A drive roller unit for driving an article on a conveyor track comprises first and second drive rollers which can be driven in rotation by an electric motor by way of a transmission. The drive rollers are arranged with their axes of rotation in concentric side-by-side relationship and are each driven by the electric motor by way of a respective transmission wheel. The electric motor drives the first transmission wheel while the second transmission wheel is coupled to the first transmission wheel by means of a slipping clutch whose clutch torque is such that the clutch does not slip and the drive rollers thus rotate in the same direction as long as the driven article can move substantially unbraked or unimpeded beyond the drive roller unit, the clutch however slipping if the article is unable to move freely and thus applies a braking force to the second roller, whereby the unit is turned about a vertical axis to re-orient the article for further free movement thereof in a fresh direction.

One form of drive roller unit for driving an article on a conveyor track, as disclosed in European patent application No. 89 102 955.5, corresponding to U.S. application USSN 377,971, now U.S. Pat. No. 4,949,837, comprises two drive rollers which can be driven in rotation by an electric motor means by way of a transmission means and which in their drive position are in engagement with the underside of the article to be driven. The two drive rollers are arranged with their axes of rotation substantially transversely with respect to the direction of drive of the article and in juxtaposed relationship in their axial direction, while the transmission means includes a first transmission wheel which is driven by the electric motor means and which drives in rotation the first drive roller, and a second transmission wheel which is coupled to the first transmission wheel and which drives in rotation the second drive roller. The drive rollers are mounted in a holding means which is mounted rotatably about a vertical axis with respect to a base structure of the conveyor track. A drive roller unit of that kind is used for example for driving freight containers which are movable on roller-type and ball-type conveyor tracks, a preferred area of use of such arrangements involving freight loading systems in air freight traffic, in which the containers are transported in an aircraft freight compartment on roller-type or ball-type conveyor tracks, to the intended anchorage locations.
A drive roller unit of simpler construction for use in such a situation for that purpose is to be found for example from U.S. Pat. No. 4,792,037, comprising a single drive roller which is firstly lifted out of a lower rest position by an electric motor means until it reaches a raised operative position in which it bears against the bottom of the article to be driven along on the conveyor track. In that raised position the drive roller is then driven in rotation by the same electric motor means so that it applies to the underside of the article a tangential force which displaces it in a direction substantially normal to the direction of the axis of rotation of the drive roller.
When loading freight containers into aircraft freight compartments, a problem which now arises is that the elongate containers which are frequently longer than the width of the freight compartment of the aircraft must be pushed into the freight compartment with one of their narrow sides leading, through a cargo hatch in the side of the aircraft, and then turned through 90.degree. so that they can be moved along with their longitudinal axis parallel to the longitudinal axis of the aircraft, until they reach the intended anchorage locations. For the purposes of introducing the containers through the cargo hatch and for turning them through 90.degree., in accordance with the state of the art the floor of the freight compartment was provided for example in the region of the cargo hatch with a ball-type conveyor track which permits the container to be moved in all directions and turned. The ball-type conveyor track includes a large number of drive rollers which can be raised and lowered between a rest position and an operative position and which can be driven in rotation in the operative position. Suitable control by means of complicated electronic control assemblies meant that such an arrangement could be used to pass the container into the cargo hatch and at the same time turned through 90.degree. during that movement. That operation was effected by the individual drive roller units being selectively raised and lowered; in the lowered condition, they performed a rotary movement about a vertical axis while in the raised condition they moved the container forwardly in its turned position.
In practice such an arrangement is not only found to be complicated and expensive but in addition it suffers from the disadvantage of being of high weight, which is undesirable in the context of air freight traffic. It is also found to be susceptible to trouble.
Another procedure employed in particular for containers of smaller size involves manually moving the containers on the ball-type conveyor track which is disposed in the region of the cargo hatch, and manually turning same. Instead of ball-type conveyor tracks, flat conveyor arrangements with directable guide rollers may also be employed.
In all the above-mentioned possible constructions, either a considerable level of expenditure is required or it is necessary to use human labour.
As mentioned above, a drive roller unit with two drive rollers is described in above-indicated U.S. patent application Ser. No. 377,971.
That has two drive rollers which are coaxially arranged in juxtaposed relationship and which are driven by an electric motor means and which are coupled together by way of a differential transmission. The differential idler pinions of the differential transmission are subjected to a braking moment which is so selected that in a first operating condition of the drive roller unit, there is a quasi rigid coupling between the two outputs of the differential transmission, which provides that the two drive rollers rotate in the same direction and at the same speed. In that first operating condition they practically act like a single drive roller, as described in DE-Al-37 24 126. The drive roller unit of the above European patent application remains in that operating condition as long as the reaction forces which are applied to the two drive rollers by the article to be driven do not exceed a magnitude which is predetermined by the braking moments at the differential idler pinions of the differential transmission. Those braking moments are matched to the mass of the articles to be driven and to the resistances to be overcome upon free movement thereof on the conveyor track, in such a way that the drive roller unit remains in the first operating condition referred to above as long as the article to be driven is not subjected to a very severe braking effect by an external force, or blocked in regard to movement in its previous direction of movement. That braking effect automatically occurs for example when the container to be loaded has been moved into the freight compartment through the side cargo hatch to such an extent that, at the side of the compartment in opposite relationship to the side with the cargo hatch, the freight container comes to bear against the side wall of the aircraft or a guide arrangement disposed at that location, and therefore cannot move any further in the previous direction, transversely with respect to the freight compartment.
The braking moments produced at the differential idler pinions in the differential transmission are overcome by the strong braking effect which is applied to the drive roller in that situation, and the previously virtually rigid coupling between the two drive rollers is eliminated. The drive roller unit now automatically changes over into a second operating condition in which the two drive rollers begin to rotate in opposite directions, as occurs at the outputs of a differential transmission, in known manner, when one of the two outputs is locked or subjected to a very strong braking effect.
Thus, in that second operating condition, one of the drive rollers continues to rotate in its previous direction of rotation while the other drive roller begins to stop or rotate backwards. Due to those relatively opposite rotary movements of the drive rollers which continue to be pressed against the underside of the article or conveyor to be moved, a turning moment about a vertical axis is produced; by virtue of the drive roller unit being mounted rotatably about a vertical axis, the turning moment produced results in a corresponding rotary movement which moves the drive roller unit into a fresh angular position in relation to the longitudinal axis of the freight compartment. That rotary movement continues until the drive roller unit occupies a position in which the article can move further along within the freight compartment at least over a certain distance therein without being impeded or while being subjected to a lowerbraking effect; the article thus moves in the direction of forward movement which is now defined by the fresh angular position of the drive roller unit, during which the article is simultaneously rotated somewhat into the new drive direction of the drive roller unit, about the vertical axis. As in that fresh position, the forces which subject the article to a substantial braking effect from outside or which totally prevent the article from moving any further, disappear or are at least reduced, the article applies lower reaction forces to the drive roller unit so that the drive roller unit automatically goes back into its first operating condition in which the two drive rollers rotate in the same forward direction. In that situation, the article to be driven will generally not yet have been turned entirely through 90.degree.. On the contrary, the above-described procedure is repeated, with the article again encountering the freight compartment wall or a corresponding abutment so that the drive roller unit is again caused to pass into the second operating condition and as a result is further rotated about the vertical axis.
That change between the two operating conditions may take place on a number of occasions until the article to be moved is finally turned through a sufficient angle, for example 90.degree., and can then be unimpededly moved in that fresh position in the longitudinal direction of the freight compartment until it reaches the intended anchorage location.
Therefore the rotary movement of the above-described twin-roller unit is produced automatically by the interplay of the mutually adapted braking moments of the article to be conveyed and the differential pinions of the differential transmission, without any necessity for intervention from the exterior, for example by means of an electronic control arrangement. It will be noted however that that twin-roller unit is of a very expensive construction, by virtue of the differential transmission required, and involves a large number of components, so that not only are its manufacturing costs high, but it is also of a high weight and suffers from a certain susceptibility to trouble.


The present disclosure provides a touch panel and a touch display device, in which the touch panel includes a printed circuit board on which a connecting portion is provided and a touch module including a to-be-connected area for connecting with the printed circuit board. The to-be-connected area is provided with a metal film layer therein. The to-be-connected area of the touch module is press fitted with the printed circuit board, and the connecting portion of the printed circuit board is configured to: when the to-be-connected area of the touch module is press fitted with the printed circuit board, the connecting portion is in contact with the metal film layer. The touch panel of the present disclosure has the advantages that the manufacture process can be simplified, the manufacture time and the manufacture and maintenance costs can be saved.

With the increasing demand for information, people also put forward higher requirements on information display technology. At present, the commonly used display method on the market is liquid crystal display. The liquid crystal display uses an electric field to control the liquid crystal to rotate in order to achieve gray display, and uses a color filter to realize color display. It has the advantages of thinness, light weight, low power consumption and the like and it has been applied to the displays of computers, TVs and mobile terminals. In order to better achieve the function of human-computer interaction, the touch screen emerges as the times require. Currently, the widely used touch technology in the market is the transmissive capacitive touch technology.
In existing touch panels, different FPCs (Flexible Printed Circuits) are generally used to establish connection between the touch module and the master Printed Circuit Board (PCB) and between the display module and the master PCB. Specifically, taking the connection between the touch control module and the master PCB as an example, the following description is given: the touch control module and the display module are bonded together, and one end of the FPC is bonded to the touch control module that has been bonded to the display module, the other end of the FPC is plugged in the connector on the PCB.
The existing touch panel has the following defects:
1. The PCB and the control module are bonded by FPC, wherein on the one hand, ACF (anisotropic conductive adhesive film) needs to be used in the bonding process, which leads to an increase in the material cost; on the other hand, the FPC needs a manufacturing cycle and the bonding process is a time-consuming, complicated process;
2. The PCB and the control module are connected by using FPC, wherein in the bonding process, it needs to adjust the relative position between the FPC and the PCB, which leads to FPC bending, thereby FPC is prone to fracture, causing open circuit;
3. After the display module and the touch module are bonded together, if the touch module is scrapped, the FPC needs to be removed in order to remove the touch module, thereby increasing the manufacture and maintenance costs of the touch display panel.

HEFEI BOE OPTOELECTRONICS TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD.


A refrigerator is disclosed. The refrigerator includes a storage compartment, and a shelf assembly provided in the storage compartment to be vertically adjustable, wherein the shelf assembly includes a support unit provided to be movable obliquely, and a shelf unit which is mounted on the support unit to move up and down according to an oblique movement of the support unit. The refrigerator has a simple structure capable of lifting a shelf up and down, thereby facilitating the manufacture and reducing manufacturing costs.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a refrigerator, and, more particularly, to a vertically adjustable refrigerator.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, a plurality of shelves are installed in a storage compartment of a refrigerator. The shelves, spaced from each other in a vertical direction, divide an inside of the storage compartment in multiple steps to increase space utilization efficiency and allow articles to be easily stored therein.
Among conventional shelves for refrigerators, there is a shelf vertically adjustable by a user. An adjustable shelf disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,913,584 includes a mounting assembly fixed to the rear surface of a storage compartment of a refrigerator, a shelf support assembly coupled to the mounting assembly to be vertically movable, a shelf coupled to the shelf support assembly, and a driving unit which lifts the shelf support assembly up and down.
The above-mentioned driving unit includes a worm driving gear which is rotated by an operation of the user, a driven gear which is rotated by the driving gear, a gear shaft which is rotated by the driven gear, two spur gears coupled to the opposite ends of the gear shaft, and a gear box which rotatably supports the driving gear and the gear shaft. The gear box is fixed to the shelf support assembly. The driving unit further includes a gear bracket fixed to the mounting assembly and two rack gears installed at the opposite sides of the gear bracket to engage with two spur gears coupled to the opposite ends of the gear shaft. In the driving unit, when the user rotates a rotation knob connected to the driving gear through an operational rod, the two spur gears coupled to the gear shaft are rotated. As a result, the shelf support assembly is lifted up and down.
In the conventional adjustable shelf, however, there are problems of reducing productivity and increasing the manufacturing costs because the elevation unit, which lifts the shelf support member up and down, has a complicated configuration.
Further, the conventional adjustable shelf is applicable only to a track type shelf fixing structure formed on the rear surface of the refrigerator. Accordingly, it is difficult to apply the conventional adjustable shelf to a refrigerator having no track.
The conventional adjustable shelf is mounted to the track provided at the rear surface of the refrigerator. That is, the conventional adjustable shelf is cantilevered at one end thereof. For this reason, the shelf should be manufactured of a material having sufficient stiffness, for example, steel, in order to support load applied to the shelf.
Further, since the rear surface of the conventional adjustable shelf is mounted to the track provided at the rear surface of the refrigerator, a shelf frame should be manufactured of a material having sufficient stiffness, for example, steel, in order to support load applied to the shelf.


A pair of radiating slots open in a flat metal plate having a square shape to be line-symmetrically arranged with respect to a symmetry axis, and power feeding lines and ground lines are provided at power feeding positions of the respective radiating slots. The respective radiating slots have first slot portions and second slot portions that contact at 45 degrees and linearly extend, respectively. Both the radiating slots are arranged in a back-to-back manner that edges of the first slot portions face each other, and the second slot portions extend in a direction to be separated from each other along two sides of the flat metal plate. Further, a polarization direction of an electric wave to be generated by one radiating slot and a polarization direction of an electric wave to be generated by the other radiating slot are set to be perpendicular to each other.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a small antenna device in which a pair of radiating slots are provided to constitute a diversity antenna.
2. Description of the Related Art
As the related art of such an antenna device, as shown in FIG. 6, a configuration is known in which a pair of radiating slots 32 and 33 open in a metal case 31 of a wireless LAN card 30 and are electromagnetically coupled to microstrip lines 34 and 35 to be fed, respectively (for example, see Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2003-234615 (pages 3-4 and FIG. 1)). Each of the radiating slots 32 and 33 opens in an L shape to extend along the external shape of the metal case 31. Since one end of the radiating slot 32 faces one end of the radiating slot 33, the pair of radiating slots 32 and 33 are line-symmetrically arranged. The microstrip lines 34 and 35 are formed in a circuit board 36 housed in the metal case 31 so as to be connected to a power feeding circuit (not shown). The microstrip line 34 faces a power feeding position of the radiating slot 32 and the microstrip line 35 faces a power feeding position of the radiating slot 33.
In the related art antenna device having such a schematic configuration, when the radiating slots 32 and 33 are excited by power feeding via the microstrip lines 34 and 35, a radiation electric field is generated in each of the radiating slots 32 and 33, and then an electric wave is generated. At that time, the polarization direction of the electric wave generated by the radiating slot 32 and the polarization direction of the electric wave generated by the radiating slot 33 are different from each other. Accordingly, if a diversity antenna has the pair of radiating slots 32 and 33, a wireless LAN signal wave in which a variation in the polarization direction occurs due to multipath may be received.
If the pair of radiating slots 32 and 33 are provided in parallel and excited in the metal case 31 which serves as a common conductor member, surface currents flowing the environs of the individual radiating slots 32 and 33 are intensively coupled to each other, and thus an isolation characteristic tends to deteriorate. For this reason, the pair of radiating slots are significantly spaced from each other in order to enhance the isolation characteristic. If the gap between the radiating slots 32 and 33 is widened, the entire antenna device is made large. Accordingly, a desired reduction in size can be realized at the expense of the isolation characteristic to some extent. Further, in the related art, each of the radiating slots 32 and 33 is formed in the L shape along the external shape of the metal case 31 in view of a space factor. In this case, however, at the time of excitation, the electric field generated in each of the radiating slots 32 and 33 wraps around the side surface of the metal case 31, such that the lateral radiation is increased. Accordingly, the radiation electric fields of the individual radiating slots are intensively coupled to each other, which results in deterioration of the isolation characteristic. That is, when it is going to promote the entire device to be reduced in size, the isolation characteristic deteriorates, which tends to cause a trouble in antenna performance. To the contrary, when it is going to insure a desired isolation characteristic, there is a problem in that it is impossible to promote the entire device to be reduced in size.
Moreover, in such an antenna device, if the isolation characteristic is not favorable, in a transmission mode, radiation efficiency gets worse, and also, in a reception mode, a desired beam pattern cannot be formed. Accordingly, transmission or reception performance is degraded.

Antenna device with improved isolation characteristic


A filter for filtering radio frequency (RF) power transmitted from an electrostatic chuck (ESC) in a plasma processing system. The plasma processing system may include a heating element disposed at the ESC. The plasma processing system may further include a power supply. The filter may include a core member and a cable wound around and wound along the core member to form a set of inductors. The cable may include a plurality of wires, including a first wire and a second wire, a portion of the first wire and a portion of the second wire being twisted together, a first end of the first wire and a first end of the second wire being connected to the heating element, each of a second end of the first wire and a second end of the second wire being connected to a capacitor and being connected to the power supply.

The present invention is related to radio frequency (RF) power filters. In particular, the present invention is related to RF power filters for use in plasma processing systems.
Plasma processing systems, such as capacitively coupled plasma (CCP) systems, inductively coupled plasma (ICP) systems, and transformer coupled plasma (TCP) systems, are employed in various industries for fabricating devices on wafers. For example, the industries may include semiconductor, magnetic read/write and storage, optical system, and micro-electromechanical system (MEMS) industries.
A plasma processing system may generate and sustain plasma in a plasma processing chamber to perform etching and/or deposition on a wafer such that device features may be formed on the wafer. The plasma processing system may include an electrostatic chuck (ESC) for supporting the wafer during one or more plasma processing processes. An ESC with zone-to-zone tunable temperature capability may be critical for temperature sensitive plasma processing processes. For minimizing electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) failure, interference issues, and power loss issues that may be caused by RF power transmitted from the ESC and leaked from the plasma processing chamber, an RF power filter may be implemented in the plasma processing system.
FIG. 1A shows a schematic representation illustrating several components of a plasma processing system 100. Plasma processing system 100 may include an ESC 108 that may support a wafer (well known in the art and not shown in this figure) during plasma processing of the wafer. In addition, ESC 108 may also serve as a lower electrode; ESC 108 may receive RF power supplied through an RF feed 120 for generating and/or sustaining plasma between ESC 108 and an upper electrode (well known in the art and not shown in this figure) for performing plasma processing.
ESC 108 may be a tunable ESC (TESC) capable of two-zone tunable temperature control. The temperature tuning capability of ESC 108 may be achieved by implementing two electric heating elements (well known in the art and not shown in the figure) embedded under the ceramic puck on top of ESC 108, one electric heating element being implemented for each of the two zones.
The two electric heating elements may be powered by alliterating currents (ACs) supplied by an AC power supply (well known in the art and not shown in the figure) through an AC connector 138, an RF power filter 102, a cable 104, and terminals 110a, 110b, 110c, and 110d. Two of terminals 110a, 110b, 110c, and 110d may be coupled to a first electric heating element of the two electric heating elements for powering the first electric heating element; the other two of terminals 110a, 110b, 110c, and 110d may be coupled to a second heating element of the two electric heating element for powering the second electric heating element. The temperature of each of the electric heating elements may be controlled in a bang-bang fashion with a zero crossing technique.
RF power filter 102 may transmit AC power for powering the electric heating elements. RF power filter 102 may also minimize or block RF power transmitted from ESC 108 to other components outside of plasma processing chamber body 106, for minimizing the abovementioned EMC failure issues, interference issues, and power loss issues.
Nevertheless, existing RF power filter designs may cause issues related to processing uniformity and performance consistency in plasma processing systems, as discussed with reference to the example of FIG. 1B.
FIG. 1B shows a schematic representation illustrating an example prior-art RF power filter 102 for use in a plasma processing system, such as plasma processing system 100 illustrated in the example of FIG. 1A. As illustrated in the example of FIG. 1B, RF power filter 102 may include an enclosure 150. RF power filter 102 may also include a core member 158 disposed inside enclosure 150. RF power filter 102 may also include a set of inductors 156 (including four inductors) formed by wire 166a, wire 166b, wire 166c, and wire 166d separately wound around and wound along a portion of core member 158. Wires 166a-166d may be connected through cable 104 (illustrated in the example of FIG. 1A) to terminals 110a-110d (illustrated in the example of FIG. 1A) for supplying AC power to the electric heaters. The set of inductors 156 (formed by wire 166a, wire 166b, wire 166c, and wire 166d, respectively) may be connected to a set of grounded capacitors 154 (including four capacitors) to form tuned circuits (or resonant circuits) to filter out or block RF power at the 60 MHz operating frequency transmitted from ESC 108 (illustrated in the example of FIG. 1A), for example, through cable 104 (illustrated in the example of FIG. 1A) and wires 166a-166d.
Given that wire 166a, wire 166b, wire 166c, and wire 166d are separated by significant distances, there are significant differences in stray capacitances formed between wire 166a and walls of enclosure 150, stray capacitances formed between wire 166b and walls of enclosure 150, stray capacitances formed between wire 166c and walls of enclosure 150, and stray capacitances formed between wire 166d and walls of enclosure 150. For example, the stray capacitance formed between a section of wire 166a and a side wall of enclosure 150 may be significantly different from the stray capacitance formed between a corresponding section of wire 166b and the same side wall of enclosure 150. As a result, at ESC 108 (illustrated in the example of FIG. 1A), the impedance level at terminal 110a (connected to wire 166a), the impedance level at terminal 110b (connected to wire 166b), the impedance level at terminal 110c (connected to wire 166c), and the impedance level at terminal 110d (connected to wire 166d) may be significantly different from each other. Consequently, plasma processing rates (e.g., etch rates) may be substantially non-uniform or substantially inconsistent across the surface of a wafer disposed on ESC 108, and the manufacturing yield may be substantially undesirable.
Typically, wires 166a-166d may be polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) wires or wires coated with PTFE, and core member 158 also may be coated with PTFE, for minimizing contamination. PTFE typically has a low coefficient of friction; therefore, wires 166a-166d may tend to move away from specified positions with respect to core member 158. As a result, the abovementioned stray capacitances may substantially change, and plasma processing profiles (e.g., etching profiles) may be substantially inconsistent from wafer to wafer, from RF power filter to RF power filter, and/or from plasma processing chamber to plasma processing chamber even if system specifications and processing recipes remain unchanged. As a result, for achieving acceptable consistency in plasma processing, costly and time-consuming calibration processes performed by highly skillful workers may be required.
In addition, the tolerances (or acceptable deviations from specified values) of the capacitors in the set of grounded capacitors 154 also may contribute to substantial variation (or substantial inconsistency) in plasma processing profiles (e.g., etch profiles) on wafers, from RF power filter to RF power filter, and/or from plasma processing chamber to plasma processing chamber.
RF power filter 102 may also include a set of inductors 152 (including four inductors) formed by wire 162a, wire 162b, wire 162c, and wire 162d separately wound around and wound along a portion of core member 158. Wires 162a-162d may be connected through wires 166a-166d and cable 104 (illustrated in the example of FIG. 1A) to terminals 110a-110d (illustrated in the example of FIG. 1A) for supplying AC power to the electric heaters. The set of inductors 152 (formed by wire 162a, wire 162b, wire 162c, and wire 162d, respectively) may be connected to a set of grounded capacitors 174 (including four capacitors) to form tuned circuits to filter out or block RF power at the 27 MHz operating frequency transmitted from ESC 108 (illustrated in the example of FIG. 1A).
RF power filter 102 may also include another core member 178 disposed inside enclosure 150. RF power filter 102 may also include a set of inductors 172 (including four inductors) formed by wire 182a, wire 182b, wire 182c, and wire 182d separately wound around and wound along a portion of core member 178. Wires 182a-182d may be connected through a set of wires 180 and AC connecter 138 (illustrated in the example of FIG. 1A) to an AC power supply. Wires 182a-182d may be connected through wires 162a-162d, wires 166a-166d, cable 104 (illustrated in the example of FIG. 1A) to terminals 110a-110d (illustrated in the example of FIG. 1A) for supplying AC power to the electric heaters. The set of inductors 172 (formed by wire 182a, wire 182b, wire 182c, and wire 182d, respectively) may be connected to a set of grounded capacitors 176 (including four capacitors) to form tuned circuits to filter out or block RF power at the 2 MHz operating frequency transmitted from ESC 108 (illustrated in the example of FIG. 1A).
Analogous to the significant distances (or space) between wires 166a-166d, the significant distances (or space) between wires 162a-162d and the significant distances (or space) between wires 182a-182d also may contribute to substantially non-uniform plasma processing rates on wafers and a substantially undesirable manufacturing yield.
Analogous to the movement (and repositioning) of wires 166a-166d, the movement (and repositioning) of wires 162a-162d and the movement (and repositioning) of wires 182a-182d also may contribute to substantial variation or substantial inconsistency in plasma processing profiles (e.g., etching profiles) from wafer to wafer, from RF power filter to RF power filter, and/or from plasma processing chamber to plasma processing chamber.
In addition, analogous to the tolerances of the capacitors in the set of grounded capacitors 154, the tolerances of the capacitors in the set of grounded capacitors 174 and the tolerances of the capacitors in the set of grounded capacitors 176 also may contribute to substantial variation (or substantial inconsistency) in plasma processing profiles on wafers, from RF power filter to RF power filter, and/or from plasma processing chamber to plasma processing chamber.

Radio frequency (RF) power filters and plasma processing systems including RF power filters


In methods and apparatus for acquiring VPN reachability information at a node of a data network, a VPN reachability information request is transmitted from a requesting node. The VPN reachability information request comprises a VPN identifier. Other nodes of the data network receive the VPN reachability information request and, if they have reachability information relevant to that VPN, they transmit such information to the requesting node where it is received and stored. The invention can be used in MPLS VPN architectures.

A typical Internet network implementation comprises a Service Provider Network (SPN) connected to a plurality of customer data facilities, commonly referred to as Customer Premises Equipment (CPE). The SPN is operated by an Internet Service Provider (ISP), and comprises a network Provider Edge (PE) nodes (for example, routers and/or IP switches). Each PE node is connected to one or more instances of CPE by access links. The PE nodes are connected within the SPN directly, via other nodes and via route reflectors. Each CPE may comprise a computer or network of computers operated by a customer, the computers being interconnected, for example, by a Local Area Network (LAN). Virtual Private Networks. A VPN is an emulated multi-site wide area routed network using IP facilities which are operated and implemented by an Internet Service Provider (ISP). Thus an SPN can be used to "connect" CPE across multiple sites. These "connections" are shared in the sense that the same PE nodes can be used to connect the CPE of more than one customer. Typically, a VPN is operated by establishing tunnels between Provider Edge (PE) devices supporting the sites of a VPN.
The Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) is an industry consortium which seeks to define standards for implementation of Internet networks. Participants submit Internet Drafts to the IETF for discussion in working groups. Some proposals contained in Internet Drafts may eventually be adopted as standards by the IETF. Copies of Internet Drafts are available at Internet address ftp://frp.ietf.org/internet-drafts.
Recent IETF drafts make proposals concerning the implementation of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) in SPNs using Multi-Protocol Label Switching (MPLS). Such drafts include:                {1} J. Heinanen et al, "VPN Support with MPLS", <draft-heinanen-mpls-vpn-01.txt>, March 1998.        {2} D. Jamieson et al, "MPLS VPN Architecture", <draft-jamieson-mpls-vpn-00.txt>, August 1998.        {3} T. Li, "CPE Based VPNs using MPLS", <draft-li-mpls-vpn-00.txt>, October 1998.        {4} E. Rosen et al, "BGP/MPLS VPNs", <draft-rosen-vpn-mpls-00.txt>, November 1998.
To implement VPNs on SPNs using MPLS, {3} proposes that a CPE will transmit a Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) message to the SPN to indicate its presence in the network and to indicate the set of VPNs in which the CPE wants to participate. The BGP message includes "VPN reachability information", including the CPE's address in the ISP's address space and a VPN identifier.
The BGP message is received by the PE node which is connected to the CPE. The PE node can filter or otherwise examine the message to ensure that it complies with the ISP's policies. If the message does comply with the ISP's policies, the message is propagated to other PE nodes of the SPN according to the specifications of BGP (see IETF document RFC 1771).
The other PE nodes of the SPN store the VPN reachability information and forward the BGP message to any of their connected CPE that are participating in the same VPN. The CPE receiving the BGP message can then use MPLS signalling protocol to set up a MPLS tunnel to the CPE which has just joined the VPN. The PE nodes use the stored VPN reachability information to establish the MPLS tunnels.
The method described in {3} requires very little or no intervention by an ISP when a new CPE is added to a VPN. However, in a large SPN which supports a large number of VPN subscribers, each PE node of the SPN would be required to store a very large amount of VPN reachability information. Moreover, only a small percentage of the stored VPN reachability information may actually be needed by any particular PE node.
For example, in an SPN having 2000 PE nodes and 1000 VPN interfaces per PE node with an average of 10 sites per VPN, 2 million VPN reachability information records would be distributed to each PE node. Assuming conservatively that each VPN reachability information record requires 30 bytes of storage, the VPN reachability information would require 60 Mbytes of storage at each PE node. However, according to the above assumptions, only 10,000 of the stored VPN reachability information records would actually be used by a typical PE node to establish VPN tunnels. The remaining 1.99 million of the 2 million reachability information records, stored at a typical PE node, i.e. 99.5% of the stored records, would not be used.
{4} proposes that PE nodes transmitting BGP messages apply outbound filtering so as not to propagate VPN reachability information to other PE nodes which are not participating in the VPN identified in the BGP message. Alternatively, {4} proposes that PE nodes receiving BGP messages apply inbound filtering so as not to store VPN reachability information for VPNs in which they are not participating. These filtering approaches may address the storage inefficiencies noted above. However, should CPE requiring access to a particular VPN be connected to a PE node not previously participating in that VPN, such filtering would result in the PE node lacking VPN reachability information for that VPN. The required VPN reachability information would need to be provided to the PE node, either by operator provisioning or by dropping and re-establishing the connection between the PE node and other PE nodes of the SPN so that all other PE nodes of the SPN automatically transmit all of their accumulated VPN reachability information to the PE node. The former method for acquiring the required VPN reachability information is time-consuming, error-prone and expensive. In a large network, the latter method for acquiring the required VPN reachability information would take too long and have too great an impact on SPN performance to be acceptable.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Distribution of reachability information in data virtual private networks


A method of compensating for hysteresis in a load cell, by: (a) pre-calibrating a load cell by: measuring load cell deflection under progressively increasing loads; determining a first set of coefficients correlating the deflection of the load cell to the measured load under the progressively increasing loads; measuring load cell deflection under progressively decreasing loads; determining a second set of coefficients correlating the deflection of the load cell to the measured load under the progressively decreasing loads; and then (b) compensating for hysteresis in the load cell, by: selecting the first set of coefficients if the load on the load cell has been progressively increasing, or selecting the second set of coefficients if the load on the load cell has been progressively decreasing; and applying a formula using the selected first or second set of coefficients to the measured load cell deflection at the particular load, thereby determining an accurate load cell deflection, and thus compensating for hysteresis in the load cell.

Trucks (including transport and garbage trucks) often contain load cells which are used for weighing the loads within the truck. It is important to weigh loads in trucks in general both to ensure regulatory compliance, and also to ensure that the loads are balanced within the trucks. It is also important to weigh loads in garbage trucks in particular since garbage truck operators often bill in terms of the weight they haul.
Over time, the weight readings given by these load cells will tend to become inaccurate due to "creep" within the metal of the load cell block. IE: after prolonged loading of a load cell, the loads will tend to produce a slightly greater distortion in the load cell over time (due to metal fatigue). Moreover, the amount of such "creep" distortions may be different at different loads.
A further problem with load cells is that the measured "force vs. deflection" relationship of the load cell is different when: (a) the loads are being progressively added to the load cell, and when (b) the loads are being progressively removed from the load cell. As a result, the same force applied to a load cell with result in a first deflection if weight had been previously added to the load cell; and a second deflection if weight had been previously removed from to the load cell.
A problem with existing truck load cells is that they are typically calibrated with only a single "force vs. deflection" relationship. Most typically, this "force vs. deflection" relationship is calibrated under conditions of increasing load. Thus, as weight is progressively added to the truck, the load cells will accurately indicate the addition of this load. However, as weight is removed from the load cell, the load cell will tend to show somewhat inaccurate results. This has proved to be particularly problematic for truck operators. Specifically, the portions of the total loads they are hauling are frequently added and/or removed during normal operations, resulting in somewhat inaccurate load cell readings.
Lastly, temperature variations of the load cells will tend to skew their weight readings.
What is instead desired is a load cell weighing system that provides accurate readings both as weight is added or removed from the load cell, thereby compensating for hysteresis in the load cell. Ideally, as well, such a system would also compensate for metal fatigue or "creep" as well. Lastly, as well, such a system would also compensate for temperature changes in the load cell.

Systems for compensating for creep and hysteresis in a load cell


A hull-mounted sonar array is provided. The array comprises a linear arrangement of hydrophones disposed within a generally D-shaped housing. The D-shaped housing comprises a generally flat portion having a first and second end and a curved portion extending from the first end to the second end. The hydrophones are arranged along the generally flat portion of the housing, equidistant from the curved portion. The housing is mounted to the hull of a vessel by, for example, a marine adhesive.

Civilian and military sea vessels use both active and passive sonar systems for numerous purposes including geological studies, marine life exploration, and military operations such as anti-submarine warfare (ASW). These systems are used to detect the presence of submerged objects by either transmitting a sound wave and detecting its reflection as it propagates through the water (active sonar) or by listening for sound waves generated by these objects (passive sonar).
These systems generally utilize sonar transducers, for example, hydrophones in conjunction with sound receiving and signal processing electronics to detect the presence of a submerged object. A database of known sonic frequencies is often used to aid in the target identification process. For example, in the case of military operations, vessels may be identified by the unique noises generated by their propulsion systems, or by the distinct operating frequencies of their AC power systems.
The use of passive sonar systems may be advantageous over active systems, as passive systems are "silent" in operation. Specifically, a host vessel's location is not reveled by the use of passive sonar systems, whereas the transmission of a sound wave (a "ping") by an active sonar system, while potentially providing range and bearing information of a target, also greatly increases the ability of other vessels to detect these pings, and thus the presence and/or location of a searching vessel. Accordingly, passive sonar is particularly useful in military operations, such as ASW, where undetected operation is of critical importance.
A drawback of passive sonar, however, is that it is subject to interference, particularly by noise emitted from the host vessel. For example, noise from the vessel's propulsion system may negatively impact the operation of a passive system. This is especially true in the case of hull-mounted arrays, where hull-born vibrations and other noises are transferred directly to the sonar transducers. In order to locate the array further from the vessel's noise-producing components, and thus reduce interference, sonar arrays are often towed behind vessels.
These towed arrays generally comprise hydrophone arrangements that are typically deployed and recovered through openings in the hull of the vessel below the water line. Thus, if the vessel is not originally constructed with this type of arrangement, the vessel must be dry docked and a portion of the hull removed in order to be retrofitted with the system. In the case of larger arrays, or cases where a hull-opening is not a preferred option, the towed array is often deployed and recovered over the gunwale of the ship using, for example, a winch and boom arrangement. This handling equipment occupies a large amount of deck space in addition to presenting a large target cross-section to enemy radar. Thus, these arrangements limit covert deployment and recovery. Deployment and recovery is also time consuming, expensive, and difficult in high seas.
Moreover, towed arrays can often not be deployed in shallow waters. This is an increasing problem as military and civilian vessels are beginning to operation in these more littoral waters. Towed arrays also negatively impact the maneuverability of a vessel, hindering, for example, "sprint-drift" and "sprint-stop" detection maneuvers, as well as the speed and mobility of a vessel in general when towing the array. Towed arrays are subject to various types of flow-noise, such as turbulent boundary layer (TBL) noise, extensional wave noise generated by strengthening or stiffening members typically utilized in the towed arrays, and breathing wave noise produced by the movement of fluid or flexible fill used within the hydrophone arrangements.
In the case of hull-mounted arrays, the same types of installation challenges exist. Specifically, installing these systems typically involves disposing a small sonar array on the hull of a vessel, such as on the bow, which normally requires cutting out a section of the hull and reinforcing it to maintain adequate seaworthiness. Accordingly, unless originally fitted to the vessel, these procedures require dry-docking and significant time out of service. As these installations are extremely expensive, they are not often performed on small vessels, including small non-military vessels.
Accordingly, it would be advantageous to have a hull, or surface-mounted passive sonar system which can easily and cost-effectively be retrofitted to existing vessels of all sizes, for both military and civilian uses. It would also be advantageous to provide a hull-mounted sonar system which does not hinder the operation of the vessel during, for example, tight maneuvering, especially in shallow waters.


Non-ionic photo-acid generating (PAG) polymerizable monomers were prepared that contain a side chain sulfonate ester of an alpha-hydroxy aryl ketone. The aryl ketone group has a perfluorinated substituent alpha to the ketone carbonyl. The sulfur of the sulfonate ester is also directly linked to a fluorinated group. PAG polymers prepared from the PAG monomers release a strong sulfonic acid when exposed to high energy radiation such as deep UV or extreme UV light. The photo-generated sulfonic acid has a low diffusion rate in an exposed resist layer subjected to a post-exposure bake (PEB) at 100° C. to 150° C., resulting in formation of good line patterns after development.

The present invention relates to non-ionic aryl ketone based polymeric photo-acid generators (PAGs), and more specifically to fluorinated PAG polymers comprising aryl ketone protected sulfonate ester groups that undergo photochemically induced deprotection, generating a fluorinated polysulfonic acid for lithographic applications.
Extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography, combined with multiple patterning enhancements, is expected to succeed current 193 nm immersion lithography as the next generation printing technique. EUV radiation, with a shorter wavelength of 13.5 nm, is expected to achieve sub-20 nm features in a single exposure process. However, more advances in efficient light sources, EUV masks, and resists are needed for EUV lithography to become a manufacturing process.
During the last few years, considerable effort has gone into the development of resists for EUV applications. However, the majority of the EUV resists have been modified from the resists developed for 193 nm and 248 nm applications.
The highest performing photoresists for 193 nm and 248 nm applications are all based on a chemical amplification mechanism. Chemically amplified photoresists utilize a catalytic mechanism to generate a relatively large number of chemical events (e.g., deprotection reactions in the case of positive tone photoresists, or crosslinking reactions in the case of negative tone photoresists). Application of a relatively low dose of radiation induces formation of the catalyst, often a strong acid, which then catalyzes the chemical events. The current positive resist compositions comprise aqueous base soluble functional groups that are sufficiently protected with acid-labile groups so that the resist initially will not dissolve in an aqueous base developer. During exposure to radiation, the photo-acid generator (PAG) present in the resist composition produces a strong acid, which then catalyzes the removal of the acid-labile groups upon heating the exposed resist layer in a post-exposure bake (PEB). This process produces aqueous base soluble material in the exposed area, which then is selectively removed with a basic aqueous developer to produce the images.
One phenomenon that limits the resolution potential of the resists developed for 248 nm, 193 nm and E-beam applications is referred to as "image blur" (see, e.g., Hinsberg et al., Proc. SPIE, (2000), 3999, 148). Image blur is generally thought to result from two contributing factors: gradient-driven acid diffusion and reaction propagation, the result being a distortion in the developable image compared to the projected aerial image transferred onto the film. This becomes critical in EUV applications because of the need for small features with low line edge roughness (LER). Therefore, a need exists to control the gradient driven acid-diffusion in the resist films.
Most widely reported PAG-bound polymers for EUV applications are ionic in nature, having a sulfonate anion attached to the polymer and a counter ion that is a sulfonium (e.g., triphenylsulfonium) or iodonium (e.g., diphenyliodonium) cation (see, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 8,057,985 B2). This type of polymer has limitations due to low incorporation of PAG 5 mol %), higher polydispersity, and poor solubility in casting solvents. These limitations prevent further improvements in resolution and LER.
Aryl ketone protecting groups have been used in organic synthesis as a photo-labile protecting group for carboxylic acids and in a few polymer-bound non-fluorinated photo-acid generators (e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 4,889,791, U.S. Pat. No. 5,624,777, JPA H10-221852).
A continuing need exists for non-ionic PAGs, which produce strong fluorinated sulfonic acids that remain attached to the polymer.

Non-ionic aryl ketone based polymeric photo-acid generators

International Business Machines Corporation


A belt retractor for a vehicular seat belt comprises a belt reel rotatably mounted in a frame, two locking discs for blocking the belt reel and two energy absorbing elements. The energy absorbing elements are each connected at an axial end to a locking disc and one of which is non-rotatably connected at an axial end to the belt reel. The belt retractor further comprises two locking pawls that are capable of cooperating with the locking discs. At least one of said locking pawls is releasably connected in a starting position to the frame by a connecting element.

The invention relates to a belt retractor for a vehicular seat belt.
A conventional belt retractor comprises a belt reel rotatably mounted in a frame, two locking discs for blocking the belt reel, two energy absorbing elements, each of which is connected at one axial end to a locking disc and one of which is non-rotatably connected at an axial end to the belt reel, and two locking pawls capable of cooperating with the locking discs. Energy absorbing elements of a belt retractor serve to permit a controlled return rotation of the belt reel, i.e. in the unreeling direction of the webbing when the belt retractor is itself blocked, as soon as high forces act on the seat belt made available by the belt retractor. It is in this way that a force limiting function is achieved. The belt retractor provided with a force limiting function permits a controlled forward movement of the upper body of the vehicle occupant, achieved ultimately by plastic deformation of the energy absorbing elements.
Various concepts have already been proposed for influencing the webbing force from which the controlled return rotation of the belt reel in the unreeling direction of the webbing materializes. Depending on the severity of the collision and weight of the vehicle occupant to be restrained the intention is to achieve adaptation to the force with which the webbing is unreeled. One possibility of influencing the force of the webbing is to selectively activate/deactivate one of the energy absorbing elements, this also needing to be reliably assured in case the belt retractor is blocked.
The object of the invention is to further develop a belt retractor of the aforementioned kind to the effect that the force with which the webbing is unreeled can be reliably altered even during the belt reel being blocked.
According to the invention, a belt retractor for a vehicular seat belt comprises a belt reel rotatably mounted in a frame, two locking discs for blocking the belt reel and two energy absorbing elements. The energy absorbing elements are each connected at an axial end to a locking disc and one of which is non-rotatably connected at an axial end to the belt reel. The belt retractor further comprises two locking pawls that are capable of cooperating with the locking discs. At least one of the locking pawls is releasably connected in a starting position to the frame by a connecting element. Making use of such belt retractor now makes it possible, for example, where a heavy vehicle occupant or a severe collision is concerned, to make use of an energy absorbing element having a high torsional resistance. If adaptation is needed, for example, during a lighter-weight vehicle occupant being jolted forwards or in the case of a less severe collision, then the connecting element can be moved by an unlocking element into an end position, so that the locking pawl is released from the frame, and locking pawl and frame are no longer connected to each other. This results in a second energy absorbing element being made use of to reduce the torsional resistance so that it results in lighter restraining forces acting on the vehicle occupant.
It is preferably provided for that the unlocking element can be acted upon by an actuating element. The unlocking element is a simple mechanical component capable of reliably acting on the connecting element when the unlocking element is acted upon by the actuating element. Hence, this makes it possible by particularly simple and rugged means to release the locking pawl from the frame and, with this, to make use of the second energy absorbing element such that a reduced belt unreeling force is produced.
In a further advantageous embodiment it is provided for that the connecting element comprises a mounting hole in which an axle is mounted, and the locking pawl comprises an aperture by which it is pivotally mounted on the axle. When the connecting element is urged from its original position by action of the unlocking element, the locking pawl is able to leave its locating position on the axle. When the aperture in the locking pawl has substantially the shape of an elongated hole and comprises a constriction, the axle is able to overcome the constriction as of a defined force and the locking pawl is released. This can be achieved also by the aperture in the locking pawl being covered in a partial area by a thin wall element. As of a defined force, the axle is able to break open the wall element and the locking pawl can leave its locating position on the axle.
Advantageous aspects of the invention will be apparent from the subclaims.

Belt retractor for a vehicular seat belt

TRW Occupant Restraint Systems GmbH and Co. KG


The swingpacer of the present invention is comprised of a power source, integrated electrical circuitry and a speaker which is housed in a suitable cabinet. A separate operable control functions as a mode select which cooperates with the electrical circuitry associated therewith to produce the desired number of tones, with the electrical circuitry including a control of operatively permitting the user to control the time delay between audible signals and to control the duration thereof. Additionally, the electrical circuitry includes a control which permits the user to operably control the time delay between the last audible signal of the previous sequence and the initiation of a new sequence of audible signals. The electrical circuitry is capable of generating a short audible signal prior to the starting of the next sequence which functions as an alert to the upcoming sequence. Additionally, for each audible signal that is generated, there is a registering visual signal emitted from an LED which is operatively connected to the electrical circuitry.

Athletic endeavors such as golf, bowling, tennis and dancing require the use of multi-stepped synchronized movements to achieve a particular result. The level of success that an individual will experience in the particular athletic endeavor is directly affected by the ability of the person to repetitively and uniformly reproduce the necessary movements with the proper timing. A device which can provide an audible and visual signal which accurately represents the timing of the multiple steps required to perform complex activities such as golf, bowling and the like would greatly aid in developing and maintaining the appropriate timing for that endeavor.
For example, a golfer, during the off-season in the northern latitudes, must practice indoors. The indoor golfer will soon begin to rush the backswing and downswing for the flight of the ball is no longer observable. The flight of the ball is what is used to determine if the ball is being struck correctly. However, a pacing timer which accurately reflects the proper timing of the steps being used would insure that a golfer would be less likely to speed up the swing during the off-season. Thus, a device which can assist in synchronizing and maintaining complex movements could serve both as a training tool and a diagnostic aid for a trainer and/or user.
Today, there are a number of training tapes which have been created by professional athletes. These training tapes demonstrate the proper methods and timing, but the individual has no tool with which to precisely duplicate the timing being utilized. A pacing timer which allows the individual to set the identical timing sequence, which is being utilized by the athlete in the training tape, would give the user an audible and visual means of reinforcing the tape's teachings.
While there are number of devices being utilized as pacers to assist in synchronizing bodily movements, they all suffer from several drawbacks. One limitation of the prior art devices is they are unable to produce the desired number of sequential tones or sounds required for the particular sport. Further, the prior art devices do not permit the user to selectively adjust the length of the sounds or the delay time between the sounds thereby severely limiting the usefulness and adaptability of the devices.
One such prior art device is U.S. Pat. No. 4,577,868 to Kiyonaga which is specifically utilized for golf swing training and has both visual and audible alerts.
The audible alert of the '868 patent consists of three timed chimes which are initiated by one of two address plates, each having weight sensors to detect and register the appropriate shifting of weight by a golfer during execution of a golf swing. Only the time interval between the first and second chimes can be adjusted in the '868 device. Further, the duration of each chime is not adjustable. Thus, the '868 device is not believed to be adaptable to accommodate different types of synchronized bodily movements having different timing between each movement thereof.
Another prior art device is U.S. Pat. No. 3,882,480 to Gerber which is a contact pace timer which may be worn by an individual and which generates an audible signal. Although the timing between the audible signals can be adjusted by the individual, the '480 device does not permit the generation of sequential, multiple tones having selectively adjustable timing. Additionally, the user of the '480 device must manually select the new timing sequence prior to the next cycle.
It is therefore a principal object of the present invention to provide an improved electronic pacing timer which can be utilized by different users for different synchronized multi-stepped bodily movements.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a pacer of the type described which permits the user to set multiple, independent tones which are generated at appropriate times and intervals.
Still a further object of the present invention is to provide a pacer which can serve as a diagnostic tool to aid in the development of proper athletic techniques.
Another object of the invention is to provide a pacer which allows the user to set the pace or timing thereof according to that which is utilized by those who are highly successful in a particular activity.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a pacer which is readily adaptable to accommodate different synchronized movements and the differing requirements for each user.
This and other objects of the invention will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art.


A secondary color is used for printing an image with a printer so as to reduce the granularity of the printed image, particularly the light image area. Data of magenta and cyan color components of image data is subjected to under-removal processing to generate blue ink image data as the mentioned secondary color. A blue ink dot is printed in accordance with the blue ink data obtained by the under removal processing to replace the magenta and cyan data. As a result, it is possible to reduce the granularity that would otherwise be caused by localized distributions of magenta and cyan dots.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image processing method, a printer (printing apparatus) and a storage medium, and more particularly to techniques of reducing the so-called granularity of a color image printed by using a plurality of different color materials.
The invention is applicable to all apparatuses using printing media such as paper, leather, unwoven cloth, OHP sheets, and metal. Specific examples of such apparatuses include business machines such as printers, copy machines and facsimiles, industrial machines such as printing machines and textile printing machines, and the like.
2. Related Background Art
Information processing apparatuses such as copy machines, word processors and computers, and communication apparatuses are widely used, and apparatuses for printing data from such information processing apparatuses, for example, ink jet type printers are prevalent. In order to improve the print speed of such an ink jet type printer, a print head having a plurality of ink jet nozzles integrally disposed is generally used. Such a print head capable of printing different colors has recently come to be widely used.
In ink jet printing, ink is used as the recording liquid and is jetted out from an ink discharge opening of a print head to be deposited on a printing medium such as a paper sheet to form a print dot. Since this is a non-contact printing method, this method has the advantage that noise is low. It is also easy to dispose nozzles of a print head at a high density so that a printed image can have a high resolution and the print speed can be made high. A color image can be printed with a relatively simple head structure, and the apparatus itself can be made compact and simple. In addition, a high-quality and inexpensive image printed on a printing medium such as a plain paper sheet can be obtained without any particular additional processes such as development and fixing. Since this method has many advantages, as described above, it is predominant nowadays. High image quality and high print speed are desired more and more with the advent of color printing.
As the ink jet printing method of printing a color image with three colors of inks, cyan (C), magenta (M) and yellow (Y), or with black (K) ink as well (three- or and four-color printing, respectively), many methods have been proposed to form a multi-tonal image.
With one method which has been adopted by many printers, the size of the dots formed on a printing sheet with discharged ink is maintained constant, and the tonal level of an image to be printed is changed by changing the dot density (dot discharge frequency per unit area). With another method, the diameter of a dot to be formed on a printing sheet is adjusted from dot to dot, so that the density per unit area varies within the image.
With recent developments of fine working of a head for generating an ink droplet, the number of dots (dot density: dpi) per unit length and the variable range of a dot diameter are being improved year after year. In the case of an ink jet printer, the print density (resolution) is about 300 dpi to 1200 dpi, and the ink droplet diameter is several tens of microns. This printing performance is far inferior to a silver-salt photograph (it is said that the resolution of an image on film is several thousand dpi).
In a low density area of a print image formed by an ink jet printer, i.e., in an area having a low dot density, the ink dots are relatively widely dispersed, and the print image may show conspicuous granularity (a grainy appearance). The positions and distribution of dots are changed as a result of binarization with certain binarizing methods, such as the dither method, even within an area where the print density is uniform. Therefore, even in a low dot density area where dots are dispersed, dots may be formed relatively tightly clustered in a small area and not distributed uniformly. In such a case, granularity becomes conspicuous.
With a conventional binarizing method, a printer halftone process has been devised in such a manner that the distribution of dots of each color in a low print density area is controlled to prevent clustering of dots of that color, as much as possible, to reduce the granularity.
However, granularity may become conspicuous even if such conventional method is used. This is because, even if the distribution of color dots is controlled to prevent clustering, this method is performed separately for each color, and it happens that the distributions of cyan and magenta are localized in some cases so that a viewer sees granularity. Although there is an approach that involves preventing clustering of the dots of cyan and magenta taken together, the resulting reduction of granularity is not sufficient if the dot diameter is relatively large.
With another known method, the granularity is reduced by using ink whose color material has a low density, such as a dye. Using ink having a low density in addition to ink of respective colors, however, may result in an increased cost of the printing apparatus.

Image processing method, printer and storage medium


The Toilet Bowl Silencer Dish is an accessory for the common household bathroom toilet bowl. It allows the adult male the capability to stand and use the toilet bowl without splashing urine or generating audible noise. A glazed ceramic dish is attached to a counterbalance and draped over the rim of the toilet bowl. Monofiliment line is looped through specially designed rings molded on the back side of the dish. This monofiliment twine is then looped through the counterbalance. The attached assembly will fit any toilet bowl shape. The dish hangs in a vertical position offering a concave target to the user. By directing his column of liquid, the user is able to avoid direct disruption of the noise generating toilet bowl water surface. The concaved shape of the dish blends with the rotating current of the swirling flush water and does not interfere with or obstruct the flushing action of the toilet. Target arcs are molded into the top of the Toilet Bowl Silencer Dish to assist the user in its most advantages use. Specially designed hang rings, in concert with splash fins on the back of the dish, assure that the dish will stay in an area of non-use within the toilet bowl and maintain an optimal angle. The counterbalance is in the shape of a handle to remind the owner that the Toilet Bowl Silencer Dish is easily removed for cleaning purposes. When the assembly is again draped over the toilet bowl rim, the designed balance of the dish will automatically assume a predetermined orientation.

The owner of a one-hundred-thousand dollar condominium unit asked if something could be done about the noise that the gentleman upstairs makes when he uses his toilet. He was referring to the sound of liquid hitting the toilet water in the bathroom of the unit directly above. This tinkling sound is carried along the plumbing pipes through walls and ceilings. The question was directed at a board of directors at a condominium association meeting. Everyone said that they were familiar with the irritating sound and all responded that absolutely nothing could be done about it.
A person who is extremely cognizant of this problem could observe the attempts of some toilet manufacturers to design a toilet bowl that acts as both a urinal and a seatable pot. Designs that try to offer the extra surface provided by a urinal fail to accomplish their objective. This is because the water level of the toilet bowl is not accurately controllable. In addition, as the shape of the toilet bowl becomes less hemispherical the flush becomes less effective.
The source of the noise is a falling column of liquid hitting the surface of standing water. The surface vibrates because the natural surface tension tries to keep the liquid water molecules together. If the flowing column of liquid was directed at a non-vibrating surface there would be no noise.
The common household bathroom toilet is a magnificent device which performs frequently and repeatedly without failure. It usually lasts longer than any other piece of equipment in the modern home. Past attempts to redesign the toilet bowl have not resulted in a resolution to the noise problem. The exact surface level of the standing water in the bowl is not constant and cannot be individually adjusted. Because of this, a definite unsubmerged non-liquid surface area of the inner bowl cannot be assured. This is the primary reason that toilet designers have been unable to guarantee a non-liquid surface.
There are two reasonable ways to avoid the noise of urine splashing into the bowl of water. One is to install a commercial, public, type urinal in every bathroom. Everyone knows that these devices offer surfaces that don't vibrate sound waves when hit with a flowing column of liquid. The second solution would be the act of the gentleman sitting down on the toilet seat. This reduces the gravitational acceleration which adds energy to the liquid stream and suppresses the modular build up of the falling droplets. The first solution would require the size of the bathroom to be increased by more than twice that of normal space allotments. The second solution fails because of habit and convenience. Since it is natural and comfortable for gentlemen to remain standing, it must be expected that men will not sit. Thus the common home toilet must also serve as a urinal.


A new and distinct cultivar of Nemesia plant named ‘Kienewhi’, characterized by its upright and outwardly spreading growth habit; freely branching and flowering plant habit; and white-colored flowers.

The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Nemesia, botanically known as Nemesia caerulea and hereinafter referred to by the name 'Kienewhi'.
The new Nemesia is a product of a planned breeding program conducted by the Inventor in Venhuizen, The Netherlands. The objective of the breeding program is to create new outwardly spreading Nemesia cultivars with attractive foliage shape and coloration.
The new Nemesia originated from a cross-pollination made by the Inventor during the spring of 2001 in Venhuizen, The Netherlands of a proprietary selection of Nemesia caerulea identified as code number HW 290-1, not patented, as the female, or seed, parent with a proprietary selection of Nemesia caerulea identified as code number HW 231-1, not patented, as the male, or pollen, parent. The new Nemesia was discovered and selected by the Inventor as a single flowering plant within the progeny of the stated cross-pollination in a controlled environment in Venhuizen, The Netherlands during the summer of 2002.
Asexual reproduction of the new Nemesia by terminal cuttings in a controlled environment in Venhuizen, The Netherlands since 2002, has shown that the unique features of this new Nemesia are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations.


Techniques are disclosed for maintaining reachability of an application moving between a central cloud network and a fog network using duplicate endpoint identifiers. Network characteristics of a cloud environment are monitored. The cloud environment includes a central cloud network and a fog network. A server in the central cloud network hosts an application that serves a client device. The application is assigned an endpoint identifier that is mapped to a locator identifier associated with the central cloud network. It is determined that a condition for moving the application to the fog network is satisfied based on the monitored network characteristics. An instance of the application is installed on a server in the fog network. The endpoint identifier is assigned to the application instance and mapped to a locator identifier associated with the fog network.

Fog computing (also known as edge computing) is a decentralized architecture that provides storage, compute, and networking services via edge devices geographically proximate to an end-user. Bringing these services closer to the edge of a cloud network improves latency between the service and a client using the service. Thus, clients that typically require the results of compute service in real-time can benefit from fog computing. Examples of such clients include Internet-of-Things (IoT) devices that include sensors that are constantly obtaining data and need to make relatively quick decisions based on the data. Rather than send the data to a host on a cloud network, where the underlying processing can possibly take place in geographically distant regions, the client can instead send the data to a device residing in a fog network that is located closer to where the client is physically situated. Advantageously, fog computing complements cloud computing in such cases.
An issue that arises in leveraging fog computing in combination with cloud computing is efficiently determining when an application services should be accessed via a fog network rather than a cloud network, and vice versa. That is, at times, it is practical to keep compute services running in the cloud rather than in the fog, e.g., if the compute services are not often accessed by a client. Conversely, in other cases it is practical to perform carry out compute services in the fog, e.g., in times where traffic is increased. Further, in addition to determining where the services should be carried out, routing traffic from the client to the appropriate destination in a practical also becomes an issue.
To facilitate understanding, identical reference numerals have been used, where possible, to designate identical elements that are common to the figures. It is contemplated that elements disclosed in one embodiment may be beneficially applied to other embodiments without specific recitation.

Maintaining reachability of apps moving between fog and cloud using duplicate endpoint identifiers


An apparatus and method of treating atrial fibrillation (AF) are provided. The apparatus includes means for detecting AF in a heart of a patient, means for classifying the AF as one of a plurality of AF types, means for selecting a therapy for delivery to the heart, from a plurality of therapies, based on AF type, and means for delivering the selected therapy to the heart. The plurality of therapies includes ATP therapy, a hybrid therapy including a combination of ATP therapy and drug therapy, and shock therapy. The method includes sensing an electrogram signal from the heart, analyzing the electrogram signal to detect AF in the heart, classifying the AF as one of a plurality of AF types, selecting a therapy for delivery to the heart, from a plurality of therapies, based on the AF type, and delivering the selected therapy to the heart.

Atrial fibrillation (AF) has typically been treated using shock therapy. When a patient's heart is found to be in AF, a jolting electrical pulse, or shock pulse, is delivered to the patient in order to reactivate the electrical signals throughout the heart. The shock pulse may be administered via external defibrillators, or via implantable cardiac device (ICDs) configured to deliver such a shock. Patients, however, feel uncomfortable using shock therapy because of the pain and discomfort associated with the shock. This is particularly the case if the shock therapy is applied frequently due to the reoccurring nature of AF.
Pacing therapies, such as anti-tachycardia pacing (ATP), have been proposed for the treatment of AF. Pacing therapy, if successful, is preferred over shock therapy since pacing therapy is relatively pain free and saves battery consumption. ATP therapies used to treat AF generally consist of "underdrive" pacing and "overdrive" pacing. Underdrive pacing is when the heart is paced at a rate slower than the arrhythmia rate. Overdrive pacing is when the heart is paced at a rate faster than the arrhythmia rate. Subsequently, overdrive pacing consists of various forms of pacing; i.e. scanning burst, shifting bursts, ramp pacing, etc.
Even though significant progress has been made with pacing therapy, however, it is still limited primarily to the prevention of AF and termination of atrial flutter. If AF can be terminated with pacing therapy, with or without pharmacological assistance, it will be a significant improvement in the treatment of AF.
For successful treatment of AF, an important aspect is whether the cardiac tissue can be captured. When cardiac tissue is captured, a temporary conduction block zone is created, which hinders conduction of fibrillatory wave propagation. If enough of these conductive blocks are created, fibrillatory waves will run out of tissue to propagate, thus extinguishing arrhythmia. Recent studies have found that AF can be classified as one of four types, with certain types being more capturable than others. Further research suggests that atrial tissue can be captured, and more specifically, atrial tissue in Type I AF or Type II AF is more likely to be captured than Type III AF or Type IV AF.
In "Characterization of Atrial Fibrillation in Man: Studies Following Open Heart Surgery," by J. Wells, PACE, Vol. 1, 1978, which is hereby incorporated by reference, Wells classified AF according to electrogram (EGM) morphologies. Type I AF represents discrete organized atrial EGMs with intervening isoelectric lines free of perturbation. Type II AF also represents discrete organized atrial EGMs, but without clear isoelectric intervals. Type III AF has disorganized atrial EGMs, without clear isoelectric intervals. Type IV AF is characterized as alternations between Type I AF and Type III AF.

Implantable cardiac device and method of treating atrial fibrillation


The present invention relates a method of controlling and monitoring the thickness variation of the film structure of a semiconductor wafer by monitoring the thickness variation of the film structure of a testing region. The method is characterized by etching the film structure of the testing region with a pattern density substantially compatible with that of the device region in order to precisely simulate the thickness variation of the film structure of a device region in a chemical mechanical polishing process.

The present invention generally relates to semiconductor process, and more specifically, to a planarizeation process
With the progressing of semiconductor technology into the ULSI (Ultra Large Scale Integration) stage, the integrity of semiconductor devices has increased significantly. A single integrated circuits (IC) chip may includes millions or even billions of devices. The devices like transistors, capacitors and the elements like connections and isolations must be made much smaller for a densely packed IC chip. A great number of challenges like lithography, etching, and planarization process must be improved for fabricating integrated circuits with sub-micrometer or even smaller feature sizes.
In the front-end process of fabricating integrated circuits, an active area is defined. On a wafer, a plurality of active areas are made. Generally, there are some methods of defining active areas, including of surrounding each active area by forming a layer of field oxide, or surrounding each active area by forming some shallow trenches. So as the present manufacturing technology for IC, the method of defining active areas by forming oxide layers needs so many areas that the integrity of IC can not promote. As a result, the shallow trench isolation (STI) technique is now the most popular isolation technique.
The shallow trench isolation technique is about to form shallow trenches within the substrate first, and then to fill with oxide layer as a non-conducting material. A planarization step is performed to remove the oxide deposited on the top of the active areas to form shallow trenches with a planarized surface. A further description is set forth below with the accompanying drawings.
Referring now to FIG. 1, a pad oxide 110 is formed on the surface of a substrate 100, while a silicon nitride layer 120 is then deposited on the pad oxide 110, using a proper CVD method, such as plasma enhanced CVD, as a stop layer of a polishing or an etching process to avoid destroying the substrate 100. After the pad oxide 110 and the silicon nitride 120 are formed, use traditional lithographic and etching processes to form a patterned photoresist layer (not shown) thereon and then etch away the nitride layer 120 using the patterned PR. The remained nitride layer 120 is thus utilized as the mask for further etching the substrate 100 to generate a plurality of shallow trenches. The shallow trenches are the non-active areas, while the regions between the shallow trenches are the active areas. Specifically, due to different designs of ICs, the widths of the active and the non-active areas are different.
Referring to FIG. 2, a process of forming a liner oxide on the side wall and the bottom of shallow trenches by means of, for example, thermal oxidization method. Moreover, a layer of silicon oxide 130 is then formed on the shallow trenches of the non-active areas and on the nitride layer 120 of the active areas using high density plasma CVD (HDPCVD). HDPCVD method is to utilize reaction gases, including silane, oxygen and argon, etc., in the reaction chamber to generate inductively coupled plasma for higher density. However, the thickness of deposited films, according to the HDPCVD, is not regular over the surface. More specifically, the speed of films deposited on side walls is much slower than that on planar surfaces. If the widths of trenches are different, the thin films deposited by HDPCVD can fill narrower trenches more easier. Because of pattern of the bottom layer, the surface topography of the silicon oxide layer 130 is rough and uneven, concave on shallow trench regions, convex on the nitride layer 120.
After the silicon oxide layer 130 is deposited, the oxide layer 130 above the nitride layer 120 must be removed to get a planarized surface for subsequent processes. The promising technique for global planarization is chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) process or a mixed process of both CMP and etching processes. Although the CMP technique is an effective method for planarization, the time needed is hard to find out and control.
During the STI process described above, the time of the CMP process should be controlled precisely. However, according to the characteristic of the CMP process, the polishing speed is relevant to the bottom pattern, i.e., the larger area required for polishing, the smaller polishing speed it would be, and vice versa. That is the speed over the wafer surface is not equal. As a result, some regions on the wafer are over polished, while some are under polished.
Generally, the traditional technique for controlling the polishing time is to utilize an optical measurement apparatus to measure the thickness of a specific region, such as a process control and monitor key (PCM key), on the wafer surface, while a CMP process is performed, for determining the endpoint for material removal in a specific layer thickness. More specifically, the PCM key is one specific region, for monitoring, on the wafer surface, containing the same structure and thickness of films, but without any circuit pattern thereon. Accordingly, the PCM key""s surface is planar and smooth, as illustrated in FIGS. 3A and 3B. FIG. 3A is the top view of the PCM key, while FIG. 3B is the cross-sectional diagram of the PCM key. However, an error is easily made as simulating the thickness variation of the films, on the wafer by monitoring the planar PCM key""s topography surface of the device regions. This is because that the polishing speed on the PCM key is slower than that on the device regions. When an endpoint in the films of the PCM key has been detected, the films of the corresponding device regions are often over polished. The certain damages on the device regions will result in function degradation thereof.
Moreover, generally, the traditional CMP process should discover each proper polishing time for each wafer with different pattern by means of doing experiments. It is understood that the CMP process is such a product-dependant process. As a result, there is an essential need to precisely control and monitor the polishing speed and time in the CMP process to improve the planarization process of semiconductor wafers and further to enhance their yield and throughput.
It is an objective of this invention to provide a method of controlling and monitoring the thickness variation of the film structure of the semiconductor wafer.
It is another objective of this invention to provide a planarization process to precisely control the stop layer in the chemical mechanical polishing process.
According to objectives mentioned above, the invention discloses a method of planarization process of a semiconductor wafer by controlling and monitoring the thickness variation of the film structure of the testing region thereon. The planarization method comprises the following processes. First, calculate a pattern density of the film structure of the device region. Etch the film structure of the testing region with a pattern density of the film structure of the testing region substantially compatible with that of the device region. Finally, polish the semiconductor wafer and monitor the thickness variation of the film structure of the testing region in order to precisely control the speed or time of polishing the whole wafer and to make sure the polishing process ended on the stop layer of the device region.

Method for controlling and monitoring a chemical mechanical polishing process


To provide a polymer which selectively adsorbs an acidic water-soluble target substance, a polymer which has a specific recognition site for an acidic water-soluble target substance, a production process thereof, and an acidic water-soluble target substance-adsorbing agent.

Selective separation techniques for a target substance based on the structure and characteristics of the target substance is a technique essential for various industries and chemical and biological studies and the like. In the selective separation techniques, a molecular imprinting method is one of the most important methods (e.g., see Non-patent Reference 1). A molecularly imprinted polymer obtained by the molecular imprinting method (to be referred also to as MIP hereinafter) has a characteristic of having a specific binding site complementary to a template molecule, which is effected by the polymerization of a polymerizable molecule having a functional group in the presence of the template molecule and subsequent removal of the template molecule.
As a substitute for a biological antibody, for example, application of MIP to a chromatographic separation of medical substances, a solid phase extraction of environment-derived or organism-derived samples for pretreatment, an artificial antibody for immunoassay and a biosensor device for the detection of structural specificity and the like has so far been examined.
In general, preparation of MIP is carried out making use of an interaction by hydrogen bond in an organic solvent. Thus, it is difficult to prepare an MIP for a water-soluble compound in an organic solvent. Also, when an MIP prepared in an organic solvent is used in an aqueous solution, it poses a problem of reducing its specific binding ability for the template molecule of MIP due to shrinking of the polymer. Further, since water molecule has a characteristic of dissociating hydrogen bond between substances, it is markedly difficult to prepare and use MIP in water. In addition, there is a tendency of causing nonselective adsorption to the surface of polymer matrix in aqueous solution due to a hydrophobic interaction.
In recent years, those which were prepared using acryloyl cyclodextrin and bis-acrylamide (cf. Non-patent Reference 2) and those which were prepared using polyethylene glycol diacrylate by an inter-functional group distance immobilization method (cf. Patent Reference 1), as novel MIPs prepared in an aqueous solution, have been reported. These MIPs show a certain degree of selective adsorption for template molecules.
However, since MIP is produced using excess amount of a functional monomer in the production method of Non-patent Reference 1, it is considered that recognition sites for the template molecule of MIP are not uniform. Also, since MIP is produced by forming an ionic interaction in an organic solvent in the production method of Patent Reference 1, it is considered that the distance between functional groups in the organic solvent is different from the distance between functional groups in aqueous solution. Accordingly, it is considered that the imprint effect is not sufficient by these methods. In addition, these methods have a problem in that they cannot be applied to a water-soluble compound which does not have an aromatic or the like hydrophobic backbone.
By the way, the number of chronic dialysis patients has exceeded 200,000 in recent years; with a tendency of increasing every year. Regardless of the presence of such a large number of chronic renal insufficiency patients, there is no fundamental therapeutic method and it is the present situation that there is only a blood dialysis as a symptomatic therapy aimed at prolonging life. As the blood dialysis therapy for renal insufficiency, it is general to remove uremia related substances and the like toxic substances produced and accumulated in the blood of patients, using a hollow fiber membrane type artificial kidney which uses a cellulose-based natural polymer and polysulfone, methyl polymethacrylate and the like synthetic polymer as the material.
The hollow fiber membrane wall is prepared in such a manner that fine pores having a diameter of approximately from 10 to 100 nm penetrate through it, and the toxic substances are transferred from the blood side to the dialysate side through the pores by the osmotic pressure difference. Currently, performance of the hollow fiber membranes has been markedly improved, thus rendering possible removal of not only urea, creatinine and the like low molecular weight substances (500 daltons or less) but also medium molecular weight substances (500 to 5,000 daltons) or low molecular weight proteins having a molecular weight of 10,000 daltons or more from renal insufficiency patients by dialysis.
However, a hollow fiber membrane capable of removing causal substances having large molecular weights has a tendency that hormones, vitamins, amino acids and water which are essential for the living body are excessively discharged into outside of the body, based on the engineering ground of structure and permeability of the membrane. Accordingly, when the dialysis is carried out for a prolonged period of time, it generates bone and joint disorders, anemia, blood pressure reduction and the like various complications caused thereby.
As described in the above, the current method for treating renal insufficiency by a hollow fiber membrane has many insufficient points in terms of the selective solute-removing ability and has a problem in that the low molecular weight substances essential for the living body are also discharged from the body by the dialysis. However, a countermeasure for this problem of dialysis has not so far been found. In addition, since compulsory time for patients at the hospital is very long in the case of general blood dialysis, there is also a problem in that burden on the social activities is large.    Non-patent Reference 1: B. Sellergren, Molecularly imprinted polymers: man made mimic of antibodies and their application, Elsevier Science (2001)    Non-patent Reference 2: H. Asanuma, T. Akiyama, K. Kajiyama, T. Hishiya and N. Komiyama, Anal. Chim. Acta, 2001, 435, 25    Patent Reference 1: JP-A-2006-137805

Polymer capable of adsorbing acidic water-soluble target substance, and method for production of the polymer

Abstract: A polymer which selectively adsorbs at least one kind of an acidic water-soluble target substance, in which the polymer has a cross-linked structure formed through a two-step reaction including a Michael addition reaction of a polymer having an amino group and/or imino group with an unsaturated carbonyl cross-linker, and a subsequent radical polymerization.