This application relates to compounds of the Formula I

The compounds of the present application are modulators of anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) and Janus Kinase (JAK) and have a number of therapeutic applications, particularly in the treatment of proliferative diseases or disorders including certain cancers as well as hematological malignancies. Specifically, the compounds of the present application inhibit ALK and/or JAK2 kinase. Advantageously, the compounds inhibit both ALK and JAK2 kinase.
Receptor tyrosine kinases (RTKs) are enzymes which span the cell membrane and possess an extracellular ligand binding domain, a transmembrane domain, and a cytoplasmic (intracellular) tyrosine kinase domain (catalytic domain). The intracellular portion participates in cellular signal transduction by phosphorylating specific tyrosine residues in RTK substrate proteins which in turn triggers other transduction events (signal propagation). As a result, tyrosine kinases influence a number of aspects of cellular responses, such as proliferation, growth, differentiation, migration, metabolism and programmed cell death (apoptosis). It has been shown that many of these tyrosine kinases are frequently mutated and/or aberrantly expressed in a number of human disease states such as, for example, breast cancer, gastrointestinal cancers (colon, rectal, and/or stomach cancers), leukemia, ovarian cancer, and pancreatic cancer.
Some examples of RTKs that mediate various cellular responses associated with hyperproliferative disease states include c-erbB-2, c-met, tie-2, PDGRr, FGFr, and EGFR. As such, compounds that selectively inhibit or modulate the activity of one or more tyrosine kinases could provide significant therapeutic benefit in a variety of hyperproliferative disease states in mammals, including humans.
Anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) is a transmembrane-spanning receptor tyrosine kinase, which belongs to the insulin receptor (IR) RTK superfamily. The most abundant expression of ALK occurs primarily in the central and peripheral nervous systems, suggesting a possible role for ALK in the development and function of the nervous system. (Iwahara, T. et al., Oncogene, 1997, 14(4), 439-449; Morris, S. W. et al., Oncogene, 1997, 14(18), 2175-2188). Mouse studies suggest that ALK may regulate the function of the frontal cortex and hippocampus in the adult brain, making ALK a possible target for psychiatric conditions such as schizophrenia and depression. (Bilsland, J. G., et al. Neuropsychopharmacology, 2008, 33(3), 685-700).
ALK is also implicated in the oncogenesis and progression of various human cancers. Specifically, an ALK inhibitor would be expected to either permit durable cures when administered as a single therapeutic agent or combined with current chemotherapy for ALCL, IMT, NSCLC, DLBCL, systemic histiocytosis, glioblastoma and other tumor types. Alternatively, an ALK inhibitor could be used in a maintenance role to prevent cancer recurrence or in patient populations that develop resistance to other therapies.
FAK (focal adhesion kinase), JAK (Janus kinase), Lck, Src, and Abl are examples of non-receptor (cytoplasmic) protein tyrosine kinases (NRPTKs). Initially, NRPTKs were identified in the context of cell growth and differentiation but subsequently the constitutive activation or abherrent expression of NRPTKs has been found to be associated with disease states characterized by abnormal cell growth, in particular cancer, in mammals.
The Janus kinase family (JAKs) consists of 4 members: JAK1, JAK2, JAK3 and TYK2. This family of kinases signals downstream from extracellular cytokines as well as various growth factor receptors. For example, the STAT (signal transduction and transcription) family of transcription factors is the principal, but not exclusive, target for JAKs. Constitutive JAK/STAT signaling is thought to play a critical role in oncogenesis and the progression of many different types of tumors by promoting multiple mechanisms of tumor pathogenesis, including cell proliferation, anti-apoptotic signaling, angiogenesis and tumor immune evasion (Yu et al. 2004). Moreover, constitutively activated JAK/STAT signaling is found in many tumor types, but not in normal tissues (Yu et al. 2004; Benekli et al. 2003). The ability of the JAK/STAT pathway to mediate resistance to apoptosis is particularly important, as most anti-cancer drugs affect tumors by inducing apoptosis.
The importance of these kinases in cellular survival is made evident by the fact that the loss of JAKs is often accompanied by immunodeficiency and non-viability in animal models (Aringer, M., et al.). The JAK family of enzymes is characterized by a number of JAK homology (JH) domains, including a carboxy-terminal protein tyrosine kinase domain (JH1) and an adjacent kinase-like domain (JH2), which is thought to regulate the activity of the JH1 domain (Harpur, A. G., et al.). The four JAK isoforms transduce different signals by being associated specifically with certain cytokine receptors, and activating a subset of downstream genes. For example, JAK2 associates with cytokine receptors specific for interleukin-3 (Silvennoinen, O., et al., Proc Natl Acad Sci USA, 1993, 90(18): p. 8429-33), erythropoietin (Witthuhn, B. A., et al., Cell, 1993, 74(2): p. 227-36), granulocyte colony stimulating factor (Nicholson, S. E., et al., Proc Natl Acad Sci USA, 1994, 91(8): p. 2985-8), and growth hormone (Argetsinger, L. S., et al., Cell, 1993, 74(2): p. 237-44).
The JAK family of enzymes has become an interesting set of targets for various hematological and immunological disorders; JAK2 specifically is currently under study as a viable target for neoplastic disease, especially leukemias and lymphomas (Benekli, M., et al., Blood, 2003. 101(8): p. 2940-54; Peeters, P., et al., Blood, 1997. 90(7): p. 2535-40; Reiter, A., et al., Cancer Res, 2005. 65(7): p. 2662-7; Takemoto, S., et al., Proc Natl Acad Sci USA, 1997. 94(25): p. 13897-902) as well as solid tumors (Walz, C., et al., J Biol Chem, 2006. 281(26): p. 18177-83), and other myeloproliferative disorders such as polycythemia vera (Baxter, E. J., et al., Lancet, 2005. 365(9464): p. 1054-61; James, C., et al., Nature, 2005. 434(7037): p. 1144-8; Levine, R. L., et al., Cancer Cell, 2005. 7(4): p. 387-97; Shannon, K. and R. A. Van Etten, Cancer Cell, 2005. 7(4): p. 291-3), due to its activation of downstream effector genes involved in proliferation. JAK2 is also known to be mutated in hematologic malignancies, such that it no longer requires ligand binding to the cytokine receptor and is instead in a state of constitutive activation. This can occur through translocation between the JAK2 gene with genes encoding the ETV6, BCR or PCM1 proteins (Peeters, P., et al.; Reiter, A., et al.; Griesinger, F., et al., Genes Chromosomes Cancer, 2005. 44(3): p. 329-33; Lacronique, V., et al., Science, 1997. 278(5341): p. 1309-12) to create an oncogenic fusion protein, analogous to the BCR-ABL protein seen in chronic myelogenous leukemia. Overactivation of JAK2 can also occur through mutation of the JAK2 sequence itself for example, the myeloproliferative disease polycythemia vera is associated with a point mutation that causes a valine-to-phenylalanine substitution at amino acid 617 (JAK2 V617F) (Walz, C., et al.).

Imidazo[4,5-b]pyridine derivatives as ALK and JAK modulators for the treatment of proliferative disorders

Abstract: as defined herein, and/or salts thereof. This application further relates to compositions and methods of using these compounds and/or salts thereof. The compounds of Formula I are useful as ALK and JAK modulators for the treatment of proliferative disorders.


A bone plate having a first, bone-facing surface and an opposing second surface has an elongate shaft portion and a head portion that is shorter and wider in comparison thereto, with at least one through hole extending through the bone plate from the first surface to the second surface in the shaft portion. The through hole comprises a variable-angle portion with a hole axis configured to receive a threaded head of a locking screw therein at a desired angle within a permitted range of angulation relative to the hole axis. The second surface has at least one depression which extends therein along a portion of the second surface between the side wall and the through hole, the depression extending about a periphery of the through hole.

For stabilizing and fixing fractures it is known to employ bone plates fixed on the bone by means of suitable fastening elements such as, for example, bone screws, along with pins, bolts or other bone anchors. To guarantee secure fixation of the bone fragments to each other and of the bone plate to the bone, the bone anchors must be incorporated into the bone precisely. In particular, the angles at which the bone anchors are driven into the bone are of great importance.
Hence, it is known, for example, from EP 1 741 397 A1 to provide bone plates with through holes having a variable-angle portion which allows a threaded head of a locking screw to be received and locked in a threaded bone plate hole at different angles relative to a hole axis of the threaded bone plate hole. The threaded bone plate hole may have rib-like or thread structures interrupted by recesses that extend radially away from the hole axis, whereby one or a plurality of the recesses extends in the direction of a longitudinally running side edge of the bone plate. However, a problem arises here that, in particular in the region of the recesses of the variable-angle through hole that extend in the direction toward the side edge, stress peaks may occur when a bending load is placed on the bone plate. Because a bone plate is usually attached to the side of the bone that is under stress, the stress peaks occur in particular on the plate's upper side, i.e., the surface of the bone plate that faces away from the bone, when the bone plate is mounted to the bone.
The object of the present invention is to provide a bone plate having a variable-angle through hole wherein stress peaks that occur in the region of the variable-angle through hole upon a bending load on the bone plate are reduced.


Disclosed is a semiconductor package pickup apparatus. The apparatus includes a picker base formed with first and second main feeding holes, which are connected to each pneumatic line providing a pneumatic pressure and aligned in a dual-layer structure, and an adsorption pad coupled to a lower portion of the picker base and formed with adsorption holes connected to the first and second main feeding holes. The pneumatic pressure supplied into the first and second main feeding holes is independently controlled, so that the apparatus easily loads or picks up semiconductor packages, even if the size of the semiconductor packages becomes reduced.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor package pickup apparatus. More particularly, the present invention relates to a semiconductor package pickup apparatus, which picks up individual semiconductor packages in order to transfer the semiconductor packages or loads the semiconductor packages onto a package stacker.
2. Related Prior Art
In general, a semiconductor manufacturing process is mainly divided into a fabrication process and an assembly process. During the fabrication process, integrated circuits are designed on a silicon wafer so as to form a semiconductor chip. In addition, during the assembly process, a semiconductor strip is fabricated by sequentially performing various steps of attaching the semiconductor chip to a lead frame, electrically connecting the semiconductor chip to the lead frame using wires (or solder balls), and molding the semiconductor chip with resin, such as epoxy. Such a semiconductor strip is mounted on a chuck table by means of a strip picker and then transferred to a sawing device, so that the sawing device saws the semiconductor strip into individual packages by using a cutting blade (rotating blade). The individual packages are stacked onto a package stacker after they are washed and dried, and then transferred to a vision inspection device.
Meanwhile, after the drying process has been completed, the semiconductor packages are stacked on first and second stack sections 510 and 520 of the package stacker 500 as shown in FIG. 4. If margin cavities 510b and 520b and stack recesses 510a and 520a are alternately aligned in the first and second stack sections 510 and 520 in order to precisely load the semiconductor packages on the first and second stack sections 510 and 520, the package pickup apparatus simultaneously picks up the semiconductor packages from a drying device 400 and then sequentially loads the semiconductor packages half-and-half onto the first and second stack sections 510 and 520 of the package stacker 500. Such a package stacker 500 is disclosed in Korean Patent Registration No. 0396982, which has been issued to applicant of the present invention, so detailed description for the package stacker will be omitted.
FIGS. 1 to 3 show the conventional package pickup apparatus.
As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the conventional package pickup apparatus includes a picker base 100, a pad holder 200 and an adsorption pad 300.
The picker base 100 is formed at an inner portion thereof with first and second main feeding holes 120a and 120b connected to first and second pneumatic lines 110a and 110b, which provide pneumatic pressure. In addition, the picker base 100 is formed at a bottom surface thereof with first and second gull-shaped distribution grooves 140a and 140b, which are alternately aligned corresponding to the stack recesses 510a and 520a formed in the package stacker 500. The picker base 100 is formed at an inner portion thereof with a first transfer hole 130a, which connects the first main feeding hole 120a with the first distribution groove 140a, and a second transfer hole 130b, which connects the second main feeding hole 120b with the second distribution groove 140b. The pad holder 200 is fixed to the bottom surface of the picker base 100 in order to support the adsorption pad 300. The adsorption pad 300 is formed at a bottom surface thereof with a plurality of adsorption holes 310a and 310b so as to directly absorb the semiconductor packages. In general, the adsorption pad 300 is made from rubber or sponge in order to protect the semiconductor package while enhancing the adsorption force relative to the semiconductor packages.
FIGS. 5 to 8 are sectional views, which are taken along line C-C of FIG. 1 in order to illustrate the operational state of the semiconductor package pickup apparatus.
As shown in FIGS. 5 to 8, the conventional semiconductor package pickup apparatus is controlled in such a manner that pneumatic pressure can be independently fed into adsorption holes 310a and 310b, which are aligned corresponding to the stack recesses 510a and 520a of the first and second stack sections 510 and 520 provided in the package stacker 500, in order to sequentially load the semiconductor packages half-and-half onto the first and second stack sections 510 and 520 of the package stacker 500. That is, when the semiconductor package pickup apparatus picks up the semiconductor packages stacked on the drying device 400, as shown in FIG. 5, vacuum pressure is fed into the first and second main feeding holes 120a and 120b, so that the semiconductor package pickup apparatus can pick up the semiconductor packages. In addition, when the semiconductor package pickup apparatus loads the semiconductor packages onto the first or second stack section 510 or 420 of the package stacker 500, as shown in FIG. 8, pneumatic pressure is fed into the first main feeding hole 120a (or second main feeding hole 120b) so that the semiconductor packages are separated from the semiconductor package pickup apparatus.

Apparatus for picking up semiconductor package


A method for studying whole blood clotting that includes irradiating a specimen with light and recording light reflected into the hemisphere of the irradiating beam. The time course of reflected light intensity is divided into distinct regions, each of which is fit with a mathematical formula. The parameters from these formulas are used to assign values to each specimen. The assigned values identify disease states and quantify the effects of drugs on clotting.

Field of the Invention: The present invention is an optical method for use in the field of blood clotting, in particular for the study of drug effects on clotting, the detection of clotting abnormalities, and other disease states.
The proper clotting of blood is clearly essential to health. Although insufficient clotting that leads to bleeding is a serious problem for some individuals, an increased tendency to clot that results in stroke, myocardial infarction, or deep vein thrombosis affects a vastly greater number of people. To ward off these thrombotic events, many people take a daily dose of aspirin. Multiple strokes can cause dementia, usually called vascular dementia in this case. The more common form of dementia, Alzheimer's disease, has some points of overlap with vascular disease. For example, certain types of cholesterol-carrying proteins can increase the risk of both myocardial infarction and Alzheimer's disease. Furthermore, people who take ibuprofen have a lower risk of developing Alzheimer's disease than those who do not.
Ibuprofen and aspirin are both members of the same family of drugs, namely, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). Most NSAIDs block the conversion of arachidonic acid into its active metabolites. There are three major enzymes that convert arachidonic acid: lipoxygenase, cyclooxygenase-1 (COX1), and cyclooxygenase-2 (COX2). The primary effect of aspirin in preventing thrombotic events is through the inhibition of COX1; the effect of ibuprofen in the prevention of Alzheimer's disease probably does not involve any of these three pathways.
NSAIDs are also used to treat various inflammatory conditions, such as arthritis. In order to maximize therapy for these inflammatory conditions without affecting blood clotting, NSAIDs that specifically inhibit COX2 were developed. Rofecoxib and celecoxib are two commonly prescribed COX2-specific inhibitors. Neither rofecoxib nor celecoxib has any effect on clotting as measured by routine techniques, and both may be administered to people taking anticoagulant drugs like warfarin. It was, therefore, surprising when a study comparing rofecoxib and naproxen (another NSAID) reported a higher incidence of thrombotic events in the rofecoxib-treated arm (Bombardier et al., N.Eng.J.Med. 2000;343:1520–1528). One explanation held that naproxen somehow protected against thrombotic events, as does aspirin (Bombardier et al., N.Eng.J.Med. 2000;343:1520–1528); another explanation is that rofecoxib promoted coagulation (Mukherjee et al., JAMA 2001 ;286:954–959). Because no routine test of coagulation detects an effect of COX2 inhibitors, there is a need for a method that can show such an effect in order to investigate the reason for the difference between rofecoxib and naproxen.
As mentioned above, there are many points of overlap between Alzheimer's disease and thrombotic vascular disease. Alzheimer's disease involves the abnormal deposition of material in the brain. An important component of this abnormal material consists of fragments of protein cleaved from a larger protein called amyloid-precursor protein (APP). The enzyme which cleaves APP to form these fragments is called γ-secretase; the bulk of the evidence favors γ-secretase as the site of action of ibuprofen in the prevention of Alzheimer's disease. APP is also found in blood platelets and is normally cleaved during blood clotting. The cleavage of APP in platelets is abnormal in patients with Alzheimer's disease. Furthermore, abnormalities in the red cell are found in Alzheimer's disease (Greco et al., Arch. Pathol. Lab. Med. 2000;124:1141–1146). The present invention grew out of attempts to improve the method that used conformational changes in erythrocyte band 3 to diagnose Alzheimer's disease (U.S. Pat. No. 6,030,768). Although numerous abnormalities have been described in platelets and red cells, none is sufficiently powerful to serve as a diagnostic test for Alzheimer's disease. Because Alzheimer's disease has an insidious onset, there is a need for a test that may detect abnormalities in APP cleavage before the onset of dementia. Furthermore, if this test also detected effects of NSAIDs, it would be useful in gauging the response to prophylactic therapy.
Description of Related Art: There are numerous tests to study blood clotting. Many use the time-to-clot as the endpoint and are insensitive to subtle changes in blood, e.g., the Lee-White clotting time, prothrombin time, partial thromboplastin time, bleeding time. The time-to-clot may be measured optically, mechanically, or electrically, which accounts for most of the instrumental differences among the various methods. Levels of individual clotting factors can be measured, but this is usually done to diagnose a deficiency, not as a routine test of clotting.
Many optical techniques have been applied to blood. When applied to coagulation, the decrease in light transmission as platelet-poor plasma clots is often used. In studying the function of isolated platelets, light scattered at 90° is measured in response to divers agents. As mentioned above, none of these methods can detect an effect of COX2 inhibitors on clotting.
Description of Prior Art Optical: techniques have also been applied to blood rheology, that is, the flow of blood. There are several methods that monitor optical changes in reflected light at various flow rates as the red cells migrate centrally along the axis of flow. If the anticoagulant is reversed, the increase in viscosity that accompanies coagulation may be tracked (Riha et al., Clin. Hemorheol. Mircocirc. 1997;17:341–346). In one special case, the optical changes that accompany clotting resemble those of the present invention (See FIG. 2, Riha et al., Clin. Hemorheol. Mircocirc. 1997;17:341–346). The features of the present invention that distinguish it from and improve upon the rheological technique are discussed in the DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION. Briefly, the present invention differs from the rheological technique in being stationary, in its method of analysis, and use of broadband illumination.

Spectral analysis of light scattered from clotting blood


Methods and systems for sample rate conversion convert a sampled signal to a higher data rate signal. Conversion pulses are received, having a conversion rate that is higher than the sample rate of the sampled signal. Sample points are then reconstructed from the sampled signal, in real time, on either side of a conversion pulse. An interpolation is performed between the reconstructed sample points, at the time of the conversion pulse. The interpolation results are outputted in real time. The process is repeated for additional conversion pulses. The outputted interpolated amplitudes form the higher data rate signal having a data rate equal to the conversion rate. Sample rate conversion is thus performed in real time according to the higher data rate clock, rather than with fixed ratios. As a result, when the higher data rate clock is affected by, for example, jitter or other frequency variations, the higher data rate samples immediately track the lower data rate samples. This helps to insure that the output higher data rate data tracks the lower rate data, thus providing a more accurate sample rate conversion.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to signal processing and, more particularly, to methods and systems for sample rate conversion.
2. Related Art
In signal processing, sampled signals often need to be converted to higher or lower sample rates. For example, in audio signal processing, an audio signal is sampled at a sample rate. The resulting sampled signal is processed in a digital signal processor ("DSP"). When the DSP operates at a lower rate than the sample rate, the sampled signal is decimated to the lower rate. Decimation is well known in the art.
The DSP output is typically required to be a standardized sample rate. When the standardized sample data rate is higher than the DSP rate, the output data needs to be converted to the higher sample rate. Such a conversion is referred to herein as sample rate conversion.
Conventional sample rate converters suffer from a variety of drawbacks. For example, conventional SRCs typically interpolate between existing sample points to obtain new sample points. The interpolation is typically performed using known, pre-determined, fixed ratios between the lower data rate and the higher data rate. Results are then clocked out at the higher data rate. Such an interpolation is not performed in real time. Thus, when the higher data rate clock is affected by jitter or small/large frequency variations, for example, the higher data rate output does not necessarily track the lower data rate data.
What are needed, therefore, are improved methods and systems for sample rate conversion.


The present invention relates to a system and method for improving the waveform at a receiver. More specifically, the present invention relates to a system adapted to modify at least one signal in anticipation of channel attenuation and delay. The present invention comprises a memory adapted to store at least one coefficient that is pre-determined based on at least one expected degradation characteristic of a channel; and a pre-emphasizer communicating with at least the memory and the channel, and adapted to modify the at least one signal using the at least one coefficient prior to transmission of the at least one signal over the channel, compensating for the at least one expected degradation characteristic.

This invention relates to transmitting digital video data. In the DVI 1.0 specification, which is incorporated herein by reference, digital video data is transmitted over a two-wire interface in a "complimentary" or "differential" manner. A channel is used to transmit the data, where the channel comprises all electrical connections and components between the transmitter and the receiver, including but not limited to the package, pcbs, connectors, and cables. It is contemplated that the channel may distort the transmitted signal through attenuation and delay, where attenuation and delay are a function of frequency.
This distortion may result in an eye diagram that is more closed than would be the case if no distortion were present. Furthermore, the channel and its associated distortion will vary with the configuration/implementation of the varying transmitter sources, cables and receiver systems. Known prior art emphasizes improving the channel to cause less distortion and improving receiver sensitivity to interpret the signal accurately in the presence of distortion. These approaches add significantly to the cost of system implementation.
Further limitations and disadvantages of conventional and traditional approaches will become apparent to one of skill in the art, through comparison of such systems with the present invention as set forth in the remainder of the present application with reference to the drawings.

Pre-emphasis of TMDS signalling in video applications


Described embodiments are directed toward prosthetic valves having a support structure and at least one leaflet. The leaflet comprises means for allowing fluid that is behind the leaflet to pass through to the front of the leaflet when the leaflet is not in the closed position. The prosthetic valve includes a leaflet moveable between an open position that permits antegrade flow through the prosthetic valve and a closed position that prevents regurgitant flow through the prosthetic valve, the leaflet having an aperture or gap, or a separation of portions of the leaflet to allow a flow or exchange of fluid between a front and back of the leaflet, when the leaflet is not in the closed position.

Prosthetic valves are used to replace natural valves in a cardiovascular system when the natural valve no longer functions properly. A flexible leaflet prosthetic valve comprises one or more leaflets that move under the influence of fluid pressure.
Prosthetic leaflets are attached to a support structure to form a valve. In operation, the flexible leaflets open when the inflow fluid pressure exceeds the outflow fluid pressure and close when the inflow fluid pressure drops below the outflow fluid pressure. The free edges of the leaflets coapt under the influence of outflow fluid pressure closing the valve to prevent outflow blood from flowing retrograde through the valve. FIGS. 1A and 1B are perspective and axial views, respectively, of a closed prosthetic valve 10 that includes a frame 20 that supports leaflets 30, in accordance to what is known in the art. The closed prosthetic valve 10 represents when the outflow pressure downstream of the prosthetic valve 10 is greater than the inflow pressure upstream of the prosthetic valve 10, wherein the leaflets 30 close to prevent regurgitant flow through the prosthetic valve 10.
FIGS. 1C and 1D are a perspective view and axial view, respectively, of the prosthetic valve 10 where the leaflets 30 are open such as when the inflow pressure upstream of the prosthetic valve 10 is greater than the outflow pressure, wherein the leaflets 30 open to allow fluid to proceed in the forward flow direction 402 through the prosthetic valve 100.
FIGS. 1E and 1F are cross-sectional views of the closed prosthetic valve 10 of FIG. 1B along cutline 1E-1E and the open prosthetic valve 10 of FIG. 1D along cut line 1F-1F, respectively. FIG. 1E shows the retrograde flow direction 404 where the outflow pressure of the prosthetic valve 10 is greater than the inflow pressure thus closing the leaflet 30. FIG. 1F shows the fluid moving in the forward flow direction 402 through the prosthetic valve 10 where the inflow pressure is greater than the outflow pressure thus opening the flexible leaflet 30 away from the valve axis X. Behind the leaflet 30 the fluid follows a recirculating direction, referred to as recirculating flow 406, including flow in the retrograde flow direction 404 between the leaflet 30 and a structure behind the leaflet 30, such as, but not limited to, the frame 20, a prosthetic conduit, and native tissue.
The lack of or insufficient fluid in the retrograde flow direction 404 or recirculating flow 406 can result in the fluid flow slowing or stagnating behind the leaflet 30 and in particular, at the leaflet base 308 where the leaflet 30 intersects the frame 20. The slowing or stagnation of fluid flow is known to cause the blood to clot and form thrombus. Thrombus is detrimental in that it can hinder the leaflet 30 opening and closing dynamics which in turn leads to increased pressure gradients that negatively affect valve performance. Thrombus may also flow downstream which can lead to stroke, heart attack or pulmonary embolism.
There remains a need for a prosthetic valve that reduces or eliminates the reduced or stagnated flow behind an open prosthetic valve leaflet.


A pixel electrode of an array substrate is connected with a drain electrode of a TFT via a first aperture formed on a second interlayer insulating film, a second aperture that includes a bottom portion of the first aperture and is formed on a common electrode, a third aperture that includes at least a part of the bottom portion of the first aperture, is included in a second aperture and is formed on a third interlayer insulating film, and a fourth aperture that is formed on the first interlayer insulating film in a region where the third aperture overlaps with the bottom portion of the first aperture.

Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a thin film transistor array substrate to be used in a liquid crystal display device, and a method for manufacturing the substrate.
Description of the Background Art
Conventionally, liquid crystal display devices have a structure where a TFT array substrate (hereinafter, "array substrate") formed with a pixel electrode and a thin film transistor (TFT) for supplying a display signal to the pixel electrode, a counter substrate formed with a common electrode, and a liquid crystal layer held therebetween. The liquid crystal display devices that employ a TN (Twisted Nematic) mode and a VA (Vertical Alignment) mode are the mainstream. In the TN mode, liquid crystal is driven by an electric field in a vertical direction (the direction vertical to the surface of the array substrate and the counter electrode) generated between the pixel electrode and the common electrode. In recent years, liquid crystal display devices that employ an IPS (In-Plane Switching) mode ("IPS" is registered trade mark), and an FFS (Fringe Field Switching) mode are put to practical use. In these modes, both a pixel electrode and a common electrode are disposed on an array substrate, and an electric field in a lateral direction generated between the pixel electrode and the common electrode drives liquid crystal.
For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2009-128397 (Patent Document 1) proposes a structure where a thick insulating film (planarizing film) is formed on a source wiring (display signal line), and an upper portion of the source wiring is coated with a common electrode in a liquid crystal display panel of the FFS mode. With this structure, the common electrode on the source wiring shields an electric field from a pixel and simultaneously a parasitic capacitance between the pixel and the source wiring is repressed so that power consumption of the liquid crystal display panel can be reduced.
In a liquid crystal display panel of FFS mode, a pixel electrode and a common electrode are formed on different layers. For this reason, at least two dry etching steps are necessary for forming a first aperture (contact hole) that connects the common electrode and a wiring (common wiring) for supplying an electric potential to the common electrode, and a second aperture that connects the pixel electrode and a drain electrode of TFT for supplying a display signal to the pixel electrode.
Further, prior to the step of forming the second aperture, when the planarizing film on the drain electrode of TFT is removed in the step of forming the first aperture, the surface of the drain electrode is damaged twice by dry etching for forming the first aperture and dry etching for forming the second aperture. This occasionally causes an increase in contact resistance between the pixel electrode and the drain electrode. On the other hand, when the first aperture and the second aperture are simultaneously formed, one more aperture should be formed to connect the common electrode with the common wiring, and thus an area ratio of contact holes within a pixel region increases.
Further, when a planarizing film (organic planarizing film) whose material is organic resin is used, the organic planarizing film remains in a region other than the apertures at terminal portions. For this reason, a new countermeasure against weakening of an adhesion at packaging time is necessary.


A signal coder is disclosed with improved compression of pictorial data that has been decomposed into plural subbands through a two-dimensional quadrature-mirror decomposition (102). In each of the higher frequency bands, the decomposed samples are quantized and then partitioned (106, 110, 114), in two dimensions, into blocks. The blocks in each band are scanned (107, 111, 115) in a way that exploits the characteristics of the band so as to increase the average length of the runs of zero and nonzero quantized samples. The bands containing horizontal, vertical and diagonal edge information are scanned with a horizontal, vertical, and diagonal zig-zag pattern, respectively. These scanned bands are entropy coded (108, 112, 116) using run-length coding to code the runs of either zero band or nonzero quantized samples.

This invention relates to the compression of pictorial data such as video and still image data, and more specifically to the compression coding of the higher frequency subbands in a system which decomposes, in two dimensions, a still image or video signal.
The principle of subband coding is based on the decomposition of an input still image/video frame, into a subpicture/subframe, where each represents a region in the two-dimensional frequency spectrum of the image/video frame. The main property of subband decomposition is the ability to reshape the noise in the frequency spectrum by taking into consideration human visual perception. The lowest frequency band contains the general brightness areas of the picture whereas the edge information falls within the higher frequency bands. It is, however, a characteristic of the eye (spatial masking) that it is unable to perceive errors in the vicinity of large changes in the brightness. To exploit this important visual property and achieve greater compression, it is desirable to encode the high frequency bands with lower accuracy. In other words, coding efficiency depends heavily on how these higher frequency bands are coded. As far as the lowest band is concerned, since this band (in terms of the number of samples relative to the original) is a "miniature" version of the original image/video frame, there is little that can be done except to employ some conventional coding methods such as differential pulse code modulation (DPCM), transform coding, or hybrid coding, etc.
Two-dimensional quadrature mirror filtering (QMF) of image and video signals has been studied extensively in the prior art. The application of QMF to image coding has been considered by J. W. Woods and S. O'Neal in "Sub-band Coding of Images," Proc. ICASP 86, April 1986, pp. 1005-1008 and in a similarly titled article by the same authors in IEEE Trans. ASSP, Vol. 34, October 1986, pp. 1278-1288. It has also been investigated by the inventor herein and A. Tabatabai in several articles such as "Sub-band Coding of Digital Images Using Two-Dimensional Quadrature Mirror Filtering," Proc. SPIE, Vol 707, September 1986, pp. 51-61; in "Applications of Quadrature Mirror Filtering to the Coding of Monochrome and Color Images," proc. ICASP'87, Vol. 4, pp. 2384-2387; and in "Subband Coding of Monochrome and Color Images," IEEE Trans. on Circuits and Systems, Vol. 35, February 1988, pp. 207-214. In the Woods and O'Neal approach, individual bands are coded using adaptive DPCM, whereas in the approach described by the inventor herein and A. Tabatabai, except for the lowest frequency band, all other bands are coded using a combination of PCM quantization and run-length coding for the transmission of the location of nonzero PCM values. Subband coding of video signals has also been considered in the inventor herein in U.S. Pat. No. 4,969,010 issued Nov. 6, 1990. As described in that patent, differential pel values are decomposed using separable two-dimensional quadrature mirror filtering. Each subband is quantized separately and coded by entropy coders, which code the quantized values by variable word-length coding the nonzero quantized values and transmitting that information with the corresponding run-length coded positional information.
In the prior art schemes described in the aforenoted articles relating to image compression by the inventor herein and A. Tabatabai, and in the aforenoted patent relating to compression of a video signal, each of the high frequency decomposed bands are quantized using individual uniform quantizers having a center dead-zone and a step-size that may be tailored to the characteristics of the particular band. The function of the quantizer dead-zone is to eliminate the low level noise which would consequently reduce the number of nonzero values. As a result, the higher band images and video signals contain only a limited number of nonzero pels, which correspond to the contour points in the still image or video frame. In order to achieve better compression, only the nonzero quantized values with their corresponding positional information need be transmitted. In particular, and as noted above, the positional information is run-length coded by considering each scan line as a sequence of black and white runs, wherein the black run corresponds to zeros and the white run to nonzero values. In these prior art schemes, a significant number of overall bits go toward the run-length coded positional information.
An object of the present invention is to improve the coding performance by increasing the efficiency in which the positional information is coded for the higher frequency bands of a two-dimensional QMF decomposed pictorial data derived from a still image or video signal.
An additional object of the present invention is to exploit the two-dimensional spatial dependencies in an image or video frame in the coding of the positional information.
A further object of the present invention is to devise a two-dimensional run-length coding strategy which provides a signal with long bit runs.

Two-dimensional block scanning for subband image and video coding


A golf club head comprises a face portion improved in the durability by increasing the strength of the toe-side upper region of the face portion. The face portion is formed from a unidirectionally rolled plate of a titanium alloy having alpha phase, and at least in the toe-side upper region, the titanium alloy has alpha phase crystals of a hexagonal closely packed structure whose hexagonal symmetry axis (a) is oriented in the direction of a line (k) drawn between the sweet spot (SS) and the toe end point (TP).

The present invention relates to a golf club head, more particularly to a structure of the face portion capable of improving the durability.
In U.S. Pat. No. 6,929,566, there is disclosed a wood-type hollow metal golf club head whose face portion is formed from an alpha+beta titanium alloy Ti-6Al-4V. The face portion is decreased in the thickness to provide so called trampoline effect at impact which increases the coefficient of restitution to increase the traveling distance of the struck ball. Although the face portion as a whole is decreased in the thickness, the central region around the sweet spot is relatively thick in order to maintain the durability of the face portion.
In spite of such relatively thick central region, there is a request for further increased durability from average golfers.
In Japanese patent application publication No. 2002-165906, there is disclosed a wood-type hollow metal golf club head whose face portion is formed from a metal plate rolled in two or more different directions. This prior art teaches that if the rolled direction is one direction, the rolled plate is decreased in the resistance to bending deformation in a specific direction, and that when the rolled direction is aligned with the heel-and-toe direction of the head, the face portion is decreased in the durability. Thus, this prior art proposed to use a metal plate rolled in two or more directions and thus having less anisotropy, and also teaches that the durability of the face portion can be improved and yet it becomes not necessary to concern the orientation of the metal plate. Further, it is suggested that the metal plate is preferably formed from a beta titanium alloy by cold rolling.
In order to improve the durability of the face portion, the present inventor investigated ball hitting positions when the average golfers made miss shots. As a result, it was found that, as shown in FIG. 2 in which the ball hitting positions are mapped excluding those in the sweet area X, there is a tendency that the positions concentrate in a region At on the upper side of the horizontal line HL passing the sweet spot SS and on the toe-side of the vertical line VL passing the sweet spot SS. In particular, the positions concentrate in a region Y around the straight line K drawn between the sweet spot SS and the toe end point TP or the farthest point from the sweet spot SS. Accordingly, it is considered that the stress and strain at impact concentrate in this toe-side upper region At.
If this toe-side upper region At is partially increased in the thickness, the durability may be improved, but the trampoline effect will be biased to deteriorate the directionality of the trajectory of the ball. If the thickness of the face portion is increased in its entirety, the durability will be increased, but this defeats the original purpose.


A mobile communication terminal and a method for calculating a media play time of media file on the mobile communication terminal are disclosed. In one example embodiment, a mobile communication terminal includes a communication unit, a controller, and a display. The communication unit is capable of downloading a media file from a media server. The controller is capable of calculating a first data size on the basis of information extracted from the media file. The controller is also capable of calculating a media play time on the basis of the first data size and a second data size of the media file. The display is capable of displaying the media play time.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a mobile communication terminal. More specifically, embodiments of the invention relate to systems and methods for calculating a media play time for a media file on a mobile communication terminal.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
A progressive download service is a service that is capable of downloading a multimedia file, such as a video and audio file, and that simultaneously presents the downloaded multimedia file to an end user.
There are a variety of mobile communication terminal solutions for supporting this type of service. For example, a Packet Video (PV) Solution is manufactured by the Packet Video Company, located in San Diego, Calif. Also, a QTV™ Solution is manufactured by Qualcomm Corporation headquartered in San Diego, Calif.
The PV Solution product downloads a file having a "pvx" extension from a content server, calculates what percentage of a total data size is represented by the downloaded data size, and provides a user with the calculated result. The PV Solution is designed, therefore, to provide the user with information based primarily on the downloaded data size. However, although a specific media file has a specific data capacity, different play times of the specific media file may occur due to varying image quality. As a result, the PV Solution has difficulty in identifying a correct media play time using only the data size of the media file.
Similarly, the QTV™ Solution product implements a specific algorithm designed to determine whether data to be presented is downloaded on the basis of a location of currently-presented data. Therefore, the QTV™ Solution has difficulty in identifying a correct play time of the currently-downloaded data for similar reasons as in the above-mentioned PV Solution.

Mobile communication terminal and method for calculating media play time of the mobile communication terminal


Described herein are systems, methods, and computer readable media for capturing sensor data relating to an enclosed compartment of a vehicle (e.g., a cargo area of the vehicle) via one or more vehicle sensors; analyzing the sensor data to determine whether it is indicative of a living being present in the enclosed compartment; performing an object detection analysis on at least a portion of the sensor data to determine a type of living being detected; and initiating one or more automated vehicle response measures based on the type of living being.

Autonomous vehicles, also referred to as driverless vehicles, are vehicles capable of making autonomous driving decisions without requiring human action or input. In general, autonomous vehicles include a variety of types of sensors that provide sensor data that is analyzed/processed/manipulated by software/firmware/hardware onboard the vehicle or executing in a remote environment to make autonomous driving decisions such as when and the extent to which to accelerate or decelerate; when and the extent to which to turn the vehicle (e.g., turning radius); when to brake the vehicle, the amount of braking force to apply, and what braking distance to maintain; and so forth.
In scenarios in which an autonomous vehicle is operating in the absence of a human driver capable of manually overriding operational control of the vehicle, various technical problems may arise relating to tasks or observations that would typically be performed by the human driver such as observations relating to in-vehicle conditions or characteristics. Discussed herein are technical solutions that address these and other technical drawbacks associated with autonomous vehicle operation.

Automated responses to vehicle trunk entrapment


A collating apparatus and method to merge different types of document sets into a single collated packet prior to a mail processing insertion operation. The collating device utilizes a synchronous conveyor pathway for conveying different types of document sets serially down the pathway and merging them into a single collated packet. The document sets are delivered downstream with a combination of pivotable and fixed position pusher members and are combined into a single collated packet in any desired order.

Various mailing systems and methods have been employed in the past for receiving materials from a number of sources and collating the materials, or combining them into a single packet of material. The single packet is then inserted into an envelope at an envelope inserting station located further downstream.
In known mailing systems, the prime document is typically generated or fed and additional materials are added to the prime document as it traverses the mail processing system. Typically, the packet is comprised of a single stack of documents, wherein the order of the documents in the stack is predetermined by the process flow of the mail processing system.
Known track systems feed documents from a series of feed stations in a synchronized manner so that a document from each feed station is placed on top of a document from a preceding, up-stream feed station. A number of documents are collated together to form a packet and at the end of the track the packet is inserted into an envelope. Usually the packet of documents comprises one prime document, such as an address bearing document, and several attachments, such as leaflets or advertisements. The prime document includes the mailing address to which the package (e.g. envelope with packet inserted therein) is to be delivered and the collating must be done so that when the documents are placed in a window envelope, the address will be visible through the window. This process can be done by first feeding the prime document onto the track conveyor, face downwards, and adding the subsequent documents on top to form a packet which is then inserted into the envelope with the prime document facing downwards.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,753,429 discloses a synchronous system that uses two fixed pins of different heights and provides a method of collation for two subsets of documents into a single packet. With this system, the document which is to be placed on top of the packet must be transported by the first (shorter) set of pins in the synchronous transport.
In U.S. Pat. No. 6,915,184, a document collator includes a conveyor system, a prime document feeder station and a plurality of enclosure document feeder stations arranged at spaced locations along the conveyor system. The collator is a non-synchronous system that allows the order of a collation to be varied within a mail processing system by sequencing the order in which the documents are fed.
Accordingly, there remains room for improvement in the art for a synchronous collating apparatus and method for merging a plurality of document sets into a single set, in any desired order.

Apparatus for assembly of document sets into a single collated packet


A test and measurement system including a device under test, an accessory, a controller and a test and measurement instrument. The accessory is connected to the device under test and includes a signal input to receive an input signal from the device under test, a compensation unit configured to apply a compensation signal internal to the accessory, and a signal output to output an output signal read from the device under test. The controller is connected to the accessory and includes one or more receivers to receive the input signal and the output signal from the accessory, and a microcontroller or correction circuit configured to compare the input signal and the output signal and in response to the comparison provide a compensation signal to the compensation unit.

Traditionally, compensating an accessory, such as a probe, in a test and measurement system involves removing the accessory from a device under test (DUT) and connecting the accessory to a calibrating or compensation stimulus. Conventionally, the test and measurement system includes a host, a controller, and a device under test. An accessory is attached to the device under test and measures a signal from the device under test and sends it back to the host. However, to compensate the accessory, the accessory has to be removed from the device under test and attached to a calibration/compensation stimulus, typically located on the host. Connecting the probe/accessory to the calibration or compensation stimulus may involve the use of special adapters and fixtures to interface between probe/accessory and the stimulus signal.
Using optical sensors to accurately measure down to DC has not had much success in the past. Optical sensors are susceptible to changes in the surrounding environment. Temperature, mechanical stress, and the signals applied to the optical sensor can cause the DC/LF offset component of the sensor to shift dramatically making it unusable or result in significant measurement errors.
What is needed is the ability to dynamically calibrate or compensate an accessory in real time, while it is operating, to eliminate the need to manually connect the accessory to a calibration or compensation signal and also the need to remove the accessory from a DUT to calibrate or compensate the probe. This dynamic compensation should be transparent to the user.


A flexible spiral antenna or flexible antenna array element includes a flexible dielectric medium, a spiral element including a first arm and a second arm. The spiral element includes a liquid metal material and is disposed in the dielectric medium. The flexible antenna element also includes a first flexible meta surface layer disposed in the dielectric medium. The antenna can be or be part of an ultra-wide frequency band antenna or antenna array.

Embodiments of inventive concepts disclosed herein relate generally to antennas including but not limited to a spiral antennas and arrays of spiral antenna elements.
Modern sensing and communication systems may utilize various types of antennas to provide a variety of functions, such as communication, radar, and sensing functions. Antenna arrays are used to perform functions including but not limited to: communication (data and voice) sensing, intelligence gathering (e.g., signals intelligence, or SIGINT), direction finding (DF), electronic countermeasure (ECM) or self-protection (ESP), electronic support (ES), electronic attack (EA) and the like. An antenna array that is low cost, tunable, conformal, low profile, lightweight and are optimized for size, weight, power, and cost (SWAP-C) has advantages for various platforms. Representative platforms include but are not limited to: man pack and ground vehicle, lower tier, small form factor unmanned air vehicles (UAV), and other types of aircraft.


Coin processing apparatuses, such as consumer or commercial coin processing apparatuses for counting and/or sorting coins, are described herein. The apparatuses can include coin conveyors having a plurality of individual coin carriers linked together to form a chain. In some embodiments, each of the coin carriers includes a corresponding pocket that is configured to receive a coin from a coin hopper as the carrier chain passes through the coin hopper during its cycle. The coin carriers can carry the coins past one or more sensors for identification or “discrimination” of the coin denomination. After discrimination, the coins can be knocked from the carrier pockets and into, e.g., a selected coin chute for transfer to a collection bin.

Various types of coin counting machines are known. Some coin counting machines (e.g., vending machines, gaming devices such as slot machines, and the like) are configured to receive one coin at a time through a slot. These machines are relatively simple and typically designed for relatively low throughput and little, if any, coin cleaning. Such machines, however, are usually ill-suited for counting large quantities of consumer coins received all at once (such as a large quantity of coins poured into a machine from, e.g., a coin jar).
Machines for counting relatively large quantities of consumer coins include those disclosed in, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,620,079, 7,028,827, 7,520,374, and 7,865,432, each of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. Some of these machines count consumer coins and dispense redeemable cash vouchers, while others may offer other types of products and services such as prepaid gift cards, prepaid phone cards, and/or "e-certificates." The vouchers can be redeemed for cash and/or merchandise at a point of sale (POS) in a retail establishment. The e-certificates can enable the holder to purchase items online by inputting a code from the e-certificate when making the purchase. Prepaid gift cards can be used to make POS purchases by swiping the card through a conventional card reader, and prepaid phone cards can be used for making cell phone calls. These coin counting machines typically include sensors and similar devices for discriminating coin denominations, discriminating coins from non-coin objects, and/or discriminating coins of one country from those of another.
Various types of sensors and other devices for identifying and/or discriminating coins in coin-counting machines are known. Such devices include those disclosed in, for example, the following: U.S. Pat. No. 6,196,371 and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/269,121, filed Oct. 7, 2011, and entitled "AUTO-CALIBRATION SYSTEMS FOR COIN COUNTING DEVICES"; Ser. No. 13/489,043, filed Jun. 5, 2012, and entitled "OPTICAL COIN DISCRIMINATION SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR USE WITH CONSUMER-OPERATED KIOSKS AND THE LIKE"; Ser. No. 13/612,429, filed Sep. 12, 2012, and entitled "AUTO-POSITIONING SENSORS FOR COIN COUNTING DEVICES"; and Ser. No. 13/691,047, filed Nov. 30, 2012, and entitled "DIFFERENTIAL DETECTION COIN DISCRIMINATION SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR USE WITH CONSUMER-OPERATED KIOSKS AND THE LIKE"; Ser. No. 13/778,461, filed Feb. 27, 2013, and entitled "COIN COUNTING AND SORTING MACHINES"; and Ser. No. 13/793,827, filed Mar. 11, 2013, and entitled "DISCRIMINANT VERIFICATION SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR USE IN COIN DISCRIMINATION," each of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
Speed and accuracy are important considerations in coin counting machines. Consumers are less inclined to use a coin counting machine if they have to wait an appreciable amount of time to have their coins counted. Coin counting machines should also be accurate and easy to use to encourage use. Accordingly, it is generally advantageous to provide coin counting machines that can count large quantities of coins relatively easily and quickly.

Coin counting and/or sorting machines and associated systems and methods


A diesel engine system includes an engine, an exhaust system connected to the engine, and a water-fuel separator. The exhaust system has an aftertreatment device, an exhaust pipe upstream of the aftertreatment device, and a fuel injector connected to the exhaust pipe. The water-fuel separator has a filter configured to separate water from fuel and a reservoir configured to store the separated water. The reservoir is in fluid communication with the fuel injector.

Diesel engine systems may include a water-fuel separator that removes water from the fuel before delivery to the engine. A typical water-fuel separator includes a filter configured to separate water from fuel and a reservoir for storing the separated water. The reservoir typically includes a drain plug that is removable to drain the separated water. Failure to regularly drain the reservoir may result in water reaching the engine.

Automatic draining of water-fuel separator via downstream injection system


An embodiment of the invention is directed to a method for accessing configuration registers. An indication that an attempt has been made to access a first register is received. This first register reflects an index variable that points to a configuration register. Next, an indication that an attempt has been made to access a second register is received. This second register reflects part of the contents of a configuration register to which the index variable points. Next, without waiting for another attempt to access the first register, the index variable is changed to point to another configuration register. Other embodiments are also described and claimed.

An embodiment of the invention described below is related to accessing software-accessible registers that are used to configure the functions of a computer system, including one or more of its integrated circuit components.
A computer system is composed of several primary integrated circuit (IC) components, typically including a processor such as a PENTIUM processor by Intel Corp., Santa Clara, Calif., and a main memory. In many cases, a system interface component (also referred to as a system chipset) is also used, to allow the processor to communicate with a broad range of other IC components and peripherals, such as a graphics subsystem, a network interface controller, and a mass storage device. Each IC component is designed to implement certain functions that work together to help the system achieve its overall purpose.
Of the primary IC components described above, the system chipset may have the most number of different functions to support. That is because the system chipset in many cases acts as a communications bridge between not only the processor and other IC components, but sometimes also between the peripherals and main memory. To use IC manufacturing resources more efficiently, a single system chipset is often designed to be flexible enough to support different types of processor, memory, and peripheral combinations. This flexibility is achieved by designing the system chipset with configurable, internal hardware whose configuration and functionality is set according to the contents of a number of internal, software-accessible registers (also referred to as configuration registers). After applying power to a given computer system, the configuration registers in the system chipset (and also those in other primary IC components such as the processor and memory) are written with their desired values, typically under the control of an operating system program.
In the case of the 82443BX host bridge/controller chipset by Intel Corp., the programming of a configuration register (also referred to as programming in configuration space) may be as follows. There are two control registers that are accessible from the host/central processing unit (CPU) I/O address space, namely a Configuration Address Register (CONFADD, also referred to by its hex address CF8) and a Configuration Data Register (CONFDATA, also referred to by its hex address CFC). Access to any of the configuration registers is by first accessing the CONFADD and identifying the selected register (by appropriately writing to the CONFADD to "point" to the selected register). Next, an access is performed to the CONFDATA which contains the current value of the selected register, to write a new value. The selected register will then be updated accordingly. To program another configuration register, the same dual access operation is repeated to first point to the next register (by writing to the CONFADD), and then request an update to it (by writing the new value to the CONFDATA).

Accessing configuration registers by automatically changing an index


A bracket for mounting a fish finder display head to a conventional multi-gallon plastic pail is described with reference to two alternative embodiments. In the first embodiment, the bracket comprises spaced apart arms to provide a gimbal style mount and the arms have inboard, upwardly extending hooks to fit over the peripheral edge of the pail. In the second embodiment, the arms are combined with a stabilizer member and may be attached directly to the outside surface of the pail by means of threaded fasteners or Bungee cords or both. In both embodiments, a tip-over guard is provided in the form of a generally U-shaped of aluminum stock that is attached such as by rivets to the distal (outside) ends of the bracket arms. Means are provided for wrapping a power cable between the arms.

It is common for fishermen, particularly those who fish through the ice covering frozen lakes, to carry gear to the fishing site and/or to carry their "catch" home from the fishing Site in a multi-gallon bucket or pail. It is also common for such fishermen to employ a sonic type fish finder, commonly known as a "flasher", to assist in locating fish at the fishing site. One prior art device shows a device for mounting the fish finder to a bucket in such a way as the display head is disposed over the open top of the bucket. This mounting arrangement interferes with the normal uses of the bucket, particularly the use of the bucket as a seat which is achieved by plug-mounting a cushioned insert into the top of the bucket.


A flexible cut resistant hydrocarbon flash fire resistant latex glove article is provided, having a flame resistant cut resistant liner and a flame resistant oil resistant polychloroprene polymeric latex coating. The knitted cut resistant fire resistant liner has is made from a composite yarn having a fiberglass core and optionally including a steel fiber. The core has a cushioning core sheath formed by ring-spinning of microdenier staple cut resistant fibers of, for example, para-aramid. and Staple modacrylic fibers can be included with the staple para-aramid fibers. Two wraps of continuous yarns of polyester, para-aramid, or both at a wrap density such that the wraps do not cover the core sheath in its entirety. In the absence of steel fiber, the cut resistant hydrocarbon flash fire resistant glove exhibits good electrical insulation characteristics even with sweat generated from hand preventing short circuit of electrical circuits. The glove is flexible due to the low denier of the composite yarn and is highly breathable especially when only the palm and fingers are coated with polychloroprene polymer.

Gloves are commonly used to protect hands in an industrial or household environment. These commonly used household or industrial protective gloves do not resist oil and are not commonly cut resistant. The gloves that may be used in tar sand or oil shale environments need to meet specific codes that require the gloves to be fire resistant. As an example, the national standard of Canada code CAN/CGSB-155.20-2000 details tests for workwear for protection against hydrocarbon flash fire. The code has three classes, type 1 covering single layer garments, type 2 covering multilayer garment and type 3 covering disposable garment.
Certain cut resistant fibers, knitted liners, coated gloves are known in the prior art. Fibers including steel fibers, fiberglass, para-aramid fibers (Kevlar®) and extended chain gel spun polyethylene fibers (Spectra®) are well known in the art. Of these fibers, generally only steel fibers, glass fibers and para-aramid fibers meet the Canada code CAN/CGSB-155.20-2000. Extended chain polyethylene Spectra® is not generally considered flame retardant due to the ability of a polyethylene fiber to catch fire. Non-cut resistant fibers that are typically used to wrap cut resistant fibers as disclosed in the prior art also have problems in meeting the Canada code CAN/CGSB-155.20-2000 fire resistance code. Polycotton and nylon 6 wrap fibers readily catch fire when exposed to a flame. However, polyester fibers char readily and prevent the propagation of the flame front. Nylon 6,6 also self-extinguishes a flame readily.
Generally, cut resistant liners are fabricated from cut resistant yarns. Cut resistant liners of the prior art typically contain steel fibers, glass fibers, para-aramid fibers (Kevlar®), gel spun extended chain polyethylene fibers (Spectra®). These yarns are constructed from one or more of these cut resistant fibers and may be twisted or wrapped with cotton, polyester, nylon and the like. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,777,789 and 4,838,017 to Kolmes et al. disclose cut resistant yarns with a wire core wrapped with nylon, aramid, extended chain polyethylene, cotton, wool, fiberglass, polyester, polycotton, asbestos. The wrappings of cotton, nylon, polyethylene will catch fire when exposed to flame. Further, these wrapped, cut resistant yarns with a wire in the core are subject to shorting electrical circuits. U.S. Pat. No. 4,651,514 to Collett discloses electrically nonconductive, abrasion and cut resistant yarns. This electrically non-conductive, cut and abrasion resistant yarn is for use in the manufacture of protective coverings and includes a core of monofilament nylon having a diameter in the range of about 0.004 to 0.020 inches, a first wrap on the core of at least one strand of aramid fiber and a second wrap on the core of texturized nylon of two to eight ply construction. Since the yarn contains nylon monofilament yarn and textured nylon, it is not hydrocarbon flash fire resistant. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,936,085 and 5,177,948 to Kolmes et al. disclose non metallic cut resistant yarns with a core that contains a fiberglass strand that is tightly wrapped with relatively large denier fiber strands in two layers wound in opposite directions so as to entirely cover the fiberglass containing inner core. As indicated in U.S. Pat. No. 5,177,948 the spacing between fibers in the wrapped fibers is small due to the large number of turns of wrappings used which is in the range of 8 to 12 turns per inch. The denier of the composite yarn produced is about 3500 in U.S. Pat. No. 4,936,085 and 2000 to 5000 in U.S. Pat. No. 5,177,948. Such yarns cannot be tightly knitted and produce thick knitted liners. If latex dipped gloves were made therefrom, they would not flexible. Use of polycotton nylon wrapping disqualifies these fibers for hydrocarbon flash fire applications. U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,628,172; 5,644,907 and 5,655,358; to Kolmes et al. disclose cut resistant yarns that are wrapped. These composite yarns contain extended chain polyethylene and polycotton, both components capable of being ignited and therefore are unsuited for hydrocarbon flash fire application. Some of the yarns contain metallic cut resistant fibers, which can short circuit electrical circuits. U.S. Pat. No. 5,845,476 to Kolmes discloses composite yarn with fiberglass core. The core of the composite yarn comprises one or more fiberglass strands that are wrapped with a sheath strand and a cover strand at a rate of 8 to 12 turns wound in opposite directions. The sheath strand and cover strand are made from extended chain polyethylene, aramid, nylon, and polyester, and due to the tight wrappings of a large denier sheath and cover strands the overall diameter of the composite yarn is large with a denier in the range of 1800 to 5000 even though the untwisted parallel fiberglass strands only have a total denier of 200 to 600, which means that the sheath strand and cover strand that completely cover the fiberglass strands and substantially add to the diameter of the composite yarn. This composite yarn is said to go through knitting machine needles without breakage of the fiberglass core, but due to its large denier only thick knitted liners with low stitch density per inch can be produced. When this knitted liner is dipped in latex, it only produces thick gloves with limited flexibility. U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,341,483 and 6,349,531 to Kolmes et al. disclose a multi-component yarn that has a non-metallic cut resistant core which may be extended chain polyethylene or aramid fiber air interlaced with polyester, nylon, acetate, rayon, and cotton. Fiberglass may be used as a third covering also air interlaced. Use of flammable fiber components such as polyethylene, nylon, acetate, rayon and cotton disqualifies this multi-component yarn as a hydrocarbon flash fire resistant garment. Wire-containing cut resistant fibers are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,363,703; 6,381,940; and 6,467,251, U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2005/0086924 to Kolmes et al. disclose use of a wire in the cut resistant fiber and are therefore unsuited for electrical short prevention applications. In addition, these fibers contain flammable fibers including polyethylene fibers, cotton, nylon and the like and will not meet the hydrocarbon flash fire resistance requirements. U.S. Pat. No. 6,701,703 to Patrick discloses high performance yarns and method of manufacture. The yarn has a core with glass fibers that are stress-cracked and a metal fiber which is wrapped by a sheath of aramids, acrylics, melamines, modacrylics, polyesters, polypropylenes, nylons, cellulosics, silica, graphites, carbon fibers, high density polyethylene, polyamides, metals, polybenzimidazole, co-polymers. The sheath is not hydrocarbon flash fire resistant. U.S. Pat. No. 7,111,445 to Threlkeld et al. discloses a fire-resistant sewing yarn and the products made therefrom. This sewing yarn has a central core of elongatable fiber which is nylon or polyester, wrapped by fiberglass and the outer cover is nylon and polyester. Wrapping with fiberglass requires the fiberglass denier to be very small and therefore does not have cut resistance. The sewing yarn is intended to hold together after exposure to 1000° C. after a fire, when everything bums out except fiberglass portion of the sewing yarn. U.S. Pat. No. 7,143,570 to Piat discloses thread having properties of resistance to cutting. This thread consists of a core thread sheathed with a continuous filament. The core is a plurality of glass filaments and is wrapped by a continuous filament selected from polyamide, polyester, acrylic, cotton, polyethylene, polypropylene, and meta- and para-aramid. Since non-flame resistant fibers are possible in this thread, the thread may not be hydrocarbon flash fire resistant. Moreover, use of filaments of glass fibers does not provide high level of cut resistance. In U.S. Pat. No. 7,469,526 (Patrick), a heat and flame resistant sewing thread uses a core of glass filaments having an elongation of less than about four percent having a sheath of microdenier aramid fibers ring spun about the core. The ring spinning introduces twists in the fiberglass core while the ring spun aramid fibers have an opposite twist. When tension is applied to this composite thread, it elongates to about four percent due to the relaxation of twists in the fiberglass core and the ring spun aramid fibers. This composite is for use as a sewing thread and is unsuitable for use in a knitting machine since the ring spun aramid fibers surrounding the core could be readily stripped off.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,070,540 to Betcher discloses a protective garment. The protective garment has a knitted liner with stainless steel wires together with a synthetic non-aramid nylon fiber wrapped with two wraps of polyester fiber. The knitted liner is coated with a liquid impervious polymeric coating selected from natural latex, polyacrylates e.g. polyethyl acrylate, polybutadiene, styrene-butadiene copolymer, acrylonitrile-butadiene rubber and neoprene (polychloroprene). Since the core has a nylon fiber, and the polymeric coating may have non flame resistant polymers, the protective garment may not meet hydrocarbon flash fire resistance requirements. In addition, the presence of steel fiber will lead to short circuit of electrical circuits.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,822,791 to Baris discloses protective material and method. The base layer of the protective article has cut resistant fibers, which is joined to an intermediate layer of natural fibers joined in one or more locations. The intermediate layer is covered with a liquid impervious elastomeric layer, which never contacts the cut resistant base layer. The base layer may be a knitted liner with steel fiber or cut resistant liquid crystal polymer fiber wrapped with polyamide or polyester fiber. The elastomeric layer is indicated to be acrylonitrile rubber, acrylonitrile butadiene rubber, nitrile butadiene rubber, nitrile silicone rubber, polychloroprene, polyvinyl chloride, polyisoprene, Nomex or Viton. Since the cut resistant knitted liner has polyamide (nylon 6) and the intermediate layer has natural fibers, the protective material does not resist hydrocarbon flash flame.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,021,524 to Wu et al. discloses cut resistant polymeric films. The polymeric matrix of the film comprises a plurality of cut resistant fibers in a middle layer and is indicated to be usable for medical or industrial gloves. The middle layer is not a knitted liner and contains a three-dimensional network of chopped fibers of glass fibers, steel fibers, aramid fibers and particle filled fibers. The polymeric matrix is made from natural rubber, polychloroprene, styrene-isoprene-styrene block copolymers, styrene-ethylene butylene-styrene block copolymers, styrene-butadiene-styrene block copolymers, polyurethane, polyurea, nitrile rubber, vinyl chloride based polymers. Not all of these chopped fibers or polymeric matrices disclosed will pass the hydrocarbon flash fire resistance test. U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,075,081; 6,347,409; and 6,352,666 to Nile et al. disclose manufacture of rubber articles. Polychloroprene latex rubber articles made from a polychloroprene aqueous latex and being coated with a polypropylene wax emulsion are provided. The rubber article does not have a knitted liner and therefore is not a cut resistant latex article.
When the latex layer used is made porous in order to provide breathability, the resulting thickness of the porous latex layer is generally greater resulting in an awkward feeling glove with limited touch sensitivity. For equivalent wear resistance, the foam layer must be thicker than a non-foamed layer. A number of prior art patents address gloves and their forming methods using a relatively thick knitted liner and a thick coating of latex layers. The combination of a thick knitted liner and a thick foamed latex layer do not result in a small overall glove thickness and the glove product does not provide flexibility and easy mobility of fingers and hand.
The knitting technology of V flat bed machines have improved significantly in the past few years. Knitting needles in the knitting machine were essentially a hook with a swingable latch that captures a yarn that is being knitted, but this knitted loop cannot be held or transferred back or combined with a previously knitted loop. U.S. Pat. No. 6,915,667 to Morita, et al. discloses a composite needle of knitting machine. This composite needle comprises a needle body having at a tip end a hook, a slider formed by superposing two blades, wherein the composite needle of the knitting machine is formed such that a blade groove provided in the needle body supports the blades of the slider when the needle body and the slider can separately slide in forward and backward directions. This slider acts as a latch securing the yarn being knitted and can transfer the yarn loop for pushing the loop backwards, holding the loop or transfer back to a previously knitted loop providing automatic knitting of complex patterns as detailed in the Shima Seiki web page http://www.shinaseiki.co.jp/product_knite/knite.html. This type of composite needle is available in Shima Seiki commercially available whole garment knitting machines SWG021 and SWG-FIRST machines. The SWG-FIRST machines provides gaugeless knitting, meaning that the number of needles may be changed on the fly under computer control seamlessly by using split stitch technology, as detailed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,207,194 to Miyamoto entitled "Weft knitting machine with movable yarn guide member." These machines are ideally suited for changing the reinforcement geometry of the knitted location at specific locations of the liner. A knitting needle size needs to be selected according to the denier size of a yarn and correspondingly, a knit pattern is generated in a standard knitting machine. For example, a 10 gauge needle produces typically 10 knits per inch.
Accordingly, there is a need in the art for composite yarn that has fire resistant materials that has a relatively low denier and is capable of being used in a commercial knitting machine without damage to a fiberglass containing core of the composite yarn even when the composite yarn is passed through knitting machine needles at high speed. The smaller overall diameter of the composite yarn will result in flexible cut resistant knitted liner. Accordingly, there is a need in the art for a flexible glove that has hydrocarbon flash fire resistant yarns in a cut resistant liner and is coated with a hydrocarbon flash fire resistant liquid impervious polymer for use in petroleum oil-environment. The cut resistance is required since handling sharp objects with a slippery oil film on a glove results in tool slippage and can result in cuts and bruises. The oil contamination contaminates the wound and prevents rapid healing of the wound. Moreover, the cut resistant liner may not contain steel fibers or electrically conductive material such as carbon fibers especially when electrical circuits are present. These electrically conductive fibers may heat rapidly creating a burn and may even initiate a fire and at the same time short circuit electrical components.

Cut, oil and flame resistant glove and a method therefor


A method of testing ADSL (asymmetric digital subscriber line) circuits is provided. A test instrument is connected to the customer premises end of the ADSL circuit, consisting of an ATU-C modem on the central office end and an ATU-R modem on the customer premises end, with a twisted-pair telephone line connecting the ATU-R and ATU-C modems. A remote test instrument is coupled to the ATU-C modem, typically on a semi-permanent basis in the central office, dedicated for testing multiple ADSL circuits by communicating with multiple ATU-C modems via a switch or router. The test instrument and remote test instrument communicate with each other in full duplex via the ADSL circuit using Internet Protocol (IP) data packets. The test instrument generates the upstream data traffic, controls the test sequence, and controls and coordinates the throughput test with the remote test instrument. The remote test instrument sends the downstream data traffic and returns the results of the throughput test in the form of frame counts from its end of the ADSL circuit back to the test instrument at end of the test sequence. The results from the upstream and downstream throughput tests are then visually displayed to the user of the test instrument.

This invention relates generally to test instruments for testing communication networks and in particular to a test instrument and method for testing asymmetric digital subscriber lines (ADSL).
ADSL is a new modem technology which converts existing twisted-pair telephone lines into access lines for high speed digital communication and multimedia services such as video on demand (VOD). ADSL operates according to a frequency division multiplex (FDM) scheme in which the frequency spectrum between 0 and 4 kiloHertz (kHz) is allocated for POTS (plain old telephone service) and between 4 kHz and 1.1 MegaHertz (MHz) is allocated for data. In this way, the huge installed base of twisted pair copper wire telephone lines may be used to carry both voice and data traffic. By separating the voice and data paths, the telephone switching system is freed up for conventional voice traffic while the data traffic is moved to digital networks, at data rates 50 times higher than the conventional analog modems over POTS circuits. The POTS circuit is uninterrupted even if the data portion of the ADSL circuit fails.
ADSL is defined according to the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) as ANSI Standard T1.413. An ADSL circuit consists of an ADSL modem on each end of the twisted-pair telephone line. At the telephone company central office, the modem is commonly called the ATU-C (ADSL transmission unit--central) while the modem on the customer premise side is the ATU-R (ADSL transmission unit--remote). ADSL provides data rates up to 8 Megabits per second (Mbps) from the central office to the customer (downstream) while providing upstream data rates from the customer premises up to 640 kbps. This asymmetric relationship between downstream and upstream data rates matches the original intent of ADSL to provide high bandwidth multimedia services downstream with more limited bandwidth requirements upstream from the customer premises.
Twisted-pair telephone lines that will be used for ADSL were designed for low frequency analog voice service, commonly known as POTS. For an installed base of telephone lines, there will be substantial variations in the distance from the customer premises to the central office, the diameter of the copper wires, as well as the number of bridge taps and load coils along each telephone line. ADSL commonly employs Discrete Multitone (DMT) line coding which allows the ATU-R and ATU-C modems to dynamically adapt to the line conditions to obtain the maximum throughput through the ADSL circuit. In addition, ADSL modems may employ forward error correction, trellis encoding, echo cancellation, and other techniques to obtain lower error rate communications, particularly for error sensitive applications such as video transmission. Because of its ability to dynamically adapt to the line conditions of the twisted-pair line, an ADSL circuit must be fully evaluated using traffic generation both upstream and downstream to stress the ADSL circuit to obtain throughput measurements as an overall measure of its performance.
Several types of test instruments exist that may be used in ADSL testing, including line qualification testers and personal computers running test software. Line qualification testers are analog instruments that test the physical condition of the twisted pair line, typically providing such time domain reflectometer (TDR) information as well as attenuation versus frequency and d.c. resistance. However, unless there is a problem with the twisted-pair line that prevents the ADSL circuit from operating properly, the installer of the ADSL circuit cares only about the maximum available throughput through the working ADSL circuit, in units of bits per second (bps), that can be obtained which may be compared against a level of service guaranteed to the customer.
In a conventional digital circuit, the upstream and downstream data rates are the same, allowing a digital loopback test to be performed in which traffic is echoed back from the far end of the digital circuit. However, in an ADSL circuit, the upstream and downstream data rates are different, making the digital loopback test unusable. Furthermore, conventional personal computers having a network interface card (NIC) typically lack the ability to generate traffic at a sufficient number of packets per second to create the level of stress required for this throughput measurement, creating the need for specialized traffic generator circuits capable of generating large amounts of packets per second.
The upstream and downstream data paths in the ADSL circuit, although operating according to the frequency division multiplexing scheme, may interact and interfere with each other to reduce the maximum available throughput. The throughput of the ADSL circuit therefore must be measured with traffic generated in both the upstream and downstream paths simultaneously in order to stress the ADSL circuit, therefore requiring two test instruments that are working on each end of the ADSL circuit in tandem.
Therefore, it would be desirable to provide a test instrument capable of testing an ADSL circuit, operating in tandem with a remote test instrument at the opposite end of the ADSL circuit, to provide a measurement of the throughput of the ADSL circuit.

Test instrument for testing asymmetric digital subscriber lines


An electronic typewriter for printing a document having a fixed format with portions thereof containing replaceable character code. The document is stored in an external storage device and read out until a replaceable character code is detected. The replaceable character code is acted upon by replacement with substitute character code or deletion thereof based on instructions communicated to a keyboard. Following input of the instructions, the document is once again read out from the external storage device until the next replaceable character code is detected and acted upon. The sequential reading of the document, detection of and acting upon the detected replaceable character code and automatic reading of the remaining portion of the document until detection of the next replaceable character code, continues until the entire document is read out of the external storage device. The entire document can be printed at one time following the input of all information or can be printed one line at a time following the input of information for that particular line.

This invention relates generally to an electronic typewriter and, more particularly, to an electronic typewriter for printing documents having fixed formats.
Various business documents, such as, but not limited to, business and legal forms have fixed formats. When such documents are prepared using a conventional typewriter they often need to be typed with reference had to a preprinted similarly formatted document. Unfortunately, an entire new document must be prepared even though there may be only a few differences between the preprinted document and the document to be prepared. In the event that the document to be typed is several pages or more in length, the chances of the typist committing a typographical error or of straying from the fixed format increases, resulting in an unacceptable document which may need to be retyped several times before eliminating all typographical errors and conforming to the fixed format.
Preprinted fill-in-forms which include blank areas to be filled in (e.g. name of an individual, corporation, address etc.) require the typist to move the carriage of the typewriter to the location of each blank area, making it difficult to easily edit such documents. These blank areas also can be too large or too small for the information to be typed therein resulting in a document which may be difficult and/or confusing to read.
Documents having fixed formats also can be printed by a word processing system. Word processing systems which include editing functions for fixed format type documents, however, complicate the word processing system and can be difficult to operate. For documents having fixed formats with few areas to be filled in, such word processors are needlessly burdensome to operate.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide an electronic typewriter which allows a typist to prepare a document having a fixed format more easily. The typewriter should not require that a typist determine and move the carriage to the exact position in the document for each blank area to be filled in or involve a system which is otherwise difficult to operate.

Electronic typewriter for printing of documents having a fixed format


A brazing device and method are provided which locally apply a controlled amount of heat to a selected area, within a vacuum. The device brazes two components together with a brazing metal. A susceptor plate is placed in thermal contact with one of the components. A serrated pedestal supports the susceptor plate. When the pedestal and susceptor plate are in place, an electron gun irradiates an electron beam at the susceptor plate such that the susceptor plate is sufficiently heated to transfer heat through the one component and melt the brazing metal.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to devices used in welding and, more particularly, to a device for transferring heat generated by an electron beam to a brazing metal during an election beam welding operation.
2. Related Art
Brazing is a method of joining components together with the use of a melted brazing alloy. The brazing alloy must have a lower melting temperature than any of the components. There are several different methods used to braze components together. One conventional method includes placing the components and the brazing metal in a furnace. However, the furnace method requires the use of enough energy to heat the entire structure, as opposed to just the areas being brazed. Another conventional method includes applying localized heat to the area being brazed by a gas torch or induction heating. This method can only be used with metals which do not produce a surface oxidation layer.
Metals which produce surface oxidation layers, such as Zircaloy and the high melting point refractory metals, require the use of an inert atmosphere or a vacuum to prevent oxidation. In a conventional method, an electron beam weld box is used. The weld box creates a vacuum and the electron beam is used as the localized heat source. With this method, it is difficult to control heating when applying the electron beam directly to the work piece, even if the beam is defocused to reduce the energy density.
Therefore, there exists a need in the art for a brazing device which can locally apply a controlled amount of heat to a selected area within a vacuum or inert environment.

Susceptor heating device for electron beam brazing

The United States of America as represented by the United States Department of Energy


A system and a related method for non-destructive evaluation of the surface characteristics of a magnetic material. The sample is excited by an alternating magnetic field. The field frequency, amplitude and offset are controlled according to a predetermined protocol. The Barkhausen response of the sample is detected for the various fields and offsets and is analyzed. The system produces information relating to the frequency content, the amplitude content, the average or RMS energy content, as well as count rate information, for each of the Barkhausen responses at each of the excitation levels applied during the protocol. That information provides a contiguous body of data, heretofore unavailable, which can be analyzed to deduce information about the surface characteristics of the material at various depths below the surface.

Magnetic inspection techniques provide an interesting alternative to more traditional non-destructive evaluation techniques of ultrasonics, eddy currents and radiography. They are of interest because of their perceived sensitivity to both stress and microstructure of the material. The possibility of usefully employing magnetic property measurements for materials evaluation has been known in principle for many years. However, although it was possible to demonstrate significant changes in the magnetic properties of materials as a result of thermal and mechanical treatment, the changes proved difficult to interpret because of their apparent complexity. For example, a given specimen subjected to the same external field, when also subjected to identical stress cycles, could exhibit changes in magnetization which were opposite in sign. Measurements could thus be made within a few minutes of each other with no apparent change in the external condition, but significantly different measurement results.
The Barkhausen effect is a magnetic effect, and Barkhausen effect evaluation fits within the broader category of magnetic inspection methods. The Barkhausen effect is postulated on small magnetic domains grouped together to form a larger magnetic sample. The domains are randomly distributed and positioned when the specimen is in a non-magnetic state. When a magnetic flux is applied to the material, the flux forces reorientation of the domains, and the domains are observed to shift suddenly. Shifting and change in domain size occur suddenly, creating magnetic responses, and the shifts occur at various depths in the material.
The Barkhausen effect can generate a relatively complex response characteristic. While researchers have studied the characteristic, the characteristic is so complex that it has not been possible heretofore to adequately analyze it in an efficient manner to derive very detailed properties on the characteristics of the sample which produced the result.
For example, it has been typical to detect the Barkhausen response then merely rectify or average it to produce a "Barkhausen number" which can then be compared to similar numbers for other samples. Other characteristics of the Barkhausen response may have been studied from time to time, but insofar as applicants are aware, means have not been available to accurately and reliably correlate information relating to the exciting or perturbing signal and multiple characteristics of the Barkhausen response. It has now been found that the ability to derive and correlate such information for a given excitation will allow the generation of significant detail on the structure of a magnetic sample at or near its surface, detail much more precise than has been available heretofore.
It has been learned that ferromagnetic materials exhibit hysteresis in the dependence of magnetization M on magnetic field H. As a result, the state of the system cannot be uniquely defined simply by external factors such as field strength and stress. A complete description of the system must include the prevailing magnetization and its history, and that information is not a single valued function of H and .sigma.. However, insofar as applicants are aware, a system has not been available for controllably altering the field applied to a specimen whose surface characteristics are to be studied, for deriving adequate information including both frequency spectrum and amplitude information from the Barkhausen response in order to more completely utilize the Barkhausen response of the material to deduce material characteristics, and also to understand that response by virtue of knowledge of the fields and stresses which have been applied prior to the instant of measurement.

System and method for non-destructive evaluation of surface characteristics of a magnetic material

Iowa State University Research Foundation, Inc.