An improved optical information recording and reproducing apparatus which is capable of detecting recording errors simultaneously with recording function for reduction of recording time, without requiring particular high accuracy for an optical system, and avoiding complication in the construction and consequent large size of the optical system.

The present invention generally relates to a recording and reproducing arrangement, and more particularly, to an optical information recording and reproducing apparatus such as a magneto-optical disc apparatus or the like for recording and reproducing signals with respect to a magneto-optical recording medium through utilization of magneto-optical effect.
Conventional optical information recording and reproducing apparatus of the type referred to above, are shown in FIG. 3, so that light emitted from a semi-conductor laser source 21 is incident upon a beam splitter 24 through a collimating lens 22 and a shaping prism 23, with nearly linearly polarized light perpendicular to an optical axis and parallel to the paper surface, being transmitted through the beam splitter 24. Light transmitted through the beam splitter 24 is incident upon an objective lens 26 through a mirror 25, and projected onto a disc 27 for the magneto-optical recording medium as a focused spot by said objective lens 26 so as to effect the recording function. During the reproducing function, light projected onto the disc 27 is subjected to the magneto-optical effect and proceeds through the objective lens 26 and the mirror 25 towards the beam splitter 24 in the form of reflected light so as to be reflected by said beam splitter 24. The reflected light is incident upon a polarizing beam splitter 29 through a 1/2 wavelength plate 28 and divided in two directions incident upon photo-detectors 30 and 31. The light rays thus incident upon the photo-detectors 30 and 31 and corresponding to the magnetizing direction of the disc 27 shown in FIG. 4(a). The light rays are converted into information signals S.sub.1 and S.sub.2 (electrical signals) as shown in FIGS. 4(b), and 4(c) so as to be applied to a differential amplifier 32. Thus, the signals are taken out as an information signal S.sub.D amplified two times, with the noise component of the same phase being cancelled as shown in FIG. 4(d), and the reproduction of the recorded information is to be effected by reproducing the information signal S.sub.D.
For detecting any recording error during the recording function in the conventional optical information recording and reproducing apparatus as described above, there have been known a practice for detection by effecting the reproducing function as referred to above, and another practice for detection which employs two light fluxes, one for recording and the other for reproduction following the light flux for the recording.
However, in the former practice as described above, the time for detecting the erroneous recording is approximately equal to that for recording. More specifically and for example, where the magneto-optical recording medium is in the form of a disc, the time required for the detection of the recording errors is equivalent to one rotation of the disc, thereby extremely obstructing recording at higher speeds in a shorter period of time.
In contrast, the latter practice requires a highly accurate optical system since the two light fluxes are adapted to be focused on the magneto-optical recording medium. Moreover, different driving circuits are respectively necessary for driving the two light sources, thus inviting such problems as complication in construction and consequent large size of the apparatus.

Optical information recording and reproducing apparatus


A method of induction soldering an inner conductor of a coaxial cable to an inner contact of a right angle coaxial connector includes: (a) providing a coaxial connector, the coaxial connector including an outer conductor body and an inner contact, the inner contact defining a mating axis, the inner contact further comprising a blind hole with an open end; (b) providing a coaxial cable, the coaxial cable including an inner conductor, a dielectric circumferentially surrounding the inner conductor, and an outer conductor circumferentially surrounding the dielectric; (c) inserting the coaxial cable into the coaxial connector such that an end of the inner conductor is positioned in the blind hole of the inner contact and perpendicular to the mating axis; and (d) heating the blind hole of the inner conductor to melt solder present in the blind hole to form a solder joint between the inner conductor and the inner contact.

Coaxial cables are commonly utilized in RF communications systems. A typical coaxial cable includes an inner conductor, an outer conductor, a dielectric that separates the inner and outer conductors, and a jacket that covers the outer conductor. Coaxial cable connectors may be applied to the terminal of the coaxial cables, for example, in communication systems requiring a high level of precision and reliability.
Coaxial cable connector is a functional device that provides functionality ensuring communication connection/disconnection between the device and cable to which it is connected and another cable. One end of its interface is used to (a) connect the cable required to be connected, while the opposing end is used to (b) mount the connector on the device or on another cable. Typically, a connector will include an inner conductor, an outer conductor body, and a mechanism ensuring electric coupling of the connector, such as a threaded coupling nut.
Although many coaxial connectors are "in line" with the cable to which they are attached (i.e., the conductors of the cable are generally parallel with the inner contact part of the connector and, therefore, with the mating direction of the connector), "right angle" coaxial connectors exist in which the inner contact part of the connector is generally perpendicular to the conductors of the cable. Exemplary right angle connectors are discussed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,860,761; 7,458,850; 8,182,285; and 8,628,352, the disclosures of which are hereby incorporated herein in their entireties.
Passive Intermodulation Distortion (PIM) is a form of electrical interference/signal transmission degradation that may occur with less than symmetrical interconnections and/or as electro-mechanical interconnections shift or degrade over time. Interconnections may shift due to mechanical stress, vibration, thermal cycling, and/or material degradation. PIM can be an important interconnection quality characteristic, as PIM generated by a single low quality interconnection may degrade the electrical performance of an entire Radio Frequency system. Thus, the reduction of PIM via connector design is typically desirable.
It is desirable to provide techniques for connecting connectors to cable conductors with low PIM and relatively low manufacturing cost.

Right angle coaxial cable and connector assembly and method of forming same


An efficient approach to generating the bias resulting during the joint equalization/decoding of a Complementary-Code-Keying (CCK) based system is provided that includes a bias generator system having a plurality of inputs responsive only to feedback filter coefficients, the bias generator generating, based upon said feedback filter coefficients, a plurality of output signals corresponding to the bias of a Fast Walsh Transform system for cancelling the bias.

In wireless systems, the transmitted signal may undergo severe, distortion due to signal dispersion which can be frequency selective. Signal dispersion can occur, for example, when a transmitted wireless signal bounces off the walls in which a cell phone user is located. The received signal will then include signal components from the multiple paths of transmission.
Equalization is a technique generally used to combat frequency-selective fading, a type of distortion that manifests itself as inter-symbol interference (ISI). The distortion caused by ISI falls into two different categories: inter-codeword interference and intra-codeword interference. Inter-codeword interference is the distortion caused on a transmitted codeword due to the presence of other codewords in the transmission stream. Intra-codeword interference is the distortion caused on a transmitted codeword even when no codewords are transmitted prior to or after the codeword. ISI can further be categorized as pre-cursor, cursor and post-cursor ISI which relate to the differing paths of a received wireless signal.
To remove ISI, various equalization techniques are known that have differing complexities and performance. One type of equalizer is decision-feedback equalizer (DFE), which has the appeal of low complexity and good performance. The DFE typically includes a feed-forward filter that suppresses precursor ISI and a feedback filter that suppresses post-cursor ISI. One disadvantage of a DFE is that it requires delay-free decision feedback necessary to operate the DFE. The input to the feedback filter requires a delay-free decision on individual input symbols of the decision device and is thus not very reliable.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,233,273 discloses an equalizer that attempts to eliminate the requirement of delay-free feedback at the input to the feedback filter of the DFE. One approach disclosed in the '273 patent is to use multiple feedback paths upstream of the correlator: one feedback path corresponding to each possible codeword, in which each of the codewords is input into its own feedback path. To determine the actual transmitted codeword, a correlation is performed on each of the multiple DFE outputs with respect to the corresponding codeword and the output that has the highest correlation is chosen. The equalizer of the '273 patent, however, has considerable complexity due to its multiple feedback paths and corresponding multipath correlations that need to be performed to determine the actually transmitted codeword.
Another approach of the '273 patent is to use multiple feedback paths downstream of a codeword correlator. A Fast Walsh Transform system is implemented as a codeword correlator for the received signal. Typically, however, the output signals of the Fast Walsh Transform system include an undesired bias when only partial equalization has been performed upstream of the Fast Walsh Transform. The '273 patent discloses an attempt to remove this bias by sending the outputs of the Fast Walsh Transform system to an expander which expands the number of outputs such that each of the outputs can have subtracted from it one of a plurality of correlated signals, one for each possible codeword. A peak detector then determines which of these outputs is the actual transmitted signal. As with the upstream correlation method described above, this method also has considerable complexity due to the multiple feedback paths and the corresponding multipath correlation that needs to be performed for each of the possible codewords.

Efficient joint equalization/decoding method and apparatus for Complementary-Code-Keying based systems


Body mounted support apparatuses are provided. In an illustrative embodiment, a shoulder harness is coupled to a belly plate, with a hinge provided on the belly plate. The hinge may allow motion about at least a first axis. An elongate member, such as a monopod, is provided having a first end and a second end. The elongate member may have an adjustable length. The first end of the elongate member is attached to the hinge, while the second end of the elongate member is adapted to receive one of several devices. Certain of the devices which may be received are adapted for holding a camera, such as a tilt head or a gimbal head. In further embodiments, the hinge allows motion about a second axis and/or allows rotational movement about the axis of the elongate member.

The present invention is related to the field of photography. More specifically, the present invention is related to devices and methods for stabilizing and supporting a camera.
A number of devices for supporting a camera while taking a picture or capturing video have been developed. Tripods provide a stable support and can stand by themselves, however, tripods typically take time to set up properly and are difficult to move quickly and set up in a new location. Monopods do not stand by themselves, but allow for use in uneven terrain and are relatively easy to move about.
Additional devices enable better mobility by providing a wearable camera support. For example, steady-camera devices allow a cameraperson to walk while capturing video with reduced image shakiness. However, most such devices are relatively expensive and heavy and are not well suited to uses outside of professional filmmaking.
Several devices have been suggested for supporting a camera by providing an apparatus which attaches to the upper torso of a photographer. Some examples include U.S. Pat. No. 4,526,308 to Dovey, U.S. Pat. No. 2,636,822 to Anderson, U.S. Pat. No. 3,332,593 to Fauser, U.S. Pat. No. 3,882,524 to Rauscher, and U.S. Pat. No. 6,336,576 to Easter. These devices, however, allow for limited movement of the camera and constrain the movement of the photographer.
The present invention includes camera support devices which help a photographer to keep a camera steady during use without overly restricting the movement of either the photographer or the camera. In a first embodiment, the present invention includes a camera support device including a shoulder harness which is attached to an extendible member which in turn connects to a belly plate. The belly plate is attached to a hinge which in turn attaches to a monopod. The hinge may include a mechanism allowing for movement about a significant range around a first axis extending forward out of the belly plate. In some embodiments, the range of movement may be an entire 360-degree range of motion, while in other embodiments, stops may be provided to limit the range of motion about the axis.
The hinge may also allow for freedom of movement of the monopod about a second axis. The second axis may allow the monopod to be moved forward and/or backward with respect to the front of the belly plate. In one embodiment, the second axis allows movement in about a 180-degree range of motion, while in other embodiments, the hinge may include stopping mechanisms or the like to limit the range of movement in the second axis to 90 degrees or less. In several embodiments, the hinge includes a mechanism for holding the monopod in position with respect to one or both axes. In one such embodiment, a screw may be tightened to selectively prevent the monopod from moving. In other embodiments, a clip, belt, hook or other device may be used.
In some embodiments, the hinge is provided using a ball head or ball and socket hinge. In one such embodiment, the monopod may be prevented from moving by tightening a screw, which in turn tightens the socket around the ball, locking the hinge in place. In other embodiments, the hinge may include other hinging or rotatable mechanisms, such as a compound hinge including a first hinge defined along the first axis and a second hinge defined along the second axis. In some embodiments, the hinge allows for motion with respect to both axes at the same time.
Attached to the hinge is the first end of a monopod. In several embodiments monopod may be a relatively rigid, extendible member. In some embodiments, rather than a monopod, any elongate member may be attached at a first end to the hinge, where the second end of the elongate member is adapted to receive some other device. The monopod may be an extendable/retractable piece having a length which may be selectively varied by a user of the device. The monopod may include a mechanism for allowing rotation of the monopod along its longitudinal axis. The second end of the monopod may be adapted to receive a gimbal head, a tilt head, or other camera holding apparatus. Additional embodiments are adapted for use with non-camera accessories.
In another embodiment, a device for supporting a camera comprises securing means for securing the device to the torso of a user, hinging means coupled to the securing means for providing a hinge location, the hinging means providing hinging action along more than one axis, and an elongate member having a first end and a second end, wherein the first end is coupled to the hinging means. The device may further comprise locking means for locking the elongate member into place. The second end, in some embodiments, may include a receiver for an additional device. In some embodiments, the additional device is a camera holding apparatus.


A method for the dynamic diagnosis of an exhaust gas analyzer probe situated in an exhaust-gas system having at least one exhaust-gas catalytic converter, of an internal combustion engine, a measuring signal (lambda-actual) of the exhaust gas analyzer probe being compared to a setpoint value (lambda-setpoint) as a function of the operating state of the internal combustion engine, and the system deviation being supplied to a controller, which regulates the operating parameters of the internal combustion engine correspondingly, the dynamic diagnosis of the exhaust gas analyzer probe being implemented with a closed control loop, and the deviation from the setpoint value (lambda-setpoint) of the measuring signal (lambda-actual) of a slowing exhaust gas analyzer probe being amplified by the intervention of the controller and the dynamic diagnosis is implemented on the basis of this amplified deviation. The method allows a reliable diagnosis of the dynamic response of the exhaust gas analyzer probe with excellent differentiation with respect to stochastically occurring fault signals.

The ageing of such an exhaust gas analyzer probe leads to a longer response time with respect to changes in the exhaust-gas composition, i.e., in the dynamic response of the exhaust gas analyzer probe. However, a rapid reaction of the entire control loop, and thus also of the exhaust gas analyzer probe, to changes in the exhaust-gas composition is a prerequisite for operating the internal combustion engine in a manner that complies with the legal requirements governing the emission of pollutants. The dynamic diagnosis of an exhaust gas analyzer probe thus constitutes a central diagnosis function.
German Patent Application No. DE 197 22 224 describes a method for diagnosing an exhaust gas analyzer probe, which is situated in the exhaust gas of an internal combustion engine behind a catalytic converter and which is sensitive with respect to at least one exhaust-gas component. The rate of change at which the signal of said exhaust gas analyzer probe responds to changes in the concentration of the at least one exhaust-gas component is used as evaluation criterion. The ageing state of the exhaust gas analyzer probe is evaluated via, for instance, the gradient of the probe signal following the beginning of an overrun phase with fuel cutoff.
In another known method, the deviation in a high-frequency excitation of the exhaust-gas analyzer probe for reaching the end amplitude of the measuring signal is evaluated.
Both methods provide stable information only when the control loop of the exhaust gas analyzer probe has no significant effect on the gradient or the amplitude of the measuring signal of the exhaust gas analyzer probe. However, in reality both methods supply a fuzzy result because of the controller reaction and the stochastics due to the evaluation of a single signal. This may not only have the result that an aged exhaust gas analyzer probe is not detected in time but also that a still intact exhaust gas analyzer probe is deemed faulty and is exchanged.
It is an objective of the present invention to provide a method of the type mentioned above, which allows a reliable diagnosis of the dynamic response of an exhaust gas analyzer probe.

Method for dynamic diagnosis of an exhaust gas analyzer probe


In accordance with an example embodiment of the present invention, there is provided apparatus, including: at least one processor; and at least one memory including executable instructions, the at least one memory and the executable instructions being configured to, in cooperation with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to perform at least the following: receiving an application revocation request; confirming whether initiating an application revocation process is allowed; generating application revocation data once initiating the application revocation process has been allowed; storing the generated application revocation data to a reputation service network; and provide one or more revocation clients the generated application revocation data from the reputation service network in order to enable the one or more revocation clients revoking the application.

This section provides context to the invention recited in the claims. This description of background art may include insights, discoveries, understandings or disclosures, or associations together with disclosures that are introduced to the relevant field by the present invention. Some of such contributions of the invention may be specifically pointed out below, whereas other such contributions of the invention are apparent from their context.
Offering various applications to mobile users has recently become popular. For example, it is increasingly common to use network operator portals to find free mobile games and other applications. Mobile network operators are also involved in an ongoing effort to develop their own application stores for their subscribers. Application developers can propose and publish applications on these stores and may be rewarded with a revenue sharing of the selling prices.
There are also security issues related to offering of these applications. In the mobile market, mobile operators are more likely to accept new devices into their portfolio, which can include different application stores, if they or device manufacturers have an option to revoke an application if, for example, it causes problems to the network.


A meter assembly includes an meter, a meter collar, and a modular antenna assembly. The meter includes a meter antenna housed within the meter. The meter collar is coupled to the meter and includes a collar connector electrically coupled to the meter antenna through a coaxial cable. The modular antenna assembly includes a modular antenna and a modular antenna connector. In some cases, the modular antenna assembly is detachably mounted to the meter collar, and the modular antenna connector is configured to detachably connect with the collar connector such that the modular antenna is electrically coupled with the meter antenna. In various examples, a gain of the modular antenna is higher than a gain of the meter antenna.

Meter assemblies measure an amount of a resource (e.g., electricity, gas, etc.) consumed by a customer. Meter assemblies may be utilized in urban, suburban, and rural areas, and are often installed in residential settings, although they may be found in commercial or other settings as well. Meter assemblies commonly include a meter that is completely enclosed by a meter cover. Among other components included with the meter (e.g., processing boards, power sources, etc.), the meter typically includes an antenna that is retained inside the meter and within the meter cover. Through the antenna, the meter can communicate with other nodes in a communication network to convey and receive various information. Due to design and positioning within the meter, such antennae have limited or minimal gain for communicating with other nodes and the ability to develop a robust antenna within the meter is limited due to size restrictions within the meter. In urban and suburban areas, infrastructure exists to overcome such limitations (i.e., there are typically a number of nodes within a close proximity such that gain of the antenna is not an issue). However, in rural settings wherein fewer nodes exist, the limited communication capabilities of the antennae adversely affect the capabilities and effectiveness of the meters.

Changeable external meter antenna for meter assemblies


A voltage multiplier circuit of the present invention includes a first power supply line, an oscillator circuit connected to the first power supply line, a serial circuit composed of an inverter for receiving the output of the oscillator circuit, the first capacitor for receiving the output of the inverter and the first and the second diodes, an output circuit and a second capacitor both connected to the output of the serial circuit, a third capacitor connected between the input terminal of the inverter, and the connection point of the first and the second diodes, a first Zener diode connected between the connection point of the first capacitor and the first diode, and the second power supply, a second Zener diode connected between the second power supply line, and the connection point of the first and the second diode, a third Zener diode connected between the first and the second power supply lines, and a fourth Zener diode connected between the second power supply line and the third power supply line connected to the output circuit.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a voltage multiplier circuit and, more particularly, to a voltage multiplier circuit built in a semiconductor integrated circuit for a motor driver circuit of a floppy disk drive (FDD) or hard disk drive (HDD) comprising an H-bridge circuit composed of four N-channel field effect transistors as an output stage and further utilizing the separate power supplies for control and for the output stage.
2. Description of the Related Art
An example of the aforementioned semiconductor device for a motor driver circuit is disclosed in an article entitled "SMARTPOWER MOTOR DRIVER FOR LOW VOLTAGE APPLICATIONS", by D. Cave et al., IEEE 1987 CUSTOM INTEGRATED CIRCUITS CONFERENCE, pp. 276-279. The voltage multiplier circuit built in semiconductor device in prior art is composed of a combination of diodes, capacitors and an oscillator, as is shown in FIG. 1. Referring to FIG. 1, the output of an oscillator circuit 10 driven by a power supply line 9 is applied through a serial circuit composed of an inverter 3 and diodes 7, 8 and 18 to the gate of an N-channel transistor (not shown) in an output circuit 12 and also to one of the electrodes of a capacitor 6, the other electrode of which is grounded. By connecting a capacitor 4 between input of the inverter 3 and the connection point (a) of the diodes 7 and 8, and also a capacitor 5 between output of the inverter 3 and the connection point (b) of the diodes 8 and 18, the multiplied voltage is obtained at the connection point (c) of the diode 18 and the capacitor 6.
An example of the oscillator circuit 10 in FIG. 1 is shown in FIG. 2(a), where the inverters 19, 20 and 21 are connected in series, and moreover a resistor 23 is connected between input and output of the inverter 19, and a capacitor 22 is connected between input of the inverter 19 and output of the inverter 20.
Now, the operation of the circuit shown in FIG. 1 will be explained. Referring again to FIG. 1, a rectangular wave shown in FIG. 2(b) is generated by the oscillator 10 and is phase-inverted by the inverter 3. The diodes 7, 8 and 18 prevent the inverse flow of electric current. Initially, the voltage at the connection point (a) between diodes 7 and 8 becomes equal to voltage of the power supply line 9 (normally 5 volts), so that the capacitors 4 and 5 are pre-charged to 5 volts. When the output of the oscillator 10 becomes 5 volts, the voltage at point (a) is raised to 10 volts. Consequently, the voltage at point (b) also becomes 10 volts. According to the same principle, when the output of the inverter 3 becomes 5 volts, the voltage at point (b) is raised to 15 volts, that is, the voltage at point (c) becomes 15 volts.
The defects of the circuit of prior art mentioned above is that the time taken to build up the voltage at point (c) is long, because the charging of the capacitor 6 begins after the oscillator starts to operate and that the gate electrode of the output MOS transistor may be broken due to the spike noise generated at the signal switching instant, because the voltage three times as high as power supply voltage is applied to it.


An example system includes a rectifying component to convert an alternating current (AC) signal into a direct current (DC) signal. The system also includes a filtering component. The filtering component determines that a plurality of AC cycle drops have occurred and will deactivate the AC signal in response to that determination. Furthermore, the system includes an isolating component. The isolating component consumes greater than a threshold level of power in one state and less than a threshold level of power in another state. The isolating component is operating in the state that consumes greater than a threshold level of power when the signal that indicates the AC voltage is at a level in which it may allow the device to operate safely and properly is deactivated.

Mains electricity may refer to a general-purpose alternating current (AC) electric power supplied from a power station. For example, mains electricity may be a form of electrical power that is delivered to homes and businesses. Some devices may try to draw power from a power supply even when there is insufficient power to power the device. Circuits that signal whether the AC power is sufficient to safely power the device allow devices to avoid this situation. These circuits increase their usefulness when the power required to power them decreases.

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


A plasma processing apparatus includes a table (22) on which a processing target (W) is to be placed, a processing vessel (11) where the table is to be accommodated, and a power feed unit (40) for supplying a high-frequency electromagnetic field (F) into the processing vessel. The power supply unit includes at least a cylindrical waveguide (41) for introducing the high-frequency electromagnetic field, and a circular polarization antenna (51) arranged at one end of the cylindrical waveguide to supply the high-frequency electromagnetic field as a rotating electromagnetic field rotating in a plane perpendicular to its traveling direction. Accordingly, there is no need of providing a circular polarization converter for converting the high-frequency electromagnetic field in the cylindrical waveguide into the rotating electromagnetic field. Consequently, it is possible to solve problems caused by the circular polarization converter, stabilize the operation of plasma generation by performing circular polarization feeding, and perform a continuous operation for a long period of time.

The present invention relates to a plasma processing apparatus and plasma generation method.
More specifically, the present invention relates to a plasma processing apparatus and plasma generation method which generate a plasma by an electromagnetic field supplied into a processing vessel using a slot antenna.
The present invention also relates to a plasma processing apparatus and plasma generation method which generate a plasma by using electrons heated by electron-cyclotron-resonance (ECR).
In the manufacture of a semiconductor device or flat panel display, plasma processing apparatuses are used often to perform processes such as formation of an oxide film, crystal growth of a semiconductor layer, etching, and ashing. Among the plasma processing apparatuses, a high-frequency plasma processing apparatus is available which supplies a high-frequency electromagnetic field into a processing vessel by using a slot antenna and ionizes and dissociates a gas in the processing vessel by the operation of the electromagnetic field, thus generating a plasma. The high-frequency plasma processing apparatus can perform a plasma process efficiently since it can generate a low-pressure, high-density plasma.
According to one scheme of the high-frequency plasma processing apparatus, circular polarization feeding is performed through a cylindrical waveguide into a waveguide having a slot antenna. A circularly polarized wave is an electromagnetic wave the electric field vector of which forms a rotating electric field that rotates by one revolution in one period in a plane perpendicular to its traveling direction. When circular polarization feeding is performed, the distribution of the electric field in the waveguide having the slot antenna becomes axi-symmetric about the axis of the traveling direction of the circular polarization on the time average. Hence, a high-frequency electromagnetic field with an axi-symmetric distribution on the time average can be supplied into the processing vessel through the slot antenna, so that a uniform plasma can be generated by the operation of the electromagnetic field.
FIG. 15 shows the conventional arrangement of the power feed unit of a plasma processing apparatus which employs the circular polarization feeding scheme. The power feed unit feeds a circularly polarized wave to a radial line slot antenna (to be abbreviated as RLSA hereinafter) 530 as one type of a slot antenna, and has a high-frequency generator 543 which generates a high-frequency electromagnetic field, a rectangular waveguide 542 with one end connected to the high-frequency generator 543, a rectangular cylindrical converter 592 with one end connected to the other end of the rectangular waveguide 542, a cylindrical waveguide 541 with one end connected to the other end of the rectangular cylindrical converter 592 and the other end that opens to the interior of the RLSA 530, and a circular polarization converter 591 arranged in the cylindrical waveguide 541.
As the circular polarization converter 591, one as shown in FIG. 16A is used which is formed by arranging one or a plurality of pairs of cylindrical metal stubs 591A and 591B on the inner wall of the cylindrical waveguide 541 to oppose each other. The stubs 591A and 591B which form a pair are arranged in directions that form angles of 45° with the main direction of the electric field of the TE11-mode high-frequency electromagnetic field input from the rectangular cylindrical converter 592. When a plurality of pairs of stubs 591A and 591B are provided, they are arranged at an angular interval of λg/4 (where λg is the tube wavelength of the cylindrical waveguide 541) in the axial direction of the cylindrical waveguide 541, and convert the TE11-mode high-frequency electromagnetic field into a rotating electromagnetic field the main direction of the electric field of which rotates about the axis of the cylindrical waveguide 541 as the center.
As the circular polarization converter 591, one as shown in FIG. 16B is used in which one or a plurality of dielectric rods 591C are arranged perpendicularly to the axis of the cylindrical waveguide 541. The dielectric rod 591C is also arranged in the same direction as the main direction of the electric field of the TE11-mode high-frequency electromagnetic field input from the rectangular cylindrical converter 592 and at the same angular interval as that of the stubs 591A and 591B in the axial direction of the cylindrical waveguide 541, and converts the TE11-mode high-frequency electromagnetic field into a rotating electromagnetic field.
When large power is supplied, in the circular polarization converter 591 which uses the metal stubs 591A and 591B shown in FIG. 16A, the electric field focuses on the distal ends of the stubs 591A and 591B. Then, abnormal discharge tends to occur, and the operation of the plasma processing apparatus after discharge does not stabilize.
In the circular polarization converter 591 which uses the dielectric rod 591C shown in FIG. 16B, as the circular polarization converter 591 tends to be broken by heat generated by the dielectric rod 591C, it cannot withstand a continuous operation for a long period of time.
These problems occur when the circular polarization converter 591 is arranged in the cylindrical waveguide 541. Accordingly, these problem similarly occur in not only the high-frequency plasma processing apparatus described above but also an ECR plasma processing apparatus which feeds circular polarization into a processing vessel.

Plasma treatment apparatus and plasma generation method


The disclosed invention teaches processes to amplify oligonucleotides by contacting templates and primers with DNA polymerases and triphosphates of non-standard nucleotides, which form nucleobase pairs fitting the standard Watson-Crick geometry, but joined by hydrogen bonding patterns different from those that join standard A:T and G:C pairs. Thus, this invention relates to nucleotide analogs and their derivatives that, when incorporated into DNA and RNA, expand the number of replicatable nucleotides beyond the four found in standard DNA and RNA. The invention further relates to polymerases that incorporate those non-standard nucleotide analogs into oligonucleotide products using the corresponding triphosphate derivatives, and more specifically, polymerases and non-standard nucleoside triphosphates that support the polymerase chain reaction (PCR), including PCR where the products contain more than one non-standard nucleotide unit.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to processes that copy oligonucleotides in a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) where these oligonucleotides incorporate nucleotide analogs ("non-standard nucleotides") that form base pairs joined by hydrogen bonding patterns not found in standard nucleotides A, T, G and C. The invention relates more specifically to processes that amplify oligonucleotides holding more than one non-standard nucleotides, including non-standard nucleotides at adjacent positions in the oligonucleotides chain, and amplification in a nested PCR format.
2. Description of Related Art
Natural oligonucleotides bind to complementary oligonucleotides according to well-known rules of nucleobase pairing first elaborated by Watson and Crick, where adenine (A) pairs with thymine (T) (or uracil, U, in RNA), and guanine (G) pairs with cytosine (C), with anti-parallel complementary strands. In this disclosure, "DNA", "oligonucleotide", or "nucleic acid" is understood to include DNA and RNA, as well as derivatives where the sugar is modified, as in 2′-O-methyl and 2′,3′-dideoxynucleoside derivatives, where the nucleobase has an appendage, and these nucleic acids and their analogs in non-linear topologies, including as dendrimers, comb-structures, and nanostructures, and analogs carrying appendages or tags (e.g., fluorescent, functionalized, or binding, such as biotin). Further, "polymerase" in this application is meant to include DNA polymerases of all families, RNA polymerases, and reverse transcriptases.
These pairing rules allow specific hybridization of oligonucleotides to complementary oligonucleotides, making oligonucleotides valuable as probes in the laboratory, in diagnostics, as messages that direct the synthesis of proteins, and in other applications known in the art. Such pairing is used, for example and without limitation, to capture oligonucleotides to beads, arrays, and other solid supports, allow nucleic acids to fold in hairpins, beacons, and catalysts, support function, such as fluorescence, quenching, binding/capture, and catalysis, and as part of complex structures, including dendrimers and nanostructures, and scaffolds to guide chemical reactions.
Further, base pairing underlies the enzymatic synthesis of oligonucleotides complementary to a template. Here, assembly of building blocks from nucleoside triphosphates is directed by a template to form a complementary oligonucleotide with a complementary sequence. This is the basis for replication in living systems, and underlies technologies for enzymatic synthesis and amplification of specific nucleic acids by enzymes such as DNA and RNA polymerase, the polymerase chain reaction (PCR), and assays involving synthesis, ligation, cleavage, immobilization and release, inter alia.
Watson-Crick pairing rules can be understood as the product of two rules of complementarity: (1) size complementarity (a big purine pairs with a small pyrimidine) and (2) hydrogen bonding complementarity (hydrogen bond donors pair with hydrogen bond acceptors). However, as noted by U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,432,272, 5,965,364, 6,001,983, 6,037,120, 6,140,496, 6,627,456, and 6,617,106, Watson-Crick geometry can accommodate as many as 12 nucleobases forming 6 mutually exclusive pairs. Of these, four nucleobases forming two pairs are designated "standard", while eight nucleobases forming four pairs were termed "non-standard", and may be part of an "artificially expanded genetic information system" (AEGIS).
To systematize the nomenclature for the hydrogen bonding patterns, the hydrogen bonding pattern implemented on a small component of a nucleobase pair are designated by the prefix "py". Following this prefix is the order, from the major to the minor groove, of hydrogen bond acceptor (A) and donor (D) groups. Thus, both thymine and uracil implement the standard hydrogen bonding pattern pyADA. The standard nucleobase cytosine implements the standard hydrogen bonding pattern pyDAA. Hydrogen bonding patterns implemented on the large component of the nucleobase pair are designated by the prefix "pu". Following the prefix, hydrogen bond donor and acceptor groups are designated, from major to minor groove, by "A" and "D". Thus, the standard nucleobases adenine and guanine implement the standard hydrogen bonding patterns puDA- and puADD respectively.
A central teaching of this disclosure is that hydrogen-bonding patterns are distinct from the organic molecule that implemented them. Thus, guanosine implements the puADD hydrogen-bonding pattern. So does, however, 7-deazaguanosine, 3,7-dideazaguanosine, and many other purines and purine analogs, including those that carry side chains carrying functional groups, such as biotin, fluorescent, and quencher groups. Which organic molecule is chosen to implement a specific hydrogen-bonding pattern determines, in part, the utility of the non-standard hydrogen-bonding pattern, in various applications to which it might be applied.
Claims of U.S. Pat. No. 5,432,272 and its successors covered non-standard bases that implemented the pyDDA hydrogen bonding pattern. Subsequent efforts to use these, however, encountered problems, including epimerization [Voe96a,b], oxidation [Von95], and uncharacterized decomposition. Accordingly, Benner invented a new non-standard nucleoside, 6-amino-5-nitro-3-(1′-beta-D-2′-deoxyribofuranosyl)-2-(1H)-pyridone (dZ) to implement the pyDDA hydrogen bonding pattern. The nitro group rendered the otherwise electron-rich heterocycle stable against both oxidation and epimerization under standard conditions. When paired with a corresponding puAAD nucleotide, duplexes were formed with stabilities that, in many cases, were higher than those observed in comparable strands incorporating the dG:dC nucleobase pair [Yan06]. This invention is covered by U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/372,400, which is incorporated herein by reference. Contents of this patent application have been published [Hut03].
While Z supports binding of oligonucleotides containing it to complementary strands that match a nucleobase implementing the puAAD hydrogen bond pattern, it was not clear that polymerases would accept this unnatural base pair. Polymerases are known to be idiosyncratic [Hor95], meaning that experimentation is necessary to ascertain whether a specific implementation of a non-standard hydrogen bonding scheme can be accepted by a polymerase.
Thus, it was necessary to show by experiment that polymerases could incorporate dZ and dP. This was done for oligonucleotides containing a single dZ or dP [Yan07], which was published less than a year before the priority date of the instant application. However, [Yan07] showed that the dZ and dP are lost in multiple PCR cycles with Taq and Deep Vent (exo−) polymerases, perhaps via a mechanism where deprotonated dZ mispairs with dG (or deprotonated dG pairs with dZ), while protonated dC mispairs with dP (or protonated dP pairs with dC). Thus, this art teaches away from any use of the non-standard dZ:dP nucleobase pair in higher level PCR, defined as PCR that creates amplicons with multiple non-standard nucleotides.

Polymerase incorporation of non-standard nucleotides


A paint sprayer includes a motor-driven multi-stage turbine for compressing air, which subsequently flows through a venturi in a paint gun to draw in paint or some other liquid from a canister. To prevent the high-pressure air from expelling lubricant from the motor's inboard bearing, a pressure responsive annular seal axially deflects and sealingly engages an axial face of the bearing. To avoid subjecting the seal and bearing to excess air pressure and temperature created by the turbine, a bypass bleed line diverts some air to atmosphere when the paint gun is closed.

Many paint sprayers comprise an air compressor that supplies pressurized air to a portable paint gun. High-pressure air discharging from the compressor and flowing through the paint gun draws up liquid paint from a canister, and a nozzle on the spray gun then sprays the mixture of paint and air to a target surface. Although such paint sprayers are effective, there seems to be an ongoing need to improve their quality and longevity.


An infant crib mobile wherein the objects or characters attached to its appendages, or any point on the appendages, can emit active, (twinkling or sequencing) colorful light. This is accomplished by utilizing optic fibers to transmit light from a light source in the mobile's central housing to the objects or characters, or a given location on the appendages. The light is made active and colorful at the output end of the optic fibers by placing a light influencing slide between the light source and the input end of the revolving optic fibers that are routed from the appendages and are grouped together in front of the light source.

1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to items for the infant nursery. More specifically, infant crib mobiles.
2. Description of Related Art
The purpose of the infant crib mobile is to give the newborn infant something pleasant and stimulating to look at and/or listen to while spending its waking hours in the crib.
Crib mobiles are suspended from a hanger that attaches to either the crib bars, railing, headboard, or wall and hangs over the mattress area of the crib. Crib mobiles display amusing, often colorful objects or characters that are suspended from its arms, or appendages, and are the visual focal point for the infant. Examples of these objects or characters are flowers, rainbows, stars, mirrors, animals and clowns. They range in complexity from a simple flat silhouette, to three dimensional shapes and stuffed, soft characters such as bunnies, bears or clowns.
The arms from which these objects or characters are suspended, can be either two independant arms crossing at their center points, or four arms radiating from a center hub. An example of another type of appendage would be a carrousel canopy. The arms or appendages with their objects or characters can remain stationary or revolve slowly when powered by a wind-up motor/music works or small electric D.C. motor.
The overall effect of the above is to pacify and entertain the infant while stimulating its newly developing visual and hearing senses.
The present generation of crib mobiles attain, to a point, the affore mentioned purposes; however, in a darkened nursery at nap or bedtime, the visual element of the mobile is somewhat diminished.
The mobile that addresses the lack of visibility of objects or characters in darkened conditions is the "Disney Starglow Musical Mobile" by Mattel Toy Company. This mobile utilizes a small light located at the crib rail attachment bracket that shines up to illuminate the bottom of the objects as they slowly revolve. While this is a step in the right direction, and illustrates the need to illuminate the objects or characters in the dark, the "Lighted Fiber Optics Mobile" takes the ultimate step by having it's objects or characters EMIT light individually.


A magnetic connection assembly for releasably connecting a ground cord to an electrically conductive body band. Said assembly comprising a first connection member electrically connected to one end of a ground cord and a second connection member electrically connected to a body band. The first and second connection members are at least partially formed of electrically conductive material and are correspondingly sized and configured so as to be relatively positionable in a "coupled" relation, whereby electrical contact is maintained therebetween. At least one magnet is positioned in at least one of the first and second connection members so as to create sufficient magnetic attraction therebetween to hold the first and second connection members in their "coupled" relation without the need for frictional or spring loaded snaps and the like.

The present invention relates generally to electrically conductive body bands (e.g., wrist bands, ankle bands, and the like) used to drain static electricity from the human body. More particularly, this invention pertains to an improved magnetic snap assembly for releasably connecting a grounding cord to an electrically conductive body band.
The routine handling of static-sensitive electronic components is plagued by problems relating to static electricity. Components, such as integrated circuits, for example, are prone to serious damage due to over-voltage or excessive power density resulting from static electricity. Static electrical potentials of as little as 50 vots may seriously damage certain integrated circuits and/or other microelectronic components. This potential for static electricity-induced damage is significant in view of the fact that static electrical potentials of as much as 30,000 volts may be generated by a person moving about on a carpet in a generally dry atmosphere. Also, human beings may triboelectrically generate thousands of volts of static potential by simply changing position in a chair or handling a styrofoam cup.
In order to minimize or avoid static electric-induced damage to electrical components, it is common practice in the electrical component manufacturing industry to attach grounding cords to the workers so as to drain static electricity from the bodies of the workers when they are handling such components. Generally, this is accomplished by placing an electrically conductive body band (e.g. a wrist band, ankle band, or the like) about an anatomical portion of the person's body. Such body band is then connected to a grounding cord so as to effect the desired wicking or drainage of static electricity from the body. The connection between body band and the grounding cord is preferably of an easy-release type so as to allow the worker to easily disconnect himself from the grounding cord when he wishes to ambulate away from the work area.
To date, the connecting means employed for releasably attaching the grounding cord to the body band have consisted of spring loaded and/or frictionally engaged straps. Such snaps generally provide for easily attachable/detachable, electrically conductive interconnections. However, in some instances, the spring-loaded and/or frictionally engaged snaps haVe failed to function reliably, thereby resulting in inefficient or interrupted draining of static electricity from the body of the user. Oftentimes, the failure of the spring-loaded and/or frictionally engaged snaps has been.due to improper fitting and/or incompatible configurations of the male and/or female portions thereof. Such improper fitting or incompatible configurations are likely to occur when the snaps become damaged, bent, worn, or fouled with dirt/foreign objects. Also, unsophisticated users may sometimes attempt to mate a grounding cord from one manufacturer with a body band from another manufacturer, ignoring the fact that the male snap portion on one may be configured quite differently than the female snap portion on the other. The union so such unpaired snap portions may result in ineffective contact and disrupted electrical conductivity therebetween.
Thus, in view of the problems associated with frictional or spring loaded snap connections, there remains a need in the art for an improved connector for releasably connecting a grounding cord to a body band in such manner as to permit rapid and simple disconnection/reconnection while, at the same time, insuring adequate electrical conductivity and consistency to carry out the desired static electricity Wicking function.

Magnetic snap assembly for connecting grounding cord to electrically conductive body band


A liquid crystalline polyester composition contains at least 100 parts by weight of liquid crystalline polyester and 10 to 100 parts by weight of glass fiber, wherein the glass fiber has a weight-average fiber length of 30 to 100 μm, and content of specific glass fiber having fiber length of 300 to 500 μm is 0.1 to 5 percent by weight to a total amount of the glass fiber.

In recent years, with increased demand for high-performance plastics, lots of polymers of various novel properties have been developed and come on the market. Liquid crystalline resins having characteristic parallel arrangement of molecular chains and showing optical anisotropy, such as liquid crystalline polyester, have received particular attention, because of their excellent moldability and mechanical properties, and their applications have been expanded to mechanical components and electric and electronic components. In particular, the liquid crystalline resins are favorably used for electric and electronic components requiring the high flowability, such as connectors.
With downsizing and refining the mechanical components and the electric and electronic components, molded products have ultra-thin wall thickness. Liquid crystalline polyester compositions filled with fibrous inorganic fillers have been used with an aim to improve the strength of the product and reduce the anisotropy.
Accompanied with reduction of the wall thickness of molded products, higher degrees of warpage reduction and dimensional accuracy have been demanded for materials. With the aim of improving anisotropy of molded products, the following liquid crystalline resin composition has been proposed (e.g., see JP H06-240115 A). This liquid crystalline resin composition is filled with 5 to 300 parts by weight of glass fiber having the average fiber diameter of 3 to 15 μm and the weight-average fiber length of 0.02 to 0.45 mm and satisfies the conditions that: (i) the ratio of specific glass fiber having the fiber length of greater than 1 mm is in the range of 0 to 8 percent by weight of the glass fiber; and (ii) the ratio of specific glass fiber having the fiber length of not greater than 0.1 mm is greater than 50 percent by weight of the glass fiber. The molded product obtained from this liquid crystalline resin composition, however, has the occurrence of filler lift that causes glass fiber to be lifted above the surface and accordingly has insufficient surface smoothness.
In the liquid crystalline resin composition, the high solidification rate of the liquid crystalline resin may cause long glass fibers dispersed in the composition to be present in the curved state. In the course of reflow of a molded product of this composition for surface mounting, the surface of the molded product is softened by heat, so that the curved glass fiber may be restored. This may cause the glass fibers near the surface to be lifted above the surface and thereby disadvantageously reduce the surface smoothness. Contact or slide between components during assembly of a molded product may cause peel-off or detachment of the filler of the liquid crystalline resin composition or the resin surface layer. Attachment of such peeled or detached pieces to the terminal may cause poor conduction, and attachment of such peeled or detached pieces to the lens may cause spots. The liquid crystalline polyester composition having the glass fiber length controlled to a specific range has accordingly been used. In many cases, pins are press-fit during assembly of connectors, so that the liquid crystalline resin composition has been required to have sufficient pin press-fit tolerance.
With the aim of preventing blister and reducing protrusion of glass fibers from the gate and from the fluid terminals, for example, one proposed liquid crystalline resin composition contains: (i) 5 to 50 percent by weight of glass fiber having the number-average fiber length of 50 to 120 μm and the content of the fiber length of 20 to 150 μm to be not lower than 80%; and (ii) 95 to 5 percent by weight of liquid crystalline polymer (e.g., see JP 2009-191088 A). With the aim of preventing filler detachment, one proposed resin molded product contains 5 to 250 parts by weight of fibrous filler having the fiber diameter of 5 to 15 μm and the number-average fiber length of 30 to 200 μm, relative to 100 parts by weight of liquid crystalline polymer (e.g., see JP 2008-239950 A). This proposed molded product, however, still has insufficient pin press-fit tolerance and insufficient warpage reduction.
To improve the weld strength and the surface smoothness of molded products, one proposed liquid crystalline resin composition contains 20 to 80 parts by weight of glass fiber having the maximum fiber length of not greater than 1000 μm and the weight-average fiber length of not less than 200 μm and not greater than 450 μm, relative to 100 parts by weight of liquid crystalline resin (e.g., see JP 2009-215530 A). This proposed resin composition, however, does not effectively prevent the filler lift and still gives the insufficient surface smoothness.
Recent size reduction and refinement of molded products requires satisfaction of the high degrees of surface smoothness, warpage reduction and pin press-fit tolerance. The conventional techniques, however, still does not sufficiently satisfy all these requirements. It could therefore be helpful to provide a liquid crystalline polyester composition that gives a molded product having high surface smoothness, high pin press-fit tolerance and less warpage.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Liquid crystalline polyester composition, method of producing the same and molded product manufactured from the same


The present invention provides a liquid crystal substrate cutting device used for cutting a liquid crystal substrate along a cutting line, and the liquid crystal substrate cutting device comprises a heating unit and a cutter unit. The heating unit moves along the cutting line and heats the liquid crystal substrate to soften a sealant covered on the cutting line, and the cutter unit moves along the cutting line to further cut the liquid crystal substrate. The present invention comprises the heating unit for heating the liquid crystal substrate along the cutting line to soften the sealant covered on the cutting line such that the cutter unit can precisely cut the liquid crystal substrate without abnormity of the feeding distance of the cutter unit which cause the liquid crystal substrate to break. Therefore, the scrap-rate is reduced.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a liquid crystal substrate cutting device and a cutting method for a liquid crystal substrate, and more particularly, to a liquid crystal substrate cutting device and a cutting method for a liquid crystal substrate in flat panel display manufacturing field.
2. Description of Related Art
In the manufacturing process of flat panel display device, it includes ODF (one drop filling, liquid crystal injection process) process and the cutting process for the liquid crystal substrate immediately after the ODF process. Wherein, the ODF process includes the step of forming multiple seal frames sealed by coating a sealant and the step of curing the sealant. The liquid crystal substrate cutting process usually requires the cutting device to cut the large-size liquid crystal substrate with the cured seal frames into multiple small-size liquid crystal substrates along a predetermined cutting line. Under normal situation, the number of the small-size liquid crystal substrates by cutting is equal to the number of the seal frames on the large-size liquid crystal substrate. In order to save costs and improve the utilization of the liquid crystal substrate, the distance between two adjacent seal frames must be as small as possible.
The cutting device in the conventional liquid crystal substrate cutting process generally uses a cutter wheel module. The cutter wheel could provide higher cutting precision in cutting the large-size liquid crystal substrate. However, if the seal opening is thicker or the injection speed is higher in the coating step of the sealant, the width of the seal frame may be large enough to reach or exceed the cutting line. Because the coating step of the sealant such as a continuous coating process of the adjacent seal frames or difficult to control the quantity of the sealant at the corner location, it appears a phenomenon that the adjacent seal frames adhere each other. The cutting line will pass through the adhesion area. When the cutter wheel module touches the sealant of the seal frames in cutting the liquid crystal module along the cutting line, it easily occur cutting abnormity of the cutting line deviation or breaking of the liquid crystal substrate so that the product is broken.

Liquid crystal substrate cutting device and cutting method for liquid crystal substrate

Shenzhen China Star Optoelectronics Technology Co., Ltd


A semiconductor device having a multi-layered wiring structure containing a copper layer, comprises a first insulating film formed over a semiconductor substrate, a first copper pattern buried in the first insulating film, a cap layer formed on the first copper pattern and the first insulating film and made of a substance a portion of which formed on the first copper pattern has a smaller electrical resistance value than a portion formed on the first insulating film, second insulating films formed on the cap layer, and a second copper pattern buried in a hole or a trench, which is formed in the second insulating films on the first copper pattern, and connected electrically to the first copper pattern via the cap layer.

This application is based upon and claims priority of Japanese Patent Applications No. 2001-130694, filed in Apr. 27, 2001, and No. 2002-43117, filed in Feb. 20, 2002, the contents being incorporated herein by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor device and a method of manufacturing the same and, more particularly, a semiconductor device having a multi-layered wiring structure containing a copper layer wiring and a method of manufacturing the same.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Various semiconductor elements are miniaturized more and more with the progress of the process technology of the semiconductor integrated circuit (LSI). Also, the high density, the increase in layer number, and the reduction in thickness of the wirings in the LSI are making rapid progress, and thus the stress applied to the wirings and the density of the current flowing through the wirings are steadily increased respectively. Accordingly, when the current of the high density flows through the wirings, for example, the breaking phenomenon of the wiring that is called the electromigration (EM) is ready to occur. It is supposed that, the driving force of the electromigration is generated when metallic atoms are moved and diffused owing to the collision of the high-density electron flows. Since the degradation phenomenon by the electromigration becomes still more intense with the miniaturization of the element, the development of the wiring material and the wiring structure, through which the high-density current can be passed and which can achieve the high reliability, is required.
As the wiring in which the electromigration is hard to occur rather than the aluminum wiring, there is the copper wiring.
However, the fine patterning of the copper layer is difficult. As one of the effective approaches for manufacturing the copper wiring, the damascene method that has the steps of forming previously the wiring trench in the insulating film and then burying the copper layer therein is put to practical use. Also, the dual-damascene method that forms simultaneously the via and the wiring by forming the via hole under the wiring trench is known.
Then, an example of steps of forming the via by the damascene method is shown in FIGS. 1A to 1D hereunder.
First, as shown in FIG. 1A, an interlayer insulating film 102 is formed on a semiconductor substrate 101, and a first silicon oxide film 103 and a silicon nitride film 107 are formed on the interlayer insulating film 102. Then, a first wiring trench 104 is formed in these films 103, 107 by patterning the first silicon oxide film 103 and the silicon nitride film 107. Then, a barrier metal layer 105 and a first copper layer 106 are formed sequentially in the first wiring trench 104 and on the silicon nitride film 107 to bury the first wiring trench 104 completely. Then, the first copper layer 106 and the barrier metal layer 105 are polished by the chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) method and removed from the upper surface of the silicon nitride film 107.
Accordingly, as shown in FIG. 1B, the first copper layer 106 left only in the first wiring trench 104 is used as a copper wiring 106a. Then, a second silicon oxide film 108 is formed on the silicon nitride film 107 and the copper wiring 106a respectively.
Then, as shown in FIG. 1C, a via hole 109 is formed on the copper wiring 106a by patterning the second silicon oxide film 108.
Then, as shown in FIG. 1D, a second barrier metal layer 110 and a second copper layer 111 are formed in the via hole 109 and on the second silicon oxide film 108. Then, the second copper layer 111 and the second barrier metal layer 110 are polished by the CMP method and removed from the upper surface of the second silicon oxide film 108. Then, the second copper layer 111 left in the via hole 109 is used as a via 111a.
The multi-layered copper wiring structure can be obtained by repeating the formation of the copper wiring and the formation of the via in compliance with above steps.
By the way, as shown in FIG. 1C, if the via hole 109 is formed in the second silicon oxide film 108, the copper wiring 106a is exposed from the via hole 109 and exposed directly to the outside air.
As a result, it is possible that the copper wiring 106a is contaminated, corroded and oxidized and thus the defective connection between the copper wiring 106a and the via 111a is caused. As its measure, the process of cleaning the copper wiring 106a from the via hole 109 is carried out. In this case, if the aspect ratio of the via hole 109 is increased, it becomes difficult to clean completely the surface of the copper wiring 106a.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a semiconductor device that is capable of preventing the surface oxidation/corrosion of metal patterns used as the copper wiring or the via and a method of manufacturing the same.
According to the present invention, the cap layer made of the substance with which the electrical resistance on the first metal pattern film becomes smaller than the electrical resistance on the insulating film is formed on the first insulating film and the first metal pattern. The metal pattern is the copper wiring or the copper via, for example.
As the material of such cap layer, there are the zirconium nitride that is chemically stable, its compound, etc. It is preferable that the film thickness should be set to less than 20 nm.
Therefore, when the hole or the trench is formed on the first metal pattern and in the second insulating film formed on the first insulating film, the oxidation, the corrosion, and the contamination of the first metal pattern under the hole or the trench are prevented by the cap layer.
In addition, the second metal pattern formed in the hole or the trench is connected electrically to the first metal pattern via the cap layer. While, since the cap layer acts as the insulating portion on the first insulating film, the patterning of the cap layer can be omitted.
The zirconium, the titanium, the hafnium, the zirconium nitride, or any one of their compounds constituting such cap layer can be selectively etched on the first insulating film by adjusting the etching conditions while leaving on the first metal pattern. As a result, such cap layer may be removed selectively from the upper surface of the first insulating film by the selective etching without the mask, and may be left on the first metal pattern.
If it is intended to prevent surely the copper diffusion from the first metal pattern containing the copper to the insulating film, the second cap layer made of the copper diffusion preventing insulating material may be formed on the cap layer.


A self-injection locking system is disclosed that internally narrows the prepulse of a laser cavity before it is replicated as the laser output using: two quarter wave plates, an air spaced etalon, and a polarizing beam splitter. The air spaced etalon will separate the off-center frequency signals from the center frequency signals of the prepulse by inducing a phase shift. Following this, the polarizing beam splitter impedes the off-center frequency signals by a power loss of about ten percent while the center frequency signals are unaffected. In operation, this can cause the off-center frequency signals to fail to reach the threshold at which stimulated emission takes place. The result is that the laser replicates only the center frequency signals as the laser output.

The present invention relates generally to lasers, and more specifically the invention pertains to a system for self-injection locking a single laser for reducing the linewidth of the laser's output.
Injection-locking is a phase synchronization technique that is commonly performed with two lasers. Self-injection locking has been accomplished with a single laser but does not reduce the linewidth of the output as narrowly as injection with two lasers. The present invention uses self-injection locking of a single laser using a prepulse to establish a low power beam that is line narrowed before self-injection to generate a high power pulse. The result is a self-injection locking system which outputs a narrow linewidth laser.
Laser injection locking was first demonstrated by Stover and Steier who injected the beam of one very stable Fabry-Perot laser into the resonator of a second very stable Fabry-Perot laser. They measured the locking range as a function of drive level of the locking signal and found that the experimental results compared favorable with the classical theory. Each of the two lasers operated in as single frequency mode. The length of each laser cavity could be adjusted to tune the frequency by means of a mirror mounted on a piezoelectric transducer. By sweeping one laser, the injection-locked region (or the frequency range free from the beating which is the result of simultaneous operation at the self-oscillation and driven frequency) could be measured. The locking bandwidths which ranged from 0.1 to 1.0 MHz were found to be proportional to the square root of the injection power.
With the advent of laser telescopes and similar applications of high powered lasers has come the need for long coherence lengths required for non-linear optical effects. Non-linear optical efforts require coherence lengths on the order of centimeters. The coherence length of the laser can be increased by line narrowing. Current methods use injection locking to narrow the spectral output. This is accomplished with a reference oscillation (RO) whose beam is injected into a power oscillator (PO). This method allows 60 percent of the power to be delivered in a 50 MHz bandwidth for a 20 ns pulse. This reduction in bandwidth is called line narrowing. The optical conversion efficiency for 2nd harmonic generation improves as the square of the coherence length. This method requires two or more lasers.
A second method is self-injection locking which requires only one laser. However, it requires a fraction of the beam to be sent into a frequency discriminating section of the laser. The frequency discriminating component can be prisms, gratings, or etalons. The self injection locking reduces the linewidth better than a geometrical analysis predicts, but still not nearly as narrow as true injection locking.
The task of providing a self-injection locking system which yields spectrally narrow laser outputs from high powered lasers is alleviated, to some extent, by the systems disclosed in the following U.S. Patents, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference:
U.S. Pat. No. 4,635,266 issued to Facklam; PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 4,227,159 issued to Barret et al; PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 3,999,146 issued to Lang et al; PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 4,264,870 issued to Avicola et al; PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 4,490,823 issued to Komine et al PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 4,686,485 issued to Goldberg et al; PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 4,689,794 issued to Brosnan; PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 4,726,011 issued to Ih et al; PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 4,755,016 issued to DeLoach et al; and PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 4,768,852 issued to Ih.
All of the above-cited patents disclose prior art laser injection systems which can be improved by the present invention.
The Facklam patent discloses a dispersion control system for a laser. Barrett et al disclose an injection locking system using two lasers and tuning etalons. The semi-conductor laser of Lang et al is used with several injection locking devices, including both a modulating laser element and an injection laser element.
Avicola et al teach the use of an automatic locking system for an injection locked laser. Komine et al disclose an injection locked unstable laser. Goldbert et al disclose the optical injection locking of laser diode arrays.
The Brosnan patent teaches the conventional injection locking technique using two lasers. The injection laser's output enters the rear reflector of a xenon chloride laser to slightly shift its gain profile towards longer wavelengths.
The Ih patent discloses modulators and injection locked lasers.
The following technical articles are also pertinent to the present invention, and are incorporated herein by reference:
"Laser Injection Locking" by C. Buczek et al, Proceedings of the IEEE, vol. 61, No. 10, October 1973;
"Injection-Locking Unstable Resonator Excimer lasers," IEEE Journal of Quantum Electronics, Vol. QE-19, No. 9, Sep 83;
"The Influence of the Beam Expanding Prism in a Dye Laser Resonator on the Linewidth and its Dependence on the Expansion Ration," Optics Communication, Vol. 40, No. 1 P. 9, 1 Dec 81;
"Spectrally Narrow Pulsed Dye Laser Without Beam Expander," Applied Optics, Vol. 21, No. 17, p. 3065, 1 Sep 82;
"High Efficiency Interferometric Tuning of Flashlamp Pumped Dye Lasers," Optics Communication, Vol 4, No. 2, Oct 71;
"Spectral-narrowing techniques for excimer laser oscillators," Canadian Journal of Physics, Vol. 63, p. 214-219, 1985; and
"Performance of a Novel Injection-locked Excimer Laser," Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 56, No. 7, p. 2172, 10 Oct. 84.
All of the references cited above teach state-of-the-art laser injection locking techniques. While these references are instructive, a need remains to provide a system for self-injection locking a single laser for reducing linewidth of the laser's output. The present invention is intended to satisfy that need.

The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Air Force


A new Aglaonema plant particularly distinguished by having a very dense, leafy, compact and upright branched growth habit, being small to intermediate in stature and very vigorous and having a somewhat faster growth rate than typical commercial Aglaonema cultivars is disclosed.

The present invention comprises a new and distinct cultivar of Aglaonema, botanically known as Aglaonema hybrid, and hereinafter referred to by the cultivar name 'TWYAG0009B'. The new cultivar originated from an open pollination made in Bogor, West Java, Indonesia. A single plant selection was chosen for further evaluation and for asexual propagation from the progeny of the open pollination in Bogor, W. Java, Indonesia.
The new cultivar was created in Bogor, W. Java, Indonesia and has been asexually reproduced repeatedly by vegetative cuttings and tissue culture in Apopka, Fla. The present invention has been found to retain its distinctive characteristics through successive asexual propagations.
Plant Breeder's Rights for this cultivar were applied for in the European Union in early September 2007. 'TWYAG0009B' has not been made publicly available more than one year prior to the filing of this application.


A vehicle control system determines a travel priority of a vehicle based on a travel condition of the vehicle. In response to detection of an oncoming vehicle ahead of the vehicle along a single guide path, the system compares between the travel priority of the vehicle, and a travel priority of the oncoming vehicle, and selects one of the vehicle and the oncoming vehicle as a vehicle to change a traveling route, to allow the unselected vehicle to continue traveling along the single guide path.

Technical Field
The present invention relates to a driverless vehicle, and an apparatus, system, and method of controlling the driverless vehicle, and a recording medium.
Description of the Related Art
The known automated guided vehicles that transport loads travel along a guide path, or freely travel while finding a path to a destination according to detection of surroundings.
In case of traveling along the guide path, to save a space, the guide path is often a single path through which a plurality of vehicles travel in one direction, or the plurality of vehicles travel in both directions. In case the vehicles travel in both directions, when two vehicles are about to pass each other, only one vehicle is allowed to move forward along the guide path. For example, the vehicle that travels in one of the directions that is previously set as a prioritized direction is allowed to move forward, and the other vehicle that travels in the other direction moves away from the guide path.

Driverless vehicle, and apparatus, system, and method of vehicle control


The invention provides a dilution apparatus for a thickener of the type having a thickening tank and a feedwell disposed upstream of the tank to receive feed liquid, said dilution apparatus including: a receiving vessel adapted for at least partial submersion within the thickening tank to receive supernatant dilution liquid therefrom; and a submersible pump including an impeller adapted for at least partial submersion within the dilution liquid, the pump being adapted to transfer the dilution liquid from the thickening tank through the receiving vessel to the feed liquid for dilution thereof, before transfer of the feed liquid from the feedwell into the thickening tank. The pump is responsive to system parameters for adjusting the flow rate of the supernatant liquid.

The following discussion of the prior art is intended to present the invention in an appropriate technical context and allow its significance to be properly appreciated. Unless clearly indicated to the contrary, however, reference to any prior art in this specification should not be construed as an admission that such art is widely known or forms part of common general knowledge in the field.
Thickeners are known as a means of separating suspended pulps. They are commonly used in the field of mineral processing and extraction, as well as in other industries.
Known thickeners typically include a thickening tank and a feedwell. The feedwell includes a chamber having an inlet for receiving feed slurry and an outlet in fluid communication with the tank. In use, flocculation takes place in the tank, whereby pulp of higher relative density tends to settle towards the bottom of the tank, forming a bed of thickened pulp, and dilute liquor of lower relative density is thereby displaced towards the top of the tank.
The feedwell is configured to reduce the turbulence of the incoming feed slurry, to allow flocculants to be mixed into the liquid, and to allow sufficient residence time for reaction between flocculants and reagents, before the treated liquid is discharged into the thicken tank. The configuration of the feedwell is typically also intended to promote uniform distribution of slurry flowing from its outlet into the thickening tank.
Feed slurry concentration affects the rate of floc formation, and the dosage rate of flocculant required to achieve optimum separation. It also affects thickener performance in terms of overflow clarity and underflow density versus flocculant consumption. Accordingly, the feed slurry entering the feedwell frequently requires dilution in order to achieve an optimum result.
Existing technologies achieve feed slurry dilution by several methods. Some methods involve pumping supernatant or new liquid into the feed stream. Relatively newer methods, however, use liquid from within the thickening tank to dilute the feed stream. These newer methods typically employ mechanisms of differential density or momentum transfer to move the liquid from the thickening tank into the feed stream.
All of these existing methods have disadvantages. Those utilising pumps require considerable pipework and electrical power to transfer the diluting liquid. Conversely, the internal systems, which use differential density or momentum transfer mechanisms, are relatively simpler and require little to no electrical power, but lack means to precisely control dilution under all operating conditions.
It is an object of the invention to overcome or substantially ameliorate one or more of the deficiencies of the prior art, or at least to provide a useful alternative.


The image processing apparatus extracts edge pixels of an input image, connects the edge pixels so as to extract a segment, extracts an inclination angle of the image based on the segment, corrects an inclination of the image based on the angle, determines that correction has ended when the corrected inclination is equal to or less than a predetermined threshold value, and repeats inclination extraction, inclination correction and end determination using an output image obtained after the inclination correction as a new input image until it is determined that correction has ended.

The center of the industry was shifted from the hardware industry to the software industry in the process of its development in the past, and it is predicted that it will be shifted to the contents industry in the twenty-first century. The closest target of the contents industry is electronic books that have attracted attention in Japan and worldwide in recent years. Among these, an electronic book based on images that can be created at a low cost by applying an image processing technique is considered to be promising. Especially in Japan, "comic books" that account for a half of all the books made of paper in terms of sales are objects thereof, so that the image-based electronic books will be the center thereof.
The image-based electronic books have the advantages that most of the creation processes from (1) scanner input, (2) inclination correction, (3) various kinds of image processing, (4) manual modification/editing to (5) contents output can be automated based on the existing proof-read books, and the contents can be created at a very low cost. Then, the contents data that will be commercial products have to be subjected to inclination correction with high precision, so that the process (2) of inclination correction is particularly important in the creation processes.
The "inclination correction technique" for correcting an inclination of an input image automatically already has been realized by an electronic filing system, a pre-processing function of OCR (Optical Character Reader) software or the like, and conventional techniques are disclosed in an "image processing apparatus" of Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication JP-A 9-120430 (conventional technique 1) and an "image filing apparatus" of Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication JP-A 1-64076 (conventional technique 2).
The conventional technique 1 is a method in which when ruled lines or the like are present in an image, coordinate strings for the outline of an image are scanned so as to obtain the four corners of the outline, a slender shaped object is extracted as a segment from the four corners, and an inclination of the image is extracted from the most slender shaped segment of the extracted segments and is corrected.
The conventional technique 2 is a method in which under the precondition that a peripheral edge portion of an input original is white, an area outside the original at the time of image input is black, and the peripheral edge portion of the original is extracted based on that information, and thus an inclination of the original is extracted based on that edge information and is corrected.
In the conventional technique 1, when an isolated segment is present, stable properties can be obtained. In the conventional technique 2, when the peripheral edge of the original is white, stable performance can be obtained.
However, when these conventional techniques are applied to "comic books", which are the most important in the image-based electronic books, then various problems of the "comic books" decrease correction precision. As a result, the number of manual processes for correction is increased, so that the advantage (low cost conversion to electronic books) of image-based electronic books is compromised. The problems of the conventional techniques will be described more specifically below.
In the conventional technique 1, an object whose outline shape is slender is extracted as a segment, and therefore when a segment is in contact with a character or a picture (such a case is frequently present in the comic books), the four corners of the outline of a segment cannot be obtained, and the outline shape is not slender, so that this technique cannot be applied.
Furthermore, since only the most slender segment is used, a correction result can be an error when the segment inclines. This is because a frame line may be drawn obliquely on purpose in the comic books.
In the conventional technique 2, it is the precondition that the peripheral edge of an original is white, and a portion outside the original at the time of image input is constituted by black pixels, so that the peripheral edge can be extracted. However, for an original in which there is a picture in the periphery or an original whose periphery is entirely black (these cases also occurs frequently in comic books), the peripheral edge of the original cannot be extracted precisely, and a correction result may be an error.
As described above, when comic books are subjected to these techniques, these techniques cannot perform inclination correction with high precision.
It is an object of the invention to provide an image processing apparatus that can perform inclination correction with high precision even if a segment present in an image is in contact with a character or a picture, an oblique segment which is a factor of a correction error is present, or the peripheral edge of an original is not white, an image processing method and a record medium on which the same is recorded.

Image processing device, image processing method, and record medium on which the same is recorded


Disclosed is a method for evaluating chip performance of a cured coating system. In one embodiment, the method includes providing a coated substrate comprising a substrate and a cured film of a first coating composition thereon, measuring elastic work energy (We/Wtot) of the cured film, and calculating a % C.P. of the cured film via the formula: % C.P.=7.61636−0.225473 (We/Wtot) wherein a % C.P. of equal to or less than about 3.5% correlates to a total paint loss of equal to or less than 5% of a coating system comprising the first coating composition. The disclosed method predicts the gravelometer chip performance of a cured multilayer coating system comprising a first coating composition and a topcoat by measuring the measuring elastic work energy (We/Wtot) of the cured first coating system alone. In one embodiment, chip performance can be predicted without topcoat application and independent of topcoat composition.

Curable thermoset coating compositions are widely used in the coatings art. They are often used as topcoats in the automotive and industrial coatings industry. Such topcoats may be basecoats, clearcoats, or mixtures thereof. Color-plus-clear composite coatings are particularly useful as topcoats where exceptional gloss, depth of color, distinctness of image, or special metallic effect is desired. The automotive industry has made extensive use of these coatings for automotive body panels.
Color-plus-clear composite coatings, however, require an extremely high degree of clarity in the clearcoat to achieve the desired visual effect. High-gloss coatings also require a low degree of visual aberrations at the surface of the coating in order to achieve the desired visual effect such as high distinctness of image (DOI). Finally, such composite coatings must also simultaneously provide a desirable balance of finished film properties such as chip performance, durability, hardness, flexibility, and resistance to environmental etch, scratching, marring, solvents, and/or acids.
Chip performance or gravel resistance is particularly important in automotive coatings, especially those intended for use on automotive components with leading edges, such as rocker panels and front bumpers. Weak or poor resistance to chipping can result in significant damage to the overall vehicle appearance and greatly reduced durability.
The prior art continues to seek an individual coating that provides improved chip resistance in a wide variety of coating systems employing various types of topcoats. More particularly, the prior art has yet to provide a way to improve chip resistance that is independent of the chemistry or molecular structure of the resin or binder component of a particular coating.
Of course, improvements in chip resistance must not be obtained at the expense of other important properties such as appearance and VOC.
In order to obtain the extremely smooth finishes that are generally required in the coatings industry, coating compositions must exhibit good flow before curing. Good flow is observed when the coating composition is fluid enough at some point after it is applied to the substrate and before it cures to a hard film to take on a smooth appearance. Some coating compositions exhibit good flow immediately upon application and others exhibit good flow only after the application of elevated temperatures.
One way to impart fluid characteristics and good flow to a coating composition is to incorporate volatile organic solvents into the composition. These solvents provide the desired fluidity and flow during the coating process, but evaporate upon exposure to elevated curing temperatures, leaving only the coating components behind.
However, the use of such solvents increases the volatile organic content (VOC) of the coating composition. Because of the adverse impact that volatile organic solvents may have on the environment, many government regulations impose limitations on the amount of volatile solvent that can be used. Increasing the percentage nonvolatile (% NV) of a coating composition or decreasing the VOC provides a competitive advantage with respect to environmental concerns, air permitting requirements, and cost.
There is thus a continuing desire to obtain thermoset coatings having an improved chip performance while still possessing the optimum balance of performance properties required by the automotive industry. This optimum balance of performance properties in the finished film must be obtained without sacrificing the Theological properties of the coating composition required for trouble-free application of the composition while still maintaining the optimum level of smoothness and appearance.
Unfortunately, the pursuit of such properties in a curable coating requires numerous experimental tests. The evaluation of chip resistance is typically conducted via a gravelometer test.
Gravelometer tests for automotive coatings generally require the placement of cured coated panels in a commercially available gravelometer. Gravel of a particular size and composition is then directed against the surface of a cold test panel. The size and frequency of resultant chipping is then evaluated, either via software or with the naked eye. Test panels for particular samples are normally done in triplicate.
However, the preparation of such gravelometer test panels continues to be a laborious and costly aspect of the development of automotive coating compositions having improved gravelometer performance.
Current automotive gravelometer testing practices typically require that all components of a cured multilayer coating system be applied and cured as required by the automotive manufacturer. These requirements are attributable to the prior art's failure to develop a method that correlates the individual gravelometer performance of a cured film of an individual component of a multilayer coating system to the gravelometer performance of the cured overall multilayer coating system.
For example, even though a set of test panels are intended solely to evaluate the gravelometer performance of particular primer compositions, each gravelometer test panel requires the application and curing of the specific primer composition followed by such topcoats as may be employed in a desired commercial multilayer coating system. The term 'multilayer coating system' as used herein generally refers to cured coating systems comprising a substrate, a primer, and a topcoat wherein the topcoat may comprise one or more sealers, monocoats, basecoats, color and/or effect coating compositions, clearcoat coating compositions, and combinations thereof. In one embodiment, an illustrative example of a commercially available automotive multilayer coating system will include an electrocoated steel substrate, a primer, and one or more applications of a wet-on-wet composite coating comprising a color and/or effect basecoat and a clearcoat.
As a result, the preparation of gravelometer test panels for the automotive coatings industry is normally a costly and lengthy process that requires the application, flashing, and curing of various other coating compositions in addition to the application and curing of the coating undergoing evaluation. Examples of illustrative 'other' coating compositions include any coatings that are utilized in multilayer automotive coating systems, i.e., sealers, basecoats, color and/or effect coating compositions, clearcoat coating compositions, and combinations thereof. The preparation of gravelometer tests panels thus continues to be a laborious and costly aspect of the development of automotive coating compositions having improved gravelometer performance.
It would therefore be advantageous to provide a method for evaluating the chip performance of a coated substrate that does not have the disadvantages of current gravelometer testing practices.
It would also be advantageous to develop a single measurement, nondestructive method for predicting the chip performance of a cured multilayer coating system by evaluating a particular property of one component of the cured multilayer coating system. It would be especially desirable if the evaluation of the one component was conducted without the use of current gravelometers or gravelometer testing practices but was predictive of the gravelometer performance of the overall cured multilayer coating system.

Method for predicting and optimizing chip performance in cured thermoset coatings

Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America, Inc.


An anti-theft device for a vehicle includes an approach prevention cover disposed in a shift lever housing to cover a shift cable connected to a shift lever so as to prevent the shift cable from being detached. Such an anti-theft vehicle makes is possible to easily and efficiently prevent theft of the vehicle by preventing a shift cable operated along with operation of a shift lever from being removed.

To prevent vehicle theft, anti-theft regulations have been applied to lock at least one of a steering system, a transmission, a shift lever, and a brake system so that they may not be easily removed.
As an example for satisfying the anti-theft regulations, an electric steering column lock (ESCL) is applied.
The ESCL is a device that allows a lock of the ESCL to be locked to a rotation shaft of a steering wheel while protruding when the vehicle is turned off, so that the vehicle is prevented from being forcibly steered.
The ESCL may prevent the steering wheel of the vehicle from being steered to prevent theft of the vehicle. However, since the ESCL is an electric type, the ESCL has a large number of components and a complicated structure, thereby increasing production cost and vehicle weight
When the shift lever is changed from a P-stage position to an N-stage position, the vehicle becomes moveable and may not satisfy the anti-theft regulations. Therefore, the shift lever may be locked by a separate locking means.
However, even when the shift lever is locked by the separate locking means so as not to be moved, theft of the vehicle may occur through processes of exposing a shift cable by removing a console in the vehicle, of removing the shift cable connected to the shift lever from the shift lever, and of shifting from the P-stage to the N-stage by pulling the removed shift cable.