An inductor is provided. The inductor includes first and second bonding pads on a semiconductor substrate, a lead pin on a board trace, a first bonding wire being configured to connect the first bonding pad and the lead pin, and a second bonding wire configured to connect the second bonding pad and the lead pin, the second bonding wire being connected to the first bonding wire in parallel.

1. Field
The following description relates to an inductor.
2. Description of Related Art
The wireless communication field has experienced rapid development of a variety of devices, such as mobile phones, wireless pagers, and devices utilizing satellite communication. As a result, due to the increased in demand caused by the rapid development, integrated circuits (ICs) such as monolithic microwave integrated circuits (MMICs) have become important. In an MMIC, a radio frequency (RF) circuit includes a passive element and an active element on a single semiconductor substrate. Accordingly, MMICs are able to be mass produced for various small and light wireless communication devices at a minimal cost.
Silicon is generally used in the fabrication of ICs. Due to a poor insulating characteristics and losses occurring through conductivity of a silicon substrate, passive elements may experiences losses. In the case of an inductor that is a passive element, a high substrate loss may occur due to low resistance of a silicon substrate, thereby possibly leading to signal attenuation.
In an example, an inductor characteristic is indicated as a quality factor Q. Q denotes a ratio of energy accumulated in a reactive element such as a capacitor or an inductor with respect to a sum of energy loss. An idealistic tuning circuit may include an inductor and a capacitor, and may accumulate energy by exchanging current from a single element to a subsequent element. Accordingly, an inductor having a good Q value may promote operational characteristics in an IC.
Even though an inductor is used to configure a frequency chip, in an example, the inductor occupies the largest area of the frequency chip as a single element and is affected by a high frequency characteristic resulting from a parasitic capacitance and a resistance component from a neighboring material, a structure, and an internal material. In this case, it may be beneficial to configure an inductor having a high Q, or a high inductance.
Accordingly, to enhance a Q of an inductor, various methods known to one of ordinary skill in the art have been employed, such as a method of decreasing a serial resistance of a metal line using a metal having a low specific resistance, a multilayered metal, a thick metal, and other suitable metals known to one of ordinary skill in the art, or a method of decreasing a substrate loss using pattern ground shielding.
The above methods may have some constraints. For example, different from a general metal wiring, an inductor is formed in an upper portion of an upper metal wiring and does not leave room for another element to be integrated in a lower portion of the upper metal wiring.
Further, in general, to form an inductor within an IC package, a package substrate may include bonding pads that are separate from input/output package pins. To receive the bonding pads, a size of an IC substrate needs to increase, thereby sacrificing integration.


Improved pin-reinforced sandwich structure ties the face sheets (typically on opposite sides of a foam core) together with a plurality of Z-pins that extend into each face sheet (through the core). The pins are arranged in a tetrahedral or hat section configuration in 2-dimensional or 3-dimensional arrangements to provide enhanced reinforcement, particularly in shear. We are able to improve the pulloff strength additionally by dimpling the core surrounding the pins to produce adhesive fillets along the pins.

Composite sandwich structures having resin matrix skins or face sheets adhered to a honeycomb or foam core are used in aerospace, automotive, and marine applications for primary and secondary structure. The face sheets typically are reinforced organic matrix resin composites, made from fiberglass, carbon, ceramic, or graphite fibers reinforcing a thermosetting or thermoplastic matrix resin. The face sheets carry the applied loads, and the core transfers the load from one face sheet to the other or absorbs a portion of the applied load. In either case, it is important that all layers of the structure remain rigidly connected to one another. Noise suppression sandwich structure or sandwich structures for other applications are described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,445,861, which we incorporate by reference.
Keeping the face sheets adhered to the foam is problematic. For simplicity, we will refer to a foam core sandwich structure as an example. The most common source of delamination stems from a relatively weak adhesive bond that forms between the face sheets and the foam core. That is, pulloff strength of the face sheets in shear is low. Efforts to strengthen the bond have generally focused on improving the adhesive, but those efforts have had limited success.
Delamination can arise from differences in the coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) of the different material layers. As a result, as temperatures oscillate, the face sheet or foam may expand or contract more quickly than its adjoining layer. In addition to causing layer separation, CTE differences can significantly distort the shape of a structure, making it difficult to maintain overall dimensional stability. Conventional sandwich structure optimizes the thickness of a structure to meet the weight and/or space limitations of its proposed application. Sandwich structures are desirable because they are usually lighter than solid metal or composite counterparts, but they may be undesirable if they must be larger or thicker to achieve the same structural performance. Providing pass-throughs (i.e., holes), which is relatively easy in a solid metal structure by simply cutting holes in the desired locations, is more difficult in a composite sandwich structure because holes may significantly reduce the load carrying capability of the overall structure.
Foster-Miller has been active in basic Z-pin research. U.S. Pat. No. 5,186,776 describes a technique for placing Z-pins in composite laminates involves heating and softening the laminates with ultrasonic energy with a pin insertion tool which penetrates the laminate, moving fibers in the laminate aside. The pins are inserted either when the insertion tool is withdrawn or through a barrel in the tool prior to its being withdrawn. Cooling yields a pin-reinforced composite. U.S. Pat. No. 4,808,461 describes a structure for localized reinforcement of composite structure including a body of thermally decomposable material that has substantially opposed surfaces, a plurality of Z-pin reinforcing elements captured in the body and arranged generally perpendicular to one body surface. A pressure plate (i.e., a caul plate) on the other opposed body surface drives the Z-pins into the composite structure at the same time the body is heated under pressure and decomposes. We incorporate U.S. Pat. No. 4,808,461 and 5,186,776 by reference.
A need exists for a method of forming a sandwich structure that (1) resists distortion and separation between layers, in particular, separation of the face sheets from the core; (2) maintains high structural integrity; (3) resists crack propagation; and (4) easily accommodates the removal of portions of core, as required by specific applications. The method should allow the structure to be easily manufactured and formed into a variety of shapes. In U.S. patent application 08/582,297 filed Jan. 3, 1996, entitled "Pin-Reinforced Sandwich Structure," pending, which we incorporate by reference, Jamie Childress of Boeing described such a method of forming a pin-reinforced foam core sandwich structure. The Childress method positions face sheets of uncured fiber-reinforced resin (i.e., prepreg or B-stage thermoset) on opposite sides of a foam core. The core has at least one compressible sublayer and contains a plurality of Z-pins spanning the foam between the face sheets. Childress inserts the Z-pins into the face sheets during autoclave curing of the face sheet resin when a compressible sublayer is crushed and the back pressure applied through the caul plate or other suitable means drives the Z-pins into one or both of the face sheets to form a pin-reinforced foam core sandwich structure. By removing some of the foam core by dissolving, eroding, melting, drilling, or the like to leave a gap between the face sheets, Childress produces his corresponding column core structure.
As Childress described, the foam core generally is itself a sandwich that includes a high density foam sublayer, and at least one low density, compressible or crushable foam sublayer. The preferred arrangement includes a first and second low density foam sublayers sandwiching the high density sublayer. The plurality of Z-pins are placed throughout the foam core in a regular array normal to the surface or slightly off-normal at an a real density of about 0.375 to 1.50% or higher, as appropriate, extending from the outer surface of the first low density foam sublayer through to the outer surface of the second low density foam sublayer. Expressed another way with respect to the arrangement of the pins, Childress typically used 40-50 pin/in.sup.2 or more. Preferably, the Childress foam sublayers are polyimide or polystyrene, the Z-pins are stainless steel or graphite, and the face sheets are fiber-reinforced, partially cured or precured thermosetting or thermoplastic resin composites.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,589,016, Hoopingarner et al. describe a honeycomb core composite sandwich panel having a surrounding border element (i.e., a "closeout" ) made of rigid foam board. The two planar faces of the rigid foam board are embossed or scored with a pattern of indentations usually in the form of interlinked equilateral triangles. The indentations are sufficiently deep and sufficient in number to provide escape paths for volatiles generated inside the panel during curing and bonding of the resin in the face sheets to the honeycomb core and peripheral foam. The scoring prevents the development of excessive pressure between the face sheets in the honeycomb core that otherwise would interfere with the bonding. We incorporate this application by reference.
We achieve increased pulloff strength in pin-reinforced sandwich structure by a regular ordering of the Z-pins into ordered structural configurations or with resin fillets, or both, in accordance with the present invention.


A process for selectively removing a silicon nitride film from a silicon layer surface having both a silicon oxide film thereon, and a silicon nitride film, includes the steps of: preparing a gas including at least hydrogen fluoride vapor, and supplying the gas to the silicon layer surface while maintaining the temperature of the silicon layer surface within a predetermined range that is higher than that of the gas. The gas includes a predetermined oxidizing agent, for example, HNO.sub.3, O.sub.3, H.sub.2 O.sub.2, HClO, HClO.sub.3, HNO.sub.2, O.sub.2, H.sub.2 SO.sub.4, Cl.sub.2 or Br.sub.2. The temperature of the silicon layer surface is maintained at 10.degree. C. to 90.degree. C., preferably 15.degree. C. to 60.degree. C., more preferably 20.degree. C. to 45.degree. C. higher than the temperature of the gas.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a process for selectively removing an insulation film formed on the surface of a silicon wafer, a polycrystalline silicon film, and amorphous silicon (simply referred to as "silicon layer surface" hereinafter), and more particularly, to a process for selectively removing a silicon nitride film (SiNx) from a silicon layer surface on which a silicon oxide film is also present. The process of the present invention has applicability to the process of manufacturing a semiconductor device in general, and, for example, is applicable to the removal of a SiNx film at the final step of the LOCOS Process (Localized Oxidization of Silicon) in manufacturing a dynamic memory.
2. Description of the Related Art
A silicon nitride film is formed on a silicon wafer in the LOCOS process when making a dynamic memory. The LOCOS process is utilized in the manufacture of a dynamic memory for forming a boron diffusion layer used as a channel stopper and a thick silicon oxide film in an element isolation region by selective oxidation using a silicon nitride film.
In the first step of the LOCOS process, a thin silicon oxide film is formed on the surface of a silicon wafer. A silicon nitride film is grown on the surface of the thin silicon oxide film by the thermal decomposition reaction of ammonia (NH.sub.3) and monosilane (SiH.sub.4). A patterned photoresist film is formed on the nitride film by lithography so as to cover only the region where the nitride film is to remain. The nitride film is etched by a plasma etching apparatus using carbon tetrafluoride (CF.sub.4) gas. Then, boron is ion-implanted to form the channel stopper in an element isolation region using the resist film and the nitride film as a mask.
After removing the resist film from the nitride film, a thermal silicon oxide film is selectively formed (LOCOS oxidation) using the nitride film as a mask. A thin oxide film is formed on the nitride film during LOCOS. This thin oxide film is removed by wet etching. The silicon nitride film is then selectively removed from the silicon wafer. This completes the LOCOS process.
The selective removal of silicon nitride film in the last step of the LOCOS process conventionally employs the wet etching method disclosed in Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2-96334 and Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 61-168925, for example.
In the conventional method, a phosphoric acid aqueous solution of high concentration (approximately 85%) is used as the etchant. The phosphoric acid aqueous solution is stored in an etching bath and heated to a high temperature (140.degree.-180.degree. C.) A silicon wafer is immersed in the phosphoric acid aqueous solution at that high temperature. Thus, the removal of a SiNx film from a silicon wafer has been carried out by a batch in the conventional wet etching method, as described above.
However, the process according to the conventional wet etching method includes the following problems:
(1) Phosphoric acid aqueous solution of high concentration is heated to a high temperature near the boiling point for use as an etchant in the conventional method. Handling a phosphoric acid aqueous solution at a high temperature is very dangerous. PA1 (2) Implementation of the method requires a circulation filtration system and the like, which complicates the structure of the apparatus. PA1 (3) Because the phosphoric acid aqueous solution is of high concentration and high temperature, equipment such as pumps and filters or pipes will be degraded in a relatively short time period, even though materials superior in corrosion-resistance and durability such as fluororesin and polypropylene are used. PA1 (4) Water evaporates from the phosphoric acid aqueous solution since its temperature is maintained in the vicinity of the boiling point during the etching process. This increases its concentration as time elapses. In order to maintain the concentration at a constant level, pure water corresponding to the amount of evaporated water must be supplied. However, pure water added in drops into phosphoric acid aqueous solution of high concentration causes water to boil locally. This necessitates various measures in the method of supplying pure water in order to avoid this danger. The structure of the apparatus will become complicated, and the manufacture thereof is not easy. It is also hard to control the amount of water to be supplied, and the controllability of the etching process is not satisfactory. Moreover, usage of the wet etching method increases the amount of consumed etchant.

Gaseous process for selectively removing silicon nitride film


A ballistic composite comprises multiple layers of a fabric having unidirectional ballistic resistant yarns in at least two layers and a resin layer between each pair of such multiple layers adhered to the ballistic resistant yarns but not encapsulation the same and not penetrating the layer of fabric. The ballistic yarn layers are at 90°±5° with respect to each other and the ballistic resistant yarns are stabilized by being woven in a second fabric. The second fabric is formed of yarns having a substantially lower tenacity and tensile modulus than the ballistic resistant yarn. The ballistic resistant yarns have a tenacity of at least about 15 grams per denier and a modulus of at least about 40 grams per denier. The resin in the resin layer has a modulus of at least about 7000 psi.

The use of flexible resins with fabrics woven from high performance fibers to fabricate composite armor panels has been the subject of much research and many patents. The general consensus of this body of work is that the more flexible the resin system used in the fabrication of the composite, the better the ballistic properties of the resulting panel. In addition, adhesion of the resin to the ballistic yarn should be sufficiently poor that delamination in the composite occurs during the ballistic event. This requirement can be ignored if the resin in the composite ruptures at a sufficiently low strength to allow energy to dissipate during the ballistic event. Given this basic knowledge of armor design, the design of an armor laminate then becomes a tradeoff of ballistic properties of the panel against the structural requirements for the use of the panel, U.S. Pat. No. 3,000,772, Lunn, 1961, is one of the first patents to discuss the requirement for a flexible resin system for superior ballistic performance. This patent covers the use of a polyethylene film with a unidirectional glass fabric. The glass fabric has glass yarn in the warp direction and a secondary yarn in the fill direction to form the fabric. The fabric then pressed into a laminate after orienting succeeding layers of fabric at 90 degrees to the fabric layer above and below it. This is a standard practice known as "cross plying" the layers. U.S. Pat. No. 3,956,447, Denommnee, 1976, discusses the fabrication of a ballistic helmet for the US military using a thermoset or thermoplastic resin. In this patent, the preferred resin system for the helmet is a PVB/phenolic system. Roy Liable, a researcher at the US Army's Research, Engineering and Development Center in Natick, Mass., in his book, Ballistic Materials and Penetration Mechanics, Elsevier Scientific Publishing Company, 1980, page 108, discusses that, during the helmet development, it was discovered that the phenolic resin by itself was too stiff to produce good ballistic results and that the PVB component of the system was added to introduce some elongation and flexibility into the resin to improve the ballistic properties while maintaining the rigidity required of a helmet.
Several patents cover the use of thermoplastic resins and films in the composites. Lancaster et al, U.S. Pat. No. 4,678,702, 1987, teaches the use of Surlyn as the resin where a Surlyn film form flows into the woven fabric under heat and pressure to encapsulate the yarn and form flexible ballistic composite. Donavan, U.S. Pat. No. 4,574,105, 1986, teaches the use of alternating layers of nylon and Kevlar where the nylon adheres to the woven Kevlar under heat and pressure to form the composite but the nylon does not penetration the fabric. A series of patents by Andrew Park (U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,437;905; 5,443,882; 5,443,883; 5,547,536; 5,635,288; 5,935,678) covers the use of films between the layers of unidirectional yarn where the film is used to hold cross-plied layers of the yarn together without substantially penetrating the layers. Allied-Signal, U.S. Pat. No. 4,623,514, cover the substantial encapsulation of high performance yarns in cross-plied layers of unidirectional yarns with a resin with modulus less than 6000 psi.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


A double-layer blood vessel stent. A skirt-sided stent is provided on a main body stent. A first developing member and a second developing member are provided on the main body stent. The first developing member includes a first developing portion and a second developing portion, where the first developing portion and the second developing portion are flush with a free end at a position where the distance between the intersections on a plane perpendicular to the direction of an axis of the main body stent is the minimum distance; and an end, away from a first end, of the second developing member is flush with an end away from a tapered section of an extending section. This structure allows for accurate positioning of the double-layer vessel stent.

At present, an endoluminal stent may be used for endovascular graft exclusion to isolate a lesion region within a lumen of a human body, for example, an endoluminal stent may be used to isolate arterial dissection or aneurysm in a blood vessel. Due to the advantages of low operation wound, small intraoperative blood transfusion volume, rapid postoperative recovery, short hospital stays and the like, such kind of method has gradually replaced the conventional lumen-opening surgery. Usually, the endoluminal stent has radial expansion capability and is fixed in lumen by its radial support force against the wall of vessel lumen. To avoid falling off, the stent needs to have enough radial support force, and the stronger the radial support force is, the stronger the rigidity of the stent after radial expansion is. However, due to individual differences, and different shapes of inner wall of lumens as well as changes in the features of the inner wall of lumen caused by a possibility of calcified plaque thereon, the endoluminal stent with stronger rigidity may cause poor adhesion between the stent and the lumen, resulting in the failure of complete closure between the stent and the inner wall of lesion lumen.
In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, one method is to use a double-layer blood vessel stent, namely, a skirt-sided stent with better deformability is arranged on an outer layer of a main body stent; but due to the complex structure of the double-layer stent, how to accurately release the double-layer blood vessel stent into a blood vessel becomes a problem to be solved urgently.


The improved arhery bowstring release device assembly of the present invention includes an archery bowstring release device having a front end with a bowstring engager, a front portion having a component adapted to manually move the bowstring engager between a bowstring retaining position and a bowstring releasing position, an elongated shaft extending rearwardly from the front portion and a detent connected to the rear end of the shaft. The assembly also includes a wrist strap having on its outer surface a sleeve defining a longitudinal passageway therethrough through which the shaft slideably extends. The passageway is of smaller diameter than that of the detent so that the shaft cannot be removed from the sleeve. The release device can be moved into a wrist storage position by sliding the shaft rearwardly in the sleeve, and can be extended forwardly by the shaft to an operative position for use. In a preferred embodiment the bowstring engager consists of a pair of opposed jaws moveable between the closed and open positions by a lever geared thereto and extending outwardly from the front portion of the release device for operation by an archer's finger.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to sports equipment and more particularly to an improved assembly combining an archery bowstring release device with a wrist strap.
2. Prior Art
Various types of archery bowstring release devices have been devised, sold and used in the past. Almost all such devices must be held in the archer's hand when the devices are operated. In hunting game it is desireable to have the release device ready to be used. This entails carrying the device in the hand or having it in a pouch or the like from which it must be extracted and then gripped in order to use it. This latter procedure wastes valuable time when time may mean the difference between a game kill and a missed opportunity. If the release device is carried in the hand, however, it interferes with convenient carrying of the archery bow and other equipment and may become entangled with field or forest cover, and seriously impede an archer who is climbing a tree to a tree stand.
There remains a need for an improved archery bowstring release device assembly which enables the archer to carry the release device ready for use, but which avoids the foregoing difficulties as well as providing means of protecting the release device from damage, either to itself or to other equipment of the archer. Such assembly should be simple, inexpensive, durable and efficient and should be easy to use and to maintain.

Archery bowstring release device assembly


A device for recycling developer and fixer into a photo processing machine. The device includes a first container for receiving and containing a chemical liquid flowing from the overflow outlet of one of the chemical tanks of the photo processing machine and a second container for receiving and containing a mixture of used chemical liquid from the first container and fresh unused chemical from a source thereof. A pump is provided for pumping a fixed ratio of the liquid from the first container and the fresh unused chemical into the inlet of the second container. An outlet in said second container is connected to the one of said replenishment pumps connected to the appropriate tank of the photo processing machine. The pump for pumping the fixed ratio of liquids is preferably a dual head bellows type metering pump. A preferred pumping ratio provides for delivery of 45% recycled chemical and 55% new chemical with each pump stroke. A high limit float switch to deactivate the pump inputting liquids and a low limit float switch to activate pumping of liquids therein when the liquid in said container falls below a selected level are preferably provided.

This invention relates to photo processing machines, and in particular to apparatus for automating the recycling of developer and fixer chemicals in such machines.
In my co-pending applications Ser. No. 07/775,917 filed Oct. 15, 1991 and Ser. No. 07/617,522 filed Nov. 23, 1990, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,057,858, I described systems for recycling photographic developers and fixers. The present invention relates to further ways to provide for recycling of such photographic chemicals in photo finishing equipment.
One problem the occurs in recycling of photographic chemicals is the buildup of salts that can act to inhibit the photographic fixing process. Such a buildup can be avoided by redilution of the used fixer with new fixer while continually removing a portion of the used chemicals.

Chemical recycler for photo processing machine


A corrosion detection sensor embedded within a concrete structure. The sensor includes a hermetically sealed resonant circuit that is a resistor-inductor-capacitor (RLC) circuit. The sensor further includes a sacrificial transducer that is inductively or capacitively coupled to the resonant circuit, where the sacrificial transducer is exposed to an environment outside the sensor to monitor corrosion of steel reinforcement in the concrete structure. Additionally, the sensor includes a protective cementitious housing surrounding the resonant circuit and the sacrificial transducer. The sensor further includes a diffusion layer placed over the sacrificial transducer, where the diffusion layer enables a dispersion of a chemical species over the sacrificial transducer. In this manner, a more uniform distribution of the chemical species over the surface of the sacrificial transducer mitigating the localized corrosion is ensured. Furthermore, such a design is less susceptible to false positives.

Structural degradation of concrete structures due to corrosion of the reinforcing steel is one of the most extensive durability problems facing concrete structures. This gives rise to concerns about structural safety, integrity, and serviceability. As a result, monitoring the corrosion of the steel reinforcement in the concrete structures is greatly desired so as to detect the state of corrosion of the reinforcing steel in these concrete structures thereby being able to address the corrosion through preventive remedial measures and economic repairs before it leads to severe structural damage or failure. By being able to implement preventive remedial measures prior to severe structural damage or failure, the overall life-cycle costs in maintaining and repairing the concrete structures will be lower than the cost of rehabilitating such structures after the point of severe structural damage or failure.
Monitoring this corrosion is difficult though since the embedded steel is not visible to the naked eye. Furthermore, detection techniques are needed to indicate initiation of corrosion so that remedial action can be taken before the damage is irreversible. Detection techniques, such as acoustic, ultrasonic and radar, have proved to be limited in this capacity.
Conventional corrosion monitoring techniques, such as half-cell potential and linear polarization, provide instantaneous measurements which are highly subject to the conditions (e.g., moisture, temperature) during measurement. Alternatively, sensors that are placed within the concrete structures using a sacrificial corroding element provide the most direct measurement of corrosion. However, obtaining this data requires electrical access, such as by wire, to the sensor. Any methods that require running wires breach the concrete and provide an ingress point for corrosive agents.
As a result, monitoring the corrosion of the steel reinforcement in concrete structures without breaching the concrete, such as by running wires, would greatly advance the ease and accuracy in measuring the corrosion. Furthermore, given the need for long-term monitoring of these concrete structures, such monitoring devices should be battery-free, cost effective, durable and reliable.

Corrosion detection sensor embedded within a concrete structure with a diffusion layer placed over the sacrificial transducer

Board of Regents, The University of Texas System


An AC-DC power supply receives input AC power and outputs DC power. The converter includes a high power factor bridge rectifier, a barrier circuit with resistor(s) and capacitor(s), and a step-down switching DC-DC converter to step-down a first DC voltage to a second, lower, DC voltage for output. Additionally, fault-protection is provided by redundancy in diodes on diode legs of a bridge rectifier and capacitor(s) of a filter circuit thereof, and a fault-protection circuit to sense current from a step-down switching DC-DC converter, a first voltage from the step-down switching DC-DC converter, and/or a second voltage at an output of the step-down switching DC-DC converter, and open the circuit on a fault.

In recent years, smart control technologies, such as wireless control, have bene incorporated as features into consumer products. Example devices are those for lighting control, such as dimmers and other forms of wall switches. In this space, there are so-called "three-wire" wall switches and "two-wire" wall switches. A three-wire wall switch unit has connections for three wires usually referred to as "line", "neutral" and "load", in addition to an Earth ground connection. Presence of the neutral connection makes incorporation of smart control technology into a three-wire wall switch not particularly difficult insofar as powering the device's smart control electronics (circuit, processor, etc.). Around the world, consumer houses and other buildings commonly utilize two-wire wall switches, having connections for only two wires "line" and "load" (in addition to the Earth ground connection). Such devices are also referred to as "no-neutral" wall switches. Challenges exist in obtaining sufficient power for a smart control circuit in such two-wire devices.

Low ground current AC-DC power supply for no-neutral electrical devices and fault protection therefor


Rotatable drilling tool has an insert top detachably connectable to a basic body and at least one chip flute. In each cross-section, each chip flute has a depth equal to the difference between the radius of a cutting circle and a radius of a greatest possible core circle centered on the longitudinal axis and tangential to a limiting curve of the respective chip flute. The basic body is divided longitudinally into a coupling segment, extending axially rearward from a coupling end, and a transportation segment that is situated axially behind the coupling segment, extends rearward toward a fixing end, and is longer than the coupling segment. Each chip flute extends through the coupling segment and the transportation segment. At least essentially the entire female part is situated in the coupling segment, and each chip flute has a smaller depth in the coupling segment than in the transportation segment.

In the discussion that follows, reference is made to certain structures and/or methods. However, the following references should not be construed as an admission that these structures and/or methods constitute prior art. Applicant expressly reserves the right to demonstrate that such structures and/or methods do not qualify as prior art against the present invention.
Rotatable drilling tools are often provided as integral tools or with replaceable or integrated cutting inserts having cutting edges, but also as a tool composed of axial parts. Such axially split tools comprise a basic body and a head that is detachably connected with the same, and thereby replaceable, and in which the cutting edges are included. In such a way, the major part of the tool can be manufactured from a comparatively inexpensive material, such as steel, while a smaller part, viz. the head, can be manufactured from a harder and more expensive material, such as cemented carbide, cermet, ceramics or the like, which gives the cutting edges good chip removing capacity, good machining precision and a long service life. In other words, the head forms a wear part, which can be discarded after wear-out, while the basic body can be re-used several times.
A drilling tool of such an axially split type is known by EP 2 266 736. In the document, a rotatable tool is disclosed, which comprises a basic body and a head that is connectable to the basic body by means of a journal projecting toward the basic body. This journal is insertable into a correspondingly formed axial recess in the end of the basic body facing the head. The head can be locked to the basic body by means of a locking screw that extends radially through the basic body and that can be brought to abut and press against a shoulder surface of the journal.
This known tool works well in many applications. However, it has turned out that there may occasionally emerge problems of cracks or in the worst case breakage in the mutually facing ends of the basic body and/or the head.

Rotatable drilling tool as well as basic body therefor


A moving image encoding and decoding system reduces compressed moving picture data amounts by producing a prediction signal suitable for moving pictures including dynamic textures. The system includes a moving picture encoding device 1 that includes a block divider 102 receiving a target pixel signal, a prediction signal generator 103 producing a prediction signal, a subtractor 105 producing a differential signal, and a transformer 106 and quantizer 107 producing an encoded differential signal. The encoding device 1 also includes an inverse quantizer 108 and inverse transformer 109 producing a decoded differential signal, an adder 110 producing a reproduction signal, a frame memory 104 storing the reproduction signal as a reference image, and a reference image generator 113. The reference image generator 113 may obtain an observation matrix C by using a pre-existing reference image. The encoding system 1 produces a new reference image y″t+5 based on the observation matrix C and a state vector xt+5, and stores the new reference image in the frame memory 104. The prediction signal generator 103 produces the prediction signal by using at least the new reference image y″t+5.

A compression encoding technology is used to efficiently transmit and store moving picture data. For example, as moving picture technology, MPEG-1, 2, 4, and H.261 to H.264 standards are widely used. In such moving picture encoding technology, a prediction signal of a target image serving as an encoding target is produced by using adjacent images side by side on a temporal axis and then a difference between the target image and the prediction signal is encoded, thereby realizing a data amount reduction. This technique is called inter-frame encoding.
For example, in an encoding method specified by the H.264 standard, one frame image is divided into block regions each composed of 16×16 pixels, and the image is encoded on the block-by-block basis. In the inter-frame encoding method, a prediction signal is produced by carrying out motion compensating prediction on a target block of an encoding target image with reference to other frames that have been encoded and restored. Then, a differential value of the target block and the prediction signal is obtained. The differential value is discrete-cosine-transformed and quantized so as to produce encoded data.
Besides the inter-frame encoding method, a bidirectional prediction method is used to reduce quantized noises included in prediction signals and predict a newly appearing image signal. In the bidirectional prediction method, two pieces of motion amount are set to a target block. First motion amount determines a first prediction signal from a first reference image that is a temporally past image relative to the target block, while second motion amount determines a second prediction signal from a second reference image that is a temporally future image relative to the target block. The first and second prediction signals are averaged to produce a prediction signal. Alternatively, the first and second prediction signals may be obtained from two respective reference images that are temporally past images, and averaged to produce a prediction signal.

Moving image encoding and decoding system


An exercise apparatus with enhanced strength for use with one or more limbs of a user to perform a variety of exercises includes a resilient strap having a first end portion, a central portion and a second end portion, the first end portion of the strap coupled to the central portion of the strap to create a first loop, the first end portion being disposed around a top portion of the central portion of the strap and a bottom portion of the central portion of the strap, the second end portion of the strap coupled to the central portion of the strap to create a second loop, the second end portion being disposed around a remaining top portion of the central portion of the strap and a remaining bottom portion of the central portion of the strap. Each of the first and second loops can receive a user's limb.

The embodiments herein relate to an apparatus for assisting body exercise, and more particularly to a ready-to-use exercise strap for body stretching, yoga poses and other dancing poses.
As yoga poses and exercises become more popular, body stretching as part of an exercise program has increased in recent years. For yoga practice, each yoga pose requires correct posture and stretching, mostly the proper placement of the arms and legs relative to the body's position. Body stretching is not an easy task for adults with rigid grown-up bodies. To achieve a good stretching effect on the muscles, a certain amount of resistance strength is also required.
As a result, there is a need for props or aides to safely and properly stretch in yoga, dance, gymnastics, strength training and physical therapy. One of the standard props is the yoga strap, which is around eight feet long with a metal or plastic buckle. This traditional strap is great for a couple of restorative stretches, but quite cumbersome and awkward for most others. One of the problems is that it is too long for most uses. The extra length gets in the way, twists and wraps around itself and the body, gets tangled, etc. The other big problem is the metal or plastic buckle. The buckle hurts when it comes in contact with one's hand or foot, and it makes a loud disturbing noise when it drops to a hard floor, disrupting peaceful yoga practices. During a stretching exercise, especially a yoga practice, it is one of the times of the day to quiet one's mind and body, and focus on one thing only. The last thing the user wants is to be disturbed by an exercise tool.
Other commercial endeavors have developed various complex tools. For example U.S. 2009/089459A1 describes a multi-functioning leg stretching device that includes a positioning seat, a retaining block, a winding around elastic strap, a pedal and an anchoring plate. However, it would not be easy to move this device around. U.S. 2005/0101461A1 describes a device with a built-in stretch resistance with latex tubes and pushup blocks. However, this device is bulky and a burden to use. A simpler design is found in U.S. 2005/0085350 A1, wherein an adjustable loop is connected to a handle by a swivel connector. However, this device is problematic because some individuals do not like handles and the disconnected handle in this device may get lost. An arm retention system for physical therapy is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,854,231, which comprises a strip having two loops. However, the junction of the loops has limited strength and/or durability, which restricts the use of the device when performing different exercises.
As such, there is a need in the industry for an exercise apparatus with enhanced strength and ease of use, which overcomes the limitations of the prior art.


Provided is a push switch that can be made thin without requiring that a notch be made into a mounting board. The push switch includes a substrate having a L-shaped cross section and wherein the substrate has a front surface, a back surface and a side face, an accommodating recess provided on the front surface, a center contact provided so as to be substantially centralized in the accommodating recess, a pair of peripheral contacts each provided at a circumferential edge of the accommodating recess, a movable contact spring constructed so as to extend across the pair of peripheral contacts and designed to be brought into contact with the center contact when pressed, a connection pad provided on the back surface and electrically connected to the mounting substrate, and an electrode provided on the side face and electrically connected to the connection pad.

As electronic products such as mobile telephones have been reduced in size and thickness, operating buttons used in such products have also been reduced in size. Traditionally, dome-shaped push switches have been employed for many such electronic products. In recent years, the overall switch size including the switch thickness has been further reduced, and work on further reducing the switch height has also been proceeding for side-mounted switches, i.e., switches mounted on side faces of mounting substrates such as circuit substrates.
For example, patent document 1 discloses a push-on switch for mounting on a circuit substrate wherein the circuit substrate is provided with a U-shaped cutout that matches the size of the body part of the switch case, the design being such that the push-on switch with its operating part facing forward is mounted by fitting the body part into the cutout from above the circuit substrate. This push-on switch achieves a reduction in switch thickness in the mounted condition by sinking the body part of the switch into the cutout.


Provided is a flat display device having a display region in which more than one thin film transistor and more than one pixel are included. The device includes a driving line that supplies driving power to the display region, and an auxiliary driving line, which is coupled with the driving line, is formed in a different layer from the driving line. The driving line may be an identical layer to the source/drain electrodes of the display region.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a flat panel display device, and more particularly, to a flat panel display device that may have an increased screen aperture and that may prevent brightness non-uniformity due to a voltage drop in a display region.
2. Discussion of the Background
Recently, various flat display devices have been developed to replace the conventional cathode ray tube (CRT). Generally, flat panel display devices are either emissive or non-emissive types. Emissive types include flat CRTs, plasma display panels, vacuum fluorescent displays, field emission displays, and inorganic/organic electro-luminescent (EL) displays, and non-emissive types include liquid crystal displays. The organic EL displays have drawn attention since they do not require a light source, such as a back light, and they may operate with low power consumption and high efficiency.
The organic EL display device emits light having a specific wavelength by energy generated from exitons, which are formed by electrons and holes that are injected through an anode and a cathode and recombine in an organic thin film. The organic EL display device is capable of operating with a low voltage, is thin and light, and has a wide viewing angle and a quick response time.
An organic EL unit of the organic EL display device may include a first electrode (an anode) formed in a stacking type on a substrate, an organic EL layer, and a second electrode (a cathode). The organic EL layer comprises an organic emitting layer (EML) that emits light by forming exitons. To increase the light emission efficiency, electrons and holes must be transferred to the organic EML. Hence, an electron transport layer (ETL) may be disposed between the cathode and the organic emitting layer, and a hole transport layer (HTL) may be disposed between the anode and the organic emitting layer. Also, a hole injection layer (HIL) may be disposed between the anode and the HTL, and an electron injection layer (EIL) may be disposed between the cathode and the ETL.
The organic EL display device may be a passive matrix (PM) or active matrix (AM) type according to its driving method. In the PM type, the anode and the cathode may be simply arranged in columns and rows, respectively, and a row driving circuit supplies scanning signals to the cathode one row at a time. Also, a column driving circuit supplies data signals to each pixel. On the other hand, the AM type controls signals inputted to each pixel using a thin film transistor (TFT) and is widely used for displaying animations since it may process a large number of signals.
However, in an organic/inorganic EL display device, and particularly in an AM type organic/inorganic EL display device, a ratio of a light emitting region to each pixel, that is, a pixel aperture, may be reduced due to the layout of a circuit unit and wirings.
FIG. 1A is a plan view showing a conventional organic EL display device.
The AM type organic EL display device of FIG. 1A has a predetermined display region 20, which includes an organic light emitting diode (OLED) on a transparent substrate 11, and a sealing unit 80 seals a sealing member (not shown), such as a metal cap, to seal the display region 20. The display region 20 comprises a plurality of pixels having an OLED and a TFT. A plurality of driving lines VDD 31 may be disposed in the display region 20. The driving lines 31, which supply power to the display region 20, are coupled with a terminal region 70 through a driving power supply line 32 disposed outside of the display region 20.
FIG. 1B is a magnified picture showing portion "A" of FIG. 1A. Here, the driving lines 31 must be thick and wide enough to prevent a voltage drop from occurring when supplying power to the display region 20. Consequently, the aperture ratio, which is an area ratio of a light emitting region with respect to each of the pixels decreases, which increases the to ratio of a dead space with respect to the overall display region, thereby reducing image quality.
Japanese Patent publication No. 2003-308031 discloses an organic EL display device structure in which power lines and gate lines are disposed parallel to each other to improve brightness. However, the effect of power line width on aperture ratio and the voltage drop problem that may occur with an increased screen size are not addressed.


Devices, systems and methods are provided for producing a collimated light path. Theses devices, systems and methods may be used to determine an optical property of a small volume sample.

Liquid samples are often characterized using optical techniques such as photometry, spectrophotometry, fluorometry, or spectrofluorometry. Typically, the liquid is contained in a vessel referred to as a cell or cuvette, two or more of whose sides are of optical quality and permit the passage of those wavelengths needed to characterize the liquid contained therein. When dealing with very small sample volumes (e.g., from about 1 to 2 microliters), it is difficult to create cells or cuvettes small enough to be filled and to permit the industry standard 1 cm optical path to be used. It is also difficult and/or time consuming to clean these cells or cuvettes for use with another sample.
Perspective on the problem of quantifying a 1-2 microliter liquid sample is gained by considering the physical size of such samples. For example, a 1 microliter droplet occupies a cube with 1 mm edge length or a cylindrical volume with height 1 mm and diameter 1.13 mm. In contrast, optical beam dimensions in conventional spectrophotometers are usually much larger. In order to optically quantify samples that have 1-2 microliter volume in a conventional spectrophotometer, the light beam must have a diameter of approximately 1 mm or less.
Absorbance can be measured with path lengths other than 1 cm. The recent advent of small spectrophotometers designed for use with fiber optics has made it possible to consider device geometries not readily possible before.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,628,382, and U.S. Patent Publication 20020140931 disclose an optical instrument in which a narrow beam of light is directed into a microliter sample, by providing light from a broadband light source, via an optical fiber, to a sample stage that consists of a liquid droplet suspended between two multi-mode optical fibers: one source-side fiber and another fiber that guides light to appropriate detection optics, or a "detection-side" fiber. The close proximity between the source-side and detection-side fibers allows enough of the light cone emanating from the source fiber to be collected by the detection-side fiber after passing through a liquid sample.
One drawback with this close coupling approach is that the presence of the fiber ends in the samples can interfere with the insertion of the sample into the sample zone, cleaning of the sample zone, and other access to the sample zone. Another drawback is the inability to change the separation between the ends of the source and detector fibers without significantly altering the amount of light gathered by the detector fiber. Yet another drawback is that the instrument cannot easily be used to measure the transmission of solid samples with thickness greater than a few hundred microns. Further, operation of the instrument depends on the ability to accurately change the height of the sample and therefore the separation between the ends of the source-side and detection-side fibers.
Additionally, in order to allow the introduction of a sample into the sample zone, and to allow access to the sample zone for cleaning and examination, the upper end of the light path is directed through the free end of a pivotable mechanical arm. The light path from the pivot end of the arm to the free end of the arm passes through a rather long, unrestrained, and exposed optical fiber section that loops over from the pivot end of the arm to the free end of the arm, where the end of the fiber must enter the sample vertically in order to properly direct the beam into the sample. This convoluted path increases optical loss (a function of the radius of curvature of bends in the fiber) and imposes constraints on the dimensions of the device, requiring the instrument to have a certain height in order for the optical fiber to approach the sample vertically. Further, the exposed fiber presents the possibility of variable optical transmission as the optical fiber experiences movement as well as risk of breakage. The instrument also may not be easily modified to include additional optical components.

Optical devices, systems and method for producing a collimated light path


This disclosure describes an improved method, system and software for determining light (310) and visibility in an area. This includes a method, system and software for determining a region of light (310) in a specified area (320) and to a method, system and software for determining a region of visibility in a specified area (320). This disclosure describes a method for determining and visualising a three dimensional region of light which has a defined non-zero volume through a process referred to as forward projection. The method comprises determining a three dimensional region of light (310) in a specified area such as an apartment (320) that receives light from one or more sources of light (350) based on determining location information (330) of the specified area (320); estimating one or more positions (340) of the respective one or more sources of light (350); and determining one or more light attenuating objects (360).

There are many people who would be interested in the amount of sunlight that apartments, houses, gardens, parklands and other areas would receive at a specific point in time or over a period of time. Architects, designers, regulators and purchasers of property typically use direct sunlight as a means for evaluating a property.
Prior art in this field uses backwards ray tracing. This means that the light rays are traced in the opposite direction to which they naturally follow. That is, the light is traced from the light receiving point to the light source taking into account the physical interactions with the object of the scene. One issue with this approach is that it is computationally difficult to create a three dimensional region of light because the light receiving point is assumed to be a single point.
Further, the determination of light from a light source such as the sun in the prior art is typically based on a grid super imposed upon the surface of a plane above the floor of the specified area such as an apartment. Although this is an approximation of the amount of sunlight the specified area can receive, it is not particularly accurate. In addition, it is difficult to calculate sunlight at any other position other than on the plane unless more grid points were used.
Any discussion of documents, acts, materials, devices, articles or the like which has been included in the present specification is not to be taken as an admission that any or all of these matters form part of the prior art base or were common general knowledge in the field relevant to the present disclosure as it existed before the priority date of each claim of this application.
Throughout this specification the word "comprise", or variations such as "comprises" or "comprising", will be understood to imply the inclusion of a stated element, integer or step, or group of elements, integers or steps, but not the exclusion of any other element, integer or step, or group of elements, integers or steps.

Determining and visualising light and visibility in an area based on at least local information of the area and positions of one or more sources of light

The Institute of Digital Design Australia Pty Ltd


An electrical connection arrangement for a programmable integrated circuit is provided. An electrical device is disposed proximate to a vertical longline which is used for transporting address and data signals. The electrical device includes a vertical address line extending from the device. A horizontally arranged interconnection line is electrically connected to the vertical address line extending from the device. Furthermore, the horizontally arranged interconnection line is programmably connectable to the vertical longline. By electrically hardwire connecting the horizontally arranged interconnection line to the vertical address line extending from the device, only one programmable interconnect point is required to transfer signals from the vertical longline into the electrical device itself. Thus, impedance is reduced, while addressing speed is improved. Also, by adding additional horizontal interconnect lines, the present invention reduces routing barriers.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the field of programmable interconnect structures within an integrated circuit. More specifically, the present invention relates to local interconnect lines contained within field programmable gate arrays.
2. Background Technology
Programmable integrated circuits, specifically field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) typically include configurable logic blocks (CLBs) and a programmable interconnect structure. Typically, the interconnect structure is used for providing signals to the CLBs, for routing signals between CLBs, and for routing signals to other devices within the FPGA. Routing of signals, especially address signals, from global longlines to a look-up table (LUT) of a CLB is important to programmable integrated circuits, such as FPGAs. Often, a LUT can be configured as a memory, with address lines which extend both vertically and horizontally from the CLB within the semiconductor substrate. The address lines are then electrically coupled to vertically arranged global longlines disposed near columns of CLBs. The global longlines are used to supply common addressing signals to a plurality of CLBs and, as such, extend across a large portion of the FPGA.
FIG. 1, illustrates a CLB 10, which includes a LUT 12, and a plurality of global longlines 14a-14f. Horizontal local interconnect lines 16a-16d are provided above and below CLB10. Horizontal input/output lines 18a-18d, hereinafter referred to as horizontal input/output lines, hereinafter referred to as address lines, extend horizontally from LUT 12. Additionally, vertical address lines 20a-20d, extend vertically from LUT 12. Horizontal address lines 18a-18b are electrically coupled to desired global longlines using a programmable interconnect points (PIPS) such as PIPs 22a-22d positioned at line intersections. Prior art FIG. 2 illustrates a diagrammatic and a more detailed representation of a PIP 30 including a transistor 36a coupled between lines 32 and 34. If programmed ON via a programmable memory cell 36b, transistor 36a couples line 32 and 34. If transistor 36a is programmed OFF, lines 32 and 34 are not connected.
In prior art configurations, to connect the vertical address lines to the global longlines of FIG. 1, two PIPs are required because the vertical address lines are parallel to the global longlines. For example, as shown in FIG. 1, PIP 24b and PIP 24a are required to connect vertical address line 20a to global longline 14b. Specifically, PIP 24b couples address line 20a to horizontal interconnect line 16b, and PIP 24a couples local interconnect line 16b to global longline 14b. The use of multiple PIPs increases impedance and reduces signal speed. Furthermore, using PIPs on horizontal interconnect line 16b to address LUT 12 prevents horizontal interconnect line 16b from being used for other routing purposes. Thus, when the number of vertical address lines increases, the number of horizontal interconnect lines available for other routing purposes is correspondingly reduced. Therefore, multiple PIP connection schemes create a substantial routing barrier within an FPGA. Thus, a need exists for an interconnection mechanism or structure which minimizes the number of PIPs, and which eliminates routing barriers associated with the prior art.

Dedicated local line interconnect layout


Load fluctuations caused by a change in moving direction of a linear motor 23 are prevented by affixing a belt 21 tensioned by a pair of pulleys 22 on the linear motor 23 for moving a reading light source portion 31 and affixing a counterweight 26 on the belt 21 at a portion diagonally opposite to the portion where the linear motor 23 is affixed with respect to the center axis of the belt 21. Further, damping devices (magnets 40 and 41) which impart a bias load to the counterweight 26 in the direction perpendicular to the tensioning direction of the belt 21 is provided, so that vibration produced during traveling of the linear motor 23 is suppressed and accordingly the traveling accuracy of the linear motor 23 is increased.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a movable-component linear drive apparatus for linearly moving a movable component, for example, a light source of a scanning device for scanning a subject of photograph with linear light.
2. Description of the Related Art
Heretofore, various radiation-image recording mediums, for recording a radiation image of a subject upon exposure to radiation transmitted through subjects, have been proposed and put into practical use in a variety of fields, including the medical field.
Such radiation image recording mediums include, for example, a radiation image detector using a semiconductor material which develops electric charges upon exposure to radiation, and a stimulable phosphor sheet which accumulates radiation energy upon exposure to radiation and exhibits photostimulated luminescence upon exposure to reading light.
When reading out a radiation image as an electric signal from the aforementioned radiation image recording medium, a reading light source which emits linear reading light is employed from the viewpoint of rapid readout, and the radiation image recording medium is scanned with the reading light by moving the reading light source in a direction substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal direction thereof (see U.S. Pat. No. 6,268,614).
In the present day, from the viewpoint of miniaturization, there has been proposed a cassette, in which the radiation image recording medium as mentioned above and a reading light scanning device including a reading light source are both provided. Using such a cassette allows a radiation image to be read out immediately after the radiation image is recorded by a radiation image recording system. It is also possible to readily record another radiograph image under another imaging condition based on the observation of the read out radiation image.
For a mammographic X-ray system, for example, a cassette position may be varied depending on the imaging conditions when taking radiophotographs. Thus, the reading light source is not limited to be moved horizontally, but may have to be moved in a direction inclined with respect to the horizontal direction.
Accordingly, for example, if the reading light source is moved by means of a motor and the driving current of the motor is optimally selected for horizontally moving the reading light source, when the moving direction of the reading light source is changed to, for example, a vertically rising direction, a shortage of the driving current would be caused since the load, with respect to the motor, increases due to the effect of gravity. This prevents stable movement of the reading light source, which would result in degradation of image quality of the read-out radiation image. On the other hand, if a driving current sufficient for moving the reading light source in the vertically rising direction is always applied in order to avoid the shortage of driving current, when the reading light source is moved horizontally or downward, over-torque is caused immediately after the beginning of the traveling of the reading light source. This also prevents the reading light source from being moved with stability, which would result in degradation of image quality of the read-out radiation image.
The typical methods of overcoming the disadvantages mentioned above include reducing the weight of the reading light source and selecting a motor having an extremely high motor rating, as long as the overall driving load is not affected thereby. However, such reading light sources and such motors are very expensive, thereby increasing the manufacturing cost.
Some radiation image recording systems are designed to perform scanning with reading light while moving the radiation image recording medium without changing the position of the reading light source. Even in such radiation image recording systems, when the moving direction of the radiation image recording medium changes, stable movement of the radiation image recording medium would not be ensured, causing degradation of the image quality of the read out radiation image, as in the case where the moving direction of the reading light source changes.

Movable-component linear drive apparatus


In the apparatus and method of the invention, a servo signal reproduction unit generates a PES from a servo signal reproduced from a magnetic tape, and a frequency conversion unit performs FFT processing of the PES to generate frequency component information. Then, a filter value generation unit generates filter values based on the frequency component information and writes these to a memory. When recording various data signals to the magnetic tape, the filter values are read from the memory and a control filter serving as a notch filter is incorporated into a feedback control for a tracking servo. This enables periodic and narrow-band noise to be removed from a PES, consequently reducing PESs. Accordingly, learning-type optimum notch filter control that allows a magnetic head to follow recording tracks at high speed and with high precision is possible even when the recording track width is reduced and the tape speed is increased.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a servo signal recording apparatus capable of recording a servo signal to a magnetic tape, and more specifically relates to an information recording apparatus capable of recording a variety of information to a magnetic tape while performing tracking servo control based on the servo signal recorded on the magnetic tape. In particular, the present invention relates to a learning-type optimum notch filter control system adaptable to a data storage system for a computer, and also relates to a recording and reproduction apparatus capable of implementing such a learning-type optimum notch filter control system.
2. Description of Related Art
Magnetic tape has a variety of applications such as audio tape, video tape, and computer tape. Particularly in the field of data backup tapes, magnetic tapes with a recording capacity of 800 GB (giga byte) or more per reel have been commercialized following increases in the capacity of hard disks for backup. High capacity backup tapes have been proposed with the development hereafter of techniques for backing up data exceeding 4 TB (tera byte).
One conceivable method of increasing the capacity of magnetic tape is, for example, to make the magnetic tape thinner to increase the tape length per reel, without increasing the reel diameter of the magnetic tape per reel. Another method involves shortening the recording wavelength of data recorded on the magnetic tape to increase the longitudinal recording density of the magnetic tape. A further method involves reducing the recording track width of the magnetic tape to increase the lateral recording density of the magnetic tape (high recording density technique).
When the recording track width is reduced by employing a high recording density technique for magnetic tape, the magnetic head is unable to accurately follow the recording track due to the lateral motion of the magnetic tape during data recording or reproduction, or the like. If the magnetic head is unable to accurately follow the recording track, errors are more likely to occur in writing information to the magnetic tape or in recording information from the magnetic tape. In view of this, currently, systems that are provided with a servo system using a servo signal recorded to a magnetic layer or a back-coat layer of the magnetic tape during manufacture have become mainstream.
As for servo systems, there is a magnetic servo system and an optical servo system. With the magnetic servo system, a servo signal is magnetically recorded to a magnetic layer of the magnetic tape, and the servo signal is magnetically read to perform servo control. With the optical servo system, a servo signal constituted by a recessed array is formed on a back-coat layer on the magnetic tape with laser irradiation or the like, and the recessed array is optically read to perform servo control.
These servo systems enable the magnetic head to follow the recording track when recording data to a magnetic tape or reproducing data from a magnetic tape, even when the magnetic tape moves laterally relative to the magnetic head. Specifically, the servo signal recorded on the magnetic tape is firstly read with a servo head. Then, according to the read servo signal, the position of a head unit (which includes at least a data recording head and a data reproducing head) along the width of the magnetic tape is controlled so as to allow the data recording head or the data reproducing head to follow the recording track. This enables information to be recorded to the correct position on a magnetic tape, and information recorded on a magnetic tape to be correctly reproduced.
Disclosed in Patent Document 1 (JP H8-30942A) and Patent Document 2 (U.S. Pat. No. 6,226,688) are timing based servo systems. With these timing based servo systems, the servo signal is a pattern that is at an angle relative to the width direction of the magnetic tape. An apparatus compatible with such timing based servo systems confirms the head position from the time intervals between the peaks of the reproduction waveform when the servo signal is reproduced.
Disclosed in Patent Document 3 (JP 2004-86959A) are a difference detector and a set value modification unit. The difference detector detects a difference between the resonance frequency of the head actuator and the center frequency set in the notch filter. The set value modification unit modifies the set value of the center frequency in the notch filter, based on the difference detected by the difference detector.
However, a problem with the techniques disclosed in Patent Documents 1 and 2 is that a PES (position error signal) must be of a lesser amplitude when the recording track width is narrowed following an increase in the information recording density of the magnetic tape. Patent Document 3 discloses a technique for reducing the resonance frequency of the actuator with the notch filter but does not disclose a technique for reducing other factors such as periodic noise, narrow-band noise, and the like.

Servo signal recording apparatus, information recording apparatus, and tracking servo method


Systems and methods for personalizing video playback are disclosed. In embodiments, a computer-implemented method, comprises: initiating, by a computing device, a video playing session of a video; recording, by the computing device, user initiated playback actions during the video playing session as playback event data; determining, by the computing device, context data based on content of the video, and saving the context data; determining, by the computing device, insights regarding the user playback event data utilizing the context data; and generating, by the computing device, one or more recommendations based on the insights.

The present invention relates generally to video controls and, more particularly, to personalized video playback.
Videos are available in a number of different formats, including via a television channel, a video stream, and storage medium (digital versatile disk, etc.). Different devices may be utilized to implement basic control functions such as playing, pausing and rewinding of the video. In many cases, a user has no control over the content of a video, but may use the basic control functions of a computing device to replay or pause sections of the video to manage the user's interaction with the content.

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION


A discharge check valve assembly for use with a hermetic scroll compressor having a compressor shell is provided. The discharge check valve assembly includes a valve housing and a valve seat located within the valve housing. The valve housing is configured to mount the discharge check valve assembly to the compressor shell. The discharge check valve assembly also includes a discharge fitting and a valve subassembly. The discharge fitting is configured to mount to the compressor shell and configured to connect to a connecting tube in fluid communication with a high-pressure system. The valve subassembly has a valve member movable between an open position and a closed position. Additionally, the valve subassembly is configured to be inserted through the discharge fitting into the valve housing.

Scroll compressor machines, which have two intermeshed involutes or scrolls, provide an efficient way to compress fluids, including gases or mixtures thereof. In operation, one of the scrolls is fixed and the other, an orbiting scroll, is driven by a motor so that it orbits in relation to the fixed scroll. Fluid enters the compressor shell through a low-pressure fluid inlet port and exits through a high-pressure discharge port. The low pressure fluid enters the outer pockets defined by the intermeshed scrolls and is moved toward the center of the intermeshed scrolls or spirals, thereby decreasing in volume and increasing in pressure. The compressed fluid is exhausted through the high-pressure discharge port to the refrigeration or cooling system.
Discharge check valves may be installed in the high-pressure discharge port of the compressor shell to prevent the return of high-pressure refrigerant fluid that may cause reverse movement of the orbiting scroll upon shut down of the compressor.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,141,420 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,171,084 both disclose disc type check valves in the discharge port area of a scroll type hermetic compressor. These valves contain a plurality of components, such as a valve housing, a valve seat element, a valve stop, and a valve disc, each of which must be precisely machined to ensure free movement of the valve disc. Typically, these disc type check valves include an unbiased, planar valve disc.
Such disc type discharge valves are mounted prior to, or in connection with, the welding or permanent attachment of a discharge fitting to the compressor shell. The discharge fitting allows the attachment of suitable conduits to the compressor shell from the rest of the refrigeration system. With these known discharge check valves, once the discharge fitting is attached to the compressor shell, the discharge check valves cannot then be added. Moreover, once these known discharge check valves are assembled to the compressor shell, they cannot be removed without also detaching the discharge fitting from the compressor shell.
Further, these disk type valves are not completely tight, due to insufficient closure force on the unbiased valve element and manufacturing tolerances for the valve element and the valve seat. Even if reverse rotation of the compressor can be avoided when the compressor stops, a certain amount of refrigerant will leak back from the high-pressure side of the refrigeration system into the compressor shell.
In multi-compressor systems, this leads to preservation of high pressure in the discharge compartment inside the hermetic shell of the compressor, when the compressor stops. Due to this elevated pressure, restarting the compressor requires a higher than normal starting torque.

Discharge check valve assembly for use with hermetic scroll compressor


A railroad car truck including a first side frame, a second side frame, a bolster, and a plurality of warp restraints that are configured to prevent warping of the bolster relative to the side frames.

Conventional freight railroad cars in North America and other parts of the world typically include a car body and two spaced apart trucks. The car body or car body under frame typically includes two spaced apart center plates that respectively rest on and are rotatably or swivelly received by bolster bowls of the two trucks. The trucks rollingly support the car body along railroad tracks or rails. Each truck typically has a three piece truck configuration that includes two spaced apart parallel side frames and a bolster. The side frames extend in the same direction as the tracks or rails, and the bolster extends transversely or laterally (such as perpendicularly) to the tracks or rails. The bolster extends laterally through and between and is supported by the two spaced apart side frames. Each side frame typically defines a center opening and pedestal jaw openings on each side of the center opening. Each end of each bolster is typically supported by a spring group positioned in the center opening of the side frame and supported by the lower portion of the side frame that defines the center opening.
Each truck also typically includes two axles that support the side frames, four wheels, and four roller bearing assemblies respectively mounted on the ends of the axles. The truck further typically includes four bearing adapters respectively positioned on each roller bearing assembly in the respective pedestal jaw opening below the downwardly facing wall of the side frame that defines the top of the pedestal jaw opening. The wheel sets of the truck are thus received in bearing adapters placed in leading and trailing pedestal jaws in the side frames, so that axles of the wheel sets are generally parallel. The bearing adapters permit relatively slight angular displacement of the axles. The spring sets or groups permit the bolster to move somewhat with respect to the side frame, about longitudinal or horizontal, vertical, and transverse axes (and combinations thereof).
Directions and orientations herein refer to the normal orientation of a railroad car in use. Thus, unless the context clearly requires otherwise, the "longitudinal" axis or direction is substantially parallel to straight tracks or rails and in the direction of movement of the railroad car on the track or rails in either direction. The "transverse" or "lateral" axis or direction is in a horizontal direction substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal axis and the straight tracks or rails. A truck is considered "square" when its wheels are aligned on parallel rails and the axles are parallel to each other and perpendicular to the side frames. The "leading" side of the truck means the first side of a truck of a railroad car to encounter a turn, and the "trailing" side is opposite of the leading side.
Existing trucks do not fully address the ever increasing and expected future demands for freight railroad car truck performance in the railroad industry. More specifically, while the various current known and commercially available three piece truck configurations meet current Association of American Railroads ("AAR") specifications, enhanced specifications are being developed by the AAR and it is expected that the current three piece truck configurations may not meet these new AAR specifications. These AAR enhanced specifications set forth or codify these continuing and ongoing demands in the railroad industry for improved freight railroad car truck performance to: (a) reduce railroad car component wear and damage such as wheel wear and damage; (b) reduce rolling resistance; (c) reduce fuel consumption; (d) reduce the need for and thus cost of railroad track or rail repair (including reducing the cost of rail and tie maintenance); (e) reduce truck hunting and improve high speed stability ("HSS") for both empty and loaded railroad cars; and (f) improve curving performance for both empty and loaded railroad cars.
Ideally, on straight tracks or straight rails, a three piece truck with parallel side frames and parallel wheel set axles perpendicular to the side frames (i.e., a perfectly "square" truck) rolls without inducing lateral or transverse forces between the wheel tread and the rail. However, at higher speeds, even minor imperfections or perturbations in the tracks or rails or in the equipment can lead to a condition known as "hunting". Hunting refers to a yawing or oscillating lateral movement of the wheel sets along the tracks or rails that causes the railroad car to move side-to-side on the tracks or rails. More than minor imperfections or perturbations in the tracks or rails or in the railroad car equipment or components can lead to greater truck hunting even at lower speeds. Hunting tends to increase wheel wear and damage, increase fuel consumption, increase the need for railroad track or rail repair, and decrease HSS. In certain instances, hunting has also led to derailments, damage to the lading, and damage to the freight railroad cars.
Curved railroad tracks or rails pose a different set of challenges for the standard three-piece truck. When a railroad car truck encounters a curve or turn, the distance traversed by the wheels on the outside of the curve is greater than the distance traversed by wheels on the inside of the curve, resulting in lateral and longitudinal forces between the respective wheels and the tracks or rails. These wheel forces often cause the wheel set to turn in a direction opposing the curve or turn. On trucks with insufficient rigidity, this can result in a condition variously known as "warping," "lozenging," "parallelogramming," and/or "unsquaring," wherein the side frames remain parallel, but one side frame moves forward with respect to the other side frame. This condition is referred to herein as warping for brevity.
Another known issue relates to various known 3-piece railroad truck suspensions that have side frames with flat rectangular surfaces against which friction wedges are pressed to produce frictional (i.e., Coulomb) damping to control vertical bounces and other oscillatory modes. Normally, significant clearance exists between the side frame's column face and nearby surfaces of the bolster to enable assembly and proper relative motion during use. This clearance is undesirable in that it enables the truck assembly to become warped or change shape from the intended parallel and perpendicular arrangement (i.e., to undergo warping).
Such warping (alone or in combination with hunting) can cause increased wear on the tracks or rails and railroad car truck components or equipment. Such warping (alone or in combination with hunting) also tends to increase rolling resistance that increases railroad car fuel consumption, decreases railroad car efficiency, and increases railroad engine pollution.
Accordingly, there is a need to meet these ongoing demands in the railroad industry for improved freight railroad car truck performance that reduces or minimizes warping.


A method for producing a target directivity function that includes a set of spatially biased HRTFs. A set of left ear and right ear head related transfer functions (HRTFs) are selected. The left ear and right ear head HRTFs are multiplied with an on-camera emphasis function (OCE), to produce the spatially biased HRTFs. The OCE may be designed to shape the sound profile of the HRTFs to provide emphasis in a desired location or direction that is a function of the specific orientation of the device as it is being used to make a video recording. Other aspects are also described and claimed.

Binaural recording of audio facilitates a means for full 3D sound capture—in other words, being able to reproduce the exact sound scene and giving the user a sensation of 'being there.' This can be accomplished through spatial rendering of audio inputs using head related transfer functions (HRTF), which modifies a sound signal in order to induce the perception in a listener that the sound signal is originating from any point in space. While this approach is compelling for, for example, full virtual reality applications, in which a user can interact both visually and audibly in a virtual environment, in traditional video capture applications three dimensional sounds can distract the viewer from the screen. In contrast, monophonic or traditional stereophonic recordings may not provide a sufficient sense of immersion.

Spatially biased sound pickup for binaural video recording


A method for calibrating a laser measuring apparatus having a laser illumination unit and an image capturing unit includes the following steps. A calibration board having at least one slit gap and a plurality of markers is provided. The relative position between the calibration board and the laser illumination unit is adjusted to allow a slit laser beam emitted by the laser illumination unit to pass through the at least one slit. The calibration board is captured by the image capturing unit to generate a calibration board image. The calibration board image is processed so as to obtain a camera coordinate of each of the markers. A plurality of calibration parameters are calculated according to the camera coordinate and an actual coordinate of each of the markers so as to obtain actual coordinates of an object captured in an object image generated by the laser measuring apparatus.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a method and system for calibration, in particular, to a method and system for calibrating laser measuring components.
2. Description of Related Art
In the field of computer graphics, three-dimensional (3D) model construction has been extensively applied in aspects such as industrial design, reverse engineering, medical image processing, criminal identification, digital documentation of culture artifacts, archaeological artifacts Geometric measurement techniques in measuring the contour shape of an object are mainly classified into contact measurement and non-contact measurement.
The contact measurement technique is frequently applied in industrial engineering thanks to its precision. However, such method involves point-by-point scanning through an object surface, which may be inefficient and may potentially destroy the object. Therefore such method is not suitable for reconstructing culture artifacts or archaeological artifacts. On the other hand, the non-contact measurement technique involves emitting energy onto an object and detecting its reflection in order to calculate the 3D data of the object.
One of the most commonly adopted non-contact measurement methods is triangulation. In a triangulation based measurement approach, a laser measuring apparatus projects a laser light beam onto the surface of an object, and a camera is exploited to look for the location of a laser dot on the object, where the laser dot, the camera, and the laser measuring apparatus form a triangle. As the distance between the laser measuring apparatus and the object changes, since the distance between the laser measuring apparatus and the camera as well as the angle of the laser light beam emitted by the laser measuring apparatus are known, the distance between the object and the laser measuring apparatus may be calculated based on the location of the laser dot in the camera's field of view. Such approach is more precise and is adapted for examining circuit boards in the field of precision molding technology or semiconductor electronic technology. Moreover, in some existing cases, a single laser dot may be substituted by a slit laser which is able to be swept across the object to speed up the measuring process.
In terms of a conventional laser measuring apparatus such as a laser measuring apparatus 100 in FIG. 1, it includes an image capturing unit 110 and a laser illumination unit 120. The image capturing unit 110 may be a camera with charge coupled devices (CCD), and the laser illumination unit 120 may be a linear light source. The angle between the central axis of an emitted laser beam and the viewing axis of the image capturing unit 110 is fixed. When an object A is disposed in front of the laser illumination unit 120 and the image capturing unit 110, a slit laser beam M may be projected onto the object A and captured by the image capturing unit 110.
However, since the distance between an object and a laser measuring apparatus may vary, the slit laser beam projected onto the object may result in different offsets. Hence, the performance of the laser measuring apparatus is dependent upon the accuracy of the calibration. Accordingly, to provide a method for calibrating the aforementioned laser measuring apparatus with simplicity and precision is one of the tasks to be solved.

Method and system for calibrating laser measuring apparatus

National Taiwan University of Science and Technology


The invention is directed to a starting device for manually starting an internal combustion engine and especially a two-stroke engine. The starting device comprises essentially a clutch drum which is actuated by a pull rope for imparting rotation to a catch which coacts with a clutch element of the engine shaft. The starting device maintains within limits the effects of stronger fluctuations of the reaction torque of the engine shaft on the hand of the operator. This is achieved in that the clutch drum and the carrier of the catch are configured as separate parts and are connected by an elastically-deformable entraining element which takes up the force peaks of the reaction torque.

A starting device of the above kind is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,127,098. The operation of such a starting device often presents difficulties because periodically high reaction forces occur as a result of the compression in the engine during starting. This causes changing forces which are temporarily very high to act on the hand of the operator. The force peaks acting on the handle of the starting device are that much greater the lighter the rotating masses of the engine are.
It is known for pull-rope starting devices for internal combustion engines that the periodically occurring high reaction forces can be prevented when the rope is wound on an oval or cornered disc of the clutch drum so that different pulling forces result when pulling the handle while unwinding the rope. These pulling forces are adapted to the fluctuating reaction torque. In this connection, reference can be made to U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,942,599 and 3,814,073. The arrangement requires a precise dimensioning, assembly and correlation of the winding of the rope disc in dependence upon the engine to be started. The constructive and manufacturing complexity for a starting device of this kind is therefore very great.

Starting device for an internal combustion engine


The present disclosure relates to a low-power measuring device. In one implementation, the low-power measuring device includes a first sensor for measuring a first value, the first value being a measurement of a variable, and a counter unit for generating a first counter value indicative of a first elapsed time since the first value is measured by the first sensor. The low-power measuring device further includes at least one processor configured to send the first value to a remote apparatus, send the first counter value to the remote apparatus, cause the remote apparatus to determine the first elapsed time based on the first value and the first counter value, and cause the remote apparatus to determine a first obtained time at which the first value is measured by the first sensor based on the determined first elapsed time and a reference time of the remote apparatus.

The present disclosure relates to systems and methods for determining measurement times of values obtained by a measuring device, such as a medical device. More specifically, and without limitation, the present disclosure relates to systems and methods for remotely determining times at which values are measured by a medical device.
A variety of medical devices exist, including those that are used for administering drugs to a patient, such as insulin. Measuring the quantity and recording the timing of a drug's administration is an integral part of many medical treatments. For many treatments, to achieve the best therapeutic effect, specific quantities of the drug may need to be injected at specific times of the day. For example, individuals suffering from diabetes may be required to inject themselves regularly throughout the day in response to measurements of their blood glucose. The frequency and volume of insulin injections must be carefully tracked and controlled to keep the patient's blood glucose level within a healthy range.
Medication injection devices, such as glucose injection syringes and pens, have been developed in this area. However, it is often impractical to include components needed to generate accurate timestamps for tracking when the medication was injected. Components needed to generate timestamps are typically too large to incorporate into the injection device and/or consume too much power. Thus, developing portable, medication injection devices that automatically track drug administration is challenging. What is needed is the ability to accurately determine the time at which measurements are made by a medical device that is too small or unable to incorporate the needed components for generating accurate timestamps.

Low-power systems and methods for determining measurement times of values obtained by a measuring device


A heat dissipation device includes a heat sink and an LED module attached to the heat sink. The heat sink includes a base and a plurality of fins mounted on the base. A plurality of channels is defined between the fins of the heat sink and slits are defined in two opposite side edges of the base. The slits extend through the base and corresponding fins and cross with corresponding channels. A plurality of grooves is defined in the fins opposite to the LED module. Each of the grooves interconnects corresponding two aligned slits.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a heat dissipation device, and more particularly to a heat dissipation device which can more effectively dissipate heat on the device by air convection, wherein the device is used for mounting a light emitting device module thereon.
2. Description of Related Art
A light emitting diode (LED) is a device for transferring electricity to light by using a theory that, if a current is made to flow in a forward direction through a junction region comprising two different semiconductors, electrons and holes are coupled at the junction region to generate a light beam. The LED has an advantage in that it is resistant to shock, and has an almost eternal lifetime under a specific condition, so more and more LED modules with different capabilities are being developed.
LED modules for use in a display or an illumination device require many LEDs, and most of the LEDs are driven at the same time, which results in a quick rise in temperature of the LED module. Since generally the LED modules do not have heat dissipation devices with good heat dissipating efficiencies, operation of the general LED modules has a problem of instability because of the rapid buildup of heat. Consequently, the light from the LED module often flickers, which degrades the quality of the display or illumination.
As LED technology continues to advance, more and more heat dissipation devices are applied to the LED modules for dissipating heat from the LED modules. A related heat dissipation device attached to an LED module usually comprises a heat sink having a base and a plurality of fins mounted on the base. The fins are located parallel to each other and perpendicular to the base. A plurality of channels is defined between the fins of the heat sink and arranged parallel to each other. Through a natural air convection through the channels, heat of the fins from the base by absorbing the heat generated by the LED module can be dissipated to atmosphere. Accordingly, the LED module can be cooled to some degree.
However, by the provision of the fins and the unidirectional channels defined between the fins, the natural air convection cannot have a sufficient heat exchange with the fins, whereby the heat generated by the LED module cannot be timely dissipated to surrounding atmosphere, and performance of the LED module is accordingly undesirably affected.
What is needed, therefore, is a heat dissipation device for an LED module, which can provide improved heat dissipation efficiency.

Heat dissipation device for light emitting diode module

Fu Zhun Precision Industry (Shen Zhen) Co., Ltd.