An object of the present invention is to provide a liquid-jet head and a liquid-jet apparatus each capable of stabilizing liquid ejection characteristics in favorable states, and also capable of preventing destruction of a vibration plate. Disclosed is a liquid-jet head including a laminated electrode which is provided on the vibration plate outward of a region corresponding to the piezoelectric elements, and is electrically connected to the lower electrode. In the liquid-jet head, a stress relaxing layer is provided at least in regions corresponding to edge portions of the laminated electrode between the laminated electrode and the vibration plate, the stress relaxing layer being made of a material having a linear expansion coefficient greater than that of the vibration plate and less than that of the laminated electrode.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a liquid-jet head and a liquid-jet apparatus, and particularly relates to an ink-jet recording head and an ink-jet recording device where: a part of each pressure generating chamber communicating with a nozzle orifice for ejecting ink droplets is formed of a vibration plate; a piezoelectric element is provided on a surface of the vibration plate; and the ink droplets are ejected by displacement of the piezoelectric element.
2. Background Art
There have been two types in practical use as an ink-jet recording head where: a part of each pressure generating chamber communicating with a nozzle orifice for ejecting ink droplets includes a vibration plate; and ink droplets are ejected through the nozzle orifice in a manner that a pressure is applied onto ink in the pressure generating chamber by causing a piezoelectric element to deform the vibration plate. One of these two types is a head using piezoelectric actuators of a longitudinal vibration mode in which the piezoelectric actuators are elongated and contracted in an axial direction of piezoelectric elements. Another one uses piezoelectric actuators of a flexure-vibration mode. In the case of the former type, it is possible to produce a head suitable for high-density printing since end faces of piezoelectric elements make contact with a vibration plate and a volume of each pressure generating chamber is changed, but on the other hand, there is a problem that manufacturing processes are complicated. In this type, a method of cutting and separating the piezoelectric elements into comb-teeth like shapes so as to correspond to arrangement pitches of nozzle orifices, is required. Moreover, an operation of positioning the cut and separated piezoelectric elements in order to attach them to the pressure generating chambers to fix them. Contrastively, in the case of the latter type, it is possible to have piezoelectric elements formed on a vibration plate in a relatively easy process, where a green sheet which is provided as a material for the piezoelectric elements is attached in accordance with shapes of pressure generating chambers, and is baked thereafter. However, there is a problem that a high-density arrangement is difficult because this type requires an area large enough to allow utilization of flexure vibrations.
For the purpose of resolving the above described disadvantage in the latter type of recording head, there is another type of recording head where piezoelectric elements are formed so as to be independent from each other in a manner corresponding respectively to pressure generating chambers. In this manner, the piezoelectric elements are formed by forming a uniform piezoelectric material layer on an entire surface of a vibration plate with a deposition technique, and then, through a lithography technique, piezoelectric material layer is cut and separated into shapes corresponding to the respective pressure generating chambers. According to this type, the process of attaching the piezoelectric elements to the vibration plate is not required. The piezoelectric elements can be formed in a high-density state by using the precise and convenient lithography technique, and also, there is an advantage that a thickness of the piezoelectric elements can be thinner and thereby a high-speed drive is possible.
However, in an ink-jet recording head where piezoelectric elements are thus arranged in a high-density state, there are following problems since one electrode (a common electrode) of each of the piezoelectric elements is provided to be shared by the plural piezoelectric elements. When a large number of the piezoelectric elements are simultaneously driven to eject a large amount of ink droplets, ink ejection characteristics are deteriorated because a voltage drop occurs and displacements of the piezoelectric elements comes to be unstable. Note that, particularly with respect to an electrode of a piezoelectric element formed of a thin film, the electrode has-a relatively high resistance value because the film is thin, and hence is more likely to bring about the aforementioned problem.
For the purpose of solving these problems, there is a technology where a resistance value of the common electrode is substantially reduced by providing a connection wiring layer in a region facing a vicinity of an edge portion of each piezoelectric element in a longitudinal direction of the piezoelectric element. The connection wiring layer is electrically connected to the common electrode of the piezoelectric elements (for example, refer to Japanese Patent Application publication No. 2004-1431).
In order to reduce the resistance value of the common electrode, the connection wiring layer is made of a material which has relatively high conductivity, for example, a metal material such as gold (Au) or Aluminum (Al). Additionally, the connection wiring layer is formed to have a thickness substantially equal to that of the vibration plate, for example, between 1 and 3 μm. On the other hand, in many cases, the vibration plate is made of a material which has relatively low conductivity. For example, in Patent Document 1, a vibration plate is disclosed which includes an elastic film made of silicon dioxide (SIO2) formed by thermally oxidizing a passage-forming substrate which is a single crystal silicon substrate.
Additionally, as methods of manufacturing the connection wiring layer, general ones are a spattering method, and a method where a film is patterned through etching after it has been deposited through a vapor deposition technique. In order to obtain a film having good adhesion with an undercoat thereof, through the spattering method or through the evaporation deposition technique, it is necessary to perform deposition while heating the passage-forming substrate (the vibration plate) at a temperature of about 100 to 300° C. Furthermore, in the spattering method, the deposition proceeds while atoms collide with the passage-forming substrate (the vibration plate). Accordingly, even without heating the passage-forming substrate, a temperature of the passage-forming substrate (the vibration plate) comes to be 150 to 300° C.
Therefore, when the connection wiring layer is deposited with the spattering method or the like, there is a problem that a membrane stress remains on the vibration plate, due to a difference in amount of contraction between the vibration plate and the connection wiring layer at a cooling phase. That is, there is a problem that, as the membrane stress remains on the vibration plate, the vibration plate around a periphery of the connection wiring layer easily cracks if en external force is imposed. The external force is, for example, a pressure application when a head is assembled, or capping when the head is used.
Additionally, among ink-jet recording heads of this type, for example, there is one head having a configuration where a reservoir includes a communicating portion and a reservoir portion, and ink is supplied from this reservoir to each pressure generating chamber (for example, refer to Japanese Patent Application publication No. 2004-216581). The communicating portion is provided on a passage-forming substrate, and the reservoir portion is provided on a reservoir forming plate joined to the passage-forming substrate. Here, in the ink-jet recording head having this configuration, there is a case that ink (moisture) in the reservoir infiltrates from the interface between the passage-forming substrate and the reservoir forming plate, and when the ink reaches a connection wiring layer, a voltage is applied to the ink. Accordingly, electrolysis is operated on the ink, and gas and foreign substances are generated, whereby ejection of ink droplets becomes inferior. Furthermore, if the ink reaches a piezoelectric element, there is a possibility that the ink destroys the piezoelectric element. Moreover, particularly in the structure where the connection wiring layer is provided as described above, a problem of this kind is more likely to occur as a thickness of an adhering agent to join the reservoir forming substrate, comes to be relatively large.
Meanwhile, it is obvious that the abovementioned problems are involved not only in ink-jet recording heads which eject ink, but also are involved similarly in other liquid-jet recording heads which eject liquid droplets other than ink.

Liquid-jet head and liquid-jet apparatus


The invention relates to herbicidal sulfonylurea compounds, agriculturally suitable compositions thereof and a method for their use as general or selective preemergent or postemergent herbicides or plant growth regulants.

This invention relates to certain herbicidal sulfonylureas, agriculturally suitable compositions thereof and a method for their use as general or selective preemergent or postemergent herbicides or as plant growth regulants.
New compounds effective for controlling the growth of undesired vegetation are in constant demand. In the most common situation, such compounds are sought to selectively control the growth of weeds in useful crops such as cotton, rice, corn, wheat and soybeans, to name a few. Unchecked weed growth in such crops can cause significant losses, reducing profit to the farmer and increasing costs to the consumer. In other situations, herbicides are desired which will control all plant growth. Examples of areas in which complete control of all vegetation is desired are areas around railroad tracks, storage tanks and industrial storage areas. There are many products commercially available for these purposes, but the search continues for products which are more effective, less costly and environmentally safe.
EP-A-238,070 discloses herbicidal sulfonylureas of the general formula ##STR1## wherein: Q is a condensed heterocyclic group having an N atom in the bridgehead, which may be substituted.


An RFID device preparation system includes a printer combined with a short-range tester/reader. The tester/reader operatively couples to the RFID device using capacitive and/or magnetic coupling. By use of capacitive and/or magnetic coupling, good read characteristics may be obtained, while obtaining excellent discrimination between various RFID devices that may be in or near the tester/reader. Thus, RFID devices may be inexpensively and reliably tested one at a time, without appreciable interference or effect due to the presence of other RFID devices. The tester/reader may include electric-field and/or magnetic-field coupling elements that are configured to receive different signals, in order to test a variety of configurations of RFID devices. This may enable the device preparation system to accommodate various types and configurations of RFID devices, increasing versatility of the system.

1. Technical Field
The invention relates to systems and methods for preparing RFID devices.
2. Background of the Related Art
Radio frequency identification (RFID) tags and labels (collectively referred to herein as "devices") are widely used to associate an object with an identification code. RFID devices generally have a combination of antennas and analog and/or digital electronics, which may include for example communications electronics, data memory, and control logic. For example, RFID tags are used in conjunction with security-locks in cars, for access control to buildings, and for tracking inventory and parcels. Some examples of RFID tags and labels appear in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,107,920, 6,206,292, and 6,262,292, all of which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entireties.
As noted above, RFID devices are generally categorized as labels or tags. RFID labels are RFID devices that are adhesively or otherwise have a surface attached directly to objects. RFID tags, in contrast, are secured to objects by other means, for example by use of a plastic fastener, string or other fastening means.
RFID devices include active tags and labels, which include a power source, and passive tags and labels, which do not. In the case of passive tags, in order to retrieve the information from the chip, a "base station" or "reader" sends an excitation signal to the RFID tag or label. The excitation signal energizes the tag or label, and the RFID circuitry transmits the stored information back to the reader. The "reader" receives and decodes the information from the RFID tag. In general, RFID tags can retain and transmit enough information to uniquely identify individuals, packages, inventory and the like. RFID tags and labels also can be characterized as to those to which information is written only once (although the information may be read repeatedly), and those to which information may be written during use. For example, RFID tags may store environmental data (that may be detected by an associated sensor), logistical histories, state data, etc.
As the price of RFID devices goes down, such devices are used in a wider variety of applications. It may be desirable for some applications to put individualized visual information on the RFID device. To that end, the RFID device may include or be coupled to a label that may be printed with visual information. The visual information may be machine-readable information, or may be information intended for identification and reading by a person. An example of a system for printing information on an RFID label is the system described in International Publication No. WO 02/35463, which is incorporated by reference in its entirety.
Some effort has been made in prior systems to provide encoding or programming of an RFID device in conjunction with a printing operation. Examples of such systems are those described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,246,326 and 6,593,853. Notwithstanding these prior devices and methods, improvements would be desirable with regard to combining printing operations with interaction with an RFID device.

RFID device preparation system and method


An impurity is diffused into semiconductor epitaxial layers of a semiconductor device from a solid phase diffusion source through an additional thin film layer disposed on the epitaxial layers of the structure. After the diffusion, the thin film layer is removed. The material of the additional thin film layer has physical properties approximating those of the epitaxial layers. Accordingly, no crystallographic defects such as dislocations are introduced into the epitaxial layers by heat treatment, and, accordingly, the resulting device has reduced leakage current.

Techniques for forming diffusion regions of semiconductor devices include ion implantation, gaseous phase diffusion, and solid phase diffusion. With ion implantation, disadvantageously, the depth of resulting diffusion regions is shallow, namely, only on the order of 1 .mu.m, and a high temperature of from 700.degree. to 800.degree. C. is required for annealing. Sufficient depth can be achieved when gaseous phase diffusion is employed, but, disadvantageously, the area of a resulting diffusion region is small and a high temperature of 700.degree.-800.degree. C. for annealing is required. In contrast, solid phase diffusion can provide a large depth and a large area diffusion region, and the annealing temperature is lower, namely, 400.degree.-500.degree. C. Thus, solid phase diffusion is suitable for forming diffusion regions of semiconductor devices.
An example of a conventional technique of forming a diffusion region by means of solid phase diffusion is now described with reference to FIGS. 1(a)-l(h), which illustrate fabrication of an InGaAs/InP photodiode.
As shown in FIG. 1(a), on an n.sup.+ -type InP substrate 1, an n.sup.- -type InGaAs light absorbing layer 2, an n.sup.- -type InP window layer 3, and n.sup.- -type InGaAs contact layer 4, which are epitaxial layers, are uniformly grown in the named order by, for example, gaseous phase growth. In this case, the lattice constant difference between the n.sup.- -type InGaAs light absorbing layer 2 and n+-type InGaAs contact layer 4 is within a range of .+-.0.3 %.
In the step shown in FIG. 1(b), a SiN masking film 7 is deposited uniformly over the n.sup.- -type InGaAs contact layer 4 by means of, for example, plasma CVD. Then, photolithography is employed to form an aperture A, using an etchant, such as hydrofluoric acid, only in that portion of the film 7 through which solid phase diffusion is to be carried out.
Then, as shown in FIG. 1(c), a uniform ZnO diffusion source layer 8 and a uniform SiO.sub.2 capping layer 9 each having a thickness of about 1000 .ANG. are successively desposited by sputtering on the masking film 7 and the layer 4 exposed through the aperture A.
In the step shown in FIG. 1(d), the structure shown in FIG. 1(c) is subjected to heat treatment in an N.sub.2 gas atmosphere at a temperature of about 500.degree. C. for several tens of minutes to effect diffusion of Zn, which results in a p-type region 10. (In FIG. 1(d), a broken line indicates a diffusion front.)
Next, the SiO.sub.2 layer 9, the ZnO diffusion source layer 8, and the SiN layer 7 are removed by selective etching, using an etchant, such as hydrofluoric acid, which results in a structure shown in FIG. 1(e). Then, using nitric acid for selective etching, the n.sup.- -type InGaAs contact layer 4 is removed, leaving a p-type inversion layer 4a which is part of that portion of the layer 4 which has been inverted to p-type. This results in a structure shown on 1(f). The top surface of the structure shown in FIG. 1(f) is covered with an SiN film 11, leaving the top surface of the p-type inversion layer 4a uncovered, as shown in FIG. 1(g).
Finally, an Au/Ti electrode 12 is formed for connection to the p-type inversion layer 4a, and an Au/AuGe electrode 13 is formed on the opposite surface of the substrate 1, as shown in FIG. 1(h).
According to the conventional solid phase diffusion, a solid phase diffusion source is vapor deposited directly on an epitaxial layer of a resulting semiconductor device. Accordingly, when the structure is subjected to heat treatment, distortions are produced due to differences in physical constants, such as thermal expansion coefficients, of the two materials, which could result in defects, such as dislocation, in epitaxial layers forming the device. Such defects could cause an increase in leakage current.

Method of forming diffusion region of semiconductor device by solid phase diffusion


An oil pressure control device for supplying oil pressure by rotating a hydraulic pump, by means of a motor, comprises an oil pressure sensor; a speed instruction operation unit for outputting a speed instruction value, based on a difference between an oil pressure determination value from the oil pressure sensor and an oil pressure instruction value; a torque instruction value operation unit for calculating a torque instruction value, based on a difference between a speed determination value and the speed instruction value; and a current control unit for controlling a current of the motor, based on the torque instruction value, and adds the load variation compensation speed outputted from the load variation compensation unit and the speed instruction value.

Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to control of a motor for driving a hydraulic pump in a hydraulic unit for a machine tool.
Description of the Related Art
In a hydraulic unit for supplying oil pressure by rotating a motor connected to a hydraulic pump, it is often a case that the motor is rotated at a constant high speed and the oil pressure is adjusted to a desirable level, by means of an oil pressure relief valve or the like. In this case, as oil from the relief valve is intentionally leaked, high power consumption results with the motor. Further, as the motor is rotated at a high constant speed, a loud noise is emitted. To address the above, various attempts have been made in controlling a motor for driving a hydraulic pump.
FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing a conventional control device of a motor 9 for driving a hydraulic pump. An oil pressure sensor 12 is mounted on a hydraulic circuit to which a hydraulic pump 10 and a load 11 such as a hydraulic cylinder or the like are connected. Using a hydraulic determination value Pd from the oil pressure sensor 12 as a feedback value, a subtractor 2 obtains a hydraulic deviation relative to a hydraulic instruction value Pc outputted from a superior control device 1. Based on the hydraulic deviation, a speed instruction operation unit 3 outputs a speed instruction value Vc through proportional-integral control. Meanwhile, a motor position determination unit 8 is mounted on the motor 9, which is connected to rotate the hydraulic pump, and determines a position determination value. The position determination value is differentiated by a differentiator 13 to output a speed determination value Vd of the motor 9. A subtractor 5 obtains a deviation between the speed instruction value Vc and the speed determination value Vd of the motor 9, and outputs the result as a speed deviation. Based on the speed deviation, a torque instruction operation unit 6 outputs a torque instruction Tc through proportional-integral control. Based on the torque instruction Tc, a current control unit 7 including an inverter flows a current into the motor 9 to control the motor 9.
As the motor 9 is controlled based on the oil pressure determination value Pd determined by the oil pressure sensor 12, it is possible to keep the rotation of the motor 9 to a minimum required rotation and resultantly to reduce power consumption as well as noise.
However, according to the conventional art shown in FIG. 7, in the case where a sharp change in load should occur, response may be delayed. As a result, it takes time to attain a desired oil pressure, which resultantly causes a problem of a longer than expected response time in relation to a load.


A fishing device designed for use during spearfishing or ice fishing in an ice shanty. The device includes a sound emanating reel. The line from the reel enters a tube and emerges from the end of the tube to prevent line freeze. The device includes a suspension arrangement for use while suspending a decoy during spearfishing.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a device used while angling or spearfishing during the winter months, normally referred to as ice fishing. More particularly, the present invention provides an improved fishing pole and reel combination for use with a decoy for spearfishing or live bait for angling. The pole includes a sound-emanating reel and a hollow tube pole. Preferably the line from the reel enters the tube to prevent the line from freezing.
2. Description of the Relevant Art
The previous relevant art has had several shortcomings which are solved by the present invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,043,070 discloses a rod mounted upon a tripod for use while ice fishing. The line enters a hollow tube pole but only after passing through several sharp corners which may cause line abrasions. In addition, the pole is designed to balance on the tripod so that when a fish takes the bait, the pole moves up and down, or bobs, indicating the presence of a fish to the angler. This system could result in the loss of fish that sense the resistance of the pole on the tripod and leave the area of the bait.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,151,672 discloses a fishing device designed for use by novice fishermen and children. The pole comprises a hollow tube with the line exiting from one end and secured via a rubber band at the opposite end. The line is stored within the tube. This device does not include a reel and is intended to be approximately eight feet in length.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,654,994 discloses an attachment for a hollow core fishing rod comprising a compressible coil spring as a means to project the line through vegetation on the banks of a body of water. This device merely acknowledges that hollow fishing poles are known.
The present invention provides an improved ice fishing decoy and/or bait fishing pole.

Fishing device and methods of constructing and utilizing same


An air shut-off valve apparatus for a fuel cell system is provided. The apparatus includes a valve body having an inlet-side air passage through which supply air flows and an outlet-side air passage through which exhaust air flows. A valve flap is installed in the valve body to open or close the inlet-side air passage and the outlet-side air passage. An inlet-side check valve is opened when pressure of the supply air is greater than or equal to a predetermined pressure, to guide the supply air into the fuel cell stack through the inlet-side air passage even while the valve flap is closed. An outlet-side check valve is opened when pressure of the exhaust air is greater than or equal to a predetermined pressure, to guide the exhaust air released from the fuel cell stack to flow through the outlet-side air passage even while the valve flap is closed.

Fuel cell systems, which continually produce electrical energy through an electro-chemical reaction of fuel continuously supplied thereto, have been consistently studied and developed as an alternative for solving global environmental problems. The fuel cell systems may be classified into a phosphoric acid fuel cell (PAFC), a molten carbonate fuel cell (MCFC), a solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC), a polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell (PEMFC), an alkaline fuel cell (AFC), and a direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC) according to the types of electrolytes used. The fuel cell systems may be applied to various applications, such as mobile power supply, transportation, distributed power generation, and the like, according to operating temperatures and output ranges along with the types of fuels used.
Among the fuel cells mentioned above, the PEMFC is applied to a hydrogen vehicle (a hydrogen fueled cell vehicle) that is being developed to replace an internal combustion engine. The hydrogen vehicle is driven by producing electricity through an electro-chemical reaction of hydrogen and oxygen and operating a motor with the electricity produced. Accordingly, the hydrogen vehicle has a structure that includes a hydrogen (H2) tank for storing hydrogen (H2), a fuel cell stack (FC stack) that produces electricity through oxidation/reduction reactions of hydrogen (H2) and oxygen (O2), various apparatuses for draining water produced, a battery that stores the electricity produced by the fuel cell stack, a controller configured to convert and adjust the electricity produced, a motor configured to generate a driving force, and the like.
The fuel cell stack refers to a fuel cell body having tens or hundreds of cells stacked in series. Additionally, the fuel cell stack has a structure in which a plurality of cells are stacked between end plates, each cell including an electrolyte membrane that divides the interior of the cell into two parts, an anode on a first side of the electrolyte membrane, and a cathode on a second side thereof. A separator is disposed between the cells to restrict flow paths of hydrogen and oxygen. The separator is made of a conductor to move electrons during oxidation/reduction reactions.
When hydrogen is supplied to the anode, the hydrogen is divided into hydrogen ions and electrons by a catalyst. The electrons produce electricity while moving outside the fuel cell stack through the separator. The hydrogen ions pass through the electrolyte membrane and move to the cathode, after which the hydrogen ions are combined with oxygen supplied from ambient air and electrons to produce water, and the water produced is discharged to the outside.
A fuel cell system includes an air shut-off valve apparatus configured to regulate supply air supplied into a fuel cell stack and exhaust air released from the fuel cell stack. The air shut-off valve apparatus includes a valve flap that is opened or closed by electrical control, and an air passage through which the supply air flows and/or an air passage through which the exhaust air flows may be opened or closed by the valve flap. When the valve flap is not operated normally due to a failure or malfunction in the air shut-off valve apparatus, air is unable to be supplied into the fuel cell stack. Accordingly, the fuel cell stack fails to generate electric power and driving power is unable to be supplied to a fuel cell vehicle.

Air shut-off valve apparatus for fuel cell system


A method and apparatus for channel estimation in a spread spectrum receiver include processing that begins by despreading a received spread spectrum complex baseband sample utilizing a pseudorandom spreading sequence to produce a despread baseband symbol. The processing continues by filtering the despread baseband symbol to attenuate adverse channel effects based on a channel response estimate to produce a filtered despread baseband symbol. The processing then continues by decoding the filtered despread baseband symbol to produce recaptured data. The processing continues by modulating the recaptured data to produce a remodulated symbol. The processing then continues by producing a reconstructed spread spectrum complex baseband sample from the remodulated symbol based on the pseudorandom spreading sequence. The processing then continues by generating the channel response estimate such that a convolution of the channel response estimate with the reconstructed spread spectrum complex baseband sample substantially emulates the received spread spectrum complex baseband sample.

Communication systems are known to support wireless and wire lined communications between wireless and/or wire lined communication devices. Such communication systems range from national and/or international cellular telephone systems to the Internet to point-to-point in-home wireless networks. Each type of communication system is constructed, and hence operates, in accordance with one or more communication standards. For instance, wireless communication systems may operate in accordance with one or more standards including, but not limited to, IEEE 802.11, Bluetooth, advanced mobile phone services (AMPS), digital AMPS, global system for mobile communications (GSM), code division multiple access (CDMA), local multi-point distribution systems (LMDS), multi-channel-multi-point distribution systems (MMDS), and/or variations thereof.
Depending on the type of wireless communication system, a wireless communication device, such as a cellular telephone, two-way radio, personal digital assistant (PDA), personal computer (PC), laptop computer, home entertainment equipment, et cetera communicates directly or indirectly with other wireless communication devices. For direct communications (also known as point-to-point communications), the participating wireless communication devices tune their receivers and transmitters to the same channel or channels (e.g., one of the plurality of radio frequency (RF) carriers of the wireless communication system) and communicate over that channel(s). For indirect wireless communications, each wireless communication device communicates directly with an associated base station (e.g., for cellular services) and/or an associated access point (e.g., for an in-home or in-building wireless network) via an assigned channel. To complete a communication connection between the wireless communication devices, the associated base stations and/or associated access points communicate with each other directly, via a system controller, via the public switch telephone network, via the Internet, and/or via some other wide area network.
For each wireless communication device to participate in wireless communications, it includes a built-in radio transceiver (i.e., receiver and transmitter) or is coupled to an associated radio transceiver (e.g., a station for in-home and/or in-building wireless communication networks, RF modem, etc.). As is known, the transmitter includes a data modulation stage, one or more intermediate frequency stages, and a power amplifier. The data modulation stage converts raw data into baseband signals in accordance with the particular wireless communication standard. The one or more intermediate frequency stages mix the baseband signals with one or more local oscillations to produce RF signals. The power amplifier amplifies the RF signals prior to transmission via an antenna.
As is also known, the receiver is coupled to the antenna and includes a low noise amplifier, one or more intermediate frequency stages, a filtering stage, and a data recovery stage. The low noise amplifier receives an inbound RF signal via the antenna and amplifies it. The one or more intermediate frequency stages mix the amplified RF signal with one or more local oscillations to convert the amplified RF signal into a baseband signal or an intermediate frequency (IF) signal. The filtering stage filters the baseband signal or the IF signal to attenuate unwanted out of band signals to produce a filtered signal. The data recovery stage recovers raw data from the filtered signal in accordance with the particular wireless communication standard.
In an ideal wireless communication system, the RF signal received by the receiver exactly matches the RF signal transmitted by the transmitter. In practice, however, the RF signal received by the receiver has been distorted from the RF signal transmitted by the transmitter due to the frequency response of the channel carrying the RF signal, i.e., the channel response. For instance, multi-path effects, distance, transmit power levels, et cetera all effect the channel response and consequently, adversely affect the received RF signal.
To accurately recapture the data embedded in RF signals, a receiver includes a channel equalizer or channel match filter, which attempts to undo the adverse effects of the channel. To train the channel matched filter or the channel equalizer, a channel estimation function may be performed on known data contained in the RF signal. The recaptured data is evaluated with respect to the actual known data to determine the gain and frequency response of the channel, i.e., the channel response. From this evaluation, the channel estimation function is determined and is subsequently used to provide the channel equalization.
Needless to say, channel estimation is a complex and vital function for accurate wireless communications. Typically, channel estimation circuitry includes a multi-tap filter and a coefficient estimation circuitry, wherein the coefficient estimation circuitry determines the coefficients that shape the multi-tap filter based on the channel response. The channel estimation circuitry processes up to each tap of the multi-tap filter separately and at the chip rate (i.e., the rate of the direct sequence spread spectrum signal), which requires the processor(s) of the coefficient estimation circuitry to operate at very high rates. Even though the channel estimation circuitry is operating at very high rates, the processing takes multiple iterations to obtain the coefficients, which is time consuming and requires complex hardware. In some applications, there is not sufficient time to completely train the channel estimation circuitry even though it is operating at very high rates. For example, in an IEEE 802.11b application, the channel estimation circuitry uses the preamble of a packet to obtain the channel estimation. The preamble may include a long or short SYNC data unit. When the preamble includes the short SYNC data unit, which is 56 microseconds in length, current channel estimation circuitry cannot obtain a reliable channel estimation for an entire multipath channel in such a short time, so compromises are made. For instance, only the three most prominent paths of the multi-path channel are used, which reduces the accuracy of channel equalization.
Therefore, a need exists for a faster, more accurate, and less complex channel estimation method and apparatus for use in wireless communication systems.

Channel estimation in a spread spectrum receiver


Systems and methods enhancing auditory experience for a user are provided. The method comprises receiving ambient sound by way of one or more microphones positioned about a user; monitoring the user's movements to determine sound signals interesting to the user; processing the received ambient sound based on the user's movements to at least: increase inclusion of the interesting sound signals in a generated audio output; or reduce inclusion of uninteresting sound signals in the generated audio output.

Traditional hearing aids help improve auditory perception of patients suffering from hearing loss by performing the simple function of amplifying all ambient sound as received by the hearing aid. Particularly, the audio signal enhancement techniques used in the traditional hearing aids can only operate in a static manner, where a certain configuration or setting is maintained independent of the user's environment or changes in the user's needs.
For example, a user of a hearing aid device may be facing a person nearby and listening to that person during a conversation. The traditional hearing aid can be adjusted to control the volume of voice signals received from the nearby distance. Such setting, however, would not optimize the user's auditory experience if he also wants to listen to music delivered by loudspeakers to the left of the user, or if the user wants to listen to another person located at a further distance behind.

Selective acoustic enhancement of ambient sound


Embodiments of the invention may provide a modular conveyor that includes a conveyor frame including an access opening, a plurality of conveyor buckets configured to move along a continuous path within the conveyor frame, and an access station where the contents of a conveyor bucket disposed at the access station may be accessible through the access opening. Each of the plurality of conveyor buckets may be configured to be substantially enclosed by the conveyor frame when not at the access station. The conveyor frame may include at least one channel disposed about a perimeter of the continuous path, where each of the plurality of conveyor buckets include at least one projection configured to engage the at least one channel. The conveyor buckets may be driven along the continuous path by a drive mechanism disposed outside of the conveyor frame.

Medication dispensing cabinets have been developed in order to store and controllably dispense a variety of medications. Generally, a medication dispensing cabinet may include a cabinet body with one or more drawers that are slidably disposed within the cabinet body where the drawers are configured to store the various medications.
Some medication dispensing cabinets are automated and, as such, include or are otherwise associated with a computer that controls access to the medications stored within the cabinet. The computer may allow access to only authorized users, such as medical providers who work in the unit in which the medication cabinet is located. Once authorized by the computer, a medical provider may identify a particular medication to be dispensed, such as by reference to the medications prescribed to a respective patient to whom the medical provider is attending. The computer may then facilitate dispensation of the particular medication.
In this regard, a medication dispensing cabinet may include a locked drawer with one or more windows defined by the front face of the drawer through which the dispensed medication may be accessed by the medical provider. The drawer may house a conveyor belt and a plurality of paddles, fins or the like extending outwardly from the conveyor belt. The paddles are generally spaced apart along the conveyor belt so as to define regions between adjacent paddles for receiving medication. By controllably moving the conveyor belt, such as under the direction of the computer associated with the automated medication dispensing cabinet, the medication may be correspondingly moved along a predefined path of movement of the conveyor belt. The path defined by the conveyor belt is generally aligned with a respective window defined by the front face of the drawer. Thus, once the automated medication dispensing cabinet has authorized the medical provider and the dispensation of the medication to the medical provider, the automated medication dispensing cabinet may drive the conveyor belt to move the paddles such that the medication disposed in a respective region between adjacent paddles is presented at the window. The medical provider may then open the window and retrieve the medication. However, the medical provider is limited in regards to the quantity of the medication that may be retrieved since the medical provider is only able to access the quantity of medication, such as a unit dose of medication, disposed within the region between the pair of adjacent paddles that is presented at the window.
In order to move the medication along the path defined by the conveyor belt, the paddles may be curved in the direction of movement of the conveyor belt. In addition, the distal ends of the paddle may be proximate to or may contact the walls of the drawer or other fixed features, such as dividers, partitions or the like within the drawer. During movement of the conveyor belt, the medication may become pinched, wedged, jammed or the like between the paddles and either the floor of the drawer or the walls or other fixed partitions, dividers or the like within the drawer, thereby potentially requiring operator intervention.
Further example embodiments of medication dispensing cabinets may include auger-type dispensing mechanisms similar to those used in snack-food vending machines. However, auger-type dispensing mechanisms may suffer similar deficiencies as those identified with respect to conveyor belt embodiments.


A method of molding a platform opening includes the steps of providing a main body core and a platform core, with the main body core having a portion that forms a portion of the platform. The platform core has at least one side portion that will form a side opening. Molten metal is directed around the cores within a mold and solidifies. The cores are removed, leaving cavities where the cores were within the molten metal, and includes an opening in a side face formed by the side portion of the platform body core. Lost core components are also disclosed and claimed.

This application relates to a method of molding a platform for an airfoil, wherein lost core elements are utilized.
Airfoils are known and are utilized in a number of applications. In one common application, airfoils are utilized in turbine and compressor sections for gas turbine engines. The airfoils have a platform which may be mounted to a rotor structure. In particular, static vanes associated with the turbine or compressor sections include airfoils and platforms.
The airfoils can be exposed to high temperatures, and thus it is known to circulate cooling air within passages inside the airfoils and platforms. Thus, the combined airfoil and platform must have openings to receive the cooling air, and to communicate the cooling air into internal passages.
To form passages in airfoils and their platforms, so-called "lost core" molding techniques have been utilized. In a lost core molding technique, an element is made of a material which can be leached or otherwise dissolved, and which bears the shape of desired openings and spaces in the airfoil and platform.
In the prior art, there has been a main body core, which has been placed in a mold, and then utilized as a lost core component to form openings in a final platform. Molten metal is moved into the mold, and solidifies around the cores. Then the cores are dissolved or leached, leaving cavities within the final part.
Typically, a large opening is formed at a top of the platform to receive cooling air delivered toward the airfoil. From this large opening, side openings extend into cooling chambers within the platform.
Typically, a portion of one of the cores has extended upwardly beyond the top surface of the platform to form an opening in the top surface once the core has been leached away. This opening then provides an access point such that a machine, such as an electro-discharge machine (EDM) is able to move in, and machine the rest of the large opening away.
At that point, the side openings must be formed such as by cutting into an intermediate part.

Platform interconnected with mid-body core interface for molding airfoil platforms


The present disclosure provides one embodiment of a semiconductor structure. The semiconductor structure includes a semiconductor substrate having a front surface and a backside surface; integrated circuit features formed on the front surface of the semiconductor substrate; and a polycrystalline silicon layer disposed on the backside surface of the semiconductor substrate.

The semiconductor Integrated Circuit (IC) industry has experienced rapid growth. Technological advances in IC materials and design have produced generations of ICs where each generation has smaller feature size and more complex circuits than the previous generation. However, these advances have increased the complexity of processing and manufacturing ICs and, for these advances to be realized, similar developments in IC processing and manufacturing are needed.
Integrated circuits are typically formed onto a semiconductor wafer. Various photolithographic processes are used to form the individual components that make up the integrated circuit into the wafer. Such components include transistors, diodes, capacitors, resistors, and various interconnect features and isolation features. When the feature sizes are smaller in the advanced technologies, it is expected that the photolithography system has high resolution and accordingly short radiation wavelength. One type of photolithographic system used to form such components is an Extreme Ultra-Violet (EUV) lithographic system. An EUV lithographic system involves projecting electromagnetic radiation having a wavelength between 10 nanometers (nm) and 120 nm onto the wafer. At such a small wavelength, the electromagnetic radiation is absorbed by air and thus the process has to be performed in a vacuum to avoid such absorption.
When performing an EUV lithography process, a chuck is used to secure a wafer within a vacuum chamber for the duration of the process. One example of a type of chuck is an electrostatic chuck (E-chuck). An E-chuck includes a charged plate that uses static electrical forces to secure the semiconductor wafer to the chuck. For example, a particular portion of the wafer may be positively charged. The corresponding plate on the E-chuck is then negatively charged. These opposite charges provide an attractive force that securely holds the wafer in place during the EUV process. In some cases, the stress from the static electrical force on the wafer may cause irregularities within the wafer. To relieve the force placed on the wafer, a gas is pumped through the E-chuck to the backside of the wafer. This gas is pressurized to provide an opposing force to the static electrical force. However, the current method and the wafer structure cannot effectively reduce the pressure on the wafer. Especially, the pressure is not uniformly distributed on the wafer surface and the stress is built up.
Therefore, there is a need for a structure for a wafer and methods of making and utilizing the same to address these concerns.

Method for extreme ultraviolet electrostatic chuck with reduced clamp effect

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd.


There is provided an image creating apparatus including: an inputting device for inputting creation data composed of input data and creation condition data; an image creating device for creating a two-dimensional code image based on the inputted creation data; and an informing device for informing of a print size of the created two-dimensional code image, wherein the image creating device creates the two-dimensional code image based on the creation data being inputted, in the process of inputting the creation data by the inputting device, and the informing device informs of the print size of the two-dimensional code image created by the image creating device based on the creation data being inputted.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to an image creating apparatus which creates a two-dimensional code image and a printing apparatus provided therewith.
2. Related Art
A known printing apparatus is of a type which creates character images based on inputted characters, figures, or the like, as well as a two-dimensional code image such as a OR-code image based on creation data, to print these created images on a print object. Reference is made to JP-A-2003-84950 as an example of related art. With this type of printing apparatus, a two-dimensional code image and character images can be freely arranged and printed within a printable area provided in a label sheet as a print object. In this case, the print size thereof may be changed according to the amount of input data and the setting result of creation conditions (in short referred to as "creation data") in consideration of the reading of the two-dimensional code image.
With the above-described printing apparatus, however, it is not possible for the user to previously identify the print size of the two-dimensional code image in the process of inputting the creation data, with the result that the print result size of the two-dimensional code image could become larger than that of the label sheet. Accordingly, the adjustment of the amount of the input data and the setting of the creation conditions have had no other choice than depending on the print result, and the operation of printing the two-dimensional code image on the label sheet or the like having limited printing space has been unavoidably cumbersome.

Image creating apparatus and printing apparatus provided therewith


A data packet routing mechanism including a plurality of clients for issuing read requests to a host device, the read requests each including a TAG field for identifying which of the plurality of clients issued a particular read request, wherein a completion response corresponding to the particular read request, including the TAG field, is issued from the host to the client that sent the read request, the plurality of clients being organized into M groups, each group including a predetermined number of clients; a first level routing device having an input for receiving completion responses from the host and a plurality of outputs for transmitting completion responses; and a plurality of second level routing devices, each being coupled to the plurality of clients in one of the M groups, and having an input for receiving completion responses from the first level routing device and a plurality of outputs, each output for transmitting completion responses to one of the plurality of clients in the group. The TAG field associated with each completion response includes a predetermined number of bitfields, a first bitfield of the TAG field being read by the first level routing device and providing the first level routing device with an identity of the second level routing device to which the completion response is to be transmitted, to which second level routing device the first level routing device transmits the completion response, and a second bitfield of the TAG field being read by the second level router device that receives the completion response from the first level routing device, the second bitfield providing the second level routing device with the identity of the client within the group to which the completion response is to be transmitted, to which the second level routing device transmits the completion response.

The PCI EXPRESS system is the next generation of PCI (Peripheral Component Interconnect), which is a standard interconnection system that enables the transfer of data between a host device 112 and an attached application layer device 114 of a data transfer system 100, FIG. 1. The PCI EXPRESS system protocol is implemented using PCI EXPRESS system core 116. PCI EXPRESS system core 116 is a hardware controller used to identify and resolve the PCI EXPRESS system protocol layers: the physical/mac layer 118, the link layer 120 and the transaction layer 122. The data is delivered through an application layer interface 124 to the attached application layer device 114.
The PCI EXPRESS system protocol is a very fast, bandwidth rich protocol, enabling a variety of applications to be implemented through a PCI EXPRESS system link. Application layer devices 114 can include bandwidth-consuming applications, such as file transfers and multimedia files, latency-sensitive applications, such as real-time video and voice streaming applications, and applications requiring both high bandwidth and low latency, such as video conferencing.
The application layer interface 124 connects the PCI EXPRESS system core 116 to the application layer device 114. The application layer device 114 may be a single, common address/data bus having control signals to insure errorless handshakes between the host 114 and any type of application. For example, the application layer device may be a switch or router connected between the PCI EXPRESS system core 116 and a number of clients that communicate with the host 112. The application layer device in such a case routes incoming packets to the appropriate client (not shown).
The application layer interface 124 is driven by the transaction layer architecture 122 of the PCI EXPRESS system core 116. The transaction layer architecture 122 of the PCI EXPRESS system core 116 typically consists of six FIFO buffers: a non-posted header buffer "NP H" 126, a non-posted data buffer "NP D" 128, a posted header buffer "P H" 130, a posted data buffer "P D" 132, a completion header buffer "C H" 134 and a completion data buffer "C D" 136. The six buffers 126-136 are needed to implement the PCI EXPRESS system reordering rules for three different types of transfers: 1) posted transfers (typically memory write transfers); 2) non-posted transfers (typically memory read transfers); and 3) completion transfers (also called "read response" transfers). The PCI EXPRESS system reordering rules are set by the PCI EXPRESS system Standard and described in the PCI EXPRESS system Base Specification.
One of the PCI EXPRESS system specific mechanisms is TRANSACTION_ID-based routing, which is handled in PCI EXPRESS system Core. The TRANSACTION_ID is a 24-bit wide field embedded into the PCI Express data packet. Its main functionality is to provide a unique identifier for the sender of a data packet. If a data packet transaction sent by a requesting device requires an acknowledgment-type return packet, or completion, the TRANSACTION_ID field of the data packet transaction provides information to route the returning packet to the original requesting device. The TRANSACTION_ID includes a Requester ID field, which includes all necessary information to identify the high-level requesting device, such as a chip within the system, that initiated the data packet and an 8-bit TAG field. The TAG field is provided in order to uniquely identify the specific client within the specific high-level requesting device from which the data packet transaction was issued. For example, the same requesting device can issue more than one transaction within a particular period of time. All issued transactions might require a completion from the receiver. All Requestor IDs for completions received by the same requesting device would look the same except for the unique TAG field. The TAG field is a tool provided by the PCI EXPRESS system protocol in order to distinguish different completion packets coming to the same requesting device with the same bus number and the same function number.
The structure of the TAG field is typically used as a read request counter. A read request counter is basically an 8-bit counter that gets updated each time a read request transfer is sent by a device. For example, the first transfer from a particular device will have the TAG field set to 0, the second transfer will have the field set to 1 and so forth. Once a completion (read response) packet is received by the requesting device, the particular unique TAG will be released for reuse.
Based on this usage of the TAG field, the maximum outstanding number of transactions per device is 28=256 read request transactions. Such a number of outstanding transactions is typically seen as too large, as it might "clog" the system with outstanding unfinished transactions. The PCI EXPRESS system protocol provides the way to limit the TAG field to only 5 bits. In that case the upper most 3 bits are set to 0. Regardless, if the TAG field is used as 5-bit field or 8-bit field by the requesting device, the completing device is required to return the entire TAG field (along with the rest of the TRANSACTION_ID) without any modifications.
Upon receiving the returned TRANSACTION_ID in the form of a completion, the application must read the TAG field and resort to a look-up table in order to determine which client within the requesting device send the read request, based on the number set in the TAG field of the Transaction ID. The reference to the look-up table takes time, which increases the latency of the data transfer system. This method requires a large memory table, which slows down the process, as valuable time is lost on reading the tables. Certain chip technologies might also reject running the chips with desirable frequencies, as the routing tables tend to consume large portions of ASIC routing channels.

Data packet routing mechanism utilizing the transaction ID tag field


Invention relates to material breaking or milling devices for ultra-fine milling of materials. A material breaking device comprises a frame structure (1) with an upper bracket (1A) and a lower bracket (1B); a tubular housing (4) arranged between said brackets (1A, 1B). The tubular housing (4) is attached to said frame structure (1) in rotatable manner such that the tubular housing (4) rotates relative to the frame structure (1). The material breaking device further comprises at least one conical distributor (5) arranged in the tubular housing (4) and at least one outlet cone (7) arranged in the tubular housing (4) downstream from the conical distributor (5). The device further comprises a permanent magnet unit (9) attached to the tubular housing (4) such that at least two permanent magnet units (9) are provided for each milling chamber (6, 8) for creating rotating magnetic field within the milling chambers (6, 8).

Different types of material breaking or milling devices are know from the prior art for preparation of powder material or fine particle material.
European patent publication No. EP 1 669 137 discloses a material milling device with a mill chamber, an injector for the material to be milled, a manifold connected to the chamber at the exterior of a lid thereof, one or more atomizers for supply of pressurized air, and a cyclone connected to the manifold for taking down the back pressure of the mill chamber, wherein the atomizers are connected to the mill chamber casing at an angle with respect to a vertical axis and at an angle with respect to a cylindrical injector for supply of material and pressurized air.
Former soviet union patent publication No. SU 906613 discloses an apparatus for continuous milling and mixing of solid granular materials, comprising a cylindrical working chamber from a non-magnetic material magnetically working components as rotary stimulus material travel and three-phase power rotating electromagnetic field.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,022,592 discloses media mill having a magnetic circuit of magnetic impellers on a shaft, magnetized media, and a magnetisable outer shell which provides improved efficiency.


An energy storage unit for a motor vehicle battery is provided, having an energy store, particularly configured as a battery cell module, for storing and delivering electric power. A measuring device measures electrical properties of the energy store. An evaluation unit, connected to the measuring device, ascertains the operational status of the energy store from the measurement results of the measuring device. An indicator unit is connected to the evaluation unit for depicting the operational status of the energy store. By ascertaining and depicting the operational status and not just the state of charge of the energy store, it is possible to dispense with separate complex measurements when fitting the energy store, so that an energy storage unit can be checked quickly and efficiently when fitted into a motor vehicle.

DE 10 2012 218 494 A1, which is incorporated by reference herein, discloses a status indicator for a motor vehicle battery that can depict the present state of charge of the motor vehicle battery using LED lamps that change color.
There is a constant need, when an energy storage unit is fitted into a motor vehicle, to be able to check the proper state of the energy storage unit quickly and efficiently.

Energy storage unit for a motor vehicle battery, and method for fitting an energy storage unit


A data read/write system includes a system clock, a single port memory, a cache memory that is separate from the single port memory, and a controller coupled to an instruction pipeline. The controller receives, via the instruction pipeline, first data to write to an address of the single port memory, and further receives, via the instruction pipeline, a request to read second data from the single port memory. The controller stores the first data in the cache memory, and retrieves the second data from either the cache memory or the single port memory during one or more first clock cycles of the system clock. The controller copies the first data from the cache memory and stores the first data at the address in the single port memory during a second clock cycle of the system clock that is different than the one or more first clock cycles.

Various types of memory devices may be used, for example, in network devices, including routers, bridges, switches, etc. Such memory devices may be used for storing various data associated with the operation of the network devices, including packet storage, context storage, lookup table storage, etc. One type of memory device that may be used in a network device is a single port Random Access Memory (RAM). A single port RAM may be accessed at one memory address at one time and, therefore, only one memory cell may be read from, or written to, during each clock cycle. Another type of memory device that may be used in a network device is a dual port RAM that can read and write different memory cells at different addresses during each clock cycle. A single port RAM, however, is smaller and consumes less power than a dual port RAM, or some other types of memory devices.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Use of cache to reduce memory bandwidth pressure with processing pipeline


A low-friction single component development apparatus for developing electrostatic latent images on an image bearing surface is provided. It includes a sump containing a supply of developer material particles; a moveable donor member assembly including a donor member for transporting developer material particles through a development zone; a first combination of AC and DC biases for charging developer material particles in the sump resulting in charged developer material particles having a desired polarity and charge distribution; a second combination of AC and DC biases for providing fringe electric fields for depositing particles of the charged developer material particles onto the donor member; devices for forming a developer material cloud within the development zone for image development; and an electrostatic filtering zone located upstream of the development zone for electrostatically removing wrong-sign charged developer material particles from the donor member.

This invention relates generally to electrostatographic reproduction machines, and more particularly to a non-interactive, low-friction single component developer material development apparatus that enables use of fragile and easily fused toners without toner degradation. The present invention can be utilized in the art of xerography or in the printing arts.
The art or process of xerography involves forming electrostatic latent images on a surface by first uniformly charging a photoreceptor. The photoreceptor comprises a charge retentive surface. The charge is image-wise selectively dissipated in accordance with an image pattern of activating radiation corresponding to an original image. The selective dissipation of the charge leaves a latent charge pattern on the imaging surface corresponding to the areas not exposed by radiation.
This charge pattern is then developed, or made visible with a development apparatus or unit containing developer material such as single component, or toner and other components including carrier particles. The toner is generally a colored powder which is charged and adheres to the charge pattern by electrostatic attraction resulting in a toner developed image. The toner developed image is then fixed to the imaging surface or is transferred to a receiving substrate such as plain paper to which it is thereafter fixed by suitable fusing techniques.
Black and white toner images can be formed by the process as described above, and multicolor toner images can be similarly formed by using not just one but several development units containing different colors of toner. Such multicolor toner images can be highlight color images or full color images. One approach for forming such toner images is in a single pass of the photoreceptor during which color separation toner images are formed in registration, one on another, or in what is called an "image-on-image" manner.
The viability of image-on-image reproduction machines, such as those for producing highlight color or image-on-image full color images, requires development units that are non-interactive, i.e. developments units that do not scavenge or interact with a previously toned image on the photoreceptor. Although development units and techniques have been proposed for achieving non-interactive or scavengeless development, developer material degradation or the need to use hard-to-fuse toner continue to present problems with most such development units.
This is so because on the one hand, in order to enable efficient electrostatic transfer of xerographic toner images from a photoreceptor to plain paper, the toner should be insulating so as to prevent charge reversal at the toner-paper interface. The method commonly used for charging such insulating toner involves the phenomenon of triboelectricity which requires high-frictional contacts between the toner and other materials such as carrier beads in two-component developer systems, or metering blades, rods and donor rolls, in single component developer systems. On the other hand however, such required high frictional contacts tend to cause undesirable premature developer material or toner degradation.
It has been found that in order to prevent such undesirable material degradation so as to achieve and maintain stable system performance, mechanical stresses involved in the toner triboelectric charging process as above, must not exceed the toner yield stress. Additionally, from a toner fusing standpoint, toners that flow well under the application of heat and/or pressure are of course preferred. This is particularly desired for color imaging where low-melt toners are preferred. For these reasons, toners that tend to be fragile are strongly preferred. Unfortunately, they cannot withstand the high frictional contacts required by triboelectric charging, and there is therefore a need for low-friction single component development systems that are gentle on such toners.

Low-Friction single component development apparatus


A method includes providing a touch panel interposer, where providing the touch panel interposer comprises providing a touch panel device, applying a first adhesive layer to a cover side of the touch panel device, and applying a second adhesive layer to a display side of the touch panel device. The method further includes providing a touch panel display, where providing the touch panel display comprises applying a cover to the first adhesive layer, and applying a display panel to the second adhesive layer.

As the value and use of information continues to increase, individuals and businesses seek additional ways to process and store information. One option is an information handling system. An information handling system generally processes, compiles, stores, or communicates information or data for business, personal, or other purposes. Because technology and information handling needs and requirements can vary between different applications, information handling systems can also vary regarding what information is handled, how the information is handled, how much information is processed, stored, or communicated, and how quickly and efficiently the information can be processed, stored, or communicated. The variations in information handling systems allow information handling systems to be general or configured for a specific user or specific use such as financial transaction processing, airline reservations, enterprise data storage, or global communications. In addition, information handling systems can include a variety of hardware and software resources that can be configured to process, store, and communicate information and can include one or more computer systems, data storage systems, and networking systems. An information handling system can include virtual machines that run operating systems and applications on a common host system. An information handling system can include a display for presenting information to a user. The display can include a touch panel device that permits the user to provide inputs to the information handling system through direct interaction with the display.
The use of the same reference symbols in different drawings indicates similar or identical items.

Touch panel device and method for assembly of a touch panel display


A distributed control system for controlling an integrated production process for semiconductor wafers and packages. A workstation is connected to a tester and a sorter/handler for configuring and controlling both devices. An operator need not be aware of different syntaxes and configurations required by different brands of testers, sorters/probers or handlers. The workstation is connected to a computer-aided manufacturing node to obtain setup and other processing control information and to send updated control information to the node through a network. If the data collected from the testers indicates low yield, the computer-aided manufacturing node is alerted.

This invention relates in general to the processing of semiconductor chips and packages and in particular, to a system for controlling an integrated production process for the processing of semiconductor wafers and packages.
After a semiconductor wafer has been fabricated, it undergoes a series of processing steps before the finished product in the form of semiconductor chip packages are shipped to customers. First, the semiconductor wafer is handled by a prober or sorter in conjunction with a tester for testing the electrical properties of the dies on the wafer, in order to sort the bad dice from the good ones. Typically, the good dice are put in bins separate from bins for the bad dice, in a process called binning. Thereafter, the wafers are cut into separate dice and each individual good die is then enclosed within a package. Semiconductor packages are then handled by a handler in conjunction with a tester to again test the electrical properties of the dies within the packages. The second round of testing is necessary since the packaging process may have damaged the dice contained in the packages or the leads of the package.
To improve overall yield, it is important to collect data at each stage of the above-described process to make sure that the equipment used for testing and processing is properly set up, calibrated and functioning normally, and to discover possible problems in the fabrication process of the wafers. For this purpose, various control systems have been proposed.
Thus, a control system sold by KLA Instruments Corporation of San Jose, Calif., for controlling probers or sorters sold by the same company, enables operators to analyze wafer test results. The capabilities of the KLA control system include compilation of individual and composite wafer result maps that show the frequency of dies passing or failing, and creation of control maps indicating which dies to ink, skip or test. Typically, the dice failing to pass the test are marked by ink dots. The control system supplied by KLA Instruments employs a network where a number of cell controllers are connected by an Ethernet network, where each cell controller is used to control a test cell, which in turn may include a number of probers. The network system enables operators more flexilibity in creating and editing wafer setup files and control maps, and for monitoring the status of different probers.
Triage Corporation of Hillsboro, Oreg. supplies a control system employing a network where a number of cell controllers are connected by an Ethernet network, where each cell controller is used to control a test cell, which in turn may include a number of Electroglas probers. The network system enables operators more flexilibity in creating and editing wafer setup files and control maps, and for monitoring the status of different probers.
LTX of Westwood, Mass., has made available a distributed network workstation system for controlling and monitoring the status of a number of testers and for collecting and analyzing data from the testers.
Thruput Systems Inc. of Mesa, Ariz., has commercialized a system for controlling test equipment; in a product brochure from Thruput Systems, it is stated that the Thruput system monitors test heads from different testers as well as handlers. The system provides fixed format product test time reports and handler assembly reports.
Among the systems described above, the control systems provided by LTX and KLA Instruments are each compatible only with the probers, testers or handlers provided by the same company and not compatible with equipment from any other company. The control systems provided by Thruput Systems and Triage appear to be compatible only with specific equipment. From the point of view of overall test production management, it would be desirable to be able to control and monitor the status of testers, sorters and handlers on the test floor and collect data therefrom for yield analysis during production. Since the above-described types of control systems may not be compatible with equipment provided by some manufacturers, it is difficult to adopt any one of the systems for monitoring the whole test floor. This is particularly the case where, as is true for many integrated circuit manufacturers, equipment from different manufacturers are used on the test floor. In other words, an operator on a typical test floor would have to physically attend to each computer controlling each individual piece of equipment in order to control and monitor the status of the equipment, and collect data therefrom for analysis. Even if one of the above-described systems is used, the operator would still have to attend to a system for monitoring probers and may still need to attend to a different system for monitoring testers. The lack of uniformity and overall control means that an operator would have to keep track of a large number of procedures and factors.
The above-described problems due to the lack of an overall production management tool are compounded in the applications specification integrated circuit (ASIC) environment. The ASIC manufacturer manufactures wafers and packages in accordance with different specifications from a number of customers. Each specification may call for a different setup or equipment for testing and processing. For example, different printed circuit boards would have to be used for testing wafers and packages with different specifications. According to the experience of one integrated circuit manufacturer, about ten thousand printed circuit boards would have to be kept in stock and maintained at any time for testing wafers and packages. These printed circuit boards are kept in a storage and retrieval unit called a carousel, a system monitored and controlled by means of a personal computer. The personal computer enables an operator to keep track of the boards, including their preventive maintenance schedules. Thus, when a wafer manufactured in accordance with the particular specification is to be tested, information on the printed circuit board required by the specification would have to be fetched so as to determine the appropriate printed circuit board to be used for testing. Such board would then be retrieved from the storage and retrieval unit or carousel with the aid of the personal computer. The printed circuit board is then used in conjunction with a wafer sorter (or prober) and a tester for testing the electrical properties of the wafer. The printed circuit board is then returned to the carousel. The number of times the same board has been used may need to be monitored in order to perform preventive maintenance.
After the wafer has been cut into different dies and packaged, the packages are then handled by the handlers and tested using the testers again in conjunction with a specified printed circuit board. For the above-mentioned integrated circuit manufacturer, a host VAX computer is used as the primary control and computational platform for the sort, test and mark/pack areas. This computer stores and loads all production test programs and buffers all set up information from computer-aided manufacturing node for automatic station configuration and real-time yield monitoring. It carries out yield computations and maintains all electrical and mechanical statistical process control data for all testers, sorters, handlers and lead inspection systems. It also controls through the personal computer the use of the printed circuit boards from the storage carousel.
Tester, sorter/handler manufacturers usually sell control stations together with the testers, sorters/handlers. Such control stations, however, are not compatible with other computers such as VAX computers. Thus, the host VAX computer cannot communicate directly with the control stations for the testers, probers and handlers sold together with such equipment by the manufacturers. Therefore, an additional computer must be used at each tester, prober or handler location to be the interface between the control device for a particular tester, sorter or handler, and the host VAX computer. In order to operate a tester, sorter or handler, an operator must first retrieve a production program from the host VAX computer, using the additional computer at the location at the piece of equipment, perform any interface procedures required with a control device in order to implement the production program for such equipment, Typically, the control terminal for a particular tester, sorter or handler has its own syntax and configuration, so that an operator would have to know such syntax and configuration in order to implement the production program on such equipment.
Since a sorter (prober) or handler must communicate with a tester in order for the two pieces of equipment to coordinate the handling and the testing of wafers and packages, an electronic interface register (EIR) cable is used to connect the sorter (prober) or handler to the tester. However, as indicated above, no control system is available which can be used to control a sorter as well as a tester, an operator would have to control and monitor individually the tester and the sorter connected to it by the EIR cable using the control monitors for the tester and the sorter. Even though the signals transmitted through the EIR cable contain important information on the performance of the tester and sorter or handler and the tested device, presently available control systems do not take advantage of such information.
None of the above-described systems is entirely satisfactory. It is therefore desirable to provide an improved system for controlling an integrated production process for semiconductor chips and packages in which the above-described difficulties are eliminated or reduced.

System for controlling an integrated product process for semiconductor wafers and packages


It is the object of the present invention to provide a conductive particle which has excellent adhesion between a base particle and a conductive layer, a conductive layer being resistant to breaking, impact resistance being improved, and an anisotropic conductive material using the conductive particle. The prevent invention is a conductive particle, which comprises a base particle and a conductive layer formed on a surface of said base particle, said conductive layer having a non-crystal nickel plating layer in contact with the surface of said base particle and a crystal nickel plating layer, and a proportion of a nickel crystal grain aggregate oriented in a nickel (111) plane derived from an integrated intensity ratio in X-ray diffraction measurement being 80% or more.

Conductive particles are widely used for anisotropic conductive materials such as anisotropic conductive paste, anisotropic conductive ink, an anisotropic conductive pressure sensitive adhesive/an anisotropic conductive adhesive, an anisotropic conductive film and an anisotropic conductive sheet by mixing them with a binder resin or a pressure sensitive adhesive/an adhesive and kneading.
These anisotropic conductive materials are used in the form that they are interposed between opposed boards or between opposed electrode terminals of electronic devices such as a liquid crystal display, a personal computer and a mobile telephone in order to electrically connect a board to another board or to electrically connect a small part such as a semiconductor device to a board.
As these conductive particles, there is disclosed the conductive particle in which a metal plating layer is formed as a conductive film on the surface of a nonconductive particle such as a resin particle having a uniform particle diameter and moderate strength (for example, in Patent Document 1).
In the conductive particle disclosed in Patent Document 1, a nickel plating coating is formed as a conductive film but a phosphorus concentration in the process of forming the nickel plating coating becomes low. In such a nickel plating coating having a low phosphorus concentration, a nickel plating coating having a crystal structure is formed. Since such a nickel plating coating is hard and has an inadequate property to follow the impact, there was a problem that the nickel plating coating might break and the adhesion between a base particle and the nickel plating coating was not good.
For these problems, a conductive particle having a nickel coating comprising a first layer in which a crystal grain aggregate is not found on the surface of the base particle and a second layer in which a crystal grain aggregate is oriented in the direction of thickness is disclosed in Patent Document 2. In this conductive particle, the first layer plays a role of enhancing the adhesion between the base particle and the nickel coating and further enhancing the impact resistance of the conductive particle and the second layer plays a role of improving the conductivity of the conductive particle.
However, it cannot be said that the production method disclosed in Patent Document 2 shows adequate performance in order to produce the conductive particle of a level required as electronic devices have been sharply progressing and developing in recent years, and therefore the need for producing a higher-performance conductive particle by a more strict production method has arisen.    Patent Document 1: Japanese Kokai Publication Sho-63-190204    Patent Document 2: Japanese Kokai Publication 2004-197160

Electroconductive fine particle and anisotropically electroconductive material comprising non-crystal and crystal nickel plating layers and method of making thereof


A method provides and apparatus for recovering and revegetating shorelines subjected to low to moderate wave energy and other terrains subject to erosion processes. Biodegradable, cardboard sheet material formed with an array of projections and depressions over the entire surface of the material is utilized. A plurality of plant-receiving and letting apertures are formed in the sheet in accordance with predetermined plant density requirements. The sheet material is formed with plant nutrients suspended in it and is further provided with a hydrophobic composition coating for delaying biodegradation. The surface pattern formed on the sheet dissipates wave energy, traps sand and sediment, and prevents plant washout. The sheet material is secured to the surface by a plurality of biodegradable stakes.

The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for recovering and revegetating soil, particularly along shorelines, where the erosive effects of wind and waves cause enormous ecological damage and economic loss. The invention is also suitable for use in a variety of other terrestrial applications, such as on slopes, in ditches, and in natural drainage areas subject to erosion processes.
Various attempts have been made to control erosion, and at the same time, to encourage plant growth. For example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,353,946 and 4,283,445, so called "mulch blankets" are disclosed which are fairly complex structures containing fibrous materials, held together by biodegradable binders. These structures are typically expensive to manufacture, and difficult to handle by reason of their great weight.
Attempts have also been made to fix sandy soil or other substrates by spraying vinyl emulsions, petroleum mulches, etc. to form a crust on the soil. The crusts, however, are often destroyed by wind and/or other physical disturbance.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,158,932, a non-woven textile filament network is positioned over sandy terrain, and is said to prevent erosion while allowing seeds to germinate.
These approaches, however, are not completely satisfactory and are not particularly suited for use in coastal areas subjected to moderate wave energy.
Typically, erosion control in coastal zones involves massive planting of shrubs and/or grasses. While this approach is oftentimes successful in low energy areas, i.e., areas with little or no wave action, in moderate and high energy wave areas the shrubs and grasses are often washed away, particularly in the time period immediately after planting and before the root systems of the plants have had a chance to develop and anchor plants to the substrate.
In high energy wave areas, structural barriers such as wooden bulkheads and offshore breakwater are often employed with varying degrees of success.
There remains a real need for an effective system of erosion prevention and revegetation in low to moderate wave energy areas, and in other terrestrial applications where conventional planting techniques have not been successful, and where the more extreme structural approach is undesirable for aesthetic and/or economic reasons.
This invention provides a simple and inexpensive, yet extremely effective solution to the problem of erosion and plant growth areas subject to erosion and particularly in coastal zones exposed to moderate to low wave energy. According to this invention, a lightweight, flexible and biodegradable mulching material is employed which protects newly installed plants from washout; encourages sand aggregation from sediment suspended in the water; and stabilizes the shoreline or other substrate. These functions are accomplished by providing the mulching material in sheet form, with upper and lower, three dimensional surface configurations for dissipation of energy as waves (or drain water) flow over, through and around the surface contours of the material. These same contours also serve as traps for accumulating sand, and therefore preventing washout.
More specifically, the mulching material in accordance with this invention is constructed of lightweight material, preferably cardboard, rolled or stamped to include three-dimensional contours on its upper and lower surfaces in a manner similar to conventional egg cartons, and as described in more detail below.
The material is also preferably provided with suitable soil and plant nutrients which are released as the sheet degrades over time. In addition, the sheet material is also provided with a plurality of apertures to facilitate installation of plants such as salt marsh hay, smooth cordgrass or other suitable grasses, plants, etc. in the area to be recovered. It will be appreciated that the number and size of the apertures will depend on the plant density requirements, initial and mature size of the plants, and so on.
The biodegradable sheet is further provided with a hydrophobic surface coating, such as a paraffin composition, which will delay biodegradation of the material to insure plant root development.
The material may be manufactured in any number of standard or custom sizes. For example, four by eight foot sheets provide a convenient and easily workable size for large areas. Other sizes may be produced, depending on the terrain, the area to be covered, etc.
The biodegradable mulching material according to this invention is thus seen to have the following advantages:
(1) It is flexible enough to follow the natural contours of the shoreline or other terrain;
(2) It stabilizes existing shoreline or other terrain from further erosion;
(3) It can be used to accommodate a wide range of vegetation;
(4) It provides protected areas for rhizome development by allowing sunlight through small openings in the sheet surrounding the plants;
(5) It provides a predetermined density format for placement of plants;
(6) It can be produced in a variety of sizes and shapes;
(7) It can be dyed to the desired shade so as to be virtually invisible;
(8) It is inexpensive to produce and easy to install; and
(9) It is extremely light, easy to work with, store, and transport.
Additional objects, advantages and details with respect to the invention are made apparent from the detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

Kaufmann, Bryan Environmental Concepts, Inc.


A preloadable cord lock for gripping a cord, such as an elastic shock cord, includes a pair of telescoping members having apertures defined therethrough. The telescoping members are biased so that their respective apertures are not aligned. The lock can be preloaded to a condition where the apertures are aligned for feeding a cord through the apertures. The preloading mechanism may then be disengaged which will cause the telescoping members to be urged to a position where their apertures are not aligned by the bias of the device, thereby pinching and locking the cord in place.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to cord locks and holders, for example, for use with luggage, baggage, baggage carriers, etc. More particularly, the invention relates to a new cord lock which can be preloaded for ready use and which can subsequently be actuated in an easy manner.
2. Description of Related Art
Cord locks are known in the art for gripping and retaining cord, for example, an elastic shock cord, under tension. Such devices typically include a pair of telescoping members which have apertures therethrough. One telescoping member is biased with respect to the other, so that their respective apertures are not aligned. In order to use the cord lock, it is necessary to load it by squeezing the two telescoping members together so that their respective apertures are aligned. The user must continue to apply pressure to hold the two members together in this aligned state while simultaneously threading the cord through the apertures. Once the cord is threaded, the user may release the pressure which is exerted on the two members. Because the two members are biased so that their apertures are misaligned, they will pinch the cord which has been threaded therethrough so as to retain the cord in a fixed position.
Although this design has proven to be effective in holding and locking a cord, such as an elastic shock cord, one principal disadvantage is that the user must continue to exert pressure to align the apertures of the two telescoping members while simultaneously threading the cord through the apertures. Because the biasing force which is necessary to sufficiently grip the cord is relatively strong, a relatively large amount of finger pressure must be applied to align the apertures. Thus, it can be cumbersome to simultaneously thread the cord through the apertures while maintaining the apertures aligned (i.e., loading the device).
Another shortcoming of the prior art is that there is a risk that the lock can be inadvertently disengaged by someone squeezing the two telescoping members together, thereby relieving the tension on the cord and allowing the cord to slip. To minimize the risk of accidental disengagement, the prior art employs a very strong biasing means which requires a great amount of force to oppose. However, as discussed above, this makes the lock all the more difficult to load prior to threading of the cord.


Provided is a method for controlling an ultrasonic motor to reduce deterioration of automatic tracking performance, and a surveying instrument for the same. The present invention provides a method for controlling an ultrasonic motor in a surveying instrument including a rotary shaft, an ultrasonic motor that drives a rotary shaft, a tracking unit that includes a light emitting unit and a light receiving unit and tracks a target, and a clock signal oscillation unit that outputs a clock signal, wherein at the time of low-speed rotation of the ultrasonic motor, based on the clock signal, a ratio of an acceleration period in which a drive signal is applied and a deceleration period in which the drive signal is stopped in a drive cycle of the drive signal of the ultrasonic motor is set, and the light emitting unit is made to emit light in the deceleration period.

A surveying instrument, for example, a total station includes a telescope that collimates a measurement point, a bracket portion that supports the telescope rotatably in the vertical direction, and a base that supports the bracket portion rotatably in the horizontal direction. The telescope is driven by a vertical rotary motor provided on a vertical rotary shaft, and the bracket portion is driven by a horizontal rotary motor provided on a horizontal rotary shaft. Patent Document 1 discloses a surveying instrument adopting ultrasonic motors as the vertical rotary motor and the horizontal rotary motor.
It is difficult for an ultrasonic motor to rotate at a low speed during continuous driving. Therefore, at the time of low-speed rotation, as shown in FIG. 10, intermittent driving by turning ON/OFF a drive signal is performed. That is, in a drive cycle TM, an acceleration period Ta in which the drive signal is applied and a deceleration period Tr in which the drive signal is stopped are provided, and by changing a ratio of the acceleration period Ta and the deceleration period Tr, an average speed in the drive cycle TM is controlled.
Many surveying instruments have a function of automatically tracking a moving target as disclosed in, for example, Patent Document 2. There is a method for automatically tracking in which a surveying instrument is provided with a light emitting unit that irradiates tracking light and a light receiving unit that receives reflected light of the tracking light, a lighted image and an unlighted image are acquired and a difference between these is obtained, and a position with a deviation falling within a predetermined value from the center of a visual axis of the telescope is detected as a target position.

Method for controlling ultrasonic motor and surveying instrument for the same