A fluid titration system has an optical sensor, a physiological monitor, a titration controller and an infusion device. The optical sensor transmits multiple wavelengths of light into a tissue site of a person and detects the optical radiation after attenuation by pulsatile blood flowing within the tissue site. The physiological monitor receives a resulting sensor signal and derives a plethysmograph that corresponds to the pulsatile blood flow. The monitor also calculates a plethysmograph variability measure that is responsive to changes in perfusion at the tissue site. A titration controller generates a fluid control output according to the variability measure. The infusion device administers a liquid solution via an intravenous (IV) connection to the person according to the fluid control output so as to regulate at least one of a fluid flow start, rate and stop.

FIG. 1 illustrates a physiological monitoring system 100 having a physiological monitor 120, a noninvasive sensor 130 attached to a tissue site 1, and a sensor cable 140 interconnecting the monitor 120 and the sensor 130. Physiological monitoring systems for measuring constituents of circulating blood have gained rapid acceptance in a wide variety of medical applications, including surgical wards, intensive care and neonatal units, general wards, home care, physical training, and virtually all types of monitoring scenarios. The noninvasive sensor 130 has light emitting diodes (LEDs) and a detector. The LEDs transmit optical radiation into the tissue site 1, and the detector responds to the intensity of the optical radiation after absorption by pulsatile blood flow within the tissue site. Based upon this response, the physiological monitor 120 determines measurements for physiological parameters. The physiological monitoring system 100 may incorporate pulse oximetry, which is a widely accepted noninvasive procedure for measuring physiological parameters, such as oxygen saturation and pulse rate among others. The physiological monitoring system 100 may also incorporate advanced features, such as a multiple wavelength sensor and advanced processes for determining other physiological parameters, such as carboxyhemoglobin, methemoglobin and total hemoglobin, as a few examples. The physiological monitor 120 displays the physiological parameters and typically provides visual and audible alarm mechanisms that alert a caregiver when these parameters are outside of predetermined limits.
Pulse oximeters capable of reading through motion induced noise are disclosed in at least U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,770,028, 6,658,276, 6,650,917, 6,157,850, 6,002,952, 5,769,785, and 5,758,644; low noise pulse oximetry sensors are disclosed in at least U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,088,607 and 5,782,757; all of which are assigned to Masimo Corporation, Irvine, Calif. ("Masimo") and are incorporated by reference herein.
Physiological monitors and corresponding multiple wavelength optical sensors are described in at least U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/367,013, filed Mar. 1, 2006 and entitled Multiple Wavelength Sensor Emitters and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/366,208, filed Mar. 1, 2006 and entitled Noninvasive Multi-Parameter Patient Monitor, both assigned to Masimo Laboratories, Irvine, Calif. (Masimo Labs) and both incorporated by reference herein.
Further, physiological monitoring systems that include low noise optical sensors and pulse oximetry monitors, such as any of LNOP® adhesive or reusable sensors, SofTouch™ sensors, Hi-Fi Trauma™ or Blue™ sensors; and any of Radical®, SatShare™, Rad-9™, Rad-5™, Rad-5v™ or PPO+™ Masimo SET® pulse oximeters, are all available from Masimo. Physiological monitoring systems including multiple wavelength sensors and corresponding noninvasive blood parameter monitors, such as Rainbow™ adhesive and reusable sensors and RAD-57™ and Radical-7™ monitors for measuring SpO2, pulse rate, perfusion index, signal quality, HbCO and HbMet among other parameters are also available from Masimo.
FIG. 2 illustrates the standard plethysmograph waveform 200, which can be derived from a pulse oximetry system, as described above. The plethysmograph waveform 200 illustrates light absorption at the tissue site, shown along the y-axis 10, versus time, shown along the x-axis 20. The total absorption includes components of static absorption 210 and variable absorption 220. Static absorption 210 is due to tissue, venous blood and a base volume of arterial blood. Variable absorption 220 is due to the pulse-added volume of arterial blood. That is, the plethysmograph waveform 200 is a visualization of the tissue site arterial blood volume change over time, and is a function of heart stroke volume, pressure gradient, arterial elasticity and peripheral resistance. The ideal waveform pulse 230 displays a broad peripheral flow curve, with a short, steep inflow phase 232 followed by a 3 to 4 times longer outflow phase 234. The inflow phase 232 is the result of tissue distention by the rapid blood volume inflow during ventricular systole. During the outflow phase 234, blood flow continues into the vascular bed during diastole. The plethysmograph baseline 240 indicates the minimum basal tissue perfusion.


A method of testing a voice response system can include establishing a communications link between a test system and the voice response system, sending a signal to the test system over the voice link indicating that a voice prompt is to follow, and sending the voice prompt to the test system over the voice link. A system having means for performing the various steps disclosed herein and a machine readable storage for causing a machine to perform the steps described herein are also provided. The present invention relieves a tester or test system from having to know or be programmed with the operational details of a VRS, to adequately test the functionality of the VRS, as the VRS itself can provide the necessary test data to the test system.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to the field of voice response systems and, more particularly, to testing voice response systems.
2. Description of the Related Art
A voice response system (VRS) can provide an automated way of communicating information between a user and a business. A VRS can use a prerecorded database of voice messages to present options to a user. Further, a VRS can accept a combination of voice telephone inputs and touch-tone keypad selections and can provide appropriate responses in the form of voice, fax, callback, e-mail and perhaps other media. A VRS can also provide pre-recorded voice responses for appropriate situations, keypad signal logic, and access to relevant data.
Voice response systems advantageously allow users to provide information to and retrieve information from a business without the interaction of an employee. Accordingly, such systems are becoming more common throughout businesses for simple interactions between businesses and users; however, such systems have not completely replaced human employees for all interactions. For instance, while it is still the norm for users to interact with a human customer representative for complex matters, simple functions such as checking account balances and order status can be provided by a VRS.
During development and operation of a VRS application and system, it is necessary to simulate a plurality of calls so that performance of the VRS under strain can be monitored as well as to test the execution of particular software or computer program modules in the VRS. Such a simulation can be performed using a testing system such as a bulk call generator which can make telephone calls to the VRS directly or through some sort of network and/or switching system. Several types of telephone calls may be designed and the testing system may simulate one or a combination of different calls at the same time using several channels connected to the VRS system.
A VRS, including the VRS operational software, can be tested to determine whether correct prompts are played in response to various user inquiries. Execution information pertaining to the execution of the operational software of the VRS can be stored in local memory necessitating access to local execution logs or other data stores within the VRS itself. Presently, testing of VRS's, particularly the verification of execution information such as execution path verification and verification of the execution of software modules, requires that the tester or testing system have extensive knowledge of how the VRS works. More particularly, the tester must know which software modules are to be executed, the prompt hierarchy of the VRS, as well as many other operational details in order to adequately test the functionality of the VRS.

Method, system, and apparatus for testing a voice response system

International Business Machines Corporation


A structure is disclosed which comprises a metal plate, a chip of a semiconductor material attached to the plate, terminal leads, interconnection wires between the leads and the metallized regions of the chip, and a polymer body encapsulating all this with the exception of a surface of the plate and part of the leads. To achieve improved bond between the polymer and the metal, predetermined areas of the plate and the leads have a higher roughness than 1 (R.sub.a .gtoreq.1 .mu.m).

This invention relates to semiconductor electronic devices (particularly to a semiconductor electronic device structure which also includes a metal plate joined to a body of hardened resin), and to methods of making such device structures.
As is known, integrated circuits and other active electronic devices or components are formed on chips of a semiconductor material, having a surface area on the order of a few square millimeters, and require, for their connection to an external electric circuit, special supporting, enclosing and electric interconnection structures. A typical structure suited for the purpose basically comprises a polymer body enclosing a chip which is connected (by thin wires soldered to metallized regions specially provided on its surface) to corresponding electric conductors or terminal leads led out of the polymer body. With power integrated circuits (i.e. devices which are designed to operate on high currents and which are therefore liable to become heated to a significant extent), such structures also comprise a small metal plate through which a chip mounted thereon can transfer the heat generated during its operation to the environment.
In manufacturing the last-mentioned structures, the plate is blanked from sheet metal, e.g. copper, possibly along with other like plates which are held together by sections of the sheet metal adapted to be shorn off at a later processing stage; thereafter, the chip is secured on the metal plate either by soldering with a low-melt alloy such as a lead-tin alloy, or by cementing with a suitable adhesive such as an epoxy adhesive; a set of metal strips, intended to become the terminal leads for the device, are then blanked from thin sheet metal but still left joined to one another by interconnecting sections, and mounted to the plate in an electrically insulated manner therefrom; thin wires, usually of gold, are bonded, on the one side, to the metallized regions of the chip using a low-melt alloy, and on the other side, welded to the ends of the metal strips using a so-called "thermosonic" process wherein heat and ultra-sound are applied simultaneously; thereafter, the assembly is placed into a specially provided mold, into which a polymer material such as a thermosetting epoxy resin is then introduced in a liquefied state; on curing the resin, a structure is obtained which comprises a solid polymer body (of hardened resin) encapsulating the above-described elements excepting for one face of the metal plate and part of the metal strips, i.e. of the device terminal leads, and their interconnecting sections; the latter are then removed along with any interconnecting sections between plates (e.g. by blanking) to yield the finished electronic product.
A typical problem with the above-described structures is their low reliability from insufficient adhesion of the resin body to the metal parts. It has been verified that a large proportion of the failures occurring to such devices originates from moisture entering the body through interstices which result from separation of the hardened resin from some surface areas of the heat-sink plate and the terminal leads. This separation is to be attributed basically to shear forces developing between the metal and the polymer during the cooling step which follows the molding operation and during normal thermal cycles of operation owing to the difference between the thermal expansion coefficients of metal and polymer.
To solve this problem at least in part, a technique is known whereby the surface and/or edges of the heat-sink plate are machined to form grooves and/or undercut portions therein which can allow the liquefied resin to flow therealong during the injection molding operation, thereby providing not only improved anchoring of the polymer body on the plate but also improved imperviousness to moisture after the resin has cured. This expedient has proved effective to improve stability of the mechanical bond between the polymer body and the heat-sink plate, but has been less effective in reliably providing a hermetic seal: since the action of this expedient primarily affects the interface between the polymer and the heat sink, the seal across the polymer/leads interface is not improved.
The disclosed innovations advantageously provide a semiconductor electronic device structure (of the type which provides heat-sinking and encapsulation for the electronic device by use of a metal plate joined to a body of hardened resin) which can afford improved overall reliability, and moisture-tightness in particular.
This object is achieved, according to the invention, by the provision of a structure wherein the metal plate and/or the end portions of the terminal leads inside the polymer body exhibit a higher roughness of their surfaces in contact with the polymer body than 1 (R.sub.a =1 .mu.m). (The parameter R.sub.a, which provides a quantitative measure of surface roughness, is conventionally defined as ##EQU1## where y=f(x) is a function representing the profile of a surface to be measured at the intersection line of the surface with a plane perpendicular thereto and considered between two points x.sub.1 and x.sub.2. The unit of measure is the micron (10.sup.-6 m).) This is preferably achieved by fabricating these metal elements using selectably roughened dies.
According to certain embodiments of the invention, there is provided: a method for fabricating packaged electronic device structures, comprising the steps of: affixing a chip, which contains one or more miniature electronic devices, to a metal plate of which substantial portions have a surface roughness greater than about R.sub.a =1, and other portions have a surface roughness less than about R.sub.a =1; attaching a lead frame to said plate, said lead frame comprising multiple flat metal strips joined in a substantially electrically continuous sheet, substantial portions of said lead frame having a surface roughness greater than about R.sub.a =1; electrically connecting predetermined portions of said chip to leads of said lead frame; encapsulating said chip, said wires, portions of said plate, and portions of said lead frame in an insulating material; and trimming outer portions of said lead frame to provide electrically separated leads connected to said bond pads and which protrude from said body.
According to certain embodiments of the invention, there is provided: a method for fabricating packaged electronic device structures, comprising the steps of: blanking sheet metal, using a die which has at least some portions thereof artificially roughened, to produce a metal plate of which substantial portions have a surface roughness greater than about R.sub.a =1, and other portions have a surface roughness less than about R.sub.a =1; affixing a chip which contains one or more miniature electronic devices, and one or more electrical bond pads, to said metal plate; attaching a lead frame to said plate, said lead frame comprising multiple flat metal strips joined in a substantially electrically continuous sheet; bonding to form wire connections from said bond pads of said chip to leads of said lead frame; encapsulating said chip, said wires, portions of said plate, and portions of said lead frame in an insulating material; and trimming outer portions of said lead frame to provide electrically separated leads connected to said bond pads and which protrude from said body.
According to certain embodiments of the invention, there is provided: a method for fabricating packaged electronic device structures, comprising the steps of: blanking and coining sheet metal to produce a metal plate; blanking and coining sheet metal, using a die which has at least some portions thereof artificially roughened, to produce a metal lead frame of which substantial portions have a surface roughness greater than about R.sub.a =1, said lead frame comprising multiple flat metal strips joined in a substantially electrically continuous sheet; attaching said lead frame to said plate, said lead frame comprising multiple flat metal strips joined in a substantially electrically continuous sheet; affixing a chip which contains one or more miniature electronic devices, and one or more electrical bond pads, to a metal plate; bonding to form wire connections from said bond pads of said chip to leads of said lead frame; encapsulating said chip, said wires, portions of said plate, and portions of said lead frame in an insulating material; and trimming outer portions of said lead frame to provide electrically separated leads connected to said bond pads and which protrude from said body.
According to certain embodiments of the invention, there is provided: a packaged electronic device structure, comprising: a plate of thermally and electrically conductive material; a microelectronic device chip having a first surface thereof electrically and thermally connected to said plate, and containing one or more miniature electronic devices and one or more bond pads on a second surface thereof; a plurality of externally accessible conductive leads, each having one end adjacent to said chip; wires interconnecting said leads to said bond pads of said chip; and a polymer body encapsulating said chip, and each of said wires, and at least part of said plate; wherein at least some portions of said plate have a surface roughness of greater than about R.sub.a =1, and other portions have a surface roughness less than about R.sub.a =1; and wherein at least some portions of said leads have a surface roughness of greater than about R.sub.a =1.
According to certain embodiments of the invention, there is provided: a packaged electronic device structure, comprising: a plate of thermally and electrically conductive material; a microelectronic device chip electrically and thermally connected to said plate; a plurality of externally accessible conductive leads, each having one end adjacent to said chip; wires interconnecting said leads to said chip; and a polymer body encapsulating said chip, and each of said wires, and at least part of said plate; wherein at least some portions of said plate have a surface roughness of less than about R.sub.a =1; and wherein at least some portions of said leads have a surface roughness of greater than about R.sub.a =1.
According to certain embodiments of the invention, there is provided: a packaged electronic device structure, comprising: a plate of thermally and electrically conductive material; a microelectronic device chip electrically and thermally connected to said plate; a plurality of externally accessible conductive leads, each having one end adjacent to said chip; wires interconnecting said leads to said chip; and a polymer body encapsulating said chip, and each of said wires, and at least part of said plate; wherein some portions of said plate, including at least 5% of the surface area thereof, have a surface roughness of greater than about R.sub.a =1, and other portions of said plate have a surface roughness of about R.sub.a =1 or less.
According to certain embodiments of the invention, there is provided: a semiconductor device structure comprising a metal plate with support and heat dissipation functions, a chip of a semiconductor material attached to said plate, terminal leads for connection to external electric circuitry, and a polymer body encapsulating said metal plate to leave at least a surface portion thereof, said chip of semiconductor material, and end portions of said leads exposed, wherein at least predetermined areas, in contact with said polymer body, of said metal plate and said end portions of said leads exhibit a higher roughness than 1 (R.sub.a >1 .mu.m).

Semiconductor device package with metal-polymer joint of controlled roughness


An image-combining device comprising of a polarizing beam-splitter, two waveplates and two reflective micro-electro-mechanical display panels is described. It combines images with orthogonally polarized light. Projection display apparatus having such image-combining device(s) are used to project two-dimensional or three-dimensional images with orthogonally polarized light.

MEM devices, such as digital light processing (DLP™) devices disclosed in Texas Instruments' patents and technical publications, have been widely used in projection displays. The MEM devices, also called reflective light modulators or micro-display panels, are made of small electronically controlled micro-mirrors in rows and columns. (In the following sections, the terms "DLP" and "MEM" are used interchangeably to describe MEM display panels). FIG. 1A shows the principle of the MEM device and FIG. 1B shows a typical arrangement of a single DLP panel projection display. Each micro-mirror or pixel in a DLP panel can be titled electronically at two fixed positions +α, or −α, corresponding to "on" and "off" pixels, respectively. In FIG. 1A the light is incident from the side of the micro-display panel at an angle 2α to the panel normal. For "on" pixels, the mirrors are tilted towards the incident beam. The incident beam is reflected along the normal of the panel surface and is directed through an optical arrangement that typically includes a projection lens as shown in FIG. 1B. For "off" pixels, the micro-mirrors will be tilted away from the incident beam, i.e. away from the projection lens direction and this unwanted beam will be absorbed by a light absorber. For "flat pixels" or any non-moving specular surfaces on the panel, the light will be reflected with an angle 2α from the panel normal and will also be absorbed by a light absorber. By controlling the amount of time each micro-mirror is in the "on" and "off" positions an image can be encoded onto the "on" beam and projected onto a screen. In addition, full colour images can be displayed on screen by using a colour filter wheel to generate colour light beams time sequentially at a fast speed.
As shown in FIG. 1A, the incident beam and the image or "on" beam directions are separated from each other. However, in practice the incident light beam contains a cone of light over a range of angles and so therefore does the reflected beam. The two beams are very close to each other. In order to physically separate them in a projection arrangement, sometimes a total internal reflection (TIR) prism, or "light gate", device as shown in FIG. 1B is used. The light beam with a cone angle from an illumination system is incident upon the TIR surface at angles greater than the critical angle, thus the beam is totally reflected towards the DLP panel. For "on" pixels, the light reflected back from the panel to the TIR surface is incident at angles smaller than the critical angle and thus will pass through this surface. Because of the use of the TIR prism, the cone angle of the "on" pixels, or the aperture of the illumination system and the projection optical system can not exceed the cone angle determined by the mirror tilting angle to avoid overlap of the beams. For a DLP panel with 10° tilting angle, the f-number of the illumination and projection systems will be 2.9, thus limiting the amount of light that can be used from the illumination system and the light efficiency of the system. FIG. 1B also shows a typical illumination system arrangement of DLP projectors having a light source, a colour wheel, and a light pipe. DLP projection systems, such as the arrangement shown in FIG. 1B, are used for two dimensional (2D) image displays, such as in rear projection TVs or front projectors.
A three-dimensional (3D) stereoscopic image display needs to display 2D images that represent both the left- and right-eye perspective views for the viewer. This can be achieved, for example, by displaying a left-eye 2D image in one polarized light and a corresponding right-eye 2D image view in orthogonally polarized light so that a viewer wearing polarizing glasses receives correct 2D images in each eye and thus perceives a stereoscopic 3D image. There are a several approaches to use DLP projectors to project three-dimensional (3D) images. However, in these approaches, the DLP projectors have internal optical arrangements that are similar to 2D-only DLP projectors. They use un-polarized light and achieve 3D operation only in combination with other external components or devices. Because of this they are highly light inefficient for 3D use. In the first 3D approach, a single active DLP projector can alternatively display left- and right-eye 2D images time sequentially. A viewer, wearing active liquid crystal shutter (LC) glasses that are synchronized with the DLP projector, will be able to see 3D images because the left- and right-eye LC shutters open only when the correct eye image is displayed. The LC shutters typically transmit only about 35% of the incident light. In addition, because the left- and right-eye images are each displayed at most half of the time, this arrangement is very light inefficient for displaying 3D images. The 3D images appear very dim in comparison to the same projector displaying a single 2D image. Furthermore, LC shutter glasses are expensive and need electrical power to operate, making them bulky and inconvenient to wear.
In the second approach, two DLP projectors can be used to separately project the left- and right-eye images. Each projector has a sheet polarizer in front of it. One sheet polarizer allows light in one polarization to pass and the other one allows the orthogonal polarization to pass. Thus, the left- and right-eye 2D images are projected simultaneously with orthogonal polarizations onto a polarization-preserving screen. A viewer wearing polarizing glasses will be able to see 3D images because the polarizing glasses only allow the correct image to be seen by the correct eye. However, such an approach is bulky and expensive because it requires two projectors and it is also difficult to align the images from the two projectors. In addition, the light efficiency in 3D is low as well because of the use of external polarizers whose transmittance at most is 42%. Another approach to display 3D images with DLP projectors is to encode the left- and right-eye 2D images using different spectral regions of the illuminating light and to view a stereoscopic 3D image using appropriate colour filter glasses. This approach can be implemented with a colour filter wheel time sequential approach or with dual projectors. Similarly with the polarization encoding approach, this approach also results in expensive and light inefficient 3D displays.
Liquid crystal display (LCD) microdisplay technology represents an alternative to MEMs devices in projection systems. In contrast to MEMs micro-mirror panels that modulate the direction of an incident illuminating beam in order to form an image, LCD devices form an image by changing the polarization of the illuminating light. LCD micro-panels can operate in either transmission or reflection and polarizing beam splitters (PBS) are needed to separate the polarized image beam from the orthogonally polarized illuminating beam. The light sources used in projection systems typically emit un-polarized light and one advantage of MEMs devices is that they can operate with un-polarized incident light whereas LCD devices require polarized incident light. MEMs devices reflect light at different angles for "on" and "off" pixels and use a TIR prism to separate the encoded image beam from the illuminating light. LCD devices modulate the polarization of the illuminating beam and use a PBS to separate out the polarized encoded image beam.

Image-combining device and projection display apparatus having image-combining devices incorporated therein


A readily transportable, compact and self-contained drain cleaning apparatus includes a hand-held control housing provided with an internal passage into which a release valve member extends for regulating fluid flow through the passage. The control housing includes a cartridge housing portion for attaching a miniature cartridge, containing a pressurized gaseous medium and preferably either a drain cleaning or algaecide fluid, thereto with an interior of the cartridge opening into the internal passage. The cartridge housing is provided with a safety aperture for pressure relief purposes. The control housing has an elongated tubular member attached thereto through a rotatable coupling and the tubular member has an end, remote from the control housing, provided with a terminal discharge member that is adapted to be sealing engaged with an open portion of a clogged drain conduit. With this construction, shifting of the release member causes a supply of pressurized fluid from the pressurized cartridge to flow through the tubular member and terminal discharge member and into the drain conduit in order to clean the drain conduit.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention pertains to the art of plumbing and, more specifically, to a portable drain cleaning apparatus that is particularly adapted for use in cleaning condensation drains associated with air conditioning and other refrigeration units, but which could also be used in other plumbing applications. The invention is further directed to a cartridge containing a pressurized gas, as well as a drain cleaner or algaecide, for use in combination with the drain cleaning apparatus.
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
Over the years numerous devices has been utilized in connection with the clearing of clogged drains. For example, it has heretofore been known to attach one end of a hose to a sink faucet and to place the other end of the hose, in a generally sealed manner, within a clogged drain in order to cause pressurized water to flow through the hose once the faucet is opened in an attempt to remove any obstructions. Unfortunately, such a simply arrangement rarely works, even on drains having relatively minor obstructions therein. In an attempt to enhance such a known system, it has also been proposed to place a container housing a drain cleaning fluid in series with the hose in order to introduce an additional cleaning enhancing substance within the clogged drain. This known prior art arrangement generally has associated therewith a level of effectiveness commensurate with simply pouring the cleaning enhancing substance directly down the drain.
Various other drain cleaning devices have also been proposed which incorporate auxiliary pressure sources. For instance, it is known to utilize a miniature gas cartridge in combination with a plunger-type drain cleaning unit to create a high pressure force to dislodge an obstruction within a drain. Actually, standard plunger-type drain cleaning units are essentially just as effective on almost all clogs experienced in these particular types of drains. In addition, such known arrangements are only useful in limited applications due to their size and overall configuration. In essence, these known arrangements are only functional in cleaning standard sink drains and toilets. One particular environment wherein such prior art arrangements are not functional is in cleaning condensate drains. The main reason why these prior art arrangements are not utilized in connection with condensation drain clogs is the inaccessibility of condensate drains in general. Usually such drains are located in confined areas in attics or basements and the inlet openings thereto are often located directly adjacent a cooling coil or other structure which provides for extremely limited access.
Because of these and other shortcomings of prior known systems, until just recently, the most common method for cleaning condensation drains, particularly in air conditioning or other types of refrigeration units, has been to force a flow of freon from a pressurized container through the clogged drain. However, with the enactment of new regulations by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the use of freon-based cleaning systems has been made illegal. In the aftermath of these regulation changes, it has become commonly known to simply utilize a rather large, pressurized air or nitrogen tank having an attached hose, the free end of which can be positioned at the opening of a condensate drain conduit such that opening of a valve on the tank will force pressurized gas to be injected into the conduit. However, as indicated above, such drain conduits are often found in confined areas and the lugging of these heavy tanks is not only extremely inconvenient but sometimes dangerous. In addition, it is extremely difficult, if not impossible, to regulate or determine the exact amount of pressurized gas that is released in any given application such that the customer is generally charged for a greater percentage of the pressurized gas than is actually dispensed.
In view of the above, it should be readily apparent that there exists a need in the art of plumbing for a drain cleaning apparatus that is compact and lightweight so as to be readily portable, is designed to be easily maneuvered so it can be used in various plumbing environments and particularly in cleaning hard to access condensate drain conduits, which is cost effective to make and utilize and is consumer conscious in nature.

Portable drain cleaning apparatus and pressurized gas cartridge usable therewith


A oneway ratchet wrench includes a wrench body, a ratchet wheel, and a drive mechanism. The drive mechanism includes a support plate, a oneway pawl member, and an elastic member. Thus, the elastic member is mounted between the support plate and the oneway pawl member, so that the wall of the receiving recess of the drive head needs not to additionally provide a blind hole for mounting the elastic member, thereby facilitating assembly of the oneway ratchet wrench, and thereby decreasing costs of fabrication.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a ratchet wrench, and more particularly to a oneway ratchet wrench.
2. Description of the Related Art
A conventional oneway ratchet wrench comprises a wrench body having a distal end formed with a drive head having an inside formed with a receiving hole having a side formed with a receiving recess having a wall formed with a blind hole, a ratchet wheel mounted in the receiving hole of the drive head, a oneway pawl member pivotally mounted in the receiving recess of the drive head and having a first side engaged with the ratchet wheel, and an elastic member mounted in the blind hole of the drive head and urged on a second side of the oneway pawl member.
However, the wall of the receiving recess of the drive head needs to additionally provide a blind hole for mounting the elastic member, thereby increasing costs of fabrication. In addition, the elastic member needs to align with the blind hole in the assembly process, thereby causing inconvenience in assembly of the conventional oneway ratchet wrench


A continuous unloader includes upper sprockets, lower sprockets located below the upper sprockets, and front sprockets located in front of the lower sprockets. An endless bucket conveyer is operatively taken on the upper, lower and front sprockets. A support frame supports the upper sprockets. An elevation/lowering mechanism is provided at a lower end of the support frame. A base part is operatively connected to the lower end of the support frame by way of the elevation/lowering mechanism such that the base part is raised and lowered by the elevation/lowering mechanism relative to the support frame. A link mechanism is connected to the front and lower sprockets such that the front and lower sprockets are lowered when the distance between the front and lower sprockets is narrowed and the front and lower sprockets are raised when the distance between the front and lower sprockets is widened. The link mechanism is also connected to the base part so that it is raised and lowered together with the base part upon actuation of the elevation/lowering mechanism.

As shown in FIG. 27, a continuous unloader generally includes upper sprockets a, lower sprockets b that are located below the upper sprockets a, front sprockets c that are located in front of the lower sprockets b, and an endless bucket conveyer d that is circularly engaged with the sprockets a, b, c. Bulk cargo f (such as coal, iron ore) in a ship hold e is dug up by the bucket conveyer d between the front sprockets c and the lower sprockets b and the dug cargo is lifted up by the bucket conveyer d between the lower sprockets b and the upper sprockets a. The buckets are then turned over by reverse sprockets g such that the cargo in the buckets is dropped on a table feeder (not shown) provided in a top support frame h. The dropped cargo is carried by a conveyer (not shown) and a chute j that are provided in a beam i and is unloaded onto a quay k.
As the opening width of a hatch m of the ship hold e is generally narrower than the inner width of the ship hold e, it is convenient if the front sprockets c and the lower sprockets b can be arranged such that the distance between them is narrowed when they pass through the hatch m and then the distance is widened when they dig up the cargo in the ship hold e. An example of such a continuous unloader that is capable of adjusting the distance between the front sprockets c and the lower sprockets b is shown in FIG. 28.
In the continuous unloader shown in FIG. 28, the front sprockets c are mounted at one end of a telescopically extensible/retractable frame q and the lower sprockets b are mounted at the other end of the extensible frame q such that the distance between the both sprockets c, b can be changed by an extensible/retractable cylinder r. The extensible (/retractable) frame q includes an inner cylinder o and an outer cylinder p. A guide rod t that is connected with the outer cylinder p by way of a connection member s is engaged with a guide channel u that is provided at the lower end of a frame (an elevator casing) n for supporting the upper sprockets a such that the guide rod t can be vertically moved along the guide channel u by a up-down cylinder v. The distance between the outer cylinder p and the upper sprockets a can be changed by extending/retracting the up-down cylinder v.
According to the arrangement described above, the distance between the front sprockets c and the lower sprockets b can be narrowed without generating too much slack in chains w of the bracket conveyer d by retracting the extensible/retractable cylinder r and extending the up-down cylinder v. Conversely, the distance between the front sprockets c and the lower sprockets b can be widened without generating too much tense in the chains w of the bracket conveyer d by extending the extensible/retractable cylinder r and retracting the up-down cylinder v.
However, the conventional continuous unloader described above has following shortcomings.
First, as two cylinders (the extensible/retractable cylinder r and the up-down cylinder v) are needed for adjusting the distance between the front sprockets c and the lower sprockets b, the structure of the whole system becomes complicated. In addition, as extension/retraction of the extensible/retractable cylinder r and the retraction/extension of the up-down cylinder v must be synchronized such that no excessive slack or tense be generated in the chains w of the bucket conveyer d during the extension/retraction or up/down motion of the extensible frame q, a complicated hydraulic control is required.
Further, as the extensible/retractable cylinder r must have a relatively long and large special cylinder that has the same length of stroke as the extension/retraction stroke of the extensible frame q, the extensible/retractable cylinder r inevitably has a large size and volume, increasing its production cost. Further, since the up-down cylinder v is arranged such that it lifts up the extensible frame q with the extensible/retractable cylinder r, the up-down cylinder v is required to have a lift-up force sufficient for lifting up the extensible/retractable cylinder r as well. This results in the larger size of the up-down cylinder v and the whole system.
The present invention is contrived in order to solve the problems described above. Its object is to propose a continuous unloader that has a simple structure and a relatively small weight in which no complicated control is required and the production cost is relatively low.

Ishikawajima-Harimi Heavy Industries Co., Ltd.


A life saving dan buoy for marine saving is revealed. The life saving dan buoy includes a strip-shaped first air bag, a second air bag disposed on a lower part of the first air bag, at least one inflation valve arranged at the first air bag and/or the second air bag for filling gas into an air chamber and allowing the first and the second air bags to expand and float over the water, and a weight. The first air bag and the second air are communicating with each other to form the air chamber. The second air bag includes an open space area that allows a user's body to get through. The weight is connected to a lower part of the first air bag so that the first air bag is standing vertically in the sea while the second air bag is floated over the sea.

The present invention relates to a marine life saving equipment, especially to a life saving dan buoy that is used as a buoyancy aid for providing buoyancy to a user in the water.
Life saving equipment generally disposed on a ship includes lifeboats and life rings that allow for emergency escape. Once in time-critical emergencies, life rings are more efficient than lifeboats. Thus life rings are still one of the most common used equipment for protecting lives at sea. Although people falling into the water are easy to get the life rings and float over the sea, it is difficult to see people with life rings in the large ocean under bad weather. And people are easy to be out of sight of rescuers in bad weather. Once people in water are not easy to grip the life rings or rescuers are unable to find out people in water in time, survival rate of people in water is dramatically reduced.
Thus besides good buoyancy for the person in water, practical parking of a location is also important for marine life saving equipment. Thereby the chance of rescue and the survival rate of people in the sea are increased.
Refer to U.S. Pat. App. No. 20120178319, a marine safety device is revealed. The shortcoming of the marine safety device is in that an inflatable member is unable to support the person in the water and a grippable member is required for the person to hold. Thus the physical strength of the person is lost. At the same time, the mast is immersed into the water so that the marking of the location is getting unclear. Thus the person in the water is in a more dangerous situation. The search and rescue are more difficult.
Refer to U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,498,879, and 5,257,954, an emergency rescue device and a rescue buoy package are disclosed. The disadvantage of these devices is in that a life buoy and a dan buoy are separated from each other and connected by a rope/line. The structure is complicated so that many components are required. Moreover, the person in the wall may get strangled by lines. Thus the rescue devices are not safe.
Refer to U.S. Pat. No. 6,162,106, an inflatable flag buoy for divers is revealed. The inflatable flag buoy includes an air chamber being filled with air to produce buoyancy for keeping the flag buoy afloat. The inflatable flag buoy is also used to mark positions for divers, not an emergency rescue device. Once the inflatable flag buoy is used in rescue operation, person in the water can only hold the cord outside lug pieces. When bad weather strikes, the person in the water is getting weaker during the period he is waiting for rescue due to lack of physical strength.


A system for the passivation of metal surfaces, and more especially those of stainless steel, titanium, etc., in equipment used for chemical processes, where elements and compounds are formed which have a corrosive action, in particular where temperature and pressure are higher than ambient conditions. In the system the main passivating agent is oxygen (air) combined with at least a second auxiliary agent, characterized by the fact that the latter is ozone (03).

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a system for the passivation of metal surfaces in equipment affected by operating conditions and by agents which promote corrosion. In general, the present invention relates to a system for the passivation of surfaces in chemical plants involving the presence and formation of corrosive compounds, especially where the environmental conditions, such as temperature and pressure, intensify the corrosive action. More particularly, the present invention concerns a system for the passivation of surfaces of metal equipment used in chemical plants, and exposed to the intensive action of highly corrosive compounds, under temperature and pressure conditions higher than ambient conditions.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It is well known that the synthesis of urea is carried out at high temperature, such as on average 180.degree. to 215.degree. C., and high pressure, such as on average 130 to 400 bar. Provided downstream of the synthesis section are a number of decomposition stages of urea synthesis by-products, i.e., by-products which have not been transformed into urea. Such by-products include ammonium carbamate, which through heat is decomposed into NH.sub.3 and CO.sub.2, and is separated from the synthesis elements as gaseous NH.sub.3 and CO.sub.2. The gaseous NH.sub.3 and CO.sub.2 are condensed in successive condensation stages thereby forming aqueous solutions of ammonium carbamate and/or ammonium carbonate, which are recycled to the synthesis section. The urea is meanwhile concentrated in successive stages operating at decreasing pressure until the final vacuum concentration stage is reached from which virtually pure melted urea is obtained, which is then sent to a finishing stage operated with various techniques.
Various systems have been proposed for the passivation of the equipment used in the respective stages mentioned above, which is subjected to corrosion by the corrosive compounds treated in it. For example, Belgian Patent No. 625.397 describes the use of oxygen as a passivating agent at 180.degree. C. and 270 kg/cm.sup.2 for the surfaces in a urea synthesis reactor made of stainless steel containing up to 19% Cr and 14% Ni. In general, oxygen can also be replaced by other passivating agents, such as, for example, hydrogen peroxide and alkali metal peroxides or alkali earth peroxides.
In European Patent 0096151, a passivation system is described for strippers, where the effluent from the urea synthesis reactor is treated, at high temperature and a pressure of between 120 and 240 kg/cm.sup.2, as a thin falling film countercurrent with NH.sub.3 or CO.sub.2. In this method, to a first passivating agent consisting of an oxygen-containing gas, which is introduced from the bottom of at least one stripper, is added as a second passivating agent a liquid injected from the top of the stripper. The liquid is selected from hydrogen peroxide, alkali metal persulphate or perborate, peracetic acid and organic peroxide. Oxygen may be introduced into the plant as pure oxygen, or mixed with air or with hydrogen peroxide.
The oxygen in gas form is introduced into the system by injecting it into the CO.sub.2 before it is compressed, or into the ammonia entering the synthesis zone, or as hydrogen peroxide into the various liquid flows upstream of the entrance to the equipment to be protected.
The passivating system using hydrogen peroxide requires, in any case, the simultaneous injection of gaseous oxygen, either as air or as pure oxygen as mentioned before.
The above-mentioned passivation systems are used to protect metal materials usually employed in industrial plants for the production of urea, such as various types of stainless steel, titanium, etc.
Besides the above-mentioned passivating agents, others have been put forward in, for example, DE-A-1800755, such as soluble ammonium nitrite, soluble sodium nitrite, and other substances not used industrially.
Nowadays the technique universally adopted to passivate metal surfaces in contact with the solutions and vapors present in the plant's various stages is to send to the synthesis reactor air and oxygen by injecting them into the CO.sub.2. In some cases, besides this injection, hydrogen peroxide is also introduced into the liquid flow upstream of the equipment to be passivated.
The oxygen content injected into the CO.sub.2 has a concentration of between 0.2% and 0.8% in volume and this causes some problem, of which just a few are pointed out as follows:
1. The oxygen injected as air enriches the reactor with nitrogen, with the obvious consequence that the synthesis zone is enriched with the inert gas. This creates a gas phase, the consequence of which is a reduction in urea yield in the reactor.
2. Since the CO.sub.2 comes from the synthesis gas decarbonation section for the production of ammonia, it contains H.sub.2, N.sub.2, CO and CH.sub.4 in such proportions that together with the oxygen they create explosive mixtures.
It has been found that to avoid the possibility of an explosion, the amount of oxygen injected into the CO.sub.2 must be below 0.2% vol. However, under these conditions it has also been observed that the protective action over the metal surfaces is greatly reduced thus leaving them exposed to the corrosive action of both liquid and gas substances present in the various parts of the equipment.

System for the passivation of metal surfaces affected by operating conditions and agents promoting corrosion


Presence of small amounts of certain strongly basic amines in polymerization mixture during composite formation results in void reduction.

Organic polymers must have a high softening point, e.g., a high glass transition temperature (Tg) to retain adequate mechanical properties for a useful lifetime at expected service temperatures. Prior art composites prepared from stoichiometrically balanced aromatic polyimide precursors and reinforcing substrates while theoretically affording the highest glass transition temperatures, have a void level that adversely affects mechanical properties and specifically compression properties. To ameliorate the problem various techniques have been employed, some of which require additional or more costly processing steps. The use of monomeric or low molecular weight prepolymer solutions facilitates impregnation of fiber structures, however, it still remains difficult to complete polymerization and devolatilization with the "wet" prepreg while achieving essentially complete consolidation, or compaction. This, in turn, has made it difficult to routinely produce high quality, low void, composite laminates with such resins, especially using the low to moderate pressure autoclaves which are typical of the aerospace industry composite manufacturing capability. The present invention is a new technique for achieving this objective in a simple manner.

Process of producing substantially void-free polyimide composites


A coated paper is white and glossy enough to give satisfaction as a printing paper, exhibits a good printability in offset sheet-fed printing and a high printing gloss, and does not degrade the print efficiency. The coated paper is characterized by having two or more coating layers composed mainly of a pigment and an adhesive on at least one side of a base paper. When ink is transferred onto the paper, the ink settability is relatively low in the early stage of the drying process and relatively high in the final stage.

In general, a coated paper for printing is prepared by applying coating layers composed mainly of a pigment and an adhesive on one side or both sides of a base paper. Such a coated paper for printing is classified into, for example, a cast-coat paper, an art paper, a coated paper, or a slight coated paper in accordance with the composition of coating layer, or the finishing process of a coated paper. Those coated papers applied with polychromatic or monochromatic printing processes have been widely used for commercial printed matter such as advertising leaflets, pamphlets, or posters, or for publications such as books or magazines. In recent years, a trend toward visualization and colorization of printed matter is in progress, which has increased demand for a high quality coated paper for printing with appropriate characteristics. Specifically, the level of printing gloss (ink gloss) after printing is emphasized.
When a small lot of commercial printed matter is prepared, an offset sheet-fed printing in which a sheet of coated paper is printed one by one is often used. However, it seems difficult for an offset printing to achieve a high ink gloss while improving the print efficiency by refining a coated paper for printing. When the ink settability (absorption of printing ink) increases, the drying rate of ink transferred onto a coated paper also increases, which improves printing efficiency. However, an increase of the ink settability of a coated paper for printing usually results in decreased printing gloss due to the following reasons:
In general, the main components of ink used for offset sheet-fed printing are a pigment, resin, solvent (normally, petroleum solvent), and vegetable oil (drying oil, semi-drying oil, etc.). When such an ink is transferred onto a coated paper, the viscosity of the ink increases as solvents in the ink are absorbed in gaps of a coating layer, so that the ink on the paper surface eventually becomes non-sticky (a status in which ink has been set) when a finger touches it. As time passes, the ink set on a paper surface is polymerized as vegetable oil composing the ink responds to oxygen in air so as to form a rigid dry coating film (a status in which ink has been dried). In this status, such an ink film will not be peeled off or damaged if external force is applied to some degree.
Namely, the rate of ink setting mainly relies on the ink settability of a coated paper (absorption ability of ink solvent), and the rate of ink drying mainly relies on composition of the printing ink itself.
Therefore, if the ink settability increases, the ink transferred onto a coated paper can dry sooner. However, in offset printing, the transfer of ink onto a coated paper surface is performed through a blanket cylinder. In particular, as an ink layer transferred onto a surface of a blanket cylinder is pulled out from the blanket cylinder and transferred onto coated paper, the ink layer just transferred onto the coated paper presents a split pattern. If a transferred ink has sufficient flowability, this split pattern will be dissolved to become a smooth pattern over time so as to achieve a good ink gloss. However, in a coated paper with high ink settability, as the flowability of the ink transferred onto such a coated paper can be lost quickly, the ink layer often dries up without dissolving the split pattern, so that it is difficult to obtain printed matter with a high ink gloss.


A base station device 31 provided in a general cell 41 is accommodated in a base station controller 21, and a base station device 32 provided in a general cell 42 is accommodated in a base station controller 22. A base station device 33 provided in a boundary cell 43 that is adjacent to both the general cells 41 and 42 is accommodated in both the base station controllers 21 and 22. Frequencies RF#1 and RF#2 are allocated to each of the general cells 41 and 42 and boundary cell 43. Communications conducted by the base station device 33 using the frequency RF#1 is controlled by the base station controller 21, and communications conducted by the base station device 33 using the frequency RF#2 is controlled by the base station controller 22.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a mobile communications system with hand-off control, and in particular, relates to a CDMA mobile communications system with hand-off control.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a mobile communications system, usually, a communications area is divided into many wireless communications areas, each called a "cell", and base stations are provided in each area. Then, a mobile station is accommodated in one of the base stations in the communications area, and is connected to another communications terminal through the base station.
FIG. 1 shows the configuration of a general mobile communications system. In this specification, a CDMA mobile communications system, which has recently been spread, is used as an example.
In each cell, a base station device (BTS: base station transceiver subsystem) is provided. The base station device can simultaneously accommodate a plurality of mobile stations (MS), and transmits/receives radio data to/from a mobile station. Each base station device is accommodated in a base station controller (BSC).
The base station controller accommodates a plurality of base station devices and controls them. The base station controller is also connected to a mobile services switching center (MSC) and transmits/receives data to/from it, as requested. The mobile services switching center is connected to another switching center and a public switched telephone network (PSTN) is composed of the plurality of switching centers.
In a CDMA mobile communications system, a different spread code is assigned to each mobile station. Then, data that are encoded using the spread code and transmitted between a mobile station and a base station device.
A mobile station often moves from one cell to another cell while communicating with another communications terminal. A transition from a state where a mobile station is accommodated in a base station device into a state where the mobile station is accommodated in another base station device, when the mobile station moves from a cell to another cell, is called "hand-off" (or "hand-over").
A hand-off operation is largely classified into two categories: a "soft hand-off" and a "hard hand-off". In the soft hand-off, even when moving from one cell to another cell, a mobile station is always connected to at least one base station device. Therefore, in the soft hand-off, a channel between the mobile station and base station device is never disconnected, and, accordingly, communications are never interrupted. In the system shown in FIG. 1, the soft hand-off occurs, if a mobile station moves between cells that are controlled by the same base station controller and if the same frequency can be allocated.
In the hard hand-off, when moving from one cell to another cell, the mobile station is temporarily disconnected from the base station device and then is connected to another base station device. In this case, synchronization must be established again between the mobile station and the base station device. Thus, in the hard hand-off, a channel between a mobile station and a base station device is temporarily disconnected and, accordingly, communications are interrupted. Therefore, a user is often disconcerted. In the system shown in FIG. 1, the hard hand-off occurs when a mobile station moves between cells each of which is controlled by a different base station controller. In other words, the hard hand-off occurs when a mobile station crosses an "accommodation boundary". The hard hand-off also occurs when a mobile station moves between cells, to each of which a different frequency is allocated.
FIG. 2 shows the configuration of the existing mobile communications system, and the configuration covers the vicinity of a boundary between areas each of which is controlled by a different base station controller. In this example, a base station controller 1 (BSC#1) accommodates base station devices 11 (BTS#A) and 12 (BTS#B), and a base station controller 2 (BSC#2) accommodates a base station device 13 (BTS#C). Here, it is assumed that the base station devices 11 through 13 control the cell-a through cell-c, respectively, and the same radio frequency is allocated to all of the cells.
If a mobile station moves from cell-a to cell-b, or from cell-b to cell-a, a soft hand-off occurs since both the base station devices 11 (BTS#A) and 12 (BTS#B) are accommodated in the base station controller 1 (BSC#1). However, if the mobile station moves from cell-b to cell-a or from cell-c to cell-b, a hard hand-off occurs since each of the base station devices 12 (BTS#B) and 13 (BTS#C) is accommodated in a different base station controller.
Therefore, if as shown in FIG. 3, the mobile station moves back and forth between cell-b and cell-c several times while communicating, many hard hand-offs occur, and the user will be disconcerted and feel unassured.
As described above, in the existing mobile communications system, a hard hand-off is easy to occur in the vicinity of a boundary between particular communications areas, and a user feels uncomfortable.


A device and method for hermetically sealing a medical device is provided. In one aspect, a silicon device is coupled to a sensor, such as a pressure transducer, which benefits from having direct contact with its environment, which in many cases, is the human body. Thus, a method to hermetically seal the non-sensing portion of a silicon device while allowing the sensing portion (e.g. the pressure transducer) to have direct contact with the body is provided. In one aspect, a silicon chip, a gold preform and a metallic housing are each primed for sealing and are assembled. The assembly is then heated to react the gold preform to the silicon chip and to form a molten gold-silicon alloy in-situ to bind the metallic housing to the non-sensing portion of the silicon chip. In this way, the non-sensing portion of the silicon chip is hermetically sealed and protected from exposure, while still permitting exposure of the sensing portion to the environment.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention generally relates to the field of hermetically sealed systems and methods of making of such systems.
2. Description of the Related Art
Electronic and mechanical devices are frequently placed in environments that may damage the components unless some form of protection is provided. For example, some electronic medical devices implanted into a body may be exposed to body fluids that may cause unprotected semiconductor circuits and non-electronic components to fail. Such devices may benefit from a hermetic packaging to limit exposure to these harmful elements. Traditional approaches to creating a protective hermetic package for an implantable medical device generally involve the complete encasement of the silicon or semiconductor components of the device in the hermetic package. Such packages typically utilize a metal such as titanium, or a ceramic material like alumina or zirconia. Various glass materials have also been employed. For example, hermetic cavities have been created to form small vacuum chambers for pressure transducers by bonding silicon components to either silicon or glass. The silicon component is usually fixed into a package with epoxy or soldered into the package. The complete encasement of the silicon component with a separate package adds to the size of the device and also increases its cost.
Similarly, other approaches that have been used for pressure transducers by enclosing the sensor in a metal packaging and coupling the environmental pressure to the sensor through a diaphragm bonded to the packaging. Such approaches place an interface between the environment and the sensor for the electronic components to interact with the environment and to protect the integrity of the device. Such a diaphragm may be made from the same or similar materials as the housing which protects the inner components to facilitates bonding and hermetic sealing of the diaphragm with the housing or protective barrier of the device.

Hermetically sealable silicon system and method of making same


An infant incubator in which the controls and displays are provided in a module which is in proximity to but spaced from and above the hood of the incubator at generally the eye-level of a standing adult.

An incubator is a medical unit which provides a controlled environment for a premature or otherwise delicate or sick infant. The incubator isolates the infant from the outside atmosphere which might be the source of infections or which might be inadequate to aid the infant in overcoming his difficulty.
Infant incubators generally are provided with control means for adjusting the environment within the incubator (i.e., the temperature, humidity, and oxygen content of the atmosphere within the incubator) and display means for indicating the conditions of the environment within the incubator and the condition of an infant positioned within the incubator (i.e., respiration rate and skin temperature). All known incubators have the controls and displays mounted on the front of the base of the incubator and below the hood. This location of the controls and displays is inconvenient to those attending to the care of an infant within the incubator. One must bend down to read the displays and, when the front door of the incubator is open to provide complete access to an infant, one must work around the open front door. In addition, in order to observe the displays which indicate the conditions within the incubator and the condition of the infant, one must be right at the incubator and cannot observe these displays from a remote location.

Incubator with remote control and display module


A load sensor includes a substrate, a glass layer provided on the substrate, a wiring provided on the glass layer, an adjusting layer provided on the glass layer, and a strain-sensitive resistor element provided on the adjusting layer and connected to the wiring. A thermal expansion coefficient of the adjusting layer is closer to that of the strain-sensitive resistor element than that of the glass layer. In this load sensor, a stress remaining inside the resistor element is reduced, and the change over time of the resistance of the element is accordingly suppressed. Therefore, a single kind of the resistor element can be formed on substrates having respective thermal expansion coefficients, shapes, and thicknesses, thereby providing various load sensors having respective specifications.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 63-298128 discloses a pressure sensor including an insulating layer formed on a metal substrate and a thick-film resistor formed on a surface of the insulating layer. The insulating layer glass-glazed used for this pressure sensor employs glass having a thermal expansion coefficient close to that of metallic material.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 61-67901 discloses that a thermal expansion coefficient of glass used for a resistor element is made equal to that of a substrate so as to cause temperature coefficient of resistance (TCR) characteristics of a glazed stainless-steel substrate to match those of a strain-sensitive resistor element formed on the substrate. The substrate, a base, has a thermal expansion coefficient of 70×10−7/° C., and the resistor element is made of material having a thermal expansion coefficient 7×10−7/° C. In this case, a commercially-available material for the element (having the thermal expansion coefficient of about 70×10−7/° C.) for alumina substrates can be used.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 6-294693 discloses that a thermal expansion coefficient of glass frit contained in a strain-sensitive resistor element is made close to that of a substrate.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 9-273968 discloses a dynamic-quantity sensor that prevents mutual diffusion between a strain-sensitive resistor element and glass of a base for stabilizing characteristics of the resistor element. In this sensor, two kinds of resistor elements improve matching between the resistor elements and the glass of the base. The sensor includes a first resistor element on an insulating layer on a metal substrate, and a second resistor element on the first resistor element. A resistance of the first resistor element is determined to be larger than that of the second resistor element, thereby reducing an influence to a resistance of the entire sensor even if the first resistor element is influenced by the insulating layer.
Japanese Patent No. 3010166 discloses a glass layer containing particulate alumina and particulate zinc oxide and provided between a glass layer and a strain-sensitive resistor element so as to reduce influence of mutual diffusion of the glass layer and the resistor element formed on a metal substrate.
As various types of devices using a strain-sensitive resistor element are used, a gauge factor (GF), a rate of a change in a resistance per a unit amount of strain of a resistor element, is demanded to improve. However, the resistor element has its characteristic more unstable according to an increase of the GF.
For instance, if the base substrate has a thermal expansion coefficient of 100×10−7/° C., a resistor element needs to be made of material having a thermal expansion coefficient of about 100×10−7/° C. Similarly to this, if a substrate having a thermal expansion coefficient of 140×10−7/° C., a resistor element needs to be made of material having that of 140×10−7/° C. However, commercially-available material of resistor element is for alumina substrates. That is, material having a thermal expansion coefficient other than that of the material for the alumina substrates is not available in the market, and it is difficult to newly develop such material. This is because material of resistor elements needs to optimize not only for the GF but for various parameters, such as the TCR, noise characteristic, and reliability. Thus, respective materials corresponding to various substrates having respective thermal expansion coefficients cannot substantially be developed.
The following problems still exist even if the influence by mutual diffusion between material of a strain-sensitive resistor element and material of a base substrate is reduced. Since the difference between respective thermal expansion coefficients of a metal substrate and a resistor element can not be eliminated, plural types of resistor paste corresponding to the thermal expansion coefficients of substrates need to be prepared. Further, a resistor element cannot avoid to receive a stress inside thereof due to the difference of the thermal expansion coefficients of a metal substrate and material of the resistor element.
Further, if a substrate of an actual load sensor is made of metal, the resistance of a strain-sensitive resistor element is influences by factors other than the thermal expansion coefficient. For example, in the case that a load sensor having complicated dimensions and shape according to request by a user is manufactured by die-cutting a thick metal plate with a mold, an internal stress of the metal plate causes a problem. In this way, the above-mentioned parameters, such as residual stress occurring when processing a substrate with stamping die or the like, correction of warpage occurring when die-cutting (generally, corrected by warping it inversely), and annealing, influence the thermal expansion coefficient of the actual substrate Therefore, substrates made of metallic material having a thermal expansion coefficient of 100×10−7/° C. and having thicknesses of 1 mm, 2 mm, and 5 mm, respectively, change in the thermal expansion coefficient and the amount of warpage. For example, the substrates formed by die-cutting metal plates having thicknesses of 1 mm and 2 mm with the same mold, respectively, the substrates exhibit different warpages immediately after the die-cutting. Accordingly, even if warpage is corrected, respective amounts of warpage of the substrates are slightly different after the substrates are fired at 850° C. A thick substrate having a thickness of 5 mm, for example, has warpage much different from those of the above this substrates after the firing since a die-cutting method applied to the thick substrate is different than the thin substrates. Such warpage and deformation of a substrate influence a resistor element like the thermal expansion coefficient, thus tending to make the resistance unstable. Further, such distortion occurs during laser processing as well as the above-mentioned die-cutting.
In the conventional load sensor, various stresses are produced in a resistor element on a substrate due to the difference of substrates (e.g. material, thickness, shape), and processing methods (e.g. residual stress in machining, annealing, die-cutting, and stamping). The resistance tends to change over time according to an increase of the GF.

Load sensor and its manufacturing method

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.


An automotive seat assembly comprising a seat back frame, a headrest, and at least one post supporting the headrest on the seat back frame for vertical adjustment. The seatback frame has at least one opening for receiving the post. A tubular bushing is disposed in the opening of the seatback frame where the opening has a bore for receiving the post. The tubular bushing has a spring disposed in the bore, wherein the spring is used to adjust a clamping force on the post allowing vertical movement of the headrest.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a vehicle seat having a moveable head restraint.
2. Background Art
Manufacturers of motor vehicles provide head restraints, i.e. headrests, for occupant seats as a comfort and safety feature. Ease of movement of such head restraints is important for the overall function of the seat. Vertical adjustment mechanisms typically include one or more rods or posts extending downwardly from the head restraint and into the seatback.
The posts are generally supported in bushings which are, in turn, retained in the seatback frame. Examples of such bushings known to the prior art are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,788,250 to Masters et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,854,642 to Vidwans et al., and U.S. Pat. No. 5,080,437 to Pesta et al. Squeak and rattle issues caused by several moving parts along with high costs are problematic with the prior art.


An apparatus (100, 200, 400, 500, 600) includes a stack (110, 310) having a plurality of connected tie web sheets (106, 306) and an image (114) disposed on each of the tie web sheets (106, 306), wherein the image (114) is the same on each tie web sheet (106, 306) and is disposed in overlay registration from sheet (106, 306) to sheet (106, 306). Each tie web sheet (106, 306) includes a plurality of twist ties (104, 304), each twist tie (104, 304) having a proximal end (118) and a distal end (120), each twist tie (104, 304) being removably attached to the stack (110, 310) at its proximal end (118). A method of dispensing a plurality of twist ties (104, 304) includes mounting a stack (110, 310) within reach of a user and displaying an image (114) disposed on each of the tie web sheets (106, 306). Removal of a twist tie (104, 304) of the plurality of twist ties (104, 304) of the stack (110, 310) does not alter the image (114) viewable by the user.

Twist tie dispensing devices are often used in grocery stores and other stores where groceries and other bulk products are placed in plastic bags to be carried and temporarily closed or sealed so as to prevent spillage and soiling of the contents. In a typical grocery store, twist tie dispensing devices are normally placed near a roll of plastic bags, which is next near the items to be bagged. Such twist tie dispensing devices are generally placed in locations throughout the store.
A twist tie is conventionally used to close an opening of a bag, such as a garbage bag or bread bag. The two ends of the twist tie are wrapped around a narrowed or cinched portion of the bag; then the two ends of the tie are twisted together. Items in grocery stores and other stores that are commonly closed in plastic bags include, for example, produce, meat packages, baked goods, candies, fruits, vegetables, nuts, and snacks.
Twist ties are generally made out of a metal wire encased within one or more strips of paper and/or plastic. The strength of the wire varies depending upon the application for which the twist tie is to be used. The paper or plastic casing protects a user from the wire ends, which often are sharp, and provides "wings" on each side of the wire to facilitate the manipulation of the twist tie for closure, opening and reclosure of a bag. Twist ties can also have a wide covering that extends on either or both sides of the wire like a flag-shaped panel. These types of twist ties are most often used for labeling. Unlike other closure means, such as, for example, adhesive tape, twist ties can be re-used.
Different sizes and strengths of twist ties are used in different applications. For example, short and thin twist ties may be used to close a bag of bread, whereas long and wide twist ties may be used to secure garden hoses in place.
In a dispensing device, layers of twist ties are typically arranged with individual twist ties in each layer disposed in a side-by-side configuration. Slits between individual ties of each layer, and perforations along an end of each tie facilitate the removal of the ties from a dispensing device.

Twist tie dispensing apparatus and method


A system and method in accordance with exemplary embodiments may include an attachment with a near field communication antenna, a secure element, a plug capable of connecting the attachment to an audio jack on a mobile device. Further, a system and method in accordance with exemplary embodiments may include receiving a payment initiation instruction from a customer, using a near field communication antenna, sending payment information to a point of sale device, using one or more computer processors, encoding data related to the payment as audio data, and transmitting the data related to the payment through an audio jack.

Near Field Communications, or NFC, allows for wireless communication between two devices in close proximity to each other. Existing NFC devices provide limited functionality for contactless payments using a "digital wallet," but are restrictive and difficult to implement for a number of reasons.
Current digital wallet solutions require channeling all transactions through a defined group of stakeholders, thus increasing cost and complexity of each transaction. Further, current digital wallet solutions require that a mobile device be pre-manufactured with specific hardware already included, thus excluding hundreds of millions of existing devices from using a digital wallet solution. These and other drawbacks exist.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

System and method for providing contactless payment with a near field communications attachment


A method for programming one or more reference cells is described. The reference cell is programmed a predetermined amount, its program state is sensed relative to a prescribed cell on the same die (e.g., a memory cell or a golden bit cell), and the programming process continues until the reference cell fails a preselected read operation. In one preferred embodiment, the memory cell used during the reference cell programming process is the cell in the memory array having the highest native threshold value. In another preferred embodiment, the memory cell used during the reference cell programming process is a native cell that is on-board the die containing the memory array, but not a cell within the memory array.

Memory devices, such as random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), non-volatile memory (NVM) and like, are known in the art. These devices provide an indication of the data which is stored therein by providing an output electrical signal. A device called a sense amplifier is used for detecting the signal and determining the logical content thereof. U.S. Pat. No. 4,916,671 to Ichiguchi describes one such sense amplifier.
In general, prior art sense amplifiers determine the logical value stored in a cell by comparing the output of the cell with a fixed reference voltage level. The aforementioned U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,134,156 and, 6,128,226 describe an alternative circuit architecture in which a reference cell is used to generate a reference signal in lieu of a fixed reference voltage value.
When a memory cell is programmed or erased, the signal it generates differs from the reference signal by some margin. Since reading the cell's state should always result the same (i.e., either programmed or erased depending on the cell's state), introducing such margin is necessary to overcome imperfections in the reading process and to compensate for drifts in the cell's threshold voltage (e.g., caused by retention loss or disturbs). A reduction in the original margin due to imperfections in the reading process (e.g., due to operation at different operational conditions) is referred to as "margin loss."
It is well understood that the placement of a reference signal to which an array cell signal can be compared during sensing can be achieved in a number of ways. When close to ground signals are sensed as in the aforementioned U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,134,156 and 6,128,226 patents, the reference cell signal develops at an intermediate rate between that of a programmed cell and an erased cell. When set this way, the array cells' signals on one side of the reference signal are determined to be programmed cells, while signals on the other side of the reference signal are determined to be erased cells. For example, array cells generating signals smaller than the reference signal are considered to be programmed and array cells generating signals larger than the reference signal are considered to be erased. Conventionally, such placement is achieved by using a reference cell whose current is between the erased and programmed cells' current levels. The reference cell's current level can be controlled by the reference cell's size, its programming level, or its gate voltage level. Furthermore, if voltage signals are used to detect the cells' contents, then the reference signal placement can be controlled by providing a different load capacitance on the reference cell compared to that of the array cells. However, if the array and the reference cells differ in their sizes, in their operating gate voltages, or in their loads then some margin loss will be introduced to the sensing scheme. On the other hand, placing the reference cells' signals by properly programming the reference cells (while operating the array and reference cells at identical conditions) minimizes the sensing scheme sensitivity to operating conditions, process parameters and environmental conditions variations, thereby minimizing the margin loss, if any, that is introduced to the sensing system.
When reference cell placement is by programming, it must be programmed a precise amount in order to achieve its intended purpose. There are difficulties attendant with reliable programming of a reference cell so as to minimize operating margin loss, as well as accurate placement of a programmed reference cell relative to the memory array cells. The present invention provides a method for programming reference cells to minimize margin loss and maximize cycling performance.


Fast, efficient, and robust compression-based methods for detecting boundaries in arbitrary datasets, including sequences (1D datasets), are desired. The methods, each employing three simple algorithms, approximate the information distance between two adjacent sliding windows within a dataset. One of the algorithms calculates an initial ordered list of subsequences; while a second algorithm updates the ordered list of subsequences by dropping a first entry and appending a last entry rather than calculating completely new ordered lists with each iteration. Large values in the distance metric are indicative of boundary locations. A smoothed z-score or a wavelet-based algorithm may then be used to locate peaks in the distance metric, thereby identifying boundary locations. An adaptive version of the method employs a collection of window sizes and corresponding weighting functions, making it more amenable to real datasets with unknown, complex, and changing structures.

Let z be a sequence of tokens made available over time, with a sequence being a one-dimensional (1D) dataset. This subclass of datasets is prevalent in, for example, computer network traffic, text, and audio signals. Identifying changes in z requires significant latency and domain knowledge of the underlying dataset. The goal is to determine locations within z where the information content suddenly and substantially changes, these locations are referred to as boundaries.
In other prior art techniques, general boundary or change-point detection often involves sliding adjacent windows over sequences, collecting statistics regarding the underlying data within each window, and computing a distance function that operates on these statistics to determine large distances between adjacent windows. See S. Aminikhanghahi and D.J. Cook, "A survey of methods for time series change point detection," Knowledge and Information Systems, vol. 51, pp. 339-367 (2017), the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. For domain-specific datasets, such as audio, more specialized methods have been developed.
The normalized information distance (NID) is the optimal universal distance metric to capture the differences between two sequences. See P.M.B. Vit'anyi et al., "Normalized information distance," in Information Theory and Statistical Learning, pp. 45-82 (Springer, 2009), the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. NID is, however, non-computable. For this reason, there has been extensive work on approximating the NID, most of which are based on the normalized compression distance (NCD). See M. Li et al., "The similarity metric," IEEE Transactions on Information Theory, vol. 50, no. 12, pp. 3250-3264 (2004), the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
NCD uses standard compression algorithms and is therefore easy to implement in practice, but is too costly for a sliding boundary detection application. It has been shown that NCD can be approximated by operations on the underlying dictionaries, thereby bypassing the compression step and improving the computation speed. See A. Macedonas et al., "Dictionary based color image retrieval," Journal of Visual Communication and Image Representation, vol. 19, no. 7, pp. 464-470 (2008); H. Koga et al., "Effective construction of compression-based feature space," in 2016 International Symposium on Information Theory and Its Applications (ISITA), pp. 116-120 (2016); and E. Raff and C. Nicholas, "An alternative to NCD for large sequences, Lempel-Ziv Jaccard distance," in ACM SIGKDD International Conference on Knowledge Discovery and Data Mining (2017), the contents of each of which are incorporated herein by reference.
In spite of these previous efforts, the need still exists for a method that provides an accurate approximation to the NID but is also computationally efficient. The need for computational efficiency is driven by the nature of the sliding boundary detection application, where changes in information content need to be approximated repeatedly as one progresses through z. Further, the method should be robust to small changes in information content; an algorithm that violates this requirement will produce a noisy signal that renders boundary detection difficult.

Efficient generalized boundary detection

National Technology & Engineering Solutions of Sandia, LLC


A light-emitting diode package, including a package body and leads, the package body including a mounting surface, a light-emitting structure disposed on the mounting surface, the light-emitting structure including an active layer disposed between a first conductive-type semiconductor layer and a second conductive-type semiconductor layer, a phosphor layer disposed on the light-emitting structure, and a distributed Bragg reflector disposed between the light-emitting structure and the mounting surface. The distributed Bragg reflector includes a first distributed Bragg reflector and a second distributed Bragg reflector, and an optical thickness of material layers within the first distributed Bragg reflector is greater than an optical thickness of material layers within the second distributed Bragg reflector.

Field
Exemplary embodiments of the present invention relate to a light emitting diode chip and a method of fabricating the same, and to a light emitting diode chip having a distributed Bragg reflector and a method of fabricating the same.
Discussion of the Background
A gallium nitride-based light emitting diode chip emitting blue or ultraviolet wavelength light may be used for various applications. In particular, various types of light emitting diode packages emitting mixed color light, for example, white light required for a backlight unit, general lighting, or the like, have been marketed.
Since the light output from the light emitting diode package may depend on the light emission efficiency of the light emitting diode chip, research to improve the light emission efficiency of the light emitting diode chip has been continuously conducted. In particular, attempts to improve the light extraction efficiency of the light emitting diode chip have been performed. For example, technology of forming a metal reflector or a distributed Bragg reflector (DBR) on a bottom surface of a transparent substrate such as a sapphire substrate has been researched.
FIG. 1 shows reflectivity measured by forming an aluminum layer on the bottom surface of a sapphire substrate according to the related art.
It can be appreciated from FIG. 1 that in the case of the sapphire substrate on which the aluminum layer is not formed, reflectivity of about 20% is shown, but in the case of the sapphire substrate on which the aluminum layer is formed, reflectivity of about 80% is shown over a visible wavelength range.
FIG. 2 shows the reflectivity measured by the DBR formed by periodically applying TiO2/SiO2 to the bottom surface of the sapphire substrate according to the related art.
As shown in FIG. 2, when the DBR is formed to reflect light emitted from the light emitting diode chip, for example, emitted light having a peak wavelength of 460 nm. FIG. 2 shows that reflectivity in the light emitting diode using the DBR may reach approximately 100% in a blue wavelength range, for example, a wavelength range of 400 to 500 nm.
However, the DBR can only increase the reflectivity for a part of the visible range. Therefore, the reflectivity for other ranges is considerably lower than that shown in FIG. 2 for the wavelength range of 400 nm to 500 nm. That is, as shown in FIG. 2, the reflectivity for a wavelength of about 520 nm or more is suddenly reduced while most of the reflectivity is less than 50% at a wavelength of 550 nm or more.
Therefore, when mounting the light emitting diode chip using the DBR in a light emitting diode package to emit white light, the DBR shows high reflectivity for light of the blue wavelength range emitted from the light emitting diode chip but the DBR does not show efficient reflection characteristics for light emitted in the green and/or red wavelength ranges. Therefore, there is a limit in improving the light emission efficiency of the light emitting diode package.
Meanwhile, attempts have been made to apply the DBR to the reflecting surface of the light emitting diode package, which have not been achieved due to a limitation of the DBR deposition technology. For example, there have been problems with a deposition temperature, a plasma temperature, and the like.

Light emitting diode chip having distributed Bragg reflector and method of fabricating the same


A vehicle rack for securement over the roof of a vehicle is described. The rack comprises a support rail having opposed supporting brackets for maintaining the rail elevated transversely over a vehicle roof. The brackets are removably connected to a respective one of a pair of connecting bases. Each of the connecting bases is attached to a restraining portion of a vehicle adjacent the roof thereof with the connecting bases positioned on a respective side of the roof. The connecting bases are interconnected by a flexible connecting strap which extends therebetween. A tension force is applied between the attachments of the pair of connecting bases to rigidly connect the bases on the roof. One of the connecting bases is a locking base provided with a latch engageable element. One of the supporting brackets is a locking bracket having a latch mechanism actuable by a lever arm for engaging the latch engageable element of the locking base to immovably secure the brackets to the connecting bases. The other of the connecting bases is provided with a bracket connection. The other supporting bracket is provided with an engageable element to engage with the connecting element of the other connecting base, and the other supporting bracket is automatically disconnected by lifting the locking bracket from the locking base.

Various vehicle rooftop racks are known to transport articles. However, the majority of these racks are not made to install and remove with each use because they are time consuming to install, or if they are easy to install and remove, they are not strong enough to carry heavy objects.
French Patent No. 84 19281 published on Jun. 21, 1985 under Publication No. 2556667 relates to a rooftop vehicle rack wherein attachments are secured to the roof to provide connection and removal of rail brackets. Each bracket has a clamp to attach to a gutter element provided with the attachments. Accordingly, it is necessary to latch all four brackets individually, and this becomes time consuming and awkward. The attachments are arcuately formed and designed to suit a specific vehicle and therefore not practical.

Vehicle roof-top support rack with permanent attachment bases


A system, method and computer program product for automatic document classification, including an extraction module configured to extract structural, syntactical and/or semantic information from a document and normalize the extracted information; a machine learning module configured to generate a model representation for automatic document classification based on feature vectors built from the normalized and extracted semantic information for supervised and/or unsupervised clustering or machine learning; and a classification module configured to select a non-classified document from a document collection, and via the extraction module extract normalized structural, syntactical and/or semantic information from the selected document, and generate via the machine learning module a model representation of the selected document based on feature vectors, and match the model representation of the selected document against the machine learning model representation to generate a document category, and/or classification for display to a user.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to systems and methods for document classification, and more particularly to systems and methods for automatic document classification for electronic discovery (eDiscovery), compliance, clean-up of legacy information, and the like.
2. Discussion of the Background
In recent years, various types of document classification systems and methods have been developed. However, with such document classification systems and methods, there is still a need to provide improved systems and methods that addresses limitations of what is referred to as a bag-of-word (BOW) approach.

System and method for automatic document classification in ediscovery, compliance and legacy information clean-up