Blow molding processes developed for producing plastic containers having an integral collapsible spout with self-latching bellow characteristics whereby, the centerline of integral collapsible spout (10) can be located either off centerline (34) or is centrally positioned (38) with containment body (32). In producing containers with integral collapsible spout (10) off centerline (34), the blow molding methodolgy requires parison flashing (12) to encapsulate integral collapsible spout (10) on both sides, along mold parting line (24), thereby, maintaining symmetry of the thickened cross-sectional wall portion, created by parison flashing (12). This technique improves the functionality of integral collapsible spout (10) and also allows it to maintain stability when collapsed to fully retracted position (14). Captive parison (36) is an alternate method that can be utilized when integral collapsible spout (10) is located in central position (38) of containment body (32). This method eliminates parison flashing (12) from self latching bellows sections (16), yet achieves the required functional characteristics when integral collapsible spout (10) is in fully retracted position (14).

1. Field of Invention
The invention relates to technology associated with blow molding practices used for manufacturing plastic bottles and specifically, containers having an integral collapsible spout, formed into a portion of container body.
2. Description of Prior Art
There are certain unique blow molding methods and techniques used during the manufacturing process to successfully produce a container with a functional, integrally molded collapsible spout. When the centerline of the integral collapsible spout is located off centerline of the containment body or if an integral gripping means is positioned next to said spout, parison flashing must occur on both sides of integral collapsible spout. In doing so, this stabilizes the internal material stresses associated with the thickened cross-sectional wall that is created from flashing along the mold line of the integral collapsible spout. Thus, equal symmetry is maintained and the integral collapsible spout can maintain stability when collapsed to the fully retracted position for filling and packaging needs. The pinch surfaces of the mold blocks have been modified to help reduce the thickened cross-sectional material along the flute profile of each self latching bellows section. This is further improved by relieving the pinch surfaces and increasing the depth of gutter flash pockets to help move excess material away from the mold parting line. Thereby, creating a more uniform wall thickness throughout the spout.
An alternate method is sometimes preferred when the integral collapsible spout is positioned centrally with the containment body, allowing the parison to be captive within the minor dimension of said spout and extend through the center of containment body during the blow molding process. Thus, when utilizing this method, flashing is eliminated from the plurality of self latching bellow sections comprising integral collapsible spout.

Methodology for blow molding container with integral collapsible spout


An electronic device includes: a main unit; a cap unit that is capable of having a portable electronic device attached thereto; an instructing unit that issues an instruction to designate a tilt angle of the cap unit with respect to the main unit; a driving unit that drives the cap unit in accordance with the instruction from the instructing unit; and a controlling unit that controls the operation of the driving unit in accordance with the instruction from the instructing unit, when the portable electronic device is not attached to the cap unit.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to an electronic device, and an electronic system that includes a detachable, portable electronic device and the electronic device.
2. Description of the Related Art
Widely known conventional navigation devices include small-sized portable navigation devices that are called personal navigation devices and can be carried around though their structures are simple, and vehicle-mounted navigation devices that are accommodated and secured in the concave portions (DIN openings) formed in the dashboards of vehicles. Each of the vehicle-mounted navigation devices can perform a highly precise guiding operation, with the assistance of information such as vehicle speed information supplied from the vehicle. Some of the newly suggested vehicle-mounted navigation devices are equipped with audio devices.
In recent years, navigation devices that have the portability of the portable navigation devices and the highly sophisticated guiding performance of the vehicle-mounted navigation systems have been developed.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 8-318792 (Reference 1), Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2002-328026 (Reference 2), Published Japanese Translation No. 2005-524570 of the PCT international publication for a patent application (Reference 3), and Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2001-239895 (Reference 4) disclose structures each having a navigating unit that can be detached from a vehicle-mounted device mounted on a vehicle. Detached from the vehicle-mounted device, the navigating unit can be used as an independent portable navigation device.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2003-166848 (Reference 5) discloses a structure in which a navigation device can be detached from a vehicle, and can be used while the user is walking. While the navigation device is mounted in the vehicle, the navigation device operates in a car navigating mode. When detached from the vehicle, the navigation device operates in a human navigating mode.
However, any of References 1 through 5 neither discloses nor suggests a structure in which a vehicle-mounted device to which a navigating unit is to be attached has a cap unit that can tilt with respect to the vehicle-mounted device main unit.
FIG. 17 shows a conventional structure in which a front-face unit (cap unit) 802 of a vehicle-mounted device 801 to which a navigating unit 804 is to be attached is pushed forward by a slider 803 and tilts with respect to the vehicle-mounted device main unit. When the navigating unit B04 is attached to the front-face unit 802 of the vehicle-mounted device in a tilting state, excess load is put on the slider 803, and the slider 803 might be damaged. Therefore, it is necessary to prevent damage to the slider 803. Also, when the front-face unit 120 is not in a tilting state, the CD insertion/ejection slit is not exposed, and a CD cannot be inserted or ejected.
In the structure in which the front-face unit (the cap unit) 802 of the vehicle-mounted device 801 to which the navigating unit 804 is to be attached is pushed forward by the slider 803 and tilts with respect to the vehicle-mounted device main unit as shown in FIG. 17, the tilt angle of the front-face unit 802 can be adjusted by a user with the use of an operating unit (not shown), regardless of the connecting state of the navigating unit 804.
Accordingly, even if a user adjusts the tilt angle of the front-face unit 802 so as to increase the visibility of the navigating unit 804 while the navigating unit 804 is attached to the front-face unit 802, the user needs to readjust the tilt angle of the front-face unit 802 when the navigating unit 804 is put back to the front-face unit 802 after the tilt angle of the front-face unit 802 is automatically adjusted while the navigating unit 804 is detached from the front-face unit 802.
Meanwhile, there has been a demand for an increase in the visibility of the navigating unit 804 by making the tilt angle of the front-face unit 802 of the vehicle-mounted device 801 adjustable while the navigating unit 804 is attached to the front-face unit 802 of the vehicle-mounted device 801.
There has also been the problem that, even if a user adjusts the tilt angle of the front-face unit 802 so as to increase the operability of the vehicle-mounted device 801 while the navigating unit 804 is detached from the front-face unit 802, the user needs to readjust the tilt angle of the front-face unit 802 when the navigating unit 804 is detached from the front-face unit 802 after the tilt angle of the front-face unit 802 is automatically adjusted while the navigating unit 804 is attached to the front-face unit 802.


A wristband mobile terminal and a control method for a wristband mobile terminal are provided. The wristband mobile terminal includes: a terminal body, the terminal body including a first side and a second side opposite to the first side, the second side being provided with an accommodating portion; and a ring band, the ring band being capable of being accommodated in the accommodating portion and being capable of being detachably connected to the terminal bod, in which when the ring band is connected to the terminal body, the wristband mobile terminal forms a closed ring.

At present, mobile phones, tablet computers and other mobile terminals tend to have a bigger and bigger display screen in order to meet the user's demand for display effects. As the display screen of the mobile terminal is enlarged, the volume of the mobile terminal is increased, and thus the problem that the mobile terminal is inconvenient to carry becomes more and more prominent. Accordingly, how to effectively balance the increased screen size and portability of mobile terminals has become an urgent problem to be solved.

Wristband mobile terminal and control method thereof

GUANGDONG OPPO MOBILE TELECOMMUNICATIONS CORP., LTD.


Multi-stage change of speed between an input shaft and an output shaft on the same axis in a casing is achieved by planetary gear systems provided in multi-stages on the same axis in the casing. Sun gears 4 of plural groups of the planetary gear systems, having different velocity ratios, are fixed to one shaft. Carriers of each group of the planetary gear systems are connected to the other shaft to rotate as one body. A braking device can brake an internal gear of each group of the planetary gear systems individually, thus causing only the planetary gear system of a desired velocity ratio to perform transmission of rotation.

The present invention is related to a multi-stage transmission provided with plural planetary gear systems having different rotation ratios on the same axis in multi-stage. The invention enables interruption of transmission of rotation of an input shaft to an output shaft provided on the same axis, through one of a group of planetary gear systems having a prescribed speed change ratio.
Transmission by a planetary gear system has been widely used because it can produce a larger velocity ratio than transmission by other gear types. The conventional transmission of this type is designed, for example as disclosed in Japanese utility model application No. Hei. 6-18748, to fix an internal gear and to obtain a fixed velocity ratio through carriers arranged in multi-stage and a pinion gear and a sun gear.
In the case of forming a single multi-stage transmission by a gear transmitting system of a non-planetary gear type, there are such disadvantages as the body of the machine becomes large, the weight of the machine increases and the machine has inferior shock enduring capacity and wear resisting capacity. According to the conventional planetary gear system, it is possible to obtain a large speed change ratio on the same axis and to make the size of the machine compact, but there is the disadvantage that multi-stage change of speed is impossible.
For this reason, it has been a problem to produce a multi-stage transmission which has shock enduring capacity and a wear resisting capacity and which enables multi-stage changes of speed while utilizing the advantages of the planetary gear system and avoiding increasing the size of the machine body.


An optical device which controls the strength of an optical signal from an input fiber to an output fiber responsive to a signal on a control terminal. The device has a first GRIN lens associated with the input fiber, a first birefringent polarizer, a liquid crystal cell, a second birefringent polarizer and a second GRIN lens associated with the output fiber. The liquid crystal cell, located between the first and second polarizers and connected to a control terminal, controllably rotates the optical signal from the optical axis of the first polarizer toward the optical axis of the second polarizer responsive to the signal on said control terminal. The operation of the device is independent of the polarization of the optical signal in the input fiber. Furthermore, the device can be operated as an optical switch or an optical attenuator by suitably arranging the axes of the polarizers and liquid crystal cell.

The present invention relates to optical fiber technology and, more particularly, to optical devices useful in fiber optic networks, such as optical switches and optical attenuators.
Complex electronic systems such as required for ground and space control, command, radio/data transmission, sensor rays, telecommunications and networks, require high performance switches for switching matrices. Heretofore, most conventional electrical or electrical mechanical switching matrices have had shortcomings of large thermal effects and heat problems, large size, weight, cost in power consumption, narrow operational bandwidth and susceptibility to electromagnetic interference, electromagnetic pulses or RF interference.
Thus many communications and control systems have migrated to fiber optic or electro-optical systems to avoid many of these problems, such as electromagnetic interference, electromagnetic pulse, or RF interference immunity, and to reduce the size, weight and cost of elements in these systems. However, current fiber optic or electro-optic switches still have various disadvantages. For example, commercially available fiber optic switches are 1.times.2 or are 2.times.2 configurations. However, these switches have certain problems including, large physical size, high cost, poor reliability due to the movement of mechanical parts within the switch. Furthermore, these types of switches make it difficult to construct a micro-miniature switching matrix because the switches require mechanical mountings in various fiber optic interconnections and splicings. Furthermore, these optical switches have slow switching speeds and consume large amounts of power to move the mechanical parts which, in turn, results in undesirably large heat generation.
Another example is a deflection type switch which has liquid crystal, electro-optic lithium niobate (LiNbO.sub.3), or acoustic optic crystal. These do not have the disadvantages of the aforementioned opto-mechanical fiber optic switches. Furthermore, these switches can operate at high (picosecond) switching speeds. However, these switches require complex fabrication processes which result in high cost and difficulty in manufacturing a switching array. Furthermore, performance shortcomings include high insertion loss and poor immunity from crosstalk.
Another type of switch, the liquid crystal shutter switch, avoids many of the problems of electro-optical switch and the deflection type switch. This type of switch can easily be combined to form a switching matrix or switch array. However, a disadvantage of this type of switch is that it is sensitive to the polarization of the incoming light signal and may have up to 3 dB insertion loss.
The present invention solves or substantially mitigates the problems of the liquid crystal shutter switch while retaining its many advantages.


A short-circuit indicator is provided for arrangement on an electrical line for electrical power distribution which includes a current transformer. The current transformer has an induction coil and an iron yoke for surrounding the electrical line to be monitored for a short-circuit current. The induction coil is seated on a base web of a U-shaped first yoke part. A second yoke part is connected in the form of a joint which can move between a closed position and an open position to one of two U-limbs of the first yoke part. The second yoke part forms a magnetic return path element for the first yoke part in the closed position. The first yoke part is split into two essentially L-shaped parts in the area of the base web to which the induction coil is fitted.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a short-circuit indicator for arrangement on an electrical line for electrical power distribution, having a current transformer which has an induction coil with an iron yoke for surrounding the respective line to be monitored for a short-circuit current, with the induction coil being seated on a base web of a U-shaped first yoke part, and with a second yoke part being connected in the form of a joint which can move between a closed position and an open position to one of two U-limbs of the first yoke part, as a magnetic return path element.
2. Description of the Prior Art
de 43 31 265 C2 describes a corresponding current transformer. In this case, the U-shaped first yoke part together with the induction coil to be fitted to its base web leads to a difficult and therefore costly production process, because the U-shaped yoke part must have the induction coil wound on it directly in a winding process. This requires special process and apparatus measures, because of the U-limbs which project from the base web at both ends. In the case of the known current transformer, the second yoke part—referred to there as the magnetic return path iron bar—is also likewise U-shaped and is held via a hinge in the free end area of the U-limb of the first yoke part such that it can pivot, in the area of its bend points, that is to say in the transitional area between an L-web and an adjacent U-limb. The hinge, which is prefabricated as a separate component, is connected to the yoke parts by means of rivets. This also leads to a high level of manufacturing effort.

Short-circuit indicator for electrical lines for power distribution


A distributed key encryption system and method is provided in which a key storage server provides a session key to the source and destination computers by encrypting the session key with unique distributed private keys that are associated with the respective source and destination computers by unique private key identifiers The destination computer then decrypts the encrypted session key using it's distributed private key and then decrypts the communication using the decrypted session key.

The most widely used method for providing security online for authentication and encryption is using asymmetrical encryption systems of the public key design where authentication relies on certificates issued by certificate servers. Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) systems have known security vulnerabilities such as being susceptible to Man-in-the-Middle [MitM] attacks, because they are often implemented improperly.
The overhead of the PKI system is high, not just because of all the steps involved in the architecture, but also their choice of cryptography. The encryption strength used by the PKI has been called into question recently. Public keys are compound primes and they are always available for attack. There have been significant strides in prime numbers and factoring theory. New techniques exist to factor compound primes. Fast computers factor compound primes by simplified techniques like the "sieve" method, so what used to take years now can be done in hours. Using progressively stronger keys with public key systems becomes progressively more difficult because of the additional computational overhead introduced as keys get stronger (longer).
There are a number of reasons why security on public key systems is problematic. The Certificate Authority [CA] may not be trustworthy. The private key on a computer may not be protected. It is difficult to revoke keys (refuse network access). Revocation generally requires Third Party intervention. Asymmetric systems are difficult for the average user to understand. Also the cryptographic key information is publicly available to hackers. There are currently no methods of providing continuous, stateful authentication, continuous stateful intrusion detection and automatic denial of network access to hacking and spoofing.
A distributed encryption key is a key that has been pre-distributed by some manual means, such as courier or person to person, to the party involved. This is the most secure method of ensuring key privacy; however this is a problem when new dynamic sessions wish to be established with parties who do not have pre-shared key information.
Any topology or technologies created to provide the highest level of network security must address issues of secure key management, key creation, key exchange, authentication, detection, revocation and authorizations.
The foregoing examples of the related art and limitations related thereto are intended to be illustrative and not exclusive. Other limitations of the related art will become apparent to those of skill in the art upon a reading of the specification and a study of the drawings.

Dynamic distributed key system and method for identity management, authentication servers, data security and preventing man-in-the-middle attacks


A method and apparatus in winding, wherein a number of separate rolls (13a, 13b, 13c, 13d, 13e, 13f) are formed side by side around separate roll spools (15a, 15b, 15c, 15d, 15e, 15f) placed one after the other while supported by support numbers (11, 12). In order to reduce the friction coefficient of the roll spools (15a, 15b, 15c, 15d, 15e, 15f) before, or at the same time as, the roll spools are placed in the winding position, the ends of the roll spools are treated with an agent that reduces the friction coefficient, or pieces of a material that has a low friction coefficient are placed at the end of the roll spools, and/or the axial thrust force between the roll spools is lowered by passing a pressurized medium through the spool locks.

Owing to variations in the cross-direction profiles, for example thickness, moisture and roughness, of the web to be wound, adjacent rolls are not formed with precisely equally large diameters, in spite of the fact that, in principle, precisely equally long component webs are wound into them. Owing to the different diameters of the rolls, the roll spools placed in the roll centers are displaced with the progress of winding in relation to one another so that their centers of rotation are separated and, at the same time, minor variations occur in the angular speeds of the rolls. Since the roll centers are, however, during the entire winding process, in contact with each other, diverting forces arise between the ends of the roll spools, and the rolls tend to "jump", in which connection the rolls that are being formed can be damaged. Owing to this detrimental oscillation, in carrier-drum winding, it is, as a rule, necessary to run at a lower speed, i.e. to be content with a lower winding speed. which reduces the capacity of the machine and is, thus, uneconomical.
The problem described above has occurred as long as winders of the carrier drum type have been in use. The seriousness of the problem has, however, varied in the course of years, because the profile of the web produced in a paper machine has improved and, at the same time, the roll size and the winding speed have changed to a little extent only. In recent years, the diameters of the customer rolls produced have started becoming ever larger and, at the same time. the winding speeds have also increased, for which reason the problem of oscillation has been noticed again: even a little variation of profile in the direction of width of the web is cumulated especially during winding of thin paper grades so that faults in the shape of the rolls which arise from the web profile cause a significant oscillation problem.
In the winding process, a number of different phenomena are effective which attempt to shift the web rolls that are being formed in their axial direction:
deflection of the winding cylinders. i.e. carrier drums, PA1 faults in the shape of the rolls arising from uneven profile of the web, and PA1 also the spool locks, which support the roll spools of the lateral web rolls, subject the row of rolls to axial forces when they keep the row of rolls in the desired location. PA1 the roll spools (web rolls) are placed one after the other coaxially so that the location of each roll spool is determined by means of the adjacent roll spools. PA1 the roll spools (web rolls) are supported under optimal conditions in the radial direction of the rolls only (the spool locks just prevent axial movement arising from faults in the roll shapes and from deflection of the winding members).
The spool locks alone can also produce a compression force applied to the whole row of roll spools when the roll spools are excessively long: the total length of the roll spools is higher than the regulated distance between the spool locks.
The phenomena described above can, either alone or together, produce situations in which the ends of the roll spools of the rolls tend to be pressed against each other and thereby to produce a relative support force.
Thus, there are several factors that produce a relative axial thrust force between the rolls. The spool locks, which keep the lateral roll spools in their positions, keep the row of rolls in the correct winding position in the lateral direction, but deflection of the carrier drums drives the rolls towards the lowest point of deflection. Variations in the web profile produce a "carrot shape" even in individual rolls, in which case the rolls tend to move in the lateral direction. Of course, variations in the lengths of the roll spools, together with the spool locks, cause variation in the axial forces in different forms. It comes out from the above that there are a number of different reasons why the rolls tend to be pressed against each other during winding.
In prior-art solutions, attempts have been made to attenuate the detrimental oscillation occurring in carrier-drum winders by various means. In the Patent DE-742,833 (granted Dec. 29, 1943), the problem of oscillation of the rolls formed by winders of the carrier-drum type has been described, and a solution has been described for reducing the oscillation. In this prior-art solution, the rolls are pressed lightly by means of a cutting roll which operates as an extra support roll, whereby attenuation of the oscillation of the rolls is produced.
A similar attenuation of oscillation produced by means of a separate roll has been applied in the Patent DE-3,924,612.
With respect to the prior art, reference is also made to the publications FI-841448 and FI-49,276, in which some typical carrier-drum winders are described, in which, of course, the detrimental oscillation problem of carrier-drum winders occurs.
It is a second prior-art mode of eliminating the problem of oscillation that relative movements of the roll spools constituting the centers of the rolls are prevented either so that an axle is placed inside the roll spools, which axle keeps the central axes of the rolls immobile in relation to one another, or so that the rolls are formed onto a continuous roll spool. In both modes, it is a drawback that separation of the rolls formed from one another causes significant additional work and, thus, also reduced productivity. Moreover, when winding takes place around the same center, the roll diameters become equally large, but, owing to variations in the cross-direction profile of the web, their internal tightness varies. This is not desirable in the procedures of further processing of the rolls.
The problems described above occur in all such winder types in which the location/support of the web rolls that are formed comply with the following terms:

Method and apparatus for reducing the friction coefficient of roll spools during winding of a web


A holding device has a first arm with a first and a second end and an intermediate portion extending between the first and second ends with and an attachment portion disposed in the intermediate portion. A second arm also has first and second ends, an intermediate portion extending between the first and second ends and an attachment portion disposed in the intermediate portion. The first and second arms are pivotally attached to one another at the attachment portions thereof. A third arm has first and second end portions and an intermediate portion extending therebetween. The third arm portion is pivotally attached at an attachment portion to the intermediate portion of the second arm. A biasing system is coupled to the first, second and third arms and biases the first ends of the first and second arms toward one another and the second ends of the second and third arms toward one another.

The present invention deals with an attachment or holding device. More particularly, the present invention deals with a dual or multiple holding device.
Clasps and holding devices have been known for many years. However, such clasps and holding devices typically include a pair of generally opposing arm portions which are biased toward one another. The clasp or holding device holds the item to be secured between those two generally opposed arms. Therefore, if the clasp is to be used to attach the item to be secured to another item or to a structure, the generally opposing arm portions must be secured about both the item to be secured and the structure. The generally opposing arm portions then exert a force which causes the item to be secured and the structure to come into frictional contact with one another. In this way, the item is secured to the structure.
Such clasps or holding devices suffer from a number of drawbacks. For instance, if one desires to remove the item which is secured to the structure from the clasps, one must release the clasp or holding device so that not only does the item which was secured to the structure become unsecured, but the clasp also becomes unsecured from the structure. In other words, the item to be secured is only removable if the entire clasp is removed from the structure. This can result in cumbersome and time consuming operation.
In addition, such prior clasps or holding devices are typically not formed or shaped to accommodate a wide variety of structures. Therefore, they have only limited utility.
Further, many such prior art clasps are formed so the generally opposed arm portions have a substantially constant width. Many such arm portions have a fairly small width. This results in an undesirably low amount of frictional contact between the clasping arm portions and the structure and can cause the holding device to be easily, and accidentally, dislodged from the structure to which it is attached.
In addition, many prior art clasps or holding devices can only be attached to the structure after performance of a number of mechanical steps. While this may provide a secure, and relatively fixed, attachment of the clasping device to the structure, it can be cumbersome and inefficient. In some circumstances, such devices can be quite impractical. For instance, certain activities, such as golf, require the golfer to carry or have accessible a variety of different implements. Also, it is common in the golf industry for golfers to rent carts for only a single round or for a single day of golf. If a clasping or holding device is to be used by the golfer, those which require a number of mechanical operations to connect the holding device to the golf cart would simply be impractical.


A data input device for use with an optically rough tracking surface comprising a coherent light source projecting a coherent light beam and an optic positioned in the coherent light beam. The optic alters a wavefront profile of the coherent light beam so that the coherent light beam has a substantially constant phase relative to a plane perpendicular to the beam at a tracking distance from the optic. The coherent light beam is projected onto the tracking surface to reflect a substantially stable speckle pattern. A controller responsive to a detector correlates the substantially stable speckle pattern to track relative movement between the coherent light beam and the tracking surface. The controller suspends tracking of relative movement between the coherent light beam and the tracking surface when the detector detects a boiling speckle pattern.

Previous computer input devices, such as mice, include rotatable balls mounted within a housing, yet rotatably engaging a surface. As the housing of such a mouse translates across the surface, the ball rotates within the housing, engaging horizontal and vertical wheels that rotate against the ball, thereby indicating horizontal and vertical movement of the mouse across the surface. When the device is lifted from the surface, hereinafter referred to as lift-off, the ball stops rotating and the horizontal and vertical movement information provided by the wheels stops. Horizontal and vertical wheel rotation translates into an on-screen visual image of a cursor that responds to movement of the device. Because such devices have a moving ball that must pass through a hole in the housing, such devices often become contaminated with dust and dirt, which may yield inaccurate or intermittent cursor tracking. Moreover, the tracking surface and ball must have sufficient friction between the two to cause the ball to rotate when the housing translates over the surface. To help provide such friction and minimize contamination of the device, specialized tracking surfaces (e.g., mouse pads) are typically used. Thus, a major limitation of such a device is that it requires a tracking surface with particular characteristics, such as adequate friction and cleanliness, which are not readily found on all surfaces.
Building upon these primarily mechanical tracking devices, optical tracking devices have become available. Such devices optically track movement of a surface, rather than mechanically as with the devices described immediately above. These systems may avoid some of the drawbacks associated with the devices described above. In particular, these devices typically do not require wheels in contact with a movable ball, which acts as a common collection point for dust and dirt. Instead, the ball is typically covered with a distinct pattern. As the ball rotates over a surface, photodetectors facing another side of the ball collect information about the movement of the distinct pattern of the ball as the ball rotates. A tracking engine then collects this information, determines which way the pattern is translating and translates a cursor similarly, as described above. These devices offer improvements over previous designs by eliminating moving parts (the wheels) and changing the ball detection interaction from mechanical to optical. However, such devices lack the ability to track on any surface, requiring a suitable frictional interface between the ball and the surface. Moreover, these devices still require one moving part, the ball. In addition, aliasing artifacts may cause the cursor to skip, rather than move fluidly.
Still other optical devices place the pattern on the tracking surface (e.g., a mouse pad), rather than on the rotatable ball, thereby using the mouse pad to generate optical tracking information. Although such devices are able to eliminate the moving ball, they are less universal by requiring a specific tracking surface to operate.
Other more recent optical tracking devices have emerged that have eliminated the need for a patterned ball or mouse pad. One such device utilizes an LED to project light across the tracking surface at a grazing angle to the tracking surface. The mouse then collects tracking information by two methods. First, by tracking changes in color on the tracking surface by any pattern that may appear on the tracking surface, or second, by detecting dark shadows cast by high points in the surface texture, which appear as dark spots. This device eliminates the moving ball of previous devices, and is useful on a variety of surfaces. However, smooth surfaces with little color variation may prove difficult to track upon. Smooth surfaces generate no shadows from texture and present a low contrast image that may not provide adequate features upon which to track. Surfaces with very little color variation also present a low contrast image that may not provide adequate features upon which to track. For example, such a mouse could not track upon opal glass, which is a material consisting of very small crystals imbedded in a clear glass matrix. Opal glass has an opaque white surface and is very smooth.
However, these systems lack the ability to both track movement of a tracking surface over substantially any surface and detect when the device has been removed from the tracking surface for freezing the cursor.

Data input device for tracking and detecting lift-off from a tracking surface by a reflected laser speckle pattern


An image processing device according to one embodiment of the invention includes a contour direction estimating unit, a direction evaluating unit, a reference region weighting processing unit, and a composition operation unit. The contour direction estimating unit estimates a contour direction in which signal values of pixels are constant values for each pixel, the direction evaluating unit decides an evaluation value of each reference pixel of the pixel based on the contour direction of the pixel estimated by the contour direction estimating unit and the contour direction of each reference pixel serving as a pixel in a reference region corresponding to the pixel for each pixel, the reference region weighting processing unit decides a weighting coefficient of the reference pixel based on the contour direction of the pixel estimated by the contour direction estimating unit and the direction of each reference pixel of the pixel from the pixel, and the composition operation unit smoothes a signal value of the pixel based on the evaluation value decided by the direction evaluating unit and the weighting coefficient decided by the reference region weighting processing unit using a signal value of the reference pixel of the pixel.

There is a demand for effectively utilizing image content by enabling image content created under various conditions with the spread of an information communication technology to be viewed under a condition different from a condition when created. For example, in an Internet protocol television (IPTV) or the like, there are cases in which image content (a so-called network moving image) of relatively low resolution that is originally created to be viewed through a mobile terminal device or the like is displayed on an image display device of high resolution. Here, image content having resolution of 640 pixels (a horizontal direction)×360 pixels (a vertical direction) is displayed on a display that supports a full high definition (HD) standard of 1920 pixels (the horizontal direction)×1080 pixels (the vertical direction). In this case, resolution may be converted into high resolution by interpolating a signal value of each pixel included in image content between pixels (this is also referred to as up-scaling or up-conversion).
For this reason, there are cases in which the following noises are remarkably shown in an image whose resolution is increased:
(1) jaggy: a step-like contour shown in a slant line or a curved line;
(2) mosquito noise: wave-like noise shown in a portion in which a contrasting density or color signal value abruptly changes or its vicinity when a compression-coded code is decoded; and
(3) dot interference: noise shown in a granular form in a boundary in which a color changes when separation (YC separation) of a brightness signal and a color-difference signal from a composite signal is inappropriate.
In this regard, in a processing device disclosed in Patent Literature 1, a window of a certain size is set on an input current frame/field based on a current pixel, an eigenvalue and an eigenvector used to determine characteristics of the window are calculated, the characteristics of the window are determined based on the calculated eigenvalue, a filtering weighted value to be applied is decided based on the determination result, and filtering is performed on the window based on the calculated eigenvector and the decided filtering weighted value. The eigenvector includes a first eigenvector indicating a gradient direction and a second eigenvector indicating an edge direction, and the eigenvalue includes a first eigenvalue indicating dispersion in the gradient direction and a second eigenvalue indicating dispersion in the edge direction. Further, when a ratio of the first eigenvalue and the second eigenvalue is a first threshold value or less, the window is determined to be a corner region, and the filtering weighted value is set to 0, whereas the ratio is the second threshold value or larger, the window is determined to be an edge region, and the filtering weighted value is set to 1.

Image processing device, image processing method, image processing program, and image display device


In a method according to the present invention, a substrate thinning process is performed on a bumped substrate prior to the ultimate solder reflow process to heal bump defects caused by the substrate thinning process. Concurrently, the risk of substrate breakage is reduced compared to the prior art process since the number of process steps, requiring handling of thinned substrates, is reduced.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of the fabrication of semiconductor devices, and, more particularly, to a method of manufacturing thinned die for flip-chip applications by employing a substrate thinning process to reduce the thickness of substrates bearing, for instance, a plurality of die for forming integrated circuits.
2. Description of the Related Art
There is an ongoing trend in the semiconductor industry to increase the size of substrates employed in the manufacturing process. Currently, 400 mm substrates are intended for industrial application for large scale production technologies, for example, for memory or microprocessor devices. To ensure safe and readily practicable substrate handling during the entire manufacturing process, the thickness of the larger substrates is also increased. Thus, 400 mm substrates typically have a thickness of approximately 800 μm, whereas, for example, 200 mm substrates typically have a thickness of approximately 725 μm. On the other hand, the number of applications requiring thinned die is growing, for example, smart card, multi-chip-module, stacked die module and high power module applications, wherein, additionally, a tendency for a reduced target thickness of the die for the different applications is discernible. For smart card applications, for example, a desired target thickness of 20 μm is on the horizon.
Usage of thinned die offers a plurality of advantages. Ultra-thin die, e.g., 20 μm or less thick, exhibit a high flexibility so that they appear to be appropriate for future smart card applications having a desired total thickness of 250 μm or less. Due to the high flexibility, ultra-thin chips are able to withstand the mechanical stress exerted from carrying and using in everyday life. For smart card applications, typically, thinned die having a thickness in the range of 20-200 μm may be utilized. Further, ultra-thin die may be employed in stacked die packages to achieve a higher number of transistors per unit volume of a module. Such high transistor density modules are appropriate for low power applications, for example, in stacked memories. For high power applications, heat removal in stacked die packages is not sufficient. For stacked memory applications, die having a typical thickness in the range of approximately 40-100 μm are used. For high power applications, the employment of thinned die is also advantageous since heat removal from the backside of a chip may be improved due to the reduced heat resistance of thinned and polished chips. In high power applications, the thinned die typically have a thickness in the range of approximately 50-400 μm.
In addition to the improvement of the thermal behavior of thinned chips, the electrical performance of an integrated circuit on a thinned chip may be improved. In particular, in silicon-on-insulator (SOI) devices, the electrical performance gain may be more relevant than the improvement of the thermal behavior, since, in SOI devices, the thermal resistance of a backside contact is increased compared to a bulk substrate device, due to the pure thermal conductivity of the insulator layer.
Thin die are also employed for wire bonding and flip-chip bonding. Substrate thinning, however, is a crucial step in the packaging related processes. In particular, grinding of substrates provided with solder bumps is a major concern in manufacturing thin die for flip-chip bond applications since, during backside grinding, the bumps disposed on the front side are also subjected to mechanical load and consequently may be damaged. To illustrate the challenge of grinding of bumped substrates 100, a substrate 102 with solder bumps 106 thereon is depicted in FIG. 1a. A substrate 102 may bear a plurality of die 120 comprising an integrated circuit 118. The integrated circuit 118 is connected to several bond pads 114. Between the bond pads 114, a polyimide passivation layer 116 is formed on the substrate surface. On the bond pads 114 and on parts of the polyimide passivation layer 116, an under bump metallization (UBM) layer 112a is disposed. On the UBM layer 112a, a solder bump 106 is formed over the bond pads 114. The solder bump 106 may comprise a base portion 110 and a solder portion 108. Bump protection tape 104 may be laminated on the bumped substrate surface to protect the substrate 102 during processing of the backside of the substrate.
The die generally may be thinned at the substrate level or at the die level, i.e., prior to or after dicing. Thinning on the substrate level allows processing of the plurality of die of an entire substrate 102 by a common process. Consequently, thinning at the substrate level achieves a low total thickness variation (TTV). Furthermore, thinning at the substrate level provides the throughput required for large scale production. Although, in the so-called "dicing before grinding" (DBG) process the substrate 102 is subjected to a dicing step before grinding, the method pertains to the grinding at substrate level category since the cutting is performed only to a certain depth somewhat deeper than the final desired die thickness so that the grinding step is performed mainly on the entire backside of the substrate 102 until the substrate 102 is separated into individual die at the end of the thinning process. In that phase, the individual die may be held in position by a protection tape 104 adhered to the substrate/die front side. After the grinding process, the die may be placed in a die frame before removing the front side protection tape 104.
Thinning at the die level, on the other hand, reduces the risk of substrate breakage (related to thinned substrate handling) and of die defects caused by chipping in the dicing process since the region of the die (edge of the backside) that is typically affected by chipping may be removed in the subsequent thinning process.
The substrate thinning process may be performed by any method appropriate for removing the substrate material, for example, mechanical methods, chemical methods or combinations thereof, such as coarse/fine grinding, dry polishing, etching or chemical mechanical polishing (CMP). In general, different methods are combined to provide the thinned die with the desired backside surface quality by a cost- and time-effective process. The substrate thinning processes, in particular, substrate grinding processes, are well known in the semiconductor industry and, thus, are herein not described in detail. An overview of characteristics of the employed substrate thinning methods, however, is provided in the following to illustrate the present application.
Typically, substrate grinding is performed by subjecting a rotating substrate 102 to a treatment by means of rotating cup wheel grinding tools. Coarse grinding using a cup wheel tool with a coarse grid may be utilized to remove most of the amount to be removed from the substrate 102 (such as 90% or more). This process, however, leaves a rather rough backside surface and causes severe crystal damage in a region close to the ground backside surface(sub-surface) reaching to a depth of approximately 5-30 μm (depending on the characteristic of the grinding tools used). Thus, typically, fine grinding using a cup wheel tool with a fine grid is subsequently performed to reduce the backside surface roughness and the sub-surface crystal damage. Since the fine-grind step is based on the same principle, there is still crystal damage present in the backside sub-surface (extending approximately 1-10 μm). The sub-surface damage is related to a plurality of tiny cracks created in the grinding process. These tiny cracks, however, introduce stress and dramatically reduce the stability of the substrate 102 and heighten the bowing of the substrate 102. Thus, to improve the strength of thinned die, a stress relief step removing or at least reducing the sub-surface damage may be performed subsequently. Dry polishing, chemical mechanical polishing (CMP), dry (plasma) etching and wet etching may be employed for stress reduction by removing the sub-surface damage. Wet etching may be performed rather by a spin etch process than a bath etch process to achieve a better final thickness uniformity. Acidic compounds containing HF and HNO3 may be applied to the damaged region. Advantageously, an etching process using HF provides a clean surface so that, compared to mechanical polishing operations, an additional cleaning step may be avoided.
Due to the fact that etching exerts, contrary to grinding, substantially no mechanical stress on the substrate 102 during the removal process, etching is the favorite process for forming ultra-thin die to reduce the risk of breakage during the thinning process. Despite this, there is no strict lower limit for mechanical thinning of substrates 102 so that, for example, well-adapted grinding processes have been employed to achieve a final thickness of the die of 20 μm. Since, furthermore, grinding methods, in general, exhibit a higher removal rate, grinding is widely used for substrate thinning.
Die thinning is performed on completely processed semiconductor substrates 102, wherein approximately 500 or more process steps may be performed prior to the thinning step. Thus, any severe substrate damage, e.g., breakage of the substrate 102, involves substantial costs. Thus, the choice of an appropriate thinning process is important for the cost-effectiveness of the die thinning process. On the other hand, since the risk of damage for thinned substrates 102 during handling and processing is high, the cost-effectiveness of the thinning process is further determined by the point of integration into the conventional semiconductor manufacturing process. To provide an overview of the possible points of integration, a typical process sequence of a solder bumping process, comprising the steps of forming a polyimide passivation layer 116, forming solder bumps 106, reflowing the bump material, performing a wafer-level functional test, dicing and assembling, is described in the following.
Completely processed semiconductor substrates 102 when leaving the wafer facility are provided with a passivation layer, e.g., silicon oxide or silicon nitride, and exposed (aluminum, gold, copper) bond pads 114 to electrically connect the devices, e.g., by wire bonding. To provide the die with bumps 106, required for flip-chip bonding, the processed substrate 102 is, as a first step, subjected to a further passivation process to form a polyimide layer 116 on the substrate 102 exposing the bond pads 114.
Polyimide materials exhibit a good thermal stability (<450° C.), a low coefficient of thermal expansion, excellent dielectric properties, mechanical toughness and chemical resistance. Thus, the polyimide passivation layer 116 may serve as a buffer for mechanical stress and a protection layer. Polyimide layers, for example, may be utilized to shield from a particles which may be radiated from the solder bump material. While the required thickness of the polyimide layer for α particle protection is approximately 40 μm, for a stress buffer functionality, a thickness of 4-6 μm is sufficient. Polyimide layers may further be employed as insulation layers in bond pad redistribution applications, wherein a peripheral bond pad arrangement may be redistributed to, for example, an area array distribution to allow higher chip I/O counts or reduce the bump pitch requirements.
Typically, the substrate surface is cleaned and pre-processed by a primer treatment to improve the adhesion of the polyimide layer. Some polyimides have built-in adhesion promoters to eliminate an additional primer treatment step. The polyimide layer is typically spin-coated (possibly in a two-step process, to achieve the required thickness) on the substrate 102 to assure a good uniformity, and subsequently cured, typically in a multi-step curing process. Hot plates are commonly used for an initial bake after application in a temperature range of approximately 50-150° C. Final curing is usually performed in a furnace or programmable oven in a temperature range of approximately 280-350° C.
Polyimide layers are commonly patterned by wet etch processes, dry etch processes, laser ablation or by the usage of a photo-definable polyimide. Photo-definable polyimides reduce the number of process steps required to form a polyimide pattern and allow patterning of relatively fine features. Dry etch techniques are typically employed to form very fine features with high aspect ratios, whereas wet etch processing is typically used to pattern coarse features. For a currently achieved bond pad size of approximately 100 μm, the wet etch process is still applicable. The spin-coated polyimide layer is partially cured and a positive resist is deposited thereon, baked, imaged and developed. The developer simultaneously wet etches the underlying polyimide layer in the imaged regions. After a water rinse, the resist is stripped using a liquid resist stripper. The patterned polyimide is then completely cured to accomplish the imidization process and to remove residual solvents.
Patterned polyimide layers may also be formed by screen or stencil print techniques requiring only a print and a cure step to form a patterned polyimide passivation layer 116. These print techniques allow deposition of polyimide layers of a thickness of more than 40 μm in a single print step but are restricted to coarse patterns with bond pad openings greater than about 125 μm. For smaller feature sizes, the entire wafer may be coated by screen printing and, after cure, the bond pad lands may be reopened by using laser ablation techniques.
Independent of the chosen polyimide passivation process, polyimide passivation 116 requires a lot of substrate handling steps which are, in general, carried out by substrate-handling robots integrated into the polyimide line.
After the formation of the polyimide passivation layer 116, the substrates 102 are transferred from the polyimide line to the bumping facility. The solder bumps 106 may be formed by electro/electroless plating, screen printing or an evaporative bump process. The evaporative bump process is a well-established, widely-used solder bump process, based on evaporation of metal through a mask to form the bumps 106 over the bond pads 114 of the die. In the evaporative bump process, a so-called shadow mask having openings with tapered sidewalls is clamped onto the substrate 102 so that the mask openings are aligned to the bond pads 114 to be bumped. The taper of the shadow mask, which is typically formed of molybdenum, facilitates the removal of the mask after solder bump 106 formation.
After mask alignment, an argon sputter etch is employed to remove die bond pad oxides and to ensure low electrical contact resistance. Subsequently, an under-bump metallization (UBM) layer 112a comprising chrome/chrome-copper/copper/gold sub-layers is deposited through the shadow mask on the exposed regions of the substrate 102, i.e., on portions of the bond pads 114 and on the sidewalls of the polyimide passivation layer 116. This layer acts as an adhesion layer, provides an electrically conductive diffusion barrier and establishes a good mechanical base 110 for the solder bump 106. The next deposition step of the evaporative bump process is to evaporate lead, followed by tin, to form the bulk of the bumps 106. After the final deposition step, the shadow mask is removed. In the next step, the bumps 106 are reflowed to homogenize the lead/tin solder and to allow the tin to form an intermetallic compound, for example, with a copper sub-layer of the UBM layer 112a to provide the required adhesion between the die and the bumps 106. The above-described bumping process requires a lot of substrate handling steps which may also be carried out by robots.
In a final inspection step, the reflowed bumps 106 are inspected to detect defective bump structures. The inspection process may be performed in the bumping section or the substrate may be transferred to a separate inspection station. Typically, substrate-handling robots are employed to handle the substrates 102.
The bumped substrate 102 is subsequently transferred to a test section and subjected to a functional test to detect defective die and to characterize the performance of the die formed on the substrate 102. The die may be tagged corresponding to the test results or the test results for each individual die of the substrate 102 may be transferred to the assembly section so that the die may be sorted according to the results of the test. The test is typically performed by means of auto-prober tools including wafer-handling robots.
After testing, the substrate 102 may be again transferred to the reflow section to heal damage caused by the pins of the probe cards. Prior to the reflow step, the substrate 102 may be subjected to a cleaning process. Performing the bump reflow completes the manufacturing process on substrate level and the substrate 102 is transferred to the assembly section.
The substrate 102 is diced to form individual die which may be sorted, for example, according to the result of the above-described substrate-level functional test. The resulting individual bare die are ready to be utilized in any flip-chip application not requiring thinned die.
To produce thinned die, however, a substrate thinning process is integrated into the above-described bumping process sequence. In principle, the thinning process may be included at any bumping process step, i.e., before or after each individual process step of the polyimide passivation process, solder bumping process, reflow process, wafer-level functional test, or dicing since the substrate handling/transferring equipment may be adapted for handling of thinned substrates 102. Handling/transferring of thinned substrates 102, however, even with adapted equipment, increases the risk of breakage of the substrate 102. Additionally, the adaptation of the equipment increases the manufacturing costs. Therefrom, it is suggested to perform the thinning process after dicing to avoid handling/transferring of thinned substrates 102. Thinning of individual die, however, is a cost- and time-consuming operation that does, in addition, not meet the desired thickness uniformity requirements. Furthermore, the substrate thinning process impairs the solder bumps 106, in particular when a grinding method is employed, even when the bumped side is laminated by a conventional bump protection tape 104. For some applications, depending on the employed solder bump material, for example, for microprocessor applications comprising typically solder bump materials with high lead content (greater than 90%), the damage is, in general, unacceptably high and leads to high yield loss. Deposition of an additional protection layer to entirely embed the formed solder bumps 106, for example, by means of spin-coat deposition, is time- and cost-consuming and bears the risk of adversely affecting the bumped substrate 102, for example, by inducing thermal stress or by contamination. As a consequence, the thinning process is, according to the prior art, performed on substrate-level prior to the formation of the solder bumps 106 as illustrated by the process sequence 150 of FIG. 1b. Consequently, backside grinding is performed before or after the polyimide application, although the high risk of breakage of the thinned substrates 102 during the huge number of processing and handling steps, and the demand for special handling/transferring equipment for thinned substrates 102 in the bumping, reflowing, testing and dicing processes, reduces the cost-effectiveness of the process.
In view of the above-mentioned problems, there exists a need for an improved process sequence for thinning of substrates bearing die for flip-chip mounting.

Semiconductor substrate thinning method for manufacturing thinned die


A book on-demand system having reading data for reading book contents and printing and bookbinding data for printing and bookbinding on the server thereof and also having a function to transmit the reading data to a reading device via a network at a user's request and also transmit the printing and bookbinding data to a printing and bookbinding device, wherein the server separately handles reading charge data concerning a reading charge applied to reading data transmission and printing and bookbinding charge data concerning a printing and bookbinding charge applied to printing and bookbinding processing.

The present invention relates to technology for a book on-demand system which is arranged such that reading data or printing and bookbinding data is downloaded from the server via a network by using a terminal so that the data can be read on a user terminal side or output for printing and bookbinding on a printing and bookbinding terminal side.
As an example of electronic publishing, there is a demand for providing publications for users by downloading digital data related to books and the like from the server connected to the Internet and then printing out the data.
However, providers of digital data related to books and the like tend to suppress provisions of digital data related to books and the like for which copyright royalties can be expected because they worry that the digital data can be unrestrictedly duplicated. Digital data related to books and the like includes literature, treatise, dictionaries, magazines and other literary works and may also include photos and pictures. Further, photograph collections, books of paintings and atlas which are no-text publications are also included in digital data related to books and the like.
Published Unexamined Japanese Patent Application No. H07-239828 discloses technology which makes it possible to provide only users authenticated by a copyright server with decryptable encryption from a document server and transfer the document to printing agents corresponding to users so that each agent can decrypt the encryption and print out the document. According to the description of the publication, this technology can protect electronic publishing from illicit copying.
Published Unexamined Japanese Patent Application No. H06-103286 discloses technology in which, when a user inputs a command to transmit duplication of a book via a modem, the copyright royalty payment program intercepts the duplication command to put on hold the duplication action and displays copyright royalty payment information which is stored in a book's text or a file accompanying the book. According to the description of the publication, this technology makes it possible for the author and the publishing company to easily and reliably protect the literary work (book)'s copyright by providing a means for requesting copyright royalties when a reader tries to duplicate either a part of or the entire soft copy book.
Moreover, a conventional printing charge processing employs a system which records the number of successfully printed pages one by one and based on the accumulated count, a charge is applied.
On the other hand, upon sending reading data to users from the system side, the electronic publications system for reading applies a "contents price" which is for the contents of the book. Further, upon performing printing and bookbinding, the printing and bookbinding system applies the "contents price" together with a "container price" which is for processing printing and bookbinding. Furthermore, the electronic publications system for reading and the printing and bookbinding system have been separate, independent systems.
For this reason, a charge for printing and bookbinding after reading, which is applied when printing and bookbinding is performed after reading data has been transmitted and the contents price has been paid, is the same as a printing and bookbinding charge which is applied when printing and bookbinding is performed without receiving the reading data. In this case, no consideration is given to the possibility that there is an unfair aspect.


Disclosed herein is a microporous polyethylene film for a battery separator and a method of producing the same. The microporous polyethylene film is made from a resin composition. The resin composition comprises 100 parts by weight of a polyethylene composition including 10-50 wt % polyethylene having a weight average molecular weight of from 2×105 to less than 5×105 (component I) and 90-50 wt % diluent (component II), and 0-150 parts by weight of inorganic powder (component III). The film has a puncture strength of 0.20 N/μm or more and a gas permeability (Darcy's permeability constant) of 1×10−5 Darcy or more. The microporous polyethylene film has excellent physical properties, thus improving the performance and stability of a battery.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a microporous polyethylene film and a method of producing the same. More particularly, the present invention pertains to a microporous polyethylene film and a method of producing the same, in which a resin composition suitable for a roll-type stretching in a machine direction is employed, and a two-step biaxial stretching process, where stretching is implemented in a transverse direction using a tenter after stretching is conducted in the machine direction under a condition that stretching is dispersedly conducted, is conducted, thus assuring high productivity, quality consistency, and excellent physical properties. Thereby, the film can improve the performance and stability of a battery using it.
2. Description of the Related Art
Having chemical stability and superior physical properties, a microporous polyolefin film is widely used as various battery separators, filters, and ultrafiltration membranes.
The production of the microporous film using polyolefin may be conducted according to the following three processes. In a first process, polyolefin is processed into a thin fiber to produce a nonwoven fabric-shaped microporous film. A second process is a dry process, in which a thick polyolefin film is prepared and stretched at low temperatures to create micro cracks between lamellas corresponding to crystalline portions of the polyolefin to form micro pores in the polyolefin. A third process is a wet process, in which polyolefin is compounded with a diluent (a low molecular weight organic substance having a molecular structure similar to polyolefin) at high temperatures to form a single phase, phase separation of polyolefin and diluent is initiated in a cooling step, and the diluent is extracted to form pores in polyolefin. In comparison with the first and second processes, the wet process, corresponding to the third process, produces a thin film having uniform thickness and excellent physical properties, and thus, the film produced according to the wet process is widely used for an isolation membrane of a secondary battery, such as a lithium ion battery.
A method of producing a porous film according to a wet process is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,247,498. This patent discloses a method comprising blending polyethylene and a compatible liquid compound at high temperatures to form a thermodynamically homogeneous phase solution, and cooling the solution to initiate solid/liquid or liquid/liquid phase separation of the polyethylene and the compatible liquid compound, thereby producing the porous polyolefin film. However, the method does not use a stretching process.
In conjunction with the earnest use of a secondary battery, continuous efforts have been made to improve the productivity and physical properties of a microporous film employing a wet process. A representative example uses ultra-high molecular weight polyolefin (UHMWPO) with a weight average molecular weight of about 1,000,000, or mixes such a UHMWPO with a composition so as to increase the molecular weight of the composition, or employs a stretching process so as to improve the strength of the porous film.
With respect to this, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,051,183, 5,830,554, 6,245,272, and 6,566,012 disclose a method of producing a microporous film, in which a sheet is produced using a composition mixed with polyolefin having a weight average molecular weight of 500,000 or more and a solvent capable of dissolving polyolefin at high temperatures, and the sheet is sequentially subjected to a stretching process and a solvent extraction process. These patents adopt uniaxial stretching or biaxial stretching in the stretching process, and a typical tenter, roll, calendar method, or combination thereof is employed. With respect to the biaxial stretching, the patents give an extensive description, which comprises both simultaneous biaxial stretching and two-step biaxial stretching. However, all of the examples in the patents are limited to simultaneous biaxial stretching, or give explanations only of the biaxial stretching, but do not mention stretching temperatures in machine and transverse directions. In other words, the patents do not disclose a characteristic of the two-step biaxial stretching in which the stretching is conducted in the transverse direction using a tenter after the stretching is conducted in the machine direction using a roll, a characteristic of simultaneous biaxial stretching, or a difference between the two characteristics.
Of commercial microporous polyolefin films, goods which are considered to have excellent physical properties and are created through the wet process are classified into goods produced by conducting stretching after a diluent has been extracted and other goods produced by conducting stretching before a diluent is extracted. In the latter, the stretching is easily achieved because of the softness of the polyolefin, imparted by the diluent. Furthermore, since the film is made thin by stretching, the diluent can be easily removed from the film. However, it is extensively known that, up to now, the production of commercial goods by stretching before extracting the diluent has been accomplished only using the simultaneous biaxial stretching method.
Simultaneous biaxial stretching is a stretching method in which a sheet made from a composition of polyolefin and diluent is fixed using chucks (clamping means) for seizing both ends of the sheet in a form resembling thumbs and index fingers of both hands coming into contact with lower and upper surfaces of the sheet, respectively, and the chucks are simultaneously pulled outward in transverse and machine directions. In this method, since there is holding power when the chucks seize the sheet, slippage does not occur during the stretching, and there are no defects on the surface of a middle portion of the sheet in practice because the stretching is conducted only while both ends of the sheet are seized. Accordingly, the film produced using this method can be used for optical applications.
A portion of the chuck, which seizes the sheet, has the shape of a circle or oval having a diameter of 10-30 mm. The distance in the machine direction between the centers of the chucks is designed so as to be 20-60 mm. If the sheet is stretched in the machine direction by a stretching ratio of 6 times, the distance in the machine direction between the centers of the chucks is 120-360 mm, thus they are spaced apart from each other at an interval from 90 to 350 mm. For example, if circular chucks having a diameter of 10 mm are employed and the distance between the centers of the chucks is designed to be 15 mm so that the stretching is conducted at a stretching ratio of 6 times, since the distance between the centers of the chucks is 90 mm after the stretching, a holding index is just 10/90 (about 11%) based on the machine direction length. Therefore, if the thin film is inspected after stretching, the holding area seized by the chucks is observed to be significantly reduced. However, since there are no chucks on a portion which is not held, no holding power is applied thereto, so it shrinks even though stretching is conducted. Accordingly, there occurs a major disadvantage in that stretching ratios in the transverse direction are different from each other between the portions which are seized and not seized by the chucks. If another stretching ratio is calculated using the same chuck diameter and the same distance between the centers of the chucks as the above example, since the holding index is 10/45 (about 22%) when the stretching is conducted at the stretching ratio of 3 times, and 10/150 (about 7%) when the stretching is conducted at the stretching ratio of 10 times, most portions of the sheet are not held by the chucks after stretching, thus most portions of the sheet shrink in the transverse direction (see FIG. 1).
In addition, since the width of the portion that is not seized by the chuck is narrower than that of the portion that is seized by the chuck, larger portions, on which marks remain due to the chucks and which must be removed in all the stretching processes using the chucks, are cut. This reduces yield during the stretching process. FIG. 1 illustrates the shape of a sheet after it is simultaneously biaxially stretched. Since both edges on which the chuck marks remain must be cut, the effective width of the practically produced sheet corresponds to W. Since the minimum width (L) of the portion of the sheet that shrinks because it is not seized by the chuck is smaller than the distance (H) between the chucks, the effective width (W) of the sheet is reduced, resulting in reduced yield.
Moreover, the chunk used for simultaneous stretching must be designed to endure two-directional stresses simultaneously applied in machine and transverse directions during the stretching, thus it has a complicated structure and a stretching device is costly in comparison with a chuck used to conduct unidirectional stretching. Furthermore, it is disadvantageous in that it provides reduced stretching speed, inconsistent quality, and poor yield due to structural problems with the stretching device.
With respect to physical properties of goods, the most significant disadvantage of the commercial simultaneous biaxial stretching device is that, since the stretching ratio is fixed during a designing stage because of the complicated structure and cost, it is impossible to produce goods requiring the stretching ratio to be changed. For example, when using the simultaneous biaxial stretching device in which stretching ratios are set to 6 times in both machine and transverse directions, it is impossible to conduct stretching so that the stretching ratio is changed to be 5 or 7 times. This means that it is difficult to produce goods having various physical properties in order to meet various needs of consumers.
However, when using a two-step biaxial stretching device, since it is easy to produce goods requiring stretching ratios to be changed in machine and transverse directions, it is possible to produce goods having various physical properties. Additionally, if a microporous polyolefin film is produced using the two-step biaxial stretching device, desirably, it is possible to significantly improve productivity, reduce an installation cost, and reduce defective fractions when working.
Hence, in the production of the microporous polyolefin film using the wet process, if two-step biaxial stretching is employed as the stretching method before the diluent is extracted, the disadvantages of the simultaneous biaxial stretching method can be basically avoided.
In practice, in the two-step biaxial stretching method, it is unnecessary to use the chuck when the stretching is conducted in the machine direction, and the sheet is completely stretched using only a roll, thus there is no problem with respect to the holding. Furthermore, as for the chuck used to conduct the stretching in the transverse direction using a tenter, since the sheet is stretched in the transverse direction using a rectangular chuck, intervals between the chucks are not changed in the machine direction after the stretching is conducted, thus the holding index can be maintained constant before and after the stretching is conducted.
The length of the chuck capable of being used to conduct stretching in the transverse direction is designed to be from 1 to 10 inches. In the chuck designed so as to have a length of 2 inches, the total length of the chuck is 40.8 mm and the interval between the adjacent chucks is 10 mm, thus the holding index is about 80.3% (40.8/50.8×100). In practice, if the holding index is 70% or more after the stretching is conducted, there is no problem with respect to shrinkage of the portion that is not held, thus it is possible to maintain a predetermined stretching ratio through the entire sheet and to minimize the chuck mark area of both edges of the sheet, which is to be removed. Accordingly, it is possible to increase the yield of the stretching process.
Moreover, in the roll and the chuck used in the two-step biaxial stretching, since it is enough to design them so as to endure only one of the stresses occurring in the machine and transverse directions, they have a simple structure and increased holding power in comparison with the chuck used in simultaneous biaxial stretching, thus they are competitive in terms of stability, mechanical operation speed, and installation cost
With respect to the performance of goods, the most important advantage of the commercial two-step biaxial stretching device is that it is possible to produce goods having various physical properties by variously changing the machine direction stretching ratio to be a few times as high as the original stretching ratio, which depends on the number of rolls and constitution of the motor, and that, in the tenter for stretching in the transverse direction, since the stretching ratio can be freely changed depending on the width ranges of an inlet and an outlet, it is possible to produce goods having various physical properties even though only one device is employed.
However, even though the two-step biaxial stretching method is extensively used to produce a thin film, up to now, it has not been applied to the stretching process before extraction in a microporous polyolefin film wet process field. Many reasons may be given for this. Of them, the primary reason is that a slippery sheet which is mixed with an excess amount of organic liquid composition (solvent, plasticizer or the like) must be stretched in the machine direction using a roll. That is to say, in a sheet mixed with an excess amount of an organic liquid compound like oil, since the liquid substance is present on the surface of the sheet, it is difficult to precisely conduct stretching in the machine direction using the roll and a typical stretching method because the sheet slips from the roll. Additionally, since it inevitably comes into contact with the roll during the stretching, the physical properties of the microporous film are deteriorated due to damage to the surface of the sheet caused by frictional force. Particularly, if the sheet is stretched while being pressed using a pinching roll so as to prevent the sheet from slipping, undesirably, the sheet is forcibly made thin and the pore structure of the sheet is deformed and destroyed.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,641,565 discloses a technology of producing a porous polyolefin film, in which an organic liquid compound and an inorganic filler are added to polyolefin to produce a sheet, the organic liquid compound and the inorganic filler are removed from the sheet, and the resulting sheet is stretched. U.S. Pat. No. 5,759,678 discloses that, after a plasticizer is mixed with polyethylene to produce a sheet, the plasticizer is extracted from the sheet, and the resulting sheet is subjected to a simultaneous stretching process or a two-step stretching process to improve strength. Two patents disclose an example with respect to machine direction stretching a using a roll. It is noteworthy that, after the liquid compound or the plasticizer is extracted from the sheet, the resulting sheet is stretched using the roll without slipping. However, since the hard sheet from which the compatible organic liquid compound is removed must be stretched, the stretching ratio of the sheet is reduced, thus breakage easily occurs, the stretching ratio is limited, and defective fractions increase due to small pores. Furthermore, since the sheet which is subjected to an extraction process before the stretching is conducted is thick, a disadvantage, such as reduced extraction efficiency, occurs, as in the production of a microporous polyolefin film through a dry process.
Therefore, the present inventors have conducted extensive studies in order to avoid the problems occurring in the prior art, resulting in the finding that it is possible to produce a microporous polyethylene film having excellent physical properties and productivity, and consistent quality by two-step biaxially stretching a sheet, which contains an organic liquid compound and which is difficult to be processed through a conventional two-step biaxial stretching technology, in such a way that a resin composition suitable for machine direction stretching using a roll is employed, and conditions for the machine direction stretching are controlled.

Microporous polyethylene film having excellent physical properties, productivity, and quality consistency, and method of producing same


Provided herein are hydroxypyridone derivatives, for example, a compound of Formula I, and pharmaceutical compositions thereof. Also provided herein are methods of their use for treating, preventing, or ameliorating one or more symptoms of a proliferative disease.

Hematologic or hematopoietic malignancies are cancers of the blood or bone marrow, including leukemia and lymphoma. Leukemia is characterized by the uncontrolled accumulation of blood cells, which is categorized into four types: acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL), acute myelogenous leukemia (AML), chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), and chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML). Acute leukemia is a rapidly progressing disease that results in the accumulation of immature, functionless cells in the marrow and blood. The marrow often stops producing enough normal red cells, white cells and platelets. On the other hand, chronic leukemia progresses more slowly and allows greater numbers of more mature, functional cells to be made. Chronic leukemias account for 11 percent more cases than acute leukemias.
It was estimated that 245,225 people in the United States were living with, or were in remission from, leukemia in 2009. Leukemia was expected to strike more than 10 times as many adults as children in 2009 (About 44,790 adults compared with 3,509 children, aged 0-14 years). The most common types of leukemia in adults are acute myelogenous leukemia (AML), with estimated 12,810 new cases in 2009, and chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), with about 15,490 new cases in 2009. Chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) was estimated to affect about 5,050 persons in 2009. The most common type of leukemia in children is acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL), which was estimated to affect about 5,760 persons in 2009.
While current chemotherapy can result in complete remissions, the long term disease-free survival rate for leukemias, in particular AML, is low. For example, the survival rate for AML was estimated to be less than about 20% in 2009. Therefore, there is a clear and unmet need for effective therapeutics for treatment of hematologic malignancies, including leukemias.

Hydroxypyridone derivatives, pharmaceutical compositions thereof, and their therapeutic use for treating proliferative diseases


An adaptor for receiving a keystone type connector and insertion into a patch panel is provided, having a bottom wall with a ridge engaging lower slot and a lower edge engaging channel and a top wall having a flexible tab and a cantilevered latch engaging upper slot and an upper edge engaging channel in the flexible tab. The walls define a keystone modular jack receiving region and opening. The adaptor is dimensioned such that when the lower edge is received in the lower edge engaging channel, the upper edge is releasably engageable by the upper edge engaging channel, thereby releasably securing the adaptor within an aperture in a patch panel.

Network cables in data centres are typically terminated by a jack at a patch panel and such that the cable can be interconnected with another cable using a short patch cable. The jacks are exposed along a front of the patch panel in order to provide for easy access to a user and such that the patch cables can be quickly rerouted. As such, the network cables typically arrive at a back of the patch panel where they are interconnected with their respective jacks by an installer. Typically such jacks conform to a keystone format and such that they may be compatible with a number of manufacturers' equipment. One drawback of such keystone jacks is that they can only installed from the back side of the patch panel, and as such the installer must remove the panel in order to first connect the jacks to their respective cables, for example using a punch down tool or the like, and then insert the jacks into the back side of the panel and such that their plug receiving sockets are exposed along a front face of the panel. Alternatively, the installer can attempt to gain access to the back of the panel, but often the spaces are insufficient or the number of existing cables being terminated at adjacent patch panels so dense that an installer has difficulty gaining access.
In order to overcome the above drawbacks, the prior art discloses hinged panels which can be partially moved to gain access to the back. As with conventional patch panels, however, the hinged panels suffer the drawback that once cables have been attached, adding subsequent cables can prove difficult. Additionally, extra cable must be provided in order to allow the hinged panel to swing away from the rack to which it is mounted.


Techniques for nanoflow serial femtosecond x-ray protein crystallography include providing a sample fluid by mixing a plurality of a first target of interest with a carrier fluid and injecting the sample fluid into a vacuum chamber at a rate less than about 4 microliters per minute. In some embodiments, the carrier fluid has a viscosity greater than about 3 centipoise.

Serial femtosecond (fs, 10−15 seconds) crystallography (SFX) using X-ray Free-Electron laser (XFEL) radiation is an emerging method for three dimensional (3D) structure determination that extracts structural information from nanometer (nm, 10−9 meters) to micron (micrometer, μm, 10−6 meters) sized crystals. This method relies upon intense X-ray pulses that are sufficiently short to pass through the sample before the onset of significant radiation damage (diffraction-before-destruction). SFX therefore promises to break the correlation between sample size, damage and resolution in structural biology. In this approach, a liquid microjet is used to introduce randomly oriented crystals into the XFEL beam. Structures with less than 2 Ángström (Å, 1 Å=10−10 meters) resolution have been solved using the method. SFX is unique from standard crystallography in that particle sizes on the order of microns dispersed in aqueous solutions are used instead of a single large crystal (that takes months of method development to grow) mounted on a loop or grid. One known method to deliver sample to the x-ray interaction region is the Gas Dynamic Virtual Nozzle (GDVN, e.g., see Shapiro, Chapman et al. 2008, DePonte et al., 2008, 2009, 2011, and Ganon-Calvo et al., 2010). A thin liquid jet is formed from a highly pressurized liquid reservoir and a high pressure sheath gas flow from concentric capillary tubes. The thin jet is subjected to femtosecond X-ray pulses (e.g., see Barty, Caleman et al. 2011; Chapman, Fromme et al. 2011; Hunter, DePonte et al. 2011; Lomb, Barends et al. 2011; Aquila, Hunter et al. 2012; Johansson, Arnlund et al. 2012; Koopmann, Cupelli et al. 2012).

Apparatus and method for nanoflow liquid jet and serial femtosecond x-ray protein crystallography

The Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University


Method for manufacturing a laminate consisting of at least two plates, which are attached to one another by means of an intermediate layer on the basis of a polymerizable resin, whereby a layer (7) of the polymerizable resin is applied on a horizontally placed plate (1) and whereby a second plate (9) is applied on this layer (7), after which the obtained whole is pressed together and the above-mentioned layer (7) is entirely polymerized, characterized in that between the application of the layer (7) and the application of the second plate (9), the layer (7) is first partly polymerized and this layer (7) is entirely polymerized after the whole has been pressed together.

The present invention concerns a method for making laminates, whereby under laminates is understood in particular layers of glass, plastic or other rigid materials which, either or not combined, are attached to one another by means of intermediate layers formed on the basis of a polymerizable mixture such as a resin or a glue.
In particular, the invention concerns a method which is mainly applied in the glass industry for the manufacturing of single- or multi-laminated glass which consists of at least two glass layers in between which is provided a layer of curable resin.
The laminated glass product obtained according to the invention can be used, depending on the resin used, for different purposes such as sound-insulating glass, bullet-proof glass, fire-retardant glass or such, and it can be combined with thermal insulating glass, with double glazing, mirrors, ornamental glass and such.
A known method for manufacturing laminated glass makes use of transparent PVB (polyvinylbutyral) film and/or PU (polyurethane) film and consists in that one or several of the above-mentioned films are provided between two glass plates, after which the whole is heated in an autoclave at a temperature of about 140 degrees Celsius for about three quarters of an hour and is pressed together so as to obtain a good bond and fuse of the films in relation to one another and in relation to both glass plates.
Although, according to this method, an excellent uniform layer thickness is obtained between the glass plates, it is disadvantageous in that the composition, heating and compression cannot be carried out as a continuous process, so that this method can never be implemented entirely automatically.
Another disadvantage is that this method is restricted by the specific characteristics of the PVB film or PU film itself, which implies that laminates with other or special characteristics cannot be realized.
Other known methods are based on placing two glass plates exactly parallel at a required distance, after which the space between these plates is filled with a liquid resin which is then chemically cured, or whereby the whole is exposed to ultraviolet light of a suitable wavelength, as a result of which the resin cures and also bonds to the glass surfaces.
Mostly, the space between the glass plates is filled with resin while the glass plates are placed vertically.
As the hydrostatic pressure of the liquid resin column in the almost vertical position on both glass plates increases towards the bottom, the lower parts of these glass plates tend to move outward, which inevitably leads to a non-uniform layer thickness of the resin. This may cause tension zones in the whole during and after the curing, which may lead to a delamination effect, i.e. the coming off of the cured resin layer on one or both glass plates.
GB 1 367 977 reveals in what manner the disadvantageous effect of the hydrostatic pressure of the liquid resin layer on the glass plates can be remedied by providing a hydrostatic counteracting pressure. To this end, the glass plates are placed vertically in a receiver, whereby this receiver is gradually filled with a liquid and whereby the layer of liquid, curable resin is simultaneously applied between the glass plates. The resin cures as the liquid in the receiver is heated.
An analogous method is described in CH 574 371, whereby the liquid is water.
These methods are time-consuming and cannot guarantee that the glass plates remain nicely parallel.
According to DE 22 26 342 and DE 26 06 569, the liquid, curable resin layer is inserted between the glass plates when they are vertically positioned, whereas the resin is cured between the glass plates when they are horizontally positioned.
The latter methods cannot guarantee that the bulging of the glass plates is entirely remedied as a result thereof, whereby an underpressure is applied in the resin layer according to DE 22 26 342 so as to avoid said bulging as much as possible.
According to GB 20 15 427, the space between the vertically positioned plates is filled with liquid, curable resin on the one hand, and the curing of this resin by means of the exposure to ultraviolet light on the other hand, is carried out step by step in successive layers so as to restrict the hydrostatic pressure in this manner.
The disadvantage of this method is that the curing of a first layer and the subsequent application of the next layer must take place uninterruptedly, since, if the first layer becomes too hard before the next layer is applied, this will result in a visible, very inconvenient horizontal dividing line between these layers.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,828,784 is applied a similar method whereby an additional lateral pressure can be exerted by means of pressure rollers during the continuous filling and curing of the successive layers of moulding resin.
According to other known methods, a liquid curable resin layer is applied on a horizontally positioned lower glass plate, after which a top glass plate is applied, and whereby the liquid resin is subsequently cured by means of ultraviolet light of a suitable wave length.
An example of such a horizontal positioning is described in DE 27 28 762, but the problem of the bending of the top glass plate on the liquid resin and on the lower glass plate is not discussed.
Another example thereof is described in EP 200 394, in which the lower glass plate is bent such that it represents a concave central zone in which the curable resin is cast and after which a top glass plate is applied thereupon. Hereby, the edges of the laminate in preparation are sealed with tape, such that the thus obtained confinement remains permeable to air, whereas the resin is prevented from dripping out of the laminate in preparation. Subsequently, the lower glass plate is put in a flat, horizontal position, and pressure is then exerted on the top glass plate, so that the resin can spread evenly, whereby the entrapped air bubbles are laterally driven out of the resin at the same time.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,724,023 is based on the same method, whereby the tub shape of the lower glass plate is obtained thanks to a suction cup placed centrally under the glass plate onto which a weight is fixed.
These latter methods are disadvantageous in that the thickness of the resin layer is restricted by the maximal bending and the thus created cavity of the glass plate. Moreover, entrapped air bubbles are hard to avoid and remaining air bubbles are difficult to remove.
Another serious disadvantage is that the top layer, due to its own weight and due to the fact that the resin layer is applied in a liquid state, can bend through in the middle, so that a non-uniform layer thickness is obtained which may possibly result in a delamination of the resin layer.
A common characteristic of all the preceding and other methods making use of the above-mentioned filling processes is that the resin to be used must be sufficiently liquid, which implies that sufficiently high concentrations of monomers, which have a diluting effect on these resins, must be present in the composition. The content of monomers determines the viscosity of the composition which, for the resins used in the above-described methods, have a value situated between 7 and 300 mPa.sec.
A serious disadvantage thereof is that a high concentration of monomers in the liquid resin increases the inflammability and the toxic characteristics of these resins.
Another disadvantage related to the high concentration of monomers in the liquid resin is that, during the curing, the resin layer shrinks significantly, which may cause visible cracks and fissures in this layer, especially if the layer shrinks too fast.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,999,071 discloses a method whereby a glass plate is coated with a heat-polymerizable plastisol, and heated to polymerize partially this plastisol, after which another glass plate is laminated thereon and the laminate is heated to polymerize entirely the plastisol.

Method for making a laminate and device for the application of this method