns as attributes, and pass them to a standard learning algorithm. This approach has an advantage that it can process data that has no class information. However, the steps of finding the patterns would be again NP hard in most cases.
Thus, these two approaches do not assure that processing will be completed in polynomial time in view of computational complexity.
Now, there is a practical approach to Supervised Learning for processing instances having a complex structure like a tree structure, which uses a Kernel method such as Support Vector Machine. The following reference 2, for example, describes Support Vector Machine in detail.
Reference 2: V. Vapnik. The Nature of Statistical Learning Theory. Springer Verlag, 1995.
One of the important features of the Kernel method is accessing instances using a Kernel. While common learning algorithms directly access a vector representation of an instance, the Kernel method involves accessing through the inner product of vector representations of two instances. Therefore, given an efficient way of computing the inner product of vector representations, the dimension of the vector representations does not appear explicitly in the computational complexity of learning and classification processes, however high the dimension is. The function that provides the inner product is called a Kernel, with which the Kernel method can realize efficient learning.
As described above, the Kernel method enables building a system that is feasible for learning with instances having a structure. Therefore, to perform data mining of semistructured data such as XML or HTML data, it is necessary to obtain the Kernel for labeled ordered trees that represent such a structure.
There have been proposed some Kernels that use all possible substructures as attributes. The following reference 3 discloses a Kernel for syntactic analysis trees of natural language sentences.
Reference 3: M. Collins and Nigel Duffy. Parsing with a Single Neuron: Convolution Kernel for Natural Language Problems. unpublished, 2000.
The method disclosed in the above literature uses the number of appearances of each subtree in a syntactic analysis tree as an attribute for a vector representation of the syntactic analysis tree. Here, because the number of subtrees appearing in one syntactic analysis tree exponentially increases with the size of the tree, explicitly counting the number would be problematic in view of computation time. Therefore, this method proposes recursively computing a vector representation of two trees without counting the number of subtree appearances one by one.
However, the trees that can be processed by the Kernel described in the reference 3 is limited to those like a syntactic analysis tree, in which child nodes can identify each other in a set of child nodes of a certain node. Therefore, the method cannot be applied to a general tree like a labeled ordered tree.
Thus, this invention proposes a Kernel method for a labeled ordered tree, and the object of this invention is to realize classification of semistructured data with this Kernel method.

Classification method of labeled ordered trees using support vector machines

International Business Machines Corporation


To realize a rotating mechanism by which a bearing section is stably rotated relative to a shaft section. A rotating mechanism includes a shaft section having a groove, and a bearing section which is provided with an opening for supporting the shaft section, has a shielding plate shielding part of the opening and disposed inside the groove, and is rotated around a rotational axis. The shielding plate may shield a region containing the rotational axis, and may have a projecting portion projecting from the shielding plate toward the inside of the groove, between the shielding plate and the groove.

Existing acoustic pianos such as grand pianos and upright pianos are composed of a large number of component parts. In addition, assemblage of these component parts is extremely complicated, so that the time required for an assembling operation would be long. Particularly, an action mechanism provided correspondingly to each key requires a large number of component parts, and an assembling operation thereof is also extremely complicated.
The action mechanism has a hammer provided with a weight on the lower side of the key, for giving a feeling (hereinafter, referred to a touch feeling) to a player's finger through the key. The hammer is rotated such as to lift up the weight provided for the hammer, according to a key depressing operation on the key. For instance, a hammer depicted in PTL 1 is mounted to a frame by fitting a bearing section, which is opened in a circular shape, to a shaft section. In PTL 1, the bearing section is mounted to the shaft section by a so-called snap-fit wherein the width between opening ends of the bearing section is narrow as compared to the diameter of the shaft section.

Rotating mechanism and keyboard apparatus


A paper web for producing traymats or coasters, comprising, a highly hygroscopic support paper having two sides, and a sliding-reducing structure applied on at least one side of the support paper. The sliding reducing structure includes a coating applied on at least one side of the support paper, the coating forming a discrete structure on the support paper, being raised above the support paper, and increasing static friction. The coating is composed of an aqueous synthetic plastic dispersion based exclusively on a self-crosslinking acrylate.

The present invention relates generally to paper webs. More particularly it relates to paper webs for producing tablecloth, traymats, coasters and the like, composed of a support paper and a coating.
Such paper webs are known, for example, from U.S. Pat. No. 4,277,529.
Webs produced from such coated paper are mainly used when, for example, the objects which due to their surface properties have tendency to ready sliding, must be transported or moved.
In particular, in the gastronomic field utensils produced from such paper webs are utilized, since when needed they are relatively easy to exchange. For preventing sliding of for example glasses on corresponding traymats, coasters or tablecloths, the corresponding par is provided with structured coating to increase the adhesive action. The coating is for example printed by screen, flexo or deep printing and heated.
The manufacture of the paper web specified hereinabove has disadvantages related to costs. The coating, due to its consistency can be applied with low printing speed onto the support paper.

Plastic coated paper web for traymats and coasters


Recombinant antibodies (including binding fragments thereof) that bind IgE are described, along with compositions and methods of using the same in the treatment of subjects in need thereof, including subjects afflicted with atopic dermatitis, allergic rhinitis, allergic conjunctivitis, urticaria, gastro-intestinal inflammation, or oral-pharyngeal inflammation. In some embodiments, the antibody is a single chain variable fragment (scFv) or a disulfide linked variable fragment (sdFv). In some embodiments, the subject is a dog, cat, or horse.

Treatment of chronic allergic diseases in dogs, often seen as recurring dermatitis, frequently results in less than optimal outcomes. When the disease can be linked to exposure to specific allergens, such house dust mites, desensitization injections can be effective in some individuals when carried out over an extended time; however, most cases are not resolved by desensitization and require a combination of allergen avoidance and anti-inflammatory drugs. The prolonged use of these drugs, such as corticosteroids, can result in severe side effects. These same challenges exist for human allergy suffers, but recently there has been a major breakthrough in the development of a new, safe and effective therapy using a monoclonal antibody that specifically binds and neutralizes human IgE that is responsible for activating inflammation-producing cells. This product is called XOLAIR® brand omalizumab (see, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 6,267,958 example 2) and it has been used safely by millions of allergy patients for more than 5 years.

Treatment of allergic diseases with recombinant antibodies


A system and a method are disclosed for a content delivery system that enable system-independent, remote storing of digital content on any number of a user's devices. The system and method enable a user to designate a digital content item appearing in a web page for storage, as well as a specific, separate device on which to store the content item. The digital content item is not restricted to being viewed or accessed within the content delivery system, but rather the content delivery system enables remote storing of digital content across multiple different systems, from multiple different content sources, for viewing on multiple different devices for any given user.

1. Field of Art
The disclosure generally relates to the field of digital content access, and more particularly to remote storing of digital content.
2. Background of the Invention
Large volumes of digital video content are readily available through the Internet. Search engines like GOOGLE™ and video hosting services like YOUTUBE™ make it easy to find and access this content. However, it is not always convenient for users to watch video content that they find interesting, and some users would prefer to watch such content at a later time, or on another device. For example, a user may find an interesting video while using their smartphone, and desire to watch the video later on using their home computer. Typically, a user would bookmark the content through the host site or send himself an email with a link to the content in order to access the content on the home computer.
At the home computer, the user must return to the host site and retrieve the bookmarked item, or access the item by first going to an email account. Thus, the user is restricted to accessing the content through a given host site or service. Furthermore, when the user later accesses the content, the user is further restricted to viewing the content on a specific set of devices. For web based videos, they would be restricted to watching the video on a device that has a web browser. In either case, the process is haphazard and entirely dependent on the user's initiative and skill.
Additionally, content that the user wishes to view may contain digital rights management (DRM) restrictions that limit the number or type of device that it can play on. For example, a user may freely view a video on their mobile device, but the video's DRM restrictions prevent playback on computers.

System independent remote storing of digital content


Disclosed are an image sensor and a method for manufacturing the same. The image sensor includes a semiconductor substrate formed on a first surface thereof with a readout circuitry and a photodiode area; a metal interconnection layer formed on the first surface; a connection via metal extending from the first surface to a second surface of the semiconductor substrate, the connection via metal having a projection part projecting from the second surface; an insulating layer formed on the first surface of the semiconductor substrate to expose the projection part while surrounding a portion of a lateral side of the projection part; and a metal pad formed on the insulating layer such that the metal pad covers the projection part, thereby shortening an optical path to reduce light loss and improve image sensitivity.

Generally, image sensors are semiconductor devices used to convert an optical image into an electric signal. The image sensors are typically classified into a charge coupled device (CCD) image sensor, which includes metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) capacitors closely adjacent to each other to store charge carriers therein and transfer the charge carriers; and a complementary MOS (CMOS) image sensor, which employs a switching mode to sequentially detect an output of each unit pixel by MOS transistors, in which the MOS transistors are formed on a semiconductor substrate corresponding to the unit pixels through a CMOS technology using peripheral devices, such as a controller and a signal processor.
The CMOS image sensor often includes a color filter formed over a pixel array to selectively supply light having a specific wavelength to a photodiode, thereby reproducing an image. The photodiode may be formed by performing an ion implantation process in a semiconductor substrate.
The CMOS image sensor according to the related art includes a transistor and a photodiode formed on one surface of a semiconductor substrate, and includes a metal interconnection formed over the photodiode and the transistor. However, the area of a light receiving part is restricted due to the routing of the metal interconnection. Light incident onto the light receiving part must pass through a multi-layer interlayer dielectric layer for the metal interconnection such that the light can be supplied to the photodiode. Accordingly, light loss occurs, so that the image sensitivity of the image sensor according to the related art may be degraded.
Further, since the number of metal interconnection layers is restricted in order to shorten an optical path from a micro-lens to a photodiode, design of the image sensor is restricted.

Semiconductor device and method for manufacturing the same


The fastening element has a threaded part (3) and in front of it a carrier part (4) with an elastic element (5). The carrier part (4) may be a different material, such as an elastic plastic, from that of the threaded part (3) and may be joined either firmly or releasably to it, the latter for instance by a screw or detent connection. The elastic element (5) can be attached in front of the threaded part (3) with the contrary thread (6) or at some other point in frictional or detent engagement, in that at the beginning of an assembly operation, the two parts (1, 6) to be screwed together are simply inserted axially into one another. The radially outer ends of the spring tongues (5) forming the elastic element can be located on a helical line in an extension of the thread course of the threaded part (3).

Such fastening elements are known from German Utility Models 1 997 148 and 76 36 365. These are so-called captive screws, which are to be inserted through a hole in a component and secured against falling out of the hole and being lost if the associated nut is lost. The elastic element is disposed behind the rear end of the threaded part and thus cooperates not with the associated nut but rather with the hole in the component.
The invention, by comparison, has to do with the assembly operation in making a screw connection. This term is understood very generally to mean screw connections, threaded pin connections, screw bolt connections, and the like. It also encompasses combinations and mixed forms of these fastening elements. A wide range of such threaded fastening elements are known from the prior art and are used to fasten or join parts to other parts, such as to join connectors, flanges or the like.
In the sense of the present invention, the threaded part is an axial portion of the fastening element having at least one male or female thread. The thread is a helical profiling of the circumferential surface of a pinlike or boltlike element or in a bore or opening, such as in a nut. The threads may for instance be trapezoidal, sawtooth, round or pointed threads or may have some arbitrary other profile cross section, and are used for fastening purposes and to transmit force and/or motion.
One problem in making threaded connections is that the pinlike fastening element, such as a screw, can slip out of the opening, such as the threaded bore, unless the first thread courses have entered into engagement. This is especially problematic if to make a connection, fastening or the like both hands are needed to hold parts, if tools are used, or if the assembly is done at places hard to access, with especially small fastening elements, or against gravity.

Self-attaching plug-in and screw-on fastening element


A protective device working in a contact-free manner for the securing of a danger zone of a machine or the like comprises an optical evaluation field and a control and evaluation device which allows, in addition to a securing operation, in which a warning or machine stop signal is generated as a result of a respective intrusion into the evaluation field, a cyclical operation in which a release signal is generated as a result of at least one respective intrusion into the evaluation field in order to release a respective machine cycle, with one and the same evaluation field being provided for securing operation and for cyclical operation and with the control and evaluation device being designed such that only a part of the evaluation field is monitored accordingly both for securing operation and cyclical operation.

The invention relates to a protective device working in a contact-free manner for the securing of a danger zone of a machine or the like.
Known safety light grids serve, among other things, for the protection of a respective operator or other persons against dangers which arise from machinery or the like, for example as a result of fast movements of mechanical parts such as with presses. A corresponding safety light grid is set forth, for example, in IEC 61496. A protective optical field is produced by a plurality of transmitter and receiver elements. It can be formed, for example, between transmitter and receiver units separated from one another or, for example, between a combined transmitter/receiver unit arranged on a side of the protective field and a reflector unit. A respective intrusion into the protective optical field, or the interruption associated therewith of at least one light ray, as a rule results in a switching off of the so-called secure outputs (OSSDs=output signal switching devices) of the protective device working in a contact-free manner. A machine stop is triggered by a direct linking of these outputs in the stop circuit of the machine in question on a corresponding intrusion into the protective optical field.
So-called "intelligent" light grids (cf. e.g. DE 44 24 537 A1) have additional functions such as "blanking" (blocking out of defined regions) and "reduced triggering" which make it possible for the triggering of an alarm or of a switch-off signal, which would normally take place, to be prevented for certain intrusions into the protective optical field.
Light grids have also already been proposed with additional functions such as a "cycle control" or a "PDSI" (presence sensing device initiation) which can be used with machines which run through individual cycles which are only started after release by means of an electrical signal. One or more intrusions into the protective field can now be utilized during a non-dangerous part of the machine cycle for the generation of a release signal for a new machine cycle due to the cycle control or PDSI function. The intrusions into the protective field in question must take place in any case to insert and/or remove workpieces, for example, into and/or from the machine. The productivity of the machine in question can therefore be increased correspondingly by such a cycle control or PDSI function, since the previously required additional manual release of the machine is dispensed with.
A cycle control or PSDI function was previously always only used for the whole protective optical field of the light grid in question; that is, the whole protective field of the light grid was previously always used for the cycle control. However, interruptions which should be used for the cycle control are, as a rule, only those which are in the region of the hands or arms of the persons to be protected. Other interruptions can result in a false start of a machine cycle and damage the respective workpiece and/or the respective machine parts.
To be able to evaluate the regions in question differently, it would for example be possible to install two light grid systems with different protective fields and to connect them to a control unit and thus only to trigger a cycle when the light grid with the shorter protective field height corresponding to the region of the hands or arms is interrupted. Such a solution, however, now has a number of disadvantages. For instance, a corresponding design is complex and expensive. The regions in question are fixedly defined by the size and/or the protective field height of the light grids and require a great deal of construction space at the machine where, generally, there is relatively little space available.

Protective device working in a contact free manner


A computer readable medium has instructions to calibrate a touch system by detecting touch points on a touchscreen that are each associated with touchscreen coordinates in a touchscreen coordinate system. The instructions associated each of the touch points with known calibration targets, and each of the calibration targets has display coordinates in a display coordinate system that is associated with at least one of a display screen and an operating system. The instructions fit the display coordinates and the touchscreen coordinates non-linearly with respect to each other based on a generalized Laplace-constrained fit that is used to identify correction parameters used to map a user generated run-time touch point on the touchscreen to a display coordinate location on a display screen. The correction parameters represent non-linear corrections.

This invention relates generally to touch display systems, and more particularly, to generating correction parameters used by algorithms to locate run-time touches on touch display systems.
Touch displays and touch display systems are provided for an increasing number of applications. Point of sale (POS), for processing transactions within a department store, and point of information (POI), such as an electronic directory are common. For example, applications include airport passenger and baggage check-in, and kiosks located within a store that provide information about products and services. Furthermore, touch displays are increasingly used in handheld computing applications such as for rental car check-in, package delivery services, and stockroom inventory management.
A touch display system has a display for visually presenting data to a user. A touchscreen is installed in front of the display. The user interacts with the system by touching the touchscreen at locations over software programmed buttons or icons in the displayed image or by moving a cursor via a moving touch. With the broad use of graphical user interfaces (GUI) such as Microsoft Windows® that provide many small buttons, menu selections, and the like, it is increasingly important for touchscreen measured locations to correspond with the desired cursor locations in the display image. A number of calibration methods have been developed to properly map touchscreen coordinates to display coordinates. As used herein, "touchscreen coordinate system" refers to coordinate locations detected as a result of a touch on the touchscreen, and "display coordinate system" refers to coordinate locations of points on the display. In practice, touchscreen software communicates coordinates to an operating system that has its own coordinate system that in turn is mapped to the coordinate locations of the points on the display. Therefore, the term "display coordinate system" is generalized herein to include operating system coordinate systems.
Linear and non-linear distortions may be present within the displays. Linear distortion may be one or more of horizontal and vertical offsets as well as scale change or magnification. An example of linear distortion is when equally spaced straight lines remain equally spaced straight lines. With non-linear distortion, equally spaced straight lines are distorted such that lines are no longer straight nor equally spaced, and may also have offset and scale distortions. For example, images on cathode ray tube (CRT) displays are subject to non-linear distortions. Today, however, flat panel displays with minimal non-linear distortion have largely replaced CRT displays and may include liquid crystal displays (LCDs), plasma displays, electroluminescent displays, and organic light-emitting diode (OLED) displays, etc. The discussion herein assumes that the display coordinate system is free of non-linear distortions.
Ideally, touchscreen hardware would be perfectly linear, generating x and y coordinates that differ from display coordinates by, at most, linear distortions. Even small touchscreen non-linear distortions may be a problem for GUI operation via a touch display system. Such non-linear distortions of raw touchscreen coordinates may be due to touchscreen manufacturing variations. Alternatively, the touchscreen may be non-linear by design as a consequence of other design objectives such as narrow borders or reduced manufacturing cost. Due to the non-linearities, there is demand for calibration methods to map non-linear touchscreen coordinates to linear display coordinates to assure that touches activate intended GUI icons.
There are many types of touchscreens that may be used in touch display systems. Touchscreen types include surface acoustic wave touchscreens, infrared touchscreens, capacitive touchscreens and 4-wire, 5-wire and 9-wire resistive touchscreens. 5-wire touchscreens are a common choice. The basic principles of 5-wire touchscreen operation and forming of the touchscreen substrate are described in the patent literature, such as in U.S. Pat. No. 6,593,916 (Elo Touchsystems, Inc., 2003).
In the construction of a typical 5-wire resistive touchscreen, a polymer film such as polyethylene terephthalate (PET) forms a coversheet that is placed over a glass substrate with a narrow air gap in between. In the absence of a touch, spacers prevent contact between the coversheet and glass substrate. The two surfaces facing the air gap are coated with transparent conductive coatings such as indium tin oxide (ITO). Associated electronics and interconnections alternately apply X and Y voltage gradients to the coating on the glass substrate. The coating on the coversheet is connected to voltage sensing circuitry. A touch causes the coversheet to deflect and contact the substrate thus making a localized electrical connection between the conductive coatings. As a result of this electrical contact, the local voltage on the glass substrate's coating is communicated to the coversheet coating which is connected to voltage sensing circuitry. One voltage is measured when an X voltage gradient is applied to the glass substrate's coating and another voltage is measured for a Y voltage gradient. These two voltages are the raw touch (x,y) coordinate data. The voltage gradients are not perfect and may lead or contribute to non-linear and/or linear distortions.
To form an exemplary 5-wire touchscreen substrate, a complex electrode geometry composed of discrete electrodes is fabricated around the perimeter of the glass substrate. Such 5-wire touchscreen designs may be referred to as discrete-electrode 5-wire resistive touchscreens or simply discrete-electrode touchscreens. Discrete electrode touchscreens have a discrete number of electrical connections to the resistive coating that covers the touch area. Very close to the perimeter of the touch area, the discreteness of these connections results in distortions of the lines of constant voltage. In contrast, well away from the perimeter, the lines of constant voltage can be straight and equally spaced and represent the ideal linear touchscreen. In some cases, in areas of a discrete-electrode touchscreen away from the perimeter, a small, yet undesirable, amount of non-linearity may be experienced.
An alternative 5-wire touchscreen may be referred to as a picture-frame touchscreen and is discussed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,650,319 (Elo Touchsystems, Inc., 2003). A resistive electrode in continuous contact with the resistive coating surrounds the touch area much like a picture frame surrounds a picture. The resistive picture-frame electrode results in curved lines of constant voltage or global bowing distortions. Picture-frame touchscreens are quite non-linear by design and depend on software correction of non-linearity. The picture-frame touchscreen design does provide a number of benefits including narrow borders as well as the elimination of the perimeter distortions seen in discrete-electrode touchscreen design.
Known methods exist for mapping touchscreen coordinates to display coordinates, such as 3-point calibration that may be used for linear mappings. More sophisticated calibration and mapping methods also exist that account for non-linear distortions within raw touchscreen coordinates.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,751,276 (Microsoft Corporation, 1998) proposes an alternate linear calibration method in which redundant data is collected and linear correction coefficients are determined from a least squares fit. With the addition of two more calibration constants, linear shear distortions and arbitrary rotations of the touchscreen coordinate system with respect to the display coordinate system can be corrected. However, it is still a linear correction scheme in which equally spaced straight lines remain equally spaced straight lines.
For many applications, 2-point or 3-point calibration is sufficient. This is often the case for applications that only involve user selection of large icons or touch buttons. However, other applications are more demanding, such as graphical user interfaces (GUI) that require precise cursor control to properly activate numerous small icons, buttons, scroll bars, etc. For such demanding applications, imperfections in the touchscreen hardware may lead to unacceptable non-linear distortions of the touch system coordinates that cannot be corrected with the linear 3-point calibration. Furthermore, if the touchscreen is non-linear by design, such as in a picture-frame touchscreen, the linear 3-point calibration method is insufficient.
Calibration methods involving more than three points that correct for non-linear distortions are also known. For example Japanese patent application publication 2005-134992 (application JP 2003-367561) of Gunze proposes a 9-point calibration scheme to determine coefficients of non-linear corrections for picture-frame touchscreens. 25-point calibration procedures are also used.
Turning to a 25-point calibration, let (X1, Y1), (X2, Y2), . . . (X25, Y25) be the locations in the display coordinate system of 25 calibration targets imaged on the display device. The 25 calibration points may, for example, be arranged in a 5 by 5 grid. As used herein, (X,Y) are display system coordinates and (x,y) are touchscreen system coordinates. As the calibration targets are displayed one by one on the touch display, the user touches the calibration targets, resulting in measured touchscreen coordinates (x1, y1), (x2, y2), . . . (X25, Y25). In mathematical notation, for calibration target index k=1, 2, . . . 25, measured touchscreen coordinates (xk, yk) correspond to display coordinates (Xk, Yk). Such calibration data is used to generate correction coefficients or parameters for run-time algorithms. The calibration targets may represent predetermined locations or calibration coordinates within the display coordinate system. Therefore, the calibration targets need not be displayed on a corresponding and/or attached display device. For example, during manufacturing an automated method may be used to touch the predetermined locations on the touchscreen prior to mounting the touchscreen and the display device together. Examples of automated methods include a stencil, a bed-of-nails, an activation device that is robotically controlled, and the like.
There are several options for extracting correction coefficients or parameters from the 25-point calibration data. For example the calibration data could be used to construct look-up table data to be used in combination with linear interpolation. Polynomial expansions are also used to generate mappings.
Polynomial expansions may be accomplished with respect to the center of the display. Let (xC,yC) be the touchscreen coordinates generated by a touch at the center of the touch display. Third-order polynomial expansions for display coordinates (X,Y) in terms of touchscreen coordinates (x,y) are given by Equation (Eq.) 1 and 2 below. Each equation contains ten monomial terms each with its own coefficient for a total of twenty calibration constants A0,0, A1,0, A0,1, A2,0, A1,1, A0,2, A3,0, A2,1, A1,2, A0,3, B0,0, B1,0, B0,1, B2,0, B1,1, B0,2, B3,0, B2,1, B1,2 and B0,3. For example, polynomial coefficients may be computed from the calibration data (Xk, Yk) and (xk, yk) for k=1 to 25.
                    X        =                              A                          0              ,              0                                +                                    A                              1                ,                0                                      ·                          (                              x                -                                  x                  C                                            )                                +                                    A                              0                ,                1                                      ·                          (                              y                -                                  y                  C                                            )                                +                                    A                              2                ,                0                                      ·                                          (                                  x                  -                                      x                    C                                                  )                            2                                +                                    A                              1                ,                1                                      ·                          (                              x                -                                  x                  C                                            )                        ·                          (                              y                -                                  y                  C                                            )                                +                                    A                              0                ,                2                                      ·                                          (                                  y                  -                                      y                    C                                                  )                            2                                +                                    A                              3                ,                0                                      ·                                          (                                  x                  -                                      x                    C                                                  )                            3                                +                                    A                              2                ,                1                                      ·                                          (                                  x                  -                                      x                    C                                                  )                            2                        ·                          (                              y                -                                  y                  C                                            )                                +                                    A                              1                ,                2                                      ·                          (                              x                -                                  x                  C                                            )                        ·                                          (                                  y                  -                                      y                    C                                                  )                            2                                +                                                    A                                  0                  ,                                      3                    ·                                                                                (                                  y                  -                                      y                    C                                                  )                                      3                                              Eq        .                                          1                                Y        =                              B                          0              ,              0                                +                                    B                              0                ,                1                                      ·                          (                              x                -                                  x                  C                                            )                                +                                    B                              0                ,                1                                      ·                          (                              y                -                                  y                  C                                            )                                +                                    B                              2                ,                0                                      ·                                          (                                  x                  -                                      x                    C                                                  )                            2                                +                                    B                              1                ,                1                                      ·                          (                              x                -                                  x                  C                                            )                        ·                          (                              y                -                                  y                  C                                            )                                +                                    B                              0                ,                2                                      ·                                          (                                  y                  -                                      y                    C                                                  )                            2                                +                                    B                              3                ,                0                                      ·                                          (                                  x                  -                                      x                    C                                                  )                            3                                +                                    B                              2                ,                1                                      ·                                          (                                  x                  -                                      x                    C                                                  )                            2                        ·                          (                              y                -                                  y                  C                                            )                                +                                    B                              1                ,                2                                      ·                          (                              x                -                                  x                                      C                                                                                )                        ·                                          (                                  y                  -                                      y                    C                                                  )                            2                                +                                    B                              0                ,                3                                      ·                                          (                                  y                  -                                      y                    C                                                  )                            3                                                          Eq        .                                          2
For convenience, Eq. 3 and 4 assume that the touchscreen coordinates have been offset to move the origin to the center, that is, xC=0 and yC=0. The general offset case may be returned to by the substitutions x→(x−xC) and y→(y−yC).X=A0,0+A1,0·x+A0,1·y+A2,0·x2+A1,1·xy+A0,2·y2+A3,0·x3+A2,1·x2y+A1,2·xy2+A0,3·y3  Eq. 3Y=B0,0+B1,0·x+B0,1·y+B2,0·x2+B1,1·xy+B0,2·y2+B3,0·x3+B2,1·x2y+B1,2·xy2+B0,3y3  Eq. 4
The notation may be further simplified by using Σ summation notation where N=3 for the 3rd order polynomial expansion of Eq. 3 and 4.
                    X        =                              ∑                          m              ≥                              0                                n                            ≥              0                                                      m                +                n                            ≤              N                                                                    A                              m                ,                n                                      ·                          x              m                        ·                          y              n                                                          Eq        .                                          5                                          Y          =                                                    ∑                                                      m                    +                    n                                    ≤                  N                                                            m                ≥                                  0                                    n                                ≥                0                                                                                B                                  m                  ,                  n                                            ·                              x                m                                                                      y          n                                    Eq        .                                          6            Eq. 5 and 6 generalize to polynomial expansions of different orders depending on the value of N. For example, for values of N of 3, 5 and 7, the number of terms in each of the above equations is 10, 21 and 36 respectively. For a 7th order expansion, the total number of calibration constants Am,n and Bn,m is 2*36=72, exceeding the number (2*25=50) of measured values xk and yk (k=1 to 25) from the 25-point calibration process. In contrast, the number of constants for 5th and lower order polynomial expansions is less than the number of 25-point calibration measurements.
The polynomial coefficients Am,n and Bn,m may be determined by doing a least squares fit. For any proposed set of polynomial coefficients Am,n and Bn,m, one may compute the difference between Xk, the known X coordinate of calibration target k used to display the calibration target, and the value of X computed above for the corresponding measured touchscreen coordinates (xk, yk). The discrepancy between actual and computed horizontal coordinates may be notated as ΔXk and given by Eq. 7. ΔYk may be similarly defined.
                              Δ                                                                          X            k                          =                              X            k                    -                                                    ∑                                  m                  ≥                                      0                                        n                                    ≥                  0                                                                              m                  +                  n                                ≤                N                                                                                A                                  m                  ,                  n                                            ·                              x                k                m                            ·                              y                k                n                                                                        Eq        .                                          7            The polynomial coefficients Am,n and Bn,m may be determined by minimizing the sum of squares (SS) of Eq. 8, namely minimizing the SS of the discrepancies. (As the first sum depends only on the parameters Am,n and the second sum only on the parameters Bn,m, each sum can be minimized separately with the same result.) Algorithms and code for such least squares fits are well known and widely available.
                    SS        =                                            ∑                              k                =                1                            25                                                                  (                                  Δ                                                                                X                    k                                                  )                            2                                +                                    ∑                              k                =                1                            25                                                                  (                                  Δ                                                                                Y                    k                                                  )                            2                                                          Eq        .                                          8            This method for determining polynomial coefficients that are used to calibrate the mapping between touchscreen coordinates (x,y) and display coordinates (X,Y) may be referred to as a conventional general polynomial fit to Nth order. Herein the conventional general polynomial fit may also be referred to as a conventional general fit. A conventional general polynomial fit to 1st order is a linear fit. A 3rd order conventional general polynomial fit is often sufficient to correct for slight bowing or pin-cushion non-linearities due to manufacturing variations of a nominally linear touchscreen design. Higher order polynomial fits are desirable to handle stronger non-linearities such as those of picture-frame touchscreens. The 25-point calibration process based on a conventional general polynomial fit is more powerful than the common 3-point linear calibration method but still has limitations.
In the conventional general polynomial fit, display coordinates (X,Y) are represented as polynomial expansions of the touchscreen coordinates (x,y). Such expansions are directly usable by run-time code that receives raw touchscreen coordinates (x,y) as input and generates display coordinates (X,Y) as output. Parameters from the polynomial fit, such as the monomial coefficients Am,n and Bn,m, may be directly stored by the calibration process for later use by run-time code during operation of the touch display system.
The conventional general polynomial fit severely limits the maximum order of the polynomial expansion. For example, to keep the number of calibration constants smaller than the number of measurements from a 25-point calibration grid, the order of the polynomial expansion must be no larger than five, that is, N≦5. Increasing the calibration grid to, for example, 9×9 results in a total of 2*81=162 measured values and may allow expansions up to order N=11. However, with a 9×9 calibration grid each of the 81 calibration targets must be touched.
The above assumes that the calibration targets are touched with perfect accuracy, which is almost never the case. Measured calibration data (xk, yk) are subject to electronic noise. Additionally, imprecise activation of touch calibration target locations may also result in noise. With noisy data, having a greater number of fit parameters can result in a worse fit. In general, fits with high degrees of redundancy (many more data points than fit parameters) filter measurement noise while fits with low degrees of redundancy (number of data points not much larger than or equal to the number of fit parameters) amplify measurement noise particularly when extrapolating beyond the data range.
For a least squares fit of a polynomial expansion to 25-point calibration data, there are 25 x measurements and 25 y measurements for a total of 50 measured values. For the 3rd order polynomial expansion discussed above, there are 10 fit parameters Am,n and 10 fit parameters Bn,m for a total of 20 fit parameters. For 25-point calibration the redundancy is high (50 is much larger than 20) and the fitting process statistically averages out much of the calibration measurement noise. In contrast, for a 5th order polynomial expansion, there are 21 Am,n parameters and 21 Bn,m parameters for a total of 42. For 25-point calibration the redundancy is low (50 is not much larger than 42) and the fit makes poor predictions particularly when extrapolating to locations outside the 5×5 grid. Hence in practice, even 5th order is problematic for a conventional general polynomial fit to 25-point calibration data.
For picture-frame touchscreens, the 5×5 calibration grid can be expanded to be essentially the same size as the touch sensitive touch area. This eliminates the need to extrapolate to locations outside the calibration grid where conventional general polynomial fits tend to be most problematic. In contrast, for discrete-electrode touchscreens, the perimeter of the touch area is subject to complex local distortions as discussed above. The local distortions further add to the noise level of the touchscreen coordinates. To avoid this additional source of noise, all 5×5 calibration targets are positioned away from the perimeter and thus create a need for reliable extrapolation outside the 5×5 calibration grid.
Therefore, a need exists for an improved calibration method for touch display systems.

Method and apparatus for laplace constrained touchscreen calibration


A resist underlayer film forming composition including: a polymer having any one or more repeating structural units of Formulas (1a), (1b), and (1c):

In the production of semiconductor devices, fine processing is performed by a lithography process. In the lithography process, such an issue is known that when a resist layer on a substrate is exposed to light using an ultraviolet laser such as a KrF excimer laser or an ArF excimer laser, due to the influence of a standing wave generated caused by the reflection of the ultraviolet laser on the surface of the substrate, a resist pattern having a desired shape cannot be formed. For solving the issue, it is adopted to provide a resist underlayer film (an anti-reflective coating) between the substrate and the resist layer. It is known that in a composition for forming the resist underlayer film, a novolac resin is used. For example, Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2 describe a photoresist underlayer film forming material containing a resin having a repeating unit formed by converting a compound having a bisphenol group into novolac. Further, Patent Document 3 describes a composition for an anti-reflective coating that contains a polymer having in the backbone of the polymer, an aromatic ring in which three or more rings are fused and can be spin-coated. However, in Patent Documents 1 to 3, there is neither disclosed nor suggested a resist underlayer film forming composition containing a polymer having the fused aromatic ring in a side chain thereof.
There is also known a lithography process in which due to the thinning of the resist layer that is required according to the miniaturization of a resist pattern, at least two layers of resist underlayer film are formed and these resist underlayer films are used as a mask material. Examples of the material for forming the at least two layers include organic resins (for example, an acrylic resin and a novolac resin), silicone resins (for example, an organopolysiloxane), and inorganic silicon compounds (for example, SiON and SiO2). When the dry etching is performed using as a mask, a pattern formed from the organic resin layer, the pattern is necessary to have etching resistance against an etching gas (for example, a fluorocarbon). As a composition for forming such an organic resin layer, for example, Patent Document 4 discloses a composition containing a polymer containing a heterocyclic aromatic moiety.

Resist underlayer film forming composition

Abstract: two R1s are each independently alkyl group, alkenyl group, aromatic hydrocarbon group, halogen atom, nitro group, or an amino group, two R2s are each independently hydrogen atom, alkyl group, alkenyl group, acetal group, acyl group, or glycidyl group, R3 is aromatic hydrocarbon group optionally having a substituent, R4 is hydrogen atom, phenyl group, or naphthyl group, in (1b), groups of two R3s and atoms or groups of two R4s are optionally different from each other, two “k”s are each independently 0 or 1, m is integer of 3 to 500, n, n1, and n2 are an integer of 2 to 500, p is integer of 3 to 500, X is a single bond or hetero atom, and two Qs are each independently a structural unit; and solvent.


A data model and associated systems and methods enable comprehensive and robust analysis based on a member-, employee-, and branch-centric data model. The data model is integrated in a manner in which common data entities for member, branch, employee and time, are related centrally to other data entities. This data structure enables breadth in reporting and analysis. The data model also provides depth in analysis and insight that may be gained from the data quickly, in real-time and without manual manipulation. Automation of reporting and analysis processes is also supported.

1. Technical Field
This application relates to the field of data management systems. More specifically, the application relates to data management systems for managing data for financial institutions, such as credit unions.
2. Background Information
Managers of financial institutions may desire to quickly generate reports and gain insight from customer data to determine what types of transactions customers are conducting, how these transactions are trending, who their most profitable customers are within a given time period, and what products were purchased by these customers. They may want to understand the mix of their loan portfolio in terms of loan type and risk category and within a defined period of time. These and other insights may be advantageous in achieving business objectives, for banks and credit unions, for example, which typically have business objectives that include increasing loan originations, improving cash management, increasing marketing program yields, increasing productivity, or measuring compliance.
Traditional financial institution data management solutions are limited in the level of data insight and reporting capabilities they offer. Useful data may be available from various sources, including core applications and external data sources or applications. However, driving value from the data through integrated, comprehensive reporting and insight cannot be quickly accomplished since it usually requires a significant amount of manual effort, which may include manual extraction from applications and manually manipulating the data, using tools such as Microsoft Excel, into a desired form. There is thus a need for improved integration of data that supports more robust and comprehensive reporting and analytic capabilities.
Traditional systems also suffer from a lack of scalability. That is, financial institutions must often absorb significant costs of installing complex data management solutions upfront in order to have the data management capabilities required for future growth of their business. Moreover, any scalability provided in traditional systems is not usually tied to the value delivered to customers or members by the overall system. There is thus a need for a scalable data management system architecture, which allows financial institutions to increase capabilities in an economical manner tied to the value delivered to customers or members. There is an associated need for a data model, which facilitates such a scalable system architecture.


The invention generally pertains to a hand-held computing device. More particularly, the invention pertains to a computing device that is capable of controlling the speed of the music so as to affect the mood and behavior of the user during an activity such as exercise. By way of example, the speed of the music can be controlled to match the pace of the activity (synching the speed of the music to the activity of the user) or alternatively it can be controlled to drive the pace of the activity (increasing or decreasing the speed of the music to encourage a greater or lower pace). One aspect of the invention relates to adjusting the tempo (or some other attribute) of the music being outputted from the computing device. By way of example, a songs tempo may be increased or decreased before or during playing. Another aspect of the invention relates to selecting music for outputting based on tempo (or some other attribute). For example, the computing device may only play songs having a particular tempo. Yet another aspect of the invention relates to both selecting music based on tempo and adjusting the tempo of the music.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to portable media devices and, more particularly, to improved features for managing and outputting media items.
2. Description of the Related Art
There exist today many styles of sound machines such as home stereos, car stereos, boom boxes, CD players, and hand-held music players (e.g., MP3) for outputting music. Hand-held music players in particular have become increasingly popular as they allow a user to listen to music on the go. That is, because of their size, they can easily be transported wherever the user travels. In some cases, the devices are attached to the user, as for example, using a belt or clip, thereby making them even easier to transport. In fact, because of their ease of transport, they are commonly used when exercising. The user can wear the music player thereby leaving their hands free to exercise. The iPod® manufactured by Apple Computer of Cupertino, Calif. is one example of a hand-held MP3 player.
In most cases, the music stored in music player is downloaded from a host device such as a personal computer. The personal computer can include music management software that allows a user to sort, store and catalog their music. More particularly, the music management software gives the user the ability to organize their music into playlists, play music, purchase music over the Internet (World Wide Web), run a visualizer to display the music in a visual form, encode or transcode music into different audio formats such as MP3, AIFF, WAV, AAC, and ALE, and transfer music between the personal computer and the music players. iTunes® manufactured by Apple Computer of Cupertino, Calif. is one example of music management software.
A personal computer may also include other software programs associated with music. By way of example, the personal computer may utilize recording software that allows a user to perform, record and create music. These type of programs typically include features such as instruments, pre-recorded loops, amps, effects and editing tools. GarageBand® manufactured by Apple Computer of Cupertino, Calif., is one example of a music recording program.
The personal computer may also utilize mixing software that allows a user to perform DJ mixing, live remixing, and mix recording using music in various formats such as MP3. This type of software typically performs many functions including mixing, equalizing, cross fading, looping, tempo determination, pitch and tempo adjustment, etc. In order to synchronize two songs during mixing, mixing programs may be configured to analyze the music files and create beat marks for each song (annotate all the beats of the songs so that they can be matched efficiently during mixing). Furthermore, in order to adjust the tempo of a song without affecting pitch, mixing programs may utilize a technique called phase vocoding, which is one of the more powerful methods of manipulating sounds in the frequency domain. Only recently have personal computers had sufficient processing to make real-time phase vocoding a viable proposition. In the past, algorithms for phase vocoding were of such complexity and personal computers were of limited processing power such that it would often require many hours of processing to acquire each second of audio output. Traktor DJ Studio 2.0 manufactured by Native Instruments of Germany is one example of a mixing program.
Although music player systems utilizing a music player and personal computer work well, there is a continuing need for improved features for managing and outputting music.


A valve for use in machines for washing, such as washing machines for laundry, dishwashers and the like, includes a hollow valve body wherein a current of water flows, entering the valve body via at least one inlet of the valve, and at least one plug element for allowing and, respectively, preventing the outflow of water from a corresponding outlet of the valve. The valve is connected to at least one temperature sensor device having a first and a second working state corresponding to an open and closed condition of an electrical connection and in that the sensor device has a preset trigger temperature which, when reached, causes the change from a state of closure to one of opening of the connection or vice versa. Methods of treating the water in these machines for washing also can be implemented with the valve and machines for washing using this valve.

The invention relates more particularly to a valve which is especially suitable for controlling the temperature of the water and which can be used in these washing machines, dishwashers and the like.
The valve structure of the present invention also allows the provision of various advantageous methods of controlling the temperature of the water in said machines for washing. These advantageous methods of controlling the water temperature are also the object of the present invention.
The invention finally relates to machines for washing of the type mentioned above which allow implementation of the aforementioned methods using the valve of the invention.
Machines for washing are currently known, be they washing machines for washing home laundry or dishwashers for washing dishes in general, which, briefly, comprise a drum for washing the articles, a circuit for supplying the washing water to said drum, valve means for supplying hot water and cold water in said circuit of the current of water for said drum for washing the articles and a suitable timer for controlling operation of the machine.
More particularly, in the case of washing machines for laundry, the additional provision of at least one compartment for holding detergent is also made, wherein a current of water is made to flow which removes the detergent and transports it into the washing drum, and suitable valve means for supplying a flow for removing the detergent in said compartment for the detergent.
These known machines for washing are advantageous in that they allow exploitation of the hot water already supplied in the home, where it is produced by suitable boilers or water heaters in general by means of gas burners or the like, which, by mixing this hot water with the cold water coming from the water supply system, provide the washing drum with already heated water which must not be or must be only partially heated, by means of the electrical resistor of the drum. This smaller use of the resistor for heating the drum water allows considerable savings in relation to a lower consumption of energy and above all enables the machines to be fitted with smaller-sized resistors with a saving in costs and in the material used.
A disadvantage noted in this area relates to the fact that, in the places where these machines are installed, the temperatures of the cold water and possibly also of the hot water can differ considerably from one place to another, and it is not therefore possible to program a preset time cycle for feeding the various flows of hot and cold water which is effective for all environmental situations.
Currently the timer for controlling operation of the washing machine is subjected to signals of the temperature of the washing water which are late, that is to say they are only triggered after the washing drum has been filled completely with washing water and therefore nothing else can be done but actuate heavily the resistor for heating the drum water, with a serious waste of energy.
Such a negative fact occurs frequently when the source of hot water fed to the drum is too far away, so that when such water is fed to the drum in actual fact the cold water contained in the pipes connected to the source of heated water is fed. As a result equally cold water is added to the cold main water with the consequences related above.

Valve for controlling the temperature of the water in a washing machine or dishwasher, methods of treating water in these machines which can be implemented by means of said valve and machines for washing using this valve


A random access memory array includes random access memory elements arranged in a rows and columns. Each row is divided into a plurality of row groups of elements and each column is divided into a plurality of column groups of elements. The elements in each row group share a common local write digit line and the elements in each column group share a common local write bit line. The array further includes at least one global write digit line coupled to the common local write digit lines of plural row groups, and at least one global write bit line coupled to the common local write bit lines of plural column groups.

1. Technical Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to magnetic random access memories, and more particularly to a magnetic random access memory array architecture which supports reduced write current needs and low voltage operation.
2. Description of Related Art
A magnetic random access memory (MRAM) element typically has a structure that includes a first and second magnetic layers which are separated by a non-magnetic layer. A magnetic vector in one of the two magnetic layers is magnetically fixed or pinned, while the magnetic vector of the other of the two magnetic layers is not fixed and thus its magnetization direction is free to be controlled and switched. Information is written to and read from the element as a logic "1" or a logic "0" (i.e., one or the other of two possible logic states) by changing the direction of the non-fixed magnetization vector in the other of the two magnetic layers. The differences in magnetization vector direction cause resistance variations within the element which can be measured. For example, the shifting of the magnetization vector direction can represent two different resistances or potentials, which are then read by the memory circuit as either a logic "1" or a logic "0." The detection of these resistance or potential differences due to shifting magnetization vector direction allows information to be written to and read from the MRAM element.
Reference is now made to FIGS. 1A and 1B wherein there are shown schematic diagrams of conventional MRAM elements 10. Each element includes a bit line 12 and a word line 14. The memory storing structure of the element 10 is referred to as a "magnetic tunnel junction" 16 (MTJ) which is represented in the schematic by a variable resistance and is physically composed of the first and second magnetic layers and the separating non-magnetic layer discussed above.
With reference to FIG. 1A, one end of this resistance is connected to the bit line 12. The other end of the resistance is connected to a conduction terminal of an access transistor 18. The access transistor 18 in the illustrated element 10 is an n-channel FET with its source conduction terminal connected to ground and its drain conduction terminal connected to the other end of the resistance. The gate terminal of the access transistor 18 is connected to the word line 14.
With reference to FIG. 1B, one end of this resistance is connected to a reference voltage (for example, a ground reference). The other end of the resistance is connected to a conduction terminal of an access transistor 18. The access transistor 18 in the illustrated element 10 is an n-channel FET with its source conduction terminal connected to the bit line 12 and its drain conduction terminal connected to the other end of the resistance. The gate terminal of the access transistor 18 is connected to the word line 14.
In either of the embodiments of FIGS. 1A and 1B, a write digit line 20 (WDL) and a write bit line 22 (WBL) for the element 10 intersect at the magnetic tunnel junction 14. These lines 20 and 22 selectively carry currents and thus each selectively create a magnetic flux proximate to the magnetic tunnel junction 16. The magnetic fields induced by current flow in the lines 20 and 22 can be used to set the non-fixed direction of the magnetic vector within the magnetic tunnel junction 16. As discussed above, the setting of this direction affects the resistance of the magnetic tunnel junction 16. By selectively choosing the direction and magnitude of the current flow in the lines 20 and 22, one can program the magnetic tunnel junction 16, through its varying resistance, to store either one of two logic states: a logic "1" or a logic "0." It is recognized, however, that the current in both the lines 20 and 22 must be of a certain magnitude in order to effectively control the non-fixed direction of the magnetic vector within the magnetic tunnel junction 16. It is accordingly imperative that sufficient current be made available in both lines 20 and 22 in order to write information into the element 10.
Reference is now made to FIG. 2 wherein there is shown a block diagram of a conventional MRAM memory array 50. The array 50 includes a plurality of individual MRAM elements 10 (of any suitable type including either of those shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B) arranged in a N×M array format. Each row 52 of elements 10 in the array 50 includes a word line 14 and a write digit line 20. Each column 54 of elements 10 in the array 50 includes a bit line 12 and a write bit line 22. Selection of a write digit line 20 and write bit line 22, along with the application of appropriate currents thereto, results in the writing of an information bit to the element 10 in the array 50 where the selected write digit line and write bit line intersect. Selection of a bit line 12 and a word line 14 turns on the access transistor 18 located at the intersection of the selected bit line and word line, and causes a current to flow through the magnetic tunnel junction 16 resistance whose magnitude is dependent on the programmed non-fixed direction of the magnetic vector within the magnetic tunnel junction. A sense amplifier (not shown) that is connected to the selected bit line 12 measures the current flowing in the bit line, as affected by the current flowing through the magnetic tunnel junction 16 resistance, in order to "read" the logic state of the element 10.
The write digit lines 20 and write bit lines 22 which extend across the rows and columns, respectively, of the array 50 are metal lines having a certain resistance which depends generally speaking on their metallic composition and dimensions (primarily length). The MRAM array 50 is typically supplied with a certain voltage (for example, 5V, 3.3V or 1.2V) which is fixed. When additional elements 10 are added to rows and/or columns of the array 50, the resistance of the individual write digit lines 20 and write bit lines 22 also increases. Ohm's Law, however, teaches that with a fixed voltage and an increasing resistance there is a corresponding decrease in the amount of current capable of being carried by each metal line. This presents a problem because, as discussed above, a certain magnitude of current is required in the lines 20 and 22 in order write information into the element 10. Increases in line 20 and line 22 length to accommodate additional rows/columns may preclude the lines 20 and 22, at the fixed supply voltage or at reduced voltage levels, from being able to carry sufficient programming currents. Thus, for a given fixed voltage and given line 20/22 characteristics, there exists a maximum line length which is permitted within the array 50 in order to ensure successful writing to an element 10.
The issue of sufficient current for programming the element 10 becomes of even greater concern when writing an entire word (for example, eight bits) into a memory location within the array 50 comprised of a corresponding plurality of elements. This operation requires that sufficient current be available for supply not only to the write digit line associated with the selected memory location, but also for supply simultaneously to the eight write bit lines associated with the elements 10 for that memory location. The potential division of available current among these multiple lines 20/22 for the word writing operation further restricts and limits the permitted lengths of the individual lines.
Several solutions have been proposed in the art to the foregoing line length limitation problem. One solution is to change the structure of the element 10, and perhaps also the technology used to fabricate it (for example, materials, layer deposition depth, and the like), so as to reduce the minimum current magnitude characteristic of the element 10. Experiments with alternative structures and/or fabrication techniques have not been successful. Another solution is to live with the line 20/22 length limitations and create larger sized memories by repeating sub-blocks formed of arrays 50 whose size is limited in the manner described above. This solution is not preferred as the overall area required for the memory unreasonably increases due to the need to repetitively include peripheral circuits (control logic, decoders, read/write circuits and the like) for each sub-block.
A need accordingly exists for a solution which would allow for increasing the number of rows or columns in an MRAM array without necessitating increases in supply voltage. Alternatively, a need exists for a solution which would allow for supply voltages to be decreased while continuing to maintain a certain number of rows and columns of elements.

Magnetic random access memory array with global write lines