The invention relates to a device comprising microstructures or nanostructures on a support, characterized in that the support comprises:

The invention relates to an auto-organisation process for microstructures or nanostructures in a two-dimensional or three-dimensional lattice. It also relates to a device with auto-organised microstructures or nanostructures.
These microstructures or nanostructures are designed for making electronic, optical, opto-electronic or magnetic devices, and particularly Coulomb blocking devices using quantum dots.
It is known that a microstructure or nanostructure arrangement on a surface can be determined using conventional photolithoetching methods. For example, a continuous layer of material chosen as a constituent of microstructures or nanostructures can be deposited on a surface. This may be a layer of silicon deposited by LPCVD. This layer is covered by a photosensitive film. After this film has been exposed, the geometries are recorded and are then transferred to the subjacent material. The state of the art is thus capable of defining nanostructures of the order of 20 nm. This is too large for target applications of the invention.
New methods, called xe2x80x9cnano-printingxe2x80x9d, are capable of defining nanometric structures, for example by deformation of a polymer with a mould. In this case also, the order of magnitude of structures thus defined is not easily less than 20 nm.
Techniques for material auto-organisation are also known by which nanostructures can be grown; growth on the edge of the steps of a vicinal surface, auto-organisation by dislocation lattices obtained during growth of metals, auto-organisation by dislocations during growth of different semiconducting layers. Auto-organisation is also possible by stacking nanostructures or by growing nanostructures on stressed surfaces with a variation in their topology due to relaxation of the internal stress. Impurities on the epitaxy surface can also be used. None of these techniques appears to make auto-organisation of nanostructures of nanometric size feasible with a good size uniformity.
It is also known that a crystalline nanostructure organisation can be obtained from a crystalline substrate on the surface of which a stress field was generated. Nanostructures can be obtained by selective treatment of the substrate and in this case the material forming the nanostructures is the same as for the substrate. They may also be obtained by epitaxial growth and in this case the crystalline substrate and the crystalline nanostructures are composed of materials that are different because they have different cell parameters.
Document FR-A-2 766 620 discloses a process for making microstructures or nanostructures on a support. The process comprises a step in which two wafers of crystalline material are brought into contact such that the crystalline lattices present on the faces of the wafers put into contact are offset by an angle enabling the formation of a lattice of crystalline defects within a crystalline zone close to the interface of the two wafers. A subsequent step to thin one of the two wafers reveals the microstructure or nanostructure on a support composed of the other wafer. The unthinned wafer may be an SOI substrate, for which the silicon surface film is brought into contact with the thinned wafer.
There are several problems inherent to these known processes.
A first problem is due to the fact that the nanostructures are in direct contact with the support substrate, even if the space between the nanostructures may be of different nature, and particularly different electrical nature, after appropriate treatment such as heat treatment. However, it may be useful to avoid current leaks between nanostructures and the support substrate. This type of leak makes the system unusable for controlling the transport of an electron from one nanostructure to another.
A second problem is the result of the fact that processes according to prior art require the generation of a stress field in the substrate, which limits the choice of the material from which the nanostructures are made. Cell parameters of the substrate and nanostructures must be compatible with the formation of nanostructures when the second material is deposited on the substrate. It is impossible to deposit nanostructures of the same nature as the substrate. For example, it would be very interesting to make silicon nanostructures on silicon substrates, since silicon is well known and is widely used in the microelectronics field.
A third problem relates to optimisation of nanostructure devices.
The invention proposes a solution to the problems described above. It relates to an auto-organisation process for microstructures or nanostructures in a two-dimensional or three-dimensional lattice, on an intermediate layer with a nature that may advantageously be different from the nature of the substrate. This intermediate layer is chosen so as to not hinder the organisation of nanostructures on the substrate. This arrangement is correlated to a stress field created on the surface of the substrate and transmitted through the intermediate layer as far as its surface. This arrangement of microstructures or nanostructures on the surface of the intermediate layer may in turn be used to organise one or several subsequent depositions of microstructures or nanostructures.
The invention is a means of independently choosing the substrate and the material from which nanostructures are composed.
The substrate is crystalline, single-material or composite. The intermediate layer may be crystalline or amorphous.
The nanostructures obtained according to the invention are in the form of a lattice of volumes with dimensions typically varying from one to several nanometers. These nanostructures may be made of a conducting, semiconducting or dielectric material with a crystalline or amorphous structure. For example, IVxe2x80x94IV compounds including Si, Ge, C, II-VI compounds, III-V compounds, Al2O3, SiO2 and Si3N4, magnetic materials including Co, Ni, CoNi and semi-metallic materials such as Bi and NiMnSb may be used.
The invention enables the economical deposition of auto-organised nanostructures since the deposition is made in a single step over the entire surface. The dimensions of nanostructures vary from 1 nm to a few tens of nm.
The intermediate layer in the invention prevents any contamination of nanostructures by the substrate. Its function is firstly to facilitate putting nanostructures into order on the substrate and secondly to isolate nanostructures from the substrate.
Therefore, the purpose of the invention is a process for making microstructures or nanostructures on a support comprising the following steps:
a) supply of a substrate comprising at least one part composed of a crystalline material, this part having a surface with a stress field or a topology associated with the stress field, the stress field being associated with dislocations, the surface being adapted to the formation of a layer of material called the intermediate layer,
b) formation of the intermediate layer starting from said surface, the thickness and/or composition and/or a surface state of the intermediate layer being chosen such that the stress field can be transmitted through this layer as far as its free face that is suitable for the formation of microstructures or nanostructures, the substrate and the intermediate layer forming said support,
c) auto-organised deposition of microstructures and nanostructures on the free face of the intermediate layer.
Step a) may include bringing two wafers of crystalline material into contact such that the crystalline lattices formed on the faces of the wafers brought into contact are offset by an angle enabling the formation of a network of crystalline defects within a crystalline zone close to the interface of the two wafers, one of the wafers then being thinned to reveal said surface with a stress field or topology associated with a stress field.
Step a) may also include a surface treatment to adapt said surface to the formation of an intermediate layer.
The intermediate layer may be a layer deposited on said surface using a PVD and/or a CVD technique. It may also be obtained by a preliminary deposition of a material on said surface, this preliminary deposition being followed by a treatment to obtain the composition chosen for the intermediate layer. It may also be obtained by a treatment transforming a layer of the substrate subjacent to said surface into the composition chosen for the intermediate layer. It may also be obtained by making a layer of the substrate subjacent to said surface react with a material deposited on said surface to obtain said chosen composition.
The intermediate layer may be composed of a stack of sub-layers. According to a first variant, the sub-layers are composed of the same material but have different roughnesses. According to a second variant, the sub-layers are composed of different materials, for example SiO2 and Si3N4. According to yet another variant, the stack of sub-layers includes sub-layers with stress values with opposed signs. This can give an amplification effect in sub-layers making up the intermediate layer.
The intermediate layer may be formed to have a stress state encouraging the auto-organised deposition of microstructures or nanostructures. To achieve this, it may be formed so that the coefficients of thermal expansion of the intermediate layer and the substrate are different so that the intermediate layer has said stress state. It may also be formed by varying its growth parameters so as to have said stress state. It may also be formed so that its cell parameter is different from the cell parameter of the substrate so that the intermediate layer has said stress state.
The auto-organised deposition of microstructures or nanostructures may be done using a technique chosen from among PVD deposition, CVD deposition, LPCVD deposition, liquid epitaxy, dipping, gaseous epitaxy and plasma deposition.
The auto-organised deposition step may comprise superposition of depositions, a first deposition being made on a free face of the intermediate layer and at least one second deposition being done afterwards to obtain a three-dimensional organisation of the microstructures or nanostructures.
The free face of the intermediate layer may be treated to form a relief on it such that the microstructures or nanostructures are deposited according to a three-dimensional organisation. This relief may be a saw tooth profile.
Another purpose of the invention is a device composed of microstructures or nanostructures on a support, characterised in that this support comprises:
a substrate comprising at least one part made of a crystalline material, this part having a surface with a stress field or a topology associated with a stress field, the stress field being associated with dislocations,
an intermediate layer bonded to said surface and having a thickness and/or composition and/or a surface state enabling transmission of said stress field through this layer as far as its free face that supports the microstructures or nanostructures.
The substrate may be composed of a wafer of crystalline material bonding to a thin film of crystalline material at the contact faces, the crystalline lattices presented by the faces in contact being offset by an angle enabling the formation of a lattice of crystalline defects within a crystalline zone close to the interface between the wafer and the thin film.
The intermediate layer may be composed of a stack of sub-layers. It may be a layer with a stress state encouraging auto-organised deposition of microstructures or nanostructures. For example, the coefficients of thermal expansion of the intermediate layer and the substrate may be different so that the intermediate layer has said stress state.
The microstructures or nanostructures may be arranged in superposed layers, thus forming a three-dimensional organisation.
The intermediate layer may have a free face with relief such that the microstructures or nanostructures form a three-dimensional organisation.

Method for automatic organization of microstructures or nanostructures and related device obtained

Abstract: a) a substrate (1) comprising at least one part composed of a crystalline material, this part having a surface (2) with a stress field or a topology associated with a stress field, the stress field being associated with dislocations,

Abstract: b) an intermediate layer (3) bonded to the surface (2), and having a thickness and/or composition and/or a surface state enabling transmission of said stress field through this layer as far as its free face that supports microstructures or nanostructures (4).

Centre National de la Recherche Scientific


A method of subtitling motion picture films in which graphics elements, characters, or texts are added to a motion picture film by means of a laser beam travelling over the zone to be marked of the film, comprises the following two steps: a first step, in which a laser etching operation is performed by applying a laser beam whose speed of displacement over the film lies in the range about 1 cm/s to about 200 cm/s, with its power on the film lying in the range about 100 milliwatts to about 20 watts, and with the ratio V/P of the displacement speed expressed in cm/s divided by the power on the film expressed in watts lying in the range 10 to 30 so as to be high enough for the laser beam to achieve complete transformation of the emulsion in the etched zones by causing the emulsion to be heated, softened, and dislocated, but without totally eliminating the transformed emulsion; and a second step, in which the etched film is subjected to cleaning treatment for cleaning the etched zones so that the particles of emulsion that have been heated and dislocated by the laser beam are eliminated from those zones of the film that have previously been marked by the low power laser beam, thereby causing transparent subtitles to appear.

It is common practice to subtitle motion picture films by etching the emulsion of the developed film by a chemical method. In that case, the film emulsion is etched chemically in zones where symbols, descriptions, or text are to be added leaving the backing medium intact. Various types of chemical method are in existence, however all of them require a large number of manipulations, thereby impeding automation and preventing the total time taken to implement the method from being reduced.
More particularly, in a conventional chemical subtitling method, the surface of the emulsion of a film duplicate is initially coated with a protective layer, then the subtitled text is marked by means of plates in relief. The duplicates of the films are then passed through an appropriate reagent bath which destroys the emulsion at the locations marked by the plates. The protective layer is then removed from the duplicates either by being dissolved or by washing. Various types of washing arrangements are known in the art as represented, for example, by the washing arrangements depicted in FIGS. 1 and 2 herein. As shown in FIG. 1, a film 5 flows from a reel 8 through a washing unit 10 defined by a container 11 and then is wound upon another reel 12. Washing unit 10 can include heating units 15 and/or an ultrasound generating unit 18 in a manner known in the art. In the conventional washing arrangement shown in FIG. 2, a film 25 extends between an unwinding reel 28 and a winding reel 32. Between reels 28 and 32 is positioned a tank 31. Above tank 31 is positioned a spraying unit 35 including a plurality of nozzles 37 for applying jets of washing liquid upon film 25.
After rinsing and drying, the subtitles appear completely transparent and can easily be read when the films are projected.
In spite of the quality of the results obtained, chemical type subtitling methods are penalized by the slowness of the treatment, the need to establish artwork and plates of very high quality, its sensitivity to the accuracy with which various parameters are adjusted such as the relief and the pressure of the plates, the problem of choosing reagents and of irregularities in adhesion and in consistency of the protective layer, the need to take account of the sensitivity and the defects of the emulsions of the prints to be subtitled, and the slowness and the instability of the mechanical engagement between the plate and the film.
The various factors mentioned above thus make implementing a chemical type subtitling method relatively expensive and difficult to automate.
Proposals have also been made to mark motion picture films by means of a high energy laser beam which causes the film emulsion to be ablated locally. The laser beam can be applied through a mask or it may be deflected so as to travel along a determined path corresponding to the inscriptions to be formed on the film. For example, one known motion picture film marking arrangement is shown in FIG. 3 wherein a film 45 is caused to move in the direction of arrow F under a laser beam 48. As is known in the art, laser beam 48 creates subtitles or other markings on film 45 as film 45 passes thereunder. Laser beam 48 is created by a laser unit 50. The output from laser unit 50 is directed to an optical focusing and deflection system 55 which properly positions laser beam 48 in two dimensions, i.e., in both X and Y coordinate planes. Laser unit 50 and optical focusing and deflection system 55 are controlled by means of a control unit 60. More specifically, the output power of laser unit 50 is controlled by control unit 60 by signals outputted through control line 62. In a similar manner, optical focusing and deflection system 55 receives control signals from control unit 60 through control lines 64 and 65 in order to properly position laser beam 48.
In laser subtitling methods, the quality of the result depends on the nature of the emulsion and on the background density of the images on which the subtitles are to be etched. In practice, it has been observed that it is impossible to maintain inscriptions having strokes of constant width under normal working conditions, i.e. with long films having images of varying color and contrast and having emulsions of various characteristics. The working parameters, and in particular the power of the laser beam radiation applied to the film and the displacement speed of the laser beam can be adjusted over ranges of values that are quite large but that depend strongly on the emulsion, thereby making it difficult to obtain subtitles that are sharp and pleasant in appearance using only one pass of the laser beam on the film.
In known laser subtitling methods, the power, the exposure time, and the wavelength are selected so as to destroy the emulsion completely at points where the laser beam strikes the film. The laser etching performed using such a method is nevertheless of non-uniform quality. Thus, there often remain dark zones and spots that are colored to a greater or lesser extent due to gelatinous residues or to damage to the surface of the backing medium which is difficult to control with certain types of media, in particular those made of polyester.
Implementing laser beams of non-negligible power suitable for enabling the emulsion to be etched sufficiently at a working speed that is not too slow gives rise to equipment that is expensive, that consumes a large quantity of electricity and of cooling water, and that requires laser sources to he used that are relatively fragile.
The present invention seeks specifically to remedy the above-mentioned drawbacks and to enable subtitling operations to be performed on motion picture films quickly, cheaply, and automatically while nevertheless obtaining results of good quality with subtitles that are sharp and free from projections, spots, or grayish zones.

Method of subtitling motion picture films


The present invention relates to a method of testing catalysts and catalyst systems via a plurality of stations in which each station can accommodate a common reactor module in order to accomplish unattended, automated, rapid serial experimentation. The method includes the steps of: providing within a purged chamber a storage station of pre-loaded catalyst reactors, a hydrocarbon reaction station, one or more additional pre-treatment and/or post-treatment stations in series with said hydrocarbon reaction station, and a robotic means for moving catalyst reactors within the purged chamber between stations, pre-treating the pre-loaded catalyst reactor with a treatment gas in the post-treatment station, reacting the pre-loaded catalyst reactor with a hydrocarbon reactant in the hydrocarbon reaction station, post-treating the pre-loaded catalyst reactor with a treatment gas in the post-treatment station, and repeating the foregoing steps such that the pre-treating, reacting and post-treating steps occur simultaneously for two different pre-loaded catalyst reactors. The advantages of the present invention include improved accuracy, reproducibility and quality of test data generated, increased testing throughput rate, providing for automated unattended operation of the device, providing for the ability the ability to program a variety of sequences and settings, providing for the combination of a variety of processes (pre-treatment, HC reaction testing, post-treatment, aging, and characterization), and providing for higher temperature operation. The method finds application in laboratory test environments, and in particular in high throughput testing environments.

High throughput catalyst testing has been often accomplished via the "massively parallel" approach discussed in High-Throughput Screening in Chemical Catalysis (2004 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. and KGaA, Weinheim. In this prior art, an array of materials are tested as a single batch in a manner that is highly dependent on manual operation. In this experimentation approach, each well in the array is loaded with a catalyst, sealed and then heated to a single operating temperature. Once at temperature, a reaction (typically, hydrocarbon (HC)) testing proceeds. Any characterization after reaction (i.e. BET analysis, coke content) requires a separate operation. Each catalyst from the array requires the one-by-one manual discharging, segregating, weighing and re-loading into each addition characterization device. As a whole, the sequential characterization of catalysts becomes the slow step and is no longer high-throughput. Although the testing and characterization results and operation under this prior art approach are naturally disparate, the inclusion of both is necessary to generate a complete evaluation of a catalyst.
Parallel testing of catalyst reactors has been used for materials that require long times to test. However, parallel testing such as that referenced in German Patent No. DE19809477C2 is not always effective in evaluating materials in which reaction testing and characterization techniques must be combined to present a complete analysis. For example, a significant amount of carbon is deposited on materials that are evaluated in heterogeneous reactors at high temperature. Without a sequential catalyst characterization, the amount of coke deposited on the catalyst must be calculated via carbon balance. However, this methodology is unreliable because it requires that all species be measured and be measured accurately. Missing components and propagation of error lead to highly inaccurate, scattered results. Thus, calculating coke from all of those measurements is rendered unusable.
The direct measurement of coke (likely via combustion) is not a viable solution for parallel reactor systems because the arrays of materials may have to be unloaded from the reactor into a new reactor for de-coking and tested one-by-one. Alternatively, the reactor in the parallel method may have to be transferred to another experimental set-up. Another approach is to redesign the hydrocarbon feed system to include both air and hydrocarbon feeds that are appropriately separated by interlocks (although possible, also of considerable hazard) to accomplish the coke measurement. All of these approaches become a bottleneck to high-throughput experimentation.
Parallel apparatus by nature are complex mechanisms. Compromise must be reached between data quality and complexity. As a result, parallel apparatus do not contain sufficient instrumentation to control key process parameters i.e. pressure, flow, and temperature for each individual reactor. In addition, some parameters have a limited range of operation temperature for "massively parallel." While catalyst performance can be tested for many catalysts at once, data quality suffers. This leads to high variability in measured results.
A need exists for an improved method of testing catalysts and catalyst systems to alleviate the aforementioned issues associated with the prior art technique of using the massively parallel technique.

Rapid serial experimentation of catalysts and catalyst systems

ExxonMobil Research and Engineering Company


A semiconductor device includes a nitride semiconductor stacked structure that includes a channel layer containing GaN and a barrier layer containing In and further includes a cap layer that contains GaN on the outermost surface but does not contain Al. The cap layer has a Ga/N ratio that varies along a thicknesswise direction.

As a semiconductor device that includes, for example, a nitride semiconductor stacked structure for which a nitride semiconductor is used, a high electron mobility transistor (High Electron Mobility Transistor: HEMT; GaN HEMT) in which, for example, GaN is used for a channel layer (electron transit layer) is available.
As such a GaN HEMT as just described, for example, a HEMT in which, for example, AlGaN, InAlN, InAlGaN or the like is used for a barrier layer (electron supply layer) is available.
Also a HEMT is available in which a cap layer for which, for example, AlGaN, GaN or the like is used is provided on the outermost surface of a nitride semiconductor stacked structure.

Semiconductor device and fabrication method therefor, and high-frequency amplifier


The agitator of the present invention comprises: a drive source; a differential unit; a rotation-direction switching unit; and a brake unit. The drive source generates rotational driving forces. The differential unit and rotation-direction switching unit are positioned in a driving-force transmission path between agitation vessels containing agitation-target material. The brake unit alternately stops the rotation of two rotating shafts extended from the differential unit. Here, the differential unit of the agitator has functions of receiving the rotational driving forces from the drive source and transmitting the rotational driving forces to the two rotating shafts in a differential manner. The rotation-direction switching unit has a function of inverting the rotation direction of the rotational driving forces transmitted to the agitation vessel while the rotation of the rotating shaft is being stopped by a brake.

[1] Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a mixer for mixing multiple materials and an agitator for agitating or pulverizing one or more types of materials.
[2] Related Art
In the manufacture of chemicals and food products, agitators are generally used for mixing more than one material or pulverizing particulate matter. Some proposed agitators include: ones with a structure in which an agitating screw is provided within a vessel where material such as liquid and powder is poured, and the material in the vessel is agitated by rotating the screw (e.g. Japanese Patent Publication No. 3072467); and ones with a structure in which a screw-free agitation vessel itself, with material contained therein, is rotated, and the rotation direction of the agitation vessel is inverted by reversing the rotation direction of the motor at regular time intervals (e.g. Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application Publication No. 2002-1084). The agitator proposed in the latter reference rotates the agitation vessel while switching the rotation direction in regular intervals, and thereby produces highly efficient agitation of its contained material.
This agitator, proposed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application Publication No. 2002-1084 above, does not experience much difficulty in switching the rotation direction of the agitation vessel, which is achieved by switching the rotation direction of the drive source, such as a motor, between forward and reverse, if the agitation vessel and material contained therein have small masses.
In the case when the agitation vessel and contained material have rather large weights, however, inverting the rotation direction of the agitation vessel requires a substantial amount of energy, causing great energy loss, and also results in adding great loads to the motor of the drive source.

Agitator for mixing or agitating target material by rotating vessels containing the material


There will be provided a punching unit capable of reliably drawing a punch out of the workpiece, improving the productivity and without deteriorating the boring precision even for a workpiece which easily spreads, and preventing leavings rising. A stripper plates which has been positioned close to the workpiece in accordance with the thickness thereof does not press the workpiece, but draws the punch during rising out of the workpiece to transmit the striking driving force of the electric motor to the movable die holding the punch. In an air path portion arranged within the machine frame, there is provided means for opening or closing through an electric signal and the air path between the air ejecting unit and the means is made shorter, whereby the response to air ejection is improved, the pressure loss during air flow is reduced to a minimum, and jet air is accurately applied to punching chips (leavings) which adhere to the punch at the bottom dead center for peeling off the punch.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a punching unit for boring a pattern, a reference hole or the like in a printed substrate, a flexibility film, a ceramic green sheet or the like, and more particularly to a punching unit suitable for boring a hole in a workpiece which easily spreads like the ceramic green sheet when a pressing force is applied.
2. Description of the Related Art
Heretofore, a punching unit of this type has been constructed such that there are, at the tip end-side upper part of the machine frame, provided a punch holding die together with a striking driving source, and at the tip end-side lower part, provided a die holding die corresponding to the punch holding die respectively and that a workpiece is carried in between the punch holding die and the die holding die to bore a hole into a required pattern, a reference hole or the like.
This punching unit is, on the machine base, provided in a necessary quantity close to one another side by side, and its punch holding die is equipped with a stripper mechanism which continuously presses (sandwiches) the workpiece between the die holding die and the punch holding die during a period of time from immediately before the punch comes into contact with the workpiece to a time at which the punch is drawn out.
For a striking driving source for the punch, an air cylinder, or an electric motor (for example, servo motor) is used.
In the air cylinder, pressure of air to be compressed is utilized as a driving force, and since air is a compression medium although low in cost, it is difficult to say that a movement of a piston for transmitting a striking force to a punch always coincides with the air pressure. As striking is continuously performed, there arises minute deviation in interlocking relation between supply and exhaust of air pressure for moving the piston up and down, thus making it impossible to expect punching at equal speed at all times. Actually, a problem for deteriorating the quality of the hole such as a punch bounding with minute amplitude at a punching bottom dead center is caused.
On the other hand, if an electric motor is used, the above described problem of air cylinder will be able to be solved.
In either case, however, since pressing (sandwiching) of the workpiece is continued during a period of time from immediately before punching to a time at which the punch is drawn out, a time for pressing by a stripper plate causes time loss which deteriorates the punching efficiency, deteriorating the productivity. In the case of, for example, ceramic green sheet which easily spreads, the pressing force spreads the workpiece, thus making it impossible to punch with high precision.
Also, an air passage which is connected to a punching hole of a die is connected to an air supply unit (for example, air compressor) provided in a factory where a machine base on which a punching unit is mounted is installed. An air path from the vicinity of the air supply unit to an air ejecting unit becomes long, and therefore, the response to air ejection is slow, and the pressure loss during air flow also becomes greater. For this reason, there has been also a problem that even if air is ejected toward the tip end of the punch at the bottom dead center at predetermined timing, air is not supplied at timing capable of peeling leavings and at predetermined air pressure and in a predetermined amount of air, but as a result, the punching operation is repeated while punching chips (shavings) adhere to the punch without being able to strip the leavings for reducing yields.
The present invention has been achieved in view of the above described conventional state of affairs, and is aimed to provide a punching unit capable of increasing productivity and yet not deteriorating the punching precision even for a workpiece which easily spreads.
Also, it is another object to provide a punching unit for preventing leavings rising.
Technical means instituted in order to achieve the above described object is characterized in that a punch ram is provided on the machine frame so as to be able to adjust the vertical moving height through the use of height adjusting means; the punch ram is provided with an electric motor which serves as a driving source; at the lower end of the punch ram, a stripper plate is mounted as a punch fixed die; a movable die holding a punch is disposed above the stripper plate so as to couple to the electric motor; and the electric motor is driven in a state in which the stripper plate is positioned close to the workpiece by the height adjusting means for boring a hole (First aspect).
In this case, the electric motor includes a servo motor, a linear motor, a stepping motor and the like.
According to the above described means, it becomes possible to cause the stripper plate at the lower end of the punch ram to approach in response to the workpiece to be punched by means of the height adjusting function of the punch ram using the height adjusting means. The stripper plate is caused to approach several xcexcm spaced from the workpiece in such a manner that the workpiece is not pressed, but yet the punch can be drawn out of the workpiece when the punch is rising. Therefore, the stripper plate which has been positioned close to the workpiece in accordance with the thickness of the workpiece to be punched does not press the workpiece, but reliably draws the punch during rising out of the workpiece to increase the punching efficiency by eliminating time loss caused by continued pressing by the conventional stripper plate. Thus, the striking driving force of the electric motor is transmitted to the movable die holding the punch.
Also, within the machine frame, there is preferably introduced an air passage for supplying air into the air ejecting unit provided in the die and within the machine frame, there is provided means for opening or closing the air passage through an electric signal from the electric motor (Second aspect).
In this case, means for opening and closing through an electric signal, for example, an electric switching valve is preferably constructed such that the interior of the machine frame is formed hollow and that within the machine frame, the electric switching valve is provided at a position close to the die holding die.
With such structure, the air path between the air ejecting unit and the means for opening and closing the air passage becomes very short.
Accordingly, the pressure loss at the time of air ejection is reduced to a minimum at the same timing as punching bottom dead center, and jet air from the air ejecting unit is accurately applied to the tip end of the punch to peel the punching chips (leavings).


A double coated radiographic element is disclosed which exhibits a crossover of less than 5 percent and which is provided with a first silver halide emulsion layer unit on one side of its transparent film support that exhibits an average contrast of less than 2.0 and a second silver halide emulsion layer unit on the opposite side of the silm support that exhibits an average contrast of at least 2.5.

In medical radiography an image of a patient's tissue and bone structure is produced by exposing the patient to X radiation and recording the pattern of penetrating X radiation using a radiographic element containing at least one radiation sensitive silver halide emulsion layer coated on a transparent (usually blue tinted) film support. The X radiation can be directly recorded by the emulsion layer where only limited areas of exposure are required, as in dental imaging and the imaging of body extremities. However, a more efficient approach, which greatly reduces X radiation exposures, is to employ an intensifying screen in combination with the radiographic element. The intensifying screen absorbs X radiation and emits longer wavelength electromagnetic radiation which silver halide emulsions more readily absorb. Another technique for reducing patient exposure is to coat two silver halide emulsion layers on opposite sides of the film support to form a "double coated" radiographic element.
Diagnostic needs can be satisfied at the lowest patient X radiation exposure levels by employing a double coated radiographic element in combination with a pair of intensifying screens. The silver halide emulsion layer unit on each side of the support directly absorbs about 1 to 2 percent of incident X radiation. The front screen, the screen nearest the X radiation source, absorbs a much higher percentage of X radiation, but still transmits sufficient X radiation to expose the back screen, the screen farthest from the X radiation source. In the overwhelming majority of applications the front and back screens are balanced so that each absorbs about the same proportion of the total X radiation. However, a few variations have been reported from time to time. A specific example of balancing front and back screens to maximize image sharpness is provided by Luckey et al U.S. Pat. No. 4,710,637. Lyons et al U.S. Pat. No. 4,707,435 discloses in Example 10 the combination of two proprietary screens, Trimax 2.TM. employed as a front screen and Trimax 12F.TM. employed as a back screen. K. Rossman and G. Sanderson, "Validity of the Modulation Transfer Function of Radiographic Screen Film Systems Measured by the Slit Method", Phys. Med. Biol., 1968, vol. 13, no. 2, pp. 259-268, report the use of unsymmetrical screen film assemblies in which either the two screens had measurably different optical characteristics or the two emulsions had measurably different optical properties.
An imagewise exposed double coated radiographic element contains a latent image in each of the two silver halide emulsion units on opposite sides of the film support. Processing converts the latent images to silver images and concurrently fixes out undeveloped silver halide, rendering the film light insensitive. When the film is mounted on a view box, the two superimposed silver images on opposite sides of the support are seen as a single image against a white, illuminated background.
It has been a continuing objective of medical radiography to maximize the information content of the diagnostic image while minimizing patient exposure to X radiation. In 1918 the Eastman Kodak Company introduced the first medical radiographic product that was double coated, and the Patterson Screen Company that same year introduced a matched intensifying screen pair for that product.
An art recognized difficulty with employing double coated radiographic elements in combination with intensifying screens as described above is that some light emitted by each screen passes through the transparent film support to expose the silver halide emulsion layer unit on the opposite side of the support to light. The light emitted by a screen that exposes the emulsion layer unit on the opposite side of the support reduces image sharpness. The effect is referred to in the art as crossover.
A variety of approaches have been suggested to reduce crossover, as illustrated by Research Disclosure Vol. 184, August 1979, Item 18431, Section V. Cross-Over Exposure Control. Research Disclosure is published by Kenneth Mason Publications, Ltd., Dudley Annex, 21a North Street, Emsworth, Hampshire P010 7DQ, England. While some of these approaches are capable of entirely eliminating crossover, they either interfere with (typically entirely prevent) concurrent viewing of the superimposed silver images on opposite sides of the support as a single image, require separation and tedious manual reregistration of the silver images in the course of eliminating the crossover reduction medium, or significantly desensitize the silver halide emulsion. As a result, none of these crossover reduction approaches have come into common usage in the radiographic art. An example of a recent crossover cure teaching of this type is Bollen et al European published patent application 276,497, which interposes a reflective support between the emulsion layer units during imaging.
The most successful approach to crossover reduction yet realized by the art consistent with viewing the superimposed silver images through a transparent film support without manual registration of images has been to employ double coated radiographic elements containing spectrally sensitized high aspect ratio tabular grain emulsions or thin intermediate aspect ratio tabular grain emulsions, illustrated by Abbott et al U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,425,425 and 4,425,426, respectively. Whereas radiographic elements typically exhibited crossover levels of at least 25 percent prior to Abbott et al, Abbott et al provide examples of crossover reductions in the 15 to 22 percent range.
Still more recently Dickerson et al (I) U.S. Pat. No. 4,803,150 has demonstrated that by combining the teachings of Abbott et al with a processing solution decolorizable microcrystalline dye located between at least one of the emulsion layer units and the transparent film support "zero" crossover levels can be realized. Since the technique used to determine crossover, single screen exposure of a double coated radiographic element, cannot distinguish between exposure of the emulsion layer unit on the side of the support remote from the screen caused by crossover and the exposure caused by direct absorption of X radiation, "zero" crossover radiographic elements in reality embrace radiographic elements with a measured crossover (including direct X ray absorption) of less than about 5 percent.
Dickerson et al U.S. Pat. No. 4,900,652 (hereinafter referred to as Dickerson et al II) adds to the teachings of Dickerson et al, cited above, specific selections of hydrophilic colloid coating coverages in the emulsion and dye containing layers to allow the "zero" crossover radiographic elements to emerge dry to the touch from a conventional rapid access processor in less than 90 seconds with the crossover reducing microcrystalline dye decolorized.
Although major improvements in radiographic elements have occurred over the years, some limitations have been heretofore accepted as being inherent consequences of the complexities of medical diagnostic imaging. Medical diagnostic imaging places extreme and varying demands on radiographic elements. One of the most difficult demands can be illustrated by the chest X ray. In a typical chest X ray the radiologist is confronted with attempting to visually detect both lung and heart anomalies, even though the X radiation absorption in the heart area is about 10 times greater than that of the lung area. Most double coated radiographic elements when exposed to provide an optimum contrast image of the lungs provide no visually discernable contrast in the image of the heart. This is because the radiographic element is receiving in the heart area only about one tenth the exposure it is receiving in the lung area. The art has prior to this invention attempted to meet the needs of radiologists for chest X ray images providing visually discernable features in both the heart and lung image areas by providing extended latitude radiographic elements. Extended latitude radiographic elements are typically created by employing polydispersed silver halide emulsions to provide lower average contrasts and therefore a wider range of exposures separating minimum and maximum density exposures.

Radiographic elements with selected contrast relationships


Stretched articles, such as oriented polymeric films or fibers, having microstructure features on at least one surface thereof, and processes for making such articles, are disclosed. A method of making fibers comprises forming a polymeric film having a body having a first surface and a second surface and having a longitudinal dimension. The film also comprises a plurality of elongate microstructure features disposed on the first surface of the body in a direction substantially parallel to the longitudinal dimension of the body, wherein the elongate microstructure features are substantially parallel. The method further comprises stretching the polymeric film in a direction substantially parallel to the longitudinal dimension of the body, and fibrillating the stretched polymeric film along the longitudinal dimension of the body to provide one or more fibers, wherein each fiber has at least one microstructure feature thereon.

Articles having structured surfaces, and processes for providing such articles are known. In the case of optical articles, see, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,096,247 and 6,808,658, and published application U.S. 2002/0154406 A1. The structured surfaces disclosed in these references include microprisms (such as microcubes) and lenses. Typically these structures are created on the surface of a suitable polymer by, for example, embossing, extrusion or machining.
The manufacture of such articles often comprises a step in which a tool bearing a negative version of the desired structured surface is contacted with a polymer resin. Contact with the resin is maintained for a time and under conditions adequate to fill the cavities in the tool after which the resin is removed from the tool. The resulting structured surface is a replicate of the negative surface of the tool.
Birefringent articles having structured surfaces are also known. See, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,213,753; 4,446,305; 4,520,189; 4,521,588; 4,525,413; 4,799,131; 5,056,030; 5,175,030 and published applications WO 2003/0058383 A1 and WO 2004/062904 A1.
Processes for manufacturing stretched films are also known. Such processes are typically employed to improve the mechanical and physical properties of the film. These processes include biaxial stretching techniques and uniaxial stretching techniques. See for example PCT WO 00/29197, U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,618,012; 2,988,772; 3,502,766; 3,807,004; 3,890,421; 4,330,499; 4,434,128; 4,349,500; 4,525,317 and 4,853,602. See also U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,862,564; 5,826,314; 5,882,774; 5,962,114 and 5,965,247. See also Japanese Unexamined Patent Publications Hei 5-11114; 5-288931; 5-288932; 6-27321 and 6-34815. Still other Japanese Unexamined Applications that disclose processes for stretching films include Hei 5-241021; 6-51116; 6-51119; and 5-11113. See also WO 2002/096622 A1.


An improved bump fabrication process is described that produces a larger diameter/taller solder ball than with a standard mushroom by forming an elongated mushroom having a short axis in the direction of adjacent connection mushrooms and an elongated axis orthogonal to the short axis. The increased larger volume solder when reflowed produces the larger diameter/taller bolder ball bump.

This invention relates to semiconductor devices and in particular to putting solder balls on semiconductor chips for connection onto a wafer.
As die sizes decrease with more components ( e.g., circuits, transistors, or the like) to provide more functions there are more connection points closer together. The distance between the connection points or the pitch becomes increasingly smaller as the die sizes decrease. Wire bonding of the connection points is used where these connection points are close together. It is highly desirable to provide solder bumps of larger and taller size to enable these chips to be directly connected to a substrate, package or circuit assembly without wire bonding. It is highly desirable to provide a solder ball on the die with as large a diameter and as high a height as possible without bridging the other solder balls to facilitate connections thereto. With a conventional circular resist defined, electroplated solder bump, the volume of plated solder and the resulting reflowed solder bump height is limited by the pitch of the product. The pitch is the distance from the center of one bump to the center of an adjacent bump.
In accordance with one embodiment of the present invention a variable cross-section plated mushroom with stud will allow the bumping of a larger diameter, taller bump on a tight pitch product.

Variable cross-section plated mushroom with stud for bumping


A method for metering a reagent which an emission control device situated in the exhaust duct of an internal combustion engine requires for removing at least one exhaust gas component from the exhaust gas and a device for executing the method are described. The fluid level of the reagent stored in a reagent tank is measured. The measured change in the fluid level is compared to at least one measure for the change in the fluid level calculated as a function of consumption. An error signal is output when the comparison result exceeds a predefined threshold value. This approach enables reliable information to be provided about the fluid level of the reagent in the reagent tank.

An exhaust gas treatment system of an internal combustion engine is described in German Published Patent Application No. 101 39 142 in which an SCR catalytic converter (selective catalytic reduction) is used for reducing the NOx emissions, the catalytic converter reducing the nitrogen oxides contained in the exhaust gas to nitrogen using ammonia as the reagent. The ammonia is extracted from a urea-water solution in a hydrolysis catalytic converter which is situated upstream from the SCR catalytic converter. The hydrolysis catalytic converter converts the urea contained in the urea-water solution into ammonia and carbon dioxide.
The urea-water solution is provided in a reagent tank. The concentration of the urea-water solution is obtained from the signals of a pressure sensor and a temperature sensor. The fluid level of the reagent tank is detected by a fluid level sensor (not shown) and may be indicated to an operator of the internal combustion engine. Removal of the at least one exhaust gas component NOx from the exhaust gas may be ensured only if an adequate quantity of the urea-water solution is available in the reagent tank.
An approach is described in German Published Patent Application No. 197 39 848 with which the NOx raw emissions may be calculated from the known performance characteristics of the internal combustion engine, at least approximately. The starting point is a characteristics field spanned by the fuel injection quantity and the speed of the internal combustion engine. Corrections may be additionally provided, e.g., as a function of air ratio lambda.
An exhaust gas treatment system of an internal combustion engine is known from European Published Patent Application No. 1 024 254 in which an SCR catalytic converter is also used for reducing the NOx emissions. Ammonia, which is extracted in the exhaust duct from a urea-water solution, is again provided as the reagent. The reagent rate is set based on the fuel injection quantity and the engine speed, as well as on at least one parameter of the exhaust gas, the exhaust gas temperature, for example.

Method for metering a reagent for the emission control of internal combustion engines and device for executing the method


An intake apparatus includes housings each defining an intake passage therein. The intake apparatus further includes valve members each being provided to each housing for communicating and blocking the intake passage. A shaft extends through the housings. The shaft is rotatable integrally with the valve members. A bearing member extends together with the shaft through the housings. The shaft is rotatable in the bearing member. The bearing member includes exposed portions each being exposed to the intake passage. Each exposed portion has an opening that extends with respect to an axial direction of the bearing member. The opening corresponds to a rotatable range, in which the valve member is rotatable with respect to a circumferential direction of the bearing member.

For example, an intake apparatus for an internal combustion engine includes a valve that communicates and blocks an inlet passage. According to U.S. Pat. No. 6,979,130 (JP-A-2003-509634), a bearing unit accommodates a flap. The bearing unit is in a substantially C-shape, and has a resilient structure. The flap accommodated in the bearing unit radially expands the bearing unit. The flap is rotatable resiliently in the bearing unit.
In this structure, the bearing unit and the flap are individually formed, and subsequently, the flap is assembled to the bearing unit. For example, when the bearing unit is provided to a four-cylinder engine, four bearing units are assembled individually to four intake passages of the engine. Subsequently, a metallic shaft is assembled to the bearing units for rotatably supporting flaps. The shaft penetrates four of the bearing units. The manufacturing process of this intake apparatus includes forming the bearing units and flaps, assembling the flaps to the bearing units, and inserting the shaft through the bearing units. In this structure, manufacturing process is complicated.

Intake apparatus and manufacturing method for the same


An apparatus and method perform supersonic cold-spraying to deposit N and P-type thermoelectric semiconductor, and other polycrystalline materials on other materials of varying complex shapes. The process developed has been demonstrated for bismuth and antimony telluride formulations as well as Tetrahedrite type copper sulfosalt materials. Both thick and thin layer thermoelectric semiconductor material is deposited over small or large areas to flat and highly complex shaped surfaces and will therefore help create a far greater application set for thermoelectric generator (TEG) systems. This process when combined with other manufacturing processes allows the total additive manufacturing of complete thermoelectric generator based waste heat recovery systems. The processes also directly apply to both thermoelectric cooler (TEC) systems, thermopile devices, and other polycrystalline functional material applications.

Waste heat is a significant global environmental issue, but it is one that draws little attention because of very limited solutions. A large fraction of energy used in industrial processes and transportation systems is lost as low grade waste heat, and several trillion dollars of energy generated from fossil fuels in the U.S. each year, equal to nearly sixty quadrillion BTUs, is discarded without benefit in the form of waste heat.
Thermoelectric generators or (TEGs) using solid state conversion of heat to electricity is one technology for application to waste heat recovery, but TEGs are currently only used in niche markets because the resulting cost per kilowatt is high, and they are difficult to integrate into waste heat sources because of their flat plate form factor. TEGs are usually manufactured in small, flat plate modules using small pellets of N-type and P-type crystalline semiconductor materials wired in series or parallel. As recognized by the present inventor, the flat form factor makes the TEGs difficult to thermally couple to complex shaped heat sources and equally difficult to couple to active cooling sources, both issues adding significantly to TEG installation complexity and cost. The present inventor also recognized that TEGs made using semi-conductor pellets also require the use of solders to hold the multilayer thermoelectric couple element assembly together, and these materials often limit potential applications and the maximum electrical output of the devices. The overall design of current commercial thermoelectric devices also make them subject to degradation or failure when subjected to moderate to intense mechanical and thermal shock environments.
Additive manufacturing of TEGs offers the potential to spray or otherwise deposit the N-type and P-type semiconductor materials and all the other material layers required for a functional TEG directly onto complex shaped waste heat or other thermal energy sources. The potential combination of several additive manufacturing processes enable sequentially building up the electrical isolation layer, an adhesion layer, the interconnecting conductive metallic layer or layers, diffusion barrier material layer, and both the N-type and P-type semiconductor layers required for a functional TEG. One potential method of achieving both the deposition of the thermoelectric semiconductor and metallic materials is the use of the supersonic cold-spray deposition process, although the industry has struggled to find a solution that achieves that objective.
"Supersonic cold spray" is a material deposition process that has been developed to build up metallic material layers by impacting micrometer sized metal particles at high velocities onto a substrate. A helium or nitrogen gas stream under pressure is accelerated to supersonic velocity by expansion through a converging-diverging nozzle. The normally spherical metal particles of the material being deposited are inserted into the gas stream either in the converging or diverging sections of the nozzle and then accelerated to high velocity. The normally spherical metal particles in the size range from 10-80 micrometers become entrained within the gas and are directed towards the surface where they deform and knit together on impact forming a strong bond with the surface and with each other. Gas type, gas pressure, gas temperature, nozzle configuration, nozzle extension length, average particle size of the material being sprayed, the particle's drag coefficient, and the particle size distribution must be optimized for each different material. In addition, the feed mechanism and the feed rate of the powdered material into the gas stream must be tailored to the material being sprayed. A unique advantage of the cold-spray process is that the particles are maintained below their melt temperature, and successful deposition depends on the micrometer sized, normally spherical, metal particles deforming on impact. Thus, implementation of the cold spray process has been primarily focused on the use of metallic materials, materials that are malleable and that can be hammered or pressed permanently out of shape without breaking or cracking and particles that can be fused or forged together below their melt temperature. For that reason, the cold-spray process has not been generally applied to the deposition of crystalline or polycrystalline materials, and thermoelectric semiconductors materials and other energy harvesting semiconductor materials. In addition, in the deposition of metals, the metal particle sizes are generally restricted to being greater than ten microns in diameter and normally in the range between 25 microns and 75 microns in diameter since they must exhibit sufficient drag area and mass to be accelerated by the gas stream and gain sufficient momentum to hit the surface with enough force to deform and adhere to the surface and each other before being swept away by the gas stream.

Apparatus, and process for cold spray deposition of thermoelectric semiconductor and other polycrystalline materials and method for making polycrystalline materials for cold spray deposition


An internal combustion engine includes a crankcase in which a crankshaft is rotatably mounted. Mechanisms are provided for scraping off the oil from the rotating crankshaft. An oil pan is arranged below the crankcase for holding the oil scraped off by the scrapers.

The present invention relates to an internal combustion engine with a crankcase, in which a crankshaft is mounted in a rotatable manner.
An internal combustion engine is disclosed in DE 44 24 248 C1. The oil is pumped over pressurized channels, running inside the walls of the cylinder head, and the adjoining longitudinal channels to air/oil separating elements inside the crankcase, in order to separate the air from the oil, flowing back into the oil pan. This separation of the air from the oil maintains the quality of the oil and guarantees that the internal combustion engine will operate reliably. However, the drawback with this feature is high casting complexity in producing the relatively long channels, the high space requirement, and the high power output required to circulate the oil and to separate the air from the oil.
DE 40 01 468 A1 describes an oil guide housing for an internal combustion engine, in which there are oil lathes, constructed as ribs, with which the oil is planed off from the figure eight-shaped connecting rod and is returned over the return channels into the oil pan. Yet this prior art design does not make it possible to separate the air from the oil returned to the oil pan.
Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide an internal combustion engine, in which the oil is returned to the oil pan as fast as possible and with minimal air content. The necessary scrapers and air/oil separators to fulfill this requirement require as little space as possible and ought to exhibit a compact configuration.
The present invention solves this problem the oil scrapers are designed as one piece with at least one air/oil separator and are guided to the oil inlet opening of the air/oil separator, at least one oil outlet opening being assigned to at least one air/oil separator in such a manner that in each driving state of a motor vehicle, provided with the internal combustion engine said oil outlet opening is located above an oil level in the oil pan.
The result of the present invention's integral configuration of at least one air/oil separator with the oil scrapers is a very compact type of construction of these two parts, so that they may be integrated into the internal combustion engine without any problems. In addition, the negligible spacing between the air/oil separator and the oil scrapers eliminates the need for a pump, since the oil is scraped off due to the high kinetic energies prevailing in the air/oil separator. Furthermore, to the density difference between air and oil allows the oil to be separated automatically, such an automatic oil separation being the goal. Another advantage of the present invention lies in the feature that no additional channels or the like have to be integrated into the crankcase, thus eliminating any additional casting complexity.
In each driving state of the motor vehicle provided with the internal combustion engine of the invention, at least one oil outlet opening of the air/oil separator is located above the oil level in the oil pan. Thus, the oil is always guaranteed to return to the oil pan without any constraints and without resistance. Preferably all of the oil outlet openings are arranged above the oil level occurring in the oil pan.
If in an advantageous further embodiment of the invention the longitudinal axis of the air/oil separator, around which the oil that is introduced rotates, runs substantially parallel to the crankshaft, then additional space problems are eliminated, because the air/oil separator is usually much larger in the direction of its longitudinal axis than in a plane perpendicular thereto. That is, the air/oil separator is installed in a reclining manner. Yet this feature does not have a negative impact on its function, because the oil does not flow into said air/oil separator due to gravity, but rather due to high centrifugal force.
An especially large amount of oil may be scraped from the crankshaft rotating in the crankcase if each oil scraper is assigned to a connecting rod and each oil scraper has two oil scraping openings arranged one after the other in succession in the crankshaft rotation direction.
Furthermore, a tapering channel may be provided to run from each oil scraping opening to the air/oil separator. Such a tapering channel can increase the oil flow, rate and the oil may thus be guided even faster to the air/oil separator.
Other objects, advantages and novel features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the invention when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

Dr. Ing. h.c.F. Porsche Aktiengesellschaft


Neural stimulation is effected by a stimulus current pulse. The current pulse is initially of an amplitude to rapidly induce a desired electrode voltage, and is subsequently of reduced amplitude to control electrode voltage in a desired manner. This can effect a reduced peak electrode voltage while delivering a given amount of charge. Optimization of the current pulse may further involve parameterising an electrode current waveform as a sequence of piecewise constant steps, each step having substantially the same duration as all other steps and each step having a calculatable amplitude, and identifying electrode-tissue interface (ETI) parameters. For each step of the pulse, the respective step amplitude is then calculated using the identified ETI parameters to optimise the electrode voltage.

Many implanted medical devices rely on electronic circuits to provide electric stimulation of nerves. Such devices include retinal implants and cochlear implants, where the electrical stimulation is used to transfer information to the brain, as well as devices for applications where the stimulation is used for motor control. For chronic use in patients, it is necessary that such devices transfer a zero net charge, and so the use of charge-balanced rectangular biphasic current pulses for neural stimulation is well established. These pulses often comprise a constant current stimulating cathodic phase, followed by a brief interphase gap in which no stimulation is applied, and then a constant current charge-balancing anodic phase.
Various kinds of neural stimulation performance improvement have been sought by varying the waveform of the signal. For instance variations from the basic symmetric rectangular biphasic current pulse have been investigated for their effect on threshold, for selective recruitment of different sized fibres and for increasing charge delivery capacity of electrodes.
Neural stimulation devices further face certain constraints upon the voltage which may appear on the stimulating electrodes. While miniaturization of neural stimulation devices is desirable, integrated circuit (IC) technologies with reduced device (transistor) size tolerate smaller voltages. Thus, devices using progressively smaller feature semiconductor technologies face limits on the maximum supply voltage available to effect the electrical neural stimulation. While smaller feature semiconductor technologies may be adapted to provide larger electrode voltages, this necessitates increased circuit complexity and power consumption to step up the voltage. Another approach is to use semiconductor fabrication technology which allows both high and low voltage transistors on the same die, however, such specialised devices add to the IC fabrication cost.
Another factor affecting electrode voltage is the need to avoid voltages rising above a certain threshold, to prevent the formation of undesirable chemical products in the tissue surrounding the electrode. One approach for limiting peak electrode voltage involves monitoring the electrode voltage and reducing the current when a prescribed voltage limit is approached.
Implanted devices are generally battery powered and thus have a tight power budget. To reduce the power dissipated in neural stimulation circuitry, careful attention has been paid to design of current sources, and a voltage drive waveform designed to approximately match the electrode voltage under constant current drive has also been proposed. Nevertheless the power budget remains a significant factor in neural stimulation.
Any discussion of documents, acts, materials, devices, articles or the like which has been included in the present specification is solely for the purpose of providing a context for the present invention. It is not to be taken as an admission that any or all of these matters form part of the prior art base or were common general knowledge in the field relevant to the present invention as it existed before the priority date of each claim of this application.
Throughout this specification the word "comprise", or variations such as "comprises" or "comprising", will be understood to imply the inclusion of a stated element, integer or step, or group of elements, integers or steps, but not the exclusion of any other element, integer or step, or group of elements, integers or steps.


A sheet feed unit includes a medium container configured to contain sheet-like recording media; a bottom plate disposed in the medium container and configured to accommodate the recording media thereon; a sheet feed device configured to feed out the recording media contained in the medium container; a main body of the sheet feed unit, which the medium container can be inserted into and pulled out from, including the sheet feed device; and a displaying member configured to display a remaining level of the recording media in the medium container, the displaying member including a first display oriented in a first direction and a second display oriented in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction. The sheet feed unit improves a freeness in the observable range of the displaying member and the remaining level of the recording media in the medium container can be more accurately ascertained.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a sheet feed unit capable of feeding a sheet-like recording medium, and further relates to an image forming apparatus such as a laser printer, a digital copier, and a facsimile machine including the sheet feed unit.
2. Related Art
A sheet feed unit of an image forming apparatus usually includes a single-step or multi-storied sheet feed tray, in which a plurality of sheet-like recording media can be stored and each sheet feed tray or sheet feed cassette is detachably attached to the main body of the image forming apparatus. The sheet feed tray is normally configured to be inserted into and pulled out from the main body of the image forming apparatus via an opening disposed at one side thereof.
When supplying the sheet or transmitting a print job, it is necessary to confirm whether or not the sheet is stored in the sheet feed tray externally. Recently, various approaches have been tried to enable the remaining paper supply level to be ascertained from outside, and image forming apparatuses including a display that shows a remaining paper supply level have been proposed. For example, JP-H09-2672-A discloses an apparatus including a slit window disposed on a front side wall, through which the number of sheets remaining in the sheet feed tray can be observed directly observed from outside. Alternatively, JP-2007-223689-A discloses an apparatus including a display mechanism, disposed on a cover of the sheet feed tray, to show the remaining paper supply level by contacting a top surface of the sheets inside the sheet feed tray.
Depending on where the image forming apparatus is installed, there may be an obstacle such as a wall in the direction to pull out the sheet feed tray from the main body, thereby obstructing insertion and removal of the sheet feed tray. To cope with the aforementioned problem, JP-H09-221236-A and JP-2005-255363-A propose an image forming apparatus which is configured to install a sheet feed tray in the image forming apparatus main body from two different directions. Even in such an image forming apparatus, however, a display showing a remaining level of the recording media may not be observed from outside or is difficult to be seen depending on the size of the obstacle and a positional relation between the obstacle and the sheet feed tray.

Sheet feed unit and image forming apparatus including same


On a GaAs substrate (1), are formed a DBR (Distributed Bragg Reflector) (3), and a light-emitting layer (5) made of a plurality of layers of AlyGazIn1-y-zP (0≦y≦1, 0≦z≦1) above the DBR (3). A semiconductor layer or a plurality of semiconductor layers (6)-(10) having a number of layers of 1 or more are formed on the light-emitting layer (5), and a grating pattern for scattering light is formed on a surface of the semiconductor layer (9) by photolithography and by etching with a sulfuric acid/hydrogen peroxide based etchant. Thus, a semiconductor device small in radiation angle dependence of light emission wavelength, as well as a manufacturing method therefor, are provided.

The present invention relates to a semiconductor light-emitting device to be used for transmission (in particular, for IEEE 1394), display and the like.
In recent years, semiconductor light-emitting devices have been widely used for optical communications, information display panels and the like. These semiconductor light-emitting devices, for which high luminous efficiency and besides, for optical communications use, high response speed are of importance, have been vigorously developed in these years.
Recently, plastic optical fibers have begun to be used for communications of shorter distances. Since these plastic optical fibers have low loss at a wavelength region of 650 nm, there have been developed fast response LEDs (Light-Emitting Diodes) having, as a light-emitting layer, an AlGaInP based semiconductor material capable of high-efficiency light emission at this wavelength region.
On the other hand, as one of the means for improving the response and luminous efficiency of normal plane emission type LEDs, it has been practiced to fabricate the light-emitting layer into a quantum well structure. Further, as a means for improving the light takeout efficiency, it has been practiced to provide a DBR (Distributed Bragg Reflector) having high reflectance between the light-emitting layer and a GaAs substrate.
However, in the plane emission type LED with the DBR provided under the light-emitting layer, given a light-emitting layer which is a quantum well active layer, the light-emitting layer is so thin as about 10 nm that light reflected from the DBR would not be well absorbed by the light-emitting layer but be radiated outside the LED. As a result, the characteristic of the DBR that the wavelength of perpendicularly reflected light is longer than the wavelength of obliquely reflected light is reflected on the LED, causing the emission wavelength of the LED to have a radiation angle dependence, which is generally about 0.2-0.3 nm/deg. However, even such a level of radiation angle dependence, with the LED used for display, would result in a problem that color changes occur depending on the angle of view.
With the LED used as a light source for communications, when the LED chip is fabricated so as to have a light-emission wavelength peak at, for example, the wavelength region of 650 nm at which plastic optical fibers connected perpendicularly have low loss, then there would occur a problem that obliquely directed outgoing light have a peak wavelength shorter than 650 nm so as to be unusable.

Semiconductor light-emitting device and manufacturing method therefor


To anchor an insert in proper wave motion-inhibiting position within a waterbed mattress, a rectangular, top vinyl sheet is patterned with corner sections which, upon formation of the mattress, are folded to provide a pair of inwardly extending anchoring flaps. Endless vinyl tethers are looped through apertures in the flaps to provide a secure four-corner anchorage of the inert to the mattress. Several forms of tether loop connections to an insert are disclosed for different constructions of wave motion-inhibiting inserts.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to waterbed mattresses and particularly to such mattresses having inserts disposed within the mattress to inhibit wave motion of the water filling the mattress.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The growth of waterbed sales in the marketplace over the past decade is directly attributable to the reduction of wave motion and increased surface firmness of modern water mattresses. To address the wave motion problem, manufacturers have developed wave motion inhibiting provisions of various types, of which the most utilized and effective of these inserts is the so-called "fiber" insert. Fiber inserts typically consist of one or more layers of bonded polyester fiber batt. Multiple layers of fiber are generally held together with ties of twine, strips of vinyl film, or sometimes plastic or aluminum rivets.
Such mattress constructions generally present little or no problem unless the mattress is moved when partially filled with water, i.e., while in the process of draining or filling the mattress. On such occasions, the heavy, wet fiber insert can readily slide into a pile at an end or side of the vinyl mattress shell. If this happens, it is virtually impossible to straighten out the crumpled insert, and the mattress is essentially ruined. Also, if the mattress is subject to a sudden and intense impact, the resulting wave energy can push the fiber insert out of position and into a lump. Again, the end result is usually a dysfunctional mattress.
To combat this problem it has been proposed to somehow anchor these free-floating inserts to the vinyl mattress shell. One approach has been to anchor the inserts to either integral tabs extending from bottom seams of the vinyl mattress shell or to molded, semi-rigid polyvinylchloride (PVC) flanged eyelets sealed to the walls of the vinyl shell.
The problem of anchoring free-floating objects in a water mattress is one of long standing. For example, White, in U.S. Pat. No. 184,487, discloses straps and buckles to hold "sacks" of water together to provide a stable bed surface. Berryman, in U.S. Pat. No. 779,576, uses a similar approach with "tubes" of water. In both of these patents, the applications of straps, ties, etc. are to the exterior of water containers.
Koenigsberg, in U.S. Pat. No. 2,859,455, discloses binding edges of a foam mattress to the perimeter of a foam mattress cover to prevent relative movement between the mattress and cover. Weinstein et al., in U.S. Pat. No. 3,456,270, discloses an air bladder held in position over a water bladder by securing the air bladder edges to upstanding sides of a foam base.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,247,962; 4,345,348; and 4,551,873 to Hall disclose various applications of straps sealed to various parts of the vinyl mattress shell for use in anchoring floating baffle inserts in fixed positions within the water mattress. In addition, Johenning, U.S. Pat. No. 5,062,170, discloses tying baffle inserts to molded eyelets affixed to reinforced mattress corner pieces.
All of the foregoing examples have one or more inherent drawbacks. Any type of anchoring element that is sealed to any part of the vinyl mattress shell creates a weak spot which, if stressed, can result in leakage. Vinyl straps and twine ties have a tendency to slip or loosen over time since a slippery film will build up on internal components of a water mattress even with periodic additions of recommended water treatment compounds. Tabs integrally formed with the vinyl sheets are very wasteful of material as significantly larger pieces of vinyl are required to provide for the tabs. In addition, such tabs are typically located very close to sealed seams to minimize material usage, which creates high stress areas due to the fact that the seams at the bottom of the mattress are held rigidly in place by the weight of the water in the mattress. Consequently there is a propensity for ruptures to occur at the seam areas when the tabs are stressed.
In addition, the introduction of molded, thicker and more robust components into the dielectric heat sealing process with 20 mil. calendered PVC mattress sheeting can pose serious problems due to formulation differences and fusing temperature variations attributable to the differences in the materials and thicknesses of materials involved. Semi-rigid, molded eyelets, for example, have very little if any ability to flex or stretch and thus are unable to absorb any significant stress. As a result, the majority of any stress will tend to be transferred to the seams where the eyelets are sealed to the vinyl mattress shell, and leakage can occur. Another problem is the manner in which the tether tie or strap attaches to a fiber insert. In many instances, the tether strap, band, cord, etc. is passed through holes in the fiber layer(s). Fiber batts do not generally possess significant tensile strength near the edges and can readily permit any type of restricting tie to pull or tear out with minimal stress being exerted. While this does not create the potential for leakage, the insert is no longer properly anchored in place, thus creating the insert dislocation problems mentioned above.

Waterbed mattress with tethered wave motion-inhibiting inserts


An SRAM device according to the present invention includes at least one twin cell to which first and second bitlines are coupled. The first and second bitlines are precharged to a power supply voltage for an array via a sense and amplifier circuit before/after a read, write or refresh operation.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to semiconductor memory devices and, more particularly, to a static random access memory device using two DRAM cells as one memory cell.
2. Discussion of Related Art
FIG. 1 shows a uni-DRAM cell structure. In FIG. 1, two of the DRAM cells (MC1, MC2) or memory cells are illustrated. Each of the DRAM cells includes one cell transistor TR and one cell capacitor C. In a DRAM cell MC1, a gate of the cell transistor is coupled to a wordline WL1, and a current path of the cell transistor is formed between a bitline BL and one electrode of the cell capacitor. The other electrode of the cell transistor is coupled to a voltage Vp. In a DRAM cell MC2, a gate of the cell transistor is coupled to a wordline WL2, and a current path of the cell transistor is formed between a bitline BLB and one electrode of the cell capacitor. The other electrode of the cell capacitor is coupled to the voltage. The bitlines (BL, BLB) are coupled to a sense amplifier 12.
In the DRAM cell structure of FIG. 1, when the wordline WL1 is selected, cell data stored in the cell capacitor of the DRAM cell MC1 is transferred to the bitline BL by means of charge sharing. Typically, the bitlines (BL, BLB) are precharged to half a power supply voltage for an array (AIVC), i.e., AIVC/2, prior to a sensing operation. A potential of the bitline BL is increased or decreased by the charge sharing. When data of xe2x80x9c1xe2x80x9d is stored in the memory cell MC1, the potential of the bitline is increased by the charge sharing. When data of xe2x80x9c0xe2x80x9d is stored in the memory cell MC1, the potential of the bitline is decreased by the charge sharing. In this case, the sense amplifier 12 senses and amplifies a potential difference between the bitlines (BL, BLB).
It is well known in the art that since cell data may be damaged by leakage current resulting from the characteristic of the DRAM cell structure, electric charges stored in a cell capacitor may be reduced. For this reason, a potential difference between the bitlines is reduced such that it is impossible to carry out a normal sensing operation, and a refresh fail occurs. Thus, the DRAM cell structure requires a refresh operation for maintaining stored data. A refresh cycle of a DRAM cell comprising one cell capacitor and one cell transistor is determined on the basis of a refresh time (tREF) of cell data xe2x80x9c1xe2x80x9d. Here the xe2x80x9crefresh timexe2x80x9d means the maximum time that data stored in a memory cell can be maintained.
One way to realize a reduced power consumption in a semiconductor memory device adopting a DRAM cell structure is to prolong a refresh time or cycle. The refresh time or cycle may be extended by adopting a twin cell structure. A twin cell structure well known in the art is illustrated in FIG. 2.
Referring to FIG. 2, a twin cell includes two DRAM cells (MC1, MC2) each having one cell transistor and one cell capacitor. In the DRAM cell MC1, a gate of the cell transistor is coupled to a wordline WL1. A current path of the cell transistor is formed between a bitline BL and one electrode of the cell capacitor. The other electrode of the capacitor is coupled to a voltage Vp. In the DRAM cell MC2, a gate of the cell transistor is coupled to the wordline WL1. A current path of the cell transistor is formed between a bitline BLB and one electrode of the cell capacitor. The other electrode of the capacitor is coupled to the voltage Vp. The bitlines (BL, BLB) are coupled to a sense amplifier 22. DRAM cells constituting the twin cell store complementary data. For example, when the DRAM cell MC1 stores cell data xe2x80x9c1xe2x80x9d, the DRAM cell MC2 stores cell data xe2x80x9c0xe2x80x9d. On the other hand, when the DRAM cell MC1 stores cell data xe2x80x9c0xe2x80x9d, the DRAM cell MC2 stores cell data xe2x80x9c1xe2x80x9d.
Referring to FIG. 3 showing another twin cell structure, each of DRAM cells (MC1-MC4) has one cell transistor and one cell capacitor. In the DRAM cell MC1, a gate of the cell transistor is coupled to a wordline WL1. A current path of the cell transistor is formed between a bitline BL1 and one electrode of the cell capacitor. In the DRAM cell MC2, a gate of the cell transistor is coupled to the wordline WL1. A current path of the cell transistor is formed between a bitline BL3 and one electrode of the cell capacitor. The bitlines (BL1, BL3) are coupled to a sense amplifier 32. The DRAM cells (MC1, MC2) constitute a twin cell. In the DRAM cell MC3, a gate of the cell transistor is coupled to a wordline WL2. A current path of the cell transistor is formed between the bitline BL2 and one electrode of the cell capacitor. In the DRAM cell MC4, a gate of the cell transistor is coupled to the wordline WL2. A current path of the cell transistor is formed between the bitline BL4 and one electrode of the cell capacitor. The bitline (BL2, BL4) are coupled to a sense amplifier 34. The DRAM cells (MC3, MC4) constitute a twin cell. DRAM cells each constituting a twin cell store complementary data. Thus, a semiconductor memory device adopting the twin cell structure has a longer refresh cycle or time than a semiconductor memory device adopting a uni-cell structure. This is explained in detail below.
FIG. 4 is a circuit diagram showing a conventional sense amplifier, and FIG. 5 is a timing diagram for explaining a read operation of an SRAM device having a twin cell structure. The read operation of the SRAM device is now described with reference to FIG. 2, FIG. 4, and FIG. 5. Prior to activation of a wordline WL1, bitlines BL and BLB are precharged to a precharge voltage VBL, i.e., AIVC/2, through a bitline precharge unit 30. It is assumed that cell data xe2x80x9c1xe2x80x9d is stored in a DRAM cell MC1 and cell data xe2x80x9c0xe2x80x9d is stored in a DRAM cell MC2. Under this assumption, a node CN1, i.e., a connection node of a cell capacitor and a transistor, of the DRAM cell MC1 has a power supply voltage (AIVC) corresponding to the cell data xe2x80x9c1xe2x80x9d, and a cell node CN2 of the DRAM cell MC2 has a ground voltage GND corresponding to the cell data xe2x80x9c0xe2x80x9d. As the wordline WL1 is activated, charge sharing is established between the bitline BL and a cell capacitor of the DRAM cell MC1 as well as between the bitline BLB and a cell capacitor of the DRAM cell MC2. From the charge sharing, a voltage of the bitline BL is increased by voltage VCS (meaning a voltage gained by subtracting a precharge voltage VBL from a charge-shared bitline voltage) and a voltage of the bitline BLB is decreased by the voltage VCS, as shown in FIG. 5.
Following the charge sharing operation, when a voltage difference between the bitlines (BL, BLB) is sufficiently amplified, a column selection line CSL is activated, as shown in FIG. 5. As the column selection line is activated, input/output lines and the bitlines are electrically connected to each other. Since an input/output line having a high loading capacitance is precharged to internal power supply voltage IVC, voltages of the bitline BLB and the cell node CN1, which drop toward the ground voltage, are clamped to a specific voltage level. In this case, the voltages of the bitline and the cell node are scarcely affected by the activation of the column selection line. Following inactivation of the column selection line, voltages of the bitline BLB and the cell node CN2 drop to the ground voltage. If the cell data xe2x80x9c1xe2x80x9d and the cell data xe2x80x9c0xe2x80x9d are re-stored in the cell nodes (CN1, CN2) according to the voltages of the bitlines (BL, BLB), the wordline WL1 is inactivated and the bitlines are precharged to the precharge voltage VBL.
As described above, since DRAM cells each constituting a twin cell store complementary data, a double voltage difference is made between bitlines as compared to a uni-cell structure. As shown in FIG. 5, the bitline BL coupled to the DRAM cell MC1 storing the cell data xe2x80x9c1xe2x80x9d is increased by VCS by way of the charge sharing, while the bitline BLB coupled to the DRAM cell MC2 storing the cell data xe2x80x9c0xe2x80x9d is decreased by VCS by way of the charge sharing. From the standpoint of the sense amplifier 12, the voltage difference between the bitlines (BL, BLB) is 2VCS. Therefore, in a twin cell structure, the criterion to decide a refresh cycle or time is not needed. Further, a normal sensing operation may be performed even if a potential of a cell node of a DRAM cell storing the cell data xe2x80x9c1xe2x80x9d becomes lower than a bitline precharge voltage by leakage current. This leads to rapid increase in refresh time or cycle of a semiconductor memory device adopting the twin cell structure. For example, the twin cell structure has the refresh cycle or time (tREF) of several seconds, while the uni-cell structure has the refresh time of 100-200 ms. For this reason, stand-by current of the memory device adopting the twin cell structure can be remarkably reduced.
Although representative semiconductor memory devices adopting a twin cell structure are DRAM devices, static random access memory devices (hereinafter referred to as xe2x80x9cSRAMxe2x80x9d devices) can be realized by adopting the same. An SRAM device adopting the twin cell structure is disclosed in the data sheet of product number xe2x80x9cK1S321615Mxe2x80x9d (May, 2001) of Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., entitled xe2x80x9c2Mxc3x9716 bit Uni-Transistor Random Access Memoryxe2x80x9d, which is a so-called xe2x80x9cUtRAMxe2x80x9d. The SRAM devices adopting the twin cell structure are constructed internally in the same way as the DRAM devices. Meanwhile, an externally supplied command is identical with that of the SRAM device. Unlike a DRAM device adopting the twin cell structure, the SRAM device adopting the twin cell structure has no special external command for a refresh operation. Typically, the refresh operation of the SRAM device adopting the twin cell structure is automatically carried out through control means constructed therein without an external refresh command. As is well known in the art, the refresh operation is substantially identical with the read operation except that sensed data is not outputted to an exterior.
In the case of the SRAM device adopting the twin cell structure, since a refresh operation is carried out without an external refresh command, the refresh operation of at least one clock cycle is needed even though a read/write command is inputted. This may result in loss or damage of stored data. Consequently, access time or speed of the SRAM device adopting the twin cell structure becomes comparatively slow. Therefore, in the case of the SRAM device adopting the twin cell structure, there is a need for a novel control method to enhance the access time or access speed.
The present invention is directed to an SRAM device having a DRAM cell structure and to a method of controlling operations of a static random access memory device, capable of reducing a chip size.
According to an embodiment of the present invention, a first bitline coupled to a first cell transistor and a second bitline coupled to a second cell transistor are charged to a first voltage. After activating a wordline commonly coupled to the first and second cell transistors, a difference between voltage on the first bitline and voltage on the second bitline is sensed and amplified. Finally, when the voltage on one of the first and second bitlines is equivalent to a second voltage lower than the first voltage, an activated wordline is inactivated. The first voltage is a power supply voltage for an array, and the second voltage is a ground voltage. A charge operation is carried out before or after a read, write or refresh operation.
According to an embodiment of the present invention, a static random access memory device comprises a plurality of twin cells, a row selection circuit, a bitline precharge circuit, and a sense amplifier circuit. The twin cells are arranged in a matrix of rows and columns. Each of the twin cells has a first memory cell and a second memory cell. The row selection circuit activates one of the rows in response to a row address, and inactivates an activated row until voltage on one of the first and second bitline reaches a ground voltage. The bitline precharge circuit charges first and second bitlines of each of the columns to a power supply voltage in response to a precharge control signal. The sense amplifier circuit senses and amplifies a voltage difference between the first and second bitlines of each column.
In this embodiment, the first bitline is coupled to a first cell capacitor through a first cell transistor. The second bitline is coupled to a second cell capacitor through the second cell transistor. The first cell transistor and the first capacitor constitute a first memory cell. The second cell transistor and the second cell capacitor constitute a second memory cell. The first and second memory cells constitute a twin cell.
In this embodiment, the sense amplifier circuit is coupled to the first bitline, the second bitline, the power supply voltage, and a signal line. The signal line is driven by a line driver to have one of the power supply voltage and the ground voltage.
In this embodiment, the power supply voltage is used for an array that includes the twin cells.

Uni-transistor random access memory device and control method thereof


An apparatus for automatically handling sample cups closed with a screwable cap is disclosed. The apparatus for automatically opening, closing and transporting sample cups comprises a transportable gripper (11) which includes a rotatable gripper tool (21) adapted to enter and engage with a recess (35, 36) of said cap (34) to form a connection which can be locked by rotating the gripper tool (21) in a first sense with respect to said sample cup (31) and which can be unlocked by rotating the gripper tool (21) with respect to said sample cup (31) in a second sense opposite to the first.

Sample cups have to be hermetically closed preferably with a screwable cap in order to ensure that the sample contained therein cannot be contaminated by external agents and also in order to protect laboratory staff from the risk of being contaminated by a pathological sample which may be contained in the sample cup. This applies in general to sample cups used for clinical chemistry tests, and in particular to sample cups used in methods for isolating a nucleic acid sample from cell material.
According to the prior art the cap of such a sample cup has to be removed and replaced manually with great care in order to allow pipetting operations, e.g. for transferring a portion of a biological sample contained in a primary sample tube into the sample cup, before a method for isolating a nucleic acid sample from cell material is carried out on a sample contained in a sample cup; or for transferring a nucleic acid sample isolated by such a method into the sample cup.
The above mentioned manual removal and replacement of the screwable cap of sample cups is time consuming and is not compatible with the increasing need for automatic handling of sample cups in modern automatic sample cup handling apparatuses. There is therefore a need to automate the removal and replacement of the screwable caps.
There is moreover a need to transport individual sample cups closed with their respective screwable cap to different positions within the sample cup handling apparatus, e.g. in order to perform different steps of a method for isolating a nucleic acid sample from cell material.

Automatic handling of sample cups closed with a screwable cap