Abstract: A device for clearing liquid from an audio transducer is provided. The device comprises an audio transducer and a port from an external surface of the device to the audio transducer. The device further comprises a liquid clearing mechanism for pushing liquid, trapped in the port, out of the port to clear a path for sound between the audio transducer and the external surface, and an actuator for operating the liquid clearing mechanism.

Abstract: A method is provided that generates a sound illusion profile to replicate a quantity of resources arriving at an incident scene. A virtual partner or the like determines that an incident has escalated from a first severity level to a second severity level. The virtual partner determines a quantity of resources needed to deescalate the incident to the first severity level. A sound illusion profile is generated to replicate a sound associated with the quantity of resources. A signal is sent to one or more speaker devices in a region surrounding the location of the incident to generate an output sound based on the sound illusion profile.

Abstract: A method is provided that generates a sound illusion profile to replicate a quantity of resources arriving at an incident scene. A virtual partner or the like determines that an incident has escalated from a first severity level to a second severity level. The virtual partner determines a quantity of resources needed to deescalate the incident to the first severity level. A sound illusion profile is generated to replicate a sound associated with the quantity of resources. A signal is sent to one or more speaker devices in a region surrounding the location of the incident to generate an output sound based on the sound illusion profile.

Abstract: A device for clearing liquid from an audio transducer is provided. The device comprises an audio transducer and a port from an external surface of the device to the audio transducer. The device further comprises a liquid clearing mechanism for pushing liquid, trapped in the port, out of the port to clear a path for sound between the audio transducer and the external surface, and an actuator for operating the liquid clearing mechanism.

Abstract: An electronic device (11) includes a keypad (22) for data entry, a character recognition system (34), and a processor (28). The keypad (22) is comprised of one or more keys (24) and one or more interstitial spaces (26) located in close proximity to one or more associated keys of the one or more keys (24). The one or more interstitial spaces (26) and the one or more keys (24) are comprised of a plurality of touch sensitive material (46). The user input to the plurality of touch sensitive material (46) produces one or more activated segments (50) used by the character recognition system (34) to create a correlating character (60).

Abstract: An electronic device (11) includes a keypad (22) for data entry, a character recognition system (34), and a processor (28). The keypad (22) is comprised of one or more keys (24) and one or more interstitial spaces (26) located in close proximity to one or more associated keys of the one or more keys (24). The one or more interstitial spaces (26) and the one or more keys (24) are comprised of a plurality of touch sensitive material (46). The user input to the plurality of touch sensitive material (46) produces one or more activated segments (50) used by the character recognition system (34) to create a correlating character (60).

Abstract: A housing (12) for use in a portable electronic device (10) includes an outer visible surface (14). The outer visible surface (14) is composed of an appearance changing substance responsive to an environmental stimulus.

Abstract: A ball grid array (BGA) or chips scale package (CSP) integrated circuit (IC) (20) is manufactured by first identifying the most unreliable solder ball joints in the IC. These worst case joints, or joints in the vicinity of the worst case joints, are changed in pad dimension and exposed to more ball/bump conductive material than the other more robust joints (14) in the IC (20) to create a ball (24) on a larger pad (22) that is larger than the normal sized ball (14). The larger balls (24) are formed by placing multiple smaller balls (14) together on a single pad (22) to form one larger ball (24) during a reflow operation. The larger ball (24) improves the overall IC reliability by improving the reliability of the weakest joints in the IC design. In addition, the standoff of both the larger balls (24) and the smaller balls (14) are engineered to be substantially equal.

Abstract: A ball grid array (BGA) or chips scale package (CSP) integrated circuit (IC) (20) is manufactured by first identifying the most unreliable solder ball joints in the IC. These worst case joints, or joints in the vicinity of the worst case joints, are changed in pad dimension and exposed to more ball/bump conductive material than the other more robust joints (14) in the IC (20) to create a ball (24) on a larger pad (22) that is larger than the normal sized ball (14). The larger balls (24) are formed by placing multiple smaller balls (14) together on a single pad (22) to form one larger ball (24) during a reflow operation. The larger ball (24) improves the overall IC reliability by improving the reliability of the weakest joints in the IC design. In addition, the standoff of both the larger balls (24) and the smaller balls (14) are engineered to be substantially equal.

Abstract: A high density electrical interconnect is achieved by incorporating a flexible circuit (140) that is removably connected to a low insertion force, ball grid array connector (100). The flexible circuit has a plurality of conductive runners (142), and each of the runners has a termination (144). The terminations are arranged in an array on the end of the flexible circuit. The low insertion force connector consists of a substrate (120) that has a pattern of pads (122) corresponding to the array on one side. The other side of the substrate has a corresponding array (124) that is electrically connected to the pads by conductive vias. An alignment feature (470) aligns the array on the flexible circuit to the pattern of pads on the substrate. Contact between the flexible circuit and the substrate is maintained by a compression means (150) that provides sufficient compressive force (310) to establish electrical connection between the array and the pads.

Abstract: A high density electrical interconnect is achieved by incorporating a flexible circuit (140) that is removably connected to a low insertion force, ball grid array connector (100). The flexible circuit has a plurality of conductive runners (142), and each of the runners has a termination (144). The terminations are arranged in an array on the end of the flexible circuit. The low insertion force connector consists of a substrate (120) that has a pattern of pads (122) corresponding to the array on one side. The other side of the substrate has a corresponding array (124) that is electrically connected to the pads by conductive vias. An alignment feature (470) aligns the array on the flexible circuit to the pattern of pads on the substrate. Contact between the flexible circuit and the substrate is maintained by a compression means (150) that provides sufficient compressive force (310) to establish electrical connection between the array and the pads.

Abstract: An automated method of predicting the number of defects that will occur during the manufacturing of a new electronic assembly design on a specific assembly line. Defective components are counted (214) as they are manufactured on an assembly line (210). The counted defects are stored in a historical database (220) and the defect rate is calculated. A bill of material for the new electronic design (230) is enumerated and information associated with each component is extracted from a library database (240) into a quality forecasting engine (250). The quality forecasting engine imports the enumerated bill of material and imports the stored defect rate from the historical database to perform a calculation of a predicted number of defects (260) for said new electronic assembly using the extracted library information.

Abstract: A surface mountable flexible interconnect (10) for connecting two circuit board (30, 32) consists of a flex circuit (12) with solderable runners (14) on one side, the runners traversing the flex circuit from one end to the other. There is a solderable pad (16) at the end of each runner, and each solderable pad has a solder bump (18) fused to it. A rigid carrier ring (20) is used to hold the flex circuit in position prior to placement on the PCB. The flex circuit is formed into a U-shaped loop (26), and the loop is aligned to the carrier so that the loop is situated in an aperture (24) in the carrier. The solder pads lie directly under the carrier ring and face away from it. An adhesive (22) bonds the flex circuit to the carrier ring.

Abstract: A method for depositing a tacking agent (18) onto a circuit-carrying substrate (e.g., a printed circuit board) (22) such that a regulated volume is simultaneously deposited at multiple substrate sites (24). A first input pressure, P1, introduced through a bladder inlet (12), is supplied to a compliant bladder (14) which is in contact with a plurality of transfer pins (16). The compliant bladder imparts a substantially equal force to each of the transfer pins. The pins are then dipped into a thin film of tacking agent and removed. Subsequently, the first input pressure, P1, is adjusted to a second input pressure, P2, sufficient to force the pins to a uniform maximum extension. Finally, the second input pressure, P2, is adjusted to a third input pressure, P3, which imparts a predetermined uniform force on each of the pins, and the pins are brought in contact with the printed circuit substrate deposition sites.

Abstract: An electronic assembly has a double-sided leadless component (10) and one or more printed circuit boards (30, 32). The component has a plurality of electrical terminations or pads (18) on both opposing major surfaces. Each of the printed circuit boards has a printed circuit pattern that has a plurality of pads (34, 36) that correspond to the electrical terminations on both sides of the double-sided leadless component. The electrical terminals on one side of the component are attached to the pads on the first substrate and the electrical terminals on the other side of the leadless component are attached to the pads on the second substrate. The printed circuit boards are joined together to form a multilayered circuit board (44) so that the double-sided leadless component is buried or recessed inside. The component is attached to the pads of the printed circuit board using solder.