The present invention relates to the structure of a ratchet wrench, and in particular, to a ratchet wrench which can provides high torque engagement in application, wherein a ratchet wheel is inserted into a circular opening on the wrench head of a common ratchet wrench, and a cavity is provided to the circular opening adjacent to one side of the rod body of the wrench for mounting a restrictive teeth structure, the end terminal of the cavity is provided with a ball hole to contain a spring and a steel ball, and the restrictive teeth structure is urged by the steel ball, thereby the high torque movement of the ratchet wheel is controlled.

a) Technical Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a wrench structure, and in particular, to a ratchet wrench capable of providing high torque movement.
b) Description of the Prior Art
As shown in FIG. 1, a common conventional wrench 10 has a plurality of engaging notches 11 formed as one unit with the wrench 10 and the notches 11 moves together with the wrench 10 to rotate a nut 12. When the wrench 10 is rotated to a certain degree, as a result of restriction by object around the wrench 10, the wrench 10 has to be lifted up and placed at the original position and then repeat the process in order to rotate the nut 12. As a result of repeating engagement and disengagement of the wrench 10 with the nut 12, the notch 11 of the wench 10 is often dislocated in the process of tightening or loosening of the nut 12.
FIG. 2 is another prior art wrench 10 having a bent structure to provide convenient holding of the handle of the wrench 10 by a user. However, this type of wrench 10 has the drawback as that of FIG. 1 and the wrench 10 is often dislocated from the nut 12. Besides, the process of tightening and loosening of nut 12 by using this wrench 10 is slow.
FIGS. 3 and 4 show another types of wrench 20 having a head portion being provided with a circular opening 201 to contain a ratchet wheel 21. A cavity 202 is provided to the circular opening 201, adjacent to the one lateral side of the rod body to contain a restrictive teeth structure 22 and a spring 23. If the ratchet wheel 21 is to rotate clockwise, as the teeth of the ratchet wheel 21 is in engagement with that of the restrictive teeth structure 22, and one side of the restrictive teeth structure 22 is restricted by the wall of the cavity 202, thus, the ratchet wheel 21 cannot rotate clockwise, but the wrench 20 can rotate clockwise to drive the ratchet wheel 21 to rotate the nuts. If the ratchet wheel 21 rotates counterclockwise, as the teeth of the ratchet wheel 21 is in engagement with that of the restrictive teeth structure 22, and one side of the restrictive teeth structure 22 is restricted by the spring 23 and the spring 23 is compressible, thus, ratchet wheel 21 can rotate freely in a counterclockwise direction, and t e eth-skidding is resulted by the teeth of the restrictive teeth structure 22 with that of the ratchet wheel.
The advantage of this wrench 20 is no repeating of engagement and disengagement of the nut 12 with the wrench 20, and the operation of the wrench 20 is faster. However, if a reverse direction of the nut is required, the wrench 20 has to be changed to another face such that the ratchet wheel 21 can be rotated in a reverse direction. In view of the need of reversing the rotation of the wrench 20, it cannot be made into the shape of the wrench 10 as shown in FIG. 2 to provide a bent angle so that the application of the wrench 20 is smooth. The drawback is also found in U.S. Pat. No. 5,636,557.
FIG. 5 is another ratchet wrench 30 having a ratchet wheel 31 provided with a restrictive teeth structure 32. Two sides of the restrictive teeth structure 32 are provided with teeth for the engagement with that of the ratchet wheel 31. The restrictive teeth structure 32 can rotate about a center to a certain degree. The restrictive teeth structure 32 causes the ratchet wheel 31 to produce a single direction rotation. If frequent reverse of direction of rotation is required, the restrictive teeth structure 32 rotates to a certain angle about the center, and at this instance, the teeth at one side of the restrictive teeth structure 32 can engage with the teeth of the ratchet wheel 31 and the restrictive teeth structure 32 causes the ratchet wheel 31 to produce a free rotation. Thus, the rotation of the restrictive teeth structure 32 is used to cause a change of rotation direction. Thus, the wrench having multiple angle shown FIG. 2 can be fabricated. However, this design has other drawback. The engagement of the restrictive teeth structure 32 and the ratchet wheel 31 is depend on a few teeth to provide rotation, if the torque is too great, the restrictive teeth 32 or the engaged teeth of the ratchet wheel 31 may be damaged. U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,884,538, 5,626,062 and 5,782,147 disclose this type of wrench.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,533,427 and 5,230,262 provides the advantages that shown in FIGS. 3 and 5. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,533,427, the ratchet wheel 40 of the disclosed wrench 10 is in engagement with the restrictive teeth structure 50 which can resist a larger torque. By using the reverse direction control 60,70, the position of the engagement of the restrictive teeth structure 50 with that of the ratchet wheel 40 is changed so as to change the rotation direction of the ratchet wheel 40. Unlike the wrench in FIG. 3, a reverse of the wrench is required. The wrench 10 can be made into a shape as shown in FIG. 2 to provide smooth use for the user. However, the drawback of such wrench 10 is that the head portion 20 is larger than that shown in FIG. 3 for the reason that the head portion 20 is used to contain the ratchet wheel 40, a directional control 60 and the restrictive teeth structure 50. The design principle of U.S. Pat. No. 5,230,262 is similar to that of U.S. Pat. No. 5,533,427. These two patents disclose wrenches with high torque.


A semiconductor package includes a first semiconductor chip, a second semiconductor chip, a stepped pad, a plurality of first bonding wires and a second bonding wire. The first semiconductor chip is stacked on a substrate having a plurality of bonding pads, the first semiconductor chip having a plurality of first chips pads formed along a side portion of the first semiconductor chip. The second semiconductor chip is stacked like a step of a staircase on the first semiconductor chip to form a stepped portion through which the first chip pads are exposed on the first semiconductor chip, the second semiconductor chip having a plurality of second chip pads formed along a side portion of the first semiconductor chip. The stepped pad is arranged between the first chip pads on the stepped portion of the first semiconductor chip, the stepped pad including an adhesive pad adhered to the first semiconductor chip and a conductive pad formed on the adhesive pad. A plurality of the first bonding wires electrically connect between the one second chip pad and the one first chip pad and/or between the one first chip pad and the one bonding pad. The second bonding wire electrically connects between the one second chip pad and the one bonding pad using the stepped pad.

1. Field
Example embodiments relate to a semiconductor package and a method of manufacturing the semiconductor package. More particularly, example embodiments relate to a semiconductor package including semiconductor chips that are stacked on a substrate and electrically connected to the substrate by a plurality of bonding wires and a method of manufacturing the semiconductor package.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, semiconductor devices are manufactured by a fabrication ("fab") process for forming electrical circuits including electrical elements on a semiconductor substrate, e.g., a silicon wafer, an electrical die sorting (EDS) process for inspecting electrical properties of chips formed by the fab process, and a packaging process for sealing the chips with resin, e.g., epoxy, and sorting the chips.
Through the packaging process, the semiconductor device, e.g., a semiconductor chip, is electrically connected to a mounting substrate, and the semiconductor chip is sealed to be protected from the outside. The semiconductor package including the semiconductor chip mounted on the mounting substrate dissipates heat from the semiconductor chip outside through cooling functions thereof.
The semiconductor package may include the mounting substrate and a plurality of semiconductor chips mounted on the mounting substrate. The semiconductor chips may be electrically connected to the mounting substrate by a plurality of bonding wires.
Recently, as the number of input/output signal lines for the semiconductor chip is increased, dimensions of the wiring substrate and line widths between wiring patterns are reduced. In addition, as the number of the stacked semiconductor chips is increased, the height of the semiconductor package is increased.
Especially, because the length and loop height of the bonding wire for electrically connecting a chip pad of the uppermost semiconductor chip to a bonding pad of the mounting substrate are increased, contact failures between adjacent bonding wires or between the bonding wire and the semiconductor chips occur frequently. Accordingly, the semiconductor package may need to have a structure capable of providing a free wire route design without changing the routes and patterns of the existing bonding wires.

Semiconductor package and method of manufacturing the semiconductor package


An azeotrope or azeotrope-like composition of 2,2-dichloro-1,1,1-trifluoroethane (HCFC-123) and methanol, the azeotropic mixture being useful in solvent cleaning application.

As modern electronic circuit boards evolve toward increased circuit and component densities, thorough cleaning of the boards after soldering becomes more important. Generally, current industrial processes for soldering electronic components to circuit boards involve coating the entire circuit side of the board with a flux and thereafter passing this coated side of the board over preheaters and through molten solder. The flux cleans the conductive metal parts and promotes solder fusion. Commonly used fluxes consist, for the most part, of rosin, either used alone or with activating additives, such as amine hydrochlorides or oxalic acid derivatives.
After soldering, which thermally degrades part of the rosin, the remaining flux and flux-residues are often removed from the circuit boards with a heated organic solvent. The requirements for such solvents are very stringent. Defluxing solvents should have the following characteristics: be low boiling, be nonflammable, have low toxicity and high solvency power so that flux and flux-residues can be removed without damaging the substrate being cleaned.
While boiling temperature, flammability and solvent power characteristics can often be adjusted by mixing different solvents together, the mixtures that are formed are often unsatisfactory because they fractionate to an undesirable degree on boiling while in use. The more volatile components of these mixtures vaporize first, causing the boiling mixtures to continuously change in both composition and boiling temperature. This fractionation is undesirable since it could result in altered solvency properties. The fractionation also makes it virtually impossible to recover and reuse a solvent mixture with the original composition.
On the other hand, an azeotropic mixture gives off vapor which has the same composition as the mixture. Since there is no preferential vaporization of the components, azeotropic mixtures remain constant boiling throughout distillation. In vapor-degreasing operations, this constant boiling aspect of azeotropic mixtures is desirable since the solvent vapor can be condensed back into a mixture with its original composition and then be used for the final rinse. Thus, vapor defluxing and degreasing systems act as a still. Unless the solvent composition exhibits a constant boiling point, i.e., is a single material, an azeotrope or is azeotrope-like, fractionation will occur and undesirable solvent distributions will result which could detrimentally affect the safety and efficacy of the cleaning operation.
Unfortunately, as recognized in the art, it is not possible to predict the formation of azeotropes. This fact obviously complicates the search for new azeotropic compositions which have application in the field. Nevertheless, there is a constant effort in the art to discover new azeotropes or azeotrope-like compositions which have improved solvency characteristics and particularly greater versatility in solvency power.

Azeotropic composition of 2,2-dichloro-1,1,1-trifluoroethane and methanol


A tapping attachment for threading a relatively large number of holes through a sheet metal part at a relatively low cost per hole. The tapping attachment includes a thrust bearing assembly which is aligned with a turret-type punch press or the like and movable in response to an axially directed force generated by the punch press. The axially directed force applied from the press to the thrust bearing assembly is transferred to a spline shaft. The spline shaft is rotated wihin and moved linearly relative to a screw threaded roller nut, whereby the axially directed force is converted into a rotating force for advancing and turning a tap at high speeds of rotation. A nitrogen reservoir is provided so that a supply of gas is available for returning the thrust bearing assembly and the spline shaft to their initial positions in order that a new hole can be tapped in response to another axially directed force. Also provided is an oil reservoir so that a supply of oil is available for lubricating and cooling the tap via an oil spout.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a tapping attachment, whereby an axially directed force generated by a turret-type punch press is converted into a rotating force for advancing and turning a tap, so that an array of holes may be efficiently and inexpensively threaded through a sheet metal part, or the like.
2. Background Art
A drill press and an associated tapping unit are typically used to tap holes formed in a sheet metal part. However, a drill press is known to be slow, labor intensive and, thereby, cost inefficient. moreover, a drill press is used merely to drill and not thread holes. Therefore, the metal part is subject to multiple handling stages and to separate operational steps of drilling and then threading holes.
Tapping attachments have been used in the past with conventional punch-type presses for tapping holes formed in metal parts. However, and generally speaking, such attachments are characterized by a large size, thereby rendering them cumbersome and not suitable for use with a numerically controlled punch press. The conventional tapping attachments are also known to include a transmission that, because of its high torque requirements, is often characterized by a complex gearing arrangement and a corresponding large size. Such a large size usually requires that the tapping unit be securely bolted onto the punch press. Consequently, there is no way by which the tapping unit may be easily detached from its press for repair or replacement.
It would be preferable to have available an efficient tapping unit that has a simple transmission and no gears, is of small size and relatively low cost, and is easily attachable to a numerically controlled turret-type punch press or the like so that holes can be punched and threaded through a sheet metal part with minimal handling and in an efficient and cost saving manner.

Robotics Automation Consulting Engineering Industries, Inc.


A variety of applications exploiting the Shapeless language where the geometry of letters is immaterial; their size and proximity deliver their message. These applications span rescue effort, industrial practice, painting, food preparation, authentication of documents, etc. Shapeless language is computer readable and very robust.

Shapeless alphabet is comprised of letters which are not judged by their shape, rather by their relative size and proximity to other letters. This disengagement from specific shape and geometry makes Shapeless alphabet more readable, and this opens door to a variety of applications where readability and impression of a message are of great importance. The human eye distinguishes between uniform and less uniform mixtures, and a camera will do so very well. Historically, new languages opened doors to important new developments; one may expect a similar outcome here.
The entropic language is based on a shapeless alphabet where the geometry of the letters plays no role; their size and proximity does. The appearance of an entropic (Shapeless) message has artistic impact, and can be applied in various setups to attract human attention, raise interest and investigation. Entropic language is useful for any communication, especially for cases where the geometry between the entropic script and the entropic reader is non-accommodating. Entropic messages may be directly visualized and come across as an alternative to Internet connectivity. This invention lists several application with an artistic impact: surface painting, food preparation; it lists communication applications: for rescue and emergency, for urban communication, for cryptographic uses.

Applications of the shapeless (Entropic) alphabet


A reaction force output device includes: a motor that is a drive source that creates a reaction force; a reaction force output shaft that interlocks with an output shaft of the motor to rotate; and an interlocking arm that transmits output torque of the motor which is input to the reaction force output shaft to an operation pedal. A torque limiting mechanism, which limits the transmission of torque that is equal to or greater than a specified value between the reaction force output shaft and the interlocking arm, is interposed between the reaction force output shaft and the interlocking arm.

To inhibit an accelerator pedal from being depressed more than necessary when a vehicle is started or while it is traveling, an accelerator pedal device that gives a reaction force corresponding to a depressed state to the accelerator pedal has recently been developed (e.g., see Patent Literature 1).
In the accelerator pedal device described in Patent Literature 1, a return spring for returning a pedal arm to an initial position, a motor for generating a reaction force, and an interlocking arm for transmitting rotation of the motor to the pedal arm are installed in a housing that pivotably supports a base end of the pedal arm. This accelerator pedal device is configured such that the motor is controlled to an output corresponding to a depressed state of the accelerator pedal by a control unit, and the output is given to the pedal arm through the interlocking arm.


A filter assembly for fuel is disclosed. The assembly includes a housing and a filter element located in the housing and held in place by a spring. In the space between the inner wall of the housing and the base of the filter element a compressibly resilient element is located which absorbs hydraulic pulses, the filter assembly is subjected to.

Filter assemblies are used to filter different types of fluids, such as lubricating oils, fuels, hydraulic oils, coolants, and the like in various engines and other equipment.
These filter assemblies typically consists of a filter element fitted inside a casing and the entire assembly is fitted on a filter head. Dirty fluid enters a filtering chamber housing the filter element through one or more inlets, passes through the filter element, gets filtered, and the filtered fluid exits the assembly through an outlet. Due to the accumulation of dirt in the filter element, fluid permeability of the filter element decreases with time, and eventually it needs to be replaced.
There are mainly two types of filter assemblies. In one, the filter element is hermetically sealed inside its chamber, and the whole assembly is disposable after use. This type of filter assembly is normally known as "Spin on filter assembly." In the other type, only the filter element is removed from the casing at the end of use and replaced with a new one. This type of filter is normally known as "Cartridge" filter.


The invention features a theft resistant security system for motor vehicles. The system has receptacle with a coupling coil. A SAW (surface acoustical wave) device associated with the receptacle for relative movement thereto is also provided. The SAW device has a code and its own coupling coil for interaction with the receptacle coupling coil. A testing mechanism is connected to the receptacle for determining whether the code of the SAW device is valid for operation of the motor vehicle. Problems of crosstalk and wave reflection may produce spurious code pulses in systems of this type. The invention provides techniques for eliminating or reducing these unwanted pulses.

The invention pertains to a surface acoustic wave (SAW) device which forms part of an antitheft automotive system, as described in the aforementioned patent application Ser. No. 227,282. The previous application describes a SAW device comprising a coded SAW delay line and attached coil antenna that is embedded in or integrally formed with an otherwise conventional mechanical ignition key.
A coil mounted around the lock cylinder mounted in the steering column provides a brief radio frequency pulse. This pulse is picked up by the coil antenna, which excites a surface acoustical wave on the SAW delay line. After a time delay, the antenna is re-excited by a coded set of pulses determined by the arrangement of interdigital transducers (IDT) on the SAW delay line. These transponded pulses are picked up by the original coil, and processed electronically to ensure that the code on the SAW delay line matches a predetermined code. If there is no correct match, this is interpreted as an unauthorized intrusion and further action is inhibited.
A major problem that is encountered with SAW devices of this type is the existence of spurious signals. In the present context, the term spurious signal means unintended transponded signals that interfere with the correct code interpretation. These spurious signals arise from two sources: (1) crosstalk; and (2) double transit interference.
Crosstalk refers to output pulses created by launching and receiving SAWs within the subIDT structure, e.g., a SAW launched by a subIDT and received by another subIDT. Double transit interference refers to output pulses created by two SAW transits. For example, a SAW launched by the main IDT and received by a subIDT contributes to an output pulse; this output pulse excites the coil antenna as desired. However, acoustic energy is also reflected from a subIDT, and redirected and picked up by other subIDTs as well as the main IDT.
An initially developed coded SAW delay line based system for electronic labeling provided a means to reduce crosstalk spurious pulses by arranging the SAW delay line so that the SAW transit time from the main IDT to the first subIDT exceeded the total transit time from the first subIDT to the last subIDT..sup.1 In this way, all of the crosstalk spurious pulses arrived before the main, wanted, code-bearing pulses. It was recognized that it was important to provide additional means for suppressing spurious signals..sup.2 Means were devised using parallel acoustic wave paths to achieve this suppression.
Other means included the use of phase coding. The utilization of microwave frequency and decoding of a phase coded signal, however, requires complex and expensive electronics.
In an automotive antitheft system it is most important to reduce costs to a minimum. To realize this objective, the rf frequency should be below 50 MHz, so that low cost electronic components, currently available for other consumer devices, can be employed.
However, when the rf frequency is reduced below 50 MHz, spurious signals cannot be eliminated effectively by utilizing either parallel acoustic wave paths or phase coding techniques.
The restrictions on frequency, chip size and coding method (amplitude encoding) imposed by the automotive antitheft system with spurious signal elimination at the lower frequency leads to an unreasonably low number of available codes.
The present invention relaxes the previous requirement that the SAW device transit time from the main IDT to the first tap subIDT exceed the transit time from first subIDT to the last subIDT, thus increasing the number of available code bits. This provides a greater number of codes for an effective automotive antitheft system, but requires a new technique for eliminating or reducing spurious signals.
The current invention uses the following new techniques to eliminate spurious signals:
(1) time narrowing; PA1 (2) time shifting; PA1 (3) time spreading; and PA1 (4) cancellation.
Time narrowing uses narrower subIDTs with respect to the main IDT, thus diminishing crosstalk signals.
Time shifting utilizes the addition of a half code period to the spacing between the main IDT and the subIDTs, thus shifting the crosstalk signals between recognized signal centers.
Time spreading operates to shape the pattern of electrode overlaps within the subIDTs in order to spread crosstalk signals over a longer period of time, thus weakening these spurious signals.
Cancellation of the crosstalk signals is accomplished by adding additional IDTs, which generate additional signals of equal amplitude and time, and opposite phase, relative to the crosstalk signals.
Also contemplated by the present invention is the reduction or elimination of reflected acoustic energy resulting in double transit interference. This is accomplished by connecting an external resistor across the SAW device coil or by terminating the detection coil with a resistor.
Also additional IDTs can be connected to the bus bars which do not interact acoustically with the code-generating IDTs by the utilization of an acoustic absorber.

Patterned transducer apparatus for correcting spurious signals in said devices


An infinitely variable camshaft timing device (phaser) has a control valve located in the rotor. Since the control valve is in the rotor, the camshaft need only provide a single passage for supplying engine oil or hydraulic fluid, and does not need multiple passageways for controlling the phaser, as in the prior art. Two check valves, an advance chamber check valve and a retard chamber check valve, are also located in the rotor. The check valves are located in the control passages for each chamber. The main advantage of putting the check valves in the advance and retard chambers instead of having a single check valve in the supply is to reduce leakage. This design also eliminates high pressure oil flow across the spool valve and improves the response time of the check valve to the torque reversals due to a shorter oil path. In addition, the phaser of the present invention outperforms an oil pressure actuated device and consumes less oil.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention pertains to the field of variable camshaft timing (VCT) systems. More particularly, the invention pertains to an infinitely variable camshaft indexer with a spool valve and two check valves in the center of the rotor.
2. Description of Related Art
There are many advantages to variable cam timing, such as improving emissions, fuel economy and power density. One method of cam phasing uses a vane type cam phaser or Oil Pressure Actuated device (OPA). The performance of this device is dependent on oil pressure, which is typically a function of engine speed. Therefore, at low speeds (especially when the engine is idle), the Oil Pressure Actuated device has unacceptable performance. A second method of cam phasing, xe2x80x9cCam Torque Actuatedxe2x80x9d (CTA) phasing, captures the cam torsional energy with check valves and recirculates the oil chamber to chamber. Cam Torque Actuated technology works well on I3, V6 and V8 engines because of the amplitude of the cam torques across the speed range. However, Cam Torque Actuated technology does not work as well on 4-cylinder engines across the entire speed range. Therefore, there is a need in the art for technology which works well on 4-cylinder engines.
There have been a number of VCT systems patented in the past.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,386,807 uses torque effects at high speed, and engine pressure at low speed. The control valve is in the phaser core. The phaser has a built-in oil pump to provide oil pressure at low speeds. The oil pump is preferably electromagnetically controlled.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,053,138 discloses a device for hydraulic rotational angle adjustment of a shaft to a drive wheel, especially the camshaft of an internal combustion engine. This device has ribs or vanes that are nonrotatably connected with the shaft. These ribs or vanes are located in the compartments of a compartmented wheel. The compartments of the compartmented wheel and the ribs and/or vanes produce pressure chambers by whose hydraulic pressurization the two structural elements can be rotated relative to one another. In order to reduce undesired rotation when an insufficient adjusting or retaining pressure is present, a common end face of the compartmented wheel and of the ribs and/or vanes works with an annular piston that exerts a releasable clamping action on the parts that are rotatable relative to one another.
A related patent, U.S. Pat. No. 6,085,708, shows a device for changing the relative rotational angle of the camshaft of an internal combustion engine relative to its drive wheel. This device has an inner part connected with ribs or vanes that is located rotationally movably in a compartmented wheel. This driven compartmented wheel has a plurality of compartments distributed around the circumference divided by ribs or vanes into two pressure chambers each. The change in rotational angle is produced by their pressurization. To minimize the influence of overlapping alternating torque influences from the valve drive of the internal combustion engine, a damping structure is integrated into this device to hydraulically damp the change in rotational position.
Consideration of information disclosed by the following U.S. Patents, which are all hereby incorporated by reference, is useful when exploring the background of the present invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,002,023 describes a VCT system within the field of the invention in which the system hydraulics includes a pair of oppositely acting hydraulic cylinders with appropriate hydraulic flow elements to selectively transfer hydraulic fluid from one of the cylinders to the other, or vice versa, to thereby advance or retard the circumferential position on of a camshaft relative to a crankshaft. The control system utilizes a control valve in which the exhaustion of hydraulic fluid from one or another of the oppositely acting cylinders is permitted by moving a spool within the valve one way or another from its centered or null position. The movement of the spool occurs in response to an increase or decrease in control hydraulic pressure, PC, on one end of the spool and the relationship between the hydraulic force on such end and an oppositely direct mechanical force on the other end which results from a compression spring that acts thereon.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,107,804 describes an alternate type of VCT system within the field of the invention in which the system hydraulics include a vane having lobes within an enclosed housing which replace the oppositely acting cylinders disclosed by the aforementioned U.S. Pat. No. 5,002,023. The vane is oscillatable with respect to the housing, with appropriate hydraulic flow elements to transfer hydraulic fluid within the housing from one side of a lobe to the other, or vice versa, to thereby oscillate the vane with respect to the housing in one direction or the other, an action which is effective to advance or retard the position of the camshaft relative to the crankshaft. The control system of this VCT system is identical to that divulged in U.S. Pat. No. 5,002,023, using the same type of spool valve responding to the same type of forces acting thereon.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,172,659 and 5,184,578 both address the problems of the aforementioned types of VCT systems created by the attempt to balance the hydraulic force exerted against one end of the spool and the mechanical force exerted against the other end. The improved control system disclosed in both U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,172,659 and 5,184,578 utilizes hydraulic force on both ends of the spool. The hydraulic force on one end results from the directly applied hydraulic fluid from the engine oil gallery at full hydraulic pressure, PS. The hydraulic force on the other end of the spool results from a hydraulic cylinder or other force multiplier which acts thereon in response to system hydraulic fluid at reduced pressure, PC, from a PWM solenoid. Because the force at each of the opposed ends of the spool is hydraulic in origin, based on the same hydraulic fluid, changes in pressure or viscosity of the hydraulic fluid will be self-negating, and will not affect the centered or null position of the spool.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,361,735, a camshaft has a vane secured to an end for non-oscillating rotation. The camshaft also carries a timing belt driven pulley which can rotate with the camshaft but which is oscillatable with respect to the camshaft. The vane has opposed lobes which are received in opposed recesses, respectively, of the pulley. The camshaft tends to change in reaction to torque pulses which it experiences during its normal operation and it is permitted to advance or retard by selectively blocking or permitting the flow of engine oil from the recesses by controlling the position of a spool within a valve body of a control valve in response to a signal from an engine control unit. The spool is urged in a given direction by rotary linear motion translating means which is rotated by an electric motor, preferably of the stepper motor type.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,497,738 shows a control system which eliminates the hydraulic force on one end of a spool resulting from directly applied hydraulic fluid from the engine oil gallery at full hydraulic pressure, PS, utilized by previous embodiments of the VCT system. The force on the other end of the vented spool results from an electromechanical actuator, preferably of the variable force solenoid type, which acts directly upon the vented spool in response to an electronic signal issued from an engine control unit (xe2x80x9cECUxe2x80x9d) which monitors various engine parameters. The Engine Control Unit receives signals from sensors corresponding to camshaft and crankshaft positions and utilizes this information to calculate a relative phase angle. A closed-loop feedback system which corrects for any phase angle error is preferably employed. The use of a variable force solenoid solves the problem of sluggish dynamic response. Such a device can be designed to be as fast as the mechanical response of the spool valve, and certainly much faster than the conventional (fully hydraulic) differential pressure control system. The faster response allows the use of increased closed-loop gain, making the system less sensitive to component tolerances and operating environment.
In all the systems described above, the controls for camshaft timing are located in the camshaft itself, or downstream of the camshaft, increasing the likelihood for leakage as the hydraulic fluid moves from the spool valve into the vanes of the rotor. Therefore, there is a need in the art for an infinitely variable VCT multi-position cam indexer which decreases leakage during operation.
The present invention is an infinitely variable camshaft timing device (phaser) with a control valve located in the rotor. Since the control valve is in the rotor, the camshaft need only provide a single passage for supplying engine oil or hydraulic fluid, and does not need multiple passageways for controlling the phaser, as in the prior art. Two check valves, an advance chamber check valve and a retard chamber check valve, are also located in the rotor. The check valves are located in the control passages for each chamber. The main advantage of putting the check valves in the advance and retard chambers instead of having a single check valve in the supply is to reduce leakage. This design also eliminates high pressure oil flow across the spool valve and improves the response time of the check valve to the torque reversals due to a shorter oil path. In addition, the phaser of the present invention outperforms an oil pressure actuated device and consumes less oil.
The rotor is connected to the camshaft, and the outer housing and gear move relative to the rotor and camshaft. Source oil is supplied through the center of the camshaft. The position of the spool valve determines if the phaser will advance or retard.

Cam phaser for engines having two check valves in rotor between chambers and spool valve


This application relates to methods and apparatus for operating MEMS sensors, in particular MEMS capacitive sensors (CMEMS) such as a microphones. An amplifier apparatus is arranged to amplify an input signal (VINP) received at a sense node from the MEMS capacitive sensor. An antiphase signal generator generates a second signal (VINN) which is in antiphase with the input signal (VINP) and an amplifier arrangement is configured to receive the input signal (VINP) at a first input and the second signal (VINN) at a second input and to output corresponding amplified first and second output signals. This converts a single ended input signal effectively into a differential input signal.

MEMS sensors, such as MEMS capacitive microphones, are becoming increasing popular, at least partly due to their small size. For instance MEMS microphones may usefully be employed on portable electronic devices such as mobile telephones or tablet computers and the like. The increasing popularity of voice control is also leading to microphones being provided on a range of devices, such as smart watches or other wearable devices or on other consumer electronics products and MEMS microphones are being usefully used on such products.
MEMS capacitive microphones typically comprise one electrode, which is moveable with respect to at least one fixed electrode in response to incident acoustic waves to form a variable capacitance, typically of the order of 1 pf or so. The moveable electrode may, for example, be supported by a flexible membrane. In use a first one of the electrodes may be biased by a relatively high stable bias voltage VBIAS, say 12V or so in some instances, whilst the second electrode is biased to another fixed voltage VREF, typically ground, via a very high impedance, for example, in the order of 10 GΩ. Acoustic waves incident on the capacitive transducer will cause displacement of the moveable electrode with respect to the fixed electrode, thus changing the spacing between these electrodes and hence the inter-electrode capacitance. As the second electrode of the transducer is biased via a very high impedance, these changes in capacitance cause a signal voltage to appear at the input terminal. Given the small capacitance of the MEMS sensor the input signal is relatively small and thus the signal is amplified by a low-noise amplifier arrangement.
One issue that arises for such MEMS microphones is providing sufficient dynamic range. To provide acceptable output signal levels at lower input acoustic signal level requires a certain amplifier gain. However at higher acoustic signal levels this can result in overload, where the resulting relatively large input signal magnitude exceeds the linear range of the amplifier at the input and/or output and distortion is introduced. In most cases the maximum signal level that can be amplified is limited by the power supply voltage minus headroom.
One way to deal with this problem is to use compression, where the system parameters are adjusted to effectively reduce sensitivity of the sensor based on an indication of signal amplitude, for instance the bias voltage supplied to the first electrode may be reduced. However this adds complexity and results in a variable sensitivity over the operating range.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


A charged particle beam apparatus for inspecting a specimen with a plurality of beamlets is described. The charged particle beam apparatus includes a charged particle beam emitter (105) for generating a charged particle beam (11) propagating along an optical axis (A) and a multi-beamlet generation- and correction-assembly (120), including a first multi-aperture electrode (121) with a first plurality of apertures for creating the plurality of beamlets from the charged particle beam, at least one second multi-aperture electrode (122) with a second plurality of apertures of varying diameters for the plurality of beamlets for providing a field curvature correction, and a plurality of multipoles (123) for individually influencing each of the plurality of beamlets, wherein the multi-beamlet generation- and correction-assembly (120) is configured to focus the plurality of beamlets to provide a plurality of intermediate beamlet crossovers. The charged particle beam apparatus further includes an objective lens (150) for focusing each of the plurality of beamlets to a separate location on the specimen, and a single transfer lens (130) for beamlet collimation arranged between the multi-beamlet generation- and correction-assembly and the objective lens. Further, a method of inspecting a specimen with a charged particle beam apparatus is described.

Modern semiconductor technology is highly dependent on an accurate control of the various processes used during the production of integrated circuits. Accordingly, the wafers are inspected repeatedly in order to localize problems as early as possible. Furthermore, a mask or reticle is also inspected before the actual use during wafer processing in order to make sure that the mask accurately defines the respective pattern. The inspection of wafers or masks for defects may include the examination of the whole wafer or mask area. Especially, the inspection of wafers during the fabrication includes the examination of the whole wafer area in such a short time that production throughput is not limited by the inspection process.
Scanning electron microscopes (SEM) have been used to inspect wafers and other specimens. The surface of the wafer is scanned using e.g. a finely focused electron beam. When the electron beam hits the wafer, secondary electrons and/or backscattered electrons, i.e. signal electrons, are generated and measured. A pattern defect at a location on the wafer can be detected by comparing an intensity signal of the secondary electrons with, for example, a reference signal corresponding to the same location on the pattern. However, because of the increasing demands for higher resolutions, scanning the entire surface of the wafer takes a long time. Accordingly, using a conventional (single-beam) Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) for wafer inspection is difficult, since the approach does not provide the respective throughput.
One approach to solve such problems is the use of multiple beams (also referred to herein as "beamlets") in a single column. Directing, scanning, deflecting, shaping, correcting, and/or focusing individual beamlets of a multi-beam system is, however, challenging, in particular when sample structures are to be scanned and inspected in a quick manner with a high throughput on a nanoscale resolution. For example, correcting aberrations, such as a field curvature, of multiple beams in a single column is challenging.
Further, if multiple beams propagate next to each other over an extended distance within a column of a charged particle beam apparatus, electron-electron-interaction (e-e-interaction) within one beamlet and/or e-e-interaction between adjacent beamlets may cause aberrations, such as beam widening or deflection, deteriorating the achievable resolution. It is therefore challenging to provide a charged particle beam apparatus that allows an inspection of a specimen with multiple beamlets at a high resolution.
In view of the above, a charged particle beam apparatus and a method of inspecting a specimen with a plurality of beamlets of charged particles is to be provided that overcome at least some of the problems in the art. Specifically, a charged particle beam apparatus is to be provided that allows a quick inspection of a specimen with a plurality of beamlets of charged particles while reducing beamlet aberrations and other undesired effects caused by electron-electron interaction, improving the achievable resolution.

Charged particle beam apparatus, multi-beamlet assembly, and method of inspecting a specimen

ICT Integrated Circuit Testing Gesellschaft für Halbleiterprüftechnik mbH


There is provided a method for contactless determination of the position of a driven moving portion (4) of an electric motor (2) by means of a plurality of magnetic field sensors (8), wherein the moving portion is movably arranged with respect to a stator (6) and has a plurality of permanent magnets (40) which generate a moving-portion magnetic field having a plurality of periodically spaced apart maxima, and wherein the plurality of magnetic field sensors are arranged along a movement path (43) of the moving portion. The method comprises the following steps: by means of the plurality of magnetic field sensors, determining a plurality of measured values (70) for a momentary magnetic field that is generated by the plurality of permanent magnets and dependent on the position of the moving portion, determining a specific spectral signal component (74) from the plurality of measured values (70), the specific spectral signal component having the spatial frequency corresponding to the distance between adjacent like maxima of the moving-portion magnetic field, and determining the position of the driven moving portion by means of the specific spectral signal component.

Pipetting systems are an example of technical systems in which a moving element, often a movable piston, is moved with high precision. In a pipetting system, pipetting liquid is aspirated and dispensed, respectively, through a pipetting tip by the movement of the piston. For many applications, especially in the field of laboratory automation, the releasing and taking up of liquid, i.e. dispensing and aspirating of liquid, has to be done very accurately. This results in the general endeavor to perform as exact movements as possible with the piston. Thus, when the piston is driven by means of an electric motor, exact movements of the moving portion of the electric motor are desirable. In the prior art, there are approaches to determine the position of the piston in a pipetting system and to control the electric motor accordingly. However, such prior systems involving position determination are not satisfactory. Also in many other technical fields there are technical systems in which a component driven by an electric motor should be moved exactly.

Method for contactlessly determining the position of a driven rotor of an electric motor, electric motor, and pipetting system for aspirating and dispensing pipetting liquid having such an electric motor


Systems and methods for remote control of on-screen interaction are described. In one aspect, a presentation is displayed onto a display surface. The presentation includes a selection control to interface with one or more user interface (UI) elements. The UI elements are used to control the presentation. A set of image frames are received from a remote handheld device. The image frames represent respective snapshots of the presentation. The image frames are evaluated to modify position of the selection control over the presentation.

People are increasingly relying on computers, projectors, and slideshow presentation software to convey ideas. Context surrounding use of non-slideshow desktop applications is very different than that associated with a slideshow presentation. For example, uses of non-slideshow desktop applications typically involve a sole user sitting in close proximity to a desktop computer (or laptop). The sole user generally interfaces with the computer and the non-slideshow desktop application with a keyboard and a mouse. In contrast to a sole user interacting with a computer and application, a slideshow presentation typically involves a presenter using a computer, a wired or wireless mouse, and a projector to display slides on a large projection screen for viewing by an audience.
Use of a conventional mouse and keyboard, which typically need to be operated on a flat surface, to control slideshow presentation can be substantially inconvenient and restrictive. This is especially the case when a presenter wants to convey information in addition to that provided by the displayed slides, for example, using speech, facial expressions, body language, and/or the like. To maintain quick access to the mouse and keyboard, the presenter may choose to remain next to the computer during the presentation to control (e.g., change slides, page up, page down, etc.) the presentation. This virtual tether could limit the overall effectiveness of the presentation. The presenter could also decide to stand near the projection screen to allow greater audience contact and/or to allow the presenter to refer to objects displayed on the screen. In this case, the presenter would either have to walk back and forth between the projection screen and the mouse to operate the slideshow, or enlist aid of an assistant to operate the presentation according to the presenter's voice or gesture commands.

Remote control of on-screen interactions


An apparatus for performing high-speed interruption of high-speed fluid jets (30) of the type used to cut food, plastics, wood, metal, and other products. The water jet (30) is interrupted by a blocking bar (22) mounted on a housing (12). The blocking bar (22) is pivoted by actuators so that the bar is disposed away from the high-speed fluid jet (30) in the open position and blockingly intersects the high-speed fluid jet (30) when in the blocking position. At least one of the actuators is an electromagnet assembly (20) and (21) having a selectively energizable coil (78) such that energizing the coil (78) will induce a magnetic field. The blocking bar (22) has an area of high magnetic permeability (114), wherein the bar (22) may be pivoted by application of the magnetic field generated by the coil (78) upon the area of high magnetic permeability (114).

This invention relates generally to a product cutter utilizing a high-pressure fluid jet and, more particularly, to methods and apparatus for selectively interrupting the flow of a high-pressure fluid jet in cutting and etching applications.
High-speed fluid jets, typically but not exclusively water jets, have been used to cut food, paper, plastics, wood, and even metals and glass for years. Water and other fluid jet cutting technology provide many advantages over conventional cutting alternatives. For example, these advantages include improved safety and reduced maintenance because there are no cutting blades that need to be regularly sharpened or replaced, and reduced dust and other airborne particulate generation due to a narrow cutting stream and entrainment of particulates in the jet stream In addition, fluid jet cutting provides a quick, flexible, and clean cutting process.
In fluid jets, pressurized fluid is ejected from a small orifice to create a thin, high velocity jet of water or other fluid. When the fluid jet impinges on the target product, a thin slice of material is removed, typically without any appreciable amount of cutting fluid absorption into the product.
In many applications of water jet cutting, the desired cutting operations require precise high-speed interruption of the water jet. Generally, the greater the detail of the cutting operation, the faster the interruption of the jet must be in order to attain such detail. Also, the overall achievable speed of a cutting operation is frequently limited by the rate at which the high-speed stream can be controllably interrupted. In such applications, a higher rate of water stream interruption will reduce the overall product processing time required.
Various methods and apparatus are currently available to controllably interrupt a high-speed water jet. One such method of interruption is to use a linear actuator to insert an object between the high-speed water jet and the product. Typically, a pneumatic linear actuator forces a blocker pin into the path of the water jet to interrupt the flow of the cutting stream and a spring provides a retracting force for the blocker pin. Existing pneumatic blocker pin devices achieve closure times of 50-90 ms, and thereby limit the speed at which products may be cut by the water jet.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,693,153, issued to Wainwright et al., discloses another water jet interruption technique. When interruption of the high-speed water jet is desired, a second high-pressure fluid is directed at the object cutting jet so as to disperse the latter and impair its cutting properties. The device that controls the second fluid flow is similar to the plunger pin device. A solenoid device within the jet obstructer device controls the fluid flow from the jet obstructer device. An energized solenoid closes a plunger mechanism that is normally held in an open position by a spring. In the open position, the mechanism provides high-pressure fluid to interrupt the object-cutting water jet. Similar to the plunger pin device, this device also lacks the high-speed interruption capabilities necessary for cutting products as rapidly as may be desired.
International Patent Application No. WO 93/10950 discloses a valve for controlling a constantly running liquid cutting jet. A pneumatically-powered rotary cylinder 2 is attached to one end of and elongate plate 1 to rotate the opposite end of the plate in and out of the path of flow of the liquid cutting jet. However, the opening and closing times for this rotary plate are only slightly better than that of existing plunger pin devices. Also, the cutting jet only strikes one position on the plate requiring frequent replacement of the plate.
Pivoting pin interruption mechanisms are taught in U.S. Pat. No. 5,931,178 and No. 5,927,320, both issued to Pfarr et al. and owned by the assignee of the present application. The Pfarr et al. patents both disclose a water jet blocking device that utilizes a blocking pin having a first end attached to a rotary actuator and a second end disposed near a high-speed fluid jet. An actuator pivots the blocking pin about a center fulcrum, such that the second end of the blocking pin can be selectively swung to block the high-speed jet stream. The pivoting pin interruption mechanism overcomes many of the disadvantages of the prior art, while permitting faster activation times and a durable apparatus. However, further improvements in activation time and durability remain desirable. Accordingly, certain embodiments of the present invention provide advantages over previous devices or methods of controllably blocking high-speed fluid jets.
In accordance with the present invention, a high-speed fluid jet blocker for selectively blocking a high-speed fluid jet is provided. The jet blocker includes at least one electromagnet assembly having a selectively energizable coil such that energizing the coil will induce a magnetic field. The jet blocker further includes a blocking bar having an area of high magnetic permeability, the bar being pivotable to at least either an open position or a blocking position by application of the magnetic field generated by the coil upon the area of high magnetic permeability. When the blocking bar is in the open position, the blocking bar is disposed away from the high-speed fluid jet. When the blocking bar is in the blocking position, the blocking bar blockingly intersects the high-speed fluid jet.


According to one aspect of the present invention, a method of constructing an interposer is provided. A conductive layer is formed on a nonconductive layer. The conductive layer has via portions, non-via portions, and first and second opposing surfaces. The first surface of the conductive layer is adjacent to the nonconductive layer. Portions of the nonconductive layer are removed to expose portions of the first surface of the conductive layer. Conductive pads are formed on the exposed portions of the first surface and the second surface of the conductive layer. The non-via portions of the conductive layer are removed to form a plurality of electrically separated conductors. Each conductor includes at least two conductive pads and a via portion of the conductive layer.

1). Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an interposer and a method of constructing an interposer.
2). Discussion of Related Art
Integrated circuits are formed on semiconductor wafers. The wafers are then sawed (or "singulated" or "diced") into microelectronic dies, also known as semiconductor chips, with each chip carrying a respective integrated circuit. Each semiconductor chip is then mounted to a package, or carrier, substrate, thereby forming a semiconductor package. Often the packages are temporarily connected to test sockets so that the integrated circuit can be tested before it is sold. The package is then mounted to a printed circuit board, which may then be installed into a computing system.
Additional substrates, called interposers, are often used to ensure the electrical connection between the test socket and the package, as well as between the printed circuit board and the package.
Such an interposer typically has a substrate with "via holes" therethrough and "vias" within the via holes to electrically connect the package to either the test socket or the printed circuit board. The process of manufacturing interposers is difficult and expensive because numerous steps are required to create the via holes and vias, as each via hole must be drilled through the substrate and the vias must be electroplated through the via holes. The via holes are very small, and thus, the drilling is very difficult and time consuming. Additionally, the accuracy of the drilling is very difficult to control when drilling the via holes at small pitches. Furthermore, the vias do not maximize the flow of electricity and heat as the vias are cylindrically shaped with a space extending therethough.


During operation radio frames are divided into a plurality of subframes. A frame duration is selected from two or more possible frame durations. Further, a subframe type is selected from two or more types of subframes. Data is placed within the plurality of subframes and is transmitted over the radio frames.

One of the key requirements for wireless broadband system development, such as in the 3rd generation partnership project (3GPP) Long Term Evolution (LTE), is reducing latency in order to improve user experience. From a link layer perspective, the key contributing factor to latency is the round-trip delay between a packet transmission and an acknowledgment of the packet reception. The round-trip delay is typically defined as a number of frames, where a frame is the time duration upon which scheduling is performed. The round-trip delay itself determines the overall automatic repeat request (ARQ) design, including design parameters such as the delay between a first and subsequent transmission of packets, or the number of hybrid ARQ channels (instances). A reduction in latency with the focus on defining the optimum frame duration is therefore key in developing improved user experience in future communication systems. Such systems include enhanced Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (UTRA) and Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (UTRAN) (also known as EUTRA and EUTRAN) within 3GPP, and evolutions of communication systems within other technical specification generating organizations (such 'Phase 2' within 3GPP2, and evolutions of IEEE 802.11, 802.16, 802.20, and 802.22).
Unfortunately, no single frame duration is best for different traffic types requiring different quality of service (QoS) characteristics or offering differing packet sizes. This is especially true when the control channel and pilot overhead in a frame is considered. For example, if the absolute control channel overhead is constant per user per resource, allocation and a single user is allocated per frame, a frame duration of 0.5 ms would be roughly four times less efficient than a frame duration of 2 ms. In addition, different frame durations could be preferred by different manufacturers or operators, making the development of an industry standard or compatible equipment difficult. Therefore, there is a need for an improved method for reducing both round-trip latency and overhead within a communication system.

Method and apparatus for reducing round trip latency and overhead within a communication system


The arrangement and selection of digital content to present to a user can be based at least in part upon the relevance of content, e.g., the probabilities of the user selecting to view more information and/or otherwise engaging with instances of the content. Features of items associated with content presented to a user can be determined, as well as the user's response to items with those features. This data is used to determine the probability of the user viewing and/or otherwise engaging an item having specific values for at least some of those features. The probabilities are combined with abandonment scores associated with a feed position of an interface to ensure that content displayed is optimized for engagement. The items can be ranked based on this engagement determination, in order to select which item content to display and the appropriate arrangement of that content.

Users are increasingly utilizing electronic devices to research, locate, and obtain various types of information. For example, users may utilize a search engine to locate information about various items, such as items offered through an electronic marketplace. Many of these conventional approaches require a user to input a query or navigate to a location from which relevant content can be obtained. It thus can be difficult to present content to a user that might be of interest to a user, but does not require such a manual process on the part of the user. Further, in presenting results, many of these conventional approaches present items in decreasing order of relevance, i.e., the most relevant items are shown first and less relevant items are shown lower in the list of results. While this approach works in search result listings where the users intent it mostly to see specific information, in applications where the user is looking to be inspired, a monotonic profile of relevance can quickly lead to boredom or abandonment. Once a user encounters an irrelevant post, the user may perceive that the relevance of posts further down the list of results will be even lower, which may result in user abandoning their browsing session. Accordingly, providing the user with content that is more likely to be of interest to the user can result in increased user engagement, higher profitability, or other favorable results for the provider of that content.

Shaping a relevance profile for engagement


A system, a method and a server for downloading installation package are provided. The method for downloading installation package comprises the steps of receiving request information for downloading installation package from a hardware client, acquiring the installation package and a dynamic link library related to the installation package upon the receipt of the request information for downloading the installation package, compiling the dynamic link library that has been acquired to reduce a size of the dynamic link library, packing the dynamic link library and the installation package, wherein the size of the dynamic link library has been reduced, and transmitting the dynamic link library and the installation package to the hardware client.

As an open-source operating system, the Android system has been widely applied in various terminal apparatuses (such as mobile phones and tablet PCs). Android Package (APK) refers to the software package containing some installation files (such as a dex file) required by the Android system. The dynamic link library (DLL) is a library containing codes and data which may be used by the application programs of the terminal apparatus.

Method, system and server for downloading installation package

Tencent Technology (Shenzhen) Company Limited


The etchant material of this invention comprises a chemical etchant composition including a halogen-containing feed gas and gaseous carbon dioxide. Typically, the halogen-containing feed gas is a fluorine-containing or a chlorine-containing feed gas, or both a fluorine-containing and a chlorine-containing feed gas. Preferably, the chlorine-containing feed gas comprises chlorine gas or HCl, and the fluorine-containing feed gas comprises SF.sub.6 or NF.sub.3. The fluorine-containing feed gas can also comprise CF.sub.4, or C2F.sub.6.

This invention relates to a process for etching semiconductor devices, and more particularly to a process for effectively and efficiently isotropically etching multi-layer semiconductor devices having adjacent tungsten silicide-polysilicon layers.
It is known in the prior art that the manufacture of multi-layer semiconductor devices typically involves patterned etching of areas of the semiconductor surface which is not covered by a pattern of photoresist protective material. These etching techniques use liquid or wet etching materials, or dry etching with halogens or halogen-containing compounds, of certain layers of these devices. For example, one well known etching material is a chlorine-containing plasma where chlorine gas, hydrogen chloride or other feed gas may be the source of the chlorine. Chlorine etches the semiconductor isotropically, i.e., in both a lateral and vertical direction. This results in an etched feature which has a line width which is smaller than the exposed resist image.
Etching of the semiconductor devices can be conducted in a gas phase using known techniques such as plasma etching, ion beam etching, and reactive ion etching. In isotropic plasma etching the requisite portion of the surface to be etched is removed by a chemical reaction between gaseous ions, radicals, or reactive chemicals from the ionized feed and the subject surface. In the anisotropic process, etching takes place only or primarily in the vertical direction so that feature widths substantially match the photoresist pattern widths. For example, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,734,157 an elemental silicon-containing layer, such as a layer of polysilicon or silicide, is etched anisotropically employing a gas plasma comprising a gaseous chlorofluorocarbon, capable of supplying CF.sub.x and chlorine ions, and ammonia. Profile control of a silicon layer is controlled by the use of this etching mode.
A problem which occurs during the isotropic plasma etching of multilayer semiconductor materials is matching the horizontal etch rates of the dissimilar materials which make up the semiconductor structure. For example, as shown in FIG. 1, the metal layers of semiconductor device 10A are adjacent tungsten silicide 12-polysilicon 14 layers on a layer of silicon dioxide 18 which is under a photoresist layer 16. This structure is used in the formation of, for example, an L.D.D. MOS transistor. When a chlorine plasma or SF6 plasma etchant is employed, an over etch situation can occur in which the polysilicon layer 14 is undercut much faster than the tungsten silicide layer 12 leaving a blocking ledge. This ledge will subsequently block the lightly doped drain implant process and prevent formation of source and drain regions of the transistor or the underlapping edge of the gate region. It can also serve as a topology and void problem at later fabrication stages.
In another etching sequence involving SF6/O2, the tungsten silicide layer 12 will undercut too fast under photoresist layer 16 resulting in an undesirable over etch of the silicide layer 14 so that semiconductor device 10B has a configuration similar to that shown in FIG. 2. In this case, an asymmetrical profile having high resistance runners are formed in which the tungsten silicide layer 12 is significantly narrower than the polysilicon layer 14. This produces a high resistant electrical connector which is an undesirable property in commercial use.
When SF6/O2/CI2 plasma is used to solve the uneven undercutting problem by matching the profiles of the respective tungsten silicide and polysilicon layers, the resist sidewalls are chemically attacked by oxygen gas causing the fabricator to use much larger sized resist starting geometries in order to compensate for the above erosion conditions. The use of such larger resist layers adversely effects the spacing density of the etched devices along the silicon support and substantially adds to the cost of manufacture of the semiconductor device.
Therefore, a need exists for an isotropic semiconductor etching process which forms the requisite resist-tungsten silicide-polysilicon configuration required for effective formation of L.D.D. MOS transistors during the source drain ion implantation process with minimum resist loss and with correspondingly reduced usage of resist material.

Process for isotropically etching semiconductor devices


According to the present teachings, an aircraft engine configured to controllably shed ice during icing conditions is presented. The engine has a member operating at a first angular velocity having a surface divided into a first ice accumulating surface configured to collect ice, and a first shadow surface configured to resist the collection of ice. A first flange is disposed between the first ice accumulating surface and the first shadow surface.

This section provides background information related to the present disclosure that is not necessarily prior art. Aircraft engines are subjected to ice buildup under predetermined loads, pressures, and temperatures. This ice can often build up on rotating components which can adversely affect system dynamics by the increase of the ice mass. Further, because this ice buildup is often released unpredictably at times, and varying masses, the unbalancing of engine components can be thrown off leading to undesirable vibrations. It is an object of the invention to overcome these and other undesirable features.


A semiconductor circuit extraction apparatus: detects the uppermost wiring layer of a cell; carries out virtual wiring conductor routing on all tracks of a cell-top wiring layer directly overlying the uppermost wiring layer of the cell; extracts parasitic capacitances of all the wiring conductors including those virtually routed; and calculates the delay time of placement/routing data in accordance with the extracted parasitic capacitances to provide highly accurate delay information library data.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor circuit extraction apparatus, an autoplacement/routing apparatus, their methods and a library distribution system for designing a semiconductor integrated circuit by combining a plurality of cells pre-registered in a cell library.
2. Description of the Prior Art
FIG. 4 is a diagram depicting the layout of a yet-to-be placed and routed discrete cell, and FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the layout of the cell after placement/routing by the conventional autoplacement/routing apparatus.
In FIGS. 4 and 5, reference numeral 101 denotes a semiconductor substrate; 102 denotes a diffused layer; 103 denotes poly-silicon wiring; 104 denotes first layer wiring formed of metal such as aluminum (Al); 105 denotes first contacts for connecting the diffused layer 102 and the first layer wiring 104; 106 denotes second contacts for connecting the poly wiring 103 and the first layer wiring 104; and 107 second layer wiring formed of metal such as aluminum. The first and second contacts are formed on first and second interlayer insulating films (not shown), respectively.
The operation of the above prior art example will be described below in brief.
In the first place, the parasitic capacitance between respective wiring conductors in the cell is extracted by a semiconductor circuit extraction apparatus to compute delays in the signal propagation from the input to output of the cell, and the delay information thus obtained is stored as library data for subsequent autoplacement/routing in a cell library. Then, the yet-to-be placed and routed discrete cell (FIG. 4) is prepared, on which the autoplacement/routing apparatus carries out required conductor placement/routing in accordance with the delay information stored in the cell library.
In this instance, the prior art computes the delay time based solely on the parasitic capacitance between the wiring conductors of the cell without regard to the influence of wiring conductors that might be routed across the cell surface afterward.
Accordingly, when the wiring conductors extending across the cell surface (which wiring will hereinafter be referred to as cell-top wiring conductors) are present after the conductor placement/routing, the actual delay time becomes longer than the delay time stored in the cell library due to parasitic capacitances between the cell-top wiring conductors and the wiring conductors in the cell (which wiring will hereinafter be referred to as intra-cell wiring conductors); that is, the prior art has a defect that the delay computation based on the prestored library data underestimates the delay time.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a semiconductor circuit extraction apparatus, an autoplacement/routing apparatus, their methods and a library distribution system that permit accurate computation of the delay time as data for placement/routing in accordance with parasitic capacitances between the cell-top wiring conductors and the intra-cell wiring conductors.
The semiconductor circuit extraction apparatus according to an aspect of the present invention comprises: means for detecting the uppermost wiring layer of the cell; and means for virtually routing a wiring conductor on every wiring track of a cell-top wiring layer directly overlying the uppermost wiring layer of the cell and for extracting parasitic capacitances of the virtually routed wiring conductors as well as all the internal wiring conductors of the cell.
According to another aspect of the invention, the parasitic capacitance extracting means forms or generates a wiring conductor of the minimum line width defined by design rules on each of wiring tracks spaced apart a distance defined by the autoplacement/routing apparatus in the cell-top wiring layer directly overlying the uppermost wiring layer of the cell.
According to another aspect of the invention, the capacitance extracting means provides, as library data, delay information derived using the extracted parasitic capacitances.
The autoplacement/routing apparatus according to another aspect of the present invention comprises placement means, global routing means, detailed routing means and additional routing means. The placement means, the global routing means and the detailed routing means are driven in this order. Subsequent to detailed routing by the detailed routing means, the additional routing means inputs information about the uppermost wiring layer of the cell and performs additional wiring conductor routing on blank tracks in a virtual cell-top wiring layer.
According to another aspect of the invention, the autoplacement/routing apparatus obtains the information about the uppermost wiring layer of the cell from the uppermost wiring layer detecting means of the semiconductor circuit extraction apparatus.
According to another aspect of the invention, the additional routing means retrieves wiring tracks in the cell-top wiring layer directly overlying the uppermost wiring layer based on the information about the uppermost wiring layer, then stores wiring grids with no wiring element, and forms or generates wiring conductors connecting the stored wiring grids.
The autoplacement/routing method according to another aspect of the present invention comprises the steps of: registering in a cell library, as cell data, information indicating the virtually routed cell-top wiring layer directly overlying the uppermost wiring layer of the cell, together with delay information derived using extracted parasitic capacitances of all the wiring conductors including those virtually routed wiring conductors of the cell-top wiring layer; offering the cell library with the registered data; and reading out the registered information from the cell library and inputting it to the autoplacement/routing apparatus.
According to another aspect of the invention, the autoplacement/routing apparatus further comprises an additional routing step of routing additional wiring conductors on blank tracks in the virtually routed cell-top wiring layer directly overlying the uppermost wiring layer of the cell after detailed routing.
The semiconductor circuit extraction method according to another aspect of the invention comprises the steps of: virtually routing wiring conductors on all tracks of the cell-top wiring layer directly overlying the uppermost wiring layer of the cell; and extracting the parasitic capacitances of all the wiring conductors including those virtually routed conductors of the cell-top wiring layer.
The library distribution system according to another aspect of the present invention comprises: means for registering in a cell library, as cell data, information indicating the virtually routed cell-top wiring layer directly overlying the uppermost wiring layer of the cell, together with delay information derived using extracted parasitic capacitances of all the wiring conductors including those virtually routed wiring conductors of the cell-top wiring layer; means for offering the cell library with the registered data to a customer; and means for reading out the registered information from the cell library and for inputting it to the autoplacement/routing apparatus on the part of the customer.
According to still another aspect of the present invention, the library distribution system further comprises additional routing means for routing additional wiring conductors on blank tracks in the virtually routed cell-top wiring layer directly overlying the uppermost wiring layer of the cell after detailed routing.

Semiconductor circuit extraction apparatus and method


An appliance for use in exercise therapy for rehabilitation of a patient's leg having a tibia which exhibits posterior subluxation, e.g., due to an injured posterior cruciate ligament of the knee, displaces the tibia in the anterior direction to correct for the tibial subluxation while, at the same time, applies a posteriorly directed force to the lower shin against which the leg is to be extended for exercise during the therapy.

Exercise therapy is prescribed for rehabilitating patients who have suffered certain types of physical injuries. Rehabilitative exercise for injured knee ligaments, for instance, is aimed at strengthening the muscles that flex or extend the leg. These are called, respectively, flexion and extension exercises. Flexion exercises work the hamstring muscles generally located in the posterior of the upper leg. On the other hand, extension exercises work the quadracep muscles generally located in the anterior of the upper leg. By exercising the affected knee and strengthening those muscles during rehabilitation, muscle atrophy in the injured limb is reduced or prevented altogether.
Exercising the injured knee during rehabilitation, especially after surgical repair of torn ligaments, preferably is performed under controlled conditions so as not to stress excessively the injured ligaments. Excessively stressing the injured ligaments can impede the healing process or even aggravate the injury.
Various commercially-available, general-purpose resistance machines are useful in providing controlled rehabilitative exercise. Among these is the CYBEX II isokinetic dynamometer made by the Cybex division of Lumex, Inc., N.Y., N.Y. In addition, U.S. Pat. No. 2,855,199 issued Oct. 7, 1958, and entitled EXERCISE DEVICE, and U.S. Pat. No. 3,465,592 issued Sept. 9, 1969, and entitled ISOKINETIC EXERCISE PROCESS AND APPARATUS, disclose other designs for such machines.
Generally, in known exercise machines of this type, the limb to be exercised is placed against a typically padded contact element that is drivingly connected to the resistance machine. Usually the extremity of the limb, e.g., the ankle, bears against the contact element. The contact element can take the form, for example, of an appliance that is removably worn by the patient during exercise.
For leg extension exercises, a seated patient wearing such an appliance bends his knee so as to swing his ankle upwardly against a resistance applied thereto through the appliance by the exercise machine. One form of exercise machine, known as an isokinetic dynamometer, enables isokinetic exercise throughout a high percentage of the full range of motion of the limb being exercised. Such machines can be manually set at a selected angular velocity (in degrees/second). The resistance machine then resists the force executed by the user so as to maintain the selected speed.
Various specially designed appliances have been suggested to control the application of force to an injured limb during rehabilitative exercise using such exercise machines. For instance, U.S. Pat. No. 4,407,496 discloses a variation for communicating the machine-generated force to two, spaced locations on the front of the leg being exercised, supposedly for counteracting detrimental shearing forces in the knee. The spaced, communicated forces are both applied in the same direction.
In accordance with that patent, the appliance has two, spaced-apart pads which are strapped on the front of the lower leg, an upper pad positioned just below the knee cap, and a lower pad positioned on the ankle. The pads are inter-connected by an elongate member of variable length. The inter-connecting member also pivotally connects to a resistance arm of the machine. The machine-generated force is communicated through the resistance arm to the appliance, through both pads thereof, and thence to the front of the leg. During extension exercise, the forces applied to the leg by the appliance both act in the same posterior direction to resist muscular force and, as mentioned above, supposedly, to counteract shear forces on the injured knee. The patented device is suggested for use during flexion as well as extension exercises.
Another therapeutic device is proposed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,502,681 to Blomqvist for use in rehabilitation of patients having degenerated tibia-femoral joints. That device supposedly reduces pressure between the femur and tibia during quadracep training by displacing the center of rotation of the resistance arm of the exercise machine anteriorly from the center of rotation of the knee. Consequently, the resistance arm and the patients leg follow two different arcs so as to slightly pull the tibia away from the femur.

Method and apparatus for exercising the knee while correcting for tibial subluxation


A method for producing a weather strip including an extrusion molded extrusion molded portion, an injection molded portion which is formed by a molding device having a plurality of mold members and connects both ends of the extrusion molded portions in a straight line shape, a mounting base portion which is mounted on a circumferential edge of an opening of a body or a circumferential edge of an opening/closing member for opening and closing the opening, and a hollow sealing portion which protrudes from the mounting base portion, and is pressed against an opposite member when the opening/closing member for opening and closing the opening is closed.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a weather strip capable of sealing a gap between an opening of an automobile body or the like, and an opening/closing member for opening and closing the opening, and a production method thereof.
2. Related Art
Conventionally, a weather strip is installed at an edge portion of an opening which is formed in a body (automobile body) of an automobile or the like. The weather strip includes a trim portion of a substantially U-shaped cross section serving as a mounting base portion mounted on a flange portion which is provided along the edge portion of the opening, and a hollow sealing portion protruding from the trim portion and having a hollow portion. When an opening/closing member for opening and closing the opening is closed, a gap between the body and the opening/closing member is sealed by the pressing contact between the hollow sealing portion and the edge portion of the opening/closing member.
Such a kind of weather strip is formed in an annular shape or a further elongated shape by connecting ends of one or more extrusion molded portions, which are formed in an elongated shape by injection molding, side by side. That is, in a state in which the ends of the extrusion molded portions are supported and fixed in a molding device, an injection molded portion is formed between the ands by injection molding, so that the ends are connected to each other to form the weather strip of the annular shape or elongated shape.
In a weather strip having the hollow sealing portion, as described above, it is necessary to dispose a core mold for forming the hollow portion in a cavity of the molding device, at the time of forming the injection molded portion. The core mold includes a core body for forming the hollow portion, and a holding portion protruding outwardly from the core body. The core body is mostly enclosed by an elastic material such as rubber, but after formation of the injection molded portion, it is necessary to withdraw the core body from the hollow sealing portion of a molding product.
For this reason, the related art necessitates that the hollow sealing portion in the vicinity of the end of the extrusion molded portion be provided with an opening, through which the core body is withdrawn, that is, "core withdrawing hole" (for example, refer to JP-UM-A-59-169929). In such a configuration, a process of forming the core withdrawing hole is required before the injection molded portion is formed. In addition, the core body is disposed via the core withdrawing hole therebetween, and then the other end of the hollow sealing portion of the extrusion molded portion is to be inserted into a front end of the core body. Therefore, there may be a problem in that if the front end of the core body is formed in a taper shape in view of ease of insertion, an insertion margin and a width of the injection molded portion are widened thereby lowering the productivity or increasing the cost.
In contrast, a technique or the like, in which the ends of the extrusion molded portions face each other across a sheet material serving as an adhering member, and are bonded to each other by thermal processing, is proposed (for example, refer to JP-A-2000-263649). Such a configuration can reduce the width dimension of a connecting portion, but since the hollow portion is clogged in the connecting portion, a load may be locally increased in the vicinity of the connecting portion when the opening/closing member is closed. In addition, it is necessary to accurately perform the length adjustment of the extrusion molded portion or the positioning of the end in accordance with the thickness of the sheet material. Further, since a groove of the trim portion or the like is clogged, a process of cutting the sheet material after the bonding process is inevitable. Therefore, a problem such as a decrease in productivity or an increase in cost may occur. In addition, a stepped portion is likely to form between the extrusion molded portion and the connecting portion, and there is a fear of a reduction of sealing capability.
As a technique capable of suppressing the decrease in productivity or the increase in cost as compared with the related arts, a technique of providing a core withdrawing hole in a region of the injection molded portion is also disclosed (for example, JP-A-7-164978).
However, in the weather strip disclosed in JP-A-7-164978, since the width (connecting width) of the injection molded portion in the longitudinal direction of the weather strip is relatively long, and the opening, which is used as an air discharging hole, as well as the core withdrawing hole, formed in the injection molded portion has a relatively large opening area, there is a concern that it may look unattractive, and the quality of the appearance is deteriorated.
In addition, since the large opening is formed in the injection molded portion, there is a concern that a load difference may be increased between the injection molded portion and the extrusion molded portion in the vicinity of the injection molded portion when the opening/closing member is closed, the sealing capability is deteriorated.
Further, in order to prevent the load difference from being increased, the weather strip disclosed in JP-A-7-164978 is provided with a support lip for supporting the hollow sealing portion and closing the opening when the opening/closing member is closed. If such a support lip is provided, it may be difficult to carry out the core withdrawing operation.
In a case where the hollow sealing portion exists at a lateral surface of the trim portion, as the present invention, and a portion of the hollow sealing portion forms a sidewall of the trim portion, a portion of the core body which is provided in the hollow sealing portion forms the sidewall of the trim portion, and the trim portion is formed to have a thickness sufficient to maintain the shape thereof. Therefore, since the working of withdrawing the core body depends only on the deformation of the sealing wall side of the hollow sealing portion, it is difficult to carry out the core withdrawing operation.

Weather strip and production method thereof


Methods for preparing a wellbore casing for stimulation operations comprise the steps of cementing a wellbore casing in a wellbore, the wellbore casing having a downhole tool comprising a valve and an apparatus for restricting fluid flow through the valve, such as a ball seat, disposed above the valve. Actuation of the valve opens the valve to establish fluid communication between the wellbore casing and the formation. A plug element is disposed on a seat of the ball seat and a casing pressure test is performed. The plug element then dissolves or disintegrates over time increasing fluid communication between the wellbore casing and the formation, thereby preparing the wellbore casing for stimulation operations without additional wellbore intervention after the casing pressure test. In certain embodiments, during or after dissolution of the plug element, clean-out of the bore of the valve is performed by the plug element.

1. Field of Invention
The present invention is directed to methods of preparing a cased wellbore for stimulation operations and, in particular, to interventionless methods for preparing the cased wellbore for stimulation operations using pressure actuated sleeves and apparatuses for temporarily restricting fluid flow through the wellbore casing to prepare the wellbore casing for stimulation operations as opposed to using additional wellbore intervention methods such as tubing conveyed perforation.
2. Description of Art
Ball seats are generally known in the art. For example, typical ball seats have a bore or passageway that is restricted by a seat. The ball or plug element is disposed on the seat, preventing or restricting fluid from flowing through the bore of the ball seat and, thus, isolating the tubing or conduit section in which the ball seat is disposed. As force is applied to the ball or plug element, the conduit can be pressurized for tubing testing or tool actuation or manipulation, such as in setting a packer. Ball seats are used in cased hole completions, liner hangers, flow diverters, fracturing systems, acid-stimulation systems, and flow control equipment and other systems.
Although the terms "ball seat" and "ball" are used herein, it is to be understood that a drop plug or other shaped plugging device or element may be used with the "ball seats" disclosed and discussed herein. For simplicity it is to be understood that the terms "ball" and "plug element" include and encompass all shapes and sizes of plugs, balls, darts, or drop plugs unless the specific shape or design of the "ball" is expressly discussed.
Stimulating, which as used herein includes fracturing or "fracing," a wellbore using stimulation systems or tools also are known in the art. In general, stimulating systems or tools are used in oil and gas wells for completing and increasing the production rate from the well. In deviated wellbores, particularly those having longer lengths, fluid, such as acid or fracturing fluids, can be expected to be introduced into the linear, or horizontal, end portion of the well to stimulate the production zone to open up production fissures and pores therethrough. For example, hydraulic fracturing is a method of using pump rate and hydraulic pressure created by fracturing fluids to fracture or crack a subterranean formation, or the wellbore environment.
Prior to stimulating a wellbore, a stimulation tool is cemented into the wellbore. Thereafter, a pressure test of the wellbore casing containing the stimulation tool is performed. To perform this step, the pathway through the stimulation tool must be closed off. After the casing test establishes the integrity of the wellbore casing, fluid communication of the pathway through the stimulation tool is reestablished so that the stimulation fluid can be pumped down through the stimulation tool and into the formation. Currently, the steps involved in reestablishing fluid flow through the stimulation tool require additional wellbore intervention such as by using tubing conveyed perforation.

Wiper plug elements and methods of stimulating a wellbore environment