A hub circuit with an integrated bridge circuit carried out in software including a switch for bypassing the bridge process such that the two bridged networks effectively become one network. An in-band management process in software is disclosed which receives and executes network management commands received as data packets from the LANs coupled to the integrated hub/bridge. Also, hardware and software to implement an isolate mode where data packets which would ordinarily be transferred by the bridge process are not transferred except in-band management packets are transferred to the in-band management process regardless of which network from which they arrived. Also disclosed, a packet switching machine having shared high-speed memory with multiple ports, one port coupled to a plurality of LAN controller chips coupled to individual LAN segments and an Ethernet microprocessor that sets up and manages a receive buffer for storing received packets and transferring pointers thereto to a main processor. The main processor is coupled to another port of the memory and analyzes received packets for bridging to other LAN segments or forwarding to an SNMP agent. The main microprocessor and the Ethernet processor coordinate to manage the utilization of storage locations in the shared memory. Another port is coupled to an uplink interface to higher speed backbone media such as FDDI, ATM etc. Speeds up to media rate are achieved by only moving pointers to packets around in memory as opposed to the data of the packets itself. A double password security feature is also implemented in some embodiments to prevent accidental or intentional tampering with system configuration settings.

This is a continuation-in-part of a U.S. patent application entitled, NETWORK HUB WITH INTEGRATED BRIDGE, Ser. No. 07/881,931, filed May 12, 1992 (now allowed). The invention pertains to the field of networks for communications between computers, and, more specifically, to improvements in hubs for such networks.
Networks serve the purpose of connecting many different computers or terminals to each other, host computers, printers, file servers etc. so that expensive computing assets, programs, files and other data may be shared among many users. Communication protocols and standards for networks developed quickly to standardize the way in which data packets were sent across the data exchange media of the network. Several protocols have developed for networks including Ethernet.TM., Token Ring.TM., FOIRL and FDDI, the latter two being adapted for fiber optic physical media carrying the signals.
The physical media first used on Ethernet were thick coaxial cables, and a standard called 10Base5 was developed for assuring multi-vendor compatibility between components in thick coax, mix and match networks where network components from different vendors were used. These thick coax lines were bulky, expensive and hard to work with. Later, thinner coax Ethernet was developed, and, as an alternative to coax, unshielded twisted pair wires were used for the physical media. A vendor compatibility standard called 10BaseT developed for twisted pair media.
Networks have their own hardware and software to interface with the physical media that carry the signals, and the network software must interface with the operating system software. Computers communicate with each other using a set of rules called a protocol. A group of protocols, all related to the same model are called a protocol suite. To encourage open systems, a common model called OSI was developed by the International Standards Organization. OSI engendered a protocol suite which allows computers of all sizes and capabilities the world over to communicate using a common set of rules.
The OSI model has seven layers of software, each of which makes different functionality available to computers communicating using this model. Each layer in the model deals with specific computer-communication functions.
The Physical Layer is the lowest layer and specifies the rules for transmission of signals across the physical media. Hubs, also known as repeaters, have multiple connections to this physical media called ports. The purpose of a hub is to receive data packets from one port and repeat these packets, i.e., retransmit them on every other port connected to the hub according to whatever protocol, e.g., Ethernet, etc., which is in use.
The Data Link layer deals with transmission of data between devices on the same network. In addition to describing how a device accesses the physical media, this layer also provides some measure of error detection and control. Local Area Network (LAN) technologies such as Ethernet, Token Ring and FDDI operate at this layer. Data link addresses are implemented at this layer, and provide each device connected to the network a unique identifier by which packets may be sent to it. Bridges, which are devices which aid in forwarding data packets from one network segment or one network to another, operate at the Data Link layer.
The Network Layer deals with transfer of data between devices on different networks. The Network Layer adds the notion of network addresses which are specific identifiers for each intermediate network between a data source and a destination. Routers, which are devices which assist in transferring data packets from one network to another, operate at the Network Layer.
The remaining layers, called the higher layers, are the Transport Layer, Session Layer, Presentation Layer and Application Layer. These layers deal with communication between message source and message destination. The transport layer manages the transfer of data from a source program to a destination program. Process addresses, which identify specific "processes", i.e., computer programs, are implemented at this layer. Gateways operate at these higher OSI layers.
Within the OSI model, the user presents data through application programs to the highest layer. This data is then passed downward through the hierarchy of layers with each layer adding addressing and/or control information. When the data reaches the physical layer, it is sent to a device.
Conversely, received data is passed up through the layers with.-each layer stripping address or control information.
One way to think of a protocol is a common language by which computers may communicate, but a more accurate way is as a set of rules by which data is communicated between identical OSI layers.
There are other communication protocols beside the OSI Model. These include TCP/IP, XNS, IPX, AppleTalk, DECnet and SNA. Each of these protocols has its own layer model. For example, TCP/IP collapses network functionality into only 4 layers, while AppleTalk has 6 layers.
All network media have a limitation on the maximum volume of traffic that may be carried based upon the bandwidth imposed by the physical characteristics of the media. Ethernet bandwidth is 10 Megabits/second. This acts a limit on the traffic volume and can limit the number of computers, which may be connected to a single "segment" of a network. A segment is section of a network connected to a group of machines which may communicate with each other via repeater operations without having to traverse a bridge or router. Bridges and routers are useful in that they allow connections of multiple segments such that more computers may communicate with each other than would otherwise be possible given the limited bandwidth of the media.
Each bridge and router requires certain other peripheral circuitry to support it such as LAN controllers, a CPU, a power supply, a network management process, memory to store bridge source and destination address tables and various other things like status registers etc. Likewise, repeaters require many support circuits many of which are the same support circuits needed by bridges and routers. Further, bridges, routers and repeaters or hubs require initialization to set them up for operations, and they require initial installation labor to set them up properly to operate in a particular network configuration. In addition, each type machine is subject to network management considerations, assuming an intelligent hub. An intelligent hub is one which collects statistics about traffic flow through its ports, can electronically turn ports on and off and which provides error correction and detection services. Intelligent bridges, routers and hubs supply status information upon request from network management processes and can respond to network management commands, such as shut off a particular port.
In the prior art, bridges and routers were separate circuits from hubs and this created needless duplication of many peripheral circuits which were common between hubs and bridges and which could be shared. This needless duplication cost more and provided more points of failure. For example, if the bridge power supply failed or the CPU crashed, all machines on the two network segments on either side of the bridge would be cut off from each other.
Typically, a bridge is connected to a hub by a separate local area network segment which itself requires two port interface circuits such as LAN controllers and AUI's (generic network interfaces) with appropriate port drivers adapted for the specific media used for the bridge-hub LAN segment. This bridge-hub LAN segment represents an additional expense, requires management and provides additional points of failure which could disable the network. An intelligent hub coupled to a bridge or router by a separate LAN segment then requires three different device addresses for management message traffic, and creates more possibility for a network failure in multiplying the number of points of possible failure.
Another drawback of separate bridge/router and hub circuits is that bridge/routers do not usually include a mode where the bridge/routing function can be bypassed. The ability to bypass the bridge/routing function provides flexibility in network growth as small networks do not need bridging functions until the maximum network traffic volume starts to exceed the available network bandwidth. The ability to selectively bypass the bridge/routing function gives a network designer the ability to design a small network which has a built in capacity to grow larger without adding new components and improves the ability to troubleshoot the network.
Integrated hubs and bridges existed as option cards for concentrator chassis at the time this patent application was filed. One example of such a device is the Penril 2530 concentrator card with full performance bridging although it is not currently known whether this device qualifies as prior art because the copyright date of the literature on this device is dated the same month as the filing date of the parent of this patent application. The Penril Module 2530 10baseT concentration and bridging card for the Penril 2500 series concentrator combines a hub and bridge which operates at all times on the same printed circuit board. The design of the Penril 2500 concentrators were for large networks. The 2530 card slides into a card slot on the 2500 series concentrator which can also service a plurality of such cards. The concentrator frame is believed to contain certain shared features such as power supply etc. and has a local, internal LAN segment that couples all the repeater/bridge cards together so that they can send data back and forth between them. The repeater on each card can be coupled to up to 25 machines on the network segment connected to that card and the integrated bridge continuously bridges the network segment coupled to a particular card to the internal LAN segment such that a machine coupled to a LAN segment coupled to card 1 can send a packet to a machine coupled to a LAN segment coupled to card 2 via the bridge on card 1, the internal LAN segment of the concentrator, the bridge on card 2 and the repeater on card 2. No distributed management functionality is integrated on either card 1 or 2. That management functionality is placed on a third card which resides on a different card slot. If the management card broke, the repeaters and bridges in cards 1 and 2 could not be controlled. Likewise, if the internal LAN broke, user 1 could not send data to user 2 or vice versa.
A concentrator structures like the Penril 2500 series is designed for large networks since to connect two external network segments, two cards are needed each of which can service up to 25 user machines. If the network has only 27 users, such a concentrator represents too big and complex of a structure to be affordable and justifiable for such an application.
Another problem with concentrators such as the Penril 2500 series is their lack of "stackability". The problem is this. Suppose a particular building had 3 users on the ground floor and a group of 20 heavy users on the 4th floor or otherwise spaced away from the 3 users on the ground floor by a distance which is just under the maximum 10BaseT cable run permitted by the applicable Ethernet specification. The use of a concentrator requires that every one of the group of 20 users has his own twisted pair running from his machine back to the concentrator. The same is true for thick and thin coaxial cable installations. Such a configuration can be prohibitively expensive because a great deal of wire or coax must be used and the expense of installing all that wiring through the walls and ceilings can be large. Now suppose that the distance to the group of 20 from the concentrator is larger than the maximum allowable cable run. In such a case, the complex wiring cannot be used, and if those users must be able to share resources with the 3 users on the first floor, another concentrator must be purchased. Concentrators like the Penril are not inexpensive. Typical costs today are in the neighborhood of $30,000 for the concentrator frame and about $6000 for each card.
A similar problem arises in large networks in big companies who may, for example, have a branch office in another state with only 6 users. If those users must share data or resources connected to the network at the parent company, they must be on the same network as the users at the parent company. With concentrator technology, the 6 users in the branch office must be connected to the concentrator at the parent company by a wide area network (WAN) connection. The Penril concentrator 2500 series has a card module (the 2540) which implements a WAN interface, but the 6 users in the branch office must also have a concentrator to plug their WAN interface card into. Therefore, the expense of having the tiny 6 user network segment remotely located is greater than it needs to be.
Thus, a need has arisen for an apparatus which can perform the functionality of bridges or routers and hubs without the aforementioned deficiencies, and which can overcome the aforementioned difficulties with concentrator technology in smaller networks or large network will small satellite networks.

Network connector operable in bridge mode and bypass mode


A ball retriever for retrieving a ball has a handle receiving member and at least two parallelly disposed ovoid ball barriers attached to the handle receiving member. At least one ball restraining member is attached to at least one ball barrier. At least two ball barrier support members connect the ball barriers. A ball receiving chamber, having a ball receiving port, is formed by the ball barriers and the ball restraining member. A handle lock mechanism, on the handle receiving member, releasably locks an extendible handle to the handle receiver.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a ball receiving device to retrieve balls and most especially golf balls when they are unintentionally deposited in difficult to reach environments such as underwater.
2. Description of the Related Art
Since the sport of golfing struck joy into the hearts of men, one sound has ruined a golfer's whole day. Splash! This ominous sound indicating to the golfer that the fates had been unkind and sent his ball to the watery depths. A number of mechanisms and methods have been developed to recover lost golf balls throughout the past. But none approach the ease of operation and portability of the present invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,180,288 to P. T. Sievers on Dec. 25, 1979 for a Golf Ball Retriever describes a retriever having a spring-loaded retainer and finger on a handle to releasingly engage a golf ball.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,728,134 to F. R. Allen on Mar. 1, 1988 for a Golf Ball Retriever shows an inverted cup mounted on a handle and having inwardly directed bails to retain a golf ball


In a pneumatically actuatable surgical instrument comprising a handle and a pressurized gas operated tool arranged at the handle, a replaceable pressurized gas reservoir and a locking device for fixing the pressurized gas reservoir on the handle in an operative position in which the pressurized gas reservoir is connected to a pressurized gas channel by which the tool is supplied with pressurized gas, it is proposed, in order to improve the handling of the pressurized gas reservoir, that the instrument further comprises an unlocking device for releasing the fixing of the pressurized gas reservoir in the operative position.

The invention relates to a pneumatically actuatable surgical instrument comprising a handle, a pressurized gas operated tool arranged at the handle, a replaceable pressurized gas reservoir and a locking device for fixing the pressurized gas reservoir on the handle in an operative position in which the pressurized gas reservoir is connected to a pressurized gas channel by which the tool is supplied with pressurized gas.
The pneumatically actuatable surgical instruments described at the outset often receive their supply of pressurized gas from pressurized gas reservoirs in the form of pressurized gas cartridges so that the need for connecting the instrument to a pressurized gas hose for its supply with pressurized gas can be dispensed with and maximum ease of handling of the surgical instrument is achieved.
A problem with the pneumatically operated instruments that are equipped with a pressurized gas reservoir is that when a pressurized gas reservoir has reached the end of its useful life, it always contains a residual volume of pressurized gas and this will escape with a loud explosive sound at the time of removing the pressurized gas reservoir from the instrument.
Pneumatically operated instruments constructed in accordance with the invention and comprising a pressurized gas reservoir are often employed in difficult interventions on the central nervous system. Examples of such instruments include pneumatically operated bone punches which permit the removal of bone or tissue material from a patient by applying a large force.
If the surgeon is still occupied with a difficult procedure and the replacement of a pressurized gas cartridge of a pneumatically operated instrument is going on in the background, the surgeon can easily be startled into uncontrollable reactions.
In pneumatically operated bone punches it is of particular importance for the punching force not to decline during the intervention on the patient because otherwise, in the intervention on the patient, the shaft may stay fixed at the bone, while on the other hand the force of the punch no longer suffices to cut through the bone material. Therefore, in this kind of pneumatically operated bone punches the function of the bone punch is automatically limited when pressure reaches or falls below a minimum value.
As a consequence of this, the pressurized gas reservoir has considerable amounts of pressurized gas left inside; here the remaining pressurized gas pressure is for example approximately 2 bar, which is a pressure sufficient to produce an explosive sound of varying degrees of loudness every time the pressurized gas reservoir is replaced.
On the other hand, if the pneumatically operated instrument and the pressurized gas reservoir arranged therein had not been made use of extensively during surgery, it may also be that at the end of surgery the pressurized gas reservoir is still almost full. However, to allow for further use, the instrument then must be reconditioned and this inevitably requires the pressurized gas cartridge to be removed. Here the pressure remaining in the pressurized gas reservoir is even much higher and here as well it is important that removing the pressurized gas reservoir poses no danger to the staff.

Pneumatically actuatable surgical instrument


In this invention, an image pickup unit for endoscope including an image pickup device includes, in an optical black region of the image pickup device, a phase reference pixel region in which a pixel that outputs a signal capable of being used for phase adjustment of the video by receiving light is disposed, and an optical axis of an objective optical system member having an image circle which is narrower than an effective pixel region of the image pickup device is arranged at a position closer to the phase reference pixel region with respect to a center of the effective pixel region such that light transmitted through the objective optical system member can reach the phase reference pixel region.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image pickup unit for endoscope including an image pickup device, and an endoscope.
2. Description of the Related Art
In medical fields and industrial fields, for example, endoscopes have been used in order to observe a region which is difficult to observe such as an inside of a living body or an inside of a construction, and such endoscopes include an insertion portion which can be introduced from outside into inside of a living body or a construction, and also includes, at the insertion portion, an image pickup unit for picking up an optical image.
An image pickup unit for endoscope includes: an objective optical system member constituted of a lens which forms an image of an object; and an image pickup device such as a CCD (charge coupled device) or a CMOS (Complementary Metal-Oxide Semiconductor) sensor disposed on an image-forming surface of the objective optical system member.
An image pickup unit for endoscope is generally configured such that the camera control unit is provided outside the insertion portion, since there is a need for reducing the size of the outer diameter of the insertion portion. Such a configuration of an image pickup apparatus provided to an endoscope is generally called as a camera head separation type image pickup apparatus or the like. In an endoscope, signal communication between the image pickup device and the camera control unit is performed through a relatively long transmission cable of ten and several centimeters to several meters, for example.
In such an endoscope, delay of a video signal outputted from the image pickup device to the camera control unit is likely to occur due to a variation in length of a transmission cable and a variation in electrical performances of the incorporated electronic components, for example. In order to address such a problem, it is necessary to synchronize operation of the image pickup device with operation of the camera control unit by performing video phase adjustment such as adjustment of a sampling timing with respect to a phase of a video signal using the camera control unit and other electric circuits, for example. In order to perform video phase adjustment, a method of providing a timing generator on the image pickup device side, or a method of reducing a variation in length of a transmission cable and a variation in electrical performances of incorporated electronic components can be considered, for example. However, if a timing generator is provided on the image pickup device side, the size of the electronic circuit around the image pickup device increases, which results in an increase in the diameter of the insertion portion of the endoscope. Furthermore, in order to reduce tolerances of the transmission cable and the incorporated electronic components, it is necessary to increase the sizes of the cable and the electronic components, and also in such a case, the size of the insertion portion of the endoscope increases.
Therefore, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 5-308579, for example, discloses a camera head separation type image pickup apparatus in which a technology of allowing a signal as an indicator to be outputted from a predetermined pixel in an optical black region of an image pickup device and adjusting sampling timings of the camera control unit and other circuits by using the signal as the indicator, to synchronize the image pickup device and the camera control unit is disclosed.

Image pickup unit for endoscope and endoscope


A fill head apparatus includes at least one chamber for holding a fluid. The chamber has an outlet for expelling the fluid. A vacuum device has an inlet for a suction device adjacent to the fluid outlet. A plurality of flexible and resilient sealing devices contact a top surface of a workpiece. The sealing devices are positioned on opposing sides of the chamber outlet and on opposing sides of the vacuum device inlet, such that the sealing devices create at least a partial seal around a cavity defined by the workpiece and the cavity is beneath both the chamber outlet and the vacuum outlet.

Typical precision patterned fill processes, for example, in semiconductor manufacturing (e.g., integrated circuits, chip technology, and chip packaging), provide filling of features (cavities or trenches created, for example, by etching) on a wafer or semiconductor chip. The features may be filled with substances including pastes, inks, liquid metals (such as solder) and solvents. These materials may be at sub-ambient, ambient, or high temperatures such as molten solders. Further, the features may be such features and cavities required in manufacturing of a product, including small features, for example, 5-200 μm wide and/or deep.
One problem associated with current patterned fill processes is that pressure alone is often not sufficient to inject materials into the features. Moreover, for example, through holes of high aspect ratio, i.e., comparatively large height and diameter, or height and width, can be difficult to fill. Furthermore, blind holes are often very difficult to fill since entrapped gas backpressure can prevent complete filling of the holes.
Typically, there are problems filling holes or mold features using cavity filling processes due to the presence of ambient atmosphere gas in the features. The gas must be completely displaced by the filling material or gas pockets compromise the filled feature and/or can cause a break in a seal around the feature. The problem is accentuated during high speed fills where the feature or cavity has minimal time to bleed out the entrapped gas while the fill material enters the cavity. Thus, the displacement process often is incomplete in the time desired for filling features, and results in partially filled or in extreme cases empty cavities which become defects in the process. For some operations, no defects, such as partial or unfilled cavities of features are allowable. Entrapped gases in the features may result in a partially filled cavity. A partially filled feature or cavity may result in seal degradation around the feature, especially over extended periods of time at high temperatures, e.g., over 200° degrees Celsius.
Another problem with current feature filling processes is that current attempt to seal the feature are inadequate to maintain the seal around the feature, as the surface area may be rough. The roughness may be caused by current sealing methods which may drag the fill substance, such as solder, from the cavities leaving streaks on the surface area of the device, e.g., wafer.
Referring to FIG. 1, a known fill head assembly 10 for dispensing molten solder into a mold plate uses a fill head 20. The fill head assembly 10 further includes a solder reservoir 12 being partially filled with solder 14. A body portion 30 of the assembly 10 includes two heater 32 for heating the solder 14 in the reservoir 12. A passageway 18 provides an inlet for the solder and is pressurized with a downward pressure 19. A solder fill region 16 or solder outlet in the solder fill head 20 provides egress for the solder 14. Two seals 24 are positioned on opposite sides of the solder fill region 16. A mold plate 40 (for example, a glass mold plate) includes cavities 44. Using the assembly 10, the body portion 30 is heated to above the melting point of solder using built-in cartridge heaters 32. For example, tin or tin alloy solders melt at approximately 230 degrees C., therefore in this case the body portion is heated to around 250 degrees C. The molten solder 14 is held in the sealed reservoir 12. The fill head (alternatively FH or solder fill head) assembly 10 rests on the mold plate 40 and a nominal load or downward force is applied (typically 2.5 lbs/linear inch of seal). A seal at the solder in solder outlet 16 prevents the solder 14 from leaking out the bottom of the fill head assembly 10. The solder reservoir 12 is pressurized, usually to a pressure of between 0 and 20 psi, to ensure that solder enters the mold plate 40 cavities 44 during the mold fill process. The small cavities 44 in the mold plate 40 are filled by moving the mold plate 40 underneath the solder fill head 20, typically at a speed of between 0.1 to 10 mm/sec. Air is purged from the mold plate cavities as the solder enters the cavities. The air escapes between the seal 24 and a top surface 42 of the mold plate 40. This process continues until all mold cavities 44 are filled. The mold plate 40 is moved in the direction 41. The mold plate 40 with the filled cavities 45 is then removed and passed to the next tool where the solder is transferred from the mold to the pads of a silicon wafer.
Shortcomings with current methods of solder fill described above include the solder must exert pressure on the air in the cavities to force the air from the cavities. This pressure may cause the solder to leak from the seal in the outlet 16, particularly if there are variations in the seal or variations in the flatness of the mold plate. Another problem is that for air from the cavities to escape across the seal it is helpful if the seal is roughened, textured, or scratched to provide small channels to enable the air to more easily escape between the seal and the top surface of the mold. However, this approach results in increased wear over time, for instance wearing away the channels or scratches, resulting in the same problem as the channels where to prevent, i.e., difficulty in purging the air from the cavities. An additional problem with current approaches is that even with the textured or channeled seal discussed above, pressure alone may not be sufficient to eject air from the cavities, thereby unwanted air remains in the cavities resulting in the undesirable condition of partially filled cavities, i.e., cavities partially filled with solder.
Other known fill head assemblies include a solder dispensing region, a vacuum region, a flat seal, and channels or slots that enable communication between the vacuum region and the solder region. The vacuum region is intended to remove the air from the mold plate cavities prior to fill. However, several deficiencies of known designs include difficulty in maintaining desired contact between the solder fill head assembly and the mold plate by using a flat seal. For example, even if a compliant seal material is used, irregularities in the mold plat e surface and alignment errors between the fill head assembly and the mold plate result in solder leaking across the seal. It is also difficult to maintain a vacuum in the mold plate cavities prior to solder fill due to air leaking into the vacuum region. Another problem with current designs is that as the seal wears, small slots between the vacuum region and the solder region tend to disappear, thus making it difficult to maintain a good vacuum in the mold plate cavities prior to solder fill. Another problem with current designs is that a flat seal does not provide adequate wiping as it moves across the mold plate, and therefore tends to leave streaks of solder on the mold surface.
It would therefore be desirable to provide a localized vacuum environment to remove ambient gas and encourage backfilling of a material used to fill features during manufacturing. It would also be desirable to provide an apparatus and method for filling features with material at high speed, without material overfill, bridging, or streaking. Further, there is a need for a reliable mold filling process which ensures that each cavity or feature is accurately filled by a fill head device.

Fill head interface with combination vacuum pressure chamber

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION


The present disclosure includes systems and techniques relating to management of bit line errors based on a stored set of data. In some implementations, a system can include a device including non-volatile solid state memory and a memory controller. The memory controller can be configured to identify, from the solid state memory of the device, one or more bit line errors for the device upon power up of the system, construct a set of data corresponding to the one or more bit line errors for the device, store the set of data, at least in part, in the device, and, upon a subsequent power up of the system, identify the one or more bit line errors for the device from the stored set of data.

Memories typically employ arrays of analog memory cells for storing data. Each analog memory cell can store an analog value, such as an electrical charge or voltage, that represents the data stored in a corresponding cell. Each analog memory cell can hold a certain amount of electrical charge. A range of possible analog values is typically divided into intervals each corresponding to one or more data bit values (e.g., two bits, three bits or four bits). Generally, data is written to an analog memory cell by writing a nominal analog value that corresponds to a desired bit or bits.
Commonly, two types of memory devices are used: single-level cell (SLC) flash memory and multi-level cell (MLC) flash memory. SLC flash memory can store a single bit of information in each memory cell, whereas MLC flash memory can store two or more bits per memory cell. While programming for SLC flash memory is generally simple (e.g., as only one bit is placed in a cell), its storage capacity is generally smaller than MLC flash memory and thus less desirable for applications that demand large storage capacity.
During fabrication of memory cells, errors or defects in a small portion of the cells are expected. Manufacturers of memory devices can employ validation processes that detect bit line errors. Based on the validation process, a signature or information identifying usable bits of a memory device can be placed into respective bits to support identification of usable bit lines. Upon integration of the memory device, a system or controller can scan the memory device for the signatures or information identifying usable bit lines and employ a mechanism to re-route or bypass defective bit lines.

Management of bit line errors based on a stored set of data


A battery cathode comprises an electrode of silver, molybdenum, oxygen, fluorine and chlorine and having a higher discharge capacity expressed as milliampere hour per gram of material (mAh/g) available from silver reduction at a potential above 3V as compared to that of SVO material versus lithium. The battery cathode compound can be represented by Ag6 Mo2O7F3Cl. The cathode is devoted for primary lithium batteries application and most notably can be used in a medical battery, such as a defibrillator battery [e.g. implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) battery] having a lithium metal anode.

The current standard cathode material in medical lithium batteries (e.g. a defibrillator battery) is silver vanadium oxide (SVO) material represented by atomic formula Ag2V4O11. Although SVO material has a high theoretical capacity of 450 mAh/g (milliampere hour per gram) based on Ag+/Ag and V5+/V3+ redox couple, not all of this capacity is accessible at practical voltages. During discharge, the cathode could insert seven lithium ions until it reaches a cut-off voltage of 1.5 V, resulting in a total practical gravimetric capacity of 315 mAh/g. This capacity is obtained through two plateaux. The first, involving mainly the reducton of Ag+ to Ag0 competing with the reduction of a portion of V5+ to V4+, is situated at a potential of around 3.25 V, which is the potential at which a defibrillator operates most efficiently. The material still insert lithium and reduces the V5+ to V4+ and V3+ at 2.5 V creating a multiple valence state within the vanadium. However, the potential does not plateau for completing the reduction to V3+ but instead it drops precipitously to the cut-off voltage. As a result of the low reduction potential, the aforementioned gravimetric capacity of SVO is not fully utilized in practical applications since a voltage below 1.5 V is too low to supply the power (power equals current times voltage) needed for a defibrillator and that cell resistance dramatically increase beyond x=6 Li+ inserted. The medical battery industry desires battery cathode materials that can maintain a potential above 3 V for extended periods of time so as to optimize defibrillator function. Moreover, a battery cathode that is devoid of noxious vanadium and that provides chemical stability and electrochemical performance is desirable.


A method for cleaning, decontaminating, and sterilizing catheters (10) using a combination of liquid and gaseous/plasma sterilization techniques to ensure the complete and efficient sterilization of a catheter (10). Angiographic dye and saline are removed from the interior (36) of the balloon (14) and its lumen (16). The outer surfaces of the catheter (10) and a guide wire lumen (18) of the catheter (10) are cleaned, decontaminated, and sterilized (42) with a liquid sterilant. The liquid sterilant fills a balloon (14) and a balloon lumen (16) of the catheter (10). The liquid sterilant is retained in the balloon (14) and the lumen (16) for a select amount of time. Thereafter, the liquid sterilant is drained from the balloon (14) and the balloon lumen (16). The filling, retaining, and draining steps are repeated until an interior (36) of the balloon (14) and the balloon lumen (16) are sterilized. Residual liquid sterilant is rinsed from the interior (36) of the balloon (14) and the balloon lumen (16). The catheter (10) is dried and then a plasma or gaseous sterilant is used to sterilize at least the outer surfaces and the guide wire lumen (18) of the catheter (10).

The present invention relates to the art of cleaning, decontaminating, and sterilizing medical instruments and devices. It finds particular application in conjunction with the cleaning, decontamination, and sterilization of previously used catheters, such as percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty catheters (PTCA catheters), for subsequent reuse and will be described with particular reference thereto.
As the costs associated with the delivery of effective healthcare continue to rise, there is a continuing effort on the part of doctors, healthcare facilities, and insurers to find ways of reducing these costs. The increasing popularity of single-use disposable medical devices has contributed to the increasing costs of surgery. The PTCA catheter is a widely used single-use disposable medical device used by surgeons to perform percutaneous transluminal angioplasty, a surgical procedure to clear blockages of plaque and the like from the arteries of a patient.
A percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty is carried out utilizing a PTCA catheter which typically takes the form of a balloon and a balloon lumen having a coaxial guide wire lumen passing therethrough. The proximal end of the PTCA catheter is bifurcated and includes a guide wire lumen port providing access to the guide wire lumen and a balloon lumen port providing access to the balloon lumen, and thus, the balloon. The distal end of the PTCA catheter includes the closed balloon which is sealed around the open end of the guide wire lumen, i.e., the guide wire lumen passes through the balloon and is open at its distal end. The surgeon uses a guide wire to guide the PTCA catheter into the vascular system of the patient to an area where a blockage exists. The catheter is often inserted into the femoral artery of the patient, and therefore, the catheter must be of a significant length (often 150 centimeters) to reach areas near the patient's heart.
After the catheter is in position, the surgeon inflates the balloon with a fluid, such as saline, by injecting the saline into the balloon lumen port of the catheter. Often, the saline includes a radiographic dye which enables the position and the inflated profile of the balloon to be monitored radiographically. The balloon expands radially and thus forces the arterial plaque radially outward into the wall of the artery. The surgeon then deflates the balloon, withdraws the catheter from the patient's vascular system, and disposes of the catheter.
Usually, more than one catheter is used on a particular patient, at a cost of several hundred dollars or more per catheter. Thus, a significant cost savings could be realized from the reuse of PTCA catheters. One difficulty associated with cleaning and sterilizing catheters such as PTCA catheters is attributable to a combination of the length of the catheter, the narrowness of the catheter and the guide wire and balloon lumens, and the closed balloon at the distal end of the catheter which does not allow liquid sterilant to be flushed through the balloon lumen and the balloon.
The cleaning of these devices by hand is time consuming and unreliable. Prior attempts to automate the process have resulted in unduly complex systems that have not been proven to be effective. Prior systems rely solely on liquid sterilization and are not compatible with gas sterilization techniques such as the use of ethylene oxide gas (EO) and these prior systems specifically teach away from the use of EO. Even with respect to the liquid sterilization utilized in the prior systems, the methods and apparatus disclosed do not control the "contact time" of the cleaning agent and the sterilant within the balloon and balloon lumen. They require the balloon to be pressurized with liquid sterilant and a cleaning agent an excessive number of times, reducing the remaining useful life of the balloon. Furthermore, merely filling the balloon lumen and balloon with a cleaning agent and sterilant and immediately flushing the same therefrom a selected amount of times, without further controls, has been found to be an ineffective cleaning and sterilization technique in certain circumstances.
One prior PTCA catheter sterilization method requires the liquid sterilized catheter to be rinsed of liquid sterilant immediately prior to use. This prior method requires a nurse or a surgical assistant to rinse the balloon and balloon lumen by injecting several syringes or more of sterile saline into the balloon. The saline that drains from the balloon and balloon lumen must be tested for the presence of sterilant using chemical test strips. The rinsing must be continued in this manner until the test strips indicate that the concentration of sterilant in the evacuated rinse fluid is below safe thresholds. It can be seen that the foregoing PTCA catheter sterilization method is time consuming and inconvenient. Also, the rinsing of the catheter just prior to its use results in a wet catheter being presented to the surgeon, which some surgeons may find objectionable.
Another disadvantage of known catheter sterilization systems is their requirement that a single catheter be processed or sterilized and stored in a specially designed cassette while awaiting use. These cassettes must be specially pressurized and capped in order for them to maintain the sterility of the catheter. Also, each cassette holds only one catheter, and thus, the efficiency of this prior system is necessarily limited.
The present invention provides a new and improved catheter cleaning, decontamination, and sterilization method and apparatus which overcomes the above-referenced problems and others.

Method and apparatus for cleaning, decontaminating, and sterilizing catheters


An image forming apparatus includes a container that can store developer; an apparatus body by which the container is detachably supported; a detection portion, for determining an installed state of the container, provided for the apparatus body; and a control portion determining whether the container is unused based on a detection result by the detection portion. The container includes a displaceable member displaced between an initial position where the displaceable member is not detected by the detection portion and a detection position where the displaceable member is detected by the detection portion. When the container is in an initial installation state immediately after being installed in the apparatus body, the control portion determines the container is unused in a case where the displaceable member is not detected by the detection portion, and determines the container is used in a case where the displaceable member is detected by the detection portion.

The present disclosure relates to image forming apparatuses including copiers and multifunction peripherals.
An electrophotographic image forming apparatus includes a developing device that develops electrostatic latent images on a photoconductor drum using toner. The developing device includes a developing roller rotatably supported inside the housing of the developing device and supplies toner stored inside the housing from the developing roller to the photoconductor drum to perform development.
The image forming apparatus further includes a toner container that stores toner to be supplied to the developing device. When the toner inside the toner container is completely consumed, the toner container is replaced with a new toner container filled with toner.
The developing roller of the developing device deteriorates over time and causes development failure. To maintain image quality, the developing device is replaced with a new developing device after a predetermined period of time. In addition, in a case where the developing device includes a toner storing portion integral thereto, the developing device cannot perform development when the toner inside the toner storing portion runs out. Accordingly, the developing device is replaced with a new, unused developing device filled with toner. For these reasons, a typical image forming apparatus is configured to support a developing device such that the developing device is detachable and replaceable.

Image forming apparatus capable of determining whether a container is new or used


A semiconductor device in which the surface of the semiconductor element is coated with a cured silicone in which there is dispersed filler having an average particle diameter of 0.01 to 500 micrometers and a specific gravity of 0.01 to 0.95 characterized in that the concentration of said filler is higher in the layer of said cured material remote from the element than in the layer of said cured material adjoining the element. The method for fabricating such a device comprises coating the surface of a semiconductor element with a curable silicone composition in which there is dispersed a filler having an average particle diameter of 0.01 to 500 micrometers and a specific gravity of 0.01 to 0.95 and thereafter curing said composition after the elapse of sufficient time for the filler in the layer of the composition adjoining the element to migrate into the layer of said composition remote from the element.

This invention relates to semiconductor devices and methods for their fabrication. More particularly, this invention relates to semiconductor devices having cured silicone covering the surface of the semiconductor elements. These coatings can be designed to resist swelling when cleaned by solvents such that the semiconductor elements and bonding wires of these devices are neither ruptured nor deformed by such cleaning. The coatings can also be designed to resist failure and faulty operation due to static electricity. This invention also relates to a method for fabricating these semiconductor devices.
The surface of semiconductor elements are typically coated with cured silicone to protect them from moisture and external stresses. This is true for both face-up semiconductor devices, in which the semiconductor element and lead frame are electrically connected through bonding wires, and for face-down semiconductor devices, in which the semiconductor element is electrically connected to the lead frame through solder bumps.
It has been found that using a solvent to clean the solder flux off these devices can cause problems. For instance, solvent cleaning can cause swelling of the silicone coating which results in warpage or destruction of the semiconductor element, deformation or breakage of the bonding wires and delamination of the solder bumps.
It has also been found that when such devices are used in a static-prone location, static electricity will gradually accumulate on the cured silicone covering the surface of the semiconductor element and either fail or operate erratically. This can occur, for instance, in applications such as image sensors used in facsimile equipment for reading the document to be transmitted or the thermal print heads used in printers for printing on the output paper.
To solve the solvent cleaning problem, the art suggests using (a) semiconductor devices in which the surface of the semiconductor element is coated with cured silicone and the element is then additionally sealed in a ceramic or plastic package and (b) semiconductor devices in which the surface of the element is covered with cured silicone containing a high loading of dispersed filler. The former solution results in increased costs and a reduced efficiency in mass production. The latter solution is disadvantageous in that heat cycling causes problems such as damage to the surface of the semiconductor element by the filler and deformation or rupture of the semiconductor element or bonding wires.
Similarly, to solve the static electricity problem, the art suggests using semiconductor devices in which the surface of the semiconductor element is coated with cured silicone and the element is then additionally coated with metal or plastic. Again, this solution results in increased costs and a reduced efficiency in mass production.
The present invention takes as its object the introduction of a semiconductor device whose semiconductor element is coated with a cured silicone which resists swelling when cleaned with a solvent. The semiconductor element and bonding wires are, therefore, neither ruptured nor deformed by solvent cleaning. An additional object of the present invention is the introduction of a semiconductor device whose semiconductor element is resistant to the failure and faulty operation which can be caused by static electricity. A final object of the present invention is the introduction of a method for fabricating semiconductor devices having these types of reliability.

Semiconductor device having a cured silicone coating with non uniformly dispersed filler


A measuring device, includes a guiding rail, a sliding unit levitatedly slidably engaged with the guiding rail, and a measuring unit fixed to the sliding unit and comprising at least one dial gauge mounted thereto.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to measuring devices, especially to a measuring device for detecting parallelism.
2. Description of Related Art
For mechanical equipment such as used for machining, parallelism of some of its parts may need to be frequently adjusted in order to ensure quality performance. For example, a high-precision machine includes a main body having a high-precision threaded shaft, a high-precision slideway, and a fiducial line. It is required that parallelism between the threaded shaft and the fiducial line, and parallelism between the slideway and the fiducial line must be within 0.005 mm, thus frequent checks and adjustments must be made.
Typically, the threaded shaft and slideway of the main body are measured in three-dimensions by a measuring device, then adjusted with other tools according to the result. However, the main body must first be disassembled from the machine then placed in the measuring device, which is inconvenient, especially when the machine is a heavy one. Furthermore, the cost of the measuring device is high.
What is desired, therefore, is a more efficient cost-effective measuring device.

Hong Fu Jin Precision Industry (ShenZhen) Co., Ltd.


Data records contain identification data and user data and are either contained in a highest grouping level or are directly subordinate to precisely one data record group. Each data record group is either contained in the highest grouping level or is directly subordinate to precisely one data record group. Each data record group is in this way either empty or contains at least one directly subordinate element, which is either a data record group or a data record. A selection criterion is specified to a computer by a user, whereupon the computer displays to the user via a display device a list of at least the elements contained in the highest grouping level. The list is sorted according to an ordering criterion independent of the selection criterion. The identification data of each data record fulfilling the selection criterion and contained in the highest grouping level is displayed, and each data record group contained in the highest grouping level and to which at least one data record which fulfils the selection criterion is in turn directly or indirectly subordinate, is displayed. All other elements contained in the highest grouping level are not displayed. With regard to each displayed element, which is not contained in the highest grouping level, the data record group directly superordinate to the displayed element is displayed as well.

Method of presentations for data records are generally known. An example of a method of presentation of this type is implemented in Windows Explorer by the company Microsoft.
Windows Explorer is generally operated using a number of windows. In one window, the computer indicates to a user a complete list of at least the elements contained in the highest grouping level. The list is sorted according to an ordering criterion. The ordering criterion thus consists in this case in the data record groups and then the data records being first listed within each associated group of elements, with an alphabetical sequence being maintained within the data record groups or within the data records. With regard to each displayed element which is not contained in the highest grouping level, the directly superordinate data record group for this record is also displayed.
Furthermore a user can specify a selection criterion to Windows Explorer. In response to the specification of the selection criterion, the computer then lists those data records which fulfill the selection criterion. In this case the records are listed inclusive of their respective access path, which thus also implicitly identifies the superordinate data record groups.
A data record, which is generally displayed in a separate window, can be selected by a user from both presentations.


An apparatus including a die including a device side and an opposite backside, first contacts on the backside and a through vias from the device side to the first contacts and second contacts on the backside of the die or on at least two opposing sidewalls of the die; a secondary die coupled to the first plurality of contacts; and a carrier including carrier contact points operable for mounting the carrier to a substrate. A method including forming a first portion of a carrier adjacent a device side of a die and including carrier contact points operable for mounting the carrier to a substrate; and forming a second portion including second carrier contact points connected to contacts on the backside of the die or on at least two opposing sidewalls of the die; and coupling a secondary die to the second carrier contact points.

In an effort to improve interconnect speed, decrease power consumption and reduce integrated circuit package form factor, three-dimensional packages with die-to-die stacking has been promoted.
Die-to-die stacking minimizes the effort to place all technologies on a single die. Instead, multiple dies may be stacked together. Such dies may allow a different fabrication technology optimized for a particular type of circuitry, such as memory, logic, analog and sensors. Wide I/O memory is a recent dynamic random access memory (DRAM) technology that contemplates a memory die stacked on a microprocessor die or vice versa. JEDEC standard JESD229, "Wide I/O Single Data Rate," December 2011, specifies four 128-bit channels, providing a 512-bit interface to DRAM. An interface between the dice involves, in one embodiment, solder connections.


A thread-cutting device with a thread-cutting head that rotates and includes a tool guide with at least two pairs of tool slides. The pairs of tool slides can shift radially relative to the axis of rotation and include cutting surfaces. The device also includes a propulsion element that rotates with the thread-cutting head. The propulsion unit includes spiral gear toothing that is indirectly or directly integrally engaged with the pairs of tool slides.

The invention relates to a thread-cutting device according to the preamble to patent claim 1.
In the case of a known thread-cutting device of this type (DE 44 28 049 A1), several toothed rods that exhibit, in each case, a radially inwardly-oriented oblique toothing, that is distributed across its circumference, are attached to a propulsion ring that is guided in such a way that it may be shifted axially. The spiral gearing meshes with a corresponding spiral gearing of transfer elements, which, in each case, simultaneously activate two tool slides in opposite directions. The propulsion, by way of a propulsion ring that is guided in such a way that it may be shifted axially has, on the one hand, the disadvantage that the toothed rods exhibit a relatively great distance from the axis of rotation. This generates a great structural volume of the thread-cutting head. On the other hand, the attachment of the toothed rod to a flange-like ring, which is attached only at the front, leads to the situation that the drive for the tool slide possesses a rigidity that is not, in all cases, sufficient. This can lead to imprecision in the processing of the work-piece.
In the case of another known solution (U.S. Pat. No. 2,093,506), too, propulsion is provided by means of an element in the form of a sleeve that is turned by means of a hollow shaft, whose central axis coincides with the axis of rotation, and which may be shifted in the axial direction by means of a hand lever that engages from the outside. When the axial shift occurs, the tool slides are advanced in a radial direction toward the axis of rotation.
In the case of this known solution, too, it is not possible to effect the motion of advancement by means of a central propulsion element.
Taking this state of the art as a point of departure, it is the underlying task of the invention to create a thread-cutting device that is constructed in a compact manner, which achieves, in the case of high production output, a high degree of processing precision, in which the advancement of the tool slides is possible by means of a centrally provided propulsion element.
The resolution of this task is accomplished with the characteristics of patent claim 1.
The embodiment according to the invention renders possible a compact and very rigid mode of construction of the thread-cutting device so that the radial, controlled repositioning of the tools can be accomplished very precisely, and its guiding can be accomplished in a manner involving a particularly low degree of oscillation. The embodiment according to the invention renders it possible to use thread-cutting tools and turning or rough-turning tools, as well as combined tools made of hard metal on each processed work-piece.
In the case of a particularly preferred embodiment form, the transfer of the axial motion of the propulsion element is accomplished directly onto the tool slide that is guided in a radially movable manner. By these means, the number of the parts, and thus, the amount of treasure and energy expended is less, when compared with the state of the art while, simultaneously, an enhanced degree of precision is produced.
Additional preferred embodiments of the invention result from the subsidiary claims.


Methods achieve fast parasitic closure in IC (integrated circuit) synthesis flow with particular application to RFIC (radio frequency integrated circuit) synthesis flow. Parasitic corners generated based on earlier layout statistics are incorporated into circuit resizing to enable parasitic robust designs. The worst-case parasitic corners are generated efficiently without expensive statistical computations. A performance-driven placement with simultaneous fast rough routing and device tuning generates high quality placements and compensates for layout induced performance degradations. A regression-tree based macromodeling methodology is introduced for modeling of electrical performances to enable true performance-driven layout synthesis. To improve sampling quality, an annealing-based placer can be used to perform sampling. The modeling methodology can be adapted to include automatically adjusting the device tuning ranges to meet certain model accuracy requirements.

1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to integrated circuits generally and more particularly to synthesis of radio-frequency integrated circuits.
2. Description of Related Art
The explosive growth of the communication markets and the demands for increasing connectivity and mobility have made RFIC (radio-frequency integrated circuit) designs ubiquitous in today's IC (integrated circuit) designs for applications ranging from mobile phones to laptop computers. The digital portion of the IC's can be designed with well-developed automation tools, while the analog and RF (radio frequency) portion is usually the bottle neck due to the lack of design automation. Over the last decade, there has been tremendous progress in the area of analog and RF design automation. (G. G. E. Gielen, R. A. Rutenbar, "Computer-Aided Design of Analog and Mixed-Signal Integrated Circuits", Proc. IEEE, Vol. 88, No. 12, December 2000.) More specifically, point tools for particular design phases such as circuit synthesis, placement and routing have been developed. However, there are still many important design issues remaining unsolved because of the lack of systematic methodologies to address the entire design process. (M. Krasnicki, R. Phelps, R. A. Rutenbar, L. R. Carley, "MAELSTROM: Efficient Simulation-Based Synthesis for Analog Cells," Proc. ACM/IEEE Design Automation Conference, June 1999.) (J. Cohn, D. Garrrod, R. A. Rutenbar, L. R. Carley, KOAN/ANAGRAMII: "New Tools for Device-Level Analog Layout", IEEE J. Solid-State Cir., March 1991) (K. Lampaert, G. Gielen, W. M. Sansen, "A Performance-Driven Placement Tool for Analog Integrated Circuits", IEEE J. Solid-State Circuits, Vol. 30, No. 7, July 1995.)
One such issue is parasitic closure, which refers to the requirement that a laid-out design must meet circuit performance specifications after taking the layout parasitics into account. The difficulty of parasitic closure is a direct result of the tight coupling between circuit sizing and layout, which is manifested in practically every RF circuit design. With conventional design methodologies, multiple iterations between front-end circuit sizing and back-end layout are normally required for RF designs to achieve parasitic closure. Since the newly developed RF circuit and layout synthesis point tools still treat circuit sizing and layout as separate tasks, the difficulty of parasitic closure remains a great challenge, especially for high-speed analog and radio-frequency circuits.
Conventionally, to account for layout effects, parasitics are extracted from an initial layout and included in the subsequent resizing. Such iterations are repeated until convergence is achieved. Since each circuit resizing only takes into account the parasitics of one layout, in particular the layout for the previous design cycle, convergence remains unpredictable. This calls for a more robust and efficient parasitic-aware circuit resizing approach. On the layout side, sensitivity based performance-driven layout techniques have been proposed to address electrical concerns. (K. Lampaert, G. Gielen, W. M. Sansen, "A Performance-Driven Placement Tool for Analog Integrated Circuits", IEEE J. Solid-State Circuits, Vol. 30, No. 7, July 1995.) However such performance constraints usually over-constrain the layout without acknowledging that parasitic effects can often be compensated for by device resizing. In addition, linear sensitivity based performance models are too rudimentary to model performances with sufficient accuracy. Consequently, more accurate higher-order performance macromodels are necessary. Another issue with a conventional layout methodology is the separation of placement and routing. Interconnect parasitics cannot be estimated with sufficient accuracy during placement without routing details. Consequently, such an approach cannot achieve satisfactory placements when interconnect parasitics are critical to performance as in the case of RF circuits. Conventional approaches have combined placement and routing in substantially limited contexts. (M. Aktuna, R. A. Rutenbar, L. R. Carley, "Device-Level Early Floorplanning Algorithms for RF Circuits", IEEE Trans. CAD, Vol. 18, No. 4, April, 1999.) (P. Vancorenland, G. Van der Plas, M. Steyaert, G. Gielen, W. Sanen, "A layout-aware synthesis methodology for RF circuits", IEEE ICCAD, 2001.)
Thus, there is a need for improved synthesis for radio-frequency integrated circuits, including parasitic-aware circuit resizing, more accurate higher-order performance macromodels, performance-driven RF layout designs, and methods that integrate these aspects in an overall design process.

Achieving fast parasitic closure in a radio frequency integrated circuit synthesis flow


A film cartridge control device is provided for controlling a film cartridge provided with a data disk which rotates in association with a cartridge spool and indicates given information depending upon a position at which the data disk is stopped when a film is completely rewound in the film cartridge. The film cartridge control device includes a drive device that drives and rotates the cartridge spool, a control circuit that performs stop control for causing the drive device to stop the data disk at a predetermined position, and a storage circuit that stores stop control information that indicates that the stop control is being performed. The stop control information is set when the stop control is started and reset when the stop control is finished. The control circuit restarts the stop control after the cartridge spool is rotated by a predetermined amount by the drive device, if the stop control information is set in the storage circuit when the film cartridge control device is started.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a film cartridge control device, particularly used in a camera or the like, for stopping a data disk mounted on a film cartridge at a predetermined position.
2. Description of Related Art
There has been proposed a film cartridge provided with a data disk that rotates in association with a cartridge spool, wherein a position at which the data disk is stopped represents a condition of a film, e.g., whether the film has been exposed or unexposed (as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,347,334 that corresponds to Japanese Patent laid-open Publication No. 7-199329).
In a camera using the film cartridge as described above, the data disk is required to be stopped at a position that corresponds to the condition of the film, after the film is rewound into the cartridge.
Where a motor for driving/rotating the cartridge spool is rotated at a high speed when control of stopping the data disk at a given position is started, however, the motor overruns a different amount than that in the case where the motor is rotated at a low speed immediately after the motor is started, resulting in a variation in the position at which the data disk is stopped.


An anti-slip hanger is made of a molded first type of plastic which is relatively hard and slippery. The first type of plastic is molded into a hanger having a plurality of recesses, each recess being provided with at least one throughbore. Plastic inserts are molded from a second type of plastic which is relatively soft and not slippery. The inserts are sized to fit within the recesses and each insert is provided with at least one nub which is dimensioned to frictionally engage the at least one throughbore. The hangers are assembled by inserting the inserts into the recesses and pressing until the nubs engages the throughbores.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates broadly to garment hangers. More particularly, this invention relates to a garment hanger having multiple anti-slip surfaces.
2. State of the Art
Garment hangers having anti-slip surfaces are old in the art. Generally, these hangers fall into one of three categories. The first category is where the hanger is made of plastic which is molded to form ridges of some sort. An examples of this type of hanger can be found in U.S. Pat. No. 4,714,183 to Tontarelli, issued Dec. 22, 1987. These hangers are not particularly effective because the plastic which is used to form them is relatively slippery. A second category is where some material having a relatively high coefficient of friction is slipped over portions of the hanger. Examples of this type of hanger can be found in the following U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,168,970 to Wilson, issued Feb. 9, 1965, 4,586,637 to Lemel, issued May 6, 1986, 4,606,482 to McHugh, issued Aug. 19, 1986, and 5,277,345 to Ozaki, issued Jan. 11, 1994. While this type of hanger works well, its construction is complicated, requiring a significant amount of manual manipulation. The third category is where some material having a relatively high coefficient of friction is glued or welded over portions of the hanger. Examples of this type of hanger can be found in the following U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,321,997 to Duberstein, issued Nov. 18, 1919, and 5,535,927 to Garrison, issued Jul. 16, 1996. This type of hanger works well but also has a complicated construction requiring careful manual manipulation and the application of glue or operation of welding equipment.


The present invention relates to compositions for use in refrigeration and air-conditioning systems comprising 1,1,1,2,2,3,3,4,4-nonafluoro-4-methoxybutane and at least one hydrocarbon. Further, the present invention relates to compositions for use in refrigeration and air-conditioning systems employing a centrifugal compressor comprising 1,1,1,2,2,3,3,4,4-nonafluoro-4-methoxybutane at least one hydrocarbon. The compositions of the present invention may be azeotropic or near-azeotropic and are useful in processes for producing cooling or heat or as heat transfer fluids.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to compositions for use in refrigeration and air-conditioning systems comprising 1,1,1,2,2,3,3,4,4-nonafluoro-4-methoxybutane (C4F9OCH3) and at least one hydrocarbon. Further, the present invention relates to compositions for use in refrigeration and air-conditioning systems employing a centrifugal compressor comprising 1,1,1,2,2,3,3,4,4-nonafluoro4-methoxybutane and at least one hydrocarbon. The compositions of the present invention may be azeotropic or near-azeotropic and are useful in processes for producing cooling or heat or as heat transfer fluids.
2. Description of Related Art
The refrigeration industry has been working for the past few decades to find replacement refrigerants for the ozone depleting chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) being phased out as a result of the Montreal Protocol. The solution for most refrigerant producers has been the commercialization of hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) refrigerants. The new HFC refrigerants, HFC-134a being the most widely used at this time, have zero ozone depletion potential and thus are not affected by the current regulatory phase out as a result of the Montreal Protocol.
Further environmental regulations may ultimately cause global phase out of certain HFC refrigerants. Currently, the automobile industry is facing regulations relating to global warming potential for refrigerants used in mobile air-conditioning. Therefore, there is a great current need to identify new refrigerants with reduced global warming potential for the automobile air-conditioning market. Should the regulations be more broadly applied in the future, an even greater need will be felt for refrigerants that can be used in all areas of the refrigeration and air-conditioning industry.
Currently proposed replacement refrigerants for HFC-134a include HFC-152a, pure hydrocarbons such as butane or propane, or "natural" refrigerants such as CO2 or ammonia. Many of these suggested replacements are toxic and/or flammable. Therefore, new alternatives are constantly being sought.
The object of the present invention is to provide novel refrigerant compositions and heat transfer fluids that provide unique characteristics to meet the demands of low or zero ozone depletion potential and lower global warming potential as compared to current refrigerants.

1,1,1,2,2,3,3,4,4-nonafluoro-4-methoxybutane refrigerant compositions comprising hydrocarbon and uses thereof


Systems and methods for information retrieval and communication employ a world model. The world model is made up of interrelated entity models, each of which corresponds to an entity in the real world, such as a person, place, business, other tangible thing, community, event, or thought. Each entity model provides a communication channel via which a user can contact a real-world person responsible for that entity model. Entity models also provide feedback information, enabling users to easily share their experiences and opinions of the corresponding real-world entity.

The present invention relates in general to information processing, and in particular to world modeling using a relationship network that provides communication channels to different entities in the network.
The World Wide Web (Web), as its name suggests, is a decentralized global collection of interlinked information—generally in the form of "pages" that may contain text, images, and/or media content—related to virtually every topic imaginable. Through the contributions of countless users, the Web has grown to become a vast, decentralized treasure trove of information. Finding information in the trove, however, can be difficult.
To make it easier to find information, an industry of search providers (e.g., Yahoo!, MSN, Google) has evolved. A search provider typically maintains a database of Web pages in which the URL (uniform resource locator) of each page is associated with various information (e.g., keywords, category data, etc.) reflecting its content. The search provider also maintains a search server that hosts a search page (or site) on the Web. The search page provides a form into which a user can enter a query that usually includes one or more terms indicative of the user's interest. Once a query is entered, the search server accesses the database and generates a list of "hits," typically URLs for pages whose content matches keywords derived from the user's query. This list is provided to the user in a search results page, typically including a page title, short abstract, and link for each hit. Since queries can return hundreds, thousands, or even millions of hits, search providers have developed sophisticated algorithms for ranking the hits (i.e., determining an order for displaying hits to the user) in hope that the pages most relevant to a given query will appear near the top of the list. Typical ranking algorithms take into account not only the keywords and their frequency of occurrence but also other information such as the number of other pages that link to the hit page, popularity of the hit page among users, and so on.
The search industry has developed other techniques to enhance the likely relevance of highly ranked hits. For instance, "local" search services have been developed to help users find nearby businesses or other establishments. A local search service generally requires the user to specify a geographic location (e.g., an address, city or postal code) before searching, then gives high rankings to hits related to establishments near the user's location. Similarly, "yellow pages" search services allow a user to search for businesses by name or category (e.g., restaurant, hotel) and geographical location. Such services typically also offer links to maps and/or driving directions to help the user locate a particular business.
Nevertheless, the Web still provides relatively little help to users in completing ordinary tasks, such as locating a good restaurant in an unfamiliar area. A yellow pages search service would provide a list of nearby restaurants or perhaps a list of nearby restaurants specializing in a particular style of food (e.g., Italian, Thai, Indian). The listings might provide links to Web sites for some or all of the restaurants, via which the user can obtain basic factual information about a restaurant such as hours, price range, or sample menus.
This information, however, is insufficient for making an optimum choice. A person selecting a restaurant usually wants to consider not only what dishes are served but also whether the food is tasty, the service friendly, or the atmosphere conducive to some personal preference. Such subjective information is usually provided in restaurant reviews, but conventional yellow pages listings generally do not provide links to opinions from secondary sources. To obtain such information, the user would generally need to pick a particular restaurant from the yellow pages listing and execute a separate search on the restaurant name, perhaps adding the term "review" or a similar keyword, then look through the search results to identify which ones actually contain reviews of the restaurant in question. To compare reviews of different restaurants, multiple searches would generally be required. Since this process can become tedious, users often decide not to even try to make an informed choice.
Similarly, users attempting to use the Web to do a variety of other everyday tasks—including selecting a contractor for home repairs, researching and purchasing consumer goods, making travel plans, and so on—generally face the prospect of performing multiple searches and manually filtering the results to find helpful information. As a result, many users are unable to exploit the trove of existing information.
In addition, users who want to share their experiences and opinions about restaurants, contractors, products, vacation experiences or other real-world concerns find it difficult to do so. In principle, anyone can publish content on the Web, but in practice it is unlikely that a Web page commenting on a topic would be found by other users, even users looking for comments on that topic.
Therefore, it would be desirable to provide information models that enable the user to efficiently collect and review information related to an object of interest.

World modeling using a relationship network with communication channels to entities


In general, in an aspect, versions of representations of segments of a media item are received and temporarily stored on a media playing device. The segments have a sequence. The temporarily stored versions are used in sequence to present at least part of the media item to a user. One or more other versions of representations of segments of the media item are also received and persistently stored on the media playing device. The one or more persistently stored other versions are used to enhance the presentation of at least part of the media item to the user.

This description relates to presenting media items on a playing device.
A typical smartphone, digital video recorder (DVR), connected TV, or other playing device is designed to present audio items, video items, or other media items received through a broadband network, a cellular telephone network, or another communication network. Media items to be presented to users can represent a wide variety of material including movies, pre-recorded television programs, and live programs such as sports or news, to name a few. The media items to be distributed are obtained from content sources (e.g., "origin servers"). These content sources may be managed by the content owners, such as suppliers of movies or TV shows and suppliers of advertisements ("ads") to be presented to users with the media items, or may be managed by distributors who have licensed the content from the owners. The media items are typically distributed to the playing devices by one or more distribution servers, such as the servers comprising a content delivery network (CDN). We sometimes use the term CDN broadly to include, for example, any kind of distribution or other servers. We sometimes refer to all servers, systems, and network components that are involved in delivering media items to an end user as "the network."
One role of CDNs is to situate copies of media items closer to the playing devices to reduce networking costs, improve reliability, and reduce delay in providing the media items to the playing devices for presentation. Copies of media items and ads can be stored at multiple distribution servers of the CDN placed at separated (e.g., widely separated) locations. When selected media items or ads are to be delivered to a particular playing device, a distribution server near to the playing device can be chosen for the delivery to reduce delay (latency) in the time it takes for the selected ad or media item to reach the playing device.
A typical media item is embodied as small files each representing a brief segment in a sequence of segments that together make up the media item. Each of the small files is expressed according to a streaming format defined by a conventional streaming protocol and we sometimes call them "streaming-format files" or more simply "streaming files". The playing device includes a processor and a relatively small amount of high-speed short-term memory. When the media item is being presented on the playing device, a portion of the high-speed short-term memory is dedicated for use as a buffer to briefly hold a relatively small number of the streaming files. The buffer is managed by a player, an application that executes on the playing device.
Before a player presents a media item, it receives (e.g., downloads) a manifest file from the CDN and stores it in the buffer of the player. The manifest file can be provided to the CDN in turn from an origin server. The manifest file contains metadata used by the player to identify to the CDN each of the streaming files that may be the subject of a request by the player. The metadata indicates the order of the streaming files within the media item. Typically, the manifest file is stored in the playing device's short-term memory, and the player requests the streaming files from the CDN in order and stores them in the short-term memory buffer.
During presentation of a streaming media item, the player requests the streaming files one after another as needed from the CDN and stores them temporarily in the buffer. Then the player fetches streaming files one after another from the buffer as needed to render them for presentation on the playing device in a continuous uninterrupted sequence (normally a few seconds after they are received) as part of the media item. As streaming files are drawn from buffer locations for rendering, those locations are repopulated by other streaming files received from the CDN in response to requests made by the player.
During presentation of a media item, the streaming files must be received (e.g., downloaded) into the buffer locations quickly enough through a communication channel of the communication network to assure that the buffer will not be emptied during the presentation. The quality of the presentation depends on the quality of (e.g., the amount of bandwidth available on) a communication channel of the communication network. For high quality presentation of a media item, the quality of the channel must be sufficient to enable high quality (e.g. large) versions of the streaming files to be delivered on the communication channel between the CDN and the playing device.
Traditionally, the available bandwidths of communication channels provided by communication networks to the playing devices fluctuate. As a result, the CDN often cannot keep the player buffers supplied quickly and reliably with enough high quality files to support high-quality presentation of the media item, and lower quality files must be sent to the player. In any case, the bandwidths of communication channels vary (sometimes rapidly and unpredictably) over time which can result in rapidly varying quality of the presentation at the playing device. In some cases the quality of the communication channel is so poor that even lower quality files cannot be delivered to the playing device.
Techniques have been developed for presenting media items to users at an acceptable quality level in view of the facts that (a) the short-term memory buffers are relatively small and (b) the communication networks provide communication channels of unpredictably varying (and sometimes low) quality. In one common approach, known as adaptive bitrate streaming, the quality (size) of the streaming files is varied during presentation of the media item to accommodate changes in the communication channel quality, and the player is designed to take advantage of the varying quality files to provide the best possible presentation of a media item.
To accommodate cases in which a user wants to have a media item presented at a future time when she expects there will be no connectivity (for example, on a future airplane flight), the playing device can be configured to accept and act on an input or other action by the user to cause a complete set of streaming files for the media item to be delivered in advance when there is connectivity and to be persistently stored at the playing device. Later, when she is on the flight, for example, she can have the player present the media item by streaming the files from persistent storage on the playing device rather than needing to request through the communication network from a CDN. An example of such a system is available from Penthera Partners.
An HTTP proxy can be used to download media items for later consumption. At the time of consumption, the playing device may be offline or online. The downloaded media items will play from the locally stored set of streaming files, without the playing device needing to request them from the CDN (with the potential associated fluctuating, limited, or absent connectivity). A user must choose to engage the download feature by clicking a download button or in one case (Netflix Smart Download) automatically in response to a user's viewing behavior.
In a traditional model for media item presentation, a principal (and sometimes only) function of the CDN is to deliver the streaming files and the manifest file for a media item to a large number of players in the most effective way and with the least delay. The principal (and sometimes only) function of the players is to request the streaming files from the CDN as needed to keep the buffers appropriately populated and then to render the files to present the media item to the user.
To fund the cost of creating media items and delivering them to playing devices for presentation to users, ads can be presented to the user before, during, or after presentation of a media item. Ads are like media items in that they are embodied in streaming files that can be requested, stored by the player, and presented at appropriate times in conjunction with media items, for example. (Sometimes when we use the term "media items" we are referring to the main content to be presented to users and also to the ads. Sometimes we are referring only to the main content.) The manifest metadata for a typical media item includes information indicating the times and durations of ad insertion points where ads are to be presented relative to the streaming files of the media item.
Decisions about which ads to present at each ad insertion point are usually made at a time very near to the delivery of the media item. Ad decisions can encompass choices about which ads should be used, how many ads should be used, and when the ads should be used for a given media item. Ad decisions are typically made by ad servers and are generally made by considering various factors including audience targeting data, the times when the ads are anticipated to be presented, the appropriateness of the ads, and others. Once the ad decisions are made, the selected ads are presented at the appropriate times during the presentation of the corresponding media item as a result of an activity known as "ad insertion" or "ad stitching." Ad insertion typically involves creating a new manifest that includes metadata to enable the player to locate and request the streaming files of the ad at the right places in the presentation of the media item. During presentation, the requested media item streaming files can be provided by a CDN from the origin servers, and the ad streaming files can be provided by a CDN from the ad servers.
In some systems that deliver media items from a CDN to playing devices, so-called trick-mode features (such as rewind, fast forward, and pause) are performed in response to trick-mode instructions from the user through the media player while a media item is being presented to the user. When a user issues a trick-mode instruction that requires streaming-mode files not then available locally in the buffer, the media player requests the CDN to provide the needed files, stores them locally in the buffer, and uses them to provide the trick-mode features. This process can cause annoying delay in the execution of the trick-mode instructions on the playing device.
Part of the workflow of delivery of media items can entail controlling the quality of the media items based on the bandwidth and quality of the connection to the playing device.
Additional information about streaming media items is provided in U.S. Pat. Nos. 9,244,916; 8,701,145; 10,616,546; and 9,857,956; and United States published patent application 2015/00325268, the entire contents of all of which are incorporated here by reference.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Presenting media items on a playing device


Cross-lingual query suggestion (CLQS) aims to suggest relevant queries in a target language for a given query in a source language. The cross-lingual query suggestion is improved by exploiting the query logs in the target language. CLQS provides a method for learning and determining a similarity measure between two queries in different languages. The similarity measure is based on both translation information and monolingual similarity information, and in one embodiment uses both the query log itself and click-through information associated therewith. Monolingual and cross-lingual information such as word translation relations and word co-occurrence statistics may be used to estimate the cross-lingual query similarity with a discriminative model.

Query suggestion helps users of a search engine to better specify their information need by narrowing down or expanding the scope of the search with synonymous queries and relevant queries, or by suggesting related queries that have been frequently used by other users. Search engines, such as Google, Yahoo!, MSN, Ask Jeeves, all have implemented query suggestion functionality as a valuable addition to their core search method. In addition, the same technology has been leveraged to recommend bidding terms to online advertiser in the pay-for-performance search market.
Typical methods for query suggestion perform monolingual query suggestion. These methods exploit query logs (of the original query language) and document collections, assuming that in the same period of time, many users share the same or similar interests, which can be expressed in different manners. By suggesting the related and frequently used formulations, it is hoped that the new query can cover more relevant documents.
The existing techniques for cross-lingual query suggestion are primitive and limited. These techniques approach the issue as a query translation problem. That is, these techniques suggest queries that are translations of the original query. When used as a means for cross-lingual information retrieval (CLIR), for example, the system may perform a query translation followed by a monolingual information retrieval (IR) using the translation of the origin of query as the search query. Typically, queries are translated either using a bilingual dictionary, some machine translation software, or a parallel corpus. In other query translation methods, out-of-vocabulary (OOV) term translations are mined from the Web using a search engine to alleviate the problem of OOV, which is one of the major bottlenecks for CLIR. In others, bilingual knowledge is acquired based on anchor text analysis. In addition, word co-occurrence statistics in the target language has been leveraged for translation disambiguation.
Many of these translation techniques rely on static knowledge and data and therefore cannot effectively reflect the quickly shifting interests of Web users. For those translation approaches may help reduce the problem of static knowledge, they have other inherent problems existing with any cross-lingual query suggestion (CLQS) model that simply suggest straight translations of the queries. For instance, a translated term may be a reasonable translation, but it may not be popularly used in the target language. For example, the French query "aliment biologique" is translated into "biologic food" by Google translation tool, yet the correct formulation nowadays should be "organic food". Therefore, there exist many mismatches between the translated terms and the terms in the target language. These mismatches make the suggested terms in the target language ineffective.
Furthermore, it is arguable that accurate query translation may not be necessary for CLQS. Indeed, in many cases, it is helpful to introduce words even if they are not direct translations of any query word, but are closely related to the meaning of the query. This observation has led to the development of cross-lingual query expansion (CLQE) techniques, some of which reported the enhancement on CLIR by post-translation expansion, and others developed a cross-lingual relevancy model by leveraging the cross-lingual co-occurrence statistics in parallel texts. However, query expansion cannot be used as a substitute for query suggestion. Although query expansion is related to query suggestion, there is an essential difference between them. While expansion aims to extend the original query with new search terms to narrow the scope of the search, query suggestion aims to suggest full queries that have been formulated by users so that the query integrity and coherence and preserved the suggested queries.
Furthermore, there is a lack of a unified framework to combine the wide spectrum of resources and recent advances of mining techniques.


A polyimide copolymer represented by formula (I) or formula (II) is provided.

1. Field
The disclosure relates to a copolymer, and more particularly to a polyimide copolymer and method for fabricating a patterned metal oxide layer.
2. Description of the Related Art
Polyimide (PI) has been widely applied in the semiconductor and display industries due to its thermal stability and excellent mechanical, electric and chemical-resistant properties. Polyimide is a thermosetting resin material. After a high-temperature (350° C. and above) process, it is very difficult to dissolve polyimide in usual solvents or amine strippers due to excellent chemical-resistance, restricting its applications. Therefore, the so-called soluble polyimide which forms a larger free volume between the molecules thereof through a specific molecular structure design to increase solubility has subsequently been developed. The soluble polyimide can still maintain its solubility under a 300° C. and below process temperature environment. However, during a high-temperature (350° C. and above) process, the molecular chains of the polyimide will mutually stack and tend to lower the energy and then shrink free volume which causes dramatic descent of solubility and results in insolubility.
Generally, during a metal oxide patterning process, a "lift-off" method is adopted to form metal oxide patterns, among others, although the soluble polyimide is widely used in the "lift-off" process, the process temperature must be limited to 350° C. and below. It is problematic if the soluble polyimide is used in a high-temperature metal oxide deposition process which requires 350° C. and above process temperatures. Therefore, development of a polyimide material which can still be dissolved in an organic solvent after a high-temperature (350° C. and above) process is required. Specifically, a temporary protective film capable of enduring high temperatures (350° C. and above) under metal oxide patterning processes, and finally, be removed using solvents to form metal oxide patterns is required.

Polyimide copolymers and method for fabricating patterned metal oxide layers

Abstract: In formula (I) or formula (II), B is a cycloaliphatic group or aromatic group, A is an aromatic group, R is hydrogen or phenyl, and m and n are 20-50. The invention also provides a method for fabricating a patterned metal oxide layer.

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