Abstract: The present invention relates to a tipper apparatus for pigmenting the embossed section (raised characters for copying) of a card used to perform transactions by a customer at financial institutions or the like. The tipper apparatus comprises a card feeder for feeding a card; a pusher for pressing a color ribbon against the embossed section of the card fed by the card feeder; a ribbon driver for advancing and winding the color ribbon; and a controller for controlling the card feeder and the ribbon driver on the basis of tipping signals received from a host apparatus, transporting the card and the effective section of the ribbon to the pusher, and actuating the pusher.

Abstract: A method for decreasing the pitch of polysilicon fuses uses tungsten barriers formed adjacent to the fuse elements. The tungsten barriers are made compatible with the process to form a crack stop by stacking tugsten at the via level on top of the tungsten at the contact level in the crack stop. An interlevel dielectric is used as a cover for the fuse.

Abstract: Two hard steel wire-made reinforcing wires and two synthetic resin wires which are harder than a soft synthetic resin pipe wall are alternately wound spirally on an inner side of the synthetic resin pipe wall while keeping predetermined intervals.

Abstract: A multi-function EOT, or universal EOT (UEOT), may function conventionally for those trains not equipped with an ECP power line transceiver but which can automatically change its mode of operation to the ECP EOT function when mounted on trains so equipped. The UEOT may be an integrated unit manufactured for the purpose or it may be implemented as an adapter that converts a conventional two-way end of train unit (EOT) to a UEOT that operates in both standard and ECP modes.

Abstract: A dual-board host or main printed wiring structure of a circuit module with increased component mounting area is made plug-compatible with a VME or VME64X backplane to which single-board host or main boards may be attached with connectors of differing dimensions and pin configurations, the center line of which are offset from each other. The connection sides of the two boards are respectively bonded to a heat sink frame structure having a thickness which corresponds to the connector offset on the backplane such that the total thickness of one of the printed wiring boards, the heat sink frame and the two bonding layers with respect to board to connector center line distances equals the connector offset at the backplane.

Abstract: Disclosed is a carrying handle mechanism for a portable equipment which has a shaft disposed on a body of the portable equipment and having a first engageable portion and a second engageable portion, the shaft arranged to be forwardly/backwardly slidable with respect to the body; a carrying handle fixed to the shaft; and a lock mechanism which includes a control member which is arranged that the control member may be engageable with the shaft under a predetermined pressing force at all times and the control member is engageable with the first engageable portion when the carrying handle is in an accommodated position, and the control member is engageable with the second engageable portion when the carrying handle is in a pulled-out use position.

Abstract: A pipe lining method is provided for accurately cutting or punching out a pipe liner bag after being lined on an inner wall of a pipe with a good operability while preventing an operation environment from being contaminated. A fluid pressure is applied to act on a pipe liner bag introduced in a pipe to press the pipe liner bag onto the inner wall of the pipe. A thickness reducing member is brought into contact with the outer surface of the pipe liner bag to partially reduce the thickness of the pipe liner bag. A predetermined pipe lining operation with the above state maintained. Then, an external force is applied to a thickness reduced portion of the pipe liner bag to break the portion.

Abstract: It is the object of the invention to provide a WDM optical transmitter, in which levels of optical signals transmitted therefrom is increased and equalized. Optical amplifiers, which are provided with rare metal doped optical fibers and laser diodes for pumping them, are respectively connected with the output ports of light sources. The gains of the optical fiber amplifiers are so controlled that levels of the optical signals at the output port of a coupler, which multiplexes the output powers of the optical fiber amplifiers, are equalized.

Abstract: A method is disclosed for detecting topical changes and topic identification in texts in real time using likelihood ratio based methods. In accordance with the method, topic identification is achieved by evaluating text probabilities under each topic, and then selecting a new topic when one of those probabilities becomes significantly larger than the others. The method is usable to improve real time machine translation.

Abstract: A lightweight secure tunneling protocol or LSTP permits communicating across one or more firewalls by using a middle server or proxy. Three proxies are used to establish an end-to-end connection that navigates through the firewalls. In a typical configuration, a server is behind a first firewall and a client behind a second firewall are interconnected by an untrusted network (e.g., the Internet) between the firewalls. A first inside firewall SOCKS-aware server-side end proxy connects to the server inside the first firewall. A second inside firewall SOCKS-aware client-side end proxy is connected to by the client inside the second firewall. Both server-side and client-side end proxies can address a third proxy (called a middle proxy) outside the two firewalls. The middle proxy is usually started first, as the other two end proxies (server and client) will initiate the connection to the middle proxy some time after they are started.

Abstract: It is the object of the invention to detect and locate fails in the optical network by superposing monitoring signals on respective WDM optical signals in the transmitter part of the pass-monitoring apparatus and detecting the monitoring signals on the output side of the matrix switch in an receiver part of the same. The output signals of the matrix switch are respectively splitted by the optical splitters and converted into electrical signals by O/E-converters. The monitoring signals are respectively extracted by variable band-pass filter, center frequencies of which are established by an switching information signal, from the aforementioned electrical signals. The fails of them are respectively detected by an alarm processing circuit, signals are generated for the respective transmission lines. At the same time, the alarm signal is again supplied to the matrix switch and the switching information signal is again generated.

Abstract: A waveguide type polarization scrambler is provided with; a Mach-Zehnder interferometic waveguide having the first input and output optical waveguides and second output and output waveguides on a dielectric substrate, a phase modulator having the third input output optical waveguides and fourth input and output waveguides and second input and output optical waveguides are connected to the third input and output waveguides, a light input means for inputting a light signal to the first input and output optical waveguides, and a light output means for receiving the light emitted from the fourth input and output optical waveguides. It is possible to apply tolerant device fabrication process conditions without complex fabrication process and possible to adjust easily the output light to randomized polarization state without exact adjustment of the optical axis.

Abstract: Polymeric structure involving a first polymer having a linear segment and a second polymer having a macrocyle which is threaded onto said linear segment to form a rotaxane complex. The rotaxane complex is capable of reversibly dissociating back into the individual polymers under the influence of an external factor, such as temperature and/or solvent exposure.

Abstract: A system and method to print grey scale or color images using fewer colors of ink than in the original image. This method distributes the error made at each point (due to the embodied approximation) to the neighbors of that point while obtaining some chosen predetermined patterns for several colors kor grey levels. Getting these predetermined patterns and essentially predetermined patterns for all colors in turn reduces the anisotropic algorithmic artifacts, suppresses edge over-enhancement and allows for good performances on patches of uniform and almost uniform colors or grey levels.

Abstract: Silicon is formed at selected locations on a silicon-insulator (SOI) substrate during fabrication of selected electronic components, including resistors, capacitors, and diodes. The silicon location is defined using a patterned, removable mask, and the silicon may be applied by deposition or growth and may take the form of polysilicon or crystalline silicon. Electrostatic discharge (ESD) characteristics of the SOI device is significantly improved by having a thick double layer of silicon in selected regions.

Abstract: There is provided a semiconductor device including a lower wiring layer including a first layer containing aluminum therein and a second layer formed on the first layer, the second layer having an extended portion extending beyond an outer surface of the first layer, an interlayer insulating layer formed covering the lower wiring layer therewith, the interlayer insulating layer being formed with a hole including a first portion terminating at an upper surface of the second layer and a second portion passing the second layer but not reaching a bottom of the first layer, an electrically conductive material filling the hole therewith, and an upper wiring layer formed on the interlayer insulating film in electrical connection with the lower wiring layer through the electrically conductive material. The first layer is not exposed to the second portion of the hole because of the interlayer insulating layer existing under the extended portion of the second layer.

Abstract: In a dual-damascene processes for multi level interconnection a method for forming trenches and vias in the inter-insulation is accomplished without etching out the inter-insulation layer. A thick sacrificial layer is first deposited and reversed etched to form sacrificial pillars 64 forming the vias and sacrificial bridges 72 forming the trenches. The sacrificial layer can be any material (insulator, semiconductor, or metal), provided it can be easily patterned and selectively removed later over the inter insulator layer. Thereafter a low-k inter-insulation layer is deposited around the sacrificial pillars and bridges. It is these sacrificial pillars and bridges that are etched away leaving behind vias and trenches in the inter-insulation layer. An advantage of the invention is that it replaces a difficult RIE process of vias and trenches with a much easier RIE of sacrificial pillars and bridges.

Abstract: A data-reproducing device is provided that, even when pre-equalization characteristics are varied, conducts an equalization detection operation. The device comprises a subtraction absolute value circuit for calculating a subtraction absolute value, a comparison and selection circuit that outputs a selection signal to show which path is selected, a circuit that stores an estimate of the pre-equalized data, an address generating circuit that provides estimate data needed by the subtraction absolute value circuit as determined by the selection signal, a path memory circuit for storing the selection signal output and outputting the most probable data, and a correction control circuit for renewing the estimate data of the estimate data storing circuit.

Abstract: An optical attenuator is provided with a metal-doped optical fiber having a core doped with a transition metal that absorbs light, and a connector that connects this metal-doped optical fiber to an outside transmission line. The core is doped with a transition metal so as to have a uniform rate of attenuation per unit of length. The amount of attenuation may thus be controlled by setting the length of the optical fiber containing this core. The construction adopted for the connector may be fused splicing, mechanical splicing, or optical connection. A transition metal is doped in the core at a uniform concentration. This optical attenuator may also be provided with an exchange section for switching among a plurality of metal-doped optical fibers having mutually differing lengths. Only one type of metal-doped fiber need be produced, and the fiber is used by varying its length.

Abstract: The invention provides a technique for managing multiple contextual views of source code files. In a file system, different tasks demand that source code files be grouped in different hierarchical directories. When some or all of this manipulation is of the physical files themselves, the directories can become confused, and it may be difficult for the next user to access needed source code files. In the technique of the invention, the physical location of the files is independent of all contextual views, and is maintained in a separate viewable hierarchy. All items in contextual view hierarchies contain only references to the physical location of the source code files, and so modifications of those items, such as delete, move and copy, only alter the references themselves. A separate set of operations can be used for explicitly maintaining or modifying the physical source code files.