A ball chair has a seat, a backrest assembly and a ball cushion. The seat has a top face, a passage defined in the top surface of the seat, at least three legs formed on the seat and each leg and a supporting base formed on seat. The backrest assembly mounted on the seat and has a bracket, an angle adjusting device, a locking device and a fixed arm. The bracket has two supporting tabs defined in the bottom of the bracket to abut against the supporting base. The ball cushion is mounted inside the passage in the seat. The ball chair provides functions as adjusting backrest angle and the backrest may be extended for convenient use.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a ball chair, and more particularly to a ball chair having multiple strengthening blocks at joints of the ball chair to avoid the ball chair from cracking at the joints.
2. Description of the Related Art
A conventional ball chair is composed of a chair and a ball-shaped cushion. With reference to FIGS. 5 and 6, the conventional chair has a seat (50), at least three legs (52), at least three wheels (53), a backrest (54), two arms (56), a ball cushion (60) and a positioning element (70). The seat (50) has with a top face (51), a bottom surface, a side edge, a recess (500) and a passage. The recess (500) is defined in the top surface of the seat (50) near the side edge. The passage is defined in the top face (51) of the seat (50) to receive the ball cushion (60). The legs (52) are attached to the bottom face of the seat (50) to support the ball chair. The wheels (53) are respectively attached to the legs (52). The backrest (54) has an inserted end (542) and presses the ball cushion (60), and the inserted end (542) is mounted inside the recess (500) in the seat (50). The arms (56) are mounted on the side edge of the seat plate (50) and opposite to each other for holding the ball cushion (60) in position. The positioning element (70) is mounted on the arms (56) for holding the ball cushion (60) in position.
When a user sits on the ball chair, the ball cushion (60) is pressed to deform forward. The user is only supported by the backrest (54) inserted into the recess (500), the seat (50) is broken easily at the sidewall of the recess (500) and the backrest (54) is broken easily. Further, the inserted end (542) of the backrest (54) must completely be inserted into the recess (500) in the seat (50), or a poor quality ball chair will be made. Therefore, the backrest (54) cannot provide an enough supporting effect to a user, the conventional ball chair is not safe and stable in use.
The present invention has arisen to mitigate or obviate the disadvantages of the conventional ball chair.


A method of associating two components in an object-oriented includes generating a component information management table. A first component refers to a second component deployed in a component execution module, the first component including component information on the second component. The management table includes the component information and a physical component name of the second component. The component information includes an external interface name and description of the second component. The physical component name of the second component is retrieved from the component information management table using the component information stored in the first component. The physical component name of the second component obtained from the retrieving step is associated with a logical component name stored in the first component.

The present invention relates to a method and device for associating names between two components in an enterprise application.
In order to provide rapid deployment and high profits, there has been a growing demand for rapid development, reduced development costs, and higher quality in enterprise applications. These demands have encouraged improved reusability and portability in enterprise applications, leading to the mainstream acceptance of the component model.
In the component model, task modules are collected into components. Components are deployed to a component execution module, which serves as an execution platform for the component. In deployment, an operator sets up component attributes that are dependent on the component execution module and installs the component in the component execution module.
One example of the component model is described in "Enterprise JavaBeans Specification, v1.1 (1999) from Sun Microsystems Corp. (US). In this example, components referred to as Enterprise Beans (hereinafter referred to as "EJB components") are deployed in EJB Containers serving as the component execution modules.
Another example of the component model is described in "Java 2 Platform, Enterprise Edition Specification, v1.2 (1999)" from Sun Microsystems Corp. (US). This document (hereinafter referred to as, "J2EE") is oriented toward the development of multi-level enterprise applications. Components are grouped within each level, and the grouped components are deployed to component execution modules associated with the components.
In the component model, a component can look up another component in order to establish cooperation between the components. For components to cooperate, during the deployment of the components, an association must be made between a logical component name, stored in the first component, of the second component referred to by the first component and a physical component name, stored in the second component, of the second component. A logical component name is a name that uniquely identifies the component among all other components. A physical component name is a name that uniquely identify the component within a given component execution module.
In the conventional technologies, logical component names are associated with physical component names by having the component deployer look up the component setting information in order to manually associate logical component names with physical component names one by one. The component settings information, which can take the form of a manual, includes a table that associates logical component names with physical component names and a table that associates physical component names with logical component names. Component information includes component types and the names of external interfaces, which are the interfaces used to operate components from outside the component execution module. Component information can also include component descriptions that describe components. The component deployer can use the component descriptions to identify the components.

Method for associating names and device for the same in enterprise applications


Devices, kits, and methods of treatment are described. More particularly, methods of treating tissue of a passage wall defining a bodily passage, such as a sinus cavity, airway, or sinus passage are described. An exemplary method utilizes an elongate member having an elongate member proximal end, elongate member distal end, and an elongate member body that defines a curve.

To treat stenosis—the narrowing of a bodily passage—physicians frequently dilate the bodily passage using a balloon catheter. For example, when functioning normally, sinus passages allow mucus to drain from the sinus cavities and allow air to circulate throughout the respiratory system. However, when a sinus passage, such as an ostium, becomes blocked and prevents the outflow of material from a sinus cavity, infection can occur resulting in sinusitis.
To treat these conditions, physicians sometimes systematically administer drugs at a treatment site within the sinus or prescribe antibiotics to reduce inflammation and/or treat the infection. Alternatively, balloon sinuplasty—the dilation of a sinus passage using a balloon catheter—can be performed to unblock the sinus passage. Conventional sinuplasty procedures advance a balloon catheter over a previously placed guide wire and move the balloon to an inflated configuration to effectuate dilation and unblock the obstructed passage. However, these procedures are complicated by the need to navigate and position the guide wire prior to positioning the balloon catheter at a point of treatment (e.g., within an ostium). For example, the guide wire must be advanced through the nasal passage and then navigated through the ostium, which may be disposed at an abrupt angle to the nasal passage. The structural arrangement of the nasal passage relative to the ostium increases the difficulty and time required to advance the guide wire through the ostium such that a balloon catheter can be advanced to the point of treatment.
Therefore, a need exists for improved devices, methods, and kits for locating and treating tissue in a wall defining a bodily passage, such as a sinus passage, airway, or sinus cavity.

Methods of locating and treating tissue in a wall defining a bodily passage


A tool for shutting off water supplies is disclosed. A variety of water supply valves can be controlled with a single too. The tool has different fittings on each end, such as wrenches. The wrenches may be of variable width to accommodate a large number of water supply valves. A bar is inserted into rings provided on the tool to provide substantial torque to open and close the water supply valves. The tool can be readily stored and carried on utility or fire trucks.

A universal tool which can control the water supply plumbing during repairs wherever the problem is located is greatly needed. Presently, miscellaneous tools are used and one must know where the problem is located in order to know what type of tool and which municipal department should be called. Presently, a plumber may be contacted regarding leaky plumbing. By the time he determines where the problem area is and determines what tools may be needed, substantial water damage has already occurred. At the present time, the plumber must determine the location of the leak. If the water supply should be turned off within building, one type of tool is required. If the water supply must be turned off at the street, another tool is required. If the water supply must be turned off at the street or fire hydrant, Emergency Services must be called in most cities. Therefore, minimizing the amount of time required to get the proper tool in the selected location will minimize water spillage and damage from any given water supply problem.
At present, when a fire hydrant is damaged, as when a motorist drives over a hydrant, water gushes out. If the fire department is called, and if a fire engine is first on the scene, there are typically no tools or inadequate tools available to shut off the utility water supply. The fire hydrant can be turned off by the fire department, but the utility water controls require a different tool because the fixture turning the water and off is different than on a fire hydrant. The municipal water supplier is then called to turn off the utility water valve. By the time the municipal water supplier truck arrives at the scene with the utility shut off tool, large amounts of water have been released into the streets.


Provided is a method for encoding scatterplot data using strings. The method may comprise receiving a plurality of data points in a data set. Each data point has at least a first data value corresponding to a first dimension and a second data value corresponding to a second dimension. The method further comprises determining a first resolution for the first dimension and a second resolution for the second dimension. The method further comprises determining an encoding scheme for encoding the plurality of data points. The encoding scheme includes a plurality of valid encoding characters. The method further comprises encoding each of the plurality of data points based on the first resolution, the second resolution, and the encoding scheme.

The present disclosure relates generally to the field of computing, and more particularly to compression of scatterplot data.
In signal processing, data compression, source coding, or bit-rate reduction involves encoding information using fewer bits than the original representation. Compression can be either lossy or lossless. Lossless compression reduces bits by identifying and eliminating statistical redundancy. No information is lost in lossless compression. Lossy compression reduces bits by removing unnecessary or less important information. The process of reducing the size of a data file is often referred to as data compression

International Business Machines Corporation


Parameters of a pore-scale geometric model of a clastic earth formation are adjusted so that the output of the model matches measurements made one a core sample. Additional properties of the earth formation are predicted using the pore-scale model. The additional properties may be based on additional measurements of properties of a fluid in the formation.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention is related generally to methods of interpretation of properties of subterranean earth formations using measurements made by a formation evaluation sensor or sensors. Specifically, the invention is directed towards the use of modeling methods that enable the prediction of properties that are not measured by the formation evaluation sensor or sensors.
2. Background of the Art
Oil or gas wells are often surveyed to determine one or more geological, petrophysical, geophysical, and well production properties ("parameters of interest") using electronic measuring instruments conveyed into the borehole by an umbilical such as a cable, a wireline, slickline, drill pipe or coiled tubing. Tools adapted to perform such surveys are commonly referred to as formation evaluation (FE) tools. These tools use electrical, acoustical, nuclear and/or magnetic energy to stimulate the formations and fluids within the borehole and measure the response of the formations and fluids. The measurements made by downhole instruments are transmitted back to the surface.
In order to reduce the amount of rig time needed for wireline logging, it is common practice to run multiple sensors in a single run. FOCUS™, from Baker Atlas Inc., is a high efficiency premium open hole logging system. All of the downhole instruments have been redesigned, incorporating advanced downhole sensor technology, into shorter, lighter, more reliable logging instruments, capable of providing formation evaluation measurements with the same precision and accuracy as the industry's highest quality sensors, at much higher logging speeds. Logging speeds are up to twice the speed of conventional triple-combo and quad combo logging tool strings. Speeds of up to 3600 ft/hr (1080 m/min) are possible. The logging system may include four standard major open-hole measurements (resistivity, density, neutron, acoustic) plus auxiliary services.
Some petrophysical properties are easily obtained from downhole FE measurements. These include porosity, bulk density, NMR relaxation T1 and T2 spectra, and compressional and shear wave velocities. Other petrophysical properties that are of importance in reservoir evaluation and development are difficult if not impossible to measure. Properties that are difficult or impossible to measure include, for example permeability, relative permeability, resistivity formation factor, capillary pressure, and NMR surface relaxivity. These are typically derived from correlations or petrophysical relationships.
One of the problems with relating the different petrophysical properties of an earth formation to each other is that they are all macroscopically measured quantities that depend ultimately on the microscopic arrangement of the constituents of the earth formation. An early attempt at predicting macroscopic properties based on microscopic models is due to Gassmann (1951) in which the earth formation is modeled as a hexagonal close packing of equal-sized elastic spheres. Based on this simplistic model, it is possible to predict the stress dependence of the packing in terms of the moduli of the constituent spheres.
The earth, of course, is not made out of a hexagonal close packing of equal-size elastic spheres. Finney (1968) measured the spatial coordinates of some 8000 spheres in a random packing of spheres, thereby completely determining the geometry of the microstructure of the packing. This packing may be regarded as a physical model of a clean sediment of well-sorted sand grains. The term "sorting" refers to the distribution of grain sizes: a poorly sorted sandstone has a large range of grain sizes while a well sorted sandstone has grains of substantially the same size. Such sediments can be deposited in a wide spectrum of depositional environments, from nonmarine to basinal deep water. The model developed by Finney is primarily applicable to earth formations comprised of compacted clastic sediments. The term "clastic" refers to rocks made up of fragments of preexisting rocks. Based on the model of Finney, there have been numerous papers that discuss the prediction of formation properties. For example, Bryant and Raikes (1995) used the central core of 3367 spheres in Finney's pack, which has a porosity of 36.2% to try to predict elastic wave velocities in sandstones. In Toumellin et al. (2004), the NMR response of porous rocks was simulated using a continuous, three-dimensional (3D) random-walk algorithm. Diffusion pathways of individual fluid molecules are determined within the 3-D porous model. The method of Toumellin allows the rigorous treatment of T1 and T2 relaxation times with a minimum of assumptions and for arbitrary pulse sequences. Toumellin also discusses the numerical accuracy of the simulation. The results reproduce NMR decay and build-up while accounting for restricted diffusion in porous media, fluid wettabilities, and fluid spatial distributions.
By far the greatest amount of work using pore scale models has been in the area of determination of formation permeability. Valvatne et al. (2003) use pore-scale modeling in which the pore-size distribution is altered to match the capillary injection pressure for different tock types. In addition, for water flooding, contact angles are adjusted to match the measured wettability indices. Gladkikh and Bryant (2004) discuss the use of pore-scale modeling of wetting phase imbibition in porous media. Much of the pioneering work in pore-scale modeling for permeability determination is discussed in papers co-authored by Bryant. What is lacking in prior art is a compact discussion of the interrelation between the different petrophysical parameters that may be determined, and their applicability to hydrocarbon exploration in clastic sediments. The presentinvention addresses this need.

Pore-scale geometric models for interpretation of downhole formation evaluation data


A system for allowing players to play a bingo-type game is described herein. The system includes a system controller that is coupled to a plurality of user computing devices. The system controller is configured to display the bingo-type game including a plurality of symbol positions being displayed in a grid. Each symbol position is associated with a card symbol. The system controller randomly selects a plurality of player symbols, displays the player symbols in the symbol positions, randomly selects a plurality of bingo symbols, determines if each one of the plurality of bingo symbols matches a corresponding one of the plurality of player symbols, identifies each card symbol associated with each matched player symbol, determines a combination formed by each of the identified card symbols, and provides the player an award if the determined combination of card symbols forms a winning combination.

At least some known gaming systems display video based games such as bingo-type games that allow players to purchase bingo cards for use in playing the bingo-type game. Each bingo card includes a randomly selected sub-set of numbers from a pre-defined set of numbers. During play of the bingo-type game, the gaming system conducts a draw in which a plurality of numbers are randomly selected from the predefined set of numbers. During the draw, the player compares the drawn number with the numbers displayed on the purchased bingo cards to determine if a match occurs between the drawn number and the numbers displayed on the bingo cards. The player marks, or daubs, each corresponding matched number on the bingo card and indicates a winning outcome when the matched numbers form a complete row and/or column on the bingo card. The gaming system verifies the winning outcome and responsively provides an award to the player based on the winning outcome indicated on the bingo card.
Over time, during game play, the player may become frustrated because the chances of receiving an award are based only on the number of matches made between the numbers selected during the draw and the predefined set of numbers displayed on the player's bingo card. Accordingly, new features are necessary to appeal to player interest and enhance excitement in order to entice longer play and increased profitability. The present invention is directed to satisfying these needs.

System and method for allowing players to play matching games with card symbols


A duplexer device of this invention includes two surface acoustic wave filters having different band center frequencies and a phase matching circuit for matching phases of the two surface acoustic wave filters. The phase matching circuit is composed of one or more. line patterns, and at least one of the line patterns is formed as divided among a plurality of internal layers of a multi-layer package, and at least the line patterns formed on the internal layers adjacent to each other have pattern shapes different from each other. According to the invention, a duplexer device having a small size and stable filter characteristics can be provided.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a duplexer device, and particularly, it relates to a duplexer device using a surface acoustic wave filter.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, in connection with the development of mobile communication systems, a portable phone and a portable information terminal have been quickly spread and have been demanded to have a small size and high performance.
The frequency bands used include various ranges, such as an 800 MHz to 1 GHz band and a 1.5 GHz to 2.0 GHz band.
In the development of portable phones in recent years, terminals are made to have high performance by having dual mode (such as a combination of an analog mode and a digital mode, and a combination of two digital modes, TDMA (time division multiple access) and CDMA (code division multiple access)) and dual band (a combination of a 800 MHz band and a 1.9 GHz band, and a combination of 900 MHz band and a 1.8 GHz band or a 1.5 GHz band).
Under the circumstances, parts used in the portable phone (such as a filter) are also demanded to have high performance. Furthermore, miniaturization and a low production cost are also assumedly demanded in addition to the high performance.
In the mobile communication equipments, an antenna duplexer is used as a component of an RF (radio frequency) part conducting branching and generation of signals transmitted and received by an antenna.
FIG. 20 shows a constitutional block diagram of a radio frequency part of a portable phone that has been conventionally used.
An audio signal 100 input from a microphone is transformed into a modulation signal of the modulation mode of the portable phone system by a modulator 101, and after further transformed into a prescribed carrier frequency by a local oscillator 108, it passes through an inter-stage filter 102 selecting only a signal of the prescribed transmission frequency and amplified to a desired signal intensity by a power amplifier 103 to feed in an antenna duplexer 105. The antenna duplexer 105 feeds only a signal of the prescribed transmission frequency to an antenna 104, which is then transmitted to the air as a radio signal from the antenna 104.
On the other hand, a signal received by the antenna 104 is fed to the antenna duplexer 105, and only a signal of a prescribed frequency is selected. The selected reception signal is amplified by a low noise amplifier 106, and after passing through an inter-stage filter 107, only a message signal is selected by an IF filter and taken out as an audio signal 100 by a demodulator 111. The antenna duplexer 105 is positioned between the antenna 104 and the so-called audio signal processing circuit and distributes the transmission signal and the reception signal to prevent interference of them.
An antenna duplexer requires at least a transmission filter and a reception filter and also has a matching circuit (which is also referred to as a phase matching circuit or a line pattern for phase matching) for preventing interference of the transmission signal and the reception signal.
An antenna duplexer of the high performance terminal includes a duplexer using a dielectric material, a composite duplexer using a surface acoustic wave filter with a dielectric material in at least one filter, and a duplexer using only a surface acoustic wave filter. The duplexer using a dielectric material has a large size, and thus it is difficult to produce a portable terminal equipment of a compact size and a small thickness.
In the case of an antenna duplexer using a surface acoustic wave filter in one filter, it is difficult to achieve a compact size and a small thickness due to the size of the dielectric material device.
The conventional duplexer device using a surface acoustic wave filter includes a modular type having a filter and a matching circuit separately carried on a printed circuit board and a one-piece type having transmission, and reception filter chips in a multi-layer ceramic package and a matching circuit inside the duplexer package.
The duplexer device of this type has a compact size and a small thickness, i.e., from ⅓to {fraction (1/15)} in volume and from xc2xd to ⅓ in height of the conventional duplexer using a dielectric material. It is possible to realize the equivalent cost to the dielectric material device by using the surface acoustic wave device and by reducing the device size.
A further demand is expected to reduce the size of the duplexer, and it is necessary therefor to use a structure using a multi-layer ceramic package disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Publication No. Hei 10(1998)-126213, to provide two filters on one chip to apply a flip chip mounting technique using no wire connection. In either case, a xe2x80x9cduplexer packagexe2x80x9d is capable of airtightly sealing two surface accostic wave filters and a xe2x80x9cmatching circuitxe2x80x9d to constitute a duplexer with the two filters.
That is, in order to realize a duplexer device of a compact size and a low cost, it is demand ed to mass-produce duplexer packages having stable characteristics. In order to mass-produce duplexer packages, such a process has been used that package devices are arranged on a ceramic multi-layer sheet in a matrix form, which is divided into respective chips in the final stage after baking. The process is recently improved so that, instead of a sheet (shown in FIG. 4) having the waste part among the respective devices, it is used a sheet of a fine matrix arrangement (shown in FIG. 5) having devices directly arranged, whereby the number of produced devices is improved. In FIGS. 4 and 5, the respective squares indicate duplexer devices. The multi-layer sheet is formed by stacking, for example, five ceramic sheets. The duplexer package is produced mainly by the stacking step and the baking step subsequently conducted.
What is brought question is accuracy influenced by deviation of layer accumulation caused upon making a multi-layer structure of plural ceramic sheets.
FIG. 6 shows a cross sectional structure of a conventional duplexer.
The conventional duplexer shown in FIG. 6 has a five-layer structure of from a layer 1 (L1) to a layer 5 (L5), and a lid 5 is arranged on the layer 1 (L1) as the uppermost layer. Filter chips 2 and 3 are mounted on a surface of the layer 4 (L4), and connection terminals on the filter chip and bonding terminals on the layer (L2) are connected with wires 4.
Connection terminals to an outside circuit are arranged on a back surface of the layer 5 (L5).
A line pattern 1 of a phase matching circuit is formed on a surface of the layer 3 (L3) as an internal layer. Furthermore, a side castellation 6 as a connection path to the connection terminal of the layer 5 (L5) is formed from the layer 2 (L2) having the bonding terminals to the back surface of the layer 5 (L5) as the lowermost layer.
Along with reduction in size of a duplexer package, the thickness in the width direction on the side surface of the package is also decreased, and thus such a problem (short circuit problem) occurs in that a pattern formed in the internal layer (for example, the line pattern 1 for phase matching) is in contact with a pattern of the connection part 6 (side castellation) formed on the side surface of the package caused by deviation upon stack of the layers.
When the number of layers, on which the side castellation 6 is formed, is decreased to prevent the contact, the positional accuracy becomes more severe. In the case where the line pattern for phase matching is formed over the plural layers to overlap the upper and lower line patterns, other problems occur in that the characteristics are different from the designed value, and stable characteristics cannot be obtained.
FIGS. 11 to 13 are diagrams for showing simulation results of the phase rotational amount of the line pattern of the conventional phase matching circuit.
FIG. 11 shows the case where a line pattern a is formed in one layer, which has such a structure that the line pattern a is sandwiched by GND patterns (b and c) formed in the upper layer and the lower layer.
Herein, a distance L1 is 0.5 mm, L2 is 0.6 mm, a dielectric constant ∈r is 9.5, a line width W1 of the line pattern is 0.1 mm, and a line length L0 thereof is 24 mm.
FIG. 12 shows the case where one matching circuit is formed as dividing as line patterns a1 and a2 in separate two layers, which has such a structure that the line patterns a1 and a2 are arranged at positions overlapping each other in the vertical direction, i.e., the overlapping direction of the layers, and are sandwiched by GND patterns b and c.
Herein, a distance L3 is 0.5 mm, L4 is 0.3 mm, and L5 is 0.3 mm, and the line width W1 and the line length L0 are the same as in FIG. 11.
FIG. 13 shows the case where one matching circuit is formed as dividing as line patterns a1, a2 and a3 in separate three layers, which has such a structure that the line patterns a1, a2 and a3 are arranged at positions overlapping each other in the direction perpendicular to the paper surface, and are sandwiched by GND patterns b and c. Herein, a distance L6 is 0.3 mm, L7 is 0.2 mm, L8 is 0.3 mm, and L9 is 0.3 mm, and the line width W1 and the line length L0 are the same as in FIG. 11.
It is understood that the phase rotational amount is about 188xc2x0 in the pattern formed in one layer, whereas the rotational amount is decreased to 132xc2x0 and 105xc2x0 when the patterns of the same length are formed by folding as two or three layers as shown in FIGS. 12 and 13. The decrease in rotational amount means deterioration of the matching property among the frequency characteristics of the filter.
Because an antenna duplexer device is used in frequency bands of several hundreds MHz to several GHz, desired frequency characteristics are realized by providing a large number of connection terminals as possible on the duplexer package, and therefore the connection terminals are often formed on peripheries of all the edges of the package. That is, slight deviation in layer accumulation of the multi-layer sheet causes a short circuit problem.
When the patterns form a short circuit, the circuit of the duplexer cannot be constituted, and the desired filter characteristics of the duplexer device cannot be obtained to produce a defective product. Furthermore, in the case where the line patterns of the matching circuit overlap in the upper and lower layers as in FIG. 12, a capacitive coupling is formed between the line patterns a1 and a2, whereby even though the line length is the same, the rotational amount is decreased from the desired designed phase rotational amount, or a leakage signal is formed in the characteristics of the signal terminals. As a result, the frequency characteristics of the two filters constituting the duplexer are deteriorated.
The invention relates to a duplexer device comprising two surface acoustic wave filters having different band center frequencies and a phase matching circuit for matching phases of the two surface acoustic wave filters, wherein the phase matching circuit is composed of one or more line patterns, and at least one of the line patterns is formed as divided among a plurality of internal layers of a multi-layer package, and at least the line. patterns formed on the internal layers adjacent to each other have pattern shapes different from each other.
According to the constitution, a duplexer device having stable filter characteristics and high performance can be provided with low costs in a smaller size than the conventional one.


Apparatus and methods for fabricating nanofibers by reactive electrospinning are described. An electrospinning process is coupled with an in-line reactor where chemical or photochemical reactions take place. This invention expands the application of the electrospinning and allows the production of nanofibers of crosslinked polymers and other new materials, such as gel nanofibers of ceramic precursors.

Nanofibers are thin small fibers, with typical diameters ranging from tens to hundreds of nanometers, up to about 1 micrometer. Nanofibers have been formed from polymers, carbon, and ceramic. Nanofibers have attracted great interest because of their extraordinarily high surface area and length-to-width ratio, as well as their unique physical and mechanical properties. Nanofibers are being used in such areas as filtration, fiber-reinforced nanocomposites, wound dressing, drug delivery, artificial organs, micro-electrical systems, and micro-optical systems. However, fabrication of nanofibers is very challenging due to their minute diameters. Traditional methods, such as formation in porous solids or at the step-edges of laminated crystals, are often ineffective and costly. An alternative method is electrostatic fiber formation or electrospinning. Electrospinning is a relatively simple and versatile method.
In electrospinning, a high voltage (e.g., ˜3 to ˜50 kV) is applied between a target (or collector) and a conducting capillary into which a polymer solution or melt is injected. The high voltage can also be applied to the solution or melt through a wire if the capillary is a nonconductor such as a glass pipette. The collector may be a metal plate or screen, a rotating drum, or even a liquid bath if the capillary is vertical. Initially the solution at the open tip of the capillary is pulled into a conical shape (the so-called "Taylor cone") through the interplay of electrical force and surface tension. At a certain voltage range, a fine jet of polymer solution (or melt) forms at the tip of the Taylor cone and shoots toward the target. Forces from the electric field accelerate and stretch the jet. This stretching, together with evaporation of solvent molecules, causes the jet diameter to become smaller. As the jet diameter decreases, the charge density increases until electrostatic forces within the polymer overcome the cohesive forces holding the jet together (e.g., surface tension), causing the jet to split or "splay" into a multifilament of polymer fibers. The fibers continue to splay until they reach the collector, where they are collected as nonwoven fibers, and are optionally dried. The diameter of an electrospun nanofiber is typically between about 50 nm and about 5 μm. High-speed photographic studies have suggested that, at least in some cases, what had appeared to be a multifilament was in fact a single, ultrafine fiber, being whipped very rapidly.
A wide variety of polymers have been electrospun from solutions and melts. A large number of papers describing the electrospinning process have been published, particularly in the past decade. Two recent review articles summarizing the state of the art are A. Frenot et al., "Polymer nanofibers assembled by electrospinning," Current Opinion in Colloid and Interface Science, vol. 8, pp. 64-75 (2003); and Z. Huang et al., "A review on polymer nanofibers by electrospinning and their applications in nanocomposites," Composites Science and Technology, vol. 63, pp. 2223-2253 (2003).
Baker D A, Brown P J. Reactive routes to making modified nanofiber structures via electrospinning. Polymer Preprints (2003), 44(2), 118-119 reported the addition of azides to polymer solutions prior to electrospinning. The azides could react, crosslink, functionalize, and covalently bind polymer chains. Electrospinning mixtures of polymers with the additives could be used for the covalent binding of synthetic polymers with natural polymers in a single manufacturing step. It was said that applying heat or UV light during electrospinning was said to modify nanofiber substrates either during the fiber formation process or by post-spin treatments; however, the only successful experimental results reported were apparently for post-spin reaction and cross-linking. The experimental procedures reported the preparation of solutions containing polymer and azide crosslinking agents. The solutions were then weighed, sealed, and checked for solvent loss during the time taken for dissolution. After an unspecified lapse of time, the solutions were later used in electrospinning procedures. The reaction and crosslinking in these experiments apparently did not take place until a post-spinning thermal analysis step.
Cross-linked polymers, hydrogels, hyperbranched polymers, and dendrimers have properties that differ from those of otherwise-comparable linear polymers. For example, they often have higher chemical stability and improved mechanical properties. They often possess unique chemical properties and functionalities. Such polymers have been used in diverse applications including coatings, composite resins, controlled drug release, organic-inorganic hybrid materials, solid supports for catalysts, and supports for chromatography or ion-exchange resins. However, highly cross-linked polymers and hyperbranched polymers are generally difficult to form as fibers through prior techniques, and even more difficult to form into nanofibers, because they typically have low solubility, and they typically will not melt without undergoing heat-induced decomposition, due to the strong intermolecular bonding or entanglement of the polymer molecules and the formation of polymer networks.
Ding, B. et al, "Preparation and characterization of a nanoscale poly(vinyl alcohol) fiber aggregate produced by an electrospinning method," J. Poly. Sci. B: Poly. Phys., (2002), 40, 1261-1268, reported the preparation of crosslinked poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) nanofibers (100-500 nm) by first mixing 0˜10% glyoxal (a crosslinking agent) and phosphoric acid (as a catalyst) with a 10% PVA-water solution, then electrospinning the mixed solution at room temperature, followed by post-spinning thermal curing of the electrospun-PVA fiber in an oven at 120° C. for 5 min. It was reported that the crosslinked PVA fiber aggregates were more hydrophobic, and that they exhibited better mechanical properties.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,382,526 discloses a process for forming nanofibers by comprising the steps of feeding a fiber-forming material into an annular column, the column having an exit orifice, directing the fiber-forming material into a gas jet space, thereby forming an annular film of fiber-forming material, the annular film having an inner circumference, simultaneously forcing gas through a gas column, which is concentrically positioned within the annular column, and into the gas jet space, thereby causing the gas to contact the inner circumference of the annular film, and ejects the fiber-forming material from the exit orifice of the annular column in the form of a plurality of strands of fiber-forming material that solidify and form nanofibers having a diameter up to about 3,000 nanometers.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,520,425 discloses a nozzle for forming nanofibers by using a pressurized gas stream comprising a center tube, a first supply tube that is positioned concentrically around and apart from the center tube, a middle gas tube positioned concentrically around and apart from the first supply tube, and a second supply rube positioned concentrically around and apart from the middle gas tube. The center tube and first supply tube form a first annular column. The middle gas tube and the first supply tube form a second annular column. The middle gas tube and second supply tube form a third annular column. The tubes are positioned so that first and second gas jet spaces are created between the lower ends of the center tube and first supply tube, and the middle gas tube and second supply tube, respectively.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,308,509 discloses nanofibers having a diameter ranging from about 4 to 1 nm, and a nano denier of about 10−9. The use of the electro-spinning process permits production of the desired nanofibrils. These fibrils in combination with a carrier or strengthening fibers/filaments can be converted directly into nonwoven fibrous assemblies or converted into linear assemblies (yarns) before weaving, braiding or knitting into 2-dimensional and 3-dimensional fabrics. The electrospun fiber can be fed in an air vortex spinning apparatus developed to form a linear fibrous assembly. The process makes use of an air stream in a properly confined cavity. The vortex of air provides a gentle means to convert a mixture of the fibril fed directly or indirectly from the ESP unit and a fiber mass or filament into an integral assembly with proper level of orientation. Incorporation of thus produced woven products into tissue engineering is part of the present invention.
Published international patent application WO 01/27365 discloses a fiber comprising a substantially homogeneous mixture of a hydrophilic polymer and a polymer that is at least weakly hydrophobic. The fiber optionally contains a pH adjusting compound. A method of making the fiber is disclosed, electrospinning fibers of the substantially homogeneous polymer solution. The fibers are disclosed as having application for dressing wounds.
Recently, submicron fibers and nanofibers of ceramic oxides, such as silica and alumina-borate have been reported using a sol-gel process and electrospinning. See C. Shao et al., "A novel method for making silica nanofibres by using electrospun fibres of polyvinylalcohol/silica composite as precursor," Nanotechnology, vol. 13, pp. 635-637 (2002); and H. Dai et al., "A novel method for preparing ultra-fine alumina-borate oxide fibres via an electrospinning technique," Nanotechnology, vol. 13, pp. 674-677 (2002). A typical process includes (1) acid hydrolysis of organometallic precursors such as tetraethyloxysilane (TEOS) to form a colloid solution (sol), (2) mixing the sol with an aqueous or alcohol solution of a polymer such as polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), and digesting to form a viscous sol; (3) electrospinning the sol to form a silica/PVA composite gel fiber; (4) calcination or sintering the gel fiber to yield a porous silica or alumina fiber. TiO2 and SnO2 nanofibers have been prepared by electrospinning a titanium tetraisopropoxide (Ti(OiPr)4)/poly(vinyl pyrrolidone)(PVP) solution, or a tin (IV) tetraisopropoxide (Sn(OiPr)4) / PVP / ethanol solution, followed by rapid hydrolysis by moisture in air, and calcination. See D. Li et al., "Fabrication of titania nanofibers by electrospinning," Nano Letters, vol. 3, pp. 555-560 (2003); and D. Li et al., "Electrospinning of polymeric and ceramic nanofibers as uniaxially aligned arrays," Nano Letters, vol. 3, pp. 1167-1171 (2003). Because the composite gel fibers produced by these processes have contained high levels of organic polymers (typically, about 30% to 66% PVA or PVP), removal of the polymer by calcination has left substantial voids in the final ceramic nanofibers, voids that cannot be healed by calcination or sintering. Such porous ceramic oxide nanofibers have a large-surface area, and may be used in catalysts, filtration, or absorbents. However, they are not well-suited for use as reinforcing elements due to their poor mechanical properties.
Bioactive materials, such as bioactive glass, hydroxyapatite, and glass-ceramic A-W can react with biological fluids, and can bond directly to living bone. They have been used in orthopedic and dental implants and cements. However, such materials have had low fracture toughness. Zirconia and titania ceramics have been used to reinforce the bioactive materials. See T. Kasuga et al., "Bioactive glass-ceramic composite toughened by tetragonal zirconia," pp. 137-142 in Yamamuro et al. (Eds.), CRC Handbook of Bioactive Ceramics, Volume 1 (1990); and Kokubo et al, "Novel bioactive materials with different mechanical properties," Biomaterials, vol. 24, pp. 2161-2175 (2003). To the inventor's knowledge, however, zirconia-reinforced bioactive glass-ceramic nanofibers or zirconia nanofiber-reinforced bioactive glass-ceramics have not previously been reported.
The fabrication of α-alumina nanofibers by sol-gel chemistry and electrospinning was reported by G. Larsen et al., "A method for making inorganic and hybrid (organic/inorganic) fibers and vesicles with diameters in the submicrometer and micrometer range via sol-gel chemistry and electrically forced liquid jets," J. Am. Chem. Soc., vol. 125, pp. 1154-1155 (2003).
Zirconia-based ceramics have superior properties such chemical resistance, thermal stability, high mechanical strength and toughness, high ionic conductivity, and catalytic properties. Zirconia has been widely used in engineering and technological applications. In recent years, zirconia-based ceramics have gained popularity in medical devices and dentistry because of their excellent esthetics, biocompatibility, and high toughness. Zirconia particles and nanoparticles have been used as fillers in dental composites to increase both radiopacity and resistance to hydrolytic degradation. There is an unfilled need for dense ZrO2—SiO2 and ZrO2—Y2O3 nanofibers for use as reinforcement fillers in dental composites. Zirconia-based ceramic nanofibers will significantly increase the mechanical strength and fracture toughness of dental composites, while satisfying the stringent requirements for color and translucency needed for such- purposes. Current commercially available zirconia fibers are too thick for such applications (5˜10 μm), because their resulting composites are highly opaque.
To the knowledge of the inventor, continuous, dense zirconia-based nanofibers have not previously been reported. Nor have there been prior reports of any method for the direct fabrication of dense ceramic nanofibers through precursor gel nanofibers by electrospinning, without the incorporation of a significant amount of organic polymer.
The production of continuous nanofibers by electrospinning requires polymers (or other macromolecules) in the form of a solution or melt. A solution or suspension of discrete small molecules, including, e.g., monomers, oligomers, colloids, or nanoparticles, cannot ordinarily be electrospun into a continuous nanofiber, but instead through an electrospray will produce droplets or nanoparticles. There is an unfilled need for a method to make continuous, cross-linked or hyperbranched polymer nanofibers, including crosslinked hydrogel nanofibers. There is an unfilled need for a method to modify the chemical or physical properties of polymers in nanofibers to yield cross-linked polymer nanofibers and other nanofiber materials that are difficult or impossible to make by existing techniques. To the inventor's knowledge, no prior work has reported the successful production of nanofibers or crosslinked nanofibers by electrospinning, in which polymerization or cross-linking reactions occur during or immediately prior to the electrospinning itself, as opposed to reactions that have occurred substantially before or substantially after the electrospinning process.

Process of fabricating nanofibers by reactive electrospinning

Board of Supervisors of Louisiana State Universtiy and Agricultural and Mechanical College, on behalf of The University of New Orleans


A stanchion with sleeve includes an elongated member secured to a fixed structure and extending generally linearly away from the fixed structure. The sleeve has an elongated body extending curvilinearly between two opposing ends. An interior cavity extends along the sleeve and through one end of the sleeve. The interior cavity has a cross-sectional shape adapted for slip fit engagement with the stanchion post. The sleeve is formed with a curve for receiving the stanchion post in the interior cavity in force fit engagement.

The present invention generally relates to guard rails, and more particularly relates to a protective stanchion or post.
Guard rail systems, including individual stanchions or posts, are commonly found in industrial settings where, for example, protection of a building structure or fixed equipment, from vehicular traffic and the like is desired. Further, guard posts or protective stanchions are commonly found in public parking lots and the like to preserve a drive-up telephone booth, for example, or otherwise provide a protective function.
Commonly known guard posts and protective stanchions often comprise a steel post set in the ground or pavement with a portion of the post projecting a desired amount above the pavement surface, commonly on the order of about four feet or so. To enhance the durability of such a steel pipe stanchion, one may fill the steel pipe with concrete. This both closes the interior of the pipe to environmental deterioration and enhances the structural integrity and impact absorbing qualities of the stanchion. Further, such stanchions are typically painted to preserve the exterior of the stanchion and resist deterioration by rusting or the like. Protective stanchions are also painted to provide a high visibility color for the stanchion.
However, such prior known steps to enhance the durability of a protective stanchion, including painting, are typically labor-intensive and require repetitive maintenance to repair chipped paint, worn surfaces, or discoloration over time. Thus, one will readily recognize a present need for a protective stanchion with a durable exterior to minimize repetitive maintenance requirements.

Stanchion with sleeve and method of using same


A semiconductor device is provided, which aims to reduce the standby power thereof by reducing the leak between a body and a drain with restraining the effect on a threshold voltage, in order to actualize the highly reliable semiconductor device. When extension regions are formed, an n-type impurity less diffusive than phosphorus (P+), for example, arsenic (As+) is used as an impurity. In addition to ordinary ion implantation with high dose (high concentration) and low acceleration energy, As+ ions are implanted with low dose and high acceleration energy.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor device in which a source/drain is formed into two-layer structure having shallow and deep junctions, and a manufacturing method thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, it has become valued to reduce the standby power of a semiconductor chip, with the wide use of a cellular phone, a PDA (personal digital assistants) and the like. As a direct method for reducing the standby power of the semiconductor chip, it is known to reduce the off-state current (Ioff) of a transistor. In the concrete, since a high threshold voltage (Vth) achieves low Ioff, the dose of ion implantation for forming pocket regions, which are provided to improve the roll-off characteristics of the threshold voltage (Vth) and current drive capacity, and for controlling Vth is increased for the purpose of obtaining high Vth.
Patent document 1: Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2003-31798.
Patent document 2: Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 6-224381.
A highly scaled transistor having short gate length (Lg), however, has an abrupt junction and high channel impurity concentration. Thus, increase in the dose of ion implantation for forming the pocket regions and controlling Vth can increase Vth, but also increase the leak between a body (a substrate and a semiconductor region) and a drain. As a result, there is a problem that Ioff is increased.
This situation will be described with reference to FIGS. 11 and 12.
FIG. 11 is a schematic sectional view of a transistor which explains the current components of Ioff. Ioff is expressed by the sum of the leak between the gate and a drain (GD leak), the leak between a source and the drain (SD leak), and the leak between a body and the drain (BD leak). FIG. 12 shows variation in the gate voltage-drain current (Vg-Id) characteristic of transistors having a gate length of 80 nm, when the dose of ion implantation for forming the pocket regions is increased.
Vth increases as the dose for forming the pocket regions increases. When the dose exceeds a certain value, however, Ioff depends on the BD leak due to increase in the BD leak, so that Ioff is minimized before the certain value. If the BD leak is restrained without varying Vth of the transistor, as shown in FIG. 13, it becomes possible to actualize lower Ioff.
Ordinary, phosphorus (P+) is used for forming the extension regions (or an LDD layer), in order to reduce the BD leak of an n-type MOS transistor. In this method, however, since the diffusion of P+ is large, Vth decreases in the transistor having a short gate length, so that Ioff does not become lower.

Semiconductor device and manufacturing method thereof


The disclosure includes a system, method and tangible memory for providing a vehicular barometric pressure reading. The system includes a plurality of electronic sensor devices configured to record first barometric pressure data describing a first barometric pressure associated with the vehicle. Each of the electronic sensor devices may record a separate barometric pressure reading associated with the vehicle. The system may further include an onboard vehicle computer that is communicatively coupled to the plurality of electronic sensor devices and programmed to (1) analyze the separate barometric pressure readings to determine, for each of the electronic sensor devices, a confidence factor indicating a confidence in the accuracy of the barometric pressure reading for each of the electronic sensor devices and (2) determine whether to provide a sensor service recommendation based on the confidence factor.

The specification relates to a mobile computer atmospheric barometric pressure system.
Barometric pressure is the pressure exerted by the weight of air in the atmosphere of Earth. In some circumstances barometric pressure is closely approximated by the hydrostatic pressure caused by the weight of air above some predetermined measurement point. On a given plane, low-pressure areas have less atmospheric mass above their location, whereas high-pressure areas have more atmospheric mass above their location. Likewise, as elevation increases, there is less overlying atmospheric mass. Atmospheric pressure is related to the overlying mass. Atmospheric pressure generally decreases with increasing elevation. On average, a column of air one square centimeter in cross-section, measured from sea level to the top of the atmosphere, has a mass of about 1.03 kilogram (kg) and weight of about 10.1 Newtons (N). A column one square inch in cross-section would have a weight of about 14.7 pounds (lbs) or about 65.4 N. Barometric pressure is sometimes called atmospheric pressure. For the purpose of clarity, the term "barometric pressure" is used in this disclosure.

Mobile computer atmospheric barometric pressure system


A method and system for providing information corresponding to one of several machines to a wireless interface device (WID) where the machines are located within a facility and at least a sub-set of the machines are located within a facility space where the invention includes specifying machine zones within the facility including a separate zone adjacent each machine within the space, identifying the location of the WID within the facility and determining if the WID is located within the machine zone, where the WID is located within the machine zone, identifying machine information related to an associated machine and transmitting the information to the WID.

The field of the invention is wireless information devices and more specifically wireless devices for automatically obtaining location based information related to machines when a wireless device is placed within proximity of the machines.
There are many industries where electronic interfaces have been developed to facilitate monitoring or control or both system monitoring and control. For instance, in the industrial automation industry, a manufacturing plant may include several thousand different machines arranged to form a plurality of machine lines that cooperate to produce products. In this case, each machine or a sub-set of machines may be equipped with an interface including a processor, some type of information output device and some type of information input device. The output device is often a display screen for displaying text, graphics, etc., and the input device is typically a keyboard.
Because of the nature of industrial automation, some industrial facilities have adopted policies requiring local or location specific control and associated interfacing. In industrial control, many (e.g., tens or perhaps even hundreds) machines may be positioned along a machine line so that improper performance of, or damage to, one machine affects operation of a large number of related downstream machines. In addition, improper machine operation, given unforeseen circumstances, may result in injury to facility employees proximate the malfunctioning machine or proximate downstream machines. In these cases, if remote control were allowed, an operator may alter operation of one machine believing that some other similar machine is being adjusted with unintended and potentially costly results.
In an effort to avoid unintended results, many automated facilities require operators to be located adjacent or proximate a machine prior to altering machine operation. This proximity requirement is enforced by providing machine monitoring and controlling interfaces proximate associated machines. More specifically, the interfaces are typically placed in positions that enable an interface operator to observe machine operation prior to, during and after adjustment of machine operating characteristics. Here, the interfacing is local despite remote or centralized processing. In this manner, an operator can essentially simultaneously observe operation of a particular machine and the information provided by an interface associated with the particular machine. This "dual viewing" capability facilitates a far more comprehensive understanding of machine conditions and enables the operator to quickly determine if control alterations have desired effects.
Requiring even basic interfaces at each machine or adjacent logically related sub-sets of machines is relatively expensive as each interface typically requires a display of some type and at least a set of control buttons or a keyboard of some type. To minimize costs many control systems are designed to provide multiplexed control where one interface may be provided for several proximate machines. For instance, one interface may be provided for ten proximate machines.
Multi-machine interfaces represent a tradeoff between cost and functionality. To this end, as indicated above, unfortunately, the "dual viewing" (i.e., simultaneous view of a machine and an associated interface) capability afforded by providing interfaces as close as possible to associated machines is hampered when the number of interfaces is less than the number of machines within a facility. Thus, in the case above, where a single interface is provided for ten separate but proximate machines, the interface may not be located in an optimal position for observing operation of a sub-set of the ten machines while simultaneously viewing the interface.
In addition, where a single interface is provided for more than one machine, the interface has to be relatively more complex than an interface provided for a single machine. To this end, to avoid confusion and unintended changes to machine operation, it is generally accepted that an interface should only display information corresponding to a single machine or a related subset of machines at any given time. For example, where a single interface is provided for accessing information corresponding to and controlling ten logically related machines, if the interface were programmed to provide information and controls for two or more of the machines at one time, an interface operator may examine data corresponding to one of the ten machines believing that the examined data corresponds to another of the ten machines or worse, the operator may adjust control of one of the ten machines believing that the operator is controlling another of the ten machines.
To avoid this type of confusion and related control errors, multi-machine interfaces are typically programmed so that information and control tools corresponding to only a single one of the machines associated with an interface are provided at any time. Thus, multi-machine interfaces generally require some type of machine selection process and corresponding tools that allow a user to select which of several machines the user wishes to interrogate and/or control and hence are more complex than single machine interfaces that can automatically provide information to an operator.
Furthermore, in the case of multi-machine interfaces there is always the possibility that an operator may inadvertently select one machine believing that the operator has selected another machine for monitoring or control. Here, as above, the possibility for an unintended and costly result is great.
As in most businesses, in an automated facility, there are many different types of employees and machine access and control requirements for the employee types are very different. For instance, a janitor likely has no need to access machine information or control machine operation, a maintenance engineer will require access to certain machine information and control capabilities and a process engineer may require access to a completely different set of machine information and control capabilities. Systems have existed for a long time that can restrict information access and control to specific authorized personnel (e.g., password protection, biometric comparison, etc.). Unfortunately, these systems generally require relatively complex and expensive interface devices (e.g., a complete keyboard or some type of biometric scanner). As indicated above, in automation, most interfaces are minimized to reduce costs and hence the added security that comes with restricting access and control to those having a need to access and control are often foregone.
One solution to the above problems that has been used in the automation industry is to provide hand held devices (HHDs) to machine operators having a need to monitor and/or control facility machines. (Unless indicated otherwise all portable information devices hereinafter will be referred to as HHDs, including PDAs, laptops, etc.). Here, an HHD, as its label implies, is a relatively small and portable device that can be carried around a facility by a machine operator. The HHD is typically provided with a small display screen, a set of buttons or a full keyboard to enable information interchange, a processor, a memory and a communication cable having a distal end configured to be received by a machine port. Each facility machine is provided with a machine port for receiving the HHD cable. To link to a local machine processor, the HHD cable is plugged into the machine port and establishes a one-to-one match where there is no ambiguity.
Here, information access and control can be restricted by restricting access to the HHDs. Thus, for instance, when a maintenance engineer enters a facility to perform maintenance duties, the engineer may check out an HHD from a central HHD location for use in the facility. After the maintenance engineer has completed his duties, the engineer may be required to check the HHD back into the central HHD location. To restrict access and control differently for different personnel there may be classes of HHDs where each class allows a user a unique set of access and control privileges (i.e., a maintenance HHD may have a first set of capabilities while a process control HHD may have a second set of capabilities). Unfortunately the HHD solution described above also has several shortcomings. First, the manual process of linking an HHD to a machine processor is time consuming, burdensome and costly. Again, while one or a small number of linking processes may not seem burdensome, where the process has to be repeated several hundred times during an operator's shift, the combined linking tasks become excessive. In addition, there may be a safety risk in this case and the connection plug may not always be accessible.
Second, where several hundred links may have to be made during a given day, the wear and tear on machine communication ports and HHD cable can be excessive and require either routine replacement or an extremely robust and expensive mechanical linking system.
Third, despite support for some customization regarding the types of information and control provided to a facility employee by way of configuring HHDs as a function of the type of employee that will use the HHD, there is no easy way to allow an employee to customize the appearance of information and control tools provided by the HHD. For instance, one maintenance engineer may want a first set of information presented in a first format while another maintenance engineer may want the same first set of information presented in a second format completely different than the first format.
Fourth, any system that requires an HHD to be tethered to a machine in order to obtain information related to the machine or to control the machine restricts operator movement and may not allow an operator to move into particularly advantageous positions to observe machine operations. Also, in this regard, a mechanical tether is cumbersome to manipulate and therefore is bothersome.
Industries outside industrial automation have faced problems similar to those faced in industrial automation and have devised some solutions that are suitable to the respective industries. For instance, in the medical industry, it has been recognized that the ability to obtain information about a patient automatically upon entering the patients room is advantageous. In a medical facility, a process that requires a physician to manipulate a patient's arm to identify a patient ID on a wristband or the like and then enter the patient ID into an information device to obtain the patient's medical history is burdensome. The process may disturb a sleeping patient, requires that the physician come in close proximity to the patient, is subject to human error and is time consuming. The process is particularly burdensome in emergency situations where time may be of the essence.
European patent application No. 0,992,921 (hereinafter "the '921 reference") entitled "Computer Access Dependent On Location of Access Terminal" which was filed on Sep. 21, 1999 teaches a facility system wherein a separate wireless access point is positioned within each facility room for communicating with physician specific wireless HHDs located within the room. The '921 reference teaches that a physician identifier is stored in the HHD and, when an HHD is sensed within a room, the access point automatically obtains the physician identifier from the HHD, determines a degree of access (i.e., authorization) associated with the physician identifier, accesses information associated with the room (i.e., information associated with a patient within the room) and then transmits a sub-set of the patient information consistent with the physician's degree of access to the HHD for display.
The '921 solution works well in a facility that can easily be divided into cells separated by walls (i.e., patient rooms) and where there is only one set of information (i.e., information related to a single patient) associated with a particular cell. However, if a plurality of patients are located within a single room the '921 reference system cannot determine for which of the plurality of patients a physician seeks information. It is unclear how the '921 reference would resolve the quandary regarding which patient information to provide to a physician when more than one patient resides in a room. The '921 reference presents a problem where a physician may end up reviewing information corresponding to one patient while examining a different patient in the same room—clearly an unacceptable situation. In the context of an automated facility the '921 reference could not be used to select information corresponding to one machine out of a plurality of machines in a room for delivery to an HHD. In addition, in this regard, in many automated environments, several hundred or even thousand monitorable/controllable machines may be located in a single room or space and many of the machines may have similar descriptions so that, for instance, identifying one drill press from within a room including 100 drill presses would be a potentially confusing task.
In addition, the '921 reference fails to teach or suggest any type of location specific equipment control. Failure to discuss equipment control is not surprising given the relatively course location resolution contemplated by the '921 reference.
Moreover, the '921 reference system and other systems of the same ilk require a relatively large number of access points to provide even the relatively coarse location resolution capabilities contemplated. System cost increases along with component count and therefore systems like the '921 reference system are relatively expensive.
In the office automation industry, U.S. Pat. No. 6,359,711 (hereinafter "the '771 patent") which issued on Mar. 19, 2002 and is entitled "System and Method for Supporting A Worker In A Distributed Work Environment" teaches a system where, like the '921 reference, a single access point is located within each room in a facility. The '771 patent teaches that HHDs (i.e., laptop computers) used by specific users are provided with user identifiers. A system database correlates user identifiers with information related to applications that the specific users subscribe to or have authorization to use. In addition, the database also includes information related to office equipment located throughout a facility where the equipment is associated with specific applications. For instance, a word processor application may require access to a printer, a window treatment control application may require access to motorized blinds and an HVAC application may require access to a thermostat control.
The '771 patent teaches that a separate access point is provided in each room. When an HHD is brought into a room, the access point in the room senses the HHD, obtains the user identifier therefrom, accesses the database to identify applications associated with the user identifier, identifies which office equipment types the identified applications must access, locates the single instance of each identified office equipment type that is closest to the access point and then creates a control link between the laptop and the identified equipment instances.
While suitable for an office environment, the '771 patent control scheme is not suitable for an industrial automation environment for several reasons. First, the '771 patent system, like the '921 reference system, relies on clearly delineated and identifiable facility cells (i.e., rooms) and a single access point in each cell. Like the '921 reference, the '921 patent system cannot determine relative proximity between the HHD and a plurality of machines located within a single room. For instance, where an HVAC control, a printer and a laptop are located in the same room, the '771 patent cannot determine if the laptop is closest to the HVAC control or the printer.
Second, the '771 patent system teaches linking a laptop to the closest instance of each required equipment type independent of whether or not the instance is proximate the HHD. For instance, in the case of a word processor application requiring a printer, the '771 patent system locates a closest printer to an access point and enables control of the located printer irrespective of the distance between the printer and the laptop (i.e., the access point). Here, the printer may be five rooms away from the HHD and hence from the person operating the printer. This type of "blind" control is acceptable in the case of a printer application where the end result of an imperfect printing process has a minimal associated cost. However, in the case of automated control of machinery, as indicated above, such blind control often cannot be tolerated.
Third, a system like the '771 patent system would cause confusion in an industrial control environment. To this end, while a particular user may have clearance to observe machine information corresponding to several different machine types and to control various machine types using various applications, simultaneously and automatically presenting information or controls corresponding to two or more machine types at a time would be confusing where only a single machine type can be controlled at any one time.
World patent application No. WO 00/50919, (hereinafter "the '919 reference") Which is titled "Method and Computer Readable Medium for Locating and Tracking a User in a Wireless Network Using a Table of Digital Data" teaches one system that can be used to relatively accurately determine location within a specific space or within a room. To this end, the '919 reference teaches that a plurality of base stations or access points can be installed at locations within a facility. The access points each transmit signals of known strength to mobile HHDs within the facility. The strengths of the signals decrease as a function of distance traveled by a signal. The HHDs each receive the transmitted signals and, based on signal strengths of several of the received signals, determine the location of the HHDs within the facility.
While the '919 reference system advantageously reduces the cost of a location tracking system by reducing the number of required access points within a facility, it is believed that the location resolution and reliability attainable via the '919 reference system will not be sufficient for industrial automation purposes where several different machines may be very close to each other on a facility floor.
World patent application No. WO 02/054813 (hereinafter "the '813 reference") titled "Location Estimation in Wireless Telecommunication Networks" teaches a location system similar to the system described in the '919 reference that relies on signal strength to determine location of a portable device within a facility. The '813 patent, however, applies a statistical model to the received signals to, supposedly, yield a far more accurate device location. Neither of the '919 reference nor the '813 reference contemplates providing machine information or control capabilities based on HHD location.
Thus, it would be advantageous to have a system that could automatically provide machine specific information to an HHD when the HHD is located proximate the machine where the machine is one of a plurality of different machines located in a single room. Automatic information customization for HHD operators would also be advantageous.

System and method for providing location based information


A shielding apparatus for electromagnetic testing includes a platform, a lid forming a cavity, a driving unit, and an elastic gasket attached to a bottom of the lid around a rim adjacent the cavity. The platform is for placing an electronic device to be tested. The lid is for covering the platform to define a closed space. The driving unit is for lifting and lowering the lid. The gasket is for being compressed and filling gaps between the lid and the platform when the platform covers the lid.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to shields for protecting electronic equipments from electromagnetic interference, and particularly to a shielding apparatus for electromagnetic testing.
2. Description of related art
Electronic devices such as cellular telephones and notebook computers, etc. are always tested before being sold to the public so as to ensure quality assurance of the electronic devices. Testing these electronic devices requires electromagnetic shielding in order to protect the electronic products from interference with outside electromagnetic waves, such as radio frequency (RF) waves.
Traditionally, a shield is provided in a form of a shielding box which includes a base and a lid. When the electronic device is tested, the electronic device is placed in the base of the shielded box and the lid is manually placed over the base thereby forming an enclosed space. Within this enclosed space the electronic device is free of interference from outside electromagnetic waves because the base and the lid of the shielding box blocks or absorbs electromagnetic waves. However, in practice, if the lid and the base cannot fit tightly, gaps will exist between the lid and the base when the lid covers the base. Thus, outside electromagnetic waves can pass through the gaps, and the test may be compromised.
Therefore, a shielding apparatus for electromagnetic testing is needed in the industry to address the aforementioned deficiencies and inadequacies.


The present invention provides an automobile lamp having a floating lighting image, including: a light pattern which is configured by an assembly of light sources; a lens which is provided with an interval from the light pattern; and an image object which is provided between the light pattern and the lens.

Generally, a lighting system is provided in a vehicle as means for lighting during nighttime driving and means for various signals during driving. Among the lighting system which is provided for the above-mentioned purpose, a rear lamp which is provided at both corners of a rear side of the vehicle is a component which includes brake lights, tail lights, and turn signals and used to notify to a driver of other vehicle which follows the own vehicle, of a driving intention and a state of the vehicle. Generally, a rear lamp includes a lamp housing which configures an overall rear framework, a reflector which is attached to a front side of the lamp housing to reflect light, a light source which is mounted on a front surface of the reflector, and a lens which is provided in front of the light source and the reflector. A technical trend of the automobile lamp is developed from a point type light source to a linear type light source, from a linear type light source to a surface emission type, and from a surface mission type to a light source of a stereoscopic lighting image. However, an automobile lamp which may implement a stereoscopic lighting image on an outer side of a lamp skin has not been developed.
In the meantime, as an example of a related technology of a 3D lighting image, Korean Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 10-2009-0060067 discloses "a diffuser plate and a backlight unit for a liquid display device including the same"

Automobile lamp having floating lighting image


A method for realizing the multimedia message signature service includes the following steps: a user asking for opening the multimedia message signature service; the BOSS sending the related information of the user whose multimedia message signature service has been opened to MMSC; the MMSC configuring the corresponding service function for the user whose multimedia message signature service has been opened, and synchronizing the said service function into its user database; the user setting the content of his multimedia message signature. By using this method, a new service mode can be created, and meanwhile, it has the function that enables a user to edit personalized information, and this greatly promotes the development of multimedia messaging service.

The MMS (multimedia messaging service) is a messaging service for transmitting multimedia content between mobile phones, between a mobile phone and Email server, or other applications. Compared with the short messaging service in the form of text, which has been applied successfully now, the multimedia message can provide the users with message content of several media forms including video, audio, and so on, thus the operators can provide users with very rich and personalized service. For example, the static pictures and dynamic videos of the beautiful scene seen on the way of trip can be shot and decorated with background music and then sent to relatives and friends in distance at will, or electronic cards made by oneself can be sent to them.
The maximum size of the content of a text message is only 140 bytes, whereas the size of the content of a multimedia message is much larger, generally around 100K bytes nowadays. However, with more and more powerful transmission capability of the wireless network and the higher transmission speed, the size of the message is not a key problem any more. With the development of the multimedia messaging service, there will be more and more users using the multimedia value-added service, especially the multimedia messaging service. How to direct more users to use the multimedia messaging service is a key issue.
Nowadays, the personalization of the multimedia message is not very evident for mobile phone's users; the messages sent are always fixed pictures or videos in which various personality elements including signature service can not be added by the users, because the users have some difficulty in editing the multimedia messages, for example, editing ability is limited, no individual signature or limited individual signature can be input, or the input is complicated; meanwhile, it costs a lot of time.
Therefore, a method for realizing the multimedia message signature service is desired to add personalized content into the multimedia content in order to enrich the MMS.

Method for realizing multimedia message signature service


A disk drive system includes a disk drive array enclosure forming receiving cavities for housing respective disk drive modules. Each receiving cavity is defined by top, bottom, and rear surfaces, and an opening. The top and bottom surfaces of each receiving cavity expand away from one another to form receiving slots adjacent the opening of the receiving cavity. The disk drive system further includes a disk drive module having a housing and a disk drive carrier handle connected to the housing. The drive module is insertable into a receiving cavity of the drive array enclosure such that the housing is enclosed by the top, bottom, and rear surfaces of the receiving cavity and the drive carrier handle is positioned at the opening of the receiving cavity. The drive carrier handle has tab purchases located around the periphery of the drive carrier handle. The tab purchases engage into respective receiving slots of the drive array enclosure when the drive module is inserted into a receiving cavity of the drive array enclosure to create an interference fit between the drive module and the drive array enclosure and damp vibration transferred between the drive module and the drive array enclosure. The drive carrier handle includes a latching and locking mechanism for latching and locking the drive module to the drive array enclosure. The latching and locking mechanism is pivotally connected to the drive carrier handle to pivot between a closed position for latching the drive module to the drive carrier and an opened position for unlatching the drive module from the drive carrier. The latching and locking mechanism is operable to be locked into the closed position.

The present invention relates generally to disk drive array system and mounting configurations and, more particularly, to a disk drive module and disk drive array enclosure having features which secure the disk drive module to the disk drive array enclosure for minimizing vibration.
Direct access storage devices, or disk drives, store information on concentric tracks of a rotatable magnetic recording disk. A slider having a transducer or magnetic head is moved from track to track to record and read the desired information. The slider typically includes air-bearing surfaces configured for causing the magnetic head to fly a desired distance above the surface of the disk as the disk rotates.
Multiple disk drives modules are often mounted in an array within a rectangular sheet metal disk drive array enclosure of a computer chassis. A disk drive module contains a disk drive. Each disk drive typically interfaces with other components of the computer via a hot plug connection. This type of electrical connection allows any of the disk drives mounted within the drive array enclosure to be individually moved and reinstalled within the drive array enclosure.
Conventionally, each disk drive module positioned within the drive array enclosure is mounted on a printed circuit board having a rear card edge portion that is insertable into a back plane hot plug socket located at the back of the drive array enclosure. To install one of the disk drives modules within the drive array enclosure, the disk drive module is inserted into the drive array enclosure until the rear card edge portion of the circuit board is operatively received in its associated hot plug socket at the back of the drive array enclosure.
Vibration is a significant problem that affects the operating efficiency of disk drives. Specifically, if a disk drive is not mounted solidly, the vibration it creates from its own seeking activity may cause its magnetic head to take an excessive amount of time to settle, thereby lengthening seek times and also producing write inhibit errors. The design of conventional mechanical packaging support structure, such as conventional drive array enclosures, often conducts vibration between disk drives, and may also amplify vibration due to harmonic resonance. Consequently, problems associated with vibration are often intensified in systems having multiple disk drives.
Another problem associated with typical disk drive modules is that they may be unexpectedly dismounted from the disk drive array enclosure due to such factors as mishandling, shipping movement, large shock excursions, and the like. Casual removal of the disk drive module from disk drive array enclosure is a further problem.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a disk drive module having features which create an interference fit of the disk drive module to a disk drive array enclosure such that the disk drive module is held rigid in the disk drive array enclosure to prevent vibration.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a disk drive module having a latch and lock mechanism for latching and locking the disk drive module to a disk drive array enclosure.
In carrying out the above objects and other objects, the present invention provides a disk drive system including a disk drive array enclosure having a plurality of receiving cavities for housing respective disk drive modules. Each receiving cavity is defined by top, bottom, and rear surfaces, and an opening. The top and bottom surfaces of each receiving cavity expand away from one another to form receiving slots adjacent the opening of the receiving cavity. The disk drive system further includes a disk drive module having a housing and a disk drive carrier handle connected to the housing. The disk drive module being insertable into a receiving cavity of the disk drive array enclosure such that the housing is enclosed by the top, bottom, and rear surfaces of the receiving cavity and the disk drive carrier handle is positioned at the opening of the receiving cavity. The disk drive carrier handle has tab purchases located around the periphery of the disk drive carrier handle. The tab purchases engage into respective receiving slots of the disk drive array enclosure when the disk drive module is inserted into a receiving cavity of the disk drive array enclosure to create an interference fit between the disk drive module and the disk drive array enclosure and damp vibration transferred between the disk drive module and the disk drive array enclosure.
In carrying out the above objects and other objects, the present invention further provides a disk drive system including a disk drive array enclosure having a plurality of receiving cavities for housing respective disk drive modules. Each receiving cavity is defined by top, bottom, and rear surfaces, and an opening. The disk drive system further includes a disk drive module having a housing and a disk drive carrier handle connected to the housing. The disk drive module is insertable into a receiving cavity of the disk drive array enclosure such that the housing is enclosed by the top, bottom, and rear surfaces of the receiving cavity and the disk drive carrier handle is positioned at the opening of the receiving cavity. The disk drive carrier handle includes a latching and locking mechanism for latching and locking the disk drive module to the disk drive array enclosure. The latching and locking mechanism is pivotally connected to the disk drive carrier handle to pivot between a closed position for latching the disk drive module to the disk drive carrier and an opened position for unlatching the disk drive module from the disk drive carrier. The latching and locking mechanism is operable to be locked into the closed position.
The above objects and other objects, features, and advantages of the present invention are readily apparent from the following detailed description of the best mode for carrying out the present invention when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings.


An aspect of the present invention provides a microprocessor that includes a processor core including an instruction executing unit configured to execute instructions for input and output controlling and processing for data and a cache memory configured to store the data, a memory management unit coupled to the processor core, the memory management unit configured to manage memory system including the cache memory, and a bus interface coupled to the processor core and the memory management unit, the bus interface configured to rearrange the bits of the data transferred from the processor core.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a microprocessor and a video/sound processing system, and more particularly, to a technology that provides high-level protection for the content of media at low cost.
2. Description of Related Art
Currently, devices that handle video, sound, and other content are provided with a microprocessor or a dedicated LSI for playing back video and/or sound information. Video, sound, and other data (hereinafter called "content") are often stored on such physical media as optical disks and such magnetic recording devices as hard disk drives (HDD). In recent years, most of the video and voice information stored on optical disks and magnetic recording devices is treated with encryption or the like using a special method for the purpose of copyright protection. Since the content stored in recording devices like those just mentioned has been treated for protection and security, persons who might attempt to misuse the stored data and play it back on another device will generally be unable to easily break the security. However, if an analytical hint is available, it is possible for the security to be broken easily by conducting data processing on a computer.
Information that constitutes an analytical hint exists in the unit where the data is ultimately processed, i.e., in the vicinity of the microprocessor or dedicated LSI. That is where the encrypted information is decrypted and translated into the original information. Much of the decrypted and converted information is stored in a memory, e.g., a random access memory (RAM), connected to the processor or dedicated LSI that executes the data processing. In such a case, an analytical hint can be obtained by using a test device to measure the signal of the RAM itself and analyzing the data. The information from the analysis can then be used as a starting point for breaking the security.
Conventional technologies for handling this issue have included combining the processor and the memory into one chip in order to conceal the bus of the memory and silk printing a different model number on the IC package so that the identity of the processor will be unknown.
Meanwhile, a disclosed conventional method of resisting illicit decryption of secret information is a technology in which a means is provided for randomly changing secret information when writing to a volatile memory that stores secret information after it has been translated, the converting means converts and stores the secret information in different places each time the secret information is written to the volatile memory and also in different places of each electronic device in which the technology is used. (See Japan Patent Office Publication (Kokai) HEI-11-45212 (FIG. 1).)
In another disclosed technology, the bus interface unit inside a microprocessor is provided with an address translating means that converts virtual addresses into physical addresses and a memory reading means that reads the content corresponding to physical addresses designated by a memory external to the microprocessor. An instruction TLB stores a table that includes an address conversion rule and one or more entries having encryption attribute information in ranges designated by the virtual addresses. (See Japan Patent Office Publication (Kokai) 2001-230770 (FIG. 5).)
The conventional methods just described require specialized components to be manufactured and make it extremely difficult to reduce costs. In most cases, general-purpose memories are used in order to reduce the cost of the system. However, the use of general-purpose memories is a problem because it is possible for the signal line connected to the memory and the function of that signal line to be readily ascertained.

Microprocessor and video/sound processing system


Described herein is a conveyance robot. In certain aspects, a conveyance robot can include a first link member configured to be rotatable about a first axis, a second link member configured to be rotatable about a second axis positioned at a predetermined distance relative to the first axis, a holding member configured to be capable of holding an article and rotating about a third axis positioned at a predetermined distance relative to the second axis, an ascending and descending drive unit for driving at least the holding member to ascend and descend. In certain aspects, an arm link mechanism can be included. The arm link mechanism can be constituted by connecting the first link member, the second link member, and the holding member in this order, and the ascending and descending drive unit is placed between the first link member and the holding member so as to form a part of the arm link mechanism.

In order to carry in a substrate to be processed and carry out a processed substrate for a substrate processing device, such as a chemical vapor deposition device (CVD device), various sorts of conveyance robots are used.
As an example of a substrate to be processed, there is a rectangular glass substrate which is used for a solar panel whose size exceeds 2 m on one side, and is considered to be a large sized heavy article.
When storing such a large sized glass substrate in a rack in a horizontal state, its middle part bents downward due to gravity. Therefore, in order to store a multiple number of glass substrates in a rack, it is necessary to secure enough vertical space in order to prevent glass substrates from contacting each other.
As a result, a height of the rack becomes higher, and in order for a conveyance robot to cope with the height, it is necessary to secure enough vertical movement distance with respect to an ascending and descending movement of a substrate holding member in order to hold the substrate.
Conventionally, in order to secure enough movement distance for the ascending and descending movement of the substrate holding member, a conveyance robot provided with an ascending and descending drive unit for driving the substrate holding member to ascend or descend is known. With respect to such the ascending and descending drive unit, it is known that there is a unit for making a rotating main shaft, which is equipped with a proximal end portion of a robot arm, ascend and descend (Patent Literature 1). Moreover, it is known that there is a device provided with a pillar shaped member that extends vertically and the ascending and descending member that can ascend or descend along with the pillar shaped member, and the ascending and descending member is equipped with the substrate holding member (Patent Literatures 2, 3).