An X-ray image taking apparatus which takes an X-ray image by using an FPD juxtaposing TFTs performs the return processing of the FPD according to an inputted image taking parameter when the image taking parameter such as exposure time is inputted with an input unit for a long-time image taking operation mode, a high dose image taking operation mode, or the like.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an X-ray image taking apparatus which makes modification of an image taking operation mode possible, and an operation control program thereof.
2. Related Background Art
Up to now, a film screen system where an intensifying screen and an X-ray photographic film has been widely used for an X-ray image taking operation aiming at a medical diagnosis. A film image which is given the X-ray image taking operation is hung on a schaukasten and is observed, and the film is designed so as to become in the contrast which is in a tone range of being easy to observe a diagnostic part. Nevertheless, when a image taking parameter shifts, overexposure and underexposure tend to easily arise, and hence, there is a possibility of having an adverse effect on a diagnosis.
It has been started in recent years that an X-ray digital image taking apparatus of adopting an FPD (Flat Panel Detector) as a plane sensor converting an X-ray image into an electrical signal proportional to the strength of X-rays is used. Since extracting a feature of an image with image processing technology, this image taking apparatus can solve a former problem of exposure adjustment and further has a function of enhancing diagnostic ability by image processing such as image enhancement.
When this kind of FPD is used, it is desirable to correct an offset since a noise component caused by a dark current is added to an image as the offset. In general, offset noise (FPN: fixed pattern noise) is expressed as a function of accumulation time of a sensor. As an offset correction method, as described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 10-208016, there is a known method of storing a FPN image, corresponding to accumulation time inputted into the FPD, in memory and performing correction by subtracting the FPN image from a taken image.
Nevertheless, in the above-mentioned offset correction method, when a special image taking operation such as a long-time image taking operation is performed, a condition of the noise component caused by the dark current changes. Hence, since a device which performs behavior like a defective pixel appears, an image processing condition changes in automatic exposure adjustment. Therefore, since a correction error arises, manual adjustment becomes necessary, or there is a possibility of affecting a diagnosis.
Then, a method of changing the correction method by inputting an operating temperature change and operation time of FPD into a correction circuit is also known. Nevertheless, since this is implemented by hardware so as to be processed in real time, there is a problem of becoming expensive.

X-ray image taking apparatus and operation control program thereof


A block of video data that is split into sub-blocks forms a prediction for that sub-block using predictions from neighboring sub-blocks such that a current prediction for the sub-block is combined with weighted versions of the neighboring predictions. The neighboring sub-blocks motion vectors are checked to determine whether they are different than the motion vector of the sub-block being predicted. If so, than that corresponding neighboring sub-block is used to generate the prediction of the current sub-block. In an embodiment, two lines or two columns of pixels within a sub-block are used in forming the prediction for the current sub-block when the size of the block containing the sub-block is under a particular size.

In the HEVC video compression standard (International Telecommunication Union, ITU-T H.265 High Efficiency Video Coding), a picture is divided into so-called Coding Tree Units (CTU), whose size is typically 64×64, 128×128, or 256×256 pixels.
Each CTU is represented by a Coding Tree in the compressed domain. This is a quad-tree division of the CTU, where each leaf is called a Coding Unit (CU), as shown in FIG. 1.
Each CU is then given some Intra or Inter prediction parameters (Prediction Info). To do so, it is spatially partitioned into one or more Prediction Units (PUs), each PU being assigned some prediction information. The Intra or Inter coding mode is assigned on the CU level, see FIG. 2.
According to the HEVC standard, Coding Units are also divided into so-called transform units, in a recursive way, following a "transform tree". Thus, a transform tree is a quad-tree division of a coding unit, and transform units are the leaf of the transform tree. A transform unit encapsulates the square transform blocks of each picture component corresponding to a considered square spatial area. A transform block is a square block of samples in a single component, where the same transform is applied.
New emerging video compression tools include a Coding Tree Unit representation in the compressed domain, proposed in order to represent picture data in a more flexible way in the compressed domain. The advantage of this flexible representation of the coding tree is that it provides increased compression efficiency compared to the CU/PU/TU arrangement of the HEVC standard.

Method and apparatus for generalized OBMC


A disc cartridge is provided. The disc cartridge includes: a lower housing having a window for allowing a recorder or reader to access to a read-out surface of a disc; and an upper housing coupled to the lower housing to ejectably receive the disc between the lower housing and the upper housing, and having at least a portion rotatable up and down with respect to one side of the lower housing until the disc can be ejected.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a disc cartridge, and more particularly, to a disc cartridge that permits a disc to be easily ejected therefrom and enables an operation with being inserted into a disc recorder or a reader in a state that the disc is received therein.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Generally, an optical disc records information on its surface by using a laser beam. The optical disc is recently highlighted as a large capacity of storage medium. As the optical disc, there are Compact Disc (CD), Digital Versatile Disc (DVD), Laser Disc (LD) and the like. A group of Blue-Ray Disc and a group of Advanced Optical Disc group are being competed as a recent next-generation optical disc storage medium.
"Blu-Ray Disc" is aimed at a High Definition Video Disc Recorder (HDVDR), and is a next-generation optical disc storage medium using a blu-ray laser beam capable of recording a larger amount of data than a conventional red laser beam. Accordingly, the Blu-Ray Disc has a data storage capacity of 27 Gigabytes corresponding to a thirteen-hour amount of video data in a general cinema or a two-hour amount of video data in a HD television. The Blu-Ray Disc is being much concerned as a new storage medium for solving a drawback of a conventional DVD.
Meanwhile, a disc is received and kept in a separate case so as to safely protect a read-out surface of the disc from an external dust and scratch when the disc is kept and carried. Only when the disc is inserted into the disc recorder and reader, the disc is put out of the case for use. Further, the read-out surface can be easily damaged as the disc has an increasing record density and has a thin protection layer at the read-out surface. Recently, the cartridge with the disc being received is wholly inserted into the disc recorder and reader so as to prevent the read-out surface from being damaged while the disc is carried and inserted into the disc recorder or reader.
As described above, the recent disc recorder and reader is designed to receive only the disc or wholly receive the cartridge with the disc being received, according to its usage and purpose. For one example, since a portable disc recorder and reader should have a small size, it is designed to receive only the disc rather than to wholly receive the cartridge. However, the non-portable disc recorder and reader having a large size is designed to wholly receive the cartridge to safely protect the disc. Accordingly, in case where the disc received within the cartridge is used for the portable disc recorder and reader capable of receiving only the disc, the disc should be separated from the cartridge.
However, a conventional blu-ray disc cartridge is used with a disc 1 being mounted within the cartridge as shown in FIGS. 1 to 3. In more detail, the cartridge includes a lower housing 2 having a window 2a for allowing an external unit such as a disc recorder and reader to access a read-out surface (not shown) of the disc 1; a shutter for opening and closing the window 2a; a rotating wheel 4 for operating the shutter 3; a shutter latch 8 for maintaining a closed state of the shutter 3; and an upper housing having an opening 3a for exposing a label surface 1a of the disc 1. The upper housing 3 and the lower housing 2 are firmly fixed by a plurality of screws 6.
Accordingly, when the disc 1 is ejected from the cartridge, the plurality of screws 6 fixing the upper housing 3 and the lower housing 2 should be unscrewed, thereby causing an inconvenience. Further, in order to safely keep the disc 1 after the use of the disc 1, the disc 1 is again inserted into the cartridge and the screws 6 are screwed to firmly fix the upper housing 3 and the lower housing 2, thereby causing an inconvenience. Accordingly, the cartridge of FIGS. 1 to 3 cannot conveniently use the different disc recorder or reader receiving only the disc or wholly receiving the cartridge as described above.


A multiple disk clutch used in an automatic transmission of an automobile or the like has a plurality of input friction plates and a plurality of output friction plates. These input and output friction plates are typically supplied with a lubricating oil to prevent overheating and abnormal abrasion. In the preferred embodiment, the transmission employs a pair of multiple disk clutches in which selected parts of multiple disk clutches are modified to direct oil radially outwardly via centrifugal force to lubricate the input and output friction plates. More specifically, the lubricating oil flows through ports which engage parts with guide portions for directing the oil through apertures located in a cylindrical member adjacent the input and output friction plates. In one embodiment, a spring retaining member is provided with a plurality of guide portions for guiding and directing the lubricating oil to the friction plates. In another embodiment, a thrust washer is utilized for directing the lubricating oil to the friction plates.

A. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to multiple disk clutches for an automatic transmission of an automobile or the like. More specifically, the present invention relates to a multiple disk clutch having structure for supplying lubricating oil to friction pads or plates of a clutch.
B. Description of the Background Art
Generally, a multiple disk clutch used in an automatic transmission of an automobile or the like has a plurality of input friction plates and a plurality of output friction plates which are alternately arranged relative to each other. The multiple disk clutch also has a cylindrical input member arranged radially inside these friction plates and a cylindrical output member arranged radially outside the friction plates. Each input friction plate has at least one claw located at its inner periphery. The claws of the input friction plates movably engage grooves formed at the outer periphery of the cylindrical input member for movement in an axial direction. Each output friction plate has its at least one claw located at its outer periphery. The claws of the output friction plates movably engage grooves formed at the inner periphery of the cylindrical output member for relative axial movement.
In the multiple disk clutch, lubricating oil is typically supplied to the surfaces of the friction plates for preventing overheating and abnormal abrasion of the friction plates. The lubricating oil is generally supplied from an inner cylindrical member located near the axis of rotation. More specifically, the lubricating oil is supplied through an appropriate oil passage to an inner space inside of the inner cylindrical member, i.e., a cylindrical member located at a radially inner position, and then is supplied from the inner space by a centrifugal force to the surfaces of the friction plates through oil apertures formed in the inner cylindrical member.
In the prior art, the lubricating oil is typically supplied to many parts of the clutch. Thus, the prior art clutches do not efficiently supply the lubricating oil into the oil apertures of the inner cylindrical member from the radially inner space to the friction plates. Rather, in the prior art clutches, a large amount of oil unavoidably flows to other surface areas of the clutch than the surfaces of the friction plates.


One example of a communication architecture for direct printing and scanning includes a computing device for generating an electronic image and a page description language for producing a deterministic print file of the electronic image, the deterministic print file being natively viewable in a Portable Document File (PDF) viewer. The architecture also includes a printer for receiving the deterministic print file and for beginning printing the electronic image before the complete deterministic print file is received by the printer. A method for printing a document is also provided.

Computing devices can send data such as pictures and text to a printer for printing. However, printer drivers are installed on the computing devices before they can utilize printers and printer services. The printer drivers are specific to both the operating system and a given printer and act as a software interface between the computing device and the printer. The use of operating system/printer specific print drivers has a number of disadvantages. Separate print drivers are installed on the computing device for each printer the device will interface with. For portable and handheld computing devices, the complexity and size of the print drivers may exceed the capacity of the devices and consequently may prevent efficient printing from these devices. In addition, can be difficult and costly for printer vendors to supply drivers for all the current computing devices, operating systems and printers.
Throughout the drawings, identical reference numbers designate similar, but not necessarily identical, elements.

Communication architectures for direct printing and scanning

HEWLETT-PACKARD DEVELOPMENT COMPANY, L.P.


A liquefied paper material is used as raw materials. A paper frame member 1 supporting a vibrating plate is paper-skimmed and formed. On paper-skimming and forming, a central hole for use in voice coils, air-release hole 1a releasing air pressure in a rear of the vibrating plate to outside due to vibration of the vibrating plate. A loudspeaker system is manufactured using the paper frame member 1.

FIG. 1 is across sectional view of a conventional loudspeaker system. In the figure, a reference numeral 51 denotes a frame member made of a metal plate, 52 denotes an upper plate, 52a denotes a dowel (projection) formed on the upper plate 52, 53 denotes a pole-piece, and 54 denotes a magnet. A reference numeral 55 denotes a bobbin, 55a denotes a voice coil fixed in a state of being wound around the bobbin 55, 56 denotes a gasket, 57 denotes a mounting screw, 58 denotes a vibrating plate, and 58a denotes a center cap of the vibrating plate 58. A reference numeral 59 denotes an edge, 60 denotes a damper section, 61 denotes a terminal block, 62 denotes a terminal, 63 denotes a gold string wire, and 64 denotes an air gap. FIG. 2 is a plan view of construction of the frame member 51 shown in FIG. 1. In the figure, 51a denotes eight windows arranged in a circle, 51b denotes a central hole for use in accommodating the voice coil 55a, and 51c denotes four holes for use in allowing insertion of the dowel 52a of the upper plate 52. A reference numeral 51d denotes four holes for use in allowing insertion of the mounting screws 57, 51e denotes a notch, and 51f denotes a long hole.
When the conventional loudspeaker system is assembled, the four dowels 52a of the upper plate 52 are inserted into the four holes 51c of the frame member 51, and then their tops of the dowels 52a are crushed (swaged) due to plastic deformation processing. In this way, the frame member 51 is held to the upper plate 52. The magnet 54 is sandwiched and fixed between the upper plate 52 and the pole-piece 53 due to adhesive. An inner periphery of a central hole of the disc-shaped damper section 60 is bonded to the bobbin 55, and an outer periphery of the damper section 60 is bonded to the frame member 51. An inner periphery of a central hole of the vibrating plate 58 is also bonded to the bobbin 55, and an outer periphery of the vibrating member 58 is bonded to the frame member 51 through the edge 59. The center cap 58a is mounted to a central section of the vibrating member 58. A cylindrical-shaped bobbin 55 around which the voice coil 55a is wound is movably inserted into the air gap 64 as a gap defined between a rod-shaped pole of the pole-piece 53 and a hole of the upper plate 52. Moreover, the terminal 62 is fixed to the terminal plate 61 due to a grommet and so on, and a lead wire supplying electric signals to the terminal 62 is soldered thereto.
Next, an operation will be explained.
Electric signals (acoustical signals) inputted to the terminal 62 is supplied to the voice coil 55a through the gold string wires 63. The voice coil 55a produces a magnetic flux in response to the electric signals and a mechanical displacement due to the interaction with a magnetic circuit including the upper plate 52, the pole-piece 53 and the magnet 54. In other words, the bobbin 55 integrated with the voice coil 55a vibrates (in up-and-down directions on a paper of FIG. 1) in response to the supplied electric signals. The vibrating plate 58 vibrates due to the vibration of the voice coil 55a, and produces sound due to change in air pressure based on the vibration.
The damper section 60 has the function of braking free vibration of the vibrating plate 58. The eight windows 51a arranged in the frame member 51 have the function of releasing air pressure, which is generated between the vibrating plate 58 and the frame member 51 due to the vibration of the voice coil 55a, to outside. When the damper section 60 brakes improperly the free vibration of the vibrating plate 58, unclear-cut sound is produced. When the windows 51a are not formed, small sound is produced. Therefore, an area of the window 51a of the frame member 51 exerts direct influence upon sound quality and level. With the metal frame member 51 shown in FIG. 2, the windows 51a are formed due to presswork.
Furthermore, the notch 51e and the long hole 51f have the function of absorbing a mechanical distortion, which occurs when the loudspeaker system is mounted. For example, when the loudspeaker system is mounted on an unevenness location in a vehicle, portions enclosing the notch 51e and the long hole 51f are deformed on securing with screws to contain the distortion of the frame member 51 in a local periphery of the hole 51d. Therefore, an axis of the voice coil 55a is kept precisely without deviating from a center of rotation.
Since the conventional loudspeaker system is constructed as described above, it has the following problems.
Firstly, there are defects of the metal frame member that the frame member 51 has a tendency to produce a self-resonance when the vibrating plate 7 in response to the acoustic signals and that a self-resonance frequency enters into the audio-frequency region. Since the self-resonance occurs due to vibration out of the outside of the loudspeaker system, the frame member has a tendency to especially produce the self-resonance when the system is mounted on the vehicle.
For example, with 13 cm-bore loudspeaker system using a frame member made of aluminum plate in 0.7 mm thickness, a self-resonance frequency of the frame member is concentrated close to 1.5 kHz as audible frequencies. Therefore, since sounds generated due to the self-resonance of the frame member is mixed to sound produced due to the vibrating plate, there is a problem that sound quality is impaired remarkably.
As measures against the impairment of the sound quality, there is the idea of increasing the weight of the frame member. For example, since a zinc-casting frame member can prevent its self-resonance from exerting an influence upon sound quality, it is used especially to a large loudspeaker system for home and commercial use. Moreover, a press-worked frame member made of a thickened metal plate also can prevent its self-resonance from exerting an influence upon sound quality.
However, since expensive press machines and stamping dies need for press-working the metal frame member, there is a problem that the cost of manufacturing is inherently high. There is a problem that the zinc-casting frame member results in further increasing the cost of manufacturing because of needs for many stages in secondary processing to obtain the frame member in a required form. Moreover, there is a problem that the thickened metal frame member results in increasing the cost of manufacturing due to materials cost.
Furthermore, when the weight of the frame member is increased, the shape of the loudspeaker system becomes larger. Especially, when the system is mounted on a vehicle, it is difficult to mount the system thereon because of the limit of space for mounting the system thereon. Moreover, when many systems having the frame member weighed are mounted thereon, the design cannot be adopted because of increasing the weight of the vehicle.
Secondarily, the metal frame member is made of quite iron material in respects of materials cost and machinability. Since the iron-made frame member is however ferromagnetic substance, there is a problem of reducing efficiency because of magnetic flux leaked from magnetic circuits.
Third, there are defects of the metal frame member that the cost of discarding and disposing rises due to environmental protection when the loudspeaker system is disposed because of replacement or breakage of parts. In order to protect environment when industry products are disposed generally, ways for reuse or recycle and disposition without environmental destruction are considered. With the loudspeaker system, it is difficult to recycle the system under present circumstances, and a majority of parts in the system is disposed. On disposition of the parts, there is a need to divide the system into parts.
With one example of the loudspeaker system shown in FIG. 1, the frame member 51 is however held to the upper plate 52 due to swaging. Therefore, it is very difficult to carry out divisional works and it takes much time to do it. Expenses involved in the divisional works, labor costs and working time result in increasing the cost of disposition. This becomes an economical factor that leads up to increasing of the cost of new products or a vicious cycle.
On the other hand, in order to facilitate separation between the parts of the system, there is the idea of using the frame member made from resin-forming materials. Under the current household electrical appliance recycling law, since the resin materials is out of target for recycling, divided resin materials are wasted in soil. The resin materials are not decomposed semi-permanently because a secular variation of the resin materials in soil and water is smaller than that of metal materials. There are problems of not protecting environment.
Fourthly, the metal and resin-made frame member possesses high stiffness. With the loudspeaker system for use in being mounted on the vehicle, there are problems that it is difficult to perform mounting works because the system is mounted on an evenness face and because impediments such as various kinds of projections are arranged at locations where the system is mounted.
The invention was made to solve the foregoing problems. Accordingly, it is an object of the invention to provide a loudspeaker system having the outstanding acoustic characteristics without loss of sound quality because of self-resonance of the frame member occurred due to vibration of the vibrating plate.
A further object of the invention is to provide an inexpensive loudspeaker system manufactured at a low cost.
A still further object of the invention is to provide an efficiency-enhancing loudspeaker system reducing magnetic flux leaked from magnetic circuits to the frame member.
An another object of the invention is to provide a cost-reduction loudspeaker system, which facilitates to separate from parts when the loudspeaker system is disposed.
A further object of the invention is to provide a high endurance loudspeaker system usable during a long period of time, the system reducing discarding frequency to protect environments.
A still further object of the invention is to provide a loudspeaker system facilitating performing mounting works.
An another object of the invention is to provide a loudspeaker system having a high degree of flexibility in design of the system.
A further object of the invention is to provide a loudspeaker system solving various kinds of problems concerned with respect to use of a paper frame member.

Loudspeaker system, method and apparatus of manufacturing the same


A locking mechanism for an enclosure is provided. The enclosure comprises a base including a locking groove formed therein, and a lid pivotally coupled with the base having a lock bore formed therein. The lock mechanism is mounted in the lock bore and includes a pin that is selectively positioned within the locking groove to secure the lid to the base. Also provided is a molding device and method for forming the lock bore. The mold device includes a base member with a pair of arms having a mold protrusion and a lower cam surface. The molding device also includes a housing having a pair of mold protrusion openings. The mold protrusions selectively extend outwardly through mold protrusion openings when a wedge engages the lower cam surfaces on the arms, wherein the arms spread apart from one another to form a pair of snap grooves in the lock bore.

The present invention relates to a lock mechanism for an enclosure. In particular, the lock mechanism of the present invention is mounted in a lid of the enclosure. More particularly, the lock mechanism is mounted in a lock bore formed in the lid of the enclosure and extends into an interior compartment of the enclosure to selectively engage a base of the enclosure with the lid. The present invention also includes a molding device and method for forming the lock bore for the locking mechanism.
It is known to use a locking mechanism to secure the interior compartment of a fire-resistant safe or enclosure. For example, the locking mechanism may be a key lock that is used to secure the safe's lid to a base, such as in U.S. Pat. No. 5,377,514 to Robbins et al. In particular, this type of lock mechanism may include a lock latch that is coupled with the key lock and pivotally mounted within a lower escutcheon plate. The lock latch may be selectively coupled with a pin mounted within an upper escutcheon plate to secure the base to the lid when a corresponding key is used to rotate the key lock.
The key-type locking mechanism as discussed above suffers from a number of drawbacks and deficiencies. For instance, while the lock latch and pin are located within the upper and lower escutcheon plates, respectively, these components may be accessed and manipulated to unlock the safe if the top or bottom escutcheon plates are damaged or intentionally broken. Furthermore, the fact that the lock latch and pin are located outside the confines of the fire-resistant lid and base make these components susceptible to melting when exposed to elevated temperatures, such as during a fire. As a result, the locking mechanism will no longer operate to secure the internal compartment of the safe. In addition, the use of top and bottom escutcheon plates to provide a mounting location for the lock latch and the pin increases the cost of manufacturing the safe and may take away from the overall appearance of the safe.
Accordingly, there exists a need for an enclosure that eliminates the need for mounting the top and bottom escutcheon plates in order to reduce manufacturing costs, reduce the chance that the enclosure will be accessed by an unauthorized user, and improve the appearance of the enclosure. The present invention fills these needs as well as other needs.

Mold device and method for forming a lock bore


According to a first aspect, it is presented a method for dynamically selecting a learning model for a sensor device. The learning model is configured for determining output data based on sensor. The method comprises the steps of: detecting a need for a new learning model for the sensor device based on performance of a currently loaded learning model in the sensor device; determining at least one feature candidate based on sensor data from the at least one sensor, wherein each one of the at least one feature candidate is associated with a different source of sensor data; selecting a new learning model, from a set of candidate learning models, based on the at least one feature candidate and input features of each one of the candidate learning models; and triggering the new learning model to be loaded on the sensor device, replacing the currently loaded learning model.

Wearable electronic devices, commonly known simply as wearables, have gained increased popularity recently. Now, with the push for the Internet of Things (IoT), the usage of wearables will continue to grow. Starting from sport watches or heart rate straps which have been used for a long time; continuing with trendy fitness wristbands and smartwatches; leading to some close-future wearables such as blood analysers, body pressure sensors, skin damage detectors, and brain reading devices.
A strong previous trend was to move the computation to a centralised location (also known as cloud computing) to reduce the computational requirements and power usage in distributed low-power devices and increase computational speed by the use of more powerful computers.
Looking into the future with tens of billions of devices, of which a large portion are IoT devices and wearables, it is easy to justify the new trend to move from the centralised computation power and storage, to a distributed computing scenario. Terms like edge cloud, fog cloud, edge computing, edge analytics all refer to a concept where processing moves closer to the device.
Machine learning, ML, is becoming a key technology in the distributed processing. Machine learning can e.g. be used for pattern recognition of data from sensor devices with multiple sensors, such as wearables. The sensors of such sensor devices can be used in different ways. For instance, accelerometers of a wearable can be used both for activity tracking (running, cycling, etc.) as well as for a user interface. Each use of the wearable requires a separate ML model. However, the sensor devices are often extremely constrained and in general it is often not possible to simultaneously perform pattern recognition according to several different ML models, due to constraints in e.g. memory, processing and/or power requirements.


A shape defect in a transfer pattern formed over the major surface of a substrate is prevented by using an immersion exposure method. When exposure light is radiated onto a resist, immersion water is held in a first immersion area between each of the lower surfaces of an optical element of a projection optical system and a nozzle portion, and a resist; and when a focus, optical system alignment, or the like, is regulated, the immersion water is held in a second immersion area between each of the lower surfaces of the optical element of the projection optical system and the nozzle portion, and the upper surface of a measurement stage. A transverse spread of the immersion water held in the first immersion area is made smaller than that of the immersion water held in the second immersion area.

The present invention relates to a technique for manufacturing a semiconductor device, and in particular, to a technique that is effective when applied to the manufacture of a semiconductor device using an exposure apparatus in which exposure light is radiated onto a substrate via a projection optical system and a liquid.
Exposure apparatuses are required to have higher resolution year by year, and with this trend, it is promoted to make the wavelength of exposure light to be small and the aperture of a projection optical system to be large. However, there is a problem that the above measures make a depth of focus to be small although they improve the resolution. Accordingly, an immersion exposure method is under consideration in recent years, in which exposure is performed by forming, between the lower surface of a projection optical system and a substrate in an exposure apparatus, an immersion area filled with immersion water, such as pure water or an organic solvent each having a refractive index higher than that of air. In this method, the wavelength of exposure light can be substantially made small and a depth of focus can be made larger in comparison with that in air.
For example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2005-347617 discloses a technique in which supply and recovery of a liquid can be efficiently performed, by making a nozzle member provided in an immersion exposure apparatus have a structure including a laminated body formed of a plurality of members, and by providing a porous area in at least one of the of members forming the laminated body, thereby maintaining the strength of the nozzle member and improving a degree of freedom in design. In addition, an aspect, etc., is described in which, by making the supply amount of the liquid to be large prior to exposure of a substrate, bubbles that may have been adhered to, for example, the liquid contact surface of an optical element, the lower surface of the nozzle member, or the surface of the substrate are removed with the momentum of a flow of the liquid, and thereafter an optimal supply amount of the liquid is supplied to an immersion area when a substrate is exposed.
Also, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2009-21498 disclosures an immersion exposure apparatus including: a first supply port for supplying a liquid; an immersion member that has a first surface arranged in at least part of the periphery of the light path of exposure light and is capable of holding the liquid supplied from the first supply port between an object movable with respect to the first surface and the first surface; and a dryness prevention device for preventing the first surface from being dried.
Also, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2005-223315 discloses an immersion exposure apparatus in which a failure, occurring due to a fluctuation in the pressure of a liquid (e.g., deformation of a substrate or a substrate stage, displacement of a projection optical system, or occurrence of vibrations), is solved by regulating, with a pressure regulation mechanism, the pressure of the liquid supplied from a liquid supply mechanism.
Also, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2005-286286 discloses an immersion exposure method in which deformation of a substrate or a substrate stage and occurrence of vibrations are prevented by setting the affinity of the surface of the substrate with respect to a liquid such that the force of the liquid on the substrate exerting on the substrate is reduced.

Method of manufacturing semiconductor device using multiple immersion areas


An efficient implementation of oddly-stacked critically-sampled single sideband analysis/synthesis filter banks is achieved by application of a set of functions to time-domain and frequency-domain values before and after transformation. In one embodiment of an analysis filter bank, a forward pre-transform function groups blocks of N samples into blocks of 1/4N modified samples, a discrete transform generates frequency-domain coefficients in response to the modified samples, and a forward post-transform function generates spectral information in response to the frequency-domain transform coefficients. In one embodiment of a synthesis filter bank, an inverse pre-transform function groups spectral information into blocks of 1/4N frequency-domain transform coefficients, a discrete transform generates blocks of 1/4N time-domain transform coefficients in response to the frequency-domain transform coefficients, and an inverse post-transform function generates blocks of N time-domain samples in response to the time-domain transform coefficients. An implementation of an oddly-stacked Time Domain Aliasing Cancellation transform permits the length of the transformation to be adaptively selected.

INTRODUCTION
Efforts to develop more efficient means to transmit or store information has included reducing informational requirements, that is, reducing the amount of information required to adequately represent a signal during transmission or storage, and reducing processing resource requirements, that is, reducing the amount of processing required to implement the encoding and decoding processes.
With respect to reducing informational requirements, many high-quality audio coding applications, for example, exploit various psychoacoustic effects. So called split-band coding techniques which divide the useful signal bandwidth into narrow bands with bandwidths approximating the human ear's critical bands can exploit psychoacoustic masking effects. Such split-band techniques divide the signal bandwidth with an analysis filter bank, process the signal passed by each filter band, and reconstruct a replica of the original signal with a synthesis filter bank.
Two common split-band coding techniques are subband coding and transform coding. These techniques reduce informational requirements in particular frequency bands such that noise caused by the resulting coding inaccuracy is rendered inaudible by other spectral components. Subband coders may be implemented by a bank of digital bandpass filters defining subbands of varying bandwidth. Transform coders may be implemented by any of several time-domain to frequency-domain transforms. One or more adjacent transform coefficients are grouped together to define "subbands" having effective bandwidths which are sums of individual transform coefficient bandwidths.
The mathematical basis for digital subband filter banks and block transforms is essentially the same. See Tribolet and Crochiere, "Frequency Domain Coding of Speech," IEEE Trans, Acoust., Speech, and Signal Proc, Oct., 1979, pp. 512-30. Each type of split-band processing can be expressed in terms of a transform applied to an interval or "block" of signal samples; therefore, throughout the following discussion, terms such as "filters" and "transforms" are generally interchangeable. The term "subband" refers to portions of the useful signal bandwidth whether implemented by a true subband coder or a transform coder.
With respect to reducing processing resource requirements, much improvement can be realized in many digital coding applications by reducing the computational complexity of subband filtering. Reduced computational complexity permits the implementation of systems which are less expensive to build, or which impose lower signal propagation delays through the system.
Many coding systems use single-sideband (SSB) filter banks. A "single-sideband" filter bank, as discussed in R. Crochiere and L. Rabiner, "Multirate Digital Signal Processing," Prentice-Hall, 1983, pp. 366-376, generates a spectral representation having component values which are either purely real or purely imaginary in response to real-valued input signal samples.
Two well known SSB analysis filter banks implemented by overlapping-block transforms permit perfect reconstruction with critical sampling using time-domain aliasing cancellation (TDAC). One filter bank, described in J. Princen and A. Bradley, "Analysis/Synthesis Filter Bank Design Based on Time Domain Aliasing Cancellation," IEEE Trans, on Acoust., Speech, Signal Proc., ASSP-34, 1986, pp. 1153-1161, comprises the alternate application of a modified Discrete Cosine Transform (DCT) with a modified Discrete Sine Transform (DST) and is described as the time-domain equivalent of an evenly-stacked critically-sampled single-sideband analysis-synthesis system. The modified DCT and modified DST are referred to collectively herein as the Evenly-stacked Time-Domain Aliasing Cancellation (E-TDAC) transform. The second filter bank, described in J. Princen, A. Johnson, and A. Bradley, "Subband/Transform Coding Using Filter Bank Designs Based on Time Domain Aliasing Cancellation," ICASSP 1987 Conf, Proc., May 1987, pp. 2161-64, is implemented by a single modified DCT and is described as the time-domain equivalent of an oddly-stacked critically sampled single-sideband analysis-synthesis system. It is referred to herein as the Oddly-stacked Time-Domain Aliasing Cancellation (O-TDAC) transform. Each of the TDAC analysis filter banks are applied to signal sample blocks which overlap but they achieve perfect reconstruction with critically sampling by effectively discarding some of the transform coefficients. The missing coefficients cause time-domain aliasing in a companion synthesis filter bank but the aliasing is cancelled by overlapping and adding the blocks generated by the synthesis filter bank.
The use of TDAC filter banks is very attractive in many coding application because these filter banks permit perfect reconstruction using overlapping-block transforms that are critically sampled and they can be implemented using reasonably efficient methods. For example, implementations that are more efficient than straight-forward computation methods are disclosed in S. Cramer and R. Gluth, "Computationally Efficient Real-Valued Filter Banks Based on a Modified O.sup.2 DFT." Signal Processing V; Theories and Applications, Elsevier Science Publishers B. V., 1990, pp. 585-588; H. Malvar, "Lapped Transforms for Efficient Transform/Subband Coding," IEEE Trans. Acoust., Speech, and Signal Proc., ASSP-38, June 1990, pp. 969-78; R. Gluth, "Regular FFT-Related Transform Kernels for DCT/DST-Based Polyphase Filter Banks," ICASSP 1991 Conf, Proc., vol. 3, May 1991, pp. 2205-2208; and P. Duhamel, Y. Mahieux, and J. Petit, "A Fast Algorithm for the Implementation of Filter Banks Based on Time Domain Aliasing Cancellation," ICASSP 1991 Conf, Proc., vol. 3, May 1991, pp. 2209-2212.
Each of these references describes implementations of filter banks which are applied to fixed-length blocks of signal samples, that is, blocks that have a number of samples N which does not vary from block to block. Unfortunately, the length of fixed-length blocks must be chosen to balance a trade off between the temporal and spectral resolution of the filter bank. On one hand, greater block lengths improve the selectivity or frequency-resolving power of a filter bank, and better filter selectivity generally improves the ability of a coder to exploit psychoacoustic masking effects. On the other hand, greater block lengths degrade the time-resolution of a subband filter bank. Low time-resolution can result in audible distortion artifacts when coder quantizing errors of signal events, such as transients, producing pre-transient and post-transient ringing which exceed the ear's temporal psychoacoustic masking interval. As a result of this trade off, it is desirable to implement adaptive-length filter banks that can be applied to signal sample blocks of varying length in order to optimize coder performance.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,297,236 describes reasonably efficient implementations of both fixed- and adaptive-length filter banks. In particular, implementations of E-TDAC and O-TDAC filter banks are disclosed; however, the efficiency of these implementations is not optimal and the techniques disclosed for O-TDAC filter banks are computationally more intensive than those disclosed for E-TDAC filter banks.

Analysis-/synthesis-filtering system with efficient oddly-stacked singleband filter bank using time-domain aliasing cancellation

Dolby Laboratories Licensing Corporation


Device intended for measurements on a porous rock bar in the presence of fluids including a containment cell comprising an elongate body (2) closed at the opposite ends thereof by end pieces (6, 7) and sources of pressurized fluids allowing displacement under pressure, within the sample, of a first wetting fluid and of a second fluid. One or more selectively wettable rigid membranes consisting each of a relatively thin layer of a porous ceramic on a support layer made from a porous material are pressed against the ends of the sample. The membranes can for example be made by sintering of metallic grains of unequal size (the grains are much coarser for the support layer). Such membranes have good resistance to high temperatures of the order of several hundred .degree.C. Electrodes (E1) connected to a measuring device (24) are used to determine physical characteristics of the bar. The device can be used for oil reservoir engineering notably.

In order to determine the wettability of rocks with respect to the water and the oil which may be contained therein, the initially water-saturated rock is, for example, subjected to a drainage process in order to decrease the saturation (Sw) thereof, then to an imbibition process allowing the water saturation thereof to be increased again. The capillary pressure at one point is defined as the difference Pc at equilibrium between the pressure Po of the oil and the pressure Pw of the water. This parameter makes sense only if the two fluids are in the continuous phase in the porous medium. For a water wet medium, only positive values make sense. On the other hand, if the medium has a mixed wettability, the fluids can remain in the continuous phase for the positive and for the negative capillary pressures (Pc) as well.
For an application of this type, a complete capillary pressure measuring cycle must therefore comprise (FIG. 4):
a) positive primary drainage of an initially 100% water-saturated sample (curve C1); PA1 b) positive imbibition (curve C2); PA1 c) negative imbibition (curve C3); PA1 d) negative drainage (curve C4); and PA1 e) positive secondary drainage (curve C5).
Curves C2' and C3', respectively, correspond to a spontaneous imbibition and a negative primary imbibition.
Patent application EP-A-0,701,120 filed by the claimant describes a device intended for wettability measurements on porous rock samples in a containment cell delimited at the two opposite ends thereof by two end pieces. Channels run through these end pieces and communicate the grooved internal faces thereof respectively with two adjustable pressure fluid sources delivering, respectively, a first and a second fluid. The bar is placed in the cell within an elongate deformable sheath associated with pressure means intended to laterally exert a confining pressure, thereon. Two semipermeable membranes, respectively, permeable to the first and to the second fluid are placed between the internal faces of the end pieces and the sample. Wraparound electrodes are placed in the sheath, in contact with the lateral wall of the sample, on either side thereof. They are connected to a device measuring the electrical conductivity of the sample. The bar is at first initially saturated with a first fluid, such as brine, prior to being placed in the cell. A second fluid, oil for example, is injected under pressure at one end of the cell. It displaces the first fluid in the sample and the volume ejected is recovered at the opposite end. One or more of the next phases of the aforementioned measuring cycle are carried out thereafter.
A measuring device comprising means for measuring the electrical conductivity and the volume of the fluid ejected is placed in the cell, thus allowing to determine various physical parameters of the bar.
In a structure of this type, it is well-known to use as an oil wet membrane, a membrane for example made of Gore-Tex (registered trademark) which withstands the temperature range (up to 100 or 200.degree. C.) observed during porous sample tests.
A thin plate made of porous ceramic, which fills its role as long as the operating temperature of the cell is not too high (preferably below 100.degree. C.), is generally used as a water wet membrane. It is possible to use a ceramic membrane that is a few mm thick and which withstands the temperature better, but the drawback of such a membrane is that it notably slows the progress of the cycle of operations down.

Device intended for measurements on a porous sample in the presence of fluids, using temperature-resistant semipermeable membranes


There are provided a backlight assembly (700) and an LCD device (1000) using the same. The backlight assembly (700) has an optical sheet (100) for improving light efficiency and optical properties thereof and an elastic adhesive member (130) disposed on the optical sheet (100). When the optical sheet (100) deforms with heat, the elastic adhesive member (130) may be expanded or contracted corresponding to deformation of the optical sheet (100) and absorb impact applied to LCD device. Accordingly, the backlight assembly (700) may prevent the optical sheet (100) from being wrinkled or scratched, thereby preventing display quality of the LCD device from being deteriorated.

In general, an LCD device displays image information using liquid crystal. In order to display image information, an LCD device includes a light supplying part that generates light needed to display image information, an optical part that allows light supplied from the light supplying part to have uniform brightness and a liquid crystal controlling part that controls liquid crystal.
The LCD device employs a CCFL (Cold Cathode Fluorescent Lamp) having characteristics, for example, such as a long life, a white light and a small amount of heat generation as a light supplying part.
The optical part plays a role that makes brightness of light emitted from the CCFL to be uniform. The optical part may include various optical sheets depending on a type of the LCD device.
The optical sheet includes a diffusion sheet that allows brightness distribution of light to be uniform by diffusing light emitted from the CCFL and a prism sheet that collects light diffused by the diffusion sheet.
The optical sheet may include a light guide plate. Light guide plate changes optical property, for example, such as linearity of light emitted from the CCFL into a form of surface light.
The liquid crystal controlling part controls liquid crystal in a unit of pixel so as to control transmittance of light processed in the optical part, thereby displaying image information.
The light supplying part, the optical part and the liquid crystal controlling part play important roles in a display operation of the LCD device. Especially, the optical part has remarkable influence upon display quality of image information.
The diffusion sheet and the prism sheet of the optical part are fixed to a frame of the LCD device using a double sided tape or a hole formed thereon and a boss formed at the frame of the LCD device.
However, the optical part may be easily expanded with heat because the optical part is fabricated with a thin sheet made of synthetic resin. Particularly, in case that the optical part securely fixed to the frame by double sided tape is expanded, the optical part may be easily wrinkled because there is no extra space in the frame of the LCD device. As a result, image information may not be normally displayed on a screen.
For this reason, a method that allows the optical part received in the frame of the LCD device to be moved has been used in this age. However, in case of fixing the optical part to the frame such that it may be moved in the frame, the optical part may collide with the liquid crystal controlling part adjacent to the optical part when impact is applied to the frame of the LCD device. As a result, the optical part and the liquid crystal controlling part may be fatally damaged by scratch therebetween so that display quality is deteriorated.

Backlight assembly using the same and liquid crystal display device


A semiconductor substrate that is used as an underlying substrate for epitaxial crystal growth carried out by the HVPE method includes a β-Ga2O3-based single crystal, and a principal plane that is a plane parallel to a [100] axis of the β-Ga2O3-based single crystal. An epitaxial wafer includes the semiconductor substrate, and an epitaxial layer including a β-Ga2O3-based single crystal and formed on the principal plane of the semiconductor substrate by epitaxial crystal growth using the HVPE method. A method for producing an epitaxial wafer includes by using the HVPE method, epitaxially growing an epitaxial layer including a β-Ga2O3-based single crystal on a semiconductor substrate that includes a β-Ga2O3-based single crystal and has a principal plane parallel to a [100] axis of the β-Ga2O3-based single crystal.

A technique of forming a β-Ga2O3 single crystal film on a β-Ga2O3-based substrate by epitaxial crystal growth using the MBE (Molecular Beam Epitaxy) method is conventionally known (see, e.g., WO 2013/035464).
According to WO 2013/035464, the β-Ga2O3 single crystal film can be grown at a high growth rate by the MBE method when the plane orientation of the principal plane of the β-Ga2O3-based substrate is adjusted to a predetermined plane orientation.

Semiconductor substrate, and epitaxial wafer and method for producing same

National University Corporation Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology


A colorimeter method and apparatus is described. The colorimeter includes a plurality of sensors/filter systems with non overlapping spectral responses, adequate for providing data capable of translation into standard coordinates system such as, CIE XYZ, CIE L*a*b*, or CIE Luv, as well as non-standard operable coordinate systems. The field of view of the colorimeter is chosen to closely track the response of the human eye using an optical path configured to select and limit the field of view in a manner that is insensitive to placement of the colorimeter on the source image. The optical path from the source image to the sensor is configured to select preferred light rays while rejecting undesirable light rays to maximize the signal/noise ratio. A rearward facing sensor channel is included to simultaneously measure ambient light impinging on the source image and feedback means to provide status and/or change of information.

1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to calorimeters, and more particularly, to a colorimeter with optical geometry and assembly that provides high a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and/or properly handles ambient light.
2. Background Art
Colorimeters are accurate devices for measuring the spectral content of light emitted either directly or indirectly from a given source. Standards bodies such as the Video Electronics Standards Association (VESA) have been a driving force behind the development of colorimeter performance. The VESA 1.0 standard, for example, is primarily directed to specifying measurement of contrast ratio, and is limited to a no greater than +/−2 degree viewing angle from the source to the sensor.
However, typical devices being measured, such as computer displays, are actually viewed from much greater angles than specified in the standards. To further exacerbate this situation, the degradation of spectral parameters that occurs with increased viewing angle, does not occur equally for all colors. Such incompatibilities have yet to be resolved or otherwise addressed. In addition, early devices developed under the standards were relatively costly. Such devices typically employ highly accurate measurement optics. Apertures have frequently been used in conjunction with lenses or other precision optical elements. Typical colorimeter configurations include a light sensing diode, and an integral lens that directs light to the sensor area.
More recent developments have produced designs resulting in low cost calorimeters with performance characteristics approaching or exceeding professional quality required by the standards. Such newer designs generally employ basic aperture geometry, and either non-overlapping or overlapping spectral ranges/filters. One such design uses a unique aperture plate that has oblong holes, and is spaced between the target surface and the filter/sensor set. The resulting field of view is about +−15 degrees or more on each axis.
However, such a design does not correspond to the field of view of the human eye. Rather, it is about four times too large. Also, the position of the aperture plate is spaced from the target surface by a mounting distance that is typically defined by one to four relatively large suction cups (i.e., one at each corner of the colorimeter housing). Such designs generally cause variations in the mounting distance due to leaking-based relaxation of the suction cups.
This variation, in conjunction with a fixed-distance between the aperture plate and the sensor, causes the field of view to vary as well, and adversely impacts the accuracy of color measurements taken.
In addition, colorimeter designs generally require alignment of the sensor to one or more optical paths. This alignment is typically provided by a secondary reference surface on the sensor diode. However, this sensor reference does not assure accurate alignment of the sensor in the plane parallel to the measured surface, and there is no means for locating the center of the senor lens to the center of the optical path. Such limitations contribute to undesirable decay of the SNR, as well as to inadequate color measurement accuracy.
While prior art colorimeters concentrated on measurement of what the sensor "sees", effects on perception resulting from ambient light impinging upon the source has eluded the existing colorimeter art. Colorimeter performance can be greatly degraded by ambient light effects of: 1) image perception of the human eye in the presence of varying ambient conditions, 2) ambient light reflected from the display screen integrated with the display screen image source, 3) flare, and other factors.
A metaphoric example of the types of perceived changes in "viewed monitor" systems in the presence of changing ambient light conditions follows below. When viewing automotive headlights in the daylight, they appear yellowish and dim. However, when viewing the headlights at night, they appear bright and white or blue white. This example highlights how important it is to calibrate for ambient light conditions in order to get quality results in a monitoring/viewing/measurement system.
In general, viewing a screen in dim ambient conditions leads to a perception of less color. If this in turn leads to arbitrary adjustment of the brightness control (when available such as with analog displays), system calibration can be severely hampered.
An attribute of a good calorimeter is the ability to anticipate the effects of ambient light on the source as perceived by the viewer and correct for such effects. Brightness controls on displays are notoriously non-linear. Uncalled for adjustment of brightness by the user can introduce severe degradation of contrast, linearity and perceived anomalies. Further image contrast and the ability to discern detail at different levels of image luminosity can be adversely affected by ambient illuminance of the area immediately adjacent to the image.
In one instance known to the inventors, a product distributor, LaCie, adapts only for intensity of ambient light, ignoring calorimetric content. However this solution also requires that the sensor be reversed to make the ambient reading. While it has been recognized that ambient light presents many problems and challenges to colorimeter measurement quality, to date the most sophisticated approaches are limited to taking a reading of the ambient at a point, and then depending on that measurement of ambient light for all ensuing ambient light compensation. Typically this is accomplished by turning the calorimeter away from the source image to take a reading of the ambient light. In some instances a diffuser is placed on the colorimeter to improve the specific and single measurement.
Previously disclosed embodiments of a calorimeter by the assignee of the present application measured ambient light by removing the calorimeter body from the image source screen, placing a diffuser on the viewing surface of the colorimeter, and orienting the combination away from the screen to get a reading estimate of the ambient light.
Nonlinearities of displays, complexity of color measurement, response of the human eye, effects of viewing room ambient conditions, measurement degradation due to extraneous other factors and the interactions between the factors make measurement and compensation challenging at the least. It is desired to maximize the S/N (signal/noise ratio) by controlling the ambient light effects within the system such as: flare, reflected light, extraneous light rays impinging on the sensor and numerous other sources of light impinging on the sensor that are not primary source generated rays. Therefore, a colorimeter is desired that takes into account the effects of ambient light impinging on the source image (LCD, CRT screen, etc.).
Further, there is a desire for making the calorimeter measurements agree more with the ambient light that impinges on the source image and reading the ambient light on an ongoing basis to make important corrections in a varying ambient light environment. It is further recognized that it would be a desirable feature of a colorimeter to be able to alert the user to real time changes in ambient viewing light that are deemed sufficient to effect the perceived attributes of the image.
In sum, an improved colorimeter design is desired having optimal or otherwise increased SNR, that has a field of view that corresponds to that of the human eye and that has the ability to continually sense ambient light impinging on the source image. In a more general sense, an improved colorimeter design is desired for accurately measuring color from the likes of displays, CRTs, LCDs, and printed or pictorial materials.


A water filter assembly mounted to an inner surface of a refrigerator and accessible from within a refrigeration compartment of the refrigerator. The filter assembly includes a first housing part, a second housing part, and a replaceable filter cartridge. The first and second housing parts cooperate to define a fluid-tight chamber for receipt of the filter cartridge. The first housing part includes an inlet port through which unfiltered water may be introduced into the chamber and an outlet port through which filtered water may exit the chamber. The second housing part surrounds a portion of the first housing part and provides a volume sufficient to hold the filter cartridge and any water within the chamber when the second housing part is released from the first housing part to replace the filter cartridge, and thereby prevents or minimizes spillage of water from the filter assembly during filter cartridge replacement. A shield member is disposed within the refrigeration compartment and cooperates with a cabinet wall to define a filter compartment which surrounds the filter assembly. A heater disposed within the filter compartment adjacent the filter assembly and is operable to heat the filter assembly to prevent freezing of water contained therein.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to water filters and, more particularly, to refrigerator mounted water filters.
2. Description of Related Art
In recent years, as the public has begun to realize the benefits derived from drinking water and, preferably, highly pure water, there has been a great increase in the sale and availability of household water filtration devices. Concurrently, refrigerator mounted water dispensers and automatic ice makers have become more affordable, and more commonplace. In response to this fact, there have been attempts to incorporate water filters into household refrigerators to provide a filtered water supply for direct dispensing via the refrigerator water dispenser, or for use in making ice cubes via an automatic ice maker.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,135,645 discloses one attempt to incorporate a water filter into a refrigerator. The '645 patent teaches mounting the water filter within a compartment accessible via a door from the inside of the refrigerator compartment. The filter is formed as a replaceable cartridge having a cylindrical body from which inlet and outlet lines extend. A valve is operated by a manual switch, by removal of the filter cartridge, by opening the refrigerator door, or by opening the filter compartment door, to cut off the water supply to the filter. It is felt that the filtration system disclosed in the '645 patent is undesirable in that the filter cartridge must be mechanically disassembled from the water lines for replacement, which may be difficult for the user. It is also felt that concealing the filter cartridge may cause the user to forget to periodically replace the cartridge. It is also felt that the switches and shut off valves required by the '645 system introduce manufacturing costs to the resulting refrigerator which may render it cost-prohibitive, except on the most expensive refrigerator models.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,571,953 discloses a refrigerator having a water filtration unit. The water filtration unit includes a pair of chambers or filters which receive tap water and supply filtered water to a dispensing pipe extending from a top of the refrigerator. The '953 refrigerator is basically dedicated to providing a filtered cold water supply, and does not provide sufficient storage space required for a household refrigerator. See also, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,859,320 and 4,808,302.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,083,442 discloses a refrigerator combined with a reverse-osmosis water purification system. The purification system is positioned external of the refrigerated compartment. U.S. Pat. No. 3,982,406 also provides an external filtration system for a refrigerator.
Despite the progress in the art exemplified by the foregoing patents, there exists a need in the art for a water filtration system for a household refrigerator which is accessible from within the refrigeration compartment, and which includes a filter cartridge that is easily replaceable.


An electronic device assembly includes a large-scale integrated circuit (LSI) chip mounted on a flexible substrate. The flexible substrate is connected to a second substrate via solder. The flexible substrate is also attached to the second substrate via a resin. When the assembly is manufactured, the solder is provided between the substrates. The resin fills an area between the substrates. The solder and the resin are heated simultaneously. The solder melts to electrically connect the substrates. The resin is set to mechanically couple the substrates.

The present invention relates to an electronic device assembly, and more particularly to an electronic device assembly including a first substrate and a second substrate mounted on the first substrate.
An example of a conventional electronic device is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,203,075.
Referring to FIG. 10 of the above reference, a semiconductor device 43 is mounted on a flexible substrate 31. The flexible substrate 31 is connected to a substrate 13 via solder.
Referring to FIGS. 6 and 9 of the reference, a solder member 32 and a solder paste 27 connect the flexible substrate 31 and the substrate 13. Part of the solder member 32 is positioned in a through-hole provided in the flexible substrate 31.
The aforementioned structure has the following problems.
First, the solder connection is susceptible to failure because it is not protected from mechanical stress. Specifically, the solder connection is apt to fall off, be broken, or be short circuited with the adjacent solder connection. This problem becomes serious when a relatively heavy device such as a heat sink is mounted on the flexible substrate. The failure of the solder connection is also caused by thermal cycling (i.e., repetitive beating and cooling).
Second, the solder is further susceptible to failure because it is not protected from air humidity (e.g., the moisture in the air).
Third, it is difficult to control the gap precisely between the flexible substrate 31 and the substrate 13 because it is difficult to keep the flexible substrate 31 flat. If the gap between the flexible substrate 31 and the substrate 13 is uneven, the reliability of the solder connection decreases.

Electronic assembly package including connecting member between first and second substrates


A saw horse comprises a pair of frames each assembled from a plurality of wooden struts joined by metal formings of sheet stock. Fabric hinges join the frames at their upper ends. The metal formings are positioned and closed around the beams with piercings engaging the fabric hinges. Spreader struts are also hinged by a fabric strap that permits the spreader struts to lay in horizontal positions when the frames are pulled into an A-shape, and to be oriented in side-by-side vertical positions when the frames are folded together.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to brackets for joining the legs of a saw horse or similar apparatus and more particularly to such a bracket formed from sheet metal and providing dual parallel interlocking faces.
2. Description of Related Art
The following art defines the present state of this field:
Rice, U.S. Pat. No. 936,945 describes a device comprising oppositely arranged substantially rectangular plates provided at each end with a flange connected to the plate by a triangular portion, whose apex is upward, whereby to set off and incline the plate with respect to the flanges, said flanges having at each end an ear, the lower ears of the oppositely arranged plates being integral with each other, and said plates, flanges and ears having openings therethrough.
Rebensdorf, U.S. Pat. No. 2,825,606 describes a device for use in assembling, erecting and temporarily coupling horizontal and vertical timbers such as are used, for example, in constructing a knockdown trestle; a bracket comprising a pair of spaced parallel open-ended sleeves adapted for telescoping reception and retention of the end portions of a pair of horizontal beam-forming timbers, means securing said sleeves to each other, and a pair of companion open-ended socket members opposed to each other and affixed at right angles to the outer end portions of their respective sleeves and likewise adapted for telescoping reception and retention of vertical leg-forming timbers.
Tucker, U.S. Pat. No. 2,874,004 describes a portable trestle comprising a pair of legs adapted to support a horizontal member, a bracket at the upper end of each leg and having a head for bearing against the underside of the member, an upper flexible element having connection with the brackets and adapted to overlie the member, and a lower flexible element for connecting the medial portions of the legs for holding the upper element and brackets in engagement with the member when said legs are swung toward each other.
Mitchell, U.S. Pat. No. 3,012,627 describes a ladder iron unit comprising a hollow rectangular body having a rectangular planar rear wall, first and second opposing end walls and a top wall, said first and second end walls and said top wall disposed entirely on one side of said rear wall and: oriented normal thereto, said end walls secured to opposite parallel edges of said rear wall in opposed rotation, said top wall disposed normal to said rear wall and secured along one side to said rear wall and along each of its ends to said end walls; said top wall extending laterally from said rear wall beyond said end walls and terminating in a lip portion extending normal to the remainder of said-top—wall in a direction toward said end walls; one of said end walls formed with a plurality of threaded openings therethrough; a threaded thumb-screw engaged in each of said threaded openings and extending therethrough; and a hinge plate portion joined to said rear wall along the edge of said rear wall corresponding to the location of said top wall and extending on the side of said top wall opposite from said rear wall, said hinge plate disposed with its rear face coplanar with the rear face-of-said rear well, said hinge plats extending laterally beyond each end of said body, said hinge plate formed with two spaced hinge bolt openings therethrough disposed adjacent opposite ends of said hinge plate; said tear wall formed with a plurality of openings therethrough, each of said openings in said rear wait spaced from one of said openings in said hinge plate the same distance as the space between said openings in said hinge plate; one of said, end walls extending downwardly beyond said rear wall and terminating in an outwardly curved bifurcated hook portion, said iron sized and adapted to engage the end of a ladder sidepiece whereby said top wall will extend over the end of said sidepiece and said iron maybe clamped on said sidepiece by tightening said thumb-screws.
Huntington, U.S. Pat. No. 3,691,526 describes a traffic barricade-type structure constructed entirely of polymeric material such as high impact styrene and vinyl and including a pair of spaced A-shaped elongated strip supports with a pair of generally horizontal spaced elongated strips disposed on each side of the A-shaped supports. These supports are hinged at the apex thereof by resilient straps and the spacing between the legs of the supports is limited by transversely disposed resilient straps which may be temporarily uncoupled to allow the supports to be reversed to expose different safety indicia.
Brow, U.S. Pat. No. 5,078,352 describes a foldable sawhorse comprising a two-by-four wooden work member supported in a sheet metal channel near each of its ends. The channels are supported by two tubular leg assemblies pivotally attached to the channels. The pivotal attachments comprise an eye extending from the bottom of each channel and passing through holes in the walls of the legs of the leg assemblies. Each leg assembly comprises two legs and a base; the legs are flattened in cross-section at one of their ends and welded to the base near its ends with the long dimension of the flattened section parallel to the axis of the base. The center portions of the bases are raised a distance equal to about ⅛ the lengths of the bases and are interconnected by a strap which determines the angles between the legs when the sawhorse is unfolded. A lock is provided to prevent inadvertent folding of the leg assemblies toward each other. It comprises a flat rectangular part with two L-shaped slots located such that one leg of each slot is close and parallel to the ends of the part and the other legs extend toward each other and are close and parallel to the bottom edge of the part. The part is attached by collared fasteners to two of the legs near their pivoted connection to a channel such that when the leg assemblies are unfolded the lock part is allowed to move so that the collars of the fasteners are in the slot portions parallel to the ends of the part, preventing the sawhorse from being folded until the lock part is manually lifted to allow the fasteners to move toward each other in the slot portions parallel to the bottom edge of the lock part.
Short, V et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,950,392 describes a truss element of a structure that is prefabricated, but hinged so that trusses may be reduced in size for transportation and storage. The hinge is made up of a sheet of flexible material, which is affixed to elements of the truss by press fit plates. This press fit hinge can be installed on the truss simultaneously with the other press fit plates used to construct the truss, thereby dramatically reducing the number of steps required to construct the truss while still providing the desired feature of the hinge.
Dirk, II, U.S. Pat. No. 6,142,256 describes a folding sawhorse that is formed from a pair of substantially identical rectangular frames. The frames are constructed from four substantially identical wooden members via lap joints to make a smooth construction. The frames are also pivotally joined together by a pair of hinges fixedly coupled to top portions thereof. A flexible member or chain extends between the frames, but is displaced from the hinges. The hinges allow for pivotal movement of the frames, while the chain limits the range of pivotal movement.
Krajec, U.S. Pat. No. 6,564,903 describes a sawhorse that is constructed with brackets allowing the legs of the sawhorse to fold into a compact unit by having the legs interleave when folded. The legs pivot about a plane that is canted to allow each leg to rotate without interfering with any other leg. The length of the legs is not restricted in any fashion. The legs may also be locked in the extended or service position as well as the closed position. The bracket may be constructed of as few as two unique parts, and a pair may be nested together for compact shipping, storage, and display on a store shelf.
Our prior art search with abstracts described above teaches: a timber coupling and trestle-erecting bracket, a support structure, a socket piece for studding, folding sawhorses, a hinged truss, a collapsible sawhorse bracket with interleaving legs, portable trestles, and a safety device for directing traffic, but does not teach a one piece sheet metal stamped and folded bracket or its use in preparing low cost hinges for a collapsible saw horse. The present invention fulfills these needs and provides further related advantages as described in the following summary.

Formed sheet interlocking bracket and saw horse using such bracket


A filtering module includes a housing consisting of an upper housing section and a lower housing section and a connecting member for connecting the upper and lower housing sections. The upper housing section has a first water port in a first end thereof and a pair of substantially L-shaped recesses in a second end thereof. The lower housing section has a second water port in a first end thereof and a second pair of substantially L-shaped recesses in a second end thereof. The connecting member includes a filtering mesh and two pairs of L-shaped protrusions formed on an outer periphery thereof to be fittingly received in associated L-shaped recesses.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a filter module and, more particularly, to a filter module consisting of more than one section containing different filtering media for effectively filtering water.
2. Description of related art
A typical filter module is generally a housing containing a specific filter medium therein to remove a certain kind of chemical material, such as resin for softening water, active carbon for decomposing toxic chemicals, etc. For achieving multipurpose filtering effect, more than one filter module has to be connected in series such that water may flow through the filter modules one by one to proceed with desired filtering. Such an arrangement is found to have the following disadvantages: (1) the cost is increased; (2) it occupies a considerable space; (3) it is inconvenient for transportation; (4) the filter medium is securely mounted in the filter housing and the whole filter module has to be disposed of when the filter medium is no longer usable, causing a waste in material and also causing environmental problems, especially in the case where the filter module is made of plastic material; and (5) the filter medium is not changeable and thus cannot be applied to different water qualities of different areas.
Therefore, there has been a long and unfulfilled need for an improved filter module to mitigate and/or obviate the above-mentioned problems.


A sheet curl correcting device and an image forming apparatus incorporating the same. The image forming apparatus includes a fixing unit for fixing a toner image transferred by an electrophotographic image forming unit to a sheet, a pair of rollers having different hardnesses for correcting a sheet curl, a controlling unit for controlling a deformation amount of one of the rollers in accordance with a table of curl correction amounts, and a curl correction limiter for limiting the curl correction amount if the sheet is to be discharged to a stacker.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a curl correcting device for correcting-the curl of a sheet.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, an image forming apparatus using an electrophotographic technique forms an image by developing an electrostatic latent image formed on an image carrier (such as a photosensitive member) in accordance with image information by a developer in order to form a toner image. Then, the apparatus transfers the toner image onto a sheet either directly or indirectly through an intermediate transferring unit. Then, the apparatus passes the sheet between a fixing heating roller and a pressure roller or a belt of a press-contact section in order to fix the toner image to the sheet. After the image is fixed to the sheet, the sheet may curl in the direction of the front or the back of the sheet. Therefore, there are some image forming apparatuses provided with a curl correcting device for correcting a sheet curl that is produced after the fixing operation in order to prevent problems caused by the curling, such as jamming of sheets, an increase in the space taken up by sheets at a sheet-discharge unit, and a reduction in the quality of images formed on both sides of a sheet.
The following types of curl correcting devices are primarily known. They are a roller nip type and a belt nip type. The roller nip type comprises an elastic roller and a pressure roller which rotates at a curved nip transporting section that is formed when the pressure roller presses the elastic roller. The belt nip type comprises a belt and a pressure roller. The belt rotates by being disposed on a belt supporting roller. The pressure roller rotates at a curved nip transporting section that is formed when the pressure roller presses the belt supporting roller. These curl correcting devices correct a sheet curl by passing the sheet to which an image is fixed through the curved nip transporting section (formed by the elastic roller or the belt and the pressure roller) in order to temporarily curve the curled sheet in a direction opposite to the direction of curl of the sheet.
Since the nature of the curl occurring after the fixing depends upon, for example, the type of sheet, the density of an image formed on a sheet, and the humidity of the environment, such curl correcting devices adjust the curl correction amount in accordance with a predetermined parameter, such as the type of sheet or the image density. In other words, in general, such curl correcting devices adjust the curl correction amount by changing the pressing amount of the pressure roller against the elastic roller or the belt, so that the curl correction amount (that is, the pressing amount of the pressure roller) is changed and controlled in accordance with detection information regarding, for example, the type of sheet used, the image density, or the humidity.
In general, such curl correcting devices adjust the curl correction amount by previously providing and storing control information in which a condition, such as the sheet type, the image density, or the humidity, is associated with the curl correction amounts, and by automatically controlling the pressing amount of the pressure roller on the basis of the control information.
In recent years, in the print on demand (POD) market, a post-processor which can be used to load a large number of sheets, such as a stacker, is becoming important. The required curl correction amount when sheets are discharged onto a sheet-discharge tray from the body of the image forming apparatus and that when the sheets are loaded onto a post-processor, such as a stacker, from the body of the image forming apparatus are different due to loading conditions, such as a difference in height from a sheet-discharge opening to a loading surface. In general, in a stacker for loading a large number of sheets, the distance from the sheet-discharge opening to the loading surface is large. Therefore, a sheet that is curled downward tends to buckle when it lands in the stacker. In order to prevent this, it is necessary to eliminate the downward curl compared to the case where the sheet is discharged onto the sheet-discharge tray. Accordingly, it is necessary to limit the curl correction strength applied to the sheet in accordance with the connected post-processor, so that a controlling operation for limiting the curl correction strength is carried out.
Due to the diversification of sheets in recent years, a sheet curl may not be properly corrected by the above-described automatic correction. One example of such a sheet is a sheet having a surface coated with resin and being frequently used in the POD market. Such a coated sheet tends to be curled by toner because it has low resilience compared to a related non-coated sheet of the same thickness (basis weight). Therefore, it is not enough to merely classify sheets in accordance with the thickness as a parameter as is conventionally the case. In addition, the amount of curl of a coated sheet depends on, for example, the amount and the composition of the resin used for coating, and whether or not one side or both sides of the sheet are coated. Therefore, it is difficult to carry out the same controlling operation on the correction amount of different types of coated sheets.
Even if a sheet is of a type whose curl correction amount can be automatically adjusted, the curl of the sheet type may not be properly corrected depending upon, for example, the humidity of the environment and the state in which the sheet type is left standing.
In order to overcome this problem, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-80157 discloses a curl correcting device comprising means for manually correcting a sheet curl in order to make it possible to properly correct the sheet curl.
However, when a post-processor is mounted, and the curl correction strength is limited, proper correction cannot be carried out due to the diversification of sheets.

Curl correcting device and image forming apparatus


A pillar garnish for a front pillar disposed between a front windshield glass and a side window glass of an automotive vehicle. The pillar garnish comprises a main body section formed of plastic and secured to a vehicle body. The main body section is generally channel-shaped to cover the front pillar forming part of the vehicle body. The main body section has an inner surface facing the front pillar, and an outer surface facing a vehicle passenger inside a passenger compartment. A plurality of reinforcement ribs are formed at the inner surface of the main body section and integral with the main body section. Each reinforcement rib extends perpendicular to the inner surface. Additionally, a plurality of auxiliary ribs are formed at the inner surface of the main body section and integral with the main body section. Each auxiliary rib extends parallel with each reinforcement rib. Each rib is located between the reinforcement ribs which are located adjacent each other. Each rib extends to occupy at least a part of a region surrounded by the inner surface of the main body section and first and second imaginary straight lines in a transverse plane perpendicular to a longitudinal axis of the main body section.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to improvements in an interior material for an automotive vehicle as a decorative ember, such as a variety of garnishes for covering a clearance between a front windshield glass and a side window glass or a clearance between a ceiling and a door, more particularly to an improved structure of the garnishes having a sufficiently high stiffness to prevent the garnishes from making its resonance vibration and/or getting out of its position during running of the vehicle.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In general, an interior material called a garnish is used at the passenger compartment side of the vehicle body of an automotive vehicle (particularly, a passenger car) in order to cover a clearance between a ceiling and a door or a clearance between a front windshield glass and a side door glass. This interior material is mainly intended to decorate the upper part of the passenger compartment and used as a design part for covering the above clearance. An example of the interior material or garnish is a front pillar garnish P1 for covering the passenger compartment side of a front pillar P2 formed between a front windshield glass P3 and a side door glass P4 as shown in FIG. 7. The front pillar includes an inner panel and an outer panel which are combined at their flange sections by point welding such as spot welding. The interior material or pillar garnish is formed of ABS resin or polypropylene resin and includes a main body section which is integrally provided with an installation section P5 formed at the back side surface thereof. The installation section is a clip member which is to be thrust into a hole or groove in the inner panel of the front pillar, so that the pillar garnish is installed in position.
The main body section functions to cover the front pillar. The surface of the main body section may be covered with a skin material (not shown) as occasion demands in order to improve design effects. The skin material is a flocked plastic sheet or fabric. A seal member P6 made of rubber is disposed to cover the clearance between the pillar garnish and the front pillar and a welded section of the inner and outer panels for the purpose of trimming an end section of the pillar garnish at the side exposed to the eyes of a vehicle passenger. Additionally, the pillar garnish is provided at its backside surface with reinforcement ribs for the purpose of improving rigidity of the pillar garnish itself, such as flexural rigidity, torsional rigidity, rigidity under heating, and the like.
However, drawbacks have been encountered in the above conventional interior material or pillar garnish. That is to say, the reinforcement ribs of the pillar garnish serve as fixed ends in a resonance vibration system and therefore the main body section of the pillar garnish makes its resonance vibration under vibration and noise of the vehicle body during vehicle running and/or vibration due to wind whistling noise from the outside of the passenger compartment, so that the pillar garnish becomes a new vibration noise generating source. Accordingly, the noise and vibration characteristics inside the passenger compartment is degraded thereby obstructing clear conversation of passengers inside the passenger compartment.
Additionally, there is the possibility that the conventional pillar garnish is shifted in position and got out of its position or otherwise dented upon interference with the head or the hand of the passenger when the passenger gets on or off the vehicle, thereby degrading the inherent decorative function of the pillar garnish.

Interior material for automotive vehicle


Embodiments provide systems, methods and computer program products for artificial intelligence-based detection of delays in a shipping network that include training a machine learning model using a training set of in-flight snapshots to infer, based on a set of predictive features, whether a shipment having an estimated delivery dates will meet the estimated delivery date. The machine learning model represents a set of shipment statuses, a set of timings relative estimated delivery dates, and a set of shipment outcomes of the plurality of historical shipments.

Carriers of goods often provide computer-based tracking systems to allow consignees and recipients to track shipments. In some cases, the carrier systems assign shipments an estimated delivery date (EDD), which sets an expectation of arrival time for the consignee, or the recipient. For shipments in a supply chain, having an accurate EDD can be critical to efficient operation of downstream processes, such as just-in-time (JIT) manufacturing processes. For consumer goods, having an accurate EDD can allow a shipper to appropriately set customer expectations, thus increasing customer satisfaction.
Over fifteen percent of shipments arrive after the originally assigned EDD. If the carrier detects a material change to the expected timing of this shipment, that carrier may update the EDD. However, approximately half of these affected shipments (˜7.5%) do not receive an updated EDD until after the original EDD has passed or until the shipment is delivered late. In these cases, the recipient will be unaware of the delay, which can have a variety of consequences, from customer dissatisfaction to supply chain disruption.
Therefore, what is desired are systems and methods to accurately detect delays in a shipping network. Even more particularly, what is desired are systems and methods to accurately detect delays across heterogeneous outsourced carriers.

Systems and methods for AI-based detection of delays in a shipping network