Continuous attributes are used as input attributes in decision tree creation. Buckets are created by dividing the range of values for the continuous attribute into sub-ranges of equal extent. These buckets form initial partitions. Mergers of adjacent partitions are considered to determine score gains from such mergers, and the most useful mergers occur. The resulting partitions are used as the discretization of the continuous attribute for use as an input attribute.

Data mining is the exploration and analysis of large quantities of data, in order to discover correlations, patterns, and trends in the data. Data mining may also be used to create models that can be used to predict future data or classify existing data.
For example, a business may amass a large collection of information about its customers. This information may include purchasing information and any other information available to the business about the customer. The predictions of a model associated with customer data may be used, for example, to control customer attrition, to perform credit-risk management, to detect fraud, or to make decisions on marketing.
To create and test a data mining model such as a decision tree, available data may be divided into two parts. One part, the training data set, may be used to create models. The rest of the data, the testing data set, may be used to test the model, and thereby determine the performance of the model in making predictions. Data within data sets is grouped into cases. For example, with customer data, each case corresponds to a different customer. All data in the case describes or is otherwise associated with that customer.
One type of predictive model is the decision tree. Decision trees are used to classify cases with specified input attributes in terms of an output attribute. Once a decision tree is created, it can be used predict the output attribute of a given case based on the input attributes of that case.
Decisions trees are composed of nodes and leaves. One node is the root node. Each node has an associated attribute test that splits cases that reach that node to one of the children of the node based on an input attribute. The tree can be used to predict a new case by starting at the root node and tracing a path down the tree to a leaf, using the input attributes of the new case in the attribute tests in each node. The path taken by a case corresponds to a conjunction of attribute tests in the nodes. The leaf contains the decision tree's prediction for the output attribute(s) based on the input attributes.
An exemplary decision tree is shown in FIG. 1. In this decision tree, or example, if a decision tree is being used to predict a customer's credit risk, input attributes may include debt level, employment, and age, and the output attribute is a prediction of what the credit risk for the customer is. As shown in FIG. 1, decision tree 200 consists of root node 210, node 212, and leaves 220, 222 and 224. The input attributes are debt level and type of employment, and the output attribute is credit risk. Each node has associated with it a split constraint based on one of the input attributes. For example, the split constraint of root node 210 is whether debt level is high or low. Cases where the value of the debt input attribute is "high" will be transferred to leaf 224 and all other cases will be transferred to node 212. Because leaf 224 is a leaf, it gives the prediction the decision tree model will give if a case reaches leaf 224. For decision tree 200, all cases with a "high" value for the debt input attribute will have credit risk output attribute assigned to "bad" with a 100% probability. The decision tree 200 in FIG. 1 predicts only one output attribute, however more than one output attribute may be predicted with a single decision tree.
While the decision tree may be displayed and stored in a decision tree data structure, it may also be stored in other ways, for example, as a set of rules, one for each leaf node, containing a conjunction of the attribute tests.
Attributes for use as input attributes and output attributes can be n-state attributes. However, when the possible values for an attribute are continuous rather than falling in one of a predetermined number of states, the use of the attribute becomes complicated. For example, income data may be continuous, with an exact income number (e.g. $354,441.30) supplied in the data being used, rather than having a number of income states.
In order to create the tree, the nodes, attribute tests, and leaf values must be decided upon. Generally, creating a tree is an inductive process. Given an existing tree, all testing data is processed by the tree, starting with the root node, divided according to the attribute test to nodes below, until a leaf is reached. The data at each leaf is then examined to determine whether and how a split should be performed, creating a node with an attribute test leading to two leaf nodes in place of the leaf node. This is done until the data at each node is sufficiently homogenous. In order to begin the induction the root node is treated as a leaf.
To determine whether a split should be performed, a score gain is calculated for each possible attribute test that might be assigned to the node. This score gain corresponds to the usefulness of using that attribute test to split the data at that node. There are many ways to determine which attribute test to use using the score gain. For example, the decision tree may be built by using the attribute test that reduces the amount of entropy at the node. Entropy is a measure of the homogeneity of the data. The data at the node must be split into two groups of data which each are heterogeneous from each other.
In order to determine what the usefulness is of splitting the data at the node with a specific attribute test, the resultant split of the data at the node for each output attribute must be computed. This correlation data is used to determine a score which is used to select an attribute test for the node. Where the input attribute being considered is gender, for example, and the output attribute is car color, the data from the following Table 1 must be computed for the testing data that reaches the node being split:
TABLE 1Correlation Count Tablegender = MALEgender ≠ MALEcar color = RED359503car color ≠ RED49033210
As described above, data in a correlation count table such as that shown in Table 1 must be calculated for each combination of a possible input attribute test and output attribute description. This means that not only must the gender input attribute be examined to see how it splits the data at the node into red cars and non-red cars, but it must also examine how the gender input attribute splits the data at the node into blue cars and non-blue ones, green cars and non-green ones, etc., for every possible state of the "car color" variable.
In order to use a continuous attribute as an input attribute, correlation count table data must be produced. However, for the continuous attribute, calculating a correlation count table for each value of the continuous attribute would produce little useful information and be so computationally expensive as to be infeasible. Clearly, some way to handle continuous attributes to determine correlation count table calculations is required or such attributes can not be used as input attributes for a decision tree.
In the prior art, a method is used to discretize the values of a continuous attribute into a pre-determined number of ranges (e.g. four). This is done by finding one or more "cut point" values in the range of the continuous attribute. Thus, for a continuous attribute with values ranging from AMIN to AMAX, a cut point CP1 is determined. This divides the attribute into two ranges—AMIN–CP1 and CP1–AMAX. Doing this once more on each of the resultant ranges yields four ranges—AMIN–CP2, CP2–CP1, CP1–CP3, and CP3–AMAX. These ranges are determined by analyzing the sample data to determine the cut point with the best discretization based on the entropy of the data when divided at different possible cut points.
Once these ranges are determined, they are used as states of the attribute for the purpose of determining correlation counts and comparing attribute tests for use at a node. However, this sampling and discretization process requires an actual scan of the entire set of cases, sorting of the cases, and repetitive calculation of entropy over the possible ranges created by selecting different cut points. The determination of cut points is done relative to each node and so must be performed for each node. This involves high memory space and processing requirements. Additionally, the pre-determined number of ranges may not be appropriate for the data in all portions of the tree. For example, it may be better (in terms of tree score or prediction accuracy) to consider five logical ranges for the data, and information may be lost which otherwise would have been useful in making predictions. Using more cut points increases the number of ranges for which a correlation table must be constructed and evaluated, however, and therefore the computational overhead is also increased.
Because of the computational expense of determining cut points, and the loss of information associated with the prior art technique, attributes with a range of possible values are problematic. Using a continuous attribute as an input attribute can be resource intensive and may not capture much of the information contained in that attribute for the purposes of predicting the class attribute.
Thus, there is a need for a technique to allow the use of continuous attributes as input attributes in decision trees, with increased flexibility and reduced time and space requirements.

System and method for handling a continuous attribute in decision trees


A wireless transmitter can include a plurality of bandwidth modules, each bandwidth module processing data based on a predetermined frequency band. In one embodiment, such a wireless transmitter can include encoding components for receiving transmit data and generating encoded data. A multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) stream parser can receive the encoded data and generate a plurality of MIMO streams. A first module parser coupled to a first MIMO stream can generate a first plurality of partial MIMO streams. A first bandwidth module can include a first interleaver that interleaves bits of the first partial MIMO stream and generates first interleaved data. A second bandwidth module can include a second interleaver that interleaves bits of the second partial MIMO stream and generates second interleaved data. A first inverse fast Fourier transform (IFFT) unit can combine and process the first and second interleaved data and generate a first transmission MIMO stream.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to communication systems and more particularly to wireless networks.
2. Related Art
Digital data can be transmitted over analog channels or wirelessly for communication to users. The channel over which data is communicated has several inherent difficulties. Corruption of transmitted data occurs additively or multiplicatively due to noise and other physical phenomena. A goal of the transmission and reception system is to communicate reliably and ably, despite these difficulties.
In order to communicate digital data over an analog channel, the data is modulated using, among other techniques, a form of pulse amplitude modulation. In pulse amplitude modulation (PAM), the amplitude of a pulsed carrier changes based on the signal information. The signal or useful information, therefore, is carried in the amplitude of the pulses of the carrier. A form of pulse amplitude modulate is quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM). QAM is an improvement over a traditional PAM, in that QAM increases the amount of data that can be transmitted within a particular channel. QAM is a form of PAM in which a plurality of bits are transmitted in a constellation, that can contain, for example 16 or 32 points. Typically, in a QAM, the signal changes both in the amplitude dimension and the phase dimension.
A typical communication system over an analog channel or wireless channel involves a receiver and a transmitter. In order to handle the channel uncertainty when the information is passed over the channel, the useful information is encoded with redundant bits to correct single and multiple bit errors as the information is received over the uncertain channel. At the transmitter, the encoding for forward error correction (FEC) is performed. In order to reduce the probability of block errors from occurring, the encoded information is passed over an interleaver, so that contiguous encoded bits are not transmitted adjacent to each other. The symbols are then mapped over a carrier frequency in a band through a form of frequency interleaving before being processed for transmission. On reception, a reverse process is undertaken: the received data is de-interleaved and then decoded. The decoded data is processed for error detection and check, and if necessary, a correction of data.
Typically, for a certain bandwidth and network architecture, a transmit data path exists as a hardware implementation of all of the components. These components perform the functions of encoding, stream parsing, QAM mapping, OFDM modulation and preamble processing before passing the processed data to an RF transceiver connected to an antenna. On the receive side, an antenna connected to an RF transceiver receives the information and subsequent components perform preamble processing, OFDM demodulation, QAM de-mapping, bit de-interleaving and decoding. Both receive and transmit data paths have a certain data width and operate at a certain clock speed to support a certain bandwidth.
With the increase in the demands of the internet, all sections of the network, including wireless LAN are going through a bandwidth explosion, necessitating an upgrade of the specifications to a higher bandwidth and with better and more reliable performance. For an equipment vendor in the networking area and particularly in the wireless LAN space, it is imperative to keep abreast with architectural changes driven by growth in demand for the bandwidth and develop products with reduced time to market and with competitive feature sets. For the vendors, it is increasingly difficult to spin a new generation of product architecture with each and every change in the specification.
In the evolutionary development of the 802.11 standard, the latest standard is referred to as 802.11ac for "very high throughput" (VHT). VHT transfers data in a 5 GHz band. Embodiments include RF signal bandwidths of up to 160 MHz and data rates of up to 6.933 Gbps. In one embodiment, maximum bandwidths can be 80 MHz or 160 MHz. More efficient signal processing schemes and data path design techniques are being deployed to reduce noise and improve the signal to noise ratio along with scaling the bandwidths to double or quadruple the data transfer rates.
Where a next generation network architecture with higher bandwidth is to be supported, several trade-off points are available to the system designer. The system designer performs under the constraints of managing recurring and non-recurring engineering costs, reduced time to market and faster adaptability to changing standards. There is no compromise however, on key aspects of supporting the higher specified bandwidth and maintaining backwards compatibility to be able to work with equipment that has not yet been upgraded. The system designer's work invariably involves a tradeoff between using the components designed for a previous generation and running it at same or higher speeds or redesigning the entire data path. Redesigning the entire data path presents substantial risks to time to market. The new design has to be functionally verified and confirmed that it complies with a set of specifications for function, reliability, mechanics and environment, among others. Running older designs at higher speeds is not always feasible as the design has been targeted to a certain clock speed for a certain target technology.
While some clock speedup is possible by way of upgrade of technology, it is not of the order of the scale by which the bandwidths are expanding from generation to generation. Further, where the design involves analog components along with digital components, as in a silicon implementation of an RF radio receiver and transmitter, the linear scaling of technology is not possible, as it is for a purely digital design. Accordingly, traditional solutions do not present optimal solutions for the system designer.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Method and apparatus for coding and interleaving for very high throughput wireless communications


Apparatus and method for finding an unoccupied parking space in a parking lot using an On-Line computer system comprises barring mechanisms at a parking space having a receiver capable of receiving a specific wave energy frequency transmitting from a remote control unit. Upon receiving of such signal of matching frequency resulting in removal of the barring mechanism, permitting parking of a vehicle into such space and sending information on-line to the system computer at the entrance that the space is occupied. Upon leaving of the vehicle from the parking space, the barring mechanisms resumes and the transmitter unit at the parking space sending signal on-line to notify the computer at the entrance that such parking space is unoccupied. For a permanent parking space in condominiums or apartments, the receiver unit is assigned to receive a specific signal from a remote control for a predetermined period of time.

Presently, in a parking lot, drivers must waste so much time, energy and fuel finding an unoccupied parking space. This is most undesirable for clients of all shopping complexes. Thus, this system of computerized on-line detection of any available unoccupied parking spaces is invented to help minimizing the time for finding a parking space and the unnecessary waste of the fuel. There are presently, only the inventions that help the driver to park properly in an available parking space in a parking lot using sensors either visual or audible (U.S. Pat. No. 5,945,907), infrared or laser transmitting devices (U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,177,479 and 6,531,966) to detect the distance between the car and other objects to avoid hitting the car against a wall of a garage or any other cars or objects, thus avoid any possible damage. None yet has been invented as of this present invention which are apparatus and method of finding any unoccupied spaces available at a certain moment in a parking lot to help directing a driver to such a space with no need to spend too much of his time and effort.

Apparatus and method of finding an unoccupied parking space in a parking lot


A play structure is provided for use in a playground or park. The play structure includes a wading pool containing a swing with an overhead water spray, a slide, a roof structure over the slide, a waterfall originating on the roof structure and cascading downward onto the slide, a climbing structure to allow access to the slide, a tunnel on rollers underneath the climbing structure, swinging rings with overhead water sprays, water spouts, and faucets for activating the water sprays and spouts.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to play structures for use in a playground or park and, more particularly, to a play structure having overhead water sprays, water spouts and faucets for activating the water sprays and spouts.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recreational water theme parks have grown in popularity over the years. Most water theme parks consist primarily of ride or "thrill" attractions. The most popular among these are water slides in which participants slide down a wet trough or tunnel and splash down into a pool of water. While thrill attractions are very popular among older children and adults they are often unsuited for small children. Facilities for entertaining small children have generally been limited to wading pools, miniature water slides and static play structures.

Play structure with water sprays and spouts


This invention relates to the use of blends of diethanolamine derivatives and biodiesel as an additive for improving lubricity in low sulfur fuels and to fuels and additive concentrates comprising said lubricity additives.

Biodiesel has long been known as an alternative diesel fuel. Typically, the biodiesel was used to replace hydrocarbonaceous diesel fuel. Blends of biodiesel and hydrocarbonaceous diesel fuels were also prepared in order to obtain a more environmentally friendly fuel.
Sulfur contained in fuel, for example middle distillate fuels such as diesel fuel and jet fuel, is said to constitute a serious environmental hazard. Hence strict regulations limiting the amount of sulfur which may be present in such fuels have been introduced. Unfortunately, fuels having a suitably low sulfur content exhibit very poor inherent lubricity and this can lead to problems when the fuel is used. For example, the use of low sulfur fuel in diesel engines frequently results in damage to the fuel injector pump which relies on the natural lubricating properties of the fuel to prevent component failure. There is therefore a need to improve the lubricating properties of low sulfur fuels.
EP-A-0608149 discloses the use of an ester as an additive in a liquid hydrocarbon compression-ignition fuel oil for reducing consumption of the fuel oil.
EP-B-680506 discloses the use of esters as lubricity additives in low sulfur diesel fuel. The reference does not suggest the use of blends containing derivatives of diethanolamine or teach biodiesel, specifically.
EP-A-0635558 discloses gas oil compositions containing lubricity additives which are lower alkyl esters of a mixture of saturated and unsaturated fatty acids derived from vegetable oleaginous seeds. The reference does not suggest the use of blends containing derivatives of diethanolamine.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,204,481 teaches anti-wear compression ignition fuel comprising a wear inhibiting amount of a fatty acid amide or ester of diethanolamine. The reference does not suggest blending said fatty acid amides or esters with biodiesel.

Fuel lubricity from blends of a diethanolamine derivative and biodiesel


A pixel cell with controlled leakage is formed by modifying the location and gate profile of a high dynamic range (HDR) transistor. The HDR transistor may have the gate profile of a transfer gate or a reset gate. The HDR transistor may be located on a side of the photodiode that is the same, opposite to, or perpendicular to the transfer gate. The leakage through the HDR transistor may be controlled by modifying the photodiode implants around the transistor. The photodiode implants at the HDR transistor may be placed similarly to the implants at the transfer gate. However, when the photodiode implants are moved away from the HDR transistor, leakage is reduced. When the photodiode implants are moved farther under the HDR transistor, leakage is increased to the extent desirable. The leakage through the HDR transistor may also be controlled by applying a voltage across the transistor.

A CMOS imager circuit includes a focal plane array of pixel cells, each cell includes a photosensor, for example, a photogate, photoconductor or a photodiode overlying a substrate for producing a photo-generated charge in a doped region of the substrate. A readout circuit is provided for each pixel cell and includes at least a source follower transistor and a row select transistor for coupling the source follower transistor to a column output line. The pixel cell also typically has a floating diffusion node, connected to the gate of the source follower transistor. Charge generated by the photosensor is sent to the floating diffusion region. The imager may also include a transistor for transferring charge from the photosensor to the floating diffusion node and another transistor for resetting the floating diffusion region node to a predetermined charge level prior to charge transference.
In a CMOS imager, the active elements of a pixel cell, for example a four transistor pixel, perform the necessary functions of (1) photon to charge conversion; (2) transfer of charge to the floating diffusion node; (3) resetting the floating diffusion node to a known state before the transfer of charge to it; (4) selection of a pixel cell for readout; and (5) output and amplification of a signal representing a reset voltage and a pixel signal voltage based on the photo converted charges. The charge at the floating diffusion node is converted to a pixel output voltage by a source follower output transistor.
FIG. 1 illustrates a block diagram of a CMOS imager device 308 having a pixel array 240 with each pixel cell being constructed as described above. Pixel array 240 comprises a plurality of pixels arranged in a predetermined number of columns and rows. The pixels of each row in array 240 are all turned on at the same time by a row select line, and the pixels of each column are selectively output by respective column select lines. A plurality of rows and column lines are provided for the entire array 240. The row lines are selectively activated by the row driver 245 in response to row address decoder 255 and the column select lines are selectively activated by the column driver 260 in response to column address decoder 270. Thus, a row and column address is provided for each pixel.
The CMOS imager is operated by the control circuit 250 which controls address decoders 255, 270 for selecting the appropriate row and column lines for pixel readout, and row and column driver circuitry 245, 260 which apply driving voltage to the drive transistors of the selected row and column lines. The pixel column signals, which typically include a pixel reset signal Vrst and a pixel image signal Vsig for each pixel are read by sample and hold circuitry 261, 262 associated with the column device 260. A differential signal Vrst−Vsig is produced for each pixel which is amplified and digitized by analog-to-digital converter 275. The analog to digital converter 275 converts the analog pixel signals received from the column driver 260 in its associated sample/hold circuits 261, 262 to digital signals which are fed to an image processor 280 to form a digital image.
Exemplary CMOS imaging circuits, processing steps thereof, and detailed descriptions of the functions of various CMOS elements of an imaging circuit are described, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 6,140,630 to Rhodes, U.S. Pat. No. 6,376,868 to Rhodes, U.S. Pat. No. 6,310,366 to Rhodes et al., U.S. Pat. No. 6,326,652 to Rhodes, U.S. Pat. No. 6,204,524 to Rhodes, and U.S. Pat. No. 6,333,205 to Rhodes. The disclosures of each of the forgoing are hereby incorporated by reference herein in their entirety.
A schematic diagram of an exemplary CMOS pixel four-transistor (4T) pixel cell 10 is illustrated in FIG. 2. The four transistors include a reset transistor 32, a source follower transistor 34, a row select transistor 36 and a transfer gate 30. A photosensor 26 converts incident light into a charge. A floating diffusion region 28 receives charge from the photosensor 26 through the transfer gate 30 and is connected to the reset transistor 32 and the source follower transistor 34. The source follower transistor 34 outputs a signal proportional to the charge accumulated in the floating diffusion region 28 to a sampling circuit when the row select transistor 36 is turned on. The reset transistor 32 resets the floating diffusion region 28 to a known potential prior to transfer of charge from the photosensor 26. The photosensor 26 may be a photodiode, a photogate, or a photoconductor. If a photodiode is employed, the photodiode may be formed below a surface of the substrate and may be a buried p-n-p photodiode, buried n-p-n photodiode, a buried p-n photodiode, or a buried n-p photodiode, among others.
Image sensors, such as an image sensor employing the conventional pixel cell 10, have a characteristic light dynamic range. Light dynamic range refers to the range of incident light that can be accommodated by an image sensor in a single frame of pixel data. It is desirable to have an image sensor with a high light dynamic range to image scenes that generate high light dynamic range incident signals, such as indoor rooms with windows to the outside, outdoor scenes with mixed shadows and bright sunshine, night-time scenes combining artificial lighting and shadows, and many others.
The electrical dynamic range for an image sensor is commonly defined as the ratio of its largest non-saturating signal to the standard deviation of the noise under dark conditions. The electrical dynamic range is limited on an upper end by the charge saturation level of the sensor, and on a lower end by noise imposed limitations and/or quantization limits of the analog to digital converter used to produce the digital image. When the light dynamic range of an image sensor is too small to accommodate the variations in light intensities of the imaged scene, e.g. by having a low light saturation level, the full range of the image scene is not reproduced. The illumination-voltage profile of the conventional pixel 10 is typically linear as shown in FIG. 40A, which illustrates an illumination v. voltage graph of a prior art pixel cell. A pixel cell's maximum voltage Vmax may be reached at a relatively low level of illumination Imax which causes the pixel cell to be easily saturated, thus limiting the dynamic range of the pixel. The relationship between electrical dynamic range and light dynamic range is shown in FIGS. 40A and 40B.
When the incident light captured and converted into a charge by the photosensor during an integration period is greater than the capacity of the photosensor, excess charge may overflow and be transferred to adjacent pixels. This undesirable phenomenon is known as blooming and results in a bright spot in the output image. Thus, there is a desire and need for a pixel cell having improved saturation response and lower potential for blooming.

Pixel cell with a controlled output signal knee characteristic response


An angle adaptor for an integrated system (IS) bicycle frame head tube allows a user to change the effective head tube angle, and thus the fork trail, for a bicycle.

In bicycling, the head tube is the part of the bicycle frame that rotatably receives the fork tube (also called the steerer tube). The fork tube carries the handlebars at its upper end and at its lower end carries the fork (which in turn carries the front wheel).
The head tube angle is the angle of the head tube relative to even ground, and will define the axis of rotation for the fork tube, which is the steering axis. The fork rake (or offset) is the distance between the fork arms and the steering axis. The "fork trail", which provides an indication of how fast a bicycle will steer, is a function of the fork rake, the head tube angle and the radius of the front wheel. Less trail corresponds to faster steering, and more trail will result in slower steering, Either faster or slower steering may be desirable, depending on the context and the rider's preference. Thus, the head tube angle affects the steering characteristics of a bicycle, and the head tube angle affects other aspects of bicycle handling as well.
There are a number of different standards for bicycle head tubes. One such standard is the integrated system (IS) head tube, in which the bearings that support the fork tube are largely internal. The IS standard includes IS41, IS42 and IS52. While it would be desirable to be able to modify the effective head tube angle for a bicycle having an IS head tube, the structure and configuration of the IS head tube design make this challenging.


A manufacturing method of a silicon nozzle plate, having; a film forming process to provide the film representing an etching mask for etching the silicon substrate on a surface of the silicon substrate; a pattern film forming to form a pattern film by partially removing the film based on a nozzle hole forming pattern and an outer shape forming pattern; a silicon substrate etching process to form nozzle holes based on the nozzle hole forming pattern representing the etching mask, and to form a half etching portion at least in a part of the silicon substrate based on the outer shape forming pattern; and a silicon substrate separating process to separate the silicon substrate by splitting along the half etching portion.

Conventionally, it is proposed that a head member such as a liquid chamber of an inkjet head and a common liquid chamber is formed by etching of a silicon substrate (silicon wafer) (refer to Patent Documents 1 and 2).
As described above, when a silicon is used for the inkjet member, it is necessary that a plurality of head chip members are formed on the silicon substrate (silicon wafer), and they are separated into each chip. In this case, as a method by which the silicon wafer is divided into the chips, a dicing is generally used. The dicing is a method where a blade having diamond powder adhering on its circumference is rotated at a high speed and the blade is moved along a line in which the chip is cut out and the wafer is cut.
Further, in order to solve a problem of allegation of debris due to the dicing, for example, as written in Patent Document 2, a predetermined outer shape forming mask is formed in the silicon wafer, an anisotropic etching is conducted, and it is separated into each chip by a V-shaped groove. Or as the cut out method of the semiconductor chip, written in Patent Document 3, there is proposed a method where a first and a second V-shaped groove are formed, then the wafer is cleaved by concentrating a stress on the first and the second V-shaped grooves to separated the wafer into each chip.
Further, in order to solve the problem of chip flaw by the dicing, as written in Patent Document 1, a method in which the dicing and anisotropic etching are used together, is also proposed.    [Patent Document 1] Tokkai No. 2004-253695    [Patent Document 2] Tokkaihei No. 10-157149    [Patent Document 3] Tokkaihei No. 5-36825

Manufacturing method of silicon nozzle plate and manufacturing method of inkjet head


A heat dissipating fan includes an impeller which has a hub extended forward from a rear wall. The hub has a plurality of first tenons formed at the front rim and a plurality of spaced slots. The spaced slots form a plurality of radial lugs such that the hub becomes elastic. The rotor of the fan is placed in the hub quickly and securely to complete the fan assembly. The impeller further has an annular sleeve which has a plurality of second tenons. Each second tenon is bordered by a pair of second slots at two sides. The motor shell may engage with the inner circumference of the sleeve and is held securely by the second tenons.

This invention relates to a heat dissipating fan and particularly an improved heat dissipating fan that has a novel impeller which enables rapid assembly of the fan.
Conventional heat dissipating fans for computer processors known in the art mostly have a preformed rotor (or an inner circumference engaged with a motor shell) in the center. Because of technical constraints in injection molding process, the fans thus made have the following disadvantages:
1. The rotor (or motor shell) of the fan has to be disposed ahead in the mold of the fan impeller during the injection forming process to be integrally formed together. This is tedious and time-consuming work.
2. Disposing the rotor (or motor shell) in the mold before injection forming of the fan impeller is a precise operation. Any negligence by the operators may result in impeller damage or even cause a safety hazard for the operators.
The foregoing problems are mainly caused by the structural design deficiency of the fan. There is still room for improvement.
It is therefore an object of this invention to provide an improved heat dissipating fan that has a novel impeller structure which enables fabrication and assembly of the fan in a simpler, safer and more efficient manner.
In one aspect, the fan according to this invention has a plurality of first tenons and first slots and lugs formed in the hub of the fan impeller for engaging with the rotor of the motor rapidly and securely. The fan impeller further has a sleeve which has a plurality of second tenons and second slots for rapidly and securely engaging with the motor shell. Because of such construction, the rotor or motor shell may be assembled with the fan impeller separately after the impeller has been made by the injection molding process. Fabrication and assembly of the fan thus is much simpler, safer and more efficient.
Further scope of the applicability of the present invention will become apparent from the detailed description given hereinafter. However, it should be understood that the detailed description and specific examples, while indicating preferred embodiments of the invention, are given by way of illustration only, since various changes and modifications within the spirit and scope of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from this detailed description.

No. 150, Lane 250, Kung-Yeh 2nd Rd., Lin-Yuan Hsiang


The present invention pertains to retroviral vector particles having target cell specificity which comprises a retroviral vector having a targeting peptide fused to the envelope protein of the retroviral vector to form a targeting envelope, wherein the targeting peptide replaces or disrupts the natural viral receptor binding site and the targeting peptide is the antigen binding site of an antibody, the receptor binding peptide of another virus, or is a peptide that specifically binds to a specific receptor of the target.

The disclosures referred to herein to illustrate the background of the invention and to provide additional detail with respect to its practice are incorporated herein by reference. For convenience, the disclosures are referenced in the following text and respectively grouped in the appended bibliography.
Retroviral vectors are the most efficient tools to introduce genes into vertebrate cells. Clinical experiments have been conducted to use retrovirus vectors to cure a genetic disease in humans (adenosine deaminase (ADA) deficiency). Besides correcting inborn errors of metabolism, gene therapy is also being tested in clinical trials to cure cancer and various other diseases (Science 1992, Vol. 258, pp. 744-746).
Retroviral vectors are basically retroviral particles that contain a genome in which all viral protein coding sequences have been replaced with the gene(s) of interest. As a result, such viruses cannot further replicate after one round of infection. Retroviral vector particles are produced by helper cells (FIG. 1). Such helper cells are cell lines that contain plasmid constructs which express all retroviral proteins necessary for replication. After transfection of the vector genome into such helper cells, the vector genome is encapsidated into virus particles (due the presence of specific encapsidation sequences). Virus particles are released from the helper cell carrying a genome containing only the gene(s) of interest (FIG. 1). In the last decade, several retroviral vector systems, derived from chicken or murine retroviruses, have been developed for the expression of various genes (for reviews see Temin, 1987; Gilboa, 1990).
Retroviral vectors have several limitations. Besides the limited genome size that can be encapsidated into viral particles, the most limiting factor for the application of retroviral vectors is the restricted host range of the vector particle. Some retroviruses can only infect cells of one species (ecotropic retroviruses) or even only one cell-type of one species (e.g., HIV). Other retroviruses have a very broad host range and can infect many different types of tissues of many different species (amphotropic retroviruses).
The initial step of retroviral infection is the binding of the viral envelope (env) glycoprotein to specific cell membrane receptors, the nature of which is unknown for most retroviruses. However, the interaction of the viral env protein with the cell surface receptor is very specific and determines cell-type specificity of a particular virus (Weiss et al, 1985). The envelope protein of all known retroviruses is made up of two associated peptides, (e.g., gp70 and p20(E) in SNV). These peptides are derived by proteolytic cleavage from the same precursor (gPR90env) encoded by the retroviral env gene. One peptide p20(E), also termed TM, anchors the protein in the membrane of the virus and, as shown with HIV, mediates the fusion of the virus and cell membranes. The second peptide gp70, also termed SU, mediates the binding of the virus to its receptor and, therefore, determines the host range (Weiss et al., 1985; Varmus and Brown, 1989).
Data obtained with several retroviruses indicate that the retroviral envelope protein forms trimers or tetramers. The formation of trimers appears to be mediated by the TM peptide (reviewed in Hunter, E. et al., 1990). Targeting envelopes retain TM in order to (i) maintain a membrane fusion function and (ii) maintain oligomerization. However, since X-ray pictures are not available, it is unclear whether or to what degree the construction of targeting-molecules impaired the structure of the membrane fusion domain.

Cell type specific gene transfer using retroviral vectors containing antibody-envelope fusion proteins and wild-type envelope fusion proteins

University of Medicine & Dentistry of New Jersey


A multi-ribbed, standing seam structural roof panel with double ribs which can be attached directly to building framing to create a structural rated building panel with shear values which also serves as waterproofing panel.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention is directed to a structural building panel as well as a standing seam, metal roofing product or panel, in general, and to such a panel that weather proofs the structure that it covers and also is a structural component attached to the structure and protects the attaching hardware from weather, in particular.
2. Prior Art
A standing seam roof is typically a roofing system that attaches to the structure in a non-positive way as not to create a positive bond to the building. This roof is considered to be "floating" and is not used in the calculations to determine shear values of a structure. This roof system is designed to waterproof the structure only.
Another metal roof panel is a bat and seam roof which has a cap which covers the vulnerable seam preventing moisture from entering the structure. This roof panel is another "floating" roof using a clip to hold down the panel. This system has no shear strength value. This system is designed to waterproof only.
Other roofing systems which screw through the roof panel do not have weather protection from the attaching hardware or have not been designed with a standing seam construction so as a structural panel.
In all instances, the lack of shear ratings in "floating" roof panels requires extra framing under the roof to accommodate the lack of strength and integrity that the typical metal roof does not offer.
The screw down panel systems do create a certain amount of shear value but leave the attaching hardware vulnerable to the weather and is not a standing seam roof.
It has long been desired to obtain a joint for standard (not specially preformed) roofing sheets of so-called corrugated or V-crimp type. Such sheets are used extensively as shipped from the factories in closely nested packs and carried in stock by dealers of such materials in all parts of the country. In use they are almost invariably overlapped and nailed down, the nails being driven through the high ridges (high parts of the corrugations or crimps) on the theory that water will not seek an opening at the top of such exposed ridges, but will run off into the low areas. This, however, has proven a fallacy, inasmuch as the nails are exposed and work loose whereupon water penetrates the roof. This roof is merely a sheet metal panel and is not considered a standing seam roof. Various methods have been proposed to overcome this defect, but most of them require working of the standard sheets in the field and often requires special tools which increases the insulation costs.
Other methods of panel manufacture have been advocated which require the manufacturer to make a special sheet with obvious manufacturing, distribution and application drawbacks. However, even with such special sheets, exposed nails are still involved, and the surfacing does not prevent the access of water. On these panels the attaching hardware, either screws or nails, is exposed directly to the weather.


The invention relates to a processing system comprising a calculation device comprising at least one calculation unit (13), a storage device and a system for switching between the storage device and the calculation device. In order to reduce the size of the switching system, the storage device comprises several banks of registers (21, 22) for storing words, the switching system comprises at least one switching device (24) associated with each bank of registers and the calculation units exchange a word with a bank of registers by means of the associated switching device.

Many processing systems comprise one or more calculation units intended to perform operations on data. These calculation units can exchange words comprising the data with a storage device in which said words are stored. To do this, a switching system (a "crossbar system") is used in order in particular to direct the words coming from the storage device to a suitable calculation unit. The publication "Architecture and Implementation of a High-Definition Video Co-Processor for Digital Television Applications" by Santanu Dutta et al., published in January 2000, describes an example of such a processing system.
This processing system comprises a bank of registers constituting the storage device and comprising register reading ports and register writing ports, calculation units comprising calculation unit input ports and calculation unit output ports, and a reading and writing switching system comprising a reading switching system and a writing switching system. An exchange of words can be effected from a register reading port to a calculation unit input port, by means of the reading switching system; this is then a reading. An exchange of words can also be effected from a calculation unit output port to a register writing port, by means of the writing switching system. This is then a writing.
The term "calculation unit port" will hereinafter be applied indifferently to a calculation unit input or output port, "register port" to a register reading or writing port and "switching system" to a reading or writing switching system. In addition, the term "exchange" applies to a reading or writing of words.
In such a processing system, the switching system is implemented by means of multiplexers. The size of the switching system depends on the number of multiplexers used. The number of multiplexers depends on the number of register ports and calculation unit ports between which words may be exchanged, and the size of the words exchanged. In this processing system, the size of the words exchanged is large, and the words can be exchanged between all the register ports and all the calculation unit ports, by means of the switching system.
FIG. 1 illustrates a processing system according to the state of the art. Such a processing system comprises a storage device 10, a reading switching system 11, a writing switching system 12, and first, second, third and fourth calculation units 13 to 16. The storage device 10 comprises six register reading ports, for example rrp1 and rrp6, and four register writing ports, for example wrp1 and wrp4. The calculation units comprise calculation unit input ports, for example iup1 and iup2, and calculation unit output ports, for example eup5.
In this example, the words exchanged are words of P bits. Let it be assumed that the first calculation unit 13 wishes to read a data item stored in the storage device 10, on its calculation unit input port rup1. A control device, not shown in FIG. 1, indicates to the storage device 10 that it must send this data item over one of its reading ports, for example the port rrp1. This data item is then sent to the reading switching system 11, which is responsible for sending the data item to the calculation unit input port rup1. To do this, the reading switching system 11 comprises multiplexers. The control device sends control signals to the multiplexers, in order to direct the data item to the calculation unit input port iup1.
In such a processing system, all the register reading ports are connected to all the calculation unit input ports by means of the reading switching device 11. The expression "two ports are connected" means that an exchange of words is possible between these two ports. In FIG. 1, only a few connections have been shown, for reasons of clarity. If:                the number of register reading ports is termed m;        the number of calculation unit input ports is termed n, and        the number of bits of the words exchanged is termed P,        the number of multiplexers of the reading switching device is n(m−1)P.
For the writing switching device, the functioning is the same. If:                the number of calculation unit output ports is termed m′;        the number of register writing ports is termed n′, and        the number of bits of the words exchanged is termed P,        the number of multiplexers of the writing switching device is n′(m′−1)P.
The number of multiplexers therefore depends in particular on the number of bits of the words exchanged. However, the words exchanged have a size of P bits, whilst certain calculation units perform certain operations on data of a lesser size, for example P/N bits. When a calculation unit wishes to read a data item P/N bits, the storage device sends to it a word of P bits comprising this data item. Consequently, during such an exchange, (N−1)P/N bits are not used by the calculation unit.
This results in the size of the switching system being large. This presents a drawback, since the switching system is bulky. Because of this, the number of calculation units and calculation unit ports is limited, since the switching system cannot occupy more than a predefined surface area.


Various arrangements are described for ignoring inadvertent remote control key presses. A remote control may detect multiple key presses associated with various commands. It may be determined whether the first key press and the second key press have occurred within a predefined threshold time period. If the key presses occurred within the threshold time period, the first command and the second command may be ignored. Additional or alternate factors may be considered in determining whether one or more key presses of the remote control should be ignored.

Remote controls to operate audiovisual equipment, such as television receivers, have become an indispensable part of everyday life. When in the hands of a seasoned user, a remote control can be deftly wielded to change channels and invoke a litany of other functions. When buttons of a remote control are inadvertently activated, however, a remote control can negatively affect a user's use and enjoyment of the audiovisual equipment. For example, buttons of a remote control misplaced between couch cushions can be accidentally depressed and trigger a channel change while a user is trying to watch television programming.

Methods and systems for ignoring unintentional key presses


A polymeric composition is a blend of one or more heterophasic copolymers of propylene and ethylene produced by a multistep polymerization, wherein the heterophasic copolymers comprise a low crystalline matrix component and a soft amorphous elastomeric component, in which both the matrix component and the soft amorphous elastomeric component contain greater than 55% by weight propylene; one or more additional elastomeric components selected from the group of an ethylene/α-olefin C3-C20 copolymer with a total ethylene concentration of greater than or equal to 65% by weight; and a propylene/α-olefin C2, C4-C20 copolymer with a total propylene concentration of greater than or equal to 65% by weight; 5-65% by weight of the total composition of one or more inorganic or organic reinforcement materials; and 0.01-4% by weight of the total composition of a maleic anhydride grafted polypropylene compatibilizer or coupling agent. The polymeric composition has a low crystallinity of less than 30 J/gram measured by DSC. The total elastomer content of the polymeric composition is greater than 50% by weight, and the overall polymeric composition has an ethylene concentration of greater than 10% by weight.

In many consumer markets, soft touch surfaces are desirable on parts that are frequently touched. In targeted applications, molded parts must also demonstrate appropriate strength, stiffness, and durability required for the application. Articles fabricated from this invention may include automotive interior trim parts such as door panels, consoles, instrument panels, seat closures, and knee bolsters. Non-automotive parts may include chair arms, seat backs, table edges, grips, handles, and other articles that are frequently touched or desired to have a soft or warm touch.
When an object is touched, sensory information is gathered by the skin, joints, tendons and muscles and conveyed to the brain by the nervous system. Tactile feedback is very complex due to the large amount of simultaneously gathered stimuli, which may also include an emotive response associated with a particular surface. Therefore, it is not surprising that whether a user will find a specific surface "pleasant" is difficult to predict.
One example of the benefits of soft touch haptics is evident in soft interior trim versus traditional rigid materials. In the auto industry, leather interior trim has traditionally been limited to use in high end vehicles. Because of the association of leather and luxury, it is not surprising that the use of materials with similar soft touch feel results in an increase in perceived quality, luxury, and comfort compared to hard plastic. Despite having no relevance to the performance of the vehicle, haptic feedback gathered by touching the trim is often influential in the decision of whether or not to purchase a vehicle.
As a result of the increase in perceived quality of soft interior trim, substantial effort and resources have been channeled into creating synthetic materials and resins with touch surfaces haptics.
It is necessary to develop polymeric resins with an improved surface feel as determined by the end user. Additionally, such resins must be formed by processes that are economical and relatively easy to implement.
Hand or machine wrapped "imitation-leathers" have been created from materials including polyurethanes, polyvinyl chloride, and TPOs to try and capture the quality benefit of soft touch without the expense of leather. The soft skin materials are produced by sheet extrusion or casting films and are subsequently wrapped onto rigid substrates. The resulting films have a desirable feel; however, high scrap rates and labor costs make these materials cost prohibitive.
Another method for producing parts with soft touch haptics is to add a functional coating or over molded material layer onto a thermoformed part. Soft touch paints and topcoats, such as those described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,300,419 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,498,214 can be applied to a thermoformed part to increase surface durability and create the desired feel for thermoformed parts. Over molding soft thermoformed skins to pre-formed rigid substrates is also an option, as described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,219,922 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,136,415. Unfortunately, these processes have high scrap rates and manufacturing costs resulting from expensive tooling modifications or multiple post-molding steps.
An object of the present invention is to prepare a blended thermoplastic material that when molded, produces parts with a desirable balance of softness and stiffness, a durable, aesthetically pleasing surface, and a pleasant soft touch feel with reduced scrap rates and manufacturing costs.

Polypropylene compounds with enhanced haptics

ASAHI KASEI PLASTICS NORTH AMERICA, INC.


A method for opening tank shut-off valves in a fuel cell system that includes multiple pressurized tanks. A flow control device is positioned in a supply line downstream of the tank shut-off valves. When the system is started up, only one of the tank shut-off valves is opened to allow the pressure in the supply line to increase between the tank shut-off valves and the flow control device before the other tank shut-off valves are opened. Therefore, only one of the tank shut-off valves is subjected to the high pressure difference that induces significant valve wear and tear. The valve opening sequence is controlled so each of the tank shut-off valves is selected as the one to be opened at system start-up by a cycling process.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to a method for selectively opening shut-off valves for multiple tanks in a gas feeding system to reduce valve wear and, more particularly, to a method for selectively opening shut-off valves for multiple tanks in a fuel cell system, where the method includes opening the shut-off valve associated with one tank until a pressure equalization occurs in a hydrogen supply line between the opened valve and a pressure drop device, and then opening the other shut-off valves for the other tanks thereafter to reduce valve wear.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Hydrogen is a very attractive fuel because it is clean and can be used to efficiently produce electricity in a fuel cell. The automotive industry expends significant resources in the development of hydrogen fuel cell systems as a source of power for vehicles. Such vehicles would be more efficient and generate fewer emissions than today's vehicles employing internal combustion engines.
A hydrogen fuel cell is an electrochemical device that includes an anode and a cathode with an electrolyte therebetween. The anode receives hydrogen gas and the cathode receives oxygen or air. The hydrogen gas is dissociated in the anode to generate free hydrogen protons and electrons. The hydrogen protons pass through the electrolyte to the cathode. The hydrogen protons react with the oxygen and the electrons in the cathode to generate water. The electrons from the anode cannot pass through the electrolyte, and thus are directed through a load to perform work before being sent to the cathode. The work acts to operate the vehicle.
Many fuel cells are typically combined in a fuel cell stack to generate the desired power. For example, a typical fuel cell stack for a vehicle may have two hundred or more stacked fuel cells. The fuel cell stack receives a cathode input gas, typically a flow of air forced through the stack by a compressor. Not all of the oxygen in the air is consumed by the stack and some of the air is output as a cathode exhaust gas that may include water as a stack by-product. The fuel cell stack also receives an anode hydrogen input gas that flows into the anode side of the stack.
For some vehicle fuel cell designs, hydrogen is stored in compressed gas tanks under high pressure on the vehicle to provide the hydrogen necessary for the fuel cell system. The pressure in the compressed tank can be upwards of 700 bar. The compressed tank typically includes an inner plastic liner that provides a gas tight seal for the hydrogen, and an outer carbon fiber composite layer that provides the structural integrity of the tank. Because hydrogen is a very light and diffusive gas, the inner liner must be carefully engineered in order to act as a permeation barrier. The hydrogen is removed from the tank through a pipe. At least one pressure regulator is provided that reduces the pressure of the hydrogen within the tank to a pressure suitable for the fuel cell system.
Typically, the fuel cell systems discussed above include several compressed hydrogen tanks that are coupled to a common hydrogen supply line to the stack, where each tank includes a primary tank shut-off valve. A second shut-off valve or other flow control device is provided downstream of the tank shut-off valves, where the device can be a secondary shut-off valve, a flow restrictor, a pressure regulator, etc. The tank shut-off valves are designed to have a maximum number of cycles before the wear and tear of the valve components reduces the valves effectiveness, including sealing integrity against leaks. Typically, this maximum number of cycles is dependent upon the pressure difference between the inlet side of the valve and the outlet side of the valve when it is opened and closed. Particularly, if the pressure on the downstream side of the tank shut-off valve is much lower than the pressure in the tank during an opening cycle, the valve will wear out more quickly. It is desirable to limit the number of cycles of the tank shut-off valve at these pressure differences to increase the life of the valve.

Method for opening tank shut-off valves in gas feeding systems with connected tanks


The invention is a method for forming a silicon oxide film of an SOI wafer, the method by which at least thermal oxidation treatment is performed (a process (A)) on an SOI wafer having an oxide film on the back surface and, after the thermal oxidation treatment, heat treatment is additionally performed (a process (B)) in a non-oxidizing atmosphere at a temperature higher than the temperature at which the thermal oxidation treatment was performed, whereby a silicon oxide film is formed on the front surface of an SOI layer. This provides a method for forming a silicon oxide film of an SOI wafer, the method that can prevent an SOI wafer from being warped after thermal oxidation treatment even when an SOI wafer having a thick oxide film on the back surface is used and a silicon oxide film for forming a device is formed by thermal oxidation on the front surface on the SOI layer side, and can reduce exposure failure and adsorption failure caused by warpage of the SOI wafer and enhance yields of device fabrication.

One of the wafers for a semiconductor device is an SOI (Silicon On Insulator) wafer having a silicon layer (hereinafter also referred to as an SOI layer) formed on a buried oxide film, which is an insulator film. The SOI wafer has features such as small parasitic capacitance and high radiation resistance because an SOI layer in a substrate surface part which becomes a device fabrication region is electrically separated from the inside of a substrate by a buried insulator layer (a buried oxide film layer (BOX layer)). Therefore, the SOI wafer is expected to produce the effects such as high-speed and low-power consumption operation and prevention of a soft error, and is regarded as a promising substrate for a high-performance semiconductor device.
In many cases, the SOI wafer having a structure composed of a base wafer, a BOX layer, and an SOI layer is generally produced by a bonding method. The bonding method is a method by which an SOI wafer is produced as follows. For example, after forming a silicon oxide film on the front surface of at least one of two silicon single crystal wafers, the two wafers are brought into intimate contact with each other via the oxide film thus formed, bonding strength is increased by performing bonding heat treatment, and one of the wafers (a wafer forming an SOI layer (hereinafter a bond wafer)) is then thinned by mirror polishing or a so-called ion implantation delamination method.
In the above-described bonding method, since a coefficient of thermal expansion of a silicon single crystal forming the base wafer and the SOI layer is different from that of a silicon oxide film forming the BOX layer by an order of magnitude or more, when bonding heat treatment is performed after the two wafers are laid one on top of another via the oxide film, residual stress accumulates in the base wafer and the bond wafer, the residual stress due to the difference in coefficient of thermal expansion between these wafers and the BOX layer. At this point, when the oxide films on the bond wafer and the base wafer have the same thickness, no noticeable warpage occurs in the bonded wafer thanks to well-balanced residual stress. However, when an SOI layer is formed thereafter by thinning the bond wafer, the SOI wafer thus produced lacks in stress balance, and the front surface thereof on which the SOI layer is present is convexly curved.
When such a warped SOI wafer is used in a device fabrication process, exposure failure and adsorption failure occur, leading to a reduction in yields of device fabrication. It is for this reason that wafer makers have developed production methods for reducing warpage of an SOI wafer by a variety of techniques (for example, see JP-B-6-80624, JP-A-11-345954, and JP-A-2007-73768).
On the other hand, in recent years in particular, with the advancement of the technology to fabricate a semiconductor device, the variety thereof has been increased. As described in JP-A-2007-73768, some wafer makers produce an SOI wafer having an extremely thick buried insulator layer with a thickness of 2 μm or more or 10 μm or more, for example.
As described above, in particular, when an SOI wafer having a thick BOX layer is produced, if a thermal oxide film which will become a BOX layer is formed only on a bonding surface of the base wafer, a reaction part (a silicon oxide film) expands to about two times its initial volume as a result of oxygen forcefully entering the Si—Si bonding. As a result, the base wafer itself is convexly curved toward a side thereof on which the silicon oxide film is formed. Therefore, as a result of both surfaces (the entire surface) of the base wafer having formed thereon a silicon oxide film having the same thickness, residual stress due to cubical expansion is produced in the thick silicon oxide film formed on the base wafer. However, the stress balance is equilibrated, whereby warpage of the wafer is cancelled out. Thus, for example, when an SOI wafer having a thick BOX layer is produced, a thick silicon oxide film is formed on the entire surface of the base wafer, and, in an SOI wafer production process that follows, in most cases, a back surface oxide film of the base wafer is not removed.
At the time of shipment of an SOI wafer, in response to requests from device makers, the wafer makers ship the SOI wafer with the thick oxide film on the back surface (on the base wafer side) of the SOI wafer, or ship the SOI wafer after removing the oxide film on the back surface. When it is necessary to use an SOI wafer that suffers less warpage in device fabrication in order to alleviate exposure failure and adsorption failure of a wafer, the device makers also often perform device fabrication processing on the SOI wafer with the back surface oxide film.
However, even when warpage is ingeniously reduced by controlling balance of residual stress accumulated in each layer of an SOI wafer when an SOI wafer having a thick buried insulator film is produced, and an SOI wafer with the back surface oxide film as described above is shipped to the device maker, if the device maker forms a silicon oxide film for fabricating a device on the front surface of the SOI layer, the SOI wafer is sometimes warped greatly after thermal oxidation treatment.
This is caused by the following phenomenon. When thermal oxidation is performed on an SOI wafer having a thick back surface oxide film for reducing warpage, since an oxidation rate is proportional to the square root of the time, almost no oxide film is grown on the back surface side on which the back surface oxide film is left, and the oxide film is grown mainly on the front surface on the SOI layer side. Furthermore, high internal stress is produced in the oxide film formed on the SOI layer side of the SOI wafer due to cubical expansion occurring when the silicon oxide film is grown.

Method for forming silicon oxide film of SOI wafer


The present disclosure relates to a modular support for automobile doors, which includes a support panel and at least one attachment unit to attach the panel to a frame. The attachment unit includes an orifice made in the panel; a screw; a nut in which the screw is threaded; and a guide element that allows the nut to move in a direction parallel to a longitudinal axis of the screw which stops the nut from turning about said longitudinal axis of the screw. The present disclosure also relates to a door assembly and an assembly method.

The current trend in the automobile manufacturing sector is to group components to obtain modular systems that simplify and facilitate their mounting by allowing to mount an assembly instead of individual elements separately.
One example of this type of modular systems is that comprised of a support or panel normally made of plastic (although it can also be metallic) in which several accessories or functional components of the door are pre-mounted, such as elements of the window lift, the lock, impact absorption systems, loudspeakers, etc.
In addition, this type of modular supports can provide a watertight seal, in which case the panel or modular support can separate a dry area (located towards the inside of the vehicle, in which the electrical and electronic components sensitive to dust and moisture are placed) from a wet area located towards the inside of the door box (in which, for example, the window lift guides are placed).
This type of panels do not incorporate the pre-mounted lining that the user will see from inside the vehicle and which provides the end finish to the door. This lining will be mounted in a later stage.
This type of door modules have been conceived to facilitate the final assembly of the product in the assembly lines and to reduce the assembly times. Therefore, the use of this type of modular support simplifies the assembly of the functional components, as these components are pre-mounted on a singe panel or modular support that can be mounted on a door frame in a single assembly stage.
European Patent application no. EP-A-1498294 describes an assembly system for a door module (with trimming) in which the window lift guides are pre-mounted, so that the lower ends of said guides are located inside the door box. To facilitate this mounting a separation is maintained between the module and the window lift rail, which is obtained by interposing a metal strip between the module and the rail. This strip is mounted on the screw used to attach the module and the rail to the door structure. The screw is pre-mounted on the module. To allow assembling the module with the pre-mounted screws, the structure or frame of the door is provided with a recess that allows assembling the module, such that the window lift rail can be placed in the inner part of the door box.
The system described in EP-A-1498294 is quite complex (it includes the aforementioned strip, screws welded to the guides, etc.) and although it may be suitable for the specific application described in said document, it may not be ideally suited to other applications.
Therefore, the need appears to exist for an attachment system that allows a simple assembly of modular supports on vehicle door frames, which is simple and comprises a small number of moving parts.

Modular support for automobile doors, door assembly for an automobile and method for mounting the modular support on a door frame


A liquid crystal display unit includes a first and a second substrate. A plurality of tiny projections are formed on the first substrate in a scattered arrangement. The tiny projections each have a generally semi-spherical configuration. Top portions of the projections each having a convexly curved surface are contacted with the second substrate, thereby a gap for filling a liquid crystal being formed between the first substrate and the second substrate. The tiny projections are formed by projecting a laser beam to the first substrate.

This invention relates to a liquid crystal display unit and a method for manufacturing the same. More particularly, the present invention relates to a spacer structure for maintaining a gap formed between two substrates in a liquid crystal display unit and a method for manufacturing such a spacer structure.
As known, a typical liquid crystal display unit comprises two substrates and a liquid crystal filled in a small gap (for example, 2 to 3 .mu.m) formed therebetween, and its displaying function is exhibited by appropriately controlling the supply of voltage to the liquid crystal through plurality of electrodes which are arranged in a matrix pattern. In order to prevent displaying irregularity, it is necessary for such a liquid crystal display unit that the gap is formed uniformly so that the thickness of the liquid crystal to be filled in the gap will be uniform.
Conventionally, tiny spacers consisting of a large number of aluminum powders, glass beads and the like are sprayed to one of the two substrates, and the other substrate is placed on it such that tiny spacers are provided between the two substrates in a scattered arrangement, thereby uniformly maintaining a gap.
However, in the above-mentioned method, it is difficult to uniformly distribute the spacers on the substrate. Moreover, it is required to take a high level of an anti-dust countermeasure when the spacers are sprayed. Therefore, the cost is increased in the process for forming the gap.
In addition, in the construction in which a large number of spacers are provided between the two substrates in a scattered arrangement as mentioned above, the spacers tend to move when a liquid crystal is filled or due to long time use. Therefore, there is a possibility that the yield of production of the liquid crystal display units is decreased or the displaying function is degraded due to long time use.
In German Patent No. 2344050, a gap is formed between two substrates by a plurality of tiny projections formed on one of the two substrates and caused to contact the other substrate. However, since those tiny projections each have an annular configuration so that their sharp edges contact the other substrate, there is a possibility that the edges are broken.
European Patent No. 690028A1 discloses a method for forming tiny projections on a glass plate using a laser beam. However, since this method is developed for the use of forming micro lenses, it is irrelevant to the liquid crystal display unit.

Liquid crystal display unit and method for manufacturing the same


An eyebrow makeup application device includes a handle and an eyebrow-shaped stamp. The handle is preferably configured with a first handle end comprising a first fastening connection and with a grip section. The stamp has a skin-facing front surface configured with the desired eyebrow design. The front surface is configured to contact the cosmetic coloring composition and to retain enough of the composition to imprint the desired eyebrow design onto the eyebrow area. A second fastening connection on the rear base of the stamp is configured to connect the stamp to the handle via the first fastening connection, either permanently or removably.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the field of cosmetics, especially in the area of cosmetic eyebrow treatments, and more particularly, but not by way of limitation, to an eyebrow stamp for enhancing the attractiveness of a face by efficiently applying a cosmetic composition of a desired color in a desired eyebrow shape to the eyebrow area.
2. Description of the Prior Art
From the early Japanese geishas, the ancient Romans, and the Bronze Age Egyptians to the modern fashion-conscious woman, cosmetic coloring compositions have been applied to eyebrows to enhance the face. While in ancient times, kohl (a black pigment made from soot or antimony mixed with other ingredients) or a green pigment (malachite, an oxide of copper) were used to manually darken and to shape the eyebrows, today extruded or molded pencils composed of oils, esters, silicones, high melting point triglycerides, stearic acid, synthetic waxes, and colorants are conventionally used.
The great attention paid to the eyebrow is due to the pronounced effect that the eyebrow shape and color has on the overall facial appearance. Not only do current fashion ideals often favor a particular eyebrow style or shape, even the temperament or personality of a person is often perceived differently depending on the eyebrow characteristics. For example, a very light, thin, and indistinct eyebrow may incline the observer to label the person as weak, while a strong, defined, arched eyebrow tends to imply a more assertive personality.
While excellent brows can dramatically enhance the whole face, any one of a variety of circumstances may occur that will result in unsatisfactory or inadequate eyebrows. Over plucking or over tweezing may lead to misshapen eyebrows. With age the eyebrows often grow unruly or become gray and lighter. Fair skinned people with light hair may have extremely light eyebrows that cannot be seen. Also, various medical conditions and treatments may cause the loss of the eyebrow hair.
To address the problem of unsatisfactory eyebrows, generally an eyebrow pencil is used in a free-hand manner to apply a cosmetic coloring composition to attempt to achieve the desired style, to darken and define light eyebrows, to shape eyebrows, to fill in sparse eyebrows, or to compensate for graying eyebrows.
Yet using an eyebrow pencil is not only time consuming, it is also difficult to achieve the desired eyebrow shape, difficult to apply the color with strokes duplicating natural eyebrow hair thickness and positioning, difficult to achieve a symmetrical stoke application on both the right and left eyebrows, and difficult to position the enhanced eyebrows. Therefore, to facilitate the use of the eyebrow pencil, eyebrow templates have been developed. Generally an eyebrow template consists of a device to be positioned over the eyebrow area which has two openings in the desired eyebrow shape. The eyebrow template provides a guide or pattern to allow the user to manually apply the coloring composition of the eyebrow pencil. Such templates may be formed as cut-outs in a band positioned around the forehead with the cut-outs located over the desired eyebrow location. Thus, while a template provides some benefit by showing a desired eyebrow shape, the numerous eyebrow pencil strokes required are still time consuming, symmetry is still hard to achieve, and it is still difficult to apply the color with strokes duplicating natural eyebrow hair thickness and positioning. Additionally, precise positioning is problematic due to the fact that the placement of the band around the forehead obscures part of the face. For optimum positioning of the eyebrow, the user needs to be able to view the entire face, as slight variations in eyebrow positioning are aesthetically significant.
One eyebrow stamp is currently available which attempts to address the problems of time consuming application and of attempting to achieve a natural-looking eyebrow style, placement, and symmetry. The eyebrow stamp currently available consists of a rectangular, transparent acrylic block slightly larger than an eyebrow onto which an eyebrow-shaped polymer design is manually attached and carefully positioned. In use, the eyebrow-shaped polymer design is pressed against an ink pad and then pressed onto the eyebrow area of the first eyebrow. Then the polymer design is removed from the acrylic block, attached in a proper position to the opposite side of the acrylic block, re-inked, and applied to the opposite eyebrow area. While this currently available stamp does save some time by removing the need to individually apply hair-like strokes with an eyebrow pencil to imitate natural hair, it suffers from the disadvantage of requiring significant time to position and to attach the polymer eyebrow design to each side of the acrylic block. Additional time may be needed for cleaning between the first and the second eyebrow applications if ink or color from the first eyebrow remains on the transparent acrylic block, thus obscuring the placement view. Furthermore, the rectangular acrylic block requires support from both hands of the user when positioning the polymer eyebrow design in the correct application position, thus parts of the face are obscured by both hands and optimum aesthetic positioning is difficult to achieve.
It would be advantageous to provide an easy to use device which would address the problems of the application of coloring to the eyebrow area in a time-efficient manner, while allowing the user to more fully view the entire face to appraise the effect of the variations of eyebrow placement and to provide for optimal positioning of the eyebrow for the look and style desired.
Accordingly, there is an established need for an eyebrow stamp that is capable of efficiently applying a cosmetic composition of a desired color in a desired eyebrow shape to the eyebrow area while reducing application time, increasing ease of application, and increasing the visibility of the face to allow for precise aesthetic positioning of the applied eyebrow-shaped color.


A system, a method, a device, and a computer program for detecting, monitoring and logging smoking activity related data. The device can comprise a housing, a power supply located within the housing, an atomizer electrically coupled to the power supply, a liquid solution fluidly coupled to the atomizer, and a data logging device configured to be located within the housing and that can comprise a microcontroller, a memory, and a data interface. The data logging device can be configured to detect, monitor, and log smoking activity data, and a data logging device that can comprise a microcontroller, a memory, and a data interface. The data logging device can be configured to detect, monitor, and log smoking activity data.

Electronic cigarettes, also known as e-cigarettes (eCigs) and personal vaporizers, are electronic inhalers that vaporize or atomize a liquid solution into an aerosol mist that may then be delivered to a user. A typical eCig has a mouthpiece, a battery, a liquid storage area, an atomizer, and a liquid solution. Smokers who try to reduce their smoking or who would like to monitor their smoking habits for any of a variety of reasons, including clinical studies, have to personally monitor and record their smoking habits.

Device, method and system for logging smoking data


A wireless audio headphone communication system has an audio input for receiving an audio signal from an audio source. A wireless transceiver receives and transmits radio frequency communications with a wireless audio headphone, the communications including an audio control signal that conforms to a wireless audio control protocol of a wireless communication protocol. A converter converts the audio control signal between the wireless audio control protocol transceived by the wireless transceiver and a local control protocol for controlling the audio source.

Stereo headphones and other audio output devices that conform to the Audio Profile of the Bluetooth® radio frequency (RF) wireless standard can utilize or control sources of audio content from a variety of Bluetooth®-enabled audio platforms, such as IPAQ™ portable players, iPOD™, portable players, MP3 portable players, media player software on personal computers, home stereo systems, etc. In particular, the Bluetooth® specification includes an "Audio Video Remote Control Protocol" (AVRCP) that provides for control of a content source (e.g., portable player or media player software on a personal computer) from a content sink (e.g., a Bluetooth® headphone) over a wireless radio frequency (RF) link. The Audio Video Remote Control Protocol (AVRCP) also provides for control of the content sink from the content source over the wireless RF link. The control features may include remote control of functions such as Play, Pause, Volume UP, Volume Down, Forward and Previous track.
Typically, headphone architecture must include particular elements such as input/output (I/O) components, switches, firmware, etc. to implement remote control features according to the AVRCP. Content sources that are embedded in products like portable players (e.g., IPAQ™, iPOD™, and MP3 portable players) require embedded drivers that are specific for these products. For example, model-dependant Widcomm™ drivers are used in IPAQ™ portable players and some personal computers with embedded Bluetooth® stacks. Products such as personal computers (e.g., laptop computers or desktop computers) that do not have embedded Bluetooth® modules require a Bluetooth® digital dongle, or other RF module, and appropriate driver software, which is available from a variety of sources such as Widcomm, IVT, etc.
Large numbers of existing personal computers do not have embedded Bluetooth® RF modules or the corresponding driver software. Even with Bluetooth® digital dongles or other RF modules connected to them, such personal computers would further require model-dependent drivers for Audio Profile Bluetooth® devices, like stereo headphones, to provide control of a content source (e.g., media player software) over the wireless RF link. Promulgation of such a wide variety of drivers can be expensive for the provider, and accessing and installing the correct drivers can be difficult for users.
Accordingly, the present invention provides a wireless audio headphone communication system having an audio input for receiving an audio signal from an audio source, a wireless transceiver for receiving and transmitting radio frequency communications with a wireless audio headphone, the communications including an audio control signal that conforms to a wireless audio control protocol of a wireless communication protocol, and a converter for converting the audio control signal between the wireless audio control protocol transceived by the wireless transceiver and a local control protocol for controlling the audio source.
In one implementation, the present invention provides a universal USB dongle (e.g., a USB "stick") that requires no source-specific software drivers and that will operate on any computing device with a USB source connection, such as a personal computer (i.e., laptop or desktop). In one implementation, the universal USB dongle conforms to the Audio Profile of the Bluetooth® wireless standard as an Audio Profile device, enumerating as an audio device to the source (e.g., personal computer) and providing full control from or to the source or the sink (e.g., a wireless stereo headphone). The source may have a variety of players (e.g., software players) to deliver music or other content to the headphone. As a USB device the universal dongle operates in a plug and play manner, independent of the platform and software.
Additional objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the detailed description of the preferred embodiment thereof, which proceeds with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Communication of audio control signals for wireless audio headphones


A dual-diaphragm differential capacitive microphone includes: a back plate, a first diaphragm, and a second diaphragm. The first diaphragm is insulatively supported on a first surface of the back plate, where the back plate and the first diaphragm form a first variable capacitor. The second diaphragm is insulatively supported on a second surface of the back plate, where the back plate and the second diaphragm form a second variable capacitor. The back plate is provided with at least one connecting hole. The second diaphragm is provided with a recess portion recessed towards the back plate, where the recess portion passes through the connecting hole and is connected to the first diaphragm. The dual-diaphragm differential capacitive microphone achieves a higher signal-to-noise ratio.

MEMS Micro-Electro-Mechanical System (MEMS) technology is a high-tech developed in recent years, which uses advanced semiconductor manufacturing processes to realize mass production of sensors, drivers, and the like devices. Compared with corresponding conventional devices, MEMS devices have significant advantages in terms of size, power consumption, weight, and price. In the market, the main application examples of MEMS devices include pressure sensors, accelerometers and silicon microphones.
Silicon microphones made with the MEMS technology have advantages over ECM in terms of miniaturization, performance, reliability, environmental tolerance, cost and mass production capability, and quickly occupy the consumer electronics market such as mobile phones, PDAs, MP3s and hearing aids. Silicon microphones fabricated using the MEMS technology typically have a movable diaphragm disposed parallel to the solid back plate, wherein the diaphragm and the back plate forma variable capacitor. The diaphragm moves in response to incident acoustic energy to change the variable capacitance and thereby generate an electrical signal indicative of incident acoustic energy.
With the development of the capacitive micro-silicon microphone technology, silicon microphones are required to be smaller in size, lower in cost, and more reliable, and the size of silicon microphones becomes smaller, which leads to a decrease in sensitivity and a decrease in signal-to-noise ratio. How to further improve the signal-to-noise ratio of silicon microphones is an urgent problem to be solved.

Differential condenser microphone with double vibrating membranes

MEMSENSING MICROSYSTEMS (SUZHOU, CHINA) CO. LTD.