The apparatus may be used with printing apparatus in which a media spreading member, such as a squeegee, moves relative to a surface, causing printing medium to be moved across said surface. The printing medium can be electrical solder paste and the surface can be a stencil. The apparatus is used for measuring linking parameters that are related to mechanical properties of the printing medium and the printing environment, such as viscosity and coefficient of friction. The apparatus comprises means for measuring a machine parameter that represents the force experienced by the media spreading member and means for resolving the measured force parameter into components equivalent to two orthogonal components, typically normal to the surface and tangential to it in the direction of relative motion. The apparatus also includes means for measuring a machine parameter that represents the velocity of the media spreading member relative to the surface. Means are also provided for measuring the linking parameters by determining a specific instance of a predetermined general relation among the measured machine parameters of velocity, first force component and second orthogonal force component and the linking parameters. The means for determining a specific instance of a relation may include means for comparing at least three sets of associated measured machine parameters and, based on the comparison, identifying a relationship that shows agreement with all of the sets of measured machine parameters within a predetermined level of accuracy. A typical such means for identifying such a relationship is an apparatus that applies a least squares relationship selecting technique. Suitable general relationships for Newtonian and non-Newtonian fluids may be used. A method is also disclosed.

This invention relates generally to the field of printing using a stencil or mask and a print medium spreader, such as a squeegee or a doctor blade. It has specific applications with printing materials, such as solder paste used with surface mounted microelectronic devices ("SMDs").
Surface mount microelectronic devices (SMDs) enable highly reliable packages with improved performance, increased functionality, and decreased size. The devices have as many as 500 leads and pitches between leads as small as 0.3 mm, forcing the industry to devise and improve certain surface mount assembly processes. Unlike placement, reflow, and many other processes, where the technology used for surface mount assembly has matched or surpassed demands, the application of solder paste via stencil printing, has remained a rudimentary procedure. Defect-free solder joints require, among other things, the application of paste with sufficient pad coverage, uniform height, and favorable slumping characteristics as a necessary condition. Such defects include bridges, solder balls, and voids.
Since the quality of solder joints is a function of the environment, numerous studies have focused on characterizing the physical behavior of paste and how its properties affect printability and solderability (J. W. Evans and J. K. Beddow, "Characterization of Particle Morphology and Rheological Behavior in Solder Paste," IEEE Transactions on Components, Hybrids, and Manufacturing Technology, 10(2), pp. 224-231, (June 1987), R. E. Trease and R. L. Dietz, "Rheology of Pastes in Thick Film Printing," Solid State Technology, 15(1), pp. 39-43, (1972) and B. Rooz-Kozel, "Solder Pastes" Surface Mount Technology, (1984)). Most of these efforts have relied on off-line experimental methods for process optimization. Although these approaches have improved certain operations, many issues remain unaddressed.
One of the major problems associated with the printing process is that paste properties vary during assembly processes. Solder paste solvents evaporate as a function of time, temperature, and humidity, causing oxidation and other unfavorable conditions. Furthermore, mechanical paste properties, such as viscosity and elasticity, change with exposure to the environment as well as with the amount of work applied to the paste, e.g. squeegee speed and duration of print. These changes to the paste adversely affect joint quality and frequently require adjustment of assembly equipment to maintain product quality and throughput at tolerable levels. The retuning procedure is time consuming, costly, and requires human expertise. Off-line methods cannot be used for closed loop control. Control actions should occur dynamically in accordance with measurements which characterize real time changes to material properties, rather than occurring on an ad-hoc run-by-run basis.
Very little research has been conducted in on-line monitoring of paste properties. One study explored the application of impedance spectroscopy (C. R. Herman, V. A. Skormin and G. R. Westby, "Application of Impedance Spectroscopy for On-line Monitoring of Solder Paste," ASME Transactions, Journal of Electronic Packaging, 115, pp. 44-54, (March 1993) and M. A. Seitz, R. W. Hirthe M. N. Amin and M. H. Polczynski, "Monitoring Solder Paste Properties Using Impedance Spectroscopy," ISHM Proceedings, pp. 503-509, (1992)). This technique measures the electrical frequency response of solder paste by applying an oscillating voltage and measuring the corresponding current. An equivalent circuit model of the paste was derived from experiments, and the values of various capacitance's and resistance's were determined and correlated to physical properties and phenomena occurring within the paste. Since electrodes are placed on a test pad on the printed circuit board, electrical impedance of solder paste can be measured throughout the entire assembly process. Hence, the data gathered from impedance spectroscopy can provide useful information in terms of creating new Statistical Process Control variables.
The physics of the various assembly processes involved in paste printing are not well understood. This has precluded attempts to couple material monitoring to real time process control according to an understanding of what actually happens.
Thus, a great need exists for an understanding of the physics related to spreading solder paste and similar printing materials. In addition, a need exists for an apparatus that makes use of the physics, once understood, to control the application of printing materials such as solder paste in a real-time, closed loop manner. Accordingly, the objects of the present invention include to develop an understanding of essential aspects of the physics of the application of printed materials such as solder paste. Another object is to monitor the application of solder paste and similar materials, and to generate measurements or indications of parameters that characterize the printed material as it is being applied. It is also desirable to consider these measured parameters, and use them to control or change the process parameters of the apparatus applying the printed material.

Apparatus for real-time estimation of printing medium properties and method for the use thereof


A method and radio receiver are provided for receiving and deciphering RF signals having encrypted data information relevant to the receiver environment. According to one aspect of the present invention, the receiver includes an input for receiving an RF signal having a data stream including a key selector and encrypted data including a message, and a demodulator for demodulating the data stream and outputting encrypted data including the message. The receiver further includes a data decryption circuit including memory for storing one or more groups of decryption keys based on a characteristic of the receiver environment. The data decryption circuit selects a decryption key based on the key selector and decrypts the message based on the selected decryption key.

Automotive vehicles are commonly equipped with audio radios for receiving broadcast radio frequency (RF) signals and broadcasting audio information to passengers in the vehicle. More recently, satellite based digital audio radio (SDAR) services have become available that offer digital radio service covering a large geographic area, such as North America. Currently, a couple of satellite based digital audio radio services are available in North America, both of which generally employ either geo-stationary orbit satellites or highly elliptical orbit satellites that receive uplinked programming which, in turn, is rebroadcast directly to digital radios in vehicles on the ground that subscribe to the service. Additionally, a number of terrestrial (ground based) transmission repeaters are currently employed in certain areas susceptible to satellite signal blockage to provide a clean and uninterrupted radio signal broadcast. Each vehicle subscribing to the digital service generally includes a digital radio having a receiver and antennas for receiving the satellite and terrestrial signal broadcasts.
The radio receivers are programmed to receive and unscramble the digital data signals, which typically include many channels of digital audio. In addition to broadcasting the encoded digital quality audio signals, the satellite based digital audio radio service may also transmit data within a data bandwidth that may be used for various applications. The additional information may include information about the broadcast, such as song title, artist, and genre of music for display on the radio. The signal may also include further information for other reasons, such as advertising, informing the driver of warranty issues, providing information about the broadcast audio information, and providing news, sports, and entertainment broadcasting, in addition to other information. In addition to providing a general signal transmission to subscribing members, the satellite based digital audio radio service may also make available data bandwidth to certain groups, such as vehicle manufacturers, to provide the ability for the vehicle manufacturer to transmit data to select vehicles. In order to do so, it is generally desirable to be able to target the data communication to specific types of vehicles and/or receivers. Some data may be very sensitive to the vehicle and related systems, thus requiring various levels of security.
There are many secure data communication techniques currently available to encrypt broadcast data, including secure keys, public keys, and public/private key methods. While data encryption techniques are generally employed in various data communication applications, it is desirable to provide for a receiver and method for securely communicating data to selected groups of vehicles and/or receivers in a vehicle.

Digital receiver and method for receiving secure group data


In one embodiment, a processor includes at least one core and an interface circuit to interface the at least one core to additional circuitry of the processor. In response to an in-field self test instruction, at least one core may save state to a low power memory, enter into a diagnostic sleep state and execute an in-field self test in the diagnostic sleep state in which the at least one core appears to be inactive. Other embodiments are described and claimed.

Electronic devices such as integrated circuits used in automotive systems are required to meet certain functional safety requirements. The goal of these requirements is to remove unreasonable risk of harm due to hazards caused by malfunctioning behavior. The International Organization For Standards (ISO) ISO 26262 standard for functional safety of electrical/electronic systems in automobiles defines these requirements and classifies 4 distinct levels of safety, ranging from Automotive Safety Integrity Level (ASIL)-A (lightest requirements) to ASIL-D (most stringent requirements).
In order to meet these safety and integrity goals, in-field diagnostics may use built in self test circuitry of a processor. Nevertheless it is difficult and time consuming to perform such testing, and it can adversely impact normal operation. In many cases, such testing cannot be performed during normal system operation.

System, apparatus and method for in-field self testing in a diagnostic sleep state


Systems and methods of generating a new media data element from a source media data element, including: receiving the source media data element including one or more frames; applying a machine learning algorithm to predict at least one first Region of Interest (ROI) in one or more of the at least one frames; and cropping, the one or more frames to generate a new media data element based on the predicted at least one first ROI.

Mobile computerized devices that allow media streaming became very common so that anybody with internet access via a mobile device (e.g., via a smartphone) gets easy access to entertainment all the time. However, entertainment providers, such as television broadcasters, typically have not caught up with the technological advancements in mobile devices and continue to broadcast media suitable only for viewing on large screens. For example, a viewer watching a movie or a sports game on a TV screen can get a very different experience compared to a viewer watching a movie or a sports game on a smaller screen of a mobile device.
Some entertainment providers created new dedicated platforms for watching media on mobile devices where the display resolution can be adapted for smaller screens. However, with increased use of social media in recent years, the majority of users (or media consumers) are experiencing entertainment in new ways, such as with scrolling an "Instagram story" page to view videos uploaded by other users where each video can be at different resolution, aspect ratio, etc. It would therefore be desirable to have a possibility of consuming media on mobile devices that is adaptable to the way users view content on various platforms on mobile devices.

System and method of determining a region of interest in media


A circuit for limiting voltage transient excursions on a power supply node is disclosed. The circuit includes a first field effect transistor dispose to provide a capacitance and having source and drain electrodes coupled to said external supply node path and having a gate electrode and first and second clamp transistors. A resistance is coupled between the gate electrode of said first transistor and the internal supply return node and to gate electrodes of the clamp transistors. The circuit also include process resistances between internal and external supply connection to provide a charge transfer path between external and internal supply nodes and external and internal return nodes.

This invention relates generally to integrated circuits and more particularly to circuits used to reduce input and or output switching noise.
As is known in the art, an integrated circuit is comprised of a plurality of active and passive devices arranged to provide a circuit function on a common supporting semiconductive substrate. One type of integrated circuit is a so-called digital integrated circuit which is comprised of transistors used to form logic gates and logic functions for computer systems and other similar types of systems. A particular type of digital integrated circuit called an ASIC (application specific integrated circuit) generally has standardized circuits which can be customized to provide a particular digital function.
In general, with ASICs as well as other types of integrated circuits, there are signal and power connections made to the circuit. That is, DC power is delivered to the circuit to control transistors and other devices which process signals that are sent along signal lines. One problem associated with digital integrated circuits is that very dense integrated circuits, that is, those comprised of a large number of transistor devices and having associated a large number of signal pins, may produce transient voltages that affect power supply voltages delivered to logic circuits.
Generally ASICs are used to interface other logic devices to a system bus. The ASIC can include various system functional circuits such as, for example, a network bridge chip to interconnect two different buses such as a system bus and a network bus as well as other arrangements. One such circuits is a bus interface circuit. The bus interface circuits generally comprise two types of circuits, receivers and drivers. Drivers are circuits which, in response to an input logic signal, provide an output logic signal onto a signal bus. Drivers require a relatively large amount of current in order to drive all of the modules which may be connected to the system bus. Receivers, on the other hand, generally require less current. They are used to sense the signal from the system bus and provide as an output a received signal having a particular logic state. This signal is then used by the internal logic circuits on the ASIC. With drivers and receivers, the circuits are coupled to the power supply connections made to the ASIC. As the signals are fed from or to these circuits, the switching action of the signals changing state causes the drivers or receivers to draw current for a short period of time from the power supply.
The commencement of drawing current from the power supply through an inductive connection may cause a transient drop in the magnitude of the power supply voltage until the current reaches a steady state condition. Conversely, discontinuance of drawing of current through an inductive connection will cause a transient boost in the magnitude of the power supply voltage until the current reaches a steady state condition. A capacitance is generally included between the power supply connection and the reference connection in order to minimize this transient voltage variation at that location.
Nevertheless, these transients in the on-chip power supply provide a certain power source noise characteristic which is undesirable for operation of the bus drivers and receivers as well as the digital logic circuits contained within the ASIC. In order to solve this problem one approach is to provide a large number of power pins for a given number of signal pins. On the ASIC there is a corresponding number of power pins, that is, supply voltage and return for a given number of signal pins. While this is satisfactory in some respects to reduce noise, one problem associated with this approach is that it minimizes the number of signal pins that can exist for a given size ASIC package.
A second problem with power connections on ASICs is that mutual inductance of magnetically coupled devices and package parasitic inductances can produce transients causing data transitions commonly referred to as "input noise" or "output noise" when adjacent input and/or output or power supply pins of the package have switching voltages thereon. That is, the mutual inductance associated between a given pin on the package and its magnetically coupled neighbors can induce a current into the pin which can cause a transition error, that is, it can cause a spike which may be misunderstood as a logical transition. A third problem with power supply connection on ASICs is that voltage transients can reduce ASIC component reliability and lifetime through voltage over-stress induced failure.
In the prior art, such input noise problems and reliability problems were addressed by providing a large number of package pins dedicated to power as described above as well as through judicious selection of pin sequence, layout and output selection.

Input and output noise reduction circuit


A spectroscopic method and system detects the amount of one or more substances or contaminants in or on a product, such as fecal contamination on meat samples.

Animal feces contain microbial pathogens such as Escherichia coli 0157:H7, Campylobacter and Salmonella and it also caters for bacteria growth. During the slaughtering process, carcasses can be contaminated with fecal residue when intestinal tracks and pelts are removed. After the slaughtering process each carcass is visually inspected and intervened upon positive detection of fecal contamination and/or upon detection of other contaminations. However, given the rapid nature of processing plants some contaminated carcasses may proceed to further processing without being detected. This may result in cross contaminations. At such point in time, the traceability of contaminated products diminishes, meaning large scale recall is unavoidable upon positive fecal detection.
Some government authorities mandate meat processors to water wash every carcass to reduce visual incident of fecal residue. The effect of water wash not only visually removes fecal residue but also dilutes and distributes fecal material on carcasses. Visual inspections are often subjective, insensitive and require training. Visual inspections are an inefficient means for detecting diluted fecal residue on carcasses.
In grass-fed animals, chlorophyll and its metabolites are largely present in feces. Also chlorophyll can be found in feces from grain-fed bovines. Spectroscopic techniques for determining the presence of chlorophyll and its metabolites in feces are known. In such devices, a sample is typically exposed to a light signal having a certain excitation wavelength, and a light detector detects emitted light of a longer wavelength (fluorescence) from the sample to identify the presence of bacteria. Spectroscopy is often real time, non invasive, non-destructive and non-chemical. Through careful examinations of excitation and emission spectra of chlorophyll one can construct 'fingerprints' for fecal detection and identification.
A spectroscopic detection method is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,914,247 for example.
In this specification where reference has been made to patent specifications, other external documents, or other sources of information, this is generally for the purpose of providing a context for discussing the features of the invention. Unless specifically stated otherwise, reference to such external documents is not to be construed as an admission that such documents, or such sources of information, in any jurisdiction, are prior art, or form part of the common general knowledge in the art.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an alternative spectroscopic method, system or device for detection of one or more substances or contaminants, such as fecal contaminations on a meat sample, or to at least provide the public with a useful choice.


Rifling for the barrel of a firearm includes a first gain twist region for increasing the rotational velocity of a bullet as it travels from the breech towards the muzzle end of the barrel, and a second region in which the rifling is of a constant twist so that the bullet exits the muzzle end of the barrel at a constant rotational velocity. The bore defined in the barrel is tapered in a direction from the breech end to the muzzle end so that the diameter of the muzzle opening of the barrel is less than the diameter of the breech opening. The angle of the rifling is variable with the rate of the gain twist of the rifling. The gain twist of the rifling in the barrel is formed by a button, preferably having a sinusoidal shaped periphery, which is pulled through the barrel during the manufacturing process. The smooth periphery of the button prevents shredding of the barrel when the button is twisted at different speeds to provide the variable gain twist of the rifling in different sections of the barrel. In a further aspect of the invention, an apparatus is provided for selectively varying the rotational speed of the button to form the desired gain twist of the rifling during manufacture of the barrel.

The present invention is directed to improved barrels for firearms and methods of manufacturing the same. In particular, the present invention provides improvements to: gain twists in the rifling of barrels of firearms; the design of a bore in the barrel such that the opening in the muzzle end is of a different diameter than the opening in the breech end (preferably the opening at the muzzle end is of a lesser diameter than the opening in the breech end of the bore of the barrel); varying the angle of the rifling defined in the bore of the barrel; providing a design for a button for forming the gain twist or varying the gain twist by selectively adjusting the rotational speed of the button as it is moved relative to the barrel without shredding the inner surface of the barrel during the manufacture process (preferably the button is designed with a sinusoidal shape periphery); and providing an apparatus for forming the desired gain twist and selectively varying the gain twist at different sections of the barrel during fabrication of the rifling.
Gain twists are provided in barrels of firearms for accelerating the rotational speed of a bullet as it travels from the breech end of the barrel towards the muzzle end of the barrel. Gain twists in the rifling of known firearms progressively increase the rate of twist of the rifling in a direction from the breech end towards the muzzle end of the bore of the barrel so that a bullet travelling through the bore is continuously rotationally accelerated until it is discharged from the opening in the muzzle end. However, constant acceleration of the rotational velocity of the bullet through the entire length of the barrel may diminish both the stability and accuracy of the discharged bullet as it exits the muzzle opening, and thus adversely affect the accuracy of the bullet after it is discharged from the firearm. Bullet performance may also be affected by the respective sizes of the openings in the breech and muzzle ends of the bore of the barrel, by the rate of twist of the rifling in the bore of the barrel, and by the peak pressure in the bore during discharge of the firearm.
Known methods of manufacturing rifling for barrels having a variable gain twist do not employ buttons pulled through the barrel at a variable rates of rotational speed because known button designs will shred the barrel during change in rotational speed. Accordingly, variable gain twists in rifling are currently formed by a cutter or scraper which is a laborious and expensive process. No satisfactory apparatus for manufacture of a barrel having a variable gain twist using the button method of fabrication is currently available.
It is the primary object of the present invention to provide an improved barrel for firearms for enhancing the performance of bullets discharged therefrom. In particular, the objects of the present invention include fabrication of a barrel for firearms having rifling of a variable gain twist and of a fixed twist at selected sections of the barrel; fabrication of a barrel for firearm having relative variable sized openings in the breech and muzzle ends of the barrel; and fabrication of a barrel for a firearm in which the rifling is selectively formed at variable angles relative to the inner surface of the barrel.
Further objects of the present invention include providing an improved button by which a variable gain twist in the rifling is fabricated by moving a button relative to the barrel while simultaneously rotating the button relative to the barrel, the barrel relative to the button, or both, at a variable rotational speed, and providing an apparatus (preferably controlled by a computer) for fabricating rifling in the barrel at a variable gain twist by selectively adjusting the relative rotational speed of the button or barrel as the button is moved relative to different sections of the barrel. It is further within the scope of the invention to fabricate a variable gain twist by electrolysis and acid etching procedures.
Other objects, improvements and advantages of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following discussion.

Barrels for firearms and methods of manufacturing the same


A circuit board device is provided, including: a first circuit board having a first predetermined connection section; a second circuit board arranged opposite to the first circuit board and having a second predetermined connection section directly facing the first predetermined connection section; and a connector including a first portion and a second portion. The connecter has: a first state where the first portion is arranged at a side of the first circuit board away from the second circuit board, the second portion is arranged at a side of the second circuit board away from the first circuit board, and the first portion and the second portion cooperate with each other to press the first circuit board against the second circuit board; and a second state where the first circuit board is separated from the second circuit board.

Currently, a thin film transistor liquid crystal display (TFT-LCD) has become a mainstream product in flat-panel display apparatuses due to its advantages such as small volume, low power consumption and being free of radiation, and it has been applied to various fields, such as liquid crystal televisions, computers, mobile phones and personal digital assistances (PDAs).
Usually, the TFT-LCD mainly includes a liquid crystal display panel and a backlight module. A flexible circuit board or printed circuit board is arranged on the display panel for driving a circuit on the display panel. The backlight module usually uses a light-emitting diode (LED) light strip as a backlight source. A flexible circuit board for driving the LED light strip is fixed to the flexible circuit board or printed circuit board on the display panel, and they are electrically connected to each other at predetermined positions (predetermined connecting fingers).

Circuit board device and display apparatus

HEFEI BOE OPTOELECTRONICS TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD.


An internal combustion engine comprising an engine block including a combustion chamber, a fuel vapor separator, a fuel supply mechanism for introducing fuel to the combustion chamber, a conduit communicating between the fuel vapor separator and the fuel supply mechanism for introducing fuel, and a cooling jacket for cooling the fuel vapor separator.

1. Technical Field
The invention relates generally to internal combustion engines and, more particularly, to 4-stroke, fuel-injected internal combustion engines.
2. Related Prior Art
It is generally known to provide a 4-stroke internal combustion engine with a fuel-injecting fuel feed system.
It is also generally known to provide a fuel feed system with a vapor separator.

Marine propulsion device including a fuel injected, four-cycle internal combustion engine


A method for conveying message origination information in a selective call receiver comprises selectively receiving a message (300) intended for the call receiver (140). The call receiver (140) identifies if the message received is flawed (302). In response to determining that the message is flawed, the selective call receiver (140) extracts origin information which has been appended to the message (306). The selective call receiver applies the origin information to a look-up table (308) in order to report more detailed information to the subscriber (310) indicating who the subscriber may contact to obtain the complete message.

In radio paging systems, a paging subscriber typically obtains service from a service provider in a particular geographic region. For example, a person living in the city of Chicago in the United States typically obtains paging service from a service provider located in Chicago. The service provider typically provides the subscriber with a pager and sets up a subscriber profile in the service provider's computer system which controls the paging network. The subscriber profile is typically a computer record which contains items of information such as a pager identification number, one or more paging addresses associated with the particular pager, types of services and messages subscribed to by the subscriber, for example, alpha-numeric, tone only, voice, data, etc. When someone wishes to page the subscriber the service provider's system utilizes the subscriber profile information to properly format the message to be sent, and to page the subscriber with that message.
Frequently, service providers servicing different geographic areas arrange between one another to permit subscribers of the other provider to roam in their geographic area and facilitate the sending of pages to the roaming subscriber. For example, a service provider in Tokyo, Japan may cooperate with the service provider in Chicago in the United States so that a customer of the Chicago service provider can receive pages in Tokyo.
This roaming gives rise to a particular challenge. Specifically, a person residing in Tokyo may wish to page the subscriber who is roaming in Tokyo. The person wishing to place the page contacts the "local terminal" in Tokyo and provides the message he wishes to send the subscriber. However, the local terminal does not have the subscriber profile information required to properly format and contact the roaming subscriber. Rather, as discussed above, the subscriber profile information resides at the "home terminal" in Chicago. In the past, the message input by the person placing the page, for example that person's phone number, was handed off by the local terminal to the home terminal . The home terminal would format the message and transmit it to the subscriber according to the subscriber profile stored at the home terminal. Consequently, no matter where the person sending the page resided and no matter where the subscriber was located, the home terminal always handled the message including the information to be sent (e.g. the phone number of the person sending the page).
However, a recent advancement in paging systems as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,666,107 by Lockhart et al. filed Sep. 20, 1995 facilitates the "downloading" of the subscriber profile from the home terminal to the local terminal. Consequently, the local terminal needs to contact the home terminal only for the first page requested by someone in the local area. For subsequent pages, the local terminal has temporarily stored the roaming subscribers profile so that the local terminal can send the page itself.
The advancement in paging systems described gives rise to a particular new challenge. Specifically, a message being sent to the subscriber may "originate" from more than one terminal, i.e., either the subscriber's home terminal or a variety of other local terminals. This contrasts with systems in the past where the message was always ultimately handled by the home terminal. The challenge of the new paging system is that if the subscriber's pager detects that a message it should have received was flawed, for example the received signal was weak and therefore message information was lost, then the subscriber does not know which service provider's terminal he might contact to obtain the message.
Consequently, what is needed is a method and apparatus for conveying message origination information to the subscriber.

Selective call receiver and method for conveying message origination information for a selective call receiver


Formulations containing an antibacterial alkali metal salt of a cephalosporin compound and methods of treating bacterial infections in dogs and cats.

Cephalosporins are widely used and therapeutically important antibiotics. The compounds of Formula I are broad spectrum cephalosporin antibacterials and are, therefore, useful in the treatment of bacterial infections in animals. (U.S. Pat. No. 6,020,329, Col. 1, lines 13-14). In particular, Compound I is targeted for dogs and cats with indications for treatment of bacterial infections of the skin, soft tissue, periodontal and urinary tract.
Compound I, wherein M is Na+, and the preparation thereof, are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,001,997, 6,020,329 and 6,077,952. The text of the aforementioned patents and all other references cited in this specification are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety.
Cephalosporin formulations are generally, however, unstable and a variety of different methods exist to increase stability including, inter alia, the adjustment of pH, crystallization, lyophilization, and the addition of stabilizers, such as sugars.
Cephalosporins may be somewhat stabilized within a certain pH range. The optimum pH range varies widely and is unpredictable for different classes of cephalosporins, requiring experimentation and stability tests. For example, Nassar et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,401,842, disclosed formulations of crystalline cefepime salt buffered with trisodium orthophosphate, sodium bicarbonate, sodium citrate, N-methyl-glucamine and L(+) arginine to a pH of 3.5 to 7.0.
K. A. Conners et al. disclose that cephalothin has a broad stability range from a pH of between 2 to 8. Cepharadine, however, stabilizes at a more acidic pH between 1 to 5. Stability for Cefotaxime is achieved in the pH range of 3 to 7. (K. A. Connors, et al. Chemical Stability of Pharmaceuticals, John Wiley & Sons, New York, 1986, p305).
In some cases, cephalosporin formulations were stabilized by crystallization and lyophilization. For example, Gotschi, U.S. Pat. No. 5,138,066, describes formulations for parenteral administration as lyophilizates or dry powders for dilution with pharmaceutical carriers such as water or isotonic saline.
Bornstein et al, U.S. Pat. No. 4,002,748, disclose methods of preparing essentially amorphous cefazolin by utilizing certain lyophilization techniques, while Daugherty, EP 0327364, describes a lyophilization method to prepare formulations of a crystalline solvate of a 1-carbacephalosporin.
Some cephalosporins may be stabilized by addition of a variety of different sugars. Whether a certain sugar will stabilize a particular cephalosporin, however, is unpredictable. Furthermore, the ratio of sugar to cephalosporin to achieve optimum stability is also unpredictable. For example, Shamblin et al. disclose that the stability of amorphous cefoxitin sodium was improved by a factor of two when co-lyophilized with sucrose. The stability of cefoxitin was not affected, however, when co-lyophilized with trehalose. S. L. Shamblin, B. C. Hancock, M. J.Pikal, The Chemical Stability of Amorphous Cefoxitin Sodium in the Presence of Glassy Stabilizers, AAPS Pharm. Sci. Vol. I, Issue 4, 1999.
Similarly, Shima et al., EP 0134568B1, disclose that sugar (glucose, fructose or maltose) or an alkali metal salt of a mineral acid or carboxylic acid stabilized a specific lyophilized cephalosporin at a 0.01:1 to 0.5:1 weight ratio of stabilizer:cephalosporin. Mannitol, however, was not effective in stabilizing the disclosed cephalosporin compound.
Likewise, Almarsson et al., Tetrahedron 56 (2000) 6877-6885, disclose that sucrose improved chemical stability of a beta-lactam compound at a sucrose/drug ratio of 0.1:1 to 0.5:1.
Yoshioka, Y. et al., Pharm, Res. 17 (2000), 925-929, disclose the stability of cephalothin in the presence of dextran at a dextran/cephalothin ratio of 200:1.
Conversely, Hirai et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,418,058, disclose that an excess amount, greater than 1:1, of a variety of different sugars or sugar alcohols adversely affected chemical stability of cephalosporins. Good stabilizing results were obtained, however, when the amount of added sugar or sugar alcohol was 0.1 to 1 sugar/cephalosporin.
Consequently, one of ordinary skill in the art cannot, in general, predict whether the addition of a particular sugar to any particular cephalosporin will achieve stability. Moreover, the optimum ratio of sugar:cephalosporin is also highly variable and unpredictable, absent experimentation. Furthermore, as discussed above, the optimum pH range of stability for a particular cephalosporin is also unpredictable.
A method of administration for Compound I is by parenteral administration. Other modes of administration include oral and topical. (U.S. Pat. No. 6,020,329, Col. 15, lines 1-2 Compound I is unstable, as both a solid and an aqueous solution. Furthermore, Compound I is hygroscopic. Consequently, a formulation and method for stabilizing Compound I would be a useful addition to the art.

Methods of treatment and formulations of cephalosporin


A pigment dispersion liquid capable of stably recording images having high fastness and excellent quality for a long term in any cases has been provided. A pigment dispersion liquid mainly containing a polymer dispersant, a pigment and water, wherein the polymer dispersant is a copolymer comprised of at least a hydrophobic unit and a hydrophilic unit, the hydrophobic unit has a block portion comprised of at least one hydrophobic monomer, the hydrophilic unit has at least a repeating unit structure of an acrylamide structure of the following general formula (1), and the segment number (A) of the block portion comprised of a hydrophobic monomer to the number (B) of all segments of the polymer dispersant is in a range of 0.07 to 0.85 in terms of A/B ratio.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a pigment dispersion liquid, an ink jet recording ink (hereinbelow which may be referred to simply as "ink), an ink jet recording method, an ink cartridge and an ink jet recording apparatus. More particularly, the present invention relates to a pigment dispersion liquid of the coloring material dispersion type and an aqueous ink jet recording ink which have high storage stability, good fixation of printed images as well as fastness of recorded images and are suitable for ink jet recording, and to an ink jet recording method, an ink cartridge and an ink jet recording apparatus using the ink.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, water-insoluble coloring materials such as pigments excellent in fastness such as water fastness and light fastness have been widely used as a coloring agent for a printing ink. However, in order to use a water-insoluble coloring material as a coloring material for an aqueous ink, it is required to stably disperse the water-insoluble coloring material in an aqueous medium. Owing to this, aqueous inks of the coloring material dispersion type in which a water-insoluble coloring material is uniformly dispersed in an aqueous medium by adding a dispersant such as a polymer compound or a surfactant have been used.
In recent years, in applications to ink jet recording as well, such aqueous ink jet recording inks of the coloring material dispersion type have come to be used as inks in view of image fastness. Attempts to impart an aggregation function and a water insolubilization function to coloring material particles in the ink have been made in respect of ink jet recording in order to improve fixation of recorded images and water fastness of ink on paper. However, when the coloring material particles are provided with these functions, dispersion stability of the coloring material particles in the ink is deteriorated, the coloring material particles will aggregate during storage of the ink, which causes such problems that concentration unevenness and sedimentation are liable to occur, that drying of the ink at the tip of a nozzle of an ink jet apparatus causes clogging and thereby ejection stability of the ink is liable to deteriorate.
In order to solve the problems mentioned above, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H04-227668, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H05-179183 and Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2005-177756 propose block polymers having a particular acrylic monomer structure in a hydrophilic segment thereof, but affinity of the hydrophilic monomer structure region, which constitutes the polymer, to recording materials is insufficient in these polymers, and accordingly, when these polymers are used in ink, image fastness such as ink fixation and scratch resistance is not at a sufficiently satisfactory level. Furthermore, in uses for which long-term continuous printing is required in industrial applications, an ink containing a block polymer mentioned above has such a problem to be solved that the ejection stability of the ink is significantly deteriorated.
In the meantime, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2006-282760 proposes an ink containing a polymer dispersant and an urethane resin, but this ink has such a problem that dispersion stability of the coloring material particles at the time of a long term storage or a storage at a high temperature is significantly deteriorated, and besides, ejection stability of the ink is significantly deteriorated in uses for which long-term continuous printing is required in industrial applications. In addition, when such an ink is used in an ink jet recording apparatus which causes the ink to fly by thermal energy, such a problem is caused that the coloring material particles severely aggregate to make it impossible to eject the ink.

Pigment dispersion liquid, ink jet recording ink, ink jet recording method, ink cartridge and ink jet recording apparatus


A resonant power converter comprising electrical safety components comprising a combination of a diodes and a zener diodes coupled between DC conductors and an auxiliary switching circuit, the diodes being adapted to hinder the current from flowing from the auxiliary switching circuit to the negative DC conductor, and the zener diodes being adapted to allow current to flow from the negative DC conductor to the auxiliary switching circuit when the potential difference between the negative DC conductor and the phase conductor is above a threshold voltage. The Zener diodes being selected such that the threshold voltage of the Zener diodes is below the maximum blocking voltage of the transistors.

In power converters, losses appear as none of the components has ideal characteristics. The losses introduce heat in the power circuitry, which apart from consuming energy introduces thermal strain to all components, reducing their life span.
It is desirable to increase the frequency of operation of power converters as the generated output then can be more exactly controlled. Increasing the switching frequency leads to lower switching ripple, and smaller component values which in turn leads to a more compact, light-weight and cost-effective implementation of the invention. Further, lower switching ripple allows for potentially lowered EMI, which aligns with the goal of a non-disturbing switch. Still further, having a high switching frequency allows for higher frequency currents to be generated by the power converter, widening the range of applications suitable for the converter.
However, increasing the frequency also increases switching losses, as most losses appear on switching cycle basis. Forcing the transistor to commutate while a current is flowing through it or when there is a potential difference over it, requires energy which must be supplied to the gate of the transistor. Thus, reducing the current through the transistor or the voltage thereover reduces the total power input for the switch and thus the total power input to the system.
One way of reducing the losses over a particular switch is to ad a resonant component to the circuitry in which a current is generated by an inductive element, by the discharge of a capacitor. A circuit employing this technique is known as a resonant converter, and the method of using resonance to facilitate commutation is known as soft switching. There are generally two types of soft-switching: low-voltage switching and low-current switching. Low-voltage switching involves minimizing the voltage or potential difference over the switch prior to commutation, whereas low-current switching involves minimizing the current through the switch prior to switching.
Generating less EMI noise is an important goal in its own right. In applications where the converter or inverter is connected directly to the grid, EMI noise can cause problems which are normally solved by employing EMC-filters. EMC-filters are placed in series with the converter, thereby handling the full current capacity. By minimizing the EMI, EMC filters can be eliminated from the converter design.
One soft switching solution is provided in U.S. Pat. No. 5,047,913 (to De Doncker et al.). De Doncker suggests using controlled switches in the resonant auxiliary circuitry for overcoming the problem of active device switching losses in power converters. The reduction of losses in the power converters enables operation at higher switching frequencies. De Doncker describes that the resonant output voltage may fall short of the opposite rail voltage due to component resistances, device conduction losses and inadequate forcing potential. As a result, the next switching device in the inverter pole to be turned on may be switched at the peak of the resonating voltage, and hence must absorb some switching losses due to the non-zero voltage turn-on, including the energy dump from the parallel capacitor.
The introduction of an auxiliary switch reduces the resistance that the main switches are facing at commutation, and thereby the losses in the switch. However, the transistor elements of the auxiliary switch still need to commutate with a potential difference thereacross. The insulating capabilities of the gate oxide, which is a thin insulating layer separating the gate from the underlying source and drain, provides the commutation resistance that the gate signal needs to affect to force the transistor to commutate. In a switch based power converter, the accuracy of the output current is dependent on the frequency of the switching, which means that a high switching frequency is advantageous. As a switch with high switching frequency and small losses is desired, a transistor that commutates with small gate signal should be provided, as the energy of the gate signal becomes losses in the form of heat developed in the transistor. For achieving these properties, the oxide layer is made very thin, which reduces the required amount of energy that the gate signal needs to supply for forcing the transistor to commutate.
A transistor has a maximum blocking voltage, i.e. the voltage the transistor will reliably withstand without breakdown when in the off-state. The maximum blocking voltage depends on the gate oxide. When the maximum blocking voltage is exceeded, there is a risk that the gate oxide fails and thus loses its insulating capabilities. This failure is known as oxide breakdown. The risk of oxide breakdown increases as the oxide layers are made thinner. One form of oxide breakdown is oxide rupture which is caused by a high voltage being applied across the oxide layer. The high voltage causes the thinnest spot in the oxide layer to exhibit dielectric breakdown and thus allow current to flow. The flowing current causes the oxide layer to heat up, which further enables current flow through the oxide layer causing a chain reaction eventually causing a meltdown of the semiconductor material and thus a short circuit in the transistor. It would therefore be advantageous to provide a circuit for a power converter which reduces the risk that the potential difference over the transistor element exceeds the maximum blocking voltage of the transistor.

Switch protection i auxiliary resonant circuit


A method for producing a component by brazing and a related component are disclosed. The component may include a first part, a second part and a third part, wherein the first part includes a first junction part, the second part includes a second junction part and a cross junction part, and the third part includes a third junction part, and wherein the third junction part has a part and a remaining part. In an embodiment the method includes coupling the first part and the second part to each other by performing a preceding weld in a state of overlapping a part of the first junction part and the second junction part and, after performing the preceding weld, coupling the first part, the second part, and the third part to each other by performing a following weld.

When brazing panels of steel or aluminum, or panels made of different materials from each other, laser brazing may be used depending on quality assurance and exterior design needs.
However, in a case of laser brazing a spring back phenomenon may occur after finishing brazing because the brazing is performed while two panels are pressed against each other. In particular, when welding lines of three or more panels intersect each other to be welded, two or more welding lines intersect each other. At an intersection point, a lifted gap between panels is generated due to a humped part at the end point of weld bead, thereby causing a problem of a poor weld.
In order to solve this problem, it is necessary to avoid welding areas being overlapped. However in that case, there is a problem in that realization of a design for a desired product becomes difficult.
The foregoing is intended merely to aid in the understanding of the background of the present invention, and is not intended to mean that the present invention falls within the purview of the related art that is already known to those skilled in the art.

Component produced by brazing and method of producing same


Marine seismic data sets are generally under-sampled spatially because of the relatively long listening times required in deep water. It is customary to use very long spreads in the field thereby enhancing aliasing and interference from coherent noise. A seismic-signal data processing method is proposed that applies a combination of a forward parabolic Radon transform and a linear Radon transform to the data, followed by a further transform to a three-dimensional frequency domain. In this domain, a deterministic operator is applied to the data to sharpen the Radon-domain response thereof. The data are then scavenged of noise in the Radon domain and inversely transformed back into the time-space domain.

1. Field of the Invention
This is a method of avoiding aliasing artifacts in the processing of CMP seismic data originating from arrays characterized by large source-receiver distances. The method is particularly useful in deep-water marine operations where the CMP gathers are made of sparsely-recorded traces.
2. Discussion of Related Art
The art of seismic exploration for natural resources is very well known. Nevertheless, a brief tutorial follows.
An acoustic source of any well-known type is caused to radiate a wavefield (fire a shot) into a body of water from a source location at or near the surface. The wavefield may be radiated by an impulsive device such as air gun, by a chirp-signal generator or by an implosive device. The acoustic radiator may be a single point-source or an array of point sources arranged in a desired pattern. Hereinafter for brevity, we will simply use the term "source".
The radiated wavefield propagates in all directions, insonifying the subsurface earth layers whence the wavefield is reflected back to the surface of the earth where the reflected wavefield is detected by an array or spread of acoustic receivers. The acoustic receivers may be of any type having a capability for converting mechanical compressional waves to electrical signals. Suitable receivers for deep water marine use include pressure sensors (hydrophones) that are responsive to stimuli from one or more spatial directions. The term "receiver" includes a single instrument or a group of several electrically-interconnected receivers arranged in a desired geometric pattern at or near the surface of the earth.
The electrical signals from the receiver(s) are delivered through data transmission means to data-conditioning and archival storage channels, one channel per receiver. The data transmission means may be electrical-wireline, optical, or ethereal in nature. Acoustic data-transmission channels are also known.
The electrical signals representative of the arrival times of reflected wavefields at the respective receivers are digitized and recorded on reproducible, computer-readable recording media such as, but not limited to, photographic time scale recordings, magnetic tapes, floppy disks, CD-ROMs or any other data-recording medium now known or as yet unknown.
The recorded data are later delivered to a processing center where the data are fed to a suitable general purpose computer of any desired type which is programmed to convert the seismic data to a visual model of the earth's subsurface. Programs in the computer include formulations and algorithms that exist for the sole purpose of operating on the digitized seismic data signals to convert those signals into a different state such as the desired visual model of a volume of the earth. The resulting model is used by geologists in recovering valuable natural resources such as oil, gas or other useful minerals for the benefit of humankind. That is, data processing algorithms exist to process the gathered seismic signals into a useful, human-interpretable format; the data are not gathered simply to provide a solution to some naked algorithm.
Geophysical surveys may be one- or multi-dimensional. In a two-dimensional survey by way of example but not by way of limitation, a source and an array including a plurality, numbering in the hundreds or perhaps thousands, of spaced-apart receivers are emplaced along a line of survey, one receiver or receiver group per data channel. The receivers, preferably separated from one another by an interval such as 25 meters, are distributed along the line of survey at increasingly greater offset distances from the source. The range in offsets may extend from about 200 meters from a source to the nearest receiver to as much as 30 kilometers or more to the most distant receiver.
With particular reference to marine exploration in deep water, a ship continuously tows a long cable containing the receivers through the water along the line of survey. A ship-borne source is fired periodically at selected time intervals followed by a listening period during which the receivers detect the returning reflected seismic wavefields. Typically the ship travels about 6 knots (about 11 km/hr). Two-way wavefield travel times of 15 seconds or more to deep earth layers are routine. Therefore, the interval between successive source firings must exceed the listening time by a comfortable margin. At the usual ship velocity of 6 knots therefore, the spatial separation between source-firing locations may be about four times the receiver spacing or about 100 meters.
FIG. 1 is a schematic drawing showing a receiver array, 8, of indefinite length, of which the first 20 receivers, represented as small circles 12.sub.0 -12.sub.20, are shown. The array is towed from left to right by a ship (not shown) and at selected intervals a source is fired at timed intervals at successive, spaced-apart source locations, shown as small inverted triangles 10.sub.0 -10.sub.4, as the spread progressively moves down the line of survey 13. As explained above the separation between a source and a receiver is the offset x.
A common mid point, such as 14, positioned on stratum 16 is acoustically illuminated by wavefields emanating from different source locations and received at different receiver locations. The first wavefield trajectory is 18, source location 10.sub.0, to receiver 12.sub.12. The next trajectory, 20, is 10.sub.1 -12.sub.16 and the third trajectory, 22, is 10.sub.2 -12.sub.20. CMP 14 is formed by summing (stacking) the three trajectories after application of the appropriate hyperbolic normal moveout to each one. Additional CMPs are generated similarly such as but not limited to CMPs 24 and 26. A three-input CMP is shown for simplicity but should not be taken as limiting. In seismic data processing, it is commonplace to achieve redundancy by CMP stacking as shown above in the time-space (t-x) domain for the purpose of canceling undesired random and coherent noise such as multiple energy. Certain types of undesired noise often only can be separated from the desired signal by transforming the data to some other domain such as the frequency-wavenumber (f-k) domain or slant stacking in tau-p (.tau.-p) space.
To avoid spatial aliasing problems it is required to have two or more samples per wavelength. But because of the lengthy listening time demanded by deep-water operations and the resulting wide separation between source locations, the in-line direction is sparsely sampled such that a single CMP in (t-x) space includes but 25% of the traces recorded per spread of each single shot as shown in FIG. 1. Temporal or spatial aliasing artifacts result which blocks the effective elimination of undesired energy such as multiples, severely distorting the desired model of the subsurface.
Winney, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,628,492, issued Dec. 9, 1986 recognized the aliasing problem in the slant stacking of seismic data. He provides a method for avoiding aliasing in .tau.-p transforms of seismic data which features identification of frequency components of the data likely to be aliased during the correlative summation steps, which components he then throws away. His method involves loss of valuable data. G. Beylkin in U.S. Pat. No. 4,760,563, issued Jul. 26, 1988, discloses a method and system for discrete transformation of measurements such as seismic data into and out of .tau.-p space which is both exact and practical in terms of processing time. The measurements can be filtered or otherwise processed in tau-p space in ways that are not practical or possible in their original space. Since the transforms into and out of tau-p space are exact, the filtered and transformed measurements are free of errors and distortions that perturb known approximate transforms which can be performed in a reasonable time. When the transformation process is carried out in frequency space it is done frequency-to-frequency, and when it is carried out in the spatial domain it can utilize a transformation matrix having a block circulant structure. In each case, the transformation process and matrix have a structure which substantially reduces storage and processing requirements as compared to known art. In real life, however, the Beylkin process turns out to be too excessively complex for routine use. Furthermore, Beyklin's method works with a single CMP at a time and therefore cannot address aliasing issues effectively.
The '563 patent is of interest because it presents a voluminous exegesis of the seismic data-processing art with respect to forward and inverse transforms between (t-x) space and the (f-k), (.tau.-p) domains. It is incorporated herein by reference for its tutorial content.
There is a need for an efficient method of processing deep-water seismic data which will provide the resolution to clearly separate undesired noise from desired signals without introducing spatial or temporal aliasing effects. It is proposed to provide a sharpening operator for improving the resolution of a CMP stack.

Reducing aliasing artifacts in seismic data processing using sharpened (TAU-P-Q) transforms


A device for centering a rotational unit on a rotatable hub for rotation of the unit together with the hub. A centering surface which extends around the circumference of the hub extends essentially from a mounting edge for the rotational unit to a stop surface which determines the axial position of the rotational unit. The rotational unit presents in a corresponding way a centering surface which in its one end transcends into a stop surface, which determines the radial position and which is intended for contact with the stop surface of the hub. One of the centering surfaces is divided into a first centering section with a certain larger clearance to the second centering surface and a second centering section with a certain smaller clearance to the second centering surface. The first centering section extends across the main part of the axial distance from the stop surface of the hub to its mounting edge. The second centering section extends across a minor section of the axial distance from the stop surface to the mounting edge of the hub.

In many applications it is of great importance that the rotating units are properly centered in relation to their axes of rotation. Such rotational units, which are mounted on a rotary hub via mounting surfaces, normally present centering surfaces, shaped as cylinder mantles, which are centered against corresponding centering surfaces, shaped as cylinders mantles, on the hub. Since, for production reasons, a certain tolerance range for the centering surfaces of both the rotational unit and the hub exists, the centering surfaces must be dimensioned in such a way that a certain minimum permitted clearance is assured. In certain cases, the clearance may become so large that, to a great extent, the rotational unit becomes excentrically mounted on the hub and that there is an increased risk for it becoming stuck due to rust, which makes its removal more difficult.
Applications in which eccentrically mounted rotational units may involve functional problems are for example brake drums for motor vehicles. An eccentrically mounted brake drum results in a varying braking torque, which in turn leads to vibrations in the steering wheel and/or the vehicle passenger compartment, which normally is perceived as very annoying by the driver.


A switching power supply, with or without a secondary side controller, is connectable to a power-supply-using device (such as a printer without a power supply) receiving a voltage from the power-supply's secondary side. The device has a device controller (such as a printer controller) which controls the device, wherein the power supply is adapted to receive a power-supply control signal or power-supply control data from the device controller. A method for operating the switching power supply includes using the power-supply control signal or the power-supply control data to generate an input control signal for the power supply's primary side controller. A device-and-power-supply assembly (such as a printer) includes a switching power supply lacking a secondary side controller and includes a power-supply-using device having a device controller (such as a printer controller) wherein the power supply is adapted to receive a power-supply control signal from the device controller.

Switching power supplies are well known. A switching power supply has a primary side and a secondary side, wherein the secondary side is inductively coupled to the primary side to produce at least one voltage. The primary side operates from line voltage. A primary side controller controls the primary side to provide a controlled output voltage. Known designs include those wherein a secondary side controller provides feedback control (of appropriate gain and phase for the particular switching power supply) of one of the secondary side voltages of the secondary side to the primary side controller to maintain stability of that voltage under varying load conditions.
Switching power supplies are used to run power-supply-using devices. Power-supply-using devices include, without limitation, printers (without a power supply), such as ink jet printers having a printer controller, having a print head, and having a print head carriage motor and one or more paper feed motors. The printer controller controls the operation of the motors and the print head to eject ink onto the paper. The device and the power supply together may be called a device-and-power-supply assembly.
Certain devices, such as computer monitors and copiers are known to operate in reduced power modes when the device is idle. Certain devices, such as ink jet printers, are known to operate with external (i.e., external to the printer housing) power supplies and with internal (i.e., internal to the printer housing) power supplies.
What is needed is one or more of an improved switching power supply, an improved method for operating a switching power supply, and an improved device-and-power-supply assembly.

Switching power supply, method of operation and device-and-power-supply assembly


A signal transmission device includes: a detector circuit that detects impulse noises having been applied to the transmission line, the detector circuit being composed of an analog circuit; a noise counter that counts the impulse noises detected by the detector circuit and observes occurrence intervals of the impulse noises; and a data length changer that varies a data length of the communication frames depending on the occurrence intervals of the impulse noises observed by the noise counter.

During a data communication between signal transmission devices in a communication system, if an impulse noise is applied to a transmission line (or a transmission cable) at the time when a communication frame is outputted, frame loss occurs in the communication frame, and thus degrading transmission efficiency.
As an example, in Ethernet, a user can set the data length of communication frames to optional length. In such a communication system, if communication is performed with the data length of communication frames set to be long, transmission efficiency degradation for when frame loss occurs due to an impulse noise becomes noticeable and brings disadvantages.
Contrary to above, if communication is performed with the data length set to be very short, transmission efficiency degradation due to impulse noises may decrease. However, transmission efficiency degrades due to the overhead of control fields such as frame headers, and thus being disadvantageous.
In general, in a communication system that performs signal transmission with impulse noises, there is an intermediate data length being capable of achieving the best transmission efficiency. This data length of the best transmission efficiency depends on the occurrence intervals of impulse noises.
Here, as shown in FIG. 4, a communication frame 4 is composed of bit fields including a preamble & header 41, data 42, and an FCS (Frame Check Sequence) 43. A user can optionally set the length of the data 42. It is assumed that the frequency of occurrence of an impulse noise 5 is distributed randomly around a certain average interval, and frame loss occurs in a communication frame 4 outputted at a time when overlapping with an impulse noise 5. Note that numeral 44 denotes a frame gap between communication frames 4.
FIG. 5 shows an example of results of studying, by numerical analysis, the data length being capable of achieving the best transmission efficiency when communication frames 4 shown in FIG. 4 are used. The horizontal axis of FIG. 5 represents the data length of communication frames 4 and the vertical axis represents effective transmission efficiency. Note that the communication rate is assumed to be 125 Mbps, and the frequencies of occurrence of an impulse noise 5 are 40 μs, 80 μs, and 160 μs.
In the analysis results shown in FIG. 5, the best transmission efficiency is achieved in the case of intermediate data lengths of 200 to 300 bytes (region A). Note that, in a portion where the data length is long (region B), the transmission efficiency decreases due to the application of impulse noises 5. In addition, in a portion where the data length is very short (region C), the transmission efficiency decreases due to the overhead of control fields such as headers.
Based on relations such as that described above, in order to improve the transmission efficiency, techniques for optimally setting the data length are disclosed (See Patent Literatures 1 and 2, for example). In these conventional techniques, as shown in FIG. 6, a detecting unit 100 detects a frame error by using an FCS 43 provided to a communication frame 4, and a data length changer 101 varies the data length to an optimal length based on the detection result.

Signal transmission device with data length changer


The present disclosure provides a processor, and associated method, for performing parallel processing within a register. An exemplary processor may include a processing element having a compute unit and a register file. The register file includes a register that is divisible into lanes for parallel processing. The processor may further include a mask register and a predicate register. The mask register and the predicate register respective include a number of mask bits and predicate bits equal to a maximum number of divisible lanes of the register. A state of the mask bits and predicate bits is set to respectively achieve enabling/disabling of the lanes from executing an instruction and conditional performance of an operation defined by the instruction. Further, the processor is operable to perform a reduction operation across the lanes of the processing element and/or generate an address for each of the lanes of the processing element.

Parallel processing is often implemented by a processor to optimize processing applications, for example, by a digital signal processor to optimize digital signal processing applications. A processor can operate as a single instruction, multiple data (SIMD), or data parallel, processor to achieve parallel processing. In SIMD operations, a single instruction is sent to a number of processing elements of the processor, where each processing element can perform a same operation on different data. A growing demand for continually higher throughput and increased performance has led to the implementation of SIMD within a register (SWAR), where the processing elements can operate on multiple sets of data within their associated registers. Although SWAR is relatively inexpensive to implement in a processor's hardware, SWAR poses challenges from a programming perspective. For example, SWAR programming typically necessitates intrinsics, inline assembly, and/or specialized vector data types (such as float2, int4, short4, etc.) from a high level language such as C/C++, which are not part of the ANSI C standards (standards published by American National Standards Institute (ANSI) for C programming language). Because such programming options (specialized vector data types, intrinsics, and/or inline assembly) are processor specific, SWAR programming presents difficulty in porting legacy code. Further, since SWAR programming adds an additional level of parallel processing on a vector processor, conventional processors burden the programmer with ensuring that the processor recognizes the two levels of parallel operation (two-way parallelism): one level of parallel processing within the processing elements (utilizing SWAR) and another level of parallel processing across the processing elements of a vector unit of the processor. Accordingly, although existing processor architectures for performing parallel processing, and associated methods, have been generally adequate for their intended purposes, they have not been entirely satisfactory in all respects.

Processor architecture and method for simplifying programming single instruction, multiple data within a register


The invention relates to double-stranded ribonucleic acid (dsRNA) compositions targeting the TMPRSS6 gene, and methods of using such dsRNA compositions to inhibit expression of TMPRSS6.

TMPRSS6 (Transmembrane Protease, Serine 6) encodes a type II serine protease and is expressed mainly in the liver. TMPRSS6 influences iron levels in the liver by binding and proteolytically degrading the hepcidin activator and BMP co-receptor HJV (hemojuvelin), which causes down-regulation of hepcidin levels.
TMPRSS6 consists of a short N-terminal intracytoplasmic tail, a type II transmembrane domain, a stem region composed of two extracellular CUB (complement factor C1s/C1r, urchin embryonic growth factor and BMP (bone morphogenetic protein)) domains, three LDLR (low-density-lipoprotein receptor class A) domains, and a C-terminal trypsin-like serine protease domain. There are also consensus sites for N-glycosylation in the extracellular domain, and a potential phosphorylation site in the intracytoplasmic tail region.

Compositions and methods for inhibiting expression of TMPRSS6 gene


A connector system for a miniaturized form factor card allows a communications system for mobile information devices having an applications processor and user interface components. A receiving frame is provided in the mobile information device for an insertable miniaturized form factor card incorporating means for RF transmission and reception and a wireless modem. A connector moiety on the card is received in a mating moiety in the receiving frame. The applications processor and the user interface components in the mobile information device are interconnected to digital functions of the wireless modem and means for RF transmission and reception through the connector.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to the field of operating platforms for mobile phones and personal data systems and more particularly to a connector system to be employed with generic mobile information devices for a wireless communications card with a miniaturized form factor which is insertable into the mobile information devices to accommodate desired wireless communication functions.
2. Related Art
Current design time-to-market for mobile phone and personal information devices is extended due to current design philosophy and practice. Turn-around time for a typical complete handset design is about 9 months. Currently terminal vendors need to spend significant amount of resources on basic wireless communication functions and cannot concentrate on truly value-added design works, such as industrial design and software applications. It is also difficult to develop multiple models with significant differences based on a common printed circuit board (PCB) platform. Traditional wireless devices using discrete solution have difficulty supporting multiple band or modes such as GSM, CDMA, 3G. Discrete chipset solutions consume at least three times more PCB space. There are significant financial and technical barriers of entry for new companies without significant resources, or established companies without wireless expertise.
Currently there are some vendors selling modules that can provide wireless communication functions in a particular wireless technology. However these modules are large in size with proprietary interfaces. These modules require significant amount of vendor integration. Alternatively, certain prior art systems are simply modularizing wireless modem functions. Prior art systems for removable cartridges providing communications elements such as that disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,690,947 to Tom provide some flexibility in applications design; however, such systems were bulky and lacked packaging and connector innovations required for practical application of such systems.
U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/308,221 filed on Mar. 13, 2006 entitled MINIATURIZED FORM FACTOR WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS CARD FOR GENERIC MOBILE INFORMATION DEVICES, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety as though fully set forth, provides a system that can save RF tuning, debugging and certification thereby reducing design lead time significantly. This system provides the ability to integrate hardware, software, utilities and drivers which will allow true plug and play functionality for end users or mobile information device design houses. The desired functional capability is provided through an insertable card to eliminate the requirement for a separate CPU or applications processor in the mobile information device and additionally, provides a complete modem solution that will support multi-mode and multi-band.
To enhance the space savings and weight reduction to permit more compact portable devices and flexible designs and integrate chipset and passive components into a common module it is desirable that the system be provided with integral connector systems having standard interfaces and indexing for mating to PC boards within the mobile information device platforms and to properly index and mate the miniaturized form factor card. It is desirable that the connector in such a common module be employed to reduce the total number of solder joints, thus increasing the reliability of the final product. It is desirable to provide a connector system to simplify the currently complex design work for wireless enabled device into much simpler product integration and to provide capability for wireless communications card to be installable in generic mobile information devices by an end user.

Connector for a highly integrated, installable miniaturized form factor card for wireless communications functions


A utility pocket is shown for use with a tool pouch or bag, or with such items as a brief case, soft sided cooler, or a backpack. The utility pocket has a clam shell shaped outer member which is biased toward an associated sidewall panel by means of elastic webbing. A pair of mating permanent magnets come into contact as the pocket moves from the open position to the closed position and help to bias the pocket to the closed position, as well as imparting a snap-closure action to the pocket. The material chosen for the pocket helps it to retain its clam shell shape without requiring internal reinforcing members, such as wire springs or other metal reinforcing elements.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to utility pockets and pouches of the type found on tool bags, backpacks, brief cases, soft sided coolers and similar items, and more specifically to such a pocket having a magnetic closure feature.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Utility pockets are found on a wide variety of garments and work related apparel, as well as on such things as tool bags, backpacks, brief cases and soft sided coolers. Soft sided pockets were, in many instances, an improvement over the traditional hard sided tool boxes of the type used in the building trades. The traditional hard bodied tool box typically included either metal or hard plastic bodies that have a hinged top and a small removable tray that lifts out to reveal the inner confines of the box for bulk tool storage. Some of the prior art designs have small mounted drawers either in the top or the bottom for smaller tools or loose fasteners. Since these boxes are made of metal, hard plastic or rubber, they often do not conform to unique storage and use situations in real life trade applications.
In addition, most of such prior art designs of the type used for transporting tools and other building materials to a job site, were tedious and inefficient for a worker to use. They generally required a plumber, carpenter, or an electrician, to go back and forth from the tool box to pick up and drop off tools or building supplies or materials such as nails, screws, rivets, etc., while working on the job site. A more efficient way of accessing tools or building materials on the job site would be to load the tools or related items or supplies into an article worn on the body. Some workers have used aprons or vests with storage pockets, while others have utilized tool belts to accomplish these types of tasks.
Whether the item is one which is worn on the body such as a tool bag or pouch, or whether it is a backpack, brief case, soft sided cooler bag, or similar item, a need exists for an improved utility pocket for such items. In the case of a tool belt, the belt may have different receptacles and compartments for holding differently-shaped tools, building materials, supplies and accessories. One helpful accessory for such a tool belt is a pocket that serves as a small-parts organizer for objects such as nails, screws, bolts, fasteners, wires, nuts, and other objects that workers need in a large quantity of at the work site.
A need exists for such a utility pocket which is simple in design and economical to manufacture and which can easily be incorporated into existing tool bag designs, as well as into existing backpacks, brief cases, coolers, and similar items. In the example of a brief case, the pocket might be used to hold a cell phone, office accessories such as paper clips, stick-on note pads, etc. In the case of the backpack, the pocket might hold any number of camping, hiking or outdoor type accessory items, such as a compass, snack foods, a pen knife, matches, etc.
A need exists for such a utility pocket design, for any of the above noted end applications, which can be accessed with either the left or right hand and which features a magnetic closure to automatically bias the pocket opening to the closed position once the interior contents of the pocket have been accessed.
A need exists for such a design which presents an attractive appearance on a variety of different product lines whether for a consumer item such as a briefcase of backpack, or whether used on more of a utility item such as a tool bag or pouch.


The present invention relates to a fingerprint sensor module having excellent sensing sensitivity, to a portable electronic device including same, and to a method for manufacturing same. According to one embodiment of the present invention, a fingerprint sensor module is provided which includes: a sensing unit formed on a substrate using a conductive body; a fingerprint sensor having a sensor circuit unit electrically connected to the sensing unit; a bracket accommodating the sensing unit and receiving the fingerprint sensor; and a post-processing layer positioned on a contact surface formed on the bracket so as to face the upper surface of the sensing unit. The sum of the thickness of a supporting layer between the upper surface of the sensing unit and the contact surface, and the thickness of the post-processing layer is 0.04 mm to 0.06 mm.

As fingerprint sensors are sensors for sensing human finger fingerprints, recently, the fingerprint sensors have been widely used as tools to enhance security in portable electronic devices such as mobile terminals, tablet PCs, etc. That is, since the registration or identification of a user has to be processed by the fingerprint sensors, data stored in the portable electronic devices is protected, and security breaches are prevented.
Meanwhile, in the portable electronic devices, a fingerprint sensor is integrated with a function of navigation which performs an operation of a cursor or pointer and this type of the fingerprint sensor is referred to as a biometric track pad (BTP). In other cases, the fingerprint sensor is integrated with a switching function through which a user inputs information.
Such as a fingerprint sensor is manufactured as a module, in which a fingerprint sensor, integrated circuits (ICs), bezels, etc. are integrated, and mounted on an electronic device.
Meanwhile, in order to mount the fingerprint sensors on various types of electronic devices, the fingerprint sensors are each manufactured as a module type including peripheral components or configurations. Here, the base material of the fingerprint sensor including the fingerprint sensor needs colors in order to match the color of an electronic device, on which the fingerprint sensor module will be mounted, and the color of the fingerprint sensor, or in order for any other reason.
To implement colors on the base material of the fingerprint sensor, a method, such as painting using colored paint, coating using ultraviolet rays (UV), etc., are generally used. However, when colors are implemented on the base material of the fingerprint sensor using a general method, there is a problem in which configurations and thicknesses of interlayers included in a film should be suitably ensured. When the thickness of the film is not fully formed, the implementation of colors is not easy, and also there is a high possibility of generating damage such as contamination, scratches, cracks, etc. The above damage negatively influences an image of a fingerprint sensed by the fingerprint sensor.
Meanwhile, in the fingerprint sensor, and more particularly, in the fingerprint sensor using a capacitive touch method, operability thereof can be changed according to a film thickness formed on the base material of the fingerprint sensor. Particularly, as the film thickness formed on a base material of the fingerprint sensor is greater, sensitivity of the fingerprint sensor is worse, and thus, there is a limitation for the film thickness to implement color thereon.
As described above, there is a tradeoff in general. That is, when an allowable thickness of the film is formed on the base material of the fingerprint sensor to implement color, the operability of the fingerprint sensor is worse, and on the contrary, when the film is formed to be a thin layer so that the operability of the fingerprint sensor is acceptable, desired colors are not obtained or resistance to abrasion is worse.
Recently, fingerprint sensor modules that are minimized and manufactured with a low cost and designed using a chip-on-flex (COF) or ball grid array (BGA) method have been developed in order to mount the fingerprint sensor modules on portable devices. In the fingerprint sensor module, an IC for sensing a fingerprint is separated from a sensing area.
The fingerprint sensor module includes a fingerprint sensor, and a bracket or substrate fixing the fingerprint sensor. Accordingly, a process of coupling the fingerprint sensor to the bracket, in which efficiency and productivity of the process is improved, and a process of the bracket to improve sensitivity are required.
Therefore, a fingerprint sensor module, in which a thickness from a sensing area of the fingerprint sensor to a cover at a final stage being in contact with a user's finger does not influence the function of an electronic device (e.g., the sensitivity of a fingerprint) and also there are no problems for an exterior and reliability of the electronic device, a portable electronic device including the same and a method of manufacturing the same are required.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Fingerprint sensor module, portable electronic device including same, and method for manufacturing same


A semiconductor integrated circuit device comprising a one-chip microcomputer having a nonvolatile memory circuit to and from which write and read operations are carried out at high speed in keeping with the cycle time of the processor. Part of the memory circuit is set aside as a read-only area for accommodating a data processing program, and the rest of the memory is used to write and read data thereto and therefrom. With no need to optimize the assignments of the ROM and RAM parts in the memory circuit, the one-chip microchip is easy to design and manufacture with high productivity. With the program storage area established as desired, users enjoy more convenience use of the one-chip microcomputer than before.

The present invention relates to a semiconductor integrated circuit device and, more particularly, to techniques that may be applied advantageously to one-chip microcomputers.
Some conventional one-chip microcomputers comprise an EPROM (erasable programmable read only memory) to which data processing and system control programs are written once by general-purpose program writer so as to shorten the development time schedule of each microcomputer. One such one-chip microcomputer is described illustratively in Japanese Patent Laid-open No. Sho 61-51659.
A plurality of kinds of microcomputers are provided with EPROM's of different storage capacities for use in diverse applications. From the assortment of these microcomputers, a user selects an appropriate microcomputer having an EPROM of the suitable storage capacity needed to accommodate processing programs addressing the system in which the microcomputer is to be incorporated.


A pneumatic tire with an improved balance between noise reduction and hydroplaning resistance as the tread wears. The tread of the pneumatic tire includes skewed tread blocks having walls that, as the tread wears, change the character of the lateral and circumferential channels in the tire footprint to better optimize noise reduction and hydroplaning resistance.

Conventional tires include a tread with a tread pattern that, when the tire is loaded, defines a footprint providing a frictional engagement with the road. The tread pattern is segmented into a plurality of raised blocks defined and separated by intersecting circumferential and transverse grooves. The grooves are necessary to provide flexibility and water removal while the blocks determine the control, acceleration and braking characteristics of the tire. The circumferential grooves are positioned such that the raised blocks are arranged in columns that extend circumferentially about the tire circumference.
The block dimensions, the number of ribs, and the inclination angle of the transverse grooves cooperate in determining the overall performance of the pneumatic tire. In particular, these factors determine the amount of tread that contacts the road, and hence the traction and control of the vehicle riding on the tires. The nonskid or groove depth determines the ability of the intersecting circumferential and transverse grooves to channel water.
In a new condition, tread patterns are designed with compromises between various design parameters in order to optimize performance. As a tire wears, the parameter choices that optimized performance of the tire's tread pattern in the unworn state may not be optimal at reduced groove depths. For example, a new tire construction may be designed with a tread pattern having raised blocks in which noise reduction, due to the high nonskid, is a controlling factor. However, blocks that provide a balanced tire behavior in the new condition may not exhibit optimized noise reduction and hydroplaning control in a worn condition as the groove depth diminishes. As the tread wears, the noise created by contact between the road-contacting surfaces of the tread blocks and the road diminishes. However, worn tires with conventional blocks are significantly more susceptible to hydroplaning than new tires.
For these and other reasons, it would be desirable to provide a pneumatic tire that addresses these and other deficiencies of conventional pneumatic tires.

Pneumatic tire having tread blocks with skewed walls


A fishing lure device includes a baffle plate fabricated of sheet stock of uniform thickness and having a generally rectangular perimeter with vertical and horizontal axes. The plate has curvature with respect to both axes and is further characterized in having concave and convex surfaces. At least one pair of mounting apertures is centered on either axis. When attached to a wire loop of a standard fishing line connector, the plate oscillates in a horizontal path when pulled through the water. When allowed to descend in the water, the plate pivots to a position where the concave surface is upwardly directed, thereby slowing the rate of descent.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to fishing lures as used in sport fishing, and more particularly concerns sinking-type lures that attract fish by virtue of motion achieved by being pulled through a body of water by an attached fishing lure.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In the field of fishing lure apparatus, the use of spoons, either alone or in combination with other lure components, is well known. The term "spoon" is used because of the slightly hollowed or cupped shape which characterizes such devices.
A great many kinds of spoons and mounting mechanisms for spoons have been disclosed in a variety of shapes and sizes. The most commonly employed type of spoon is pear-shaped, having a narrow extremity provided with an aperture which permits pendant mounting to the lure or fishing line. In such pendant position, the long center axis of the spoon is disposed at an angled relationship with respect to the taut fishing line that secures the lure. When pulled through the water, spoons typically rotate about their long center axis.
Spoons can also be disposed upon a fishing line or lure in a manner to produce a motion other than axial rotation. For example, spoons which presumably have a flapping motion are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,672,086. Spoons which revolve about the axis of the fishing line, and which are sometimes referred to as "spinners" are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,206,274, 3,488,877 and 4,885,866. Although often effective as an attractant for fish, spoons that rotate about their axis or revolve about the fishing line axis have a tendency to twist the fishing line.
Multi-lobed and propeller-shaped spinners having the specialized property of slowing the rate of descent of a sinking lure on a slack fishing line are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,201,859, 5,327,671 and 5,412,900 to William Rosek.
Spoon-like deflector plates are utilized on many rigid-body lures having a fish-like appearance. In such applications, the deflector plate, having a contour which is generally concave in the direction of the fishing line, is fixedly attached to the forward extremity of the lure. The function of the deflector plate is to impart a wobbling, diving or other erratic motion to the lure.
Factors that are generally considered to attract fish to an artificial lure include shape, size, color, motion, noise, vibration and reflective surfaces. Lures that provide several of said attracting features will generally be more successful or more versatile than lures providing fewer attracting factors. With respect to the motion of the lure, many fishermen manipulate their fishing rods by jerking, twitching, pulling, pumping or pause-and-retrieve operations to impart a sought movement to the lure.
In the course of pumping or pause-and-retrieve manipulation, there is a brief period of time where the lure begins a descending motion. During such descending motion, it is desirable that the lure's rate of descent be slowed, and that the lure maintains its attractiveness. Another generally valued characteristic of fishing lures is the ability to be modified by the fisherman to suit the needs of different fishing situations.
It is accordingly an object of the present invention to provide a fishing lure device which provides multiple fish-attracting factors.
It is another object of this invention to provide a lure as in the foregoing object which can be removably associated with an existing lure to improve the performance thereof.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a lure of the aforesaid nature which can retard the rate of descent of an existing lure to which it is attached.
It is a still further object of this invention to provide a lure of the aforesaid nature of simple, durable construction amenable to low cost manufacture.
These objects and other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description.